May 26, 2014 Happy Memorial Day!

Hey everyone!

So, this e-mail is going to be short today because I have a lot of cleaning to do! Sorry :/.

As for transfers, no I am not being transferred, but I sure feel like I am. Sister Hanson is being transferred and they are "closing" the apartment that I live in now, so I will be moving to Bridgeport tomorrow when I pick up my new companion. So, that means a lot of deep cleaning today! They are also taking the English Elders out of this ward, so that means that my new comp and I will take over the whole ward. I'm a little stressed about this, because where I will be living is not at all central to the ward boundaries where my proselyting area is. I'm on the eastern side of the ward and about ten miles from Phoenixville, which doesn't seem like a lot, but when you have to track your miles and stay within the limitations, that is a lot! I'm thinking I'll only be able to come to Phoenixville like once a week to see the people that we are teaching now... Plus I'll take on all of the elder's people that they are teaching... I'll be extra busy now! I am excited for a newer adventure, though, but I still am stressed about it. I'll be fine though. Give me a week and I'll be fine, ha. 

Sister Hanson and Sister Davis at Magic Gardens

This morning the ward had a Memorial Day "fun run"/breakfast/ward activity at Valley Forge National Park. It was fun to go to and see the ward members outside of church. It was also good for the missionaries who are leaving to say goodbye to ward members. It was a beautiful morning and also a very warm one. By 8:30 it was already 70 degrees. Just forty minutes ago it was 88 degrees! I don't think I'm ready for this heat! Ha

   

Nothing else too exciting happened this week. The baptism for Lisa and Randy is still on tonight! :) I am so excited for them. It will be a very special night! After the baptism we're just going to stay overnight at the Broomall sisters' apartment so we can save on miles since we'll have to be there tomorrow morning. Oh and did I mention I have to sleep on the floor?.... Wish me luck! Well, that's about it. It sounds like you've had a busy week. So happy to hear that Josh and Kelsie are moved in and that you got the package :). I hope you have a great rest of your Memorial Day and rest of your week!

Love you!  Love,
Sister Davis  

May 19, 2014 What an Interesting Week!

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone has had a great week! Mine has been very interesting. A lot of highs and lows for this week.  

Lows:  

First of all, we had some awesome lessons set up for this week, but a lot of them fell through—one of them being my fault because I told him the time, but didn't tell him the location, so he just assumed that the appointment wasn't going to happen... Frustrating.

Secondly, Femi is having a very hard time. He doesn't want to meet with us right now to be retaught or be involved with any other church activities or responsibilities. He said he will come to church, but that he doesn't want to be involved with anything else right now. He is going through a state of depression and severe stress with his family's visas not going through for the second time. We were informed yesterday that his wife doesn't want to try anymore and that the next possible date for them to come or him to go back to Africa would be December 2015 or April 2016! He is having a really hard time being away from his family and that is one reason, I think, that church is hard for him right now. He has also been advised to rest and stay clear of anything that would cause him to be psychologically disabled. Please pray for him! It makes me sad to see him go through this right now. :(  

Thirdly, I found out that David (convert from Doylestown) isn't as involved with church anymore because his wife is making suicidal threats towards his Christianity....  

Oh Satan, why?!  

Sister Hanson and Sister Davis find the end of the rainbow

Oh and transfer calls come this weekend.... We're kind of thinking that Sister Hanson might leave because she has been here for six months now. But I guess we will see. I'll let you know next week!  

Besides all of these lows for the week, my week has been rather good, too!  

Highs:  

Firstly, Lisa and Randy (two of our investigators) are going to be baptized next Monday evening! A couple Sundays ago, they had set up an appointment to meet with our bishop and we had no idea about it. When we met with them later that week, they told us about the appointment and had an appointment with the stake president all set up. Yesterday at church, our stake president pulled us aside asked us if we felt Lisa was ready and then informed us that the baptism will be next week. (They're going to Lake Tahoe for the summer on the 29th, so that is why it is rushed!) We are so excited, and now we just have to finish teaching them this week. I guess I'm just meant to have last minute baptisms!

Randy and Lisa

Secondly, we found a new investigator this week! Her name is Janice and she is just the sweetest lady. Right now she is in a rehabilitation center, which is great because that means she can't go anywhere ;). Just kidding. But she really is a very sweet lady and I hope she gets baptized!  

Thirdly, we met the cutest elderly couple that lives in the same rehabilitation center as Janice. They are members but are less active because of the situation they are in right now. They had a lot of great stories to tell, and we found out that Sister Funk is from Spain but grew up in Northern Africa in Algeria, I believe, because her parents were asked to help colonize the French colony there, so she speaks French. I was fascinated by her.  

All week long there was a fair going on that was called the Dogwood Festival. Saturday there was a parade for this festival and Sister Hanson and I walked around and passed out pass-along cards to those watching the parade. It was a fun parade and, for the most part, people took our cards!  

And that's about it, or all I can remember that happened this week. Days are all blending together how and I am forgetting a lot of things!  

Well, I hope you have a marvelous week! Love you all!  

Love,

Sister Davis :)

May 12, 2014 What a Beautiful Day!

Hey everyone!

It was so great to talk with you yesterday! Next time we talk I'll be home! Crazy!

Mother's Day Skype with Sister Davis

So not too much happened this week. It was rather slow like I told you yesterday. Just some highlights/funny moments this week:

·        Sister Hanson and I finally got a hamburger! We have been craving hamburgers for weeks and we finally got one. The funny part about this is that we found it at a pizza place right by our apartment ha. We would have never known this place had hamburgers. We just thought it had pizza.

·        We met with a potential investigator this week and she thought we were Jehovah's Witness so she wasn't going to open her door. Then, she thought we looked like polygamists... And then twenty minutes later some kid asked us if we were Amish haha. Not sure how I feel about that :P.

·        Awesome zone conference on Thursday with six zones! So many missionaries, but it was really neat. I learned a lot!

Today we just spent a few hours in Philly. We went to the Philadelphia Magic Gardens which is just this place covered in mosaics. It was pretty cool. I'll send pictures next week. Then we went to the t-shirt shop after there and then went to the King of Prussia mall which is the largest mall on the east coast.

Overall, it has been a pretty good p-day. Another 80 degree day! Hopefully the weather has already or will warm up your way! I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sister Davis

May 5, 2014 Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Hola mi familia!

Parece que has tenido una semana muy ocupada! He tenido una semana de locos, así!

I hope my Spanish is correct. Maybe someday I’ll learn Spanish! Anyway, it sounds like you’ve had a crazy week, but it sounds like it was a good one. I can’t believe you got a bunny! She’s so cute, though :).

First of all, we’ve had a very “wet” and crazy week. Tuesday started the long stretch of rain that we were supposed to receive last week. It rained off and on all day Tuesday and then it rained all day long on Wednesday. On Wednesday it was a pretty steady rain, too, and it caused flooding. We drove over to the church on Wednesday and on our way home we found the road we usually go on closed because the river had flooded. Even the other way we go sometimes was closed. We were a little worried that we wouldn’t make it home... Luckily though we found another way home (even though we had to leave our area to go home...). Even President and Sister Anderson’s basement started to flood a little. Crazy rain! I wish I could send some out to Utah!

Daughters of a Heavenly Father

This weekend Phoenixville was the place to be! Friday was the first of a summer long celebration of what they call “First Friday.” They had bands playing and vendors with tables and all sorts of fun things going on right outside our apartment. We ended up volunteering at the Civic Center that night, though, for their Family Night Out activity. Saturday was the food festival where they blocked off some streets and had supposedly 50 food trucks. There was food everywhere! Sister Hanson and I have really been craving barbecued hamburgers for a long time now and we were determined to get one during the food festival. However, there was a funeral that morning at the church that we asked to come to (It was for an elderly lady who had quite a few nonmember family members), and so we decided that we would get a hamburger for dinner. Well, by the time we went to go get our hamburger, they were cleaning things up… Someday I will get a barbecued hamburger.

Tuesday morning we had a miracle happen. We were supposed to have an appointment with one of our new investigators who our zone leaders found, but he wasn’t returning our phone calls or texts. (He lives in a locked apartment building.) So, we decided to go to his apartment anyway. When we got there we tried calling him again and still no answer. After waiting a few minutes, Sister Hanson asked what we should do. I half jokingly but half seriously said that we pray and ask for someone to come down the stairs. Sister Hanson prayed, and she must have great faith because a few moments after our prayer, someone came down the stairs and opened the door for us. Surprisingly enough, it was our investigator Rob! Unfortunately, he forgot about our appointment and was trying to move things because he is moving. We did set up another appointment for next week, though, without knowing we would see him again later this week. Saturday night we were walking up to the park to find Tom (our homeless recent convert) when we ran into Rob and his buddies. We talked to them for a moment and then told them we had to get going. Rob stopped us and asked if we could teach him something. We agreed, but little did I know he was drunk. So, we sat down on a bench outside of his apartment with his friend Paul who is from West Virginia and knows the Bible inside and out but doesn’t quite live what he preaches. One of the first thing Rob did when we sat down was light up his cigar... Oh boy. It was a long lesson... We then pulled out a Restoration pamphlet and began to teach them the Restoration. Paul interrupted with his preaching and luckily Sister Hanson started to talk to him and keep him occupied, so I could teach Rob. Shortly after, Rob mentioned to me that he had a few drinks but that he wanted to learn. (Now I know what alcohol smells like...) So, I proceeded on teaching him the restoration and he accepted everything I taught him. I’m not really sure how much he retained, but I left him with a pamphlet, Book of Mormon, and a sticky note with some commitments written on it. I’m hoping that he woke up the next morning and read the sticky note and would remember to do the things I asked him to do. Oh boy, that was quite an interesting experience.

Last night I was fortunate enough to watch the CES Devotional with Elder Ballard! It was so good and hit on so many important things going on in the world today! I would definitely suggest you watch it or read it if you get the chance to!

Lastly, some great news I heard a couple of weeks ago, but keep forgetting to tell you is that one of the ladies and her daughter I started teaching in Reading is getting baptized within the next couple of weeks! I am so excited for her and her daughter. It also makes me feel good to know that I was doing something right in Reading ;)

So, for Skyping on Sunday... I still have not heard anything about it... So, I guess just let me know what time would be good for you and the Skype name again and we’ll work around that. Thanks!

Well, that’s about it. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to talking to you on Sunday!

Love,
Sister Davis :)

P.S. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! :)