Hey Everyone! haha this was one awesome, crazy, busy week.
To start off I opened up my email with 41 emails and unfortunately, I don't think that I will have the time to respond to even half of the people. I am currently using my Mission President's Macbook to write to you guys. Pretty sweet huh?
So this week was super crazy. First off, Sunday night I travelled to Brumado. I got there in the morning on Monday and waited at the Bus Station for an hour for the Elders to send me a ride. It was cool though, I got to watch the sunrise. After getting to their house, I went with the Elders to the Lan House. While they wrote their families, I just read the Book of Mormon. We ate some good snacks as well. It was fun because I got to spend some time with Elder Vander Werff and Elder Gomes. I like them both a lot. They are really great friends of mine. Later that day, they all had interviews with the Mission President. Then, we just prepared for the Zone Conference that would happen the following day.
Tuesday, we woke up, got ready, and went to the Zone Conference. It went well. You guys wouldn't believe how many times I have listened to the trainings by now. Anyways we had that and it went pretty well. Then, after the meeting and lunch, I travelled by car with President Biddulph, his wife, and daughter. I sat in the front and the whole time I was just explaining how the mission works and the logistics of everything. It was cool to brainstorm with him about new things that would help the mission. After 3 hours, we arrived in Conquista. We were all hungry of course and ate dinner at McDonalds. At night, we met up with the Zone Leader and his companion and they got interviewed by President. I spent the night at the Zone Leaders house.
Wednesday, in the morning, I went with President to all of the missionaries houses in the city of Conquista for him to do interviews as well. After, we ate lunch at Subway and he dropped me off to work with the Zone Leader. It was a fun afternoon. We were able to do a lot of contacts. At night, Conquista got really cold. At around 8:20, they didn't have anyone else to visit and we freezing and far from home, so we went back to their apartment. Once we got their I regretted going back early. But, we prepared the trainings for the Zone Conference.
Thursday, we had the zone conference. It was great as well. Listened to all the same trainings again but, it was a good experience. At the end, President Biddulph was bearing his testimony and sharing a quick message about our motives for being on the mission. He said that if our motives are that we love God and love our neighbor, we will truly be happy. Something that he said during that message hit me and I repented for going home early the night before. I promised that I would work all the way until 9. That night, the same situation happened. The Elder's appointments fell through and they didn't know what to do. So I just started knocking doors. Just so that you all know, in Conquista, it isn't a very logical thing to do. It is cold and dark. The people are scared of being robbed at that hour so they do not answer the door. But, I had made a promise. So I just kept knocking doors. One after another I was rejected. hahaha It was pretty funny. The Elders thought I was crazy for knocking that late. But, then we were blessed by a miracle. A lady let us in quickly to say a prayer to bless her family and mark another visit. Then, the next house down we were let in too! It was a whole family and they were very receptive! So that was a great lesson for me that we should always do our best and do our part. God will do the rest according to His will. The other Elders felt bad for not helping and in the companion prayer the Zone Leader asked for forgiveness and help to be able to be more persistent.
Friday morning we travelled once more. It was a nice 6 hour ride. I had a good time talking with President though. I have learned a lot from him and his wife during this trip. They are super nice people. We stopped along the way to eat lunch and then he dropped me off at Eunapolis to do splits there. They continued on to Porto Seguro. I stayed their until Sunday night. Friday, we did splits because their District Leader came to do a baptismal interview for their investigator. So I went with Elder Lovell (From Murray Utah, he has 3 weeks on the mish) And we visited some of their investigators and did a lot of contacts. OH we did a contact and taught a lady with her mom and a member. She didn't seem very interested. However, at the end of the lesson, she offered us some juice. I wasn't going to be rude and deny the offer so I said yes. Haha She came out with some orange colored juice and gave it to us. I drank it in a few gulps. It had a really weird taste. It seemed like it had a fermented taste. Afterwards, Elder Lovell and the member both said that it tasted like Alcohol. Apparently they had both had alcohol by accident and said it had the same exact taste. We all felt pretty sick to the stomach, but after a few hours the sensation passed. haha It was a great day.
Saturday, we had to go early in the morning to the Church to set up the Baptismal 'pool'. haha It was one of those set-up pools. So that took a little while. We had to use duct tape and patch up some holes in the pools. It still had a few leaks, but in the end it worked out. While it was filling up, we went and changed clothes and went to lunch. After lunch, we hurried back to the font to see how it was doing. When we got there, the pool was starting to overflow! hahah SO we had to get some buckets and empty out a bunch of water. Then we went to go get some of their other investigators and came back to have the baptism. That night, they had a little ward party. Their was a lot of decorations on the wall and around the ceiling fan. Right when we got there, Elder Palma (the ZL) turned on the fans without noticing and ripped of all the decorations. hahahhaha SO We had to get a ladder and, with the help of other members, we put everything back up. So the baptism got delayed a little bit and started about an hour later. In the end though, we had the service and everything was great!
Sunday, was a great meeting. I gave the lesson in Gospel Principles. Then we went to lunch and taught quite a few people. We found some great people. That night, we travelled to Porto Seguro for the Zone conference that we had today.
Today, we had the zone conference. It was really cool. Really spiritual. At the end, we had some extra time before lunch would be ready so President Biddulph invited me to bear my last testimony to them all and then have a quick testimony meeting. That was pretty sad to do. I didn't cry, but, man I love the mission. I honestly believe that this is the work of the Lord and is not just the best 2 years for my life but, by far, the best 2 years OF my life. I love this experience. I love you all! Have an amazing week.
Love,
Elder Davis
P.S. After the meeting we went to the Historical Center in Porto Seguro. It was pretty sweet.