May 7, 2012

This week has been a wild ride.  I have never been so stressed in my life. Okay actually that's not true. I have been more stressed in my life.  I am trying to do the best I can with teaching Sis Black and making sure that she is learning and that this is a good experience.  She still seems happy so that's good right.  We get along really well which makes me happy and not quite as nervous.  I'm pretty sure I lost like 5 pounds last week just because of the stress. So stressed!!! haha. But I still love being a missionary more than anything in the world.

Guess what??? I get to talk to you THIS weekend!!! :) I'm super excited. I can skype again. But I guess it will depend on whether mom makes it back to El Paso in time. I'll probably call you on Saturday to set up a time. I need to talk to the people we're having dinner with next sunday if we could maybe call from their house and if not we need to find someone else.

I think it was a pretty good week.  I am trying to help Sister Black as much as I can.  I am trying to help her to complete all for the week.  She has been doing a good job so far.  She did an excellent job inviting one of our investigators to baptism! 

So Sister Blacks first day was full of activities.  Unfortunately her first lesson probably didn't go the best ever.  We walked into a situation that we didn't have control over.  It was the first lesson with a potential investigator and the girl was trying to convert us to her religion.  It was kinda crazy.  But later we had a lesson with an investigator who is geniune.  So it taught her and reminded me of the major difference between lessons and how they can go.  So it was good. 

Our mission president is encouraging us to get on mormon.org for 1 hour every week so we can get more familiar with it.  It is such an awesome website! I'm excited for it.

Sorry this is a really short letter this week. The hour went by a lot faster than I thought it would.

and I still have some stuff I need to do.

Love Sister davidson

April 30, 2012

Helllllllo Family!!!

I hope everything is going amazingly for you!!!

Soo this week had a lot of ups and downs. The ups were that the Bishop taught the 5th Sunday combined 3rd hour and he put emphasis on telling the ward that they could do better on helping the full time missionaries.  The topic of the lesson was the temple and preparing names to be taken to the temple in August. So it's opened some ideas what we could share at dinner appointments to help them share the gospel. I'm excited for it!

We also had a really sad thing happen this week.  Our only progressing investigator (for basically this whole transfer) dropped us.  We don't know why but she asked for us not to contact her.  I know that things like this happen often but it was just really sad!!

Then we had an amazing thing happen this week.  So on Wednesday we got a media referral and we were pretty sure that it might be fake but we contacted it anyway.  And it was fake and the person that lives there said she wasn't interested. Then both Sister Juliano and I felt impressed to go back tracting on that street.  So we did and the girl who we had talked to days before called us over to her house and wanted to talk to us and we talked to her about her questions.  Then she agreed to let us come over for a lesson.  It was really amazing. 
There are a lot of wonderful things happening in this area.  I love it! 

 

So last week we went to what is called the Turkey Hill Experience with some of the elders.  Turkey Hill is to Pennsylvania as Blue Bell is to Texas. I hope that made sense.  But yeah Turkey Hill is a popular ice cream brand out here in the great state of PA. So we went to their museum thing.  It was pretty cool. I found out that cows can eat the equivant of 22 apples a day. Pretty cool. Or something like that. We had fun. though I think we had more fun eating ice cream and "milking" the cows and "driving" the milk truck. Also shooting germs and then making a commercial and our own brand of ice cream. I'm kinda sad that we can't get on the website to see all our stuff. (I'll email the info to mom.)

 

So at the end of this transfer I'm going to be half way through my mission!! How crazy is that?? I think it is pretty weird.  Time flies wayyy too fast. 

 

So as I have already told you Sister Juliano is flying home to California this week. Sad day. I'm going to miss her like crazy!!! She has taught me a ton!!

 

Since she is going home I am getting a new companion.  Usually we find out on Tuesday at transfer meetings. I know who my new companion is.  I'm going to be a senior companion cause my companion has only been out for about 3 weeks and has only seen the MTC. (That changes today she's flying to Pittsburgh right now!)  So I hope that means you understand that I will be training.  It's weird to think that I will be somebody's trainer.  But I'm super excited to meet her!!! Her name is Sister Black and she is from UT! :) But I am also way nervous this is a big thing!!! But I know I can do it.  and obviously my mission president trusts me to do it. 

 

I love you all!!! Thanks for all your support and all your prayers!!! They mean more than you know!!

 

 

Love Sister Davidson

 cool lancaster cow. :) We had way too much fun with the cows. :)

 Sister Juliano and I in a tub of ice cream.

Milking the GIANT cow!!!

 

 

April 23, 2012

So this was a good week.  We saw good things happen and we were happy. We have some quality people that we are teaching.  We saw some really good things happen last week. We have been trying to see 2 of the less actives in the ward for a while and they live in the same building.  We had something fall through and so we had some free time.  So we went to the building to see if maybe we could meet with one or both of them.  We were able to see both of them! It was great!  The one actually has a son who is not baptized but wants to be and we are going to be teaching him!  It's exciting.

We had interviews with President Topham this past week which was exciting! I always love seeing President and Sister Topham! They are really wonderful people. President Topham asked me if I knew the area well enough to be senior companion basically. That's scary!! I've only been out 7 months weird.  But I need a senior companion. :D  I think I'll be okay.  But lots of changes will be coming in the next few weeks.  

It's week 6 of this transfer I can't believe at how fast this has flown!! It's crazy!!! But it's been really awesome!!!

Also Mom... do you remember when we discovered I was allegric to cats?... well I discovered exactly why you were freaking out so badly that day... cause I may or may not have given into the temptation to pet a cat this past week and rediscover exactly how allegric I am to them.  We took pictures... :D

We also started our service at the clock and watch museum. it was fun!

Anyway I want to send pictures.  I don't have a lot else to say for this week. Sorry!! I love you.

April 16, 2012

Lots of questions for me to answer.

What is your apt like?  My apartment is realllllly nice. I should take pictures for you. We have a really beautiful view because we are on the third floor. The apartment is probably the newest in the mission because about a year and a half ago some elders got evicted from their apartment in this area. Don't ask. I'll tell you details another day. 

How many missionaries are in your mission? There are probably like 140 missionaries in the mission. There are a lot and I know quite a few because of transfers and I know of more because of stories but yeah it's pretty great. 

How many Sisters? There are 8 sisters at the moment.  We had 11 at one point.  And we usually have 10. it's just off right now.
We are losing Sister Juliano at the end of this transfer but we will be gaining another sister! Her name is Sister Black. 

And about whitewashing it can be good when something happens in a district or when a lot of changes happen. Like this past transfer a lot of whitewashing happened because a lot of things happened and some areas needed to start new. Like my area for instance. there was a sister who had been sick for almost a whole transfer and the ward needed a new set of sisters. 

Can I just say how cute Isabella is??? I love her!!! I can't wait to meet her in uhhhh next april.... when I get home. I'm so excited that Spencer is so happy to be a big brother. He is probably one of the best!!!

Oh Ben and Amy our meal calendar got filled up this past sunday for the rest of the transfer so it's a good thing you fed the missionaries. :) 

So about missionary work for the week. It has been a great week!!! we have been working so hard. We found service!!! Yeah!!! At the national clock and watch museum.  We will be helping out in their research library with moving books. It was really funny to ask our mission president about whether we could do it. Cause we told him where it was and that it was in the library. and he asked what type of books we would be moving and I said books about watches and clocks? and then he said oh ok I don't see a problem with that. It was funny.  But we walked through the museum and it is sooooooo cool!! Who knew watches and clocks and time were so amazing?? There were parts of the museum that really strengthened my testimony of the Gospel. It was so cool. 

We have this amazing investigator named Anne or we call her Sis Grosh. She is the funniest little old lady ever. She wants to get baptized so badly.  and when we meet with her this week she just immediately started asking us what she needed to do to get baptized. and we told her about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity which are two commandments people tend to struggle with the most.  And she drinks coffee and she said she'll live the rest of the word of wisdom. But I think we have her convinced to try to give up the coffee and replace it with something else. Then with the law of chastity she said at my age! that's not a problem (she's 74).  She is just amazing! She is so excited about the gospel and is just willing to try to live it to the best she can.

We also met a less active that no one knew about tracting a couple of weeks ago.  She is pretty great!   I love her. She has some awesome dogs that love us. it's funny.

So this is pretty funny to me. So you know how elders are in Lititz now? but anyway background info from when I was there, there was this little kid named Jonah(?) who was always crying downstairs from our apartment.  so the elders were talking to jonah's mom in the parking lot and apparently she knocked on their door the other night and asked one of them if they would want to go to the park with her and her son in such a way that indicates that she likes that elder. it was SO funny. Sister Juliano and I probably laughed at him for a good while. Then I told him about my experience tracting her door when she took the B.o.M. but gave it back when we started talking about Prophets being on the earth. 
And I said she wasn't ready to accept the Gospel from Sisters... hahahaha. 

Missionary work continues to have ups and downs but that's part of it all. 

I continue to love this area and I love the ward. So grateful to be a missionary.  

anyway I'm going to send this and then I'll send pictures. :D  LOVE YOU ALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

April 9, 2012

Transfers are May 1st and I'll get a new companion then cause sister juliano is going home. :( she can't leeave me!!! We have so much fun together.

 

So this week consisted of tracting... tracting... tracting... tracting... and moreeeee tracting. It was fun though. Except it is kinda difficult when we don't know where previous (the last set) sisters have tracted before. and it is a litttttle bit frustrating when we get half way down a street and someone mentions missionaries came by like 3 months ago. we don't want to be labeled as Jehovah witnesses because yeah. anyway

 

our recent convert Vai is AMAZING!!!!! We taught her last week and she bore her testimony to us and it was beautiful!!! She is going to be so strong in the church and her husband is just as determined to be strong in the church as well.  Vai also got confirmed yesterday and the things she was told during the confirmation were absolutely amazing.  I know she and her husband Kalili are going to be so strong in the church. :) (kalili is already a member)

 

we also spent a lot of time looking for a service opportunity cause we don't have one yet and we are supposed to do 2 hours of service a week. It's kinda frustrating.
 

we taught sunday school yesterday... that was an adventure and a half.  I don't think I ever want to teach sunday school again! Well for a while. Or I need more than an hour and a half preparations.  but everyone in our ward said we did a good job.  The Spirit did a good job. He is the one who influenced us the most.

 

anyway that was basically my week sorry no pictures I forgot my thing to load pictures.

Loveeee Sister Davidson

 

April 2, 2012

 Me in front of pittsburgh. 

 The beautiful city of pittsburgh!!

 me and a cool statue in pittsburgh

 Kahli my old investigator

 Jill and Meghan

 KIm!

 Sister Carter and I at transfers 

 Sister Denton and I the day before she went home.

  oh Pennsylvania road signs. they make me laugh

 sister juliano and I don't mind that it's upside down.

 Vai!!! At her baptism!!!

My beautiful companion glaring at me after me teasing her.

I LOVE my new companion.  It doesn't seem like we've only been companions for 2 weeks. We get along so well. 

So this week was FANTASTIC! It went by faster than any week of my mission yet! I am seriously contemplating whether a prank has been played on me and last Monday was actually yesterday. Heavenly Father must be playing an April Fool's prank on me. There is no way that week could have gone so fast.  

We had a lot of good things happen. And we don't feel as though we don't know what is going on as much anymore. I definitely don't feel as frustrated as I did when I first got here. But the reasons for that will have to wait until another day.  Because all that is important now is that I am happy and love this area and I love my investigators and my district and the other missionaries we're serving around. I am getting to know the members of my ward I am getting to know my area. And honestly I am so glad that Sister Juliano and I doubled in here because some of the things that were becoming traditions were not okay in this area. Not saying that missionaries were being disobedient but just the traditions needed to change desperately.  And Sister Juliano and I were able to stop some stuff without having to put up a fight with a companion. 

So we had a baptism this week!!! Yay!!! The woman's name was Vai and she is the sweetest girl ever.  So she and her husband Kalili are both from American Samoa and their families are still there.  Kalili's family are members and they wanted to participate in the baptism.  His dad was able to speak via Skype!! It was sooooooo cool.  Then his aunt did a musical number from Alaska! It was perfect for her.  The service as a whole had some glitches namely the font wasn't completely full in time for the baptism. Definitely something I learned for future reference. Missionaries will just need to fill the font. Cause it doesn't get full in 3 hours.... That font.Don't get me started. But she was baptized and that is what matters.  She was able to use the Atonement in such a big way.  Then she was so excited for conference as a baptized member.  And she is so excited for her confirmation this Sunday. It's great. I love her!!! 

I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to be here and allowing me to learn so that I could become better. It's amazing how much I feel like I have changed since last September. I know I'm not the same person. 

Anyway I'll send pics in a minute. love ya !!!
SIster Davidson

March 26, 2012

Before I get to my new area let me tell you what happened in Pittsburgh right before I left. So we meet with Kahli our investigator and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure to the end). and when we were talking to her about repentance Sis carter asked Kahli what she thought about it?  And Kahli said well I heard about it at church and how you needed to do it everyday.  So I've started asking God for forgiveness everyday since that Sunday. And it was amazing. AMAZING!!! We didn't have to do the awkward will you repent commitment? cause she's already doing it!!

then transfers were probably the most awkward day of my life. My companion was in Harrisburg all day. So I got to spend alllllll day with Elders... being the only sister.  Okay I'm complaining and it really wasn't as bad as I said. It was actually pretty funny. I went out to lunch with them and my zone leader asked who I wanted to ride with and I said whoever will feel the least awkward with a sister in the car. Pretty funny. 

but now....
I am in the greatest county in Pennsylvania!! I'm in Lancaster again. I love this place.  I am serving in the Elizabethtown ward which is the neighboring ward to the Lititz ward where I was serving before. And it's weird cause there are now Elders in the Lititz ward.  So it's weird to be telling my companion this is the Elder's area when we drive through part of their area.  cause it used to be MY area. but whatever it's cool. 

So my companion is Sis Juliano. She is from southern california and she is fabulous. we have so much fun together. She is going home at the end of this transfer though. it's rather sad. But this is going to be an awesome transfer. Details coming in a few minutes. 

So it's weird my whole district doubled in. which for mission lingo means that both companions are new to the area.  I doubled in with Sister Denton when I was getting trained and had a great experience but this time around things are not so great.  There have been a few challenges but it's okay.  We had a handful of miracles fall out of the sky. 

both sets of elders in my district are training. It's kinda funny. They definitely had a deer in the headlights look about to them last week at district meeting. It was great. Ha. I shouldn't make fun of them but I remember my first week out and I was the same way. So it's funny. 

Then we called our bishop on Wednesday to tell him who the new sisters are and he told us about the ward a little bit.  He told us that there was a woman in the ward who was just waiting on some stuff so that she could get married so she could get baptized!!! So the stuff was finalized and this couple got married on Friday and she is getting baptized this friday!!! I'm so excited!! It's my first baptism. So it'll be awesome!! 

Then yesterday at church one of the members of our ward came up to us before relief society and pointed out a woman and said she is an investigator. So to make sure we met her.  So we went up to her and introduced ourselves.  and she was really nice. then after rs she asked how do I join the mormon church?  and I was kinda blown away.  But I said well we have to teach you some lessons, and then you get baptized. Is that something you want.  And she said yeah it is.  So we will be having another baptism coming in a couple of weeks. it depends on how quickly we teach the lessons.  But it'll probably be a couple of weeks. 

Then General Conference is this weekend!!! I'm so excited!!!

Love Sister Davidson