A Missionary Christmas

This poem was given to Kirsten from a companion.  I love it!!!

A Missionary Christmas

I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving. The thrill just wasn’t there.
 No pictures taken with Santa Claus. My decorating has no flair.
 His presents are shoes, shirts, and ties, two suits and socks… no fun.
 I’ve bought him all white clothes because this year I’m giving Christ my son.

I’ve spent more time in the temple, my testimony stirred.
 I’ve re-read November’s Ensign, felt strength come from His words.
 Our family prays more frequently. My tears are quick to run.
 Abraham seems closer because this year I’m giving Christ my son.

I wonder how those Lamanite mothers gave their sons to war?
 Or how the pioneers chose Zion—their sacrifice was so much more.
 My loss will be his presence. I’ll miss his smile a ton.
 For two years we will pray for him. I’m giving Christ my son.

I stare at his face when he’s not looking. I memorize his eyes, their shine.
 He’s always hungered for the part of him, that makes his soul divine.
 The stories and lessons he always heard. His choice and mine are one.
 I’ll put my faith in God’s hand. This year, I’m giving Him my son.

Past gifts have lost their glitter. I think I finally understand
 Christ’s birth should be celebrated by giving Him a hand.
 It’s because I know Christ lives and reigns that all his packing’s done.
 My gift has taken years to make. This year I’m giving Christ my son.

I know there’s One who understands the sacrifice I’m making.
 Who knows the gift I willingly give, the toll it will be taking.
 For He has done it all before. Greater love — there could be none.
 For years ago God gave to me His only begotten son.

The hands I washed, the hands I held, the hands I taught to pray—
Now knock on doors to find the ones who will listen to what he’ll say.
 Because I know Christ needs him until all the gathering’s done.
 My gift has taken years to make. This year I’m giving Christ my son.

— Author Unknown

I am so grateful to be a missionary :)

My dearest family and friends!!!

This week has been another week of miracles. I love my mission and i love everything i am learning.

First i will start with my funny experience for the week. We went to an investigators home. Usually when investigators have dogs they usually ask us if we are okay with dogs. Well he has a huge dog which is no big deal but we are in there and talkin for a bit and he says "I hope you are okay with mice..." hahaha WHAT? then he went on to explain that he has this mouse that he found one day in his home and it keeps coming back and he has made a little bed for it and a hole in the floor for it to go outside and everything. He says he lays food out for it and it plays with his dog.  Hahaha we cracked up after that :)

Now for the amazing things that are happening in this area. First off i wanted to share an insight i had in my studies last week. So i was looking in the hebrew dictionary under what miracle meant and the defintion is "points to new and higher forces that have entered and are working in this lower world of ours" Isnt that so amazing? A miracle is literally God and his angels coming and working here on earth through us. We had a huge miracle on Friday! We had this appointment set up with one of our investigators and we went over there and they werent there. So we had to do some planning back at home and when we got there the member that we are living with her house cleaner was there. We told her what happened about how the person wasnt there and she said well how about you give the lesson to me? and we were like okay so we all sat down and we talked about some of the concerns she had in life and about what she knew about God and we were able to invite the spirit and share a powerful message about the restoration with her. She was crying! It was a miracle and definately the grace of God.

I know that our heavenly Father knows exactly where we are supposed to be at the time we are supposed to be there and he provides everyway possible to make sure we are there at the right time. I know this gospel is true. I know that our prayers are answered all the time. I could never deny these things. I have witnessed them personally. I love you all so so much! You are all in my prayers!

Love your sister Davis :)

Mom's notes: Kirsten didn't tell you that she is being transferred.  They are being doubled out so Sister Davis and Sister Lane are both leaving the area.  She said she is sad but is excited to see where our Heavenly Father needs her.

It's December!!

I love you all so so much!!!

This week was a pretty great week. We had a really cool experience the other night. We were trying really hard to find someone new to teach. So we decided to go and contact some potentials. But no one was home. So we decided to say a prayer to see where we were supposed to be. We got the feeling to go and try to contact a former investigator.  So we went there but she wasnt home either. So we started to knock some doors but no one was answering. So we were gonna go try one more door and on our way over there we saw this guy outside working in the garage. He had a fire goin and it was pretty chilly so we went over and asked if we could warm up by the fire for a bit. He was so nice and told us that we could. He even went and got another log to put on it. So we got to talk to him for a bit and told him what we were doing. We asked him if we could come back and he told us that we could. It was a miracle. I know that God is aware of all his children. He knows exactly where they are and exactly where we are (not just missionaries but also where the members are). I promise you that if you are looking for it God will put someone in your path that you can share the gospel with. This new christmas video that they have come out with is a great way to get a conversation started about it too. :) http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529

We also had a neat experience yesterday. We were trying to teach this guy who is from Vietnaum. He is buddhist so we started with the very basic. He knows english but it is not very clear. He was having a hard time understanding us at first but then it was so amazing cause as we were testifying that we were children of God the spirit came so strong and we were able to understand him better and he was able to understand us. We asked him if he wanted to learn more about that and how he is a child of God. He agreed to meet with us again and he agreed to pray. So we taught him how to pray and everything. It was amazing! :) God is so good to us he wants everyone to hear about his gospel. No excuses!! :)

I know that this gospel is so true. I know that our prayers are answered. I know that we are children of God. I wouldnt deny it. I couldnt deny it. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior so much! I love my family and am so grateful to have you all. I love you guys!!! Keep stayin strong!

Love your sister Davis :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Kirsten celebrating her 20th Birthday with Sister Lane
and the Sanchez Family

Hey all you wonderful fantastic family and friends!

We have just seen so many miracles this week. We have had so much fun serving here in Cincinnati. It is truly quite the experience. So lately i have been praying to have charity. Especially for the people that we teach. I want to really see them through the eyes of our Heavenly Father. I had a neat but heartbreaking experience yesterday. We went back to one of our investigators and he told us that he just doesnt believe. He said that too much has happened in life that there could just not be a God. He said that he used to be super religious. He said that when he was going through those hard times that he prayed and asked God to just push him in the right direction. He said that he felt like he got no answer and things just got worse. But as we were standing there hearing him the thoughts that kept coming to my mind is that this is a son of God and he doesnt even know it. I didnt know what to say to him. I kept praying and asking my Heavenly Father. But for a moment i got a small feeling of sorrow because this man doesnt know his father. He doesnt know that there is someone out there that knows everything about him that knows the pain he has gone through and the heartache he has felt. I wanted so badly to just help him see how much our Heavenly Father loves him but he wouldnt listen to it. I want you all to know that you have a Heavenly Father and he loves you beyond comprehension. He knows you and will always be there for you!

So saturday we had a real funny experience. We were going to see our investigator that we had an appointment with. It was about 7:30 in the evening and all the lights in the house were off. We decided to still try and see him. Well on the way up to the door we hear this loud snoring from coming inside. We didnt end up knocking. Well we went back the next day and told him that we missed seeing him yesterday. He told us that he got called into work about 7:30... so either his dog has a really manly snore or he was pretty late for work... haha it may have been a had to be there moment but we thought it was pretty funny.

I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! i am so grateful for my opportunity to serve. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. Please all of you be safe and remember who you are. I love you so so much!!!

Kirsten's 20th Birthday, Kirsten didn't title this one so I did it for her :)

My best buddy on my mission :)

Hey all you wonderful beautiful handsome friends and family :)

This week has been a wonderful week. First off I want to thank you for the birthday cards and gifts :) it was such a treat to open them today. I love you all so much!  



look at all the leaves here

I have just learned a whole bunch this week! One of my "visions" for myself by the end of my mission is to more fully recognize the promptings of the spirit. This week we had the opportunity to have a general authority come and tour our mission and he talked a lot about the spirit and the different roles of it. After that I really tried to really focus on the spirit as I prayed and as I went through my day. It is amazing the closeness you feel to your Heavenly Father as you do that. I love my Heavenly Father so much! I know we are all sons and daughters of him. In a very literal sense. I know this with all the fiber of my being I could never deny it. I hope you all know that too. He loves you! He wants to see you succeed. He will do all he can to help you fulfill your dreams as you work hard and turn to him :)



This week I am having a hard time thinking of a big funny thing that happened. Lots of funny things  happen throughout the week. But just little joys in doing the work that we can laugh about. I have found that is one of the best cures for those hard times we all experience. Prayer and laughter! It is so much easier to smile than to frown. Just do your best to be happy and remember everything happens for a reason! Keep stayin strong and know that i love you all so so much! You are in my prayers :) Love you!

i was just hangin at a
members house last night ;)

Love your sister Davis :)


Less actives dog reading the scriptures.



Miracles always follow after the trial of your faith!

Sister Lane & Sister Davis

Holy cow! I just love this gospel so much! Heavenly Father knows exactly what he is doin! That is one of the greatest lessons to learn i think to just rely fully on our Father in Heaven.

So i told you all about the lady we were teaching who said her parents werent gonna let her be baptized... well we told her to keep prayin and we would keep prayin as well. Well this week we went to another lesson with her and she came down and told us that her parents are gonna let her be baptized and come to church. She said they finally realize how important this is to her. That was a miracle everyone! God truly hears and answers prayers. I have seen that so much on my mission. He doesnt always answer them exactly how you think he will but sometimes he does and those are the most noticable times but the real challenge is to see how he answers your prayers when it is not exactly what you ask for. Isnt that intersesting? Maybe that can be a challenge for all of us to try and see how God answers your prayers each day when it is not exactly what you ask for, cause i know no matter what he does answer prayers :)

Okay so my funny story for the week. Well we went to help this lady clean her house.... it was.... interesting. So she has been known to have bugs in her home like an uncontrollable amount of bugs. So we took precautions and sprayed oursleves with rubbing alcohol before and after we helped but when we got home something we had been told to do is undress and put our clothes in a bag and throw them directly in the dryer. Luckily we live with a member so she had a garage so we were able to undress in there. But unfortunately the members cleaning lady was there so we yelled inside and told her not to look as we ran downstairs in our underwear... she was a good sport about it and totally understood. But it was kinda funny. Maybe it was a had to be there moment but so far we have been good and havent gotten any bed bugs... knock on wood :)

Also another funny moment is we have been trying to see this one member ever since we got here and we seemed to always go when she wasnt home... well that is what we thought. So we were talking to this other member and she told us to try and go see this lady again. Well we told that member that we can never catch her home she was like you know that she lives in an apartment. And we were like no the door we have been knocking on is a house door... so we doubled checked the address and it was the right address. Then we realized that we had been knocking on the front door to the apartment complex... no wonder no one was answering the door.... it was kinda embarrassing but funny too. So now we know we have to go inside that door. Even though i am on a mission i guess i am still entitled to my little blonde moments.

Well i hope all is going well with you all. Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Keep staying strong. Know that your Heavenly Father loves you so much and is watching over you. I love you all so much!

 

Love your sister Davis :)

Faith!! :)

Hey all you wonderful family and friends!!

I just want you all to know that i love you so much! You are all in my prayers! This week was quite a week.

First off we have met this amazing women. Our bishop told us all about her and asked us to go and see her. So we have started teaching her. She has studied the LDS faith for a long time and wants to raise her family in the church and go out to BYU. She has done a lot of studies on strong healthy families and she told us that the LDS familys have the highest rate of stability out of all the other faiths. We come in at 98% and the next closest one is 68%. Holy cow! But i cant totally understand why that is! But anyway she is just like a sponge with everything we share with her.  So she was going to come to church on sunday but we got a text from her that told us her parents are completely against her joining the church. She told us that she is going to have to wait until she goes out to Utah to get baptized. But we keep prayin for her. We know that God will take care of her. Miracles are always happening!!!  

This week I was studying a lot about faith. I am sure you all have read the chapter in the Matthew about Jesus Christ and Peter walking on water. It was so fantastic! I think i have talked about his before but when i was little i always thought it would be so cool to walk on water and told myself that one day i wanted to have enough faith to walk on water. So i really love this part of the bible. But anyway as Jesus comes to his diciples in the ship Peter Calls out to him and tells him that if it is him then to tell him to come out to him on the water. So the Lord tell Peter to come to him so Peter looks at Jesus and steps out of the boat and walks on the water. Then he turns his head towards the winds and the waves that are coming and starts to sink. But he quickly cried out to the Lord and the Lord immediately reaches out to him and pulls him back up. I thought we could relate that to our lives cause there is no doubt that winds and waves will come our way in life but as we stay focused on the Savior we will have the faith to get through them. But those times when we do start to doubt as we cry out to the Lord he will immediately reach out and pull us back up. But it all starts with the courage to take that first step out of the boat to increase our faith. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior i know he wants us to be successful in the things that we are doing in life. I know that he has a plan for each of us to grow our faith to one day be able to walk on water.

So that is a little bit of what is going on here in the greater cincinnati. I sure love hearing from you all. Have a fantastic safe week. Know that i love you all so so much!!! :)

 

Love your sister Davis :)