Cheese :)

Hey everyone!!

Sister Davis and her character shaped cheese!!

So i just got back from a huge grocery store. It is called jungle jims. Holy cow i have never been so overwhelmed grocery shopping before. They have everything there you could ever imagine. This sweet lady in our ward took us. Holy cow the cheese. I love cheese and they have cheese there from all over the world. They even have cheese shaped like characters... yes I got a character shaped cheese. When am i ever going to have character shaped cheese again? Probably never. I cant decide if i want to eat it or just fantasize over it ;)

 

This week was extremely cold. Something happened with the heat in our apartment so me and my companion slept one night in our jackets hats and gloves. It was freezing!! We also thought a good way to get in with people would be to shovel snow. So we ask this guy if we could shovel and he said sure. Well we did not know that he hadnt shoveled like all season so all the underneath was completely frozen. But after we realized how long this was going to take we couldnt turn back because we told the guy we would. So we spent an hour and a half just trying to get it all shoveled. We did the best we could but after all we could do was laugh cause we were so sore. Oh and in sacrament meeting on sunday the lady giving the closing prayer thanked Heavenly Father for all the cold because the frozen ground was killing all the bugs. She said it just like that too and almost the whole congregation started laughing. Oh and i have a routine in the morning when i am gettin dressed to stay warm. So it goes my leggings, toe socks, regular sock, knee highs, and fleece tights then my boots. It is so COLD!!

This one lady we are teaching has a great dane dog. The dog is hilarious. It will just take its hind end and come and sit on your lap. I took a picture of it sitting on my lap. Oh another funny story. So the senior missionary couple that is in my area was driving us around to show us some things and the elder totally hit a squirrel in the middle of the road. Then he denied that he hit it. But later when me and my companion were driving back we saw the remains... poor squirrel had no chance.

Okay so this is for my tumbling family. They will be so happy. I met this lady in my branch and her daughter and son does gymnastics. I know that is different than tumbling but they said that on a pday they would have to take me to the gym and we could flip around. Also the daughter wants to know how to walk on her hands. So i told her i would teach her.... can i just say day made!!

Well i have met so many interesting people here on my mission so far and i know i will continue to meet so many. Thank you for all the emails and letters. I cannot even tell you how much they mean to me. I love reading them. My mom prints them off and sends them to me so i can have them throughout the week. I hope you all know i love you so much!! Keep staying strong and remember we are all children of God!! :)

Love your sister Davis :)

Mom's notes:

Kirsten ate sushi, I never would have thought that she would eat it :)

She met President Lighthall.

New Address

Sister Kirsten Kelly Davis
2193 Basket Ln, Apt 107
Lawrenceburg, IN 47025

The mission life :)

Hey everyone!!

Oh man the mission field is absolutely amazing. It is super hard work and so worth every minute of it. The emotions here are extreme. The feelings of joy are sooooo Joyful and the feeling of someone not wanting to accept the gospel are soooo disappointing. But hey Heavenly Father knows what He is doing and each feeling of joy i receive overpowers the feeling of disappointment I receive. I know He leads and guides me.

The area i live is isnt big enough to be a ward it is just a branch. We have church in this cute little building. And when i say little it is tiny. There is not even a gym to play anything in.

The other night when we went to knock on this persons door they had two dogs outside. Well my companion is a little scared of dogs so i was trying to encourage her and tell her that it was okay and they wouldn't hurt us. So with the dogs barking at us we finally made it to the door. And at this point i was honestly a little scared too because the dogs didn't seem all that nice. Well no one answered the door so we had to turn around and make it back through the dogs again and as i turning around the dog nipped at me and tore the bottom of my skirt. it startled me so we hustled out of there and as soon as we got out we just burst out laughing cause that was probably not the smartest thing we could have done. But something good came out of it. The next time we went back someone was home and we have an appointment scheduled to teach them.

For all you people still going to school. In Indiana if it snows two to three inches school is canceled... I know crazy huh. If they hear a storm is coming there is no milk or eggs left at the store because everyone stalks up... no one goes outside if it is snowing. Honestly i dont blame them because it is freezing. But hey it makes missionary work fun because then everyone is home.

We went and visited a member the other day and as we were visiting we discovered he plays the bag pipes for the Nauvoo Pageant. I asked if i could play them and he got them out and yes he let me play them. I started to get light headed so he told me to stop. They take a lot of breath. But it was so fun. Then he played us a song on them. All i could do was laugh. No worries i got pictures and videos of it.

I also got to do a backflip by the "Welcome to Indiana" sign. It was on pday but we were running errands so i had to be in a skirt. No worries my skirt stayed down and no one saw anything... ;) I did land in a pile of mud and snow though. But being January what else would i have expected.

Well the work goes on. I know i am meant to be where i am at. It is hard work but it will be so worth it in the end. I know my Heavenly Father knows me. I know that there are angels walking with me and helping lift me back up when i get down. I know they are there I can feel them. I know that it is through the prayers of my family and friends that i am going to be able to make it through the next 18 months. I love you all and i hope each of you know you are in my prayers. Keep smiling :)

Love your Sister Davis :)

Moms Notes: 

She has asked for, your testimony written down and MAILED to her.

Kirsten shared with me a story about an investigator, I think it is great to hear her testimony.  "She has been investigating since August and she has lots and lots of family problems. She needs to read the Book of Mormon that is her biggest struggle we think because her house is so negative and hectic she cant feel the spirit testify to her when she reads. She has had a hard life and yesterday we laid down the law with her. She said that it would probably get easier when her son moved out and i said It is not going to get easier wanna know why because the adversary knows you are trying and you have got to stand up to him and show him who is boss."

Oh and remember the tissue paper flowers we used to make? Yeah well since we are poor missionaries and when we need to give someone flowers we make them out of Kleenex tissues :)

I received an email from Sister Jennifer Eliason, a member in Kirsten's branch, she titled this picture "Dinner with these beauties". I sent a quick email back to her and thanked her for caring for these sisters, and the following is what she had replied back to me "My pleasure! She was so polite and attentive at dinner and so insistent to help before and afterwards. She is a wonderful girl and we are so blessed to have her in our branch. She seems so genuinely happy and really at peace." Jennifer Eliason. 

Her words brought so much comfort to me!!!  This is the first picture of Kirsten that I have seen her really smile:)

Doubled In

Kirsten didn't email home this week, maybe next week we will get an explanation, but I did received a letter in the mail on Friday, January 17, 2014 and the following is some bits and pieces of that letter:

So my first area is in Indiana.  It is kinda like Plain City but kinda different.  It definitely is a different feeling here.

Sister Herdon and I got "doubled in" which means we are starting a new area, which means we have to find an apartment, which means there is no food left over from other missionaries.  As of right now we are sleeping on cots and an air mattress with the other sisters in our area.

It was so cool, I went to get a blessing from the Branch President he texted me the next day and he said his whole family feels like they know me from somewhere.  He said he is excited to have us here and he knows we are meant to be here.

We have no investigators yet but we are working hard.

I pray everyday that I will love my mission.

Love Your Sister Davis

Read Doctrine & Covenants
39:1, 39:13, 38:32, 39:6
(read in that order)

The following statement is from Sister Herdon's Blog:

I am also training!  My companion is Sister Davis from Plain City Utah. She is Cole’s age, she just turned 19 before she came out and graduated high school just recently. She is the most angelic person I have ever met. I love her.

These are pictures of the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Zone Conference that I took off of the Ohio Cincinnati Mission Facebook page.

 

Sister Davis First Letter Home in the Mission Field, Area: Bright Indiana, Companion: Sister Brittan Herndon California

Hey everyone!! I hope all is going well. Can I just say the mission field is amazing. It is so hard but i can feel the Spirit and my Heavenly Father working so hard with me. Which makes everything so worth it.

So i am serving in Indiana right now in a little area called Bright. It actually is a big area. My trainer and I are starting from scratch there because we got "doubled in" which i think means we start a new area... i am not for sure but we are for sure starting from scratch. So we have visited a lot of members and less actives.

So some stories for the week... as soon as i got to Ohio I saw four taxi's. For those of you who know my obsession with taxi's i was dying!! :) Also we were eating with the senior missionaries in our area and she put me in charge of steaming the broccoli. She told me to just make how every much i thought everyone would eat... well in my family we dont eat a lot of broccoli so i figured about two pieces for everyone. So that is what i made and when she went to check on the broccoli she opened the steamer and laughed and turned to me and said "You dont like broccoli do you sister Davis?" it was a little embarrassing but one of those moments when you just laugh.  Also this is for all you who know how clumsy i am. So in our branch we were asked to sing with the primary kids for stake conference. Well we practiced and then we went and visited and then when we were getting ready to start the meeting we were returning to the stand i went to step up the stairs and didnt lift my foot high enough and tripped up the stairs... again embarrassing but a moment to just laugh. Oh and also in my area there is a welcome to Indiana sign that is not on the freeway so today i think i am going to go do a flip by it.. one more state down. I think i have 36 more to go :)

Overall everything here is so good. It is hard and i am missing home but my mission president said the first three months are so hard. Its like the conditioning before the game and after that it is game time. So i know with the Lords help i can do this. I know this is where i am supposed to be. He has prepared many people for us to share this beautiful gospel with. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Know that every one of you are in my prayers. :)

Love Your Sister Davis :)

I guess I never taught her how dirty the snow is :)

Mom's Notes: Kirsten said her companion is "Perfect", she is a crier also and she allows 5 minutes per day to be sad and then move on, Kirst says that helps her.

Sister Herndon and Sister Davis

 

Kirsten's Address

Sister Kirsten Kelly Davis
111 Dewer St Apt 204
Aurora, IN 47001

I received an email from Kirsten's Mission President today, she made it to Ohio!!!

President Porter, Sister Davis, Sister Porter

Last Email from the MTC!!

Hey everyone!!!

Today is my last day in the MTC! It is defiantly bitter sweet. I am so excited to get out to Ohio, but adapting to another change is not something i am looking forward to. But hey it is such a great growing and learning experience. I have learned so much here at the MTC. Man if i could just transfer my knowledge of how much i know the Savior loves all of us into each one of your heads i would do it in a heart beat. But that is the glory of our agency. We each get to find that for ourselves and it means something different for each of us. But i hope each of you know that the Savior does love you. He knows you and He walks with you through everything.

We got to go to the temple today as a zone. My last temple trip for 18 months.... so sad. I cried a lot.... i have decided i was blessed with my mothers tear ducts. I absolutely love the feeling of the temple. It was so neat to see all these missionaries in there with me.

I cant really think of any funny stories to share with you this week because a lot of them are "kinda had to be there moments..." and you all might just think i am a dork.... but then again some of you might already think that.

We got to teach an investigator this week and the questions she asked and experiences she has had just showed how much God has prepared her to receive the Gospel. We asked if she would be baptized. Her reply was "Thats the next step huh?" and we were like yeah and she told us that if everything keeps fitting together the way it has and she keeps feeling the same way after she got done reading the Book of Mormon she would be baptized. Such a bummer that i am leaving so i wont get to see her be baptized but luckily i got her email to keep in touch. It makes me so excited to share this Gospel to others that the Lord has prepared. My goodness what a wonderful work i have ahead of me. :) I love each of you and thank you fro the encouragement and emails. Keep being strong and moving forward. Love you :)

Love your Sister Davis :)

 

Mom's Note: Kirst can feel our family's prayers and is thankful for them, please don't stop praying.  I added this comment she put in my letter, this is something I wanted her to learn on her mission.  "One thing i have noticed is i have to make a lot of decisions on my own... well with the Lords help... but i usually would just call or text you and ask you. So that has been really hard to figure out trusting myself with the Lord. I love talking to you mom. You have brought me such comfort over the years."

Stories from the MTC

This is an email Kirsten sent on January 2, 2013.  I love it!! It sounds just like her:)

Hey everyone!! 

Oh man thank you all for the wonderful emails. I wish I could personally email each of you back but I just don't have enough time. But know I love each of you so much and your emails help me so much as well. 

So will start off with a funny story/stories. Me and one of the other sisters were hiding from our companions behind the couch well to be funny I rolled out from behind it like a secret agent and beckoned for her to follow but she didn't want to so I well to roll back and as I rolled back I rolled right into the edge of the couch and hit my head on the corner...I may have bruised my forehead but I am okay and it was so funny. 

Another story, after gym one day we had study time, since it was the end of the day our district leader told us that we could just go back to class and study in our gym clothes. Yeah... bad idea. so we were all sittin there in the classroom all sprawled out on the floor studying... and laughing. Then all the sudden the door opens and in walks the mission president. After we explained why we were dressed the way we were he asked what we were studying and before I could even think about it I said "Repentance" (I really was studying that at the time) but everyone started laughing and then I realized that it fit in perfectly with what just happened.

 

I taught my companion how to do a handstand and I am able to tumble down the hallway and in the lobby thing of our residence hall. 

Elder Bednar came and spoke to us on Christmas. He passed out 200 phones and we got to text him questions. One of the questions that was asked was "Why do I feel so inadequate to do this work?" His reply was "Because you realize the importance of the work you are doing."

I have also learned that discouragement is a tool of the devil. So whatever you may be doing in life DO NOT get discouraged. You are much better than satan will ever tell you you are. 

I love you all so much!!

Love Sister Kirsten Kelly Davis :)

D&C 78:17-19

My Favorite Missionary Pictures