Additional missions

This week was a slow week, because Elder Martin and I got hit by the flu.  I woke up in the middle of the night Tuesday and spent a good amount of time in the restroom until about 10 in the morning Wednesday.  We had a Zone meeting that afternoon which I suited up for and spent most of it sitting on the floor trying to keep color in my face.  I'm feeling much better now, but I still feel sick every time I eat.

Luckily my sickness did not disrupt the baptism of W this Saturday.  Talk about someone who is prepared to receive the gospel.  Her story started with a fire almost 2 years ago.  The missionaries were visiting W's neighbor next door.  The neighbor forgot about some french fries cooking on the stove and the oil ended up burning down the members apartment, and some of W's.  The members of the local ward were able to pitch in and recover quite a bit of W's items.  She said that it made a huge difference on her heart.  It was soon after that the missionaries started coming, and she began learning more about the church.  Another interesting thing about W is she had a degree in religious studies and was a youth minister in another church when her house burned down.  I would say that it prepared her to better receive the message of the restoration.  It was a very sweet baptism and especially simple with a modest turnout of close friends who love her.

In other news there are going to be two new missions in Arizona!!!!!!!!!  Whoppieee!!! The sad news is I won't be here to see it take effect.  There will be a Scottsdale Mission and a Gilbert mission, both of which will effect our mission.  Pretty soon the Mesa mission will be quite a bit smaller than it already is.  Our mission office is in Scottsdale, so it will be rather interesting to see the change.  My prediction is that everything in Scottsdale and Phoenix will be a the new Scottsdale mission and Apache Junction will be given to the Gilbert mission then Mesa will pick up the rest of Mesa west of Country Club south of Main.   Then again I could be totally wrong. 

I am having a wonderful time preaching the gospel.  Today we get to go see a Professional Baseball game.  The last game I went to was Edgar Martinez' last game.  I don't think this will be quite as cool.

Love you all,

Elder Will Davidson

PS:  If anyone wants something to do, letters are still needed, even for us old missionaries. :)

Enjoying the days

Dearest Family and Friends,

What a wonderful week.

Sadly I don't have much to report past the normal news.  I haven't done anything overly exciting besides continuing to preach the Gospel.  We did have pasta two times this week.  That doesn't happen very often.

Goodness I just read the last email I sent home and realized how boring it was.  Sorry.  It can be very difficult trying to share the details of mission life.  What seems wonderful and exciting to me is usually not so interesting to you.  None the less I'll tell you about a couple people.

First the W Family.  Wow what a sweet group.  So the dad actually grew up in Eastgate!!  We've talked a lot about what it was like when he lived there.  He also served his mission in Denmark which happens to be the country I wish I was called to.  He is married to a divorced woman and she is super sweet.  She hasn't been active for a while, so she likes having the elders over to help her learn.  Then the two eldest children that live at home are L who is 21 and C who is 17.  They are really kind and loving.  C speaks about 300 words per minute and never stops talking.  Which is fun because it really reminds me of a beloved older sister.  Then L rarely ever speaks, but when he does he has a strong voice.  I guess there isn't a lot of opportunity to talk with his sister.  While we were at dinner with their family we got talking with the kids and learned that they have been struggling.  I was surprised as C started looking inward and shared with us some of her fears and desires.  This special moment was punctuated by mascara streaks down her face.  During this moment of abnormal calmness we learned from her that church is a struggle.  She attends a high school where most of the population is "Mormon".  Despite being a Mormon as well, Brooke hasn't grown up with that culture, so she is sadly judged by those who should be more understanding.  This has created a struggle for her.  She wonders why she should keep learning about the gospel, when so many others in the church treat her unkindly.  After that we simply listened and talked to her about finding good friends that don't judge and help her keep good standards.  We also challenged her to pay more attention in sacrament meeting.  That was also an amazing experience, because the speakers talked about ...judging others.  That was a sweet moment.  L is no different even though he is 21.  He has some of the same feelings.  I have enjoyed so much the spirit work through Elder Martin and I to lift the family.

Another lady we have been working with is getting baptized this coming weekend.  She has been taught for the last 4 months, and is now ready to make the commitment to be baptized.

We are so happy to be in this area.  The Lord is really blessing me to keep working.

Love you all,

Elder Will Davidson

Good teaching moments

Hello from the Mesa North Stake.

I cover a lovely little area spanning from Main to Brown and Stapley to Horne.  Already I have met so many people that are related to others that I have met and love.  It has made the transition quite enjoyable as I've met good friends.  There are three wards in the area Miller, Fraser, and Fairfield.  All are great areas and have a lot of potential.  The bishop of one of the wards happens to be over temple Maintenance, which is interesting, because I've seen him all over the place, and he has seen me as well.  In one of the wards we have a wonderful ward mission leader that I've gotten to know pretty quickly.  He is a great leader.  In his ward there is a lady who has been taught for several months.  She was scheduled to be baptized the week I got here, but then she felt like she needed more time to prepare.  I'm excited to teach her and help her to be prepared.

My new companion is Elder Martin from a little town south of Provo Utah.  He comes from a small family of three.  We have really hit it off, and get along really well.  Already we have seen so many miracles in the small space of three days.  One is really cool.

We went to contact a young woman in the ward who hadn't been able to come to church for a while.  We had a lesson with her and read the Book of Mormon.  During the lesson we were able to help her understand what the book of Mormon is and how it can help her.  Then she asked how to repent.  It was such an awesome lesson, because she was so sincere, and focused on learning more.  What made it even better is that her boyfriend came to a lesson later that night.  He is super spiritual and has read the bible cover to cover.  He was struggling with prayer, and found it difficult.  Elder Martin was able to make a huge impact as he explained how we can pray and receive answer.  Elder Martin is easily the best teacher I"ve ever taught with.  He is humble, focused, and uses simple language.

We are super excited and hope to help a lot of people.

Love you all,
Elder Davidson

New ties, old ties and jerry garcia ties

We had a wonderful baptism this weekend for two individuals.  A mother and daughter.  There was a wonderful turnout for the service, and we had a nice reception at a members home following.  It was Elder Smellie's last baptism.

I hope I can be like Elder Smellie, he is a really good missionary and 100% focused even now.  It will be really sad to see him go.

So the news with transfers is pretty simple.  I will be going to the Maricopa zone, and serving with Elder Martin.

A little news regarding one of our investigators.  He is a middle aged guy, and he moved down to Arizona so he could rescue his 20 year-old daughter.  Needless to say she hasn't been very interested in learning more about the gospel.  The dad on the other hand has progressed so much.  He started reading the scriptures on his own and applying them to his life and how he can help his daughter.  He also has been praying to find a job.  Through the ward employment specialist he was able to find a good job and he started on Thursday.  The other night we asked him to say a closing prayer and he looked right at me.  All I did is give a thumbs up and say "you got this".  I hadn't said much the whole lesson, but apparently it was what he needed to hear, because he said an amazing prayer.

In very fun news Elder Smellie gave me a Jerry Garcia tie and I really like it.  It's name is 'snake garden' and it is purple.

Well that's about all the news, until next week,

Love Elder Will Davidson