March 24, 2018: Apagao!

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well how are you all?

This was a great week. So for most of the week we were in a trio. Elder Gomes (the other AP) was travelling until Thursday. So it was Elder J. Barbosa (my companion), Elder Lluberes (His companion) and I. It was pretty different working in a trio. There were quite a few interuptions during the week because of it too. But, either way, we worked our hardest. 

One of the best days of the week was Wednesday. We headed to a bus stop to go to the District meeting htat was in a different part of the city. When we were in the road it started raining like crazy. Like, it started flooding in the roads and everything. So that was super crazy. We were waiting under a little overhang for the rain to stop but it never did. So once it let up a little we continued heading towards the bus stop. On the way, there were parts in the road that were sooooo flooded that to cross the road we had to just walk through a pond of water. SO instead of just our clothes being soaking wet, my shoes and socks got drenched too. that was super uncomfortable. haha Once we arrived at the bus stop, it was sooo packed with people under the overhang that there was no space. So we waited in the rain for a bus to come. After like 10 minutes of waiting we decided just to head back home. We were super cold and drenched and thought that it wasn´t worth the trouble. haha So we got home and dried all our clothes and shoes off and played a quick game of Catan while waiting for everything to dry and for the rain to stop. I won. Then we went to lunch and stuff. 

Right after lunch we were teaching a lesson and during it the power went out. Later that day we learned that the power was out in a big part of northern Brasil. I´m still not sure what caused it. But yeah it went out. So around 5ish or 6sih everything starts to get dark. We had a few lessons marked but they were in some very ghetto places and many members told us not to go there because of the blackout. So we headed home at around 7:00. When we got to our apartment, I went to grab the keychain that I always attach to my belt loop on my pants.... and I realized that I had left them on my pants that got drenched early that day. SO the keys were locked inside the apartment. Pretty funny. You just gotta laugh at moments like these. The other elders were going to break the door down, but I told them not to and we talked to the doorman and got the keymaster´s number. It was pretty cool because the whole day we had been trying to call people to no avail. BUT, when the doorman called the key guy he answered!! So he came and opened up the door in less than 15 sec and we had to pay R$80. lol. But it all worked out. At home we organized and cleaned the house and I deep-cleaned the bathroom because of the extra time that we had. Then we played another quick game of Catan. I won again. I am just so good....  and humble. hahha 

I am making a sculpture of a disney cartoon styled person...
Whenever I have time I sit down and mess with it a little bit. 

Anyways that was a pretty funny thing about this week. For p-day this morning we played Catan too, I won again. Yeah. You guys better watch out. haha Yeah but all the other days in the week we worked super hard and did a TON of contacts to find new investigators. We found a lot of new potential investigators. Hopefully some of them work out and go to church. We marked to visit with them this afternoon. SO YEAH. 

I drew a caricature of a teen in the ward. He bought me a star wars pillow and I did a caricature of him...
A fair trade:)

This week I have been studying the book of mormon about the questions that the servants of God do. It is really interesting and it is really easy to see the pattern of how we should teach others. I have made it a goal to use more meaningful questions during my teaching and I have already seen a big difference with the effect it has on my investigators. I love learning about my Savior and know that as we do, we feel peace! It is just like the song Peace in Christ quotes, "There is peace in Christ, when we learn of Him." Click here to listen to Peace in Christ

I know that studying and reading the scriptures is one of the best ways that we can learn of the Savior, and by our actions because of what we learned we can become more like Him. I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Davis

March 19, 2018: A Poor Travelling Man of Happiness

HEY EVERYONE!!

This was probably one of the craziest weeks of my mission. But, it was great. haha I was out of my area the whole week!

So, on Monday I was told that I needed to travel to Itabuna and from there I would go to Porto Seguro to attend the Zone Conferences with President Bangerter. For this trip, we had to prepare a TON of material and cut a bunch of paper and stuff. It took hours and was quite interesting. THEN, that night, I went back and packed my suitcase for the week. We then went to the Bus Station and I headed out to Itabuna!

I arrived in Itabuna 5:30 AM and went and took a shower and changed my clothes. Then, we went straight to the Zone conference. We had a Leadership meeting at 7:00 and then the normal zone conference started. It finished about 3:00 PM. Then I went with the Zone Leaders from Itabuna and worked in the area with them. It was a good division. It was a good opportunity to help the Elders in their area. It was really cool because I was able to see Two members that are basically my brasillian parents. They are so awesome. 

That next morning I helped clean up the Elder´s house becuase it was a mess and then at 10:30 AM I left with President and Sister Bangerter to Porto Seguro. It was like a 4 hour drive. It was cool. We listened to church talks and had some good conversations. We ate lunch during the trip and got there around 2:30 PM. I then went and worked with the Elders from Baianão! My first area. It was really cool. I missed that area. It brought up some feelings of nostalgia. I saw some members. It was fun to talk to them more. Because when I was at the start of my mission I couldn´t do that as well. haha 

The next morning on Thursday we had the Zone Conference in Porto Seguro. So we woke up early and got there at 7;00 AM for the leadership meeting. Then after that I went with the Zone Leaders to their area in Eunapolis. We had to take a bus to get to their area. We ended up getting there late at night. We visited some people and then ate pizza.haha

I love SODA so much!!

Friday we worked in their area. It was fun I like both the elders. Elder lee and Elder Hilton. I accidentally put some soda in Elder Lee´s juice and then he drank it... But he doesn´t drink soda.... He had made a covenant to never drink soda again. He was going strong for 7 years.... And I kinda ruined that. lol. Felt bad about that. Technically it was on purpose, I just forgot that he didn´t drink soda. So yeah that was great. THEN, I got on my bus at 7:35 PM and travelled the whole night back to Salvador.

 I arrived 7:00 AM and went straight to the house of Santa Cruz. Took a shower there and changed clothes. Then, I went with my companion to the Open house that was happening for a Chapel that would be rededicated. So from 10-5:00 We were out in the sun doing contacts and trying to get people to go in the church and see what it´s like. I became a lobster. I got so sunburt. Totally forgot to put on sunscreen and nobody there had it. Then we got back to our area and went to work. Crazy huh? 

So yeah this week was pretty crazy. But I had a good time. There was a devotional that I listened to with President and Sister Bangerter that I really liked called "Love is not Blind" by Bruce C. Hafen. It was SUPER good. I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to all of you. He said some really interesting stuff. 

Well, Thanks for all your letters and support. Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Davis

March 5, 2018: A Good Ol Week

OPA!!! TUDO BEM???

This week was pretty crazy but it was really good. I really enjoyed it. 

Visit to the Lighthouse

Things are going well here in Salvador. We had a cool little miracle. So we had a meeting with President Bangerter on Monday. We heard some crazy announcements. Elder Bednar will visit Salvador and do a transmission to the two missions. Also, President Bangeter said that I will be the one to direct the meeting.... hahaha So I am excited! At the end of the meeting, he told us that we may find an investigator that will be baptized this week or the next week, so we should give it our all. I didn´t think much of it, but we went to work! We had a great lesson marked with a teenager named Daniel. He is a great investigator and is making a lot of progress. He unfortunately wasn´t there. Which, was kinda weird. He is almost always there. So we kept walking and passed by a less active´s house. Also not there. We climbed a hill and had the impression to visit an old investigator of the previous Elder that was serving in my area. I had passed by many times but she was never home. BUT, as we passed by, HER LIGHT WAS ON! So we called her name (Maria). She came out and asked us to pass by on Tuesday. After that we started heading home because it was getting late... but I had another impression to visit a less active member. We went there and my companion reminded me that she had surgery marked for that Monday to take out some breast cancer stuff. Her husband let us in and she shared with us her experience and told how she had a dream with Christ during the surgery. It was super spiritual. 

Then Tuesday we went and visited Maria. She had already been taught everything. We revised the lessons with her and she told us that she was sad that she wasn´t able to be baptized earlier because she had been travelling. So we gave her a baptismal date for that Saturday. She accepted. We continued passing by throughout the week to ensure that she was fully prepared and ready. 

Saturday on her baptism it was crazy though. I went to a lighthouse for P-day with the other Staff Elders. It was fun. We then had a great lunch with one of the Mission Counselors. We got to our area around 3:30. 

The baptism was marked for 5:00. A member was going to stop by Maria´s house to go to the church with her. They lived close to one another. We waited and waited. Finally 5:30, the member shows up alone shaking her finger. She told us that Maria was locked in her house and that her mom had left with the key in the morning and still hadn´t arrived. So we ran over to her house. She was on the balcony crying because she was stuck there and wasn´t able to be baptized. We waited and called her family members various times. Finally, right when I pulled out my phone to cancel the baptism, her mom shows up in the car. She got out and unlocked the door and Maria was able to be baptized. It was pretty sweet! haha So it was awesome how all that went together. 

Baptism of Maria

This week I have been studying quite a bit about the Plan of Salvation. I think it is soooo interesting and really helps me understand better who I am and why I am here. D&C is fulll of amazing sections that talk about all that. I studied 76,130,138 and some other sections. LOVE IT. haha

Well, I love you all and hope you have the best week ever!

Love,

Elder Davis