February 4, 2014 Transferred to Pottsville

Hey everyone!

Sorry I didn't get to email yesterday. There was a snow storm and the library was closed...

But yes, I have been transferred. In mission lingo it's considered an "emergency transfer", which means a transfer that happens immediately and outside of "normal" transfers. I have been transferred into the Pottsville Branch, but I work in the Hamburg area which is the Branch just north of the Reading 1st Ward. So, I'm a little familiar with the area I'm in right now because I worked on the other side of the highway when I was in Reading. (Part of the highway is the dividing line for the wards.) I'm also the senior companion!

I'm not going to lie, though. This was a super hard transfer for me. I loved Reading so much and I was looking forward to another transfer there in that area/ward and with the people there. I think the hardest thing was that I got a call from President Anderson about 11:30 in the morning on Saturday telling me that I was being transferred and that the assistants would be there to pick me up around 4:30 that day. I had no time to say goodbye to anyone! I called a couple of people in the ward to tell them, but I wasn't able to tell any of the people I was working with :(. That was really hard...

Anyway, I am now in Hamburg and I live in a super nice apartment. It smells brand new and I'm pretty sure it is :). I have my own bathroom and closet! I love my apartment. Sister Maybury from Utah is my new companion and I have been out one transfer longer than she has. Sister Maybury is an "older" sister missionary (she's 26) but she is a really cute girl and we've seemed to get along really well so far. Sister Maybury was also on drill team in high school for her senior year!

The Pottsville Branch building

It's kind of weird working in a branch compared to the ward I just served in. The building we meet in was an old business building and it's so small. The branch is small, too. Hardly anyone was there on Sunday. We have a few investigators that are progressing well up here that I haven't met yet but will soon (I will meet them later today)! The members in this ward are awesome (well, the ones I've met so far) and they are willing to help the missionaries out in this branch. There are a set of elders serving in the branch right now, too, and we share a car... So, to answer your question, Mom, yes I am going to freeze! Especially when we don't have the car... :( I've debated many times about getting a warmer coat, but I just don't have any way to store it for the summer... And yes, Sister Roland's daughter is in this branch and we're working with her. She fell away from the church for a while, but now she is wanting to come back!

Sister Carrigan and Sister Davis serving Sister Moore in Reading

That is awesome that you're finally getting moisture back home! Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers! And congratz to the Drill Team! That is awesome!

That is just fine for the YW to take stuff from my blog. The advice I would give is to ALWAYS turn to Heavenly Father in prayer and to continually ask if you don't receive answers immediately. Through prayer we can strengthen our faith because we can ask for help. Answered prayers also help build our faith and trust in Heavenly Father. My testimony of prayer and priesthood blessings has increased a lot this past week. I received an amazing priesthood blessing from one of the assistants on Saturday before leaving Reading that promised me that I would receive answers to my prayers in His timing because of my consistent asking. Just the other morning during my personal study I was studying the topic of testimony. I came across something that made me reflect back to another priesthood blessing I received not too long ago. That was an answer to my prayers because things started to finally make sense what Heavenly Father wanted me to do and learn so I could grow. I would also advise the young women to keep going and stay strong to the gospel even through hard times. He is always with us, and our trials make us stronger even though we can't see it in the moment of the storm. I am grateful for the trials I have had because without them, I wouldn't be who I am today and who I am becoming.

For the past while I never really thought I loved my mission. I have realized in the past couple of weeks that I really do love my mission. I'm not always happy out here because it is hard, but the things I am learning and the person I am becoming could only happen out here on my mission. I would have never had an experience like this that would help me learn and grow as much as my mission has. I really do love my mission (give me a hard couple of days and I probably won't be saying that ha, but I really do love my mission). I am learning so much and growing and I love it. Missions stretch you to your limit, but I don't think I have ever relied so much on the Lord before and I love it! I am grateful that I received the prompting to come (write this down because I will need to be reminded of this a lot haha) and that I chose to come! I am excited to see what changes the Lord has in store for me in the next 10 months of my mission!

Thank you for everything you do for me! I love you all so much and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Davis :)