Sister Davis in TSAM: "...IN BEHALF OF THE WELFARE OF THE SOULS WHO KNEW NOT GOD..."

Alma 6:6 "Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayers in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God."

We...Are...FAMILY!

Sounds like the springtime snow is there at home! Can't believe spring is already coming. But glad to hear that you are enjoying the mountains. Or the beaches ;)

It was another wonderful packed week!

We had an exchange with the sisters we live with. Sister Call and Sister Haight! They are iIncredible and powerful missionaries. They are currently serving in the YSA ward…. a challenge that I never would have expected on the mission. We met with a member, Elena, who brought to the lesson a question that a classmate had asked her long ago. So we role-played with her to see how we could best answer her friends’ question. It IS nerve wracking to answer questions. We want to represent Christ and we don’t want to give any more bad reputations for His church. But at the end she was ready to answer any question with full confidence. Just takes a little practice…and without practice we may not know how to speak with our friends about the church.

I also got to go an exchange with Sister Whittier...yes THE Sister Whittier who was my companion in Garden Ridge! She is now in Fair Oaks (in the countryside of Texas....very similar to Sedalia actually). She mentioned on exchanges how we need to start correcting ourselves and not use so many abbreviations in the Mormon lingo. We discussed how if we want EVERYONE in the world to truly be a part of Christ's church we must make sure they will feel accepted in his church and they will feel comfortable. If we are always using "Mormon lingo" it could be taken as an inside joke or something we might be hiding from them. Sister Whittier is an incredible missionary. It was so great to see how much we’ve learned on our own in just the couple months of being a part form each other.

This past week on exchanges, Sister Call and I had a wonderful dinner with a gentlemen named Brother O'Bannion. WOW He has served in the church in so many ways and he is currently serving as the President of the Area Public Affairs. (I believe that is the proper title). He is currently working with the community to get the church more involved in community activities and service projects. WOW One example of this...our stake is doing a multi-faith choir….getting multiple churches in the area to join us in a community choir! Makes my mind go crazy to think of all the ways we as missionaries can be involved in the community and how I can be involved when I go back home! SO EXCITING

We are biking this week and loving it! It brings back many great memories.

STORIES OF THE WEEK

1) OLIVIA: so for the past couple week we have been trying to get in touch with a woman who has wanted to come to church. We have stopped by and called….. nothin’. So we are walking out of a lesson and this woman yells..."Are you sisters? Sisters?" Usually we have only gotten this when people see our last names ;) So we introduce ourselves and she says, “I am Olivia.....(jaw drop). So she took us back to our car and Sister Davis (as she is always so on top of things) pulls up a Mormon Message on Olivia's phone to watch with her. As we watched the spirit filled the car! AHHHH…..and angels were surrounding her. We will be going back to help her move down the street on Tues! I'll keep you posted.

2) HARRELL: We were walking around an apartment complex and the thought came to me to go knock on the door of a member that had just moved out (to see who had just moved in). So we walked over and passed a gentlemen working at the complex. We smiled, said hello, and moved on (hoping not to get questioned - not sure why) Then the thought came to Sister Davis to go knock on some apartments around a potential. As we were just about to approach the potential the same worker comes around the corner..."Are you from the Mormon church? Are you missionaries?" His name was Harrell....a potential in the area book that we have been trying to get a hold of for the longest time.

3) CHRISSY: She was just legally adopted by a family in the ward. She has been bounced around to several different homes. She associates church with some bad experiences that occurred in the past. However...we she had some terrific moments this past week...she attended mutual where they played some good ole volleyball and she was the star of the team. And then we had a lesson with her on Thursday and she said she would like to continue learning and she would love to come to church. The gospel can change hearts. TRULY!

EDGAR WILL BE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND! Pray that everything planned works out just how Heavenly Father would like it to. The Elders have been teaching him. (because he preferred to be taught by Elders.) But he will be baptized into the San Antonio 9th Ward!

What a week....I wish to share more but I feel you may be bored from reading. Thank you for reading and making it to the end. CONGRATS!

Know that I LOVE each one of you. I pray for you each individually and the circumstances you are in right now. May you all have the very best week of fun filled activities serving all of God's children!

OH and if you have the time read Alma 8 and Alma 10 (notice how Alma and Amulek both had the time to help each other even when they were crazy busy. Find the joy in the journey and look up! Our prophets and apostles have taught us well.

MUCH LOVE TO EACH ONE OF YOU! Sincerely, Sister Davis