40 in one Day- or The Brave Little Missionary: adapted from the brothers Grimm

Here we are on another Monday.

This week has been full of interesting experiences.

First was the crazy guy who came to church.  He came in an started talking about really weird things like sending signals to space with his heart.  He would spontaneously start weeping, and a moment latter be totally fine.  From what he shared you could tell that he unfortunately had been taking pills with alcohol along with marijuana.  It was sad to see what it can do to a person when they subject themselves to such harsh chemicals.

Second it was Elder Thomas's birthday on Saturday.  We didn't get to do anything too exciting, but it was really a fun day.  In the morning our toilet clogged and flooded the bathroom.  We went to the church and borrowed the mop so we could disinfect and clean the area.  That is a trick I learned in my first area with Elder Paetznick.  The maintenance guy finally came this morning to fix it.  As it turns out we called the wrong number.  If we had called the right one then it would have been fixed on Saturday.

Third is the sequel of pest warfare.  It seems that every area has pests.  In our apartment we have lots of flies.  Just on Sunday I killed 40 flies in one day.  For a while I thought that they were coming back to life so we started disposing of them.  That didn't seem to work, because our grand total is up to 59 for me 3 for Elder Thomas.  It took him a while to get into destroying them.  Favorite Weapons: clorox spray, wet towel (to flick them), and Daily planner.

Fourth thing that happened this week.  We've been trying to find new people to teach for the last week, and we haven't had any luck.  This week we set a goal for 6 new investigator which is double what we normally get.  It was a miracle because on Saturday we didn't have any and then yesterday we had three lessons with new people.  One of which was really special.  The last lesson we taught that day was with a single mother on her porch.  Last week we had stumbled across her apartment while she was having a party.  She wasn't interested at first, but she kept asking questions.  Soon we were sharing with her the first lesson.  We explained to her who wrote the Book of Mormon, and how it is important to read.  She wasn't super excited, but she said that she would read and meet with us again.  The whole lesson was the most profound experience I have ever had on my mission.

So that about summarizes the week in the life of Elder Davidson.

A few words on Being more than halfway done.  I have not felt any major change in who I am as a person now that I have passed my year mark.  There is one thing that has made a deep impact on me.  This is my last year as a missionary.  I'm not disappointed that a year has passed, but the realization that I have absolutely no control over how fast it goes, is beyond my comprehension.  Because I am in the last year there seems to be an increase in my desire to be more effective.  I don't worry as much when I talk to people, and I am not as scared when I don't know what to say.  Unlike a college course or a school class you only get once chance as a missionary.  It is 2 years 730+ days.  Once you finish there is no going back.  I am so grateful that I chose to come on a mission.  The work we are doing is true.

I love you all and look forward to hearing more from you,

Elder Will Davidson

New, new, new

Hi Mom

 It's a new area, new apartment and a new companion.  I'm excited to say that there are some things that I"m really looking forward to.  We live in Phoenix.  It a very nice apartment complex.  It has a nice living room and one bedroom.  Our living features are more or less limited to: two desks, two chairs, two beds, and a Christmas tree in the corner.  My new companion is Elder Thomas from Idaho Falls.  He has been out for three months and was in the MTC with Elder Conaway.  They have complete opposite personalities.  Many things are very refreshing about Elder Thomas.  He is a really hard worker, and is very intent on being obedient.  It a very different feeling compared to other situations I've been in.  He is a lot like Elder Paetznick.  We are going to put up some christmas lights in our bedroom, because there's no light fixture in the whole room.  We cover the Camel View ward in the Camelback stake.  It's named after the Mountain Camelback which is just up the street from us.  That is one really nice change.  In Mesa you can't see any hills or mountains for miles, and you can drive for 30 minutes before you find hills.  Now I can look and see hills, the only draw back is there aren't any plants on them.  The car is a red Toyota corolla with wonderful A/C.  In the heat the only draw back is you have to get into a really hot car that has really hot seat belts and doors.  When you look at it from a bike perspective it's not much of a down side.  The ward mission leader is a convert of some 25 years.  He is a orphan and lives by himself.  He is really cool and full of enthusiasm for the work.  He has gone to Subway for the last 13 years of his life.  When we added it up, he has spent approximately 25,000 dollars over those years.  You can say that he is a preferred customer.

 

Well there are many more details about the area, and the people.  There is a lot of work in this area.

 

This past Saturday I went to a baptism from my old area.  It was for an unbaptized 10 year old.  His family is really cool, and they will be much better off now that they are closer together.  I have pictures, I just haven't sent any yet.  I should be able to get the link for our hike pictures on four peaks.

 

I haven't gotten to drive yet, which is a little weird. I have to observe the traffic for 3 weeks before I can get behind the wheel.  That is probably a good thing considering I haven't driven a car in over a year.  Speaking of which I have almost been out a year!  It has gone so quickly.  I never imagined that I could make it this far.  As a missionary it is really exciting, because now I know what I need to do and how to do it.  Elder Thomas is a great elder and really looks up to me.  It doesn't feel like I have much to offer.  Hopefully I'll be able to learn a lot from him, and stay energized about the work.  The time where I can just work is now, and I can't believe it.

 

My area boundaries are from 40th to 56th and Indian school to the salt river.  One perk about that is plenty of good places to eat.

 

I'm so grateful and excited to be in this area.  The ward is excited, and willing to help.

 

I love you all,

Elder Will Davidson

Four Wheels

Dear Family,

Well this is it another turn on the path of life, a fork in the road,
a move from the past into the future.  I'm getting transferred Wednesday!

Destination: Scottsdale AZ
Transportation: A Car!

After almost 6 months I've been called away from my home here in Mesa

to the north country (15 minutes away).  I don't know anything about
the area yet. It is pretty difficult to be leaving this area and the people who live
here.  I've lived with three different families and taught lots of

people that I love very much.  On Sunday I didn't really get a chance
to say goodbye, because the news didn't come until that night.  Most

likely the members will notice only a small change as I move to a new

area.  I wish I could say bye to everyone, but at the same time I like
being able to just slip away.  I will always remember the friends, and

faces that I have come in contact with.  To tell about any one of them

will be hard, because I could never do them justice in words.  You
would have to meet them.

This past week was hard for us in several ways.  On Friday Rosco the L's dog that was faithful to the end, was put down.  We miss him a lot.  It's not quite the same when you come home and there's no friendly face to greet you.  Well in addition to that Elder Conaway got injections in his knee.  That made it impossible for us to go out and work without a car.  He is feeling much better now, and should be

staying on his mission.  We were a little worried that he would have
to go home for surgery.

In better news our zone reached a new record for new investigators.
It's been really hard to find people to teach these last few weeks, so
we set a goal and our zone (20 missionaries) almost reached it.  That
said our goal was double what we had ever gotten before.  We finished
with a good 66% of our goal.

So with almost 10 days until my year mark, I've been thinking about
everything I have learned.  The last 6 months have been especially
enlightening, because they have been some of the hardest parts of my
mission.  What I have learned most is how to reach out to other
people.  I have always struggled with being comfortable around others
when I first meet them.  It can take me along time to really get to

know someone.  Another thing I really appreciate is the members of the

Mezona and Beverly wards.  They have given me such a great example for
how to live and treat others with kindness.  Not just on Sundays, but

in their everyday lives.  Many times I have found myself being taught
how to be a missionary by the members rather than teaching them.

I've been so blessed to serve with so many wonderful people.  My heart

wishes I could stay.  When the day comes when I meet them again, they
will be my family and friends.

Love you all,
Elder Will Davidson

Hikes and Pageants

Dear Family,

Happy Easter.
Of course this means that I am fast approaching my year mark.  There are lots of things that have passed through my mind, and yet will.  I try not to think about it, so here was my week.

Easter Pageant.  The largest Easter Pageant I have ever seen.  The whole stage is 4-500 feet across with a full lighting system built into the temple grounds.  Everything is done top notch.  When you watch the show it is pretty cool, because almost everything is made as realistic as possible.  During the baptism of Christ they actually have a pool of water where they dunk the actors in.  Then my favorite part was when they are leading Christ to Pilate they used real torches.  Pretty intense as you watch some 30 actors with fire run across the stage.  For one of the shows we spent the whole time on the back, back seats.  Then the other time we watched it we got 3 rows back and got to enjoy the whole production.  It's pretty impressive how many people actually come out to watch the show.  There is a good 4000 plus.  Imagine if all the church buildings in the area brought their folding metal chairs, and that's how many there were.

We didn't have our baptism this weekend like we had planned.  The Grandpa who was going to do the baptism got sick, so we'll be trying to do it this weekend.

The members we live with have this really old dog named Rosco.  We've been spending a lot of time getting to know him whenever we are at home.  Last week Sister L told us that they were going to put him down this week.  I'll be sad, because he was just starting to get comfortable with both of us.  It'll be hard to not have him around.

Elder Conaway is a trooper.  For several weeks now we've been still working on our bikes, and he still has intense pain in his knees.  We went to therapy this morning, and as he was doing one exercise his whole knee just shook like there was an explosion inside.  He toughed it out.  If he needs surgery he won't be staying in the field, which will be really sad.  On the bright side he might just have severe pain and no tear.  If that's the case then he'll be able to stay.  It would just mean that Elder Conaway would feel like a wimp (his own words).

So the reason we didn't email yesterday is because 16 missionaries went on a hike.  It was a really fun hike called four peaks.  There were a couple parts that some Elders started running to get to the top.  When you are about 300 feet from the top of the mountain, there's a part called the saddle.  It is an almost vertical ascent to the very top.  All the missionaries who chose to try and make it up did.  It was really cool to see everyone make it.  On the top of the peak we had lunch and enjoyed a good rest before going back down.  The climb down was tricky as we coached a few of the less experienced missionaries down the crack.  We all made it down, and there weren't any injuries.  We had a professional photographer go with us, and I'll get the link for the pictures.

All in all a really good week.  We met all our goals except in the finding and baptizing area.  Our mission is making a really big push to double the number of baptisms by the end of may.  It will be a really fast couple months.

I love you all and hope that everyone is healthy,
Elder Will Davidson

Conference advice- Write the Missionaries

Dear Family,

What a wonderful week.

I haven't told you much about the place we are living, but it really
is a great house.  The last few weeks, we've invited other
missionaries over to have a barbeque.  It's really fun because I can

practice making burgers and the other missionaries get to enjoy
halfway decent food.  Elder Conaway and I have developed quite the

friendship.  We don't ever feel pressured when we are with each

other, which really makes the days more enjoyable.  This past week end

the L's were out of town so we watched general conference in

their theatre room.  It was so special to watch conference as a

missionary.  There were a few times that the L's dog Rosco came

and joined us.  He's a little old and smelly and doesn't have much
hair.

There were two days this week that Elder Conaway got strep throat we

were stuck doing nothing, so I've taken some time practicing piano.

Not much improvement, but it took my mind off being stuck at home.
Another thing we did is watch 17 miracles...again.  I made another
discovery from my research in family history.  It was more of the

connect the dots.  I learned more about the parents of one of my

ancestors in the film and that I am lucky enough to share my middle
name with James Loader.  Pretty cool.

Elder Conaway and I have been so blessed as we continue to refine our
skills and efforts.  I can honestly say that I'm happy and hopeful for

the future.  One of the investigators we've been teaching came to a

pretty important realization.  She watched general conference and we
were explaining who the apostles are.  As we made the comparison
between the Apostles today and Christ's original twelve Apostles she
finally understood what it means to be given authority.  She had
thought that the Apostles today are just symbolic of the twelve
Apostles of old.  It was at this moment that I explained in simple
terms that the Apostles today are literally apostles of the Lord Jesus

Christ and hold Priesthood authority.  Following this she asked simply
"how do you get authority? do you go to school?".  Miraculously that

evening one of the apostles spoke in general conference about what it

takes for someone to receive the priesthood.  It was so wonderful to

see her start to put these simple yet fundamental principles of the
Gospel together.

So with the weather warming up it seem like it's about time for my

body to start being uncomfortable all the time.  Every year when
summer rolls around I'm reminded of how little I enjoy the heat.

Well whatever else I'm supposed to say I guess will have to wait until
next week.  It was fun to hear one of the general authorities ask that
people should Write the missionaries :-D.  Elder Conaway and I got
pretty excited at that.

Love you all,
Elder Will Davidson