Monday, July 27, 2015

Week 37 - The Miracle of the Tacos and 10 kids


"Yup. We're Mama's boys. You got a problem with that?"  HAHA!
This was taken at a District Activity on their Preparation Day

This week has been fantastic! I don’t know where to start!

We had the BIGGEST miracle this week, I’m so excited to tell you about it! We have received a lot of references here and whenever we don’t have people to visit we search for them. There was one in particular that we got that we went 4 times looking for a guy named Manuel, but he was never there. Actually, the last time we went they said he didn’t even live there! Yesterday at 8:30 we went with a reference and put a baptismal date with him and it was great! After that we were about a half hour from the house so we decided we should probably just go home! Before we went though, I felt we needed to stop by Manuel´s house (even though supposedly he didn’t live there!) So we went. (Epic pause)

This is a road near their apartment they walk down a lot
We knocked on the door and a lady answered and  she asked who we were and then she was like, “Hey, it’s the guys from the church!” and then the next thing she said before we even said our names or even really explained who we were she asked us, “Do you want a taco?” I don’t say no to tacos. So we went in! Manual was excited to see us and then invited us in the kitchen and we ate some delicious food that Sandra, Manuel´s wife, had made. Then a kid came in! And he was 8 years old! You know what that means. Then another kid came in. And another. They have 10 kids. 9 of their kids are older than 8 years old. We put a lot of baptismal dates yesterday. I've never put that many dates in a day...actually, I don't think I've ever challenged so many people to baptism in a week. I am stoked! My companion and I left that house floating on air like you wouldn't even believe! I'll keep you updated on this family, they are fantastic!

Here is the Dog he was talking about that laid down and wouldn't leave
Today we had a District Activity and it was a BLAST! We went to a park really close to the temple and grilled hot dogs, ate a bunch of food, and played a bunch of fun games together! I love my district so much, they are all so great! There was this dog that followed us from the moment we entered the park and the sisters got really sad when we started yelling at it to try to get it to leave so it just stayed with us...the whole time. Actually, when we took our group pictures it just went and layed down in front of the camera and we were laughing pretty hard about that! Haha the dog followed us like half way back to the temple haha!

I want you all to know I know this is the work of the Lord. I know that God lives, and that he loves us! Like it says in 1 John 4, God is love, and we love him because he loved us first, and because we love him we love our neighbors. We are all sons and daughters of God and he loves us so much. I know that Jesus Christ is the son of the God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He loves us, and thanks to him we will some day be able to have an eternal family and be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven. I love him so much for what he did, even though I can't and will never be able to fully understand his sacrifice, I am eternally grateful for it. I invite you all to search for him, and I PROMISE you will find him. Pray to God and you will feel His love poured out upon you. You are NEVER alone, you will NEVER be forgotten! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With Love,

Elder Davies













Monday, July 20, 2015

Week 36 - Julio's Baptism & Nacho Libre Corn

Julio's Baptism!

Hey everyone!

This week was absolutely incredible!

Julio got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! He'll be getting the priesthood this next week! (See week 34) He is so fantastic and he was SO ready to be baptized! After his baptism, his wife (who is a member) came to us and said we would always be part of their lives! That was so great! We did the baptismal interview on Friday night at 8 because it's SO hard to find another time with him, so our Zone Leader, Elder Mejia, came and he was on divisions with the Assistants, so one of the Assistants came too! It got really late, so they ended up staying with us in our house because we have 4 mattresses! Sleepover! They are some really great Elders, we are blessed with some incredible missionaries in our mission!
So last week I was walking with Elder Maluia who is also from Utah in Walmart and I was like are those pop tarts and he was just like,"That's not funny, lets go check out!" BUT THEY WERE! THEY GOT A SPECIAL IMPORT OF POP TARTS TO WALMART! We got so stoked when we saw it was for real and bought a bunch haha! Also they had Sour Skittles which we bought! WOW! It was like Christmas all over again.

So after Julios baptism we went to drop off all our stuff at the other missionaries house we used for the baptism because our house was further and it was gonna rain an we had an appointment, but on the way home we bought Nacho Libre corn to celebrate. It is so gross when you know what it is, it's just mayo and chile but it's pretty good! I can't believe I just barely tried that for the first time!
"Nacho Libre" Movie had corn like this. Thus the name "Nacho Libre Corn"
I got permission to go with Elder Rodriguez to Bosques so he could say goodbye to the members and our converts! Things are going really well there! Some other people I was teaching got baptized there, that is always the most exciting news! The things you actually get to see that happen in the mission are so little, the results are 10, 20, 30 years from now when the 10 year old kid you baptized is Stake President or someone goes on a mission! I love this work because we can't even comprehend what we are doing. This work is just SO much bigger than any of us think! I love meeting members that have lots of time in the church that are converts and they have the coolest conversion stories and the missionaries that taught them don't even know how dedicated they are to the church and the effect they have had on so many other people! I think that will be something so fun in the next life when we get to see each other and see how the Lord worked through every one of us to bring us all home safe and sound! I look forward to that!

Family from Bosques they taught. Kelson was given permission to go with
Elder Rodriguez (1st companion) to visit people before he want home.
We went to Jardines (my second area) after we went to Bosques and ate with a family and they are SO amazing! Sister Perales cooked us SPAGHETTI! Like it tasted AMERICAN! SOOOO delicious! Then we ate Chicken Cordon Bleu. Wow. They love me! The Perales family also got me a jar of chocolates and a SWEET pen with Elder Davies engraven on it! It is the nicest pen I've ever had. It makes me want to sign my name on everything.

My companion is learning lots! He is a convert of 3 years and he is the only member in his family, so I bet that has got to be so hard but here he is! He will be a great a missionary (and already is!).

We are getting all buckled up for the Temple Open House, we are gonna get SOOO many references, and we are gonna be RUNNING from house to house, I am so excited, I can't even tell you! The Cultural Celebration is going to be broadcast so I will get to see it from our Stake Center I think, I'm excited for that too!!

Well I love you all, I hope you are doing well!

-Elder Davies

Kelson bought this Ukulele and loves to play it now and then

The Baptismal Font at Julio's baptism

KFC... Kanzas Fried Chicken. Everyone knows that, right?

Pen given to Kelson by the Xalostoc Family in Jardines.  They apparently heard
he was coming back with Elder Rodriguez and made some special food for them too!

Xalostoc Family in Jardines



Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Week 35 - Diana got baptized! Nauvoo & Elder Packer

Ukulele!

Hey everyone!


Diana was one Kelson and his companion found in his previous
area that was baptized shortly after he left. He was allowed to
return and witness the baptism in Jardines.

Diana got baptized! I don´t know if you all remember her, but she was from my last area! We found her 3 weeks before I left and she was SO excited and always read and just was GOLDEN! I got a call Saturday that she was gonna be baptized and they gave my companion and me permission to be there when she got baptized! That was SO great! I really have gained a testimony that this is the Lord´s work. I didn't baptize anyone in Jardines but I got to see a bunch of people at the baptism and a lot of people I was teaching are progressing towards baptism! But they aren't my converts anyway, they are the Lord´s and it doesn't matter which of the instruments in his hands gets to baptize them, right? This work is so great!

This week´s highlight...I bought a selfie stick! It is fantastic. I haven't used it a lot, but I'm sure I will!

So my parents are in Nauvoo right now...I have to admit I am a little jealous, but like Elder Kody Hughes said we are out here doing what we learned to do in Nauvoo. For those of you that know me know that Nauvoo is part of who I am! I wouldn't be half or a tenth or a hundreth of the missionary I am today without Nauvoo! I hope all of you serving the Lord there are loving it and always remember we are doing the same work, I'm just doing it here and you're all doing it there!!

This week I had the chance to listen to Elder Boyd K Packer´s last conference talk, and it is SO inspiring. I invite you all to listen to the eternal and beautiful truths taught by this faithful apostle of the Lord.

I love you all so much, sorry I'm so short on time again have a GREAT week! The Church is true!!!

-Elder Davies













Week 34 - Hey, I'm a Pioneer!

Kelson with his new companion

Hey everyone!!


So I don't have a lot of time to write this week but here´s a little update!

Our house here has a sink to wash clothes in so I get to wash my clothes BY HAND! I'm like a pioneer. Hahaha I just never thought I would have to do that, but here I am learning that! I'm going to come home a different guy.

This week we were just contacting like crazy trying to find new investigators! We got a referral from the Visitor´s Center for Ian Carlos and he is GOLD! He just got out of Rehab and he is wanting to put his life together! His Uncle is a convert and has a year in the church, so he took him to the Visitor´s Center and he loved it! He came to church too and he really likes it! I'll keep you updated on him. We also found Julio, who is married to a member and he is just a dry Mormon. We met with him the first day (it is SUPER hard to find him, only can see him once a week) and he expressed his desire to be baptized and sealed to his wife. So, yeah. We are gonna baptize him in like two week she has been going to church for a year he just needs to be baptized! We also found a lot of other people...sorry don't have tons of time to write about them!

Today for our Zone Activity we got the the stake center (which is like right beside the Temple! Yeah!) and we played RUGBY! There were only 8 of us, but it was a blast! The Zone activity was great, we did a picture scavenger hunt where we had to take selfies with people and things and doing things haha! Then we had two tables full of cookies and we had to crawl to the table and eat them as fast as we could hahaha Elder Maluia in our District somehow managed to eat 5 at a time so we won. Haha! That was hilarious! Then we just did some skits with old clothes we all found in our house, it was a great activity! Fun to be with the sisters from the Visitors Center, we have a bunch in our Zone!

Sorry it's so short, things are great here I love you all so much!

-Elder Davies

Here is a picture of our Zone and a Selfie with my District and the Temple. Also some pictures from the Zone activity in the Stake Center.