FINISH STRONG!!!!

Well my dearest family and friends!!! I just love you so much!! I cannot tell you how blessed i feel to be a missionary. This week was so miraculous. I hope i have time to write all these stories but if i dont just know that miracles are happening every day :)

First off we had an awesome lesson with this lady who is a members nurses aid. She was at her house and was interested in learning more so we went back to teach her. Well before we start teaching the restoration we talk a little bit about how as she follows the promptings of the spirit she will have a desire to grow closer to our Heavenly Father and how she does that is through making covenants at baptism. She stopped us right there and was like "Wait a second you make a covenant when you are baptized?" and we were like yes we do. And then we went on to explain what  covenant was and how they bind us to our Heavenly Father. She thought it was the coolest thing ever. She said "No other church does that" As i was thinking about that after the lesson i just had the opportunity to reflect on how important our covenants truly are. What a blessing it is to make a promise with God. It is so amazing!!! 

Funny moment of the week....well this is one of many. So we were standing at the end of the line at Wendy's waitin for our food. This guy walks past and says Hi and so we say Hi back and ask him how he is doing. Now let me tell you this guy is completely white. There is now hispanic or anything in him that made him look like he wouldnt speak English. But after we asked how he was doing it sounded like he said "I dont speak much english." So my reply back was "Oh what language do you speak?" but i said it kinda slow so he could try and make out my words... Then he gave me a funny look so i said "Do you speak spanish?" Thinking maybe he would be able to understand some of that. Still that same look of i have no idea what you are talking about. Then he says to me "I speak english"... then he pointed to the cashiers and said "They dont understand my english" Then i realized that is what he said at the very beginning of this awkward conversation. He then finished what he was doing and walked away. I turned to my companion doing everything i could not to burst out laughing at what just happened. 

Okay now for the biggest miracle of all :) So our investigator that we have been preparing for baptism was having a hard time after church last Sunday. He was talking to his grandma about some things that were going on in his mind and she kinda freaked out and sent him to the psych hospital. So this whole week we have had zero contact with him. We have been working with his grandma who is a less active member trying to get her to come back to church. So we went over Sunday morning before church to see his grandma and she says that her grandson is out of the hospital but is not allowed to be at her house. He has some anger issues with her and it is kinda just a bit mess. But she said that the best thing for him would to be to go to church. So my thought was okay after we leave here we need to go to his apartment and see him to try and get him to church. Well as i am having this thought our phone vibrated and i looked down and he texted us telling us he was out of the hospital. So we texted him back and asked if he wanted to come to church. He then called us and told us he wanted to come to church but had no way to make it there. So we quickly found him a ride so he could come. We then went and met up with him to take him some breakfast. When we were there he told us that he had the thought that he didnt want to come to church but didnt have a good feeling about that thought then he had the thought that he needed to come to church and he said "By the feeling i had after that thought i knew i needed to come to church today" We were so amazed!!! That kid understands the spirit. It was so awesome and so good to feel that spirit at he shared his testimony about that. 

Man i just want you all to know that this gospel is so true. I know it is. I know that Jospeh Smith is truly a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is Gods word. It truly gives us the strength we need each day to make it through lifes challenges. FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!!! I know it and i love it and am so grateful for it!!! I love you all so much!!!! 

Love your sister Davis :)

Busy busy week! :)

We found a turtle in the middle of the road.

Man this week was just insane!!! But it was so much fun! First off know that i love you all and you all are just so stinkin amazing!! :) 

Got drenched in the sudden down poor. 

Got to see all my little buddies in east gate again :) 

Okay so lets start off with yesterday morning. So on Sunday mornings we take some of our investigators breakfast to try and help them come to church. So we were at one of our investigators houses and he was still in bed and his grandma could not wake him up. So before we had gotten there she called the ride we set up for him and she cancelled. But we were determined to get him to church. So we asked her if we could try and wake him up and by the grace of God we were able to wake him up. But oh no that is not even the least of the story. So we got him up and he actually doesnt live at his grandmas he has his own apartment but he is usually is at his grandmas. So he didnt have any church clothes. So he didnt want to come. At first we were trying to explain to him that it didnt matter and he could wear just the best clothes he had there. But he would not budge. He was not gonna come to church without his church clothes. Plus now he had no ride to church because it was cancelled. By this time it was 12:30 and we were about 15 minutes away from the church and church starts at 1. So we made this game plan he was gonna give us the keys to the apartment and we would go get his clothes and he would get a ride to church and we would meet him there. So the race against time was on. We called the lady that was originally gonna give him a ride to see if she still could. She was already on her way to church but said she would turn around. So she came and got him and they were on their way to the church and we were on our way to his apartment. Luckily his apartment was kinda on the way to the church. But bu the time we got there it was 12:45. So sister Stokes and I booked it inside and got his clothes. Then we were on our way now 12:50 and we were still about 10-12 minutes away from the church and the roads we have to drive on are not straight at all so we couldnt go very fast. It was a fun ride though. We made it to church only 2 minutes late. They were just barely singing the opening song. Our investigator got his clothes and was able to enjoy church.  He is so funny and sometimes i just dont understand him. He is so awesome and loves everything we share with him while we are teaching and loves coming to church. But the minute we leave it is so hard trying to get back in with him. We remind him everytime that Satan is going to work on him and he is like "I know i know" but it never fails. So that is our goal this week is trying to figure out how we can help him want it while we are there and when we leave. But he is so awesome!!! 

I also had a very humbling experience this week. I have just been really frustrated and feeling like i dont have the time i need to get everything done that i need to. I just felt like i wasnt enjoying the things i was doing cause i was so stressed about getting everything done. Then i read this talk about gratitude and i decided instead of asking my Heavenly Father to help me get everything done that i needed to get done i would thank Him for helping me get done what i could get done. So I started saying gratitude prayers. Can i just tell you all my whole perspective and my whole attitude has been changed. I feel so much better and feel so much relief. God helps us do so much everyday and i was totally taking for granted all that help He was already giving me. It is so important to be thankful. God is so good!! I love my mission and the lessons i learn everyday! You all are so fantastic!! Keep staying strong!! :) Love you all!!!

Love your sister Davis :) 

P.S. I recieved this revelation from a member this week.... Faith is not hoping that something will happen it is trusting in God and asking what you can do to make it happen. IT'S SO TRUE!!!!  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

week of miracles!!

Oh man i cant even explain to you all the miracles we have seen this week. But first off know that i love you all so much and i am praying for you always!!

So first off funny story. We were over at a members house last night for dinner. They have a little four year old girl and she is just a crack up. we had lasagna but instead of beef in it they put turkey in it which tasted good still. I actually couldnt taste the turkey at all. But their little girl turned to her mom and was like "Mom did you have this turkey as a pet and accidentally kill it and cook it." We all died of laughter. She just said the funniest things the whole night. She was completely just and innocent little girl that wanted to know so much. She reminded me a lot of my little sister when she was that age. Haha! 

 

So lately sister Stokes and i have been praying for some solid investigators. It is so amazing to see how God just provides these people for you. You literally cant find anyone without the direction and help from God. I have learned that is why it is so important to follow promptings from the spirit. So for the first part of the week i had been having this feeling that we needed to go see Sister Tolle this member of the ward. So i mentioned it to my companion and we kept putting her as back ups to the people we were already seeing. Then wednesday came and i was like Sister Stokes i dont know why but i really feel like we need to go and see sister Tolle right now. So we went over there and nothing was going on so we just went in and visited with her not really sure of why we had to be there right then. But as we were in the middle of the lesson her nurse came. So sister Tolle told her nurse to come and sit down with us all. So she did... then she started asking questions... then she wanted to know more... then we set up a return appointment... and now she is a pretty solid investigator that wants to learn more. It was so awesome!!! 

 

Once again i just had the greatest experience yesterday. So we have been working with this recent convert and his wife who is already a member. But we are teaching them the lessons again. Yesterday we were talking to them about the Book of Mormon. We were in a members home and the spirit was there so strong. I started to bare testimony of the power of Book of Mormon and as i was baring my testimony i just felt once again the truthfulness and power of the Book of Mormon. It is truly the word of God. I cant even explain the power that book carries. It has changed my life. I could never deny it. I know that is where we can find strength to overcome our challenges we are faced with it is where we find healing through the atonement of Christ and it is where we build a relationship with God that is firm and unshaken. It is all because that book testifies of Jesus Christ. He is our strength if we allow Him to be, He is our healer if we allow Him to be. But it is our choice he cant force it on anyone. But i can testify life is a lot more bearable if we choose to let Him be those things to us. I love this gospel with all my heart and it is what has blessed my family! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!! 

Love your sister Davis :)

What a week!

Man i have learned a lot of great lessons this week. Once again to sum up the lesson in general it is to trust in God. But before i get into all that just know that i love you so much and am praying for you always!!

Okay to start off we had the funniest lesson with this young man we are teaching. We were following up with him about the prophet. We asked him if he there was a prophet on the earth today. He told us that he believed there was. We asked him what that meant to him to find out that there was a prophet on the earth. His reply was "Well when you sisters told me there was a prophet on the earth it was like finding out Obama was president" Ahhhhhh I almost died. Hahahaha it was so funny then i started to open my mouth before i thought and i almost said "Yeah except finding out there is a prophet it probably a good exciting feeling" but i quickly stopped myself mid sentence and looked at my companion. Good thing she knew what i was thinking and saved me. I didnt know exactly what he meant by that. Like if he was just surprised or what. But this kid we are teaching is so amazing. He is so sincere. It is so fun to teach him cause you can always tell when he is feeling the spirit cause he gets this big smile on his face. It is just the greatest thing ever to see how much joy the gospel can bring to those around us. 

Here is the part where i learned to trust in God even more. So our mission will take recent converts to the temple to do baptisms for the dead after they get baptized and we wanted to get this lady to go. They really encourage us to get a name for them to take with them. So we had been working so hard the whole week to try and get her in with a family history consultant and nothing was working out. Well in order for us to go we needed her to have a name. She could still go but we wouldnt get to go with her. But the only problem was the ride we set up for her she didnt know them and she is legally blind. So we had a huge problem. We felt so bad and just didnt know what to do. It was friday night at like 10:25 and we are supposed to be in bed at 10:30 and we still had nothin for her to take to the temple. We texted all the family history consultants to see if any of them could meet in the morning then we had to just go to bed and wait and see if any replied in the morning. We did not get much sleep worrying about that. Well morning came and we had two meeting before we went to the temple and not a single one of the consultants could meet with us. We had a short half hour between our two meetings to try and find a name. So we asked all the elders to see if any of them knew how to find a name. By the grace of God one of them did. So we were able to get her a name to take to the temple. It was insane. I cannot even express the relief i felt as we found that name. Everything just fell into place. We were praying so hard. But i truly know Satan does all he can to keep you from going to the temple. But i also know that we can overcome any setbacks. I needed that temple trip and Satan knew it. As i sat there in the temple i just felt so much peace and relief. I love this gospel and i love that God always wins. Yesterday our Bishop bore his testimony and said "Every aspect of my life is better because of Jesus Christ" I would have to add my testimony to that. I know that it is only because of my savior that i have been able to do the things that i have gotten to do. This church is so true!!! I love it!! TRUST IN GOD, HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YA HANGIN!!! I love my mission!!!! I love you all!!! 

Love your sister Davis :)

Back in OHIO!! :) Area: Cherry Grove, Ohio Companion: Steffani Stokes, Las Vegas, Nevada

My dearest family and friends!! 

How are ya'll doin? I just love you so much!!! So i am in a new area now. Funny story i am actually back in one of my old apartments so my address is 6403 Clough Pike Apt 5 Cincinnati OH 45244. I have such an awesome companion. She is so fantastic. We have a lot of fun and are makin a lot of memories. We have seen so many miracles this week! 

So first off the sisters had been trying to see this less active member and they just couldnt get in touch with her. So we were over by her apartment on Thursday and we were talking to this guy outside. Then all the sudden she pulled up and was walking into her apartment so we were able to get in contact with her. But not only that she invited us in to share a message with her. Her non-member grandson was there so we were able to teach him as well and pick him up as a new investigator. He is so prepared! He came to church on Sunday and wants to be baptized and change his life around. He is 18 and has been through a ton. He told us that he just wants to change his life around and feel forgiven of his past. He is preparing to be baptized on June 20 so we could really use everyones prayers that he will make it there. That has happened a lot this week. Heavenly Father has put us in the areas we are needed this whole week. It has been amazing to see how he is working through us. That is truly one of my favorite parts of this is to see God working through us. 

Now for the funny moment of the week. We met this lady that has these big ambitions to travel the US and see all the national parks. She was getting ready to go and we asked her if we could help her. She said she needed help getting rid of all her stuff so we went by on Saturday to help her with that. Well her van filled up and she still had a chair and an ottoman. So we told her we would try and fit it in our car. Well she left to go take a load to Goodwill and we were there trying to get the chair in our car. Well it got stuck half way in and half way out. It wouldnt budge. We had no idea what to do. We tried everything. We tried rolling down the window to give it more room. We tried going in the other way and pulling it in. We tried pushing it out and pulling it out. But it was stuck. There was no hope and we were dying of laughter cause of how rediculous it looked. But we couldnt go anywhere because we couldnt close the door. Well the lady came back and saw we were still trying to get it in the car. She laughed for a minute then started to help us try and figure out what to do. Then we got the bright idea to slide the front seat up and lean the chair forward and we were able to loosen it up enough that we could rotate it in. We havent tried to get it out so we dont know if it will come out but we got it in there. haha! It was so funny!! 

I dont know if you all have had the chance to watch the Lift video that the church has put out but it is amazing. There is so much that is said in that video that can be implemented in our lives. One thing that really stood out to me was when they talked about how healing the body in and inward turn but healing the soul is an outward turn. It is so true and i totally saw that in my last area i was serving in. There was this young man who had been through so much as a little kid. He was abused and just had seen things that no little boy needed to. He had a lot of hurt built up inside him. He was recently baptized. He still struggled with depression and feeling happy. He would tell us the only time he would feel an ounce of happiness was when he went out and taught with the elders. We told him that is because as he was teaching the gospel he was serving God therefore he was turning outward and healing his soul. Sometimes souls take a long time to heal but i truly know that by serving others our souls can be healed from any hurt or pain we receive throughout our lives. Here is the link to the video. I would really encourage you all to watch it. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-05-003-lift?lang=eng. I want you all to know that i know this gospel is true. I know God loves us and has a plan for each of us. I know we can develop the character of Christ as we live our lives the way God has directed us to live and as we do new things every day that take us out of our comfort zone and change us. I love the quote "There is no learning in the comfort zone and there is no comfort in the learning zone." It is so true. But i do know God will help us as we put forth the effort he will consecrate our performance. I sure love you all and pray you have a fantastic week!! 

Love your sister Davis :)