December 11, 2017: Little kids and RAIIIIIIIIIN

HELLLO HELLO HELLO

Alrighty friends and fam. Well this was a great week as always.

MAN I just love the mission it is sooooo cool. It is the best experience I have ever had. I feel like I have changed soooo much and have learned many new things. It´s the best thing that has happened to me.... Other than my parents getting married..... because without that I wouldn´t be born....

Yeah so this week was good. We  played basketball last p-day and this p-day so that is awesome. Let me tell ya... I have lost all of the little skill that I had before the mission. Pretty sad. I would almost even say that CC could beat me. But that would be embarrassing so that isn´t true. 

ANYWAYS... I don´t have all the time in the world. But I have been trying to pay attention to the Sejaaluzdomundo thingy. Where we are invited to do 25 things for 25 days. Our main focus out here is to teach and help others. So we do that every day. But focusing on those little ideas is cool too. One of the days said, "Ensine uma criança a respeito de Jesus Cristo e Seu infinito amor por ela."  AND I was able to do that! ON that exact day I got the opportunity to teach an 8 year old kid with his less active mom. He was a little slower than other 8 year olds and it was hard for him to understand things. I wanted to help him understand the best way I could and at the same time bring the Spirit unto his mom. So that she could be touched by the Spirit and gain the desire to come back to church. My companion started teaching and he talked about prophets and the importance of them on the earth. The little boy didn´t understand much and didn´t really pay much attention to the lesson. But then I had the opportunity to teach. I was able to teach as if I was at a puppet show.... without the puppets.  I just taught in a super simple fun way. My companion saw that it was working so well when I was teaching him that when it was his turn to teach he just told me to keep going. So I did a drawing of Joseph Smith's life and the first vision and the kid loved it so much that he said that he would look at this drawing every day. He really understood everything and the Spirit was very strong.  We have to still work with them to help them continue to grow and change. But, it was a cool experience. I am very thankful for my mother and all the time I spent doing puppet shows and sharing time with her. AT THE MOMENT when I was doing it.... I wasn´t so thankful. But, now I can see that I was being prepared and I became a better person because of that. 

I know the Lord uses us according to each of our given gifts and developed talents to change, bless, and better the lives of those around us. I love you all! Have an amazing week and SEJA A LUZ DO MUNDO!!!  (Be the Light of the World)

Love,

Elder Davis

December 4, 2017: Leadership and Chess

Hello Family!!!

This week was great. I am loving my area. My comp is really good too. We are getting along super well. SO that is kind of a relief from the last transfer. hehe We have new goals for baptisms as a area and a mission so that put some more pressure and responsibility on my shoulders as the Senior ZL. But it is good. It is a nice pressure. I am learning a lot from the leadership opportunities I am getting. haha AND leading everyone is really cool. It is like playing a game of chess or something. You have to know how to use every piece... or elder. To get them to work hard and have success. So that is fun. ANYWAYS life is good here. I am loving the mish. So we are doing good and working hard. I am sending you a voice memo telling you about my week!

But here is a great spiritual thought that our Mission President shared during the Mission Council. He was talking about Nephi building the boat and really applied it to our lives as a missionary. He explained that we may have some missionaries that are similar to Laman and Lemuel. That they would complain at every little thing that we have to do. BUT, that we should be like Nephi. FIRST, he searched to be obedient in All the commandments of the Lord. Then, he exorted the others to do the same. It really showed that our example is really really important and especially our example as a leader. 

 

Love,

Josh

November 27, 2017: Transfer, Sewage, Dead Dog, Uh yeah.

HEY YÀLL,

Man... that is really sad... I can´t do the Yáll abreviation. IT just puts the little thingy above the 'A'. haha Man. Well...  Darn. 

How are you all doing?

Greatest DAB Ever!

I am doing great!! This was a great week. It was the last week of the transfer. SO we finished things up here and worked hard. My comp is being transferred and my new companion is Elder Semedo. He is from Cape Verde, Africa.

Anyways, this week was legit. We had some cool highlights.

Tuesday was the best day of work. We worked super hard and taught a ton of lessons. It was awesome. We were able to find some new families to teach. 

Yes, I am smiling by a dead dog!  It was like some weird witchcraft stuff was going on because next to the dead dog therewas a dead chicken, dead fox, and a dead cat..... Pretty weird.

On Wednesday, We went and ate hamburgers at night while we were on splits with the elders from Itapetinga. IT was pretty sweet. We bought the biggest, juiciest, most expensive hamburger they had. It was really tasty. BUT it wasn´t big enough. SO we were still hungry after. haha But it was fun. 

BIGGEST, Juicest, Most Expensive (But not filling) Hamburger!

Thursday was another crazy fun day. SO we had to prepare to do splits in Poçoes. So I was going to go that night with Elder Cassiano who had served there a year ago. He wanted to visit some people that he knew there. So we were planning on going that night at like 10;30. It was the last bus that would take us there. BUT things didn't go as planned. Because, I was invited to be a judge in a giant activity. It was a mock "Master Chef" for an English learning school. It was a way to celebrate Thanksgiving. So everyone was put into groups. They prepared their tables, decorated them, and brought main dishes from different countries. They wanted the judges to be people who speak English. So a friend of a member asked if I could help out. We went there and I was one of the judges. haha It was so cool. I just went around with the other judges and ate food. Dream job. Then I just gave them a score from 1-10.  It was a great time, but the activity started late and went super long. SO we finished at like 10:20. So we just went home.

"Master Chef" Activity:)

The next morning we woke up early and took a bus to Poçoes. There I went and did some baptismal interviews and did splits with the Elders. It was a lot of fun. THe worst part was when I stepped in like black POOPYmud. I got my brown shoe completely covered in this poopy sewage... It was bad. All the flies went and swarmed around my food. But at one of the investigators houses we asked for a water and I washed it all out. It took a while to come out. But now it´s all good. haha 

Sewage Shoe

THOSE were the highlights of the week. It was a great week. I also had the opportunity to give a 10 min talk in sacrament meeting. It was pretty cool. I focused on 3 Nephi when Christ appears to the people. He establishes his church and teaches many things unto the people. After in chapter 19 the people went out and preached that to all the surrounding areas and gathered up soooo many people that they had to be separated into 12 groups. I related the ward or us to the people in 3 Nephi 11.  Christ has restored his church and brought us sooo many blessings as in the times of old. Now it is our time to be like the people and spread the gospel to others! It was pretty fun. Unfortunately the pulpit didn´t rise electronically... SO I had to bend down a bit the whole talk... haha 

But, I love you all! thanks for all your letters! SHare the gospel like the Nephites! Be a Light to the World! #Sejaaluzdomundo

Love

Elder Davis

November 20, 2017: BUCKETS...and BUCKETS...and BUCKETS...

HELLOWWWWW everyone!

How are you all doing? 

This week was a great week for us. IT was the dedication week. So we woke up at 6:00 everyday and left at 8:00 everyday to work! It was pretty crazy. It went well! Loved it. We worked hard and were greatly blessed. 

Mini Cokes and District Meeting

So on Monday we had lessons marked and were gonna leave at 3:00 but, we didn´t have any more Book of Mormons.... SO we called a bunch of people and it took forever for the Book of Mormons to arrive. The Elder that had all the boxes didn´t really communicate with us very well so we ended up waiting for a super long time for the BoM's. In the end we just went to their area and got it for ourselves. haha It was rough! 

Tuesday and Wednesday were great days. We worked hard and really had a great time. We gave a blessing of comfort to a lady whose grandpa died while we were at her house eating lunch. She got the call and we gave her a blessing to help her out. 

Thursday night we were teaching Gilson and his family and they were telling us how their family relationship has improved since we started visiting them. So that was cool. To see the change that is happening with this family. Then we got a call from the bishop to meet with him. So we met up with him at a park and together we all went to a referral. It was a single mom of three kids who is getting better from cancer and didn´t have money to feed her kids. So we brought food to them and then gave her a blessing. 

Friday morning we went to do a service project. We helped put all the supports in the house so that they could lay cement on the second floor. It is really different than the american style of building houses. I think wood is more expensive here. SO they use blocks and cement. We didn´t do that much just grabbed all the stuff that the man needed. 

Service Project

Saturday morning we went on splits with the Elders from Sumaré to get everything prepared for Giuliane´s baptism. So I went  with Elder Cassiano and we gave a bath to the stake president's dog. My comp and the other Elder went and filled up the baptismal font with buckets... Because the faucet was BROKEN. Then later that day, when we went to prepare everything for the baptism, Mutual was going on. So in the baptismal room all the young men were huddled in there with a Ps4 hooked up to a TV playing FIFA. AND the baptismal font lost half the water! We had 30 minutes until the baptism.... hahah SO I filled it up with buckets while my comp organized the room and got the young men out of there! It was crazy. It took like an hour to do it all. But in the end it all worked out! So it was great. I have pictuers and will try to send it to you guys.

Baptism of Guiliane

Last thing... I have been listening to the Joseph Smith papers. IT is sooooo cool. You guys would love it! It explains the history of everything and what it was like in that time period. I listened to the one about the translating of the Book of Mormon and it blew me away. It is soooo amazing. It is a miracle that we have this book today! Love you all! Stay filé!

com amor,

Elder Davis

November 13, 2017: Monster CYST!

HELLO!

This will be super super fast because this week is the Dedication week. SO we aren´t going to stay in the lanhouse for very long. We gotta go to work! We are gonna have a shorter letter...

SO this week was good... We went to the Mission Council Tuesday Night and got there in Salvador in the morning. We were there the whole day and then left that night. 

A lot more PAINFUL than it looks!

The interesting thing, is that on Tuesday I got a big zit looking thing.... and Wednesday morning it was hurting so I tried to pop it.... It didn't work. AND THEN IT GOT BIGGER during the day. It just kept growing and growing man. Super weird. Thursday morning when I woke up in the bus ride home, I felt my face and it was huuumongous. It looked like I took my wisdom teeth out again. Don´t really know what happened with that. I called the President´s wife and she told me if it got worse I should go to the hospital. IT GOT WORSE! While we were walking it was hurting and a little bigger. SO that night we went to the hospital. When I got in there, they numbed it up and cut it open... AND THEN......

Better view?

THEY tried to pop it... The lady squeezed my cheek as hard as she could for like... forever. It hurt pretty badly. A ton of puss came out!  When she numbed it at the start, it was so full of puss that the puss started coming out and running down my face... just from that tiny hole she made!! haha After she tried she left and another guy came over to "Make sure that everything came out" In other words "KILL ME"!  HE SQUEEZED SOOOO HARD... for like 10 minutes and the numb effect had long left. SO that sucked!  But I just stayed calm and still. lol 

I really do feel as Happy as my companion...I'm just holding it in.

ANYWAYS That was the highlight of the week. Pretty crazy huh? My cheek is getting better it is still a little full and puss still comes out every once in a while. I have a few pics of it too. But it´s all good. I will get better! 

I had a cool spiritual thought but I think I forgot...I guess it wasn´t very good. hahaha  But, I am reading in 2 Nephi and I think it is so awesome and slightly confusing to read about all the prophecies. But it is so cool how it is all coming true!!! SO GO AND READ IT MAH FRIENDS!! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Davis 

PS Sorry this is a short letter but it´s dedication week so we are going to get to work and leave the house at 8am every day!!!

November 5, 2017: Eventful Week

Hello Hello Hello

Wow... I need to use the bathroom. But, there isn´t one here in the LanHouse. That´s just great. 

hahahaha This was a great week meus queridos. Things are going well here in Conquista. 

Unfortunatley my companion has been quite sick so he has been bedridden basically. We still were able to work a bit. But it is hard to have to stay home. So basically the whole start of the week was like that. Today he is still a little sick but he is getting better. hahah We went to the Hospital yesterday because President thought it might´ve been Dengue (Dang) (I don´t know how to say it in english) They did tests the whole day but the doctors told us that he doesn't have any sickness according to their tests.  But while he was sick I watched 17 miracles and MAN I just teared up at every miracle that happened.  haha I don´t know what´s happening to me. I wasn't like that at home. lol haha I love that movie! It is so powerful. I am so grateful for the pioneers. I think when I get home it would be cool to do a big Pioneer sculpt as a tribute to them. 

Friday morning I went to Poções to do splits. It was great! It was an awesome experience. I love those elders. We taught a few lessons and also I had to do the baptismal interview for them. It was great. I love doing them. It is awesome to see the testimonies that the people have gained through prayer and the Book of Mormon. We also went and cleaned up the baptismal font because it was full of dirt. haha There were a ton of toads in the city too!! There were tons in the road flattened like paper. We also found one at the Chapel! haha Then I left there at like 9:40 pm and got home around 11:00. There was a little confusion and I was locked out of the house for like 40 minutes. haha I was yelling their names to open the door down below but they didn´t hear me and their phone had died. But, in the end everything worked out beautifully. haha

Things here are going great! Our area is progressing very well. We have been able to apply the 'Dia do Senhor' in our lessons to bring people to church. I really enjoy teaching the lesson. Our investigators have really gotten the vision of the importance of living this principle. We had a great experience relating to Fasting. We decided to fast for one of our investigators that was close to baptism. She was nervous with the idea of baptism and beforehand didn´t even want to talk about it. We fasted for her this weekend and taught her on Sunday. She felt the spirit and committed to be baptized this Saturday. Honestly, without God´s help it wouldn´t have happened that smoothly. It was a testimony-strengthening experience of the power of Fasting. I know the Lord is looking out for us and helping us every step of the way.

ALSO, I got to watch the new video that the church released on the first vision. IT IS SOOOOOO AWESOME. WATCH IT. Link to First Vision Movie  You guys will love it! Super powerful. It is such an important moment and is critical for us to always remember it and strengthen our testimonies of the truthfullness of these events. Love you all! Have a great week! Watch the first vision video!!! 

Love,

Elder Davis

October 30, 2017: BOM DIA!

GOOOD MYTHICAL MORNNNNNNNNNNNNNNING!!!!!!!

HELLO everyone! BOM DIA!

This week was a great week of learning and yeah it was just pretty crazy... hahaha

We worked hard at the start of the week, we taught a lot of people. We have been teaching a family. The dad´s name is Gilson. Him and his family are awesome. We have been visiting and he looooves our visits. It is so awesome. He told us that he is so happy at work the days that we will visit him and when people ask him why he is so happy he says because the missonaries are coming over tonight! hahah Super awesome to hear that. He is really sincere and we are working to help them get to church and be baptized. 

Dinner at a members

So the first part of the week was awesome. THEN, Elder Gil the assistent came and did splits with us. So on Thursday we were with him. We were preparing everything for the Zone conference. Then we got a call that an Elder was arriving in Conquista via bus to pick him up to do a surgery. SO we walked for 1hr and 30min to the bus station.... We got there and called the Secretaries to know what bus he would arrive on. The Secretaries told us that he was actually travelling by airplane. So we took a taxi to the airport and picked the Elder up. He didn´t know why he was even there... He wasn´t really informed what was going on... But we went to the Hospital to see if he needed to do the surgery at that time.. AND when we got there, all the people were waiting for him to be able to start a heart surgery on the guy! haha Super funny.  So he got the surgery that night. IT was really quick and stuff. It wasn't an open-heart surgery. He´s doing all good too. So it turned out all good.

THEN Friday we had a zone conference with President. It was great. We had a good time. Learned a lot of good stuff. So that was fun. Then afterwards, we did an exposition. So we set up a table in a busy area full of church materials. We did a ton of contacts and got a lot of good references! So that was great! Then we finished up the week with some good hard work. PRETTY AWESOME. hahah We are doing well and preparing a lot of people for baptism. So that´s exciting.  THEN, we got home 9:30 at night... exhausted, having walked a ton the whole day, super excited to take a hot shower, I reached to turn on the light AND..... Nothing. The lights were out. Our energy was cut. hahaha SO hopefully it gets turned back on today!!!! haha We haven´t had energy this whole weekend and it has been pretty tough. Saturday morning, when I woke up I was in a daze. Following my habit, I put my shirt on the ironing board, straightened it out all nice an perfect, plugged in the iron, and just sat their waiting. Finally my companion just started laughing and reminded me that we didn´t have energy. Barril. hahaha 

The Zone!

AND Saturday morning we did a service project and gave the stake president´s dog a bath. haha It was awesome. I didn´t bring my camera so I will have to take a pic the next time that we do it.

So this week was awesome. Sunday we had a family night with a member and a few investigators. It was awesome. The lesson shared was great. It was about keeping our standards up. So that was good. I have been thinking about that a ton. It´s so important to maintain our standards and stay strong. To keep the armor of God at all times! So I think that is something that is super important in our lives in everyday situations. SO Keep it up! Stay strong!!! hahaah I remember that poem, "To Dare to be a Mormon, dare....... " All that stuff. haha You guys know what I am talking about. hahaah I love you all! Keep up your standards. HAVE a GREAT week.

Love,

Elder Davis

October 23, 2017: Infected toe!

 Josh sent us an awesome voice recording today,  talking about his toe and his life in Brazil!

Family Night:)

I taught this boy the dab!

My toe after a 2 hour "self surgery" to remove a hangnail!

October 16, 2017: The Hot Sun of the Cold City Conquista

This was a super awesome week here in Conquista!

We worked super hard. We are opening up a new area because the ward boundaries were changed. SO we are starting from ZERO. haha. Our new area is like 45- 60 minutes walking. We have been going there everyday and have been knocking on A TON of doors. It was so great. It was refreshing to get rejected by people. haha Generally, in other areas, EVERYONE accepts a visit from the missionaries, but they don´t have the desire to read, pray, go to church, etc. They are all comfortable where they are at. SO here is different. We knock and knock and knock and everyone is busy or isn´t interested. haha 

Paintball wounds:)

So we worked SUPER hard this week to find interested people. I don´t think I have ever worked so hard in my whole mission. Every day, we arrived at home exhausted. It was a great feeling. I don´t know why but it was a really great experience for me. I learned a lot and became a better missionary because of this. It was like the Refiner´s Fire. 

I also got more tan!!! haha SO I am getting even darker! (YES) 

I don´t have too much to relate to you guys. We just walked a ton. BUT, we had a couple great lessons. I loved it. I told you guys last week about Jacó that accepted to be baptized. Well, I guess his mom and sister told him that he can´t. So he told us he won´t be accepting any more visits. IT was pretty sad. But we talked to him. We told him the importance of the Spirit that he felt and tried our best to help him. I really was sad that he stopped accepting our visits. I felt like that night I saw him through God´s perspective and I wanted to do everything possible to help him receive his Salvation. He told us that he would make a visit at the church. Hopefully he does! Great guy.

But, we have found some other great investigators and have many lessons marked for this week! It´s gonna be awesome!

I finished the Book of Mormon this week. AND like the mission president´s wife said, I wrote "Start again" right next to "The End" hahah! So I started the Book of Mormon again. I think this will be my fourth time reading it. I really like the first chapter. I really loved reading about the determination of Lehi. He was in a tough situation. The Lord showed him everything that would happen. He knew that Jerusalem would be destroyed and that the people would not listen to him. Yet, he left the comforts of his house and preached repentance to the people. He did his part. He tried as hard as he could even though the people wanted to kill him. I think that Nephi must have learned a lot from his father´s example. Nephi then states that when we are dilligent (Like his father) The Lord shows forth his tender mercies. AND by the power of deliverance, makes us become strong. For, without the Lord we are weak, imperfect, hopeless beings. I love the contrast of a life with Christ to one without. HE gives us Hope, Light, and Life. I hope that we can all be like Lehi and fulfill the tasks given to us, even though they may seem impossible and like Lehi, keep our heads up, even if there isn´t any physical, visual results from our efforts. The Lord knows! I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Davis

PS We went Paintballing this morning. It was awesome. hahaha I played pretty well. We had a fun time. LOVE YOU ALL!

October 9, 2017: SURPRISE! I was transferred!

SURPRISE everyone! I was transferred... 

I am now in the fair town (huge city) of Vitoria da Conquista (Victory of the Conquest)

It is super cool here. BUT because of this transfer the week was pretty nuts......

I am going to miss Elder Gomes!

To start off on Monday night we went to the Mission Council. We got there on Tuesday and spent the whole day there meeting with the other ZL's and the President. It went very well. At the end of the trainings, I was talking to my companion Elder Gomes and President told me that I was being transferred to Conquista to be ZL with Elder Loureiro. Kinda sad but it's all good.

Also, later that night, we went to the mission office and I said goodbye to Elder Jenkins and Elder Prado . They finished their mission (Elder High finished too but I didn't see him). They actually had stayed another transfer but because of the visa they had to go home 4 weeks into the transfer. So it was necessary to have some emergency transfers to figure everything out. Elder High was in conquista in my place, but he left so I went there!

It is complicated. BUT it was sad to see them go. I love those guys!

My new comp Elder Loureiro!

The rest of the week was just packing and traveling. 

I got to Conquista late at night on Thursday. We ate pizza and I started unpacking.

The rest of the week we taught some lessons and participated in the Helping Hands event at the hospital. We had to sing in front of everyone.... it was very bad. haahha But I guess we are on TV! So that's pretty cool. The ward is super awesome here. They are all very excited and have been giving us many referrals. So I am very excited to work here!

But, that was basically the week. We taught a few people and had some other cool experiences too!

One cool experience on Sunday, we had a great experience with verifications this week. We were searching for many less active members. The addresses were all wrong and nothing was working out. But, we kept going, trying our hardest to preach the gospel. We were led by the spirit and contacted one of the member´s neighbors. We entered his house and taught him the first lesson. The spirit was very strong and we committed him to baptism on the 21st. 

I finished the Hulk:)

To finish up I had a cool spiritual thought while I was reading the book of Ether and thought I would share it with you all. They said that the boats were tight like a dish. I related it to us. That we must be firm in Christ. We must be 'tight like a dish' with the LIGHT of Christ inside of us. To keep the darkness out and the cold waves of temptation from taking us over. It is very important for us to have a sure foundation in Christ. Like it is stated in Helaman 5:12. Like the church leaders said, we need to keep the doctrine of Christ PURE and have a firm testimony of these things. So that was a cool little connection I had this week. hahah 

I hope you all have a 'tight' week! hahha

Love-

Elder Davis

October 2, 2017: Conference and Baptisms!

HELLLOOO everyone!

This was an amazingly awesome week. It was very busy. We did splits with a few elders.

SO Monday night we had a bible bash.... The guy talked to us about what we believe and is interested. He just doesn´t like the idea that we say we are the only true church. Because he feels like he has had spiritual experiences in his church too. Which is normal, because he is dealing with God. Of course he can feel the Spirit and everything. BUT, what he didn´t understand was the fact that the Preisthood was restored! But it´s all good. We are going to visit him one last time tonight to see how it goes. 

Tuesday we did splits with the Elders from Itabuna Centro. It went well. I went to their area to help teach a guy that was baptized this Saturday. 

Wednesday we did splits with Buerarema and went to their area to help them out. It also went well. It is a very small town though. So I am glad I am not serving there. 

Thursday we were going to do splits with some other elders but they cancelled on us. Bummer. But we worked hard and our District Leader did the baptismal interview for Rafael. He passed just fine and at the closing prayer he prayed that he could be baptized and that his baptism could be the best day ever. AND it was.  hahaha

Friday we finished some things up and I went and did the baptismal interview for Itabuna Centro. It was really cool. The spirit was very strong and I could tell that the man really had a testimony about what was taught. 

SATURDAY was awesome. I Loved General Conference. It was super awesome. I learned a whole ton. After the 5:00 session we had the baptism of the two guys. Rafael and the Gilberto (from Itabuna Centro). It was very cool. Very spiritual. 

The person taking this picture did not know how to center the camera haha

Sunday was also good. basically we just listened to conference. But like I said I loved it. I think my favorite talk was Elder Holland´s. I loved when he said that we are all debtors sentenced to prison but because of Our King, we may be saved. Very true. I also loved the talk about miracles and the one about oneness!!! It was very awesome. STUDY those talks! There is a lot of important things in there. ALSO, the Book of Mormon vs critics talk was awesome. It was like a giant bible bash.... just with nobody on the opposing side. Still cool though.

Anyways, that was my week everyone! I love you all! Have a merry week!

Love,

Elder Davis