December 27, 2011

 me and sister Denton at a random thing at a playground we found in York when we were going for our zone turkey bowl. 

 me in this awesome playground thing we found.

  Sister Franklin, Sister Samuelson Sister Denton and I in our Pittsburgh shirts that you only get when you're in Lancaster. ha! it's a Lancaster tradition. 

 GPS said Sunny Burn road... Yes I live in PA.  They have really really random names. 

 Hershey, PA! They have hershey kisses as street lights!! How awesome is that??

 My friend Kimberly Hansen and I at Zone conference. 

  PA is beautiful ALL the time. 

 Jontae! One of my investigators!  He's 9 and wants to get baptized. He wants to have the priesthood someday.  *Sniff* I'm really going to miss that kid! 

 Sister Denton and I with Nylin Jontae's little sister.  They were having fun with the lamp shade. 

 Sister Lethbridge and me.  We made cookies on a P-day with her.  She's a member but her husband is not.  He's taking the lessons right now.

  Redneck Christmas decorations... 

 Missionaries with Santa's Elves!! (Aka the Lititz ward bishopric) The bishop is in the middle.

 Athena a less active we were working with.  She's so sweet and so determined to do the right thing! She's working as hard as she can to change her life to live the way she's supposed to.  She has so much potential.

 again I repeat... PA is beautiful even in December. Don't you wish you lived here?? (this is also in the Elder's area... we had to pick up their van to drive to State College to drive the other sisters to pittsburgh. Ha!  But it was sad cause their car was so dirty!  Then someone (they blamed the zone leader) spilled animal crackers all over the car.  Then didn't clean it up. Really elders really?

Sister Denton and I driving to State College! Woo! That drive was beautiful! :D

My last week is Lititz was awesome as always.  Sister Denton and I found some amazing people that I'm super sad I don't get to teach. Then we went caroling with some families in the ward and it was so much fun!  We went caroling with the Whiting family.  and they might just be some of the funniest people I have ever met.  Their kids are hilarious.  We had the kids passing out cards and I think the only reason some people took cards was the fact that the kids were so cute!  

Well now I'm in Pittsburgh.  I love it.  I love my companions.  They are sister carter and sister Quijano.  We teach really well together already.  Well we've only taught one lesson so far but we did well together.  I love it here.  Being in Pittsburgh is going to bring so many new adventures.  

I can't remember if I told you to go to christmas.mormon.org. or not... but you should.  Cause it's awesome.  

This is it for this week.  I would write more but I'm almost out of time and I sent you lots of pictures to look at. Enjoy! :)

December 19, 2011

I did get the package the ward sent!  Tell them thanks so much!!! And whoever decided to put the Nutella to go thing in there was a GENIUS! :) It may or may not have been eaten that day... hehe. But yes I loved the package and the card.  I felt very loved.  I got the other package that you sent a while ago.  Sorry I don't mean to forget to let you know I got it...

 

We went to our ward's Christmas party on Saturday and it was awesome!! I don't think I've ever had so much fun at a Christmas party before.  It was cute Santa's elves came running into the gym and we had a little investigator girl there and she knows the Bishop and when he ran past she said hey! Thant's Bishop! It was funny and cute.

 

So I ate something I have never eaten before.  Someone in our ward gave us giftcards to this Mennonite buffet.  At this buffet they had pig stomach.  So Sister Denton and I decided to try it.  It was interesting.  It didn't taste good but it didn't taste bad.  needless to say I didn't eat much of it.  The rest of the food was good though. 

 

Have I ever mentioned in a letter how grateful I am for invisible fences here in PA?  Cause no one has real fences here.  So it was kinda nerve racking to walk past yards with dogs barking at you without anything tangible between you and the dog.  But it's nice to know that most dogs don't run through the invisible fence.  We have only been chased by a couple of dogs.

 

We're still struggling a little with our investigator pool but I guess that just comes with being a missionary.  We did get in contact with more investigators again.  But everyone is so busy worrying about Christmas that there is a lull with teaching. 

We were tracting last night and a couple of members live on that particular street.  And we didn't know what house the one lived in so we tracted into a member.  It was fun.  Sister Denton has been wanting to tract that street for forever and we ran into some fairly nice people but not really any potentials :(  But that's okay.

 

I've been frustrated a little this week because I kept getting migraines (they weren't super painful but they just wouldn't go away)!!  But I was super grateful that you had sent me that medicine. Thanks!!!

 

Last P-day we made cookies with a member it was fun!  I like making cookies.  We've also discovered a love for chocolate popcorn... we may make it a lot to give to investigators then get hungry in the car and eat a bag of it. (They're small!)

 

Oh our investigators make me laugh.  We had one text us and ask if she could fast to lose weight.  We told her that she could fast to help get the motivation to lose weight and to eat right, or stick to an exercise program.  She texted us back saying she would eat breakfast then fast lunch and dinner.  Somehow I don't think she got  it when we were telling her fasting is not a weight loss technique. 

 

Anyway that's what you get for this week. I love you!! I am SO excited to see your faces in 6 days!! I can't believe it's almost Christmas.  It's also the last week of the transfer.  So I could get transfered next week or Sister Denton could.  Or we could stay.  We'll see.  Our district leader was asking us for recommendations to give to the zone leaders that they could give to the APs (assistants to the president).  So yikes!  I won't tell you our predictations cause they're probably wrong.  We'll find out on Saturday so I'll give you the details on Sunday when I talk to you!!

 

Love Sister Davidson

November 14, 2011

So where to begin from this last week.  I am still happy and doing great. 

I just completed my first transfer!! Can you believe it?? I've been out for a whole transfer already.  I am feeling more confident and I am becoming a better missionary which is exciting to me. While that's still exciting I'm sad it's the end of the transfer, my awesome district leader is getting transfered and a couple of the other elders are leaving Lancaster!! It's amazing how much I have grown to love the other missionaries I've been serving around even though I hardly see them.  I am definitely going to miss them but I'm excited to meet the elders that will be here in their place.

We had 6 investigators at church yesterday!  We called our district leader and told him and he asked how is that even possible? haha. Well somehow it is cause it happened.  We have 15 investigators and so that means a little over a 3rd of them came.  Our goal for the week was 14! hahaha.

I'm also way excited cause some of our investigators who are currently not living the law of chastity are trying to get married.  Which will be good and help them be one step closer to baptism.  We also are trying to help another couple get married.  We're trying to get them married so that their goals can be baptism and then be sealed in a year. 

Well mostly everything else is great expect for having really bad pains in my abdomen again...  I called the mission doctor and he has been doing some home treatment until today when I'm supposed to call him again... I got a blessing from some of the Elders.  I was told I would be healed completely.  But that things would maybe get worse before they get better.  So things haven't gotten worse yet and I'm not excited for them to get worse if they do. But at least I am prepared for it if it does.  And I was also told to rely on my companion.  So I'm trying to make sure I don't complain too much but that I tell her when I do hurt and just let her know what's going on.  Cause I have had the tendency to not...  But the best part of that blessing was that I was told that Heavenly Father is pleased with my efforts as a missionary.  and that makes everything okay.  Because I know my Heavenly Father knows I am trying my best.  So please keep my crazy stomach in your prayers that it heals sooner rather than later without too much pain or suffering. 

Love Sister Davidson

Nov. 7, 2011

So this week has been great.  Last Monday since it was Halloween(dad's favorite holiday...not) we had to be in by 6.  But we had a dinner appointment with a family, well it's a husband and a wife all their kids are grown up but they had one of their sons there with his wife and daughter.  It was fun.  Then we went home and deep cleaned our apartment (fun!...) No it was good.  I have been happy to live in a clean apartment regardless if it made me sneeze for days afterward from all the dust we stirred up.  And Lancaster county does things differently than anywhere I've ever been.  They assign times for trick or treating!  So people/kids could only trick or treat between 6 & 8 pm on the 31st.  And I've heard some years they don't trick or treat on Halloween!  It's weird!!

Oh last night was way cool! We ate at a member's home.  That family is awesome and so much fun.  Their names are the Whitings and they are just a great family.  Sister Whiting made a really good dinner.  Then she made homemade donuts for dessert!  Yum! Then we were driving home and we saw a whole bunch of Amish people playing volleyball!!! It was crazy! Since it was dark out they had big lights on.  I think they generate their own electricity somehow so that's it's not connected to the outside world.  I even saw an Amish man and woman at Walmart last P-day it was crazy! (I will never get over the excitement of seeing Amish people....)

We have already been invited to 2 thanksgiving dinners.  Luckily for us they're at different times.  I love thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday!!! There's so much to be grateful for!

The sad thing about this area is that so many people have been taught that all they need to do to get to heaven is say that they believe in Jesus Christ.  And there's nothing more that they have to do.  And I always am annoyed when they say things like that.  We tracted into a woman who is a Unitarian (?) and she believes just everyone will make it back to heaven.  It's sad to me to see how the devil is teaching the world what would have been his plan. But his plan fails!  and it's so sad to see how people agree there should be a prophet and all of these basic doctrines of the gospel until we bring up the name of the Book of Mormon.  It's so frustrating all these people have been taught about how 'horrible' the Book of Mormon is and they've never even read it for themselves.  And it makes me think about me and how I can't say anything about other religions because I don't know.

Oh yeah a member told me yesterday that he likes to ask me to pray cause he likes listening to my prayers cause I pause to collect my thoughts.  And that I remind him of someone famous that I had never heard of before and consquently do not remember the name right now. It was way funny.

We have one progressing investigator.  She is great!! She's been to church a couple of times and she has a baptismal date of Dec 21! (12/21/11 Notice any pattern?) I am so excited I hope she is able to make that. 

we also have another investigator who has a baptismal date of 12/7/11.  She's 14.  She lives with her grandma(who is a returning active member).  But she goes to her mom's on the weekend in Reading, PA... which is not our area which is not even our mission... So we got permission to talk to that mission and hopefully get her to church so she can get baptized!  Anyway I'm going to try to send pictures to everyone now.  I love you all lots!!! :)

October 31, 2011

Weather.... IT SNOWED!!!!!!! like 4 or 5 inches.  It was crazy!!! I have never seen a tree branch break off before because of the weight of snow.  My companion and I were afraid that a tree was going to fall on us as we were driving down the road.  But now it's mostly slush. Everyone kept telling us that the weather was weird and that it never snows before Halloween here. I found out that I need different/better snow boots... cause the zipper on the ones I have let snow/water in.... So I'm going to buy some other ones for when it's slushy out and my feet have to stay dry.  The ones I have will work for the rest of the time.But I don't know... And the weather has not been as bitter as Idaho.  Even though I'm out longer.  I'm no where as cold as I was inIdaho.

I love this ward so much.  I feel blessed to serve here.

So last week we came home to a bag of groceries sitting in front of our door.  It turns out that a grocery store in the area gave free bags of groceries to people in order to promote people going to their store.  Among the items were coffee, and cooking wine.  I thought it was kinda funny since we're missionaries.... and we can't give those items away because that kinda goes against what we're trying to do as missionaries and have people live the word of wisdom.  Does it not?  well I just tossed the coffee and then poured the cooking wine down the drain.  Before now I have never touched anything that had alcohol in it.  Funny that it happened when I was a missionary.  I have also never seen someone drinking in person before I was a missionary either.  I've seen it a couple of times as we've been tracting. 

I think I've mentioned some of the strange things about PA  before but the one that I think is kinda hilariously weird are the stop signs that say except right turn.  So if you're turning right you don't have to stop... It kinda throws me off sometimes.  Or the stoplights you can only turn left during certain hours of the day.  It's craziness I tell ya!
    

So last Wednesday the ward we share a building with had their trunk or treat.  (We were at the church cause an investigator needed an interview with the bishop and we were sitting in the lobby).  (Background info: this is a new church so it's fancy and has a handicap button and the doors were locked except for one on the far side away from the handicap door.) Well there was this little boy dressed as a dinosaur.  And he wanted to get in the church. So he was pushing the handicap button,  and he could see the second inside door was opening but the first door was just not opening.  So he pulled on the door and pushed the button like 5 or 6 times (while I was just sitting there laughing cause it was so darn cute!!!). So finally I decided that I should open the door for him cause he was getting no where.  Then later that night I was thinking about it and how it's like with the Savior.  The door represents going into God's kingdom.  And we're here pushing that button over and over again because we want to return to our Father.  The the door being locked represents sin and death, they lock us out of the kingdom of God. But the Savior overcame both and is able to open the door for us.  (Except He probably doesn't sit there and laugh at us trying to get in like I did with the little boy...)

Oh yeah I've been meaning to tell you! One man in the other ward is from El Paso!  He graduated from Corondo in like 1994.  He's pretty funny and whenever he sees me he calls me Sister El Paso. 

I just wanted to tell you my favorite line we get from tracting... "I'm already saved."  And I always think about what my companion told me about how people pick and choose what they want to believe from the bible... and it's so true here!!  There are so many religions now that people think all they need to say is I believe in Jesus Christ but then they can go and do all these awful things.  It's sad!! I'm so grateful for the church and how they teach us that the scriptures are not something we pick and choose our beliefs from.

Pictures from MTC and with her mission president and his wife

First batch of letters from Cherilyn...I mean Sister Davidson!

From the MTC

 

I am leaving the MTC in one week from today.  I can barely believe in a week I'll be in PA!!! I am so excited to meet my new companion and my mission president. I wish I had pictures to send home but they're printing right now. Cause I don't think I can put my SD card into the computers here.  But I have continued to love my district.  They're amazing. My zone leaders are amazing too(well they're not my zone leaders anymore...).  They're leaving tomorrow which is rather sad. I am learning so much!  It's hard to remember all what we need to use in the beginning of a lesson. But I think it'll get easier as I am out in the feild getting forced to use it multiple times a day rather than once a day and with a companion who has a little more experience.  Don't get me wrong my companions are incredible.  I love them so much just we're still learning.  One of our teachers said that my district is teaching so much better than when we first got here.  Which was a great compliment cause he encourages us but he doesn't really say things like that often.  My other teacher is hilarious and he teaches us a lot of things too.  I'm grateful to have two great teachers who really care about us and want us to succeed as missionaries.   One thing I have learned here is I'm sorry if I have spelling mistakes or grammer errors in my letters but I am tryingto type as fast as I possibly can cause we have limited email access. 

 

We also had mission conference yesterday which was really awesome and amazing.  The MTC president served in the North Eastern States mission. So he said each mission that is now there that was in his mission boundaries and he had those serving there stand up. Well my mission was one of those. and everyone gasped when we stood up cause there were 11 of us going to the same place all sitting together.  Like I've said being in a district going to the same place is rare. 

 

Well I orginially decided that I wasn't going to tell you of anything bad that happened but I decided to let you know an experience I had. Starting on Friday my stomach was hurting really badly.  Like so badly that I was in tears. And food wasn't helping.  and neither was anacids.  After the mission conference, I got back to my district room and just broke into tears because I couldn't deal with it anymore. I had decided earlier that it hadn't hurt that bad.... but it had really started to hurt on sunday.  and I was at a loss of what to do.  So I asked my zone leaders for a blessing.  they got the elders from my district. and they all came to give me a blessing.  It was the cooolest thing ever to get a blessing like that.  I know they all love me and all want me to me to be happy.  I was promised in the blessing that I would get better and that I wouldn't get sick the rest of my mission.  Which made me way happy. 

Love, Sister Davidson


From PA to Mom and Dad

Yeah the Church would probably frown on you two coming to visit me.  But I have had the desire for you to come to PA.  This area is beautiful!! (someday in like 1 1/2 years you can come to visit this area...)  I'm sorry that you can't come while I'm here. 

 

There are so many farms out here!! And there are Amish people here! There was a buggy going down my street one day as we were talking to people.  And we saw a little buggy carrying two little children.   It's been fun to see them on the road.  We have also seen them working on their farms which is awesome too.  (can you tell that I'm super excited to be here??!) 

 

The people here are generally very kind and courteous.  There have only been a few rude moments while tracting but I don't let those get me down!  Cause I'm stronger than that! Ha! Take that mean people! haha. 

 

We taught this chinese woman this past week who basically dropped us cause she "just couldn't believe that" er well anything for that matter (she just said I just can't believe it a lot)  My trainer Sister Denton said maybe it's a good thing she dropped us cause every lesson would have been a struggle. 

 

We're also teaching a sweet old man who believes most everything he's been taught.  Our only problem is trying to figure out how to get the importance of going to OUR church across to him.  cause he goes to his own church than comes to the LDS church afterwards.  He has a baptismal date and I sincerely pray he is able to be baptized then.  It's Nov 5th so we'll see! 

 

We've tracted into a few other people who have said we could come back.  Which is exciting.  We have an appointment tonight so pray for us. 

 

My ward is great!  There are a lot of less actives so we'll be doing a lot of that work too.  I'm excited about that. 

 

I've decided that everday as a missionary is a great day.  I love it.  That doesn't mean that there aren't challenges cause trust me there are a lot of challenges... Like walking out of the church building after church and trying to avoid walking into a spider web and totally falling on my face!  I hurt my knee prettty bad but it's okay today.  My shoulder hurts and I think it could be from that but who knows I could have slept on it wrong.

 

Last night we were tracting and it was after dark and we went up to one lady's house and she said uh sisters it might not be a good day for you two to be out after dark cause they just annouced your church as a cult.  My trainer was like well we don't have a choice we have to be out.  But we were safe.  I wasn't too worried. ;) and mom stop worrying! I'm fine!! I'm being obedient and the Lord is going to take care of me!

 

Love, Sister Davidson