The mushroom cloud after the explosion in Hagerman- April 7th, 2014

The work in Hagerman has just exploded! We have been in a little bit of a rut teaching pool wise these past few months but now that hagerman has two hard-working Elders the Lord is truly blessing this area. This is the potential i knew Hagerman has had and finally it is taking off like i knew it could. 

    With Chris, the three young bloodz, and now jaedyn and emily who we just picked up this week plus all the people we are teaching Hagerman is locked and loaded and the Lord is on our side. We set a baptism date for jaedyn after we taught her after the last session of conference and she excepted the invitation to be baptized on the 26th of april. We hope to get Chris on a date for the same day this week and as far as that goes things are looking good :) We picked up emily as an investigator after watching the sunday morning session at one of the laurels in our wards house and we will be teaching her this friday and i have a good feeling about that one as well. the three young bloodz andrew, lane, and chase are doing great still. We could meet with them this week but we hope to play some ball at the park them teach them this week. There is also tons of potential too so if we stay focused and work hard hagerman is going to need to be split into two wards!!!!!!!!! The members here are incredible and the spirit of missionary work rings throughout the canyon walls of hagerman, which makes it super nice for us missionaries. I really dont want to leave Hagerman. i truly do love the people here in hagerman, i am going to be heart broken when i eventually have to leave this place. I have learned and grown so much in this area and i dont want to leave till we have baptized all the people in hagerman!!!!!! 

   On the down side bruce and gary had to leave which is hard because they had such great potential and had truly inspiring stories. But we also get to go to the temple this friday to do baptisms for the dead since the wilsons (recent converts) get to go for the first time and that means we get to go with them!! Which is super exciting i love the temple. 

  I would also encourage everyone to let the messages of conference change and inspire you and to be effective missionaries. Missionary work would be impossible without strong members. So with the invitation extended to read preach my gospel i would add something to my close friends and family. Give a name to the missionaries to teach by the end of April. If you dont feel like anyone is ready work with the missionaries to help you get that person ready. I bare testimony that there is no greater joy then bringing someone you truly love into the gospel, i have felt it over and over again in hagerman as i get the opportunity everyday to preach of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. These are the last days, if we dont give everything to the gospel and the advancement of it satan is winning. HE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH YOUR FRIENDS. he will place thoughts of doubt in your mind about your abilities or the readiness of your friends, but do not doubt. The Lord places people in our lives for a purpose, i challenge you all to find that purpose. Talk to your missionaries and have them help you with this. They are inspired and they can help. You have till the end of April. We are all full time missionaries, whether you leave home to preach the gospel or live your normal life, we are all full time missionaries, the difference isnt the name plate on the outside that separates full time from part time, Its the name tag that is written in our hearts by the desire to share the gospel. We can all be full time missionaries no matter where we are at.

   I pray for the success and the advancement of the gospel in these last days! Have courage and faith and dont let satan win! 

   Oh and have a good week :) 

                   

                  Love, 

                    Elder Davis 

March 31st- THREE YOUNG BLOODZ AND OVERDOSE OF PAPA KELSEYS

 So the title refers to the 3 new investigators we just got this week. Lane(14) Chase(15) & Andrew(20). We were walking down the street after all of our appointments for the night cancelled on us and we were heading across town to stop by someones house when we saw justin (a member) with some of his friends playing football at the park, we stopped to talk and we got to throwing the ball around which turned into a quick game where Elder Butler and i began to go Ape town and put some numbers up on the theoretical scoreboard. Afterwards we asked if we could come in an share a message with them and they all 3 were interested in hearing more and we met with them again and things are going good with them.

  I am adding on to the i wont be leaving here till i read the BOM in port. to that plus till i teach and baptize the entire wilson family!!!!! We are teaching Mandys' friend and things are looking super awesome! He came to church yesterday and made a super incredible comment about the sacrament! I couldnt have been happier!

  I am so super stoked for what is happening here and i love my companion Elder Butler it has been so much fun. We are working hard and i love it! I really am loving it here and all the people that i have met in Hagerman! We got to play bingo last week again and that was super awesome! We got to eat Papa Kelseys (like the only restaurant in town which i used to like) six times in one week. A bunch of the members had to cancel dinner this week, common theme "oh we are sorry Elders, We have been so busy today, or oh my husband wont get home on time, why dont you guys run down to papa kelseys and get anything you want" Oh boy! Too much papa K's. I think we will take a break for a bit ha!!

  Today we are going to go fish for our P day activity and work out!! Should be a really chill day! We have been having so much fun out here! I will send some pics to ya'll later i forgot my cord but we will run home and grab it and ill throw them on super quickly!!! I love all of you have a good week!!!!!!

                    Love, 

                      Elder Davis

March 24- FINALLYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    This week has legit been the bee's knee's, you best believe that! I got a new companion and he is incredible!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!! I have learned and grown so much these past transfers as I have been struggling with companions. But it was really starting to drag me down to have the companions ive had but i was trying to let it not effect me because i know that companionships are inspired and i think i learned what he needed me to learn. Now i have Elder Butler and he is incredible, this is going to be such a fun, successful transfer. Like me he loves to goof around and have fun but when its time to get serious we get serious and we both love to work hard during the day and have appropriate fun while doing it. We are just two big goof balls so it will be really fun. We have a lot in common which is a nice change of pace, not in just missionary work but in our personal lives as well. I cannot tell you how excited i am. You all best expect big things coming out of Hagerman! Not because of our talent but we both are diligent and know how to rely on the Lord and follow the promptings of the spirit. This is his work.

    We had a successful we too and the members are also excited to have Elder Butler here too. Super Pumped. I hope all of you guys realize how important your job as missionaries is back home. You are all missionaries too. So talk and work with the missionaries back home. Keep them busy and let them work with your friends. They are called of God to preach the Gospel, they are inspired. Trust them, give them an opportunity to work with your friends WITH you, let them know that you are doing it because you love them and its important to you, God places people in our lives for a reason. Capitalize on it. Satan is happy when you don't share the gospel with your friends. Are you making him happy?? I sure hope not, share the gospel, have faith, stay classy, have a good week. I love you all :)

                               Love,

                                  Elder Davis

March 17, 2014

Hey folks!!!

 

       So this week has been fantastic! The weather here has been incredible and super beautiful which is so awesome! We got transfer calls this week and i will be staying in Hagerman for at least another transfer! Which im SUPER stoked about! I was worried that i might've been transferred but nope! Kickin it here for another 6 weeks at least! :) I will be getting a new companion as well Elder Butler. He will be our district leader and im super excited about that! I heard that being the district leaders companion is awesome! So this should be a super awesome 6 weeks. This change will be taking place on wednesday so i will let you know how it goes next week.

 

      This week has been really productive but not much that was super exciting. Ive been feeling a little sick lately so im just trying to get over that but its all good. Im sure it will turn around soon.

 

    We had stake conference this week and we went to the saturday night session and it was incredible. They called a new stake presidency so there were two general authorities there from the 70. Elder Evans and Elder Webb. It was super awesome they taught us some really amazing things.The spirit was so strong there! I was super helpful to the stake because they talked a lot about missionary work. I think work in this area will really start to take off now which i am so excited about!

 

   Well i dont have my full two hours to be on today so i will have to end this a little short! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week full of tons of missionary opportunities!!

 

                     Love,

                            Elder Davis

March 3, 2014 (And some pictures from 2/24)

 *Note: I have changed some of the names in here for privacy reasons* 

This week has been really good. (as usual). I have been loving Hagerman and all the people I have had the opportunity to meet so far. This week has been a little disappointing as far as teaching goes. A lot of people cancelled on us this week which doesn't happen a lot so its hard when a bunch of them cancel on you. But we were still able to visit a good amount of people that we wanted to see.

     One of the best experiences I had this week happened yesterday. Actually two events but they involve the same person. Todd. He just turned 12 a few weeks ago and has had a pretty tough life until a few years ago.  But he is the most incredible kid I have ever met. He has been an inspiration to me these past few weeks but even more so yesterday. This Is a kid who just recently couldn't sit in sacrament meeting because his anxiety got so bad because of all the people he couldn't handle it. They either wouldn't go or would sit in the mothers lounge. But, he has been making incredible progress. Yesterday during sacrament meeting he bore his testimony, in front of the entire congregation, and he did amazing. I ran up to him after sacrament and gave him the biggest hug I think I ever have in my entire life! I was so impressed. He has inspired me to try and be more courageous in my life from now on. I don't want to let anything hold me back because of fear. He has been an inspiration to me and I will always look up to him. I hope I can have half the courage that he has. Yesterday I had the honor to give this incredible young man the priesthood. It was the most humbling experience in my life up to this point. He is going to be an incredible man and do many great things.

    Another experience I had this week has been with one of our new investigators David He 60ish and has dementia. He was a news broadcaster here in northern Idaho. But recently has had a pretty hard go at things. A lady in our ward takes in a few people who cant live on there own and takes care of them. She recently took two new guys in, David and Bryan. A few days ago she read a news paper article about a guy who had been beat with a rod everyday for years by this one women and the other guy watched this happen and couldn't do anything about it because of certain disabilities. Well turns out this was David and Bryan. David had been abused for several years. I don't think I have ever felt so bad for two people in my entire life. I was filled with a new sense of compassion that I have never felt before, I hope that we can help them over come these challenges. The bishop will be going over sometime this week to meet with David to see if his is still accountable and needs to be baptize so we are waiting on that. But he has expressed everytime we go over there that he wants to be a Mormon because it makes him feel so good and church is inspiring.

    I hope that these experiences will touch you as much as they have touched me. These are very special to me and it is very humbling to be working with these people.

     Im trying everyday to become a more consecrated, obedient missionary, and submit my self to go to let him change me. I love this gospel and I love the lord. I love the opportunity I have to serve him and his children each day and I hope that I can increase my capacity to represent him a little more each day.

    I hope everyone has a great week filled with tons of missionary opportunities.

                            Love,

                                Elder Davis

Here are some pictures and a brief message from his birthday last week:

just beating all these old people at bingo and winnin prizes and what not. my record is 3-1. (we now volunteer at a assisted living home and play bingo with them every Wednesday night) I win all the time, no big deal tho. 

February 18, 2014

This week has been a good week! We are coming across some good potential for a really big week. We have kinda been going through a slump teaching wise the last two weeks Elder Collins was here with me. So we are working hard to get people to teach and we have a lot of potential and im super excited about what these next few months will bring. One of the ones im super excited to work with is Bruce. Bruce is staying with a member who takes care of older people or people who can't take care of themselves. Bruce is about 50ish and recently got into a very severe motorcycle crash and has been going through a lot of therapy. One of the biggest challenges he has had lately is mentally. He suffered some pretty severe head damage and is now trying to over come that. He is still not 100% there. His short term memory is a little hazy. Good news is if you missed anything he said while he was telling a story chances are you will get to hear it again in just a few minutes ha. But im excited he has tones of potential we just will have to take things slow. He shared this with us last time we visited with him. " im beginning to think that the reason I was saved in the crash was so that I could talk with you guys" let me tell you there are no other words that make a missionary more excited then those (other then maybe having been commissioned of jesus chirst...)

     We have also been meeting with a lady who has been talking with the missionaries for over 7 years and have been meeting with her for these past few months. This last lesson depending on how things go we were maybe going to have to drop here because she hasn't really been progressing. But we had an incredible lesson with her and im hoping and praying that she will receive an answer to her prayers.

    I have recently started to read the testament in my studies. I have been loving it so far. It has brought me so closer to Christ and there are soooooo many good lessons you can pull from the teachings of the savior. I am so excited to continue this read and hope that I can really get a lot out of it that will bless the lives of those that I am working with. 

   I also got an impression last week, and im not sure if I shared it already if I did im sorry, but I got the impression that I wont get my visa until I have read the book of Mormon in Portuguese. So I have been doing that a lot recently and im in 2 nephi already, my goal is to finish it before the end of this transfer but I don't know how realistic that is. But that is my goal none the less.

  Some fun stuff that has happened this week, I had to speak for 35 minutes in sacrament meeting when I only planned for 15 so that was an interesting experience. We have been doing a lot of walking to make sure we area good on miles and what not so that has been really fun. Everything has been really good and amazing as usual. Don't get me wrong there are some tough times but it always gets out weighted by the good so I aint worries bout nothing.

   Im so excited for my birthday! I can finally stop saying im 18!!! Its sucked with that so far! But im almost there!

   Hope all is going well back home and what not. Share the gospel with everyone you know and work with the missionaries!

                          Elder Davis 

February 10, 2014

  This week has been super awesome! I spent the first half of the week in a neighboring town called Jerome because my companion got his visa. So it was really cool I learned so much from the companion I was with (Elder Johnson) in just those few short days. I got a new companion Elder Pimentel who is from Hilmar, California. He has been out for 9 months and is a visa waiter as well. He is super cool and we are getting along very well. We have a lot of the same interests, which I could not say about my last companion, so that has been very awesome so far! I am super stoked to work with him and to stay in Hagerman. This week has been really fun and really spiritual as well. We have really made a big push on finding new people to work with and visiting all the members of our ward. there are about 520 names or families on the roster in a town of about 1200 in area of about 50 miles so there are a bunch of people around here that are Mormon so we really want to try and increase the amount of people attending church as well. I am so excited because we are actually working hard now! Elder Collins didn't have the best work ethic so that was probably the hardest thing for me. But we are working for sure now. We were here for only a half a week and we got 7 lessons. (which we normally would get about 5 so I am super excited about that. 

   

     We have been working with a lot of less-actives and part-member families and I have loved helping to strengthen them and their families. One family, the hulmes family, we have been working with a lot. The son (Austin) is the only active member of there family and although he is only 12 he walks to church every week by himself. It has been inspiring to watch and last week he was sitting all by himself and I told him to come sit by us and I think that rally helped him to let him know that although he is going alone he isn't alone. 

    This week I have been putting a lot of focus on charity and compassion in my personal studies and I am trying to apply it into my life so that I can more affectively help everyone. I have learned and grown soo much this past week and I really hope that I can make even more of an impact in peoples lives and try to bring them closer to Christ. I hope to make this a pattern for the rest of my life. I love this gospel and the opportunity I have to wake up every morning and have everything I do directed at serving the lord and trying my best to do what he would have me do. I have been learning so much about how to recognize the promptings of the spirit and trying to love as obediently as possible so I can be more receptive to it. I know that it is only through prayer and the promptings of the spirit I can know what the lord would have me do and the only way I can receive that is through faith, obedience and submissiveness.

     Last night we had dinner with a lady who takes care of people who can't live on there own due to disability. We had a neat lesson about heavenly father and jesus Christ in john 3:16 and one of them (bruce) who went to church earlier in the day expressed some cool thoughts and shared some stories and has shared his interest in maybe joining the church and taking lessons. I hope that we can help him come closer to chirst work with him towards baptism.

   This week has been super amazing and I cannot imagine being anywhere else, or doing anything else. I love this gospel, there is nothing more elegant, organized or true on this entire planet. I have come to a further knowledge of how much heavenly father loves all his children, and that he has a purpose and a plan for every one of us. I know that what I am doing is what the lord wants me to do and I know that as I diligently serve his family, he will in turn bless mine. I have found no greater happiness in my entire life then what I have experiencing on my mission. And I want to share that happiness that I feel and share it with everyone I meet.

  I love you all and am so thankful for all of your support and the things you have done for me in my life.

  * Also some fun things this week, It has been snowing "a lot" here lately which has been really fun. Saturday the Spanish elders from Wendell came down to help with a service project at Bro. woods house and we got side tracked and had a snowball fight which was really fun. It is really good to grow in unity with the other elders as well as take a quick break and immature again ha. I also cut my finger this week on accident which was fun ha. A mission is super spiritual and super fun! Best of both worlds!

                           Love,

Elder Davis