Mop Bucket

 

This has been a great week, we have a baptism date in every ward.  One is C she has taken the lessons before, and was really excited about getting baptized.  Her testimony is so strong, she's living with her brother who is helping her, he served his mission in Africa, so he has some really good stories, like dropping fruit off the balcony of their residence.  In our other ward there's a similar story of a young woman N she is probably getting baptized very soon, her boyfriend is very supportive, and we're looking forward to teaching them this week.  In the last ward we set a date with R.  She has really made some great improvements she's so close to quitting smoking which she has wanted to do.

 

By the way our ward boundaries got switched last night, so we now have a little bigger area.  The bad news is the new area is up a hill :(

Transfers were also this week, but Elder Berardi and I will still be serving together for the next 6 weeks.  I'm really excited, because this means that we'll be able to teach some of the new investigators.  Elder Berardi is also the new district leader which is really cool.  I'm very happy for him.

 

I've discovered that I can fit in a mop bucket, and they are incredibly stable.  On P-day Elder Berardi and I made a new game, we basically slingshot each other across the gym floor.  Of course after that we then clean it, but who says we can't have a little fun before hand.  Today I get to go see the Bishop in our ward's sound studio.  That's going to be so cool.  I haven't played with sound stuff for several months now.

 

In even more unrelated news, I can iron a shirt in under 4 minutes.

 

I should say that I have never been more surrounded by such wonderful people.  Our teaching and sensitivity to the spirit has grown so much, the lessons where the spirit teaches rather than us, are when you feel more fed than any piece of food that you can eat.  It's at those times when you really do feel exhausted simply because the spirit is working inside you teaching and testifying of truths of what we teach, on those days I sleep really well.

 

The work is going well and my friends here in Arizona are truly amazing.  I could not be in a better place than I am now.

 

With that I love you all and miss all those back at home (where ever you may be).

 

Love

Elder Davidson

 

PS. Congratulations to the youth in Bellevue South Stake, I heard the dance festival went very well.

Melting

Hello World

It's hot.

My mind is full of all kinds of things.  I can't think of anything specific to share.  Elder Berardi is no longer sick, which means instead of studying while he sleeps in the room we're back working outside trying to be the best we can.  I know my last email I said that we don't do much tracting, but it turns out we spent all saturday knocking on former investigators doors.  Of the 16 plus doors we knocked on not one opened the door, which is almost worse than being yelled at.  We did meet one man.  He was struggling to put a piece of board behind his house so we ran over and helped him out.  It turns out that he had a picture of the temple here in Mesa and was interested to know more about it.  We shared a little about what goes on in the temple, then asked if he needed help with any house work.  The funniest thing when we ask this is people always ask how much we charge.  We kindly informed him that we do because we're here to serve.  Most people don't understand why the church or the members of the church do the things they do.  In reality it is so simple, because Christ leads this church and we are trying to be like him, and he served the people.

I love it here, there is so much to be done and accomplished.
 We had a really entertaining lesson with the young women from one of our wards.  We taught them how to invite their friends to come to Family Home Evening or come to mutual.  I told Elder Berardi that I've never taught a more receptive group of individuals.

This past weekend we went to a baptism of a young man who has been investigating the church for more than 2 years.  The only reason he couldn't be baptized was because his parents didn't want him to be.  As it turns out he is now 18 and finally got baptized.  His parents kicked him out of the house, but still came to his baptism which was so cool.  He had so much support from all the members.

My mind is very crazy this morning.

I'm looking forward to another great week to teach and serve the people of Mesa and for that I am grateful.

I miss everyone and hope all goes well.

Love,

Elder Davidson

PS. I don't know if I said this earlier, but we email in a model train store which is so much fun.  Steve the owner showed me how to drive them all which is really cool. :)

I could probably use a nap.

Oh One of the ward missionaries in my area said he would come to my homecoming in Seattle.  He's the funniest guy ever.  He has a sister in Seattle, so he wouldn't have trouble coming up.  He sings in the Mormon Arizona Choir, and he knows Mack Wilburg (Mom spelling)!  That should be pretty cool, he's an incredibly good performer.

Golden Will

OK this might take a while.

So much has happened this past week.  Elder Berardi is Twenty, we had three baptisms, some members got mad at us, besides that life is good.

This email will probably be "the missionary work is really hard" email.  Before I talk about that though, I need to give a shout out to my sister Leah.  I finally got a picture of my family which made my week, and a whole box of random gold items.  According to Tyson while he was on his mission new missionaries where called golden because they had such a golden attitude.  Well I now have a golden runner on our kitchen table along with a shopping list made with a gold ink pen.  I'm still working on the Golden attitude :).

Well this week really put the pressure on us as missionaries.  We didn't have a lot of people to teach, in fact on one day we had five lessons fall through, which means we're left to talk to people on the street.  In our mission we're encouraged not to go tracting door to door, but instead work directly through the members.  Well instead of tracting we make friends with everyone on the street.

So this entire week has been rough, no one that we've met has been really interested in learning more about Jesus Christ or the Gospel.  In that situation we just kindly ask if they need any service, which normally the answer is no.

Something that was really entertaining.  We moved a woman from her apartment on Monday, and it was the easiest move I have ever done.  She had everything already in boxes, and there were only two couches and a bed.  In under 45 minutes we had her entire place cleaned out with the exception of the bed.  I don't think I'll ever have a move that easy.

This past Saturday we baptized three people.  They were the family that I taught on the first day.  It was so cool to see the literal change that came upon their faces after they were baptized, I can't even tell you how special it was to be a part of something so simple, yet will ensure that as a family they will have eternal progression in the life to come.  It is so exciting to be a part of such a marvelous work that has been going on since before the earth was created, and will continue on after we die.

I love you all who are at home and abroad. 

Remember to be kind to the Elders in your ward.

It's funny people on the street who don't know us shout at us and get angry, but when our friends get frustrated with our honest and diligent efforts, it makes going through the day much harder.

When you see missionaries say hi and do something crazy, it makes us really happy.

Again I love you

Love,

Elder Davidson

PS. The picture shows some of the golden items from the package my sister sent

Will cowboy-fied

Elder Berardi and I got typewriters, and they're the best thing ever.  I made 4 letters in under an hour versus 1 when I hand write.  Mine is an old syle with just electronic keys so they don't get stuck together.  Elder Berardi's has a sixteen character screen so he can see what he types before it does.  When he leaves he said I could have it!  Oh so tuesday night after my last letter I wiped out on my bike and lost a pair of the grey pants(everything else is ok).  Elder Berardi lost his footing and swerved into me, and in order to keep him up I had to give him a little push on the shoulder.  Unfortunantly his foot got caught in my front spoke, and it was bye bye Elder.  No scrapes.  just ripped pants.  So this afternoon we are going bowling as a zone which should be pretty fun, I can't wait to see how good the other Elders are.  That's about all the day to day stuff I've done besides the fact E.Berardi and I cleaned our apartment, so it doesn't have spiders everywhere.

We met this awesome investigator on friday.  She needs help moving out this afternoon and the elders from another area asked us to go over and help.  Well I figured since she's going to california she wouldn't have much interest in hearing what we had to say.  Lesson learned, she is the most prepared individual I've ever met.  When we went to see her last friday she shared with us how she comes to learn truth, which is she prays about things she hears and waits for a confirmation from the spirit! Everything she believed lined up with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we shared with her the Book of Mormon her eyes got really wide.  She committed herself to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to know if it is writings from prophets of God.  We'll see her this afternoon to help her move, and I'm looking forward to it, she is the sweetest person I've met here.  Before we left she said that she would never forget us, because we made such an impression.  It was a great experience.

Last night we had a mission presidents fireside, which is the most powerful, entertaining thing.  It starts with a few recent converts sharing their conversion story, then there are a few musical numbers from the missionaries, and more short testimonies.  The best speaker was Bro.Carter who started off by saying "you know I don't think I'll have a problem speaking, because this is all about me which is my favorite subject"  He had such a powerful testimony, and he was blown away by the love members of the church have for each other.  I laughed so hard and is was such an uplifting talk. 

Almost forgot I bought some cowboy boots from goodwill for 10 dollars :) best deal on shoes I've ever gotten.

I love and miss everyone.
Elder Davidson