Monday, February 26, 2018

February 24, 2018: Uma Benção de Paz

BOM DIA BRASIILLLLLLLL!!

How is everyone?

This was another great week for me here in Salvador. It was crazy though. It was the start of the new transfer. So, everything got really busy.

Monday we met with President Bangerter and we discussed what would be taught in the New Missionary Training. Also, we talked about what to train to the Trainers. It was great. Then, we printed out and prepared all the necessary documents.

Tuesday, we woke up early and went to the Mission Home. We had the training for the Trainers first. Then, the newbies arrived and we trained them. It went very well. It was fun to see how excited and new they were. Haha It brought back many memories from when I first got on the mission. Overall, this lasted the whole day. We got home at 9:30, planned with our new companions and went to bed. My new companion is Elder Barbosa. He is from São Paulo, Brasil and has 3 months on the mission. He is the newest companion that I have ever had. He still doesn´t know a lot about the teaching techniques that we have. So we have practiced a lot, and we will continue to do so. 
My new companion, Elder Barbosa and Herbie:)
Wednesday, we woke up and did our normal stuff. hahaha We got to work and found some good investigators and the teaching went well. We work together really well. It is weird though. A big part of the teaching depends on me. He doesn´t know what to say yet. But, by the time he leaves here he will be a pro. 

Joshy "writes" again...
Thursday, we had a cool experience. So we worked hard and had a good time. At night, we had been asked to go to a member´s house to dedicate their house. Their new-born baby has been having trouble sleeping and the parents don´t get any rest because of it. We went in their house and they already looked really tired. I explained the basics of dedicating a house and invited the father to do it.... But, said he preferred that I did it. So I did. We knelt down. The mom stayed in the chair with the baby in her arms. In the dedication, I blessed that the house would be able to be a sacred place and a place in which the baby can find rest and peace. When we finished the dedication, the Spirit was super strong... almost tangible. ANND the baby was fast asleep. That was super cool to see. So we quickly left them in peace. After, my companion said that he felt like someone had turned on a light in the house. Like, the surroundings got brighter during the prayer. Our eyes were closed, but he said that it got brighter. So that was pretty cool to hear. 
I love Brazilian Food

Friday, we worked hard yesterday too. Things went well. At one point our lessons fell through so we decided to say a prayer and ask for direction. After the prayer, I asked my companion if any thought came to his mind as to where we needed to go. He said that the thought "The house will shine" came to his mind. AND a light turning on in a house across the path from us. So we went and clapped our hands there. Haha We got accepted in to a family a 6 people! All the kids are teenagers! It was a good lesson but everyone was busy getting ready for school and stuff. So we will return next we to teach them again. It was still a cool experience to find them like that. 

WHELP, Thatthathathathat´s all folks! That was my week. It was great. I love the mission and being about to take part in this work! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Davis

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

February 17, 2018: A Good Ol Normal Week!

HEY EVERYONE!

I have to say I am pretty sore. I have been doing some intense chair dips this week and that just about killed me. I also did a few push-ups. #fitness

I have had a great week though. Honestly, things are going well and I am loving the mission. This week we have worked hard and visited a lot of people. We had some great lessons and found some great new investigators. Unfortunately, a lot of appointments fell through also. So that was rough. But, we kept working hard and doing our best! We found an awesome family through a member referral. Their names are Ramão and Jamili. They are great people. The lessons went very good as well taught them this week. They are very sincere and receptive. They understood the 1st lesson very well and loved the Book of Mormon. That is always awesome when we have the opportunity to find people like them. 
Random sketches...
I have had a great time with Elder Thevenin. He is a great Elder and we are good friends. Sadly, the transfer has come to an end. So I will be getting a new companion. That´s good though. It´ll be a great new experience.
So, today we had the opportunity to help President do the transfer. It was a great learning opportunity. We prayed about the missionaries and followed the Spirit to place them where they needed to go. We ate an american Brunch. That was tasty. haha We had Eggs, Bacon, and Pancakes. It has been a while since I have had a meal like that. 

This week I have been studying about Alma´s counsel that he gave to his three sons; Heleman, Shiblon, and Coriantumr. They are some great chapters and have a lot of amazing things. I thought that reading about the resurrection and the Plan of Salvation was super interesting. (Alma 40-42) These chapters contain a lot of deep doctrine and many eternal truths. I would invite all of you to read it! You´ll love it! 


Well, I know that this week is shorter....also I am aware that I forgot to take pictures this week.... my bad. I´ll have to take double this week! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Davis

Monday, February 12, 2018

February 10, 2018: A Fun Crazy Week

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD Morning Apartment.... Goood Morning FLooooor 

(Name that movie) haaha Love that quote. I don´t really know why. 

ANNNYWHO, I hope everyone is doing well! Hope the week has been good for you all.

This week was super crazy and it also was pretty fun! 

So, Monday we had to work hard to prepare all the materials and stuff for the Mission Council that we had on Wednesday. We printed out and prepared a lot of things. So that was Monday. haha 

Me, Elder Gomes, and Elder Rodrigues
Tuesday, we did splits with the Zone Leaders from Porto Seguro. That was a good experience. We worked hard and got to know them better too. I stayed with Elder Lee. He is from Seattle, Washington. We had a great time! We worked hard and I was able to give him advice for some problems that he was having on the mission. We taught a man named Valter Caetano. Love that guy. He is really cool and very sincere. We were able to teach his whole family and they loved the message. However, in the morning on Tuesday, we met with the Mission President to plan what we were going to do for the mission council and to follow-up some other stuff too!

Wednesday, We had the Mission Council. It was a great meeting. We learned a lot of new things that we can do to teach better. We were also able to lead some of the trainings which was a great learning experience as well. The meeting ended around 4. President did some interviews and at 5;30 he went with us to our area to teach and see how our work is going. It was kinda stressful, but is was a great learning experience. He teaches very well and I learned many new teaching techniques. We taught a new family and the spirit was very strong. 

Thursday, We did splits with the Zone Leaders from Itabuna. That was also great. haha I worked with Elder Souza. He is a good elder and is from Manaus, Brasil. We had a lot of fun and taught some good lessons. Also, Thursday, Carnaval started in Salvador. Which is like a HUGE party here in brasil. It lasts a WHOLE WEEK. In it, half the city leaves the city and the other half goes to the crazy party the whole day. Luckily the party doesn´t happen in our area or we wouldn´t be able to go in that area. But, there isn´t too many people in the streets. hahah But, even so we are working hard.

Playing the Piano:)
Friday, we worked and taught a few less active members and we found some new investigators. It was a pretty normal work day. IT WAS SUPER HOT THOUGH... I was dying. Like, seriously, it was soooooo hot. I don´t think I have ever sweat that much. 

So yeah that was my week. This week I have been studying a lot in the book of mormon. I love that book! I find so many important things that help me in my life. I also read an article in the Liahona (Ensign) called "Ask in Faith" Ask in Faith Link It is a new volume of church history that is written in a very interesting way. It is like reading the Way of Kings or something! It is super interesting to read and there is a ton of information in there too! So I really liked reading that. You guys would like that a lot! SO give it a read! I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Davis