Sunday, December 29, 2013

Week of December 23rd and Christmas!

We got to speak with Shane through "skpe" on Christmas day. The connection was terrible, there were sirens and ice cream trucks with music in the background and the video image was very blurry. But, we did get to hear his voice and kind of see him.

He is doing great! He looks good, his hair is very blonde from being outside all the time. He is enjoying his mission and his companion. He loves the work he is doing. He sends his love to all family and friends. He is grateful for all letters and gifts that people have sent. He loves receiving letters and emails!





This was Shane's Letter on Monday, December 23:

I hope that you are all having an awesome Christmas time! because I know i am... even though christmas here is pretty different.  I feel like the people here celebrate the Virgen Mary more than they do our Saviour. But there is no better way to feel the christmas spirit that talking to people about Christ!

On Tuesday I recieved my new companion, Elder Garrido, from Panama. He is a short guy, like 5`4 or 5`5 but he plays great soccer, and we get along pretty good.

Its a little bit interesting splitting an area (meaning that there are 4 missionaries where there once was 2) because we now only have half of the investigators that we had before. Now we gotta work hard to find new people to teach.

On thursday I got pretty sick for a little bit. I must have eaten something bad, after vomiting for about 2 hours, then I fell alseep for 12 or 13 hours and woke up feeling fine the next day.

I am excited to chat with you guys this wednesday! I am going to call you guys around 12:00 my time, which, from what dad told me is 9:00 in California. so be ready with the skype page open!!

I guess that we`ll chat more on  wednesday! I love you all!

Elder Davis

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Week of December 16yh

Well, last week was the end of the transfer and tomorrow I will recieve a new companion but I will still be working in the same area, in the ward Teotlaltzingo. Also tomorrow, another pair of missionaries are going to arrive and work in the same ward as us. But right now we are having some success!

Right now, we are teaching a blind woman, Araceli, and her son, Marco, and they want to be baptized. Cristina, the investigator that we found that had already been listening to the missionaries also wants to get baptized. And this week we found 3 other promising investigators.

As I believe I told you last week, Elder Johnson of the quorum of the 70 spoke to us a little bit ago, and since we have been trying a lot more to talk to people about the gospel. It has been interesting. In our area, we always take public transportation, so we have been announcing the gospel to 13 or 14 people at a time. Usually about 10 percent of the people say that we can go by their house one day and chat, but 9 out of 10 people that say yes either give us a fake address, or say that they are almost never home. So, if you did the math, that means that about 1 out of every 100 people that we talk with becomes an investigator. But it is pretty fun talking to random people on the street and in the bus about the gospel.

Another interesting this week. There was a holiday on thursday called "El Día de la Virgen" (meaning: The day of the Virgin)... "the virgin" is the virgin Mary. The catholics here worship the virgin mary, and on thursday, people had parties, they drove around in trucks decorated in portraits of the virgin, and they did fireworks,
The traditions of the people are very different. Also, they believe in the "Saints", which are just famous Catholic guys. Every once in a while, they celebrate one of the Saints by getting a group of people together, including a mariachi band, and they walk around the streets playing mariachi music while holding a portrait of the saint that they are celebrating.

I got the package that Grandma sent to me today... I haven´t opened it yet but Thanks Grandma!! I also got the letters that the young men sent to me. Thanks a lot! The Running Springs Branch Young Men are awesome!!

I love you all alot. Thanks for sending the photos this week! I can always do skype in a public internet cafe as a last resort, but right now we are looking for a member with skype... but the economic situation is a little bit difficult for the people here. Thank you for being and awesome family!!

Until next week!
Elder Davis

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Pictures for week of December 9th





Week of December 9th

Well, this week was a pretty exciting week. At least Friday, Sunday and Today. On friday, one of the members of the Quorum of the 70, President Johnson decided to visit our mission. He talked to us about a lot of things, but one thing that he said is that we are working among a promised people (the Lord makes many promises about the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon) and that if we were working hard enough and efficiently enough, we could be baptizing people every week. To do this, we started to open our mouth a bit more and talk to a lot of people on the streets, in public transportation (which we have to take a lot of), etc. It´s interesting talking to random people on the street because some people are just crazy. In Doctrine and Covenants 33, it talks about opening our mouths to share the gospel, so I hope that you guys are opening your mouths and sharing the gospel because the Lord promises that as we do so, our mouths will be filled!

On Sunday, we had an unexpected baptism. We had one investigator, Rafael, who has been investigating the church for 2 years and has wanted to get baptized, but he needed to get married to his girlfriend (who is a member) but works everyday except sunday and couldn´t find the time to do it. But this week, he found the opportunity of a quick marriage and he was baptized on Sunday (and I had the opportunity of doing the confirmation). Rafael is a great guy and i am sure that will always be an active member of the Church.

Today, for Pday our zone (of about 30 missionaries) went to a fish hatchery on the giant mountain in my area. It was pretty fun. One of the guys that worked there took us to a cave on the mountain, then we played some soccer, then they cooked us some fish (I really don´t know what type of fish it was, but it was good).

But yeah... Happy birthday again Kannon! What are Kannon´s plans for his mission, it is almost time! Glad that you all had fun climbing mountians... right now I have a mountain in my area that is a lot bigger than anything in California but I can´t climb it (well, at least not all of it)! But all is going well right now and getting a bit better a little bit every day! Thank you guys for the pictures you sent this week, you should do that more often. Les amo muchísimo! Espero que tengan una semana muy buena! (I believe that Dad can translate)

Hasta la próxima semana!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

December 2nd

Wow, i didn`t even know that it was thanksgiving last week until after it happened! But happy belated Thanksgiving! And happy birthday Kannon (a little early)!!!

We had some changes this week. We are now a companionship of 3 missionaries. Elder Rivera is a missionary from the Honduras that is now with me and Elder Torres. He has been waiting for his visa for about a year to come to Mexico. during that year he was serving as a missionary in his own country while he was waiting for his visa to arrive and he is happy to finally be here in Mexico! It is kind of funny because he speaks spanish differently. He uses some different words that aren`t used here in Mexico... and I only know mexican spanish. Elder Torres from the Domincan republic also speaks spanish with a different accent and the both of them are hard to understand.

Something cool happened the other day. We were walking down streets and we decided to talk to a lady that was standing in front of her house. We invited her to the Christmas Devotional next sunday. As she started walking back to her house, she told us that it is really sweet and that she would try to go, then she yelled "Christina!! the Elders are here". Then her daughter Christina (about 35 years old) walked out. She told us that she had already listened to the missionaries before and that she was a about to get baptized but then she had some problems and had to move. She said that she would like to start going to church again. The only problem is that she needs get married or separate from her husband (and right now she can`t decide which). But the Lord will lead us to people that are prepared to recieve the gospel if we open our mouths.

In Preach my Gospel, I read something interesting. In Chapter 6 Christlike Attributes, under the section of Charity, it says that if we are truly charitable, we will have a desire for the salvation of others and that we will have a desire to share the gospel with them.

I hope that you all have the desire to share the gospel and are acting on that desire. I also hope that you all are always prepared to share and to help others. The leaders of the church right now are trying to get the members to do more of the missionary work... I hope you guys are hastening this change, not hindering it. Right now, it is a bit difficult working in a ward where the members really don`t do anything. Imagine how many more souls could be saved if everyone worked in unity!

But I hope you know that I love you all so much and I am looking forward to hear your voices on Christmas! Until next week!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Week of November 25th

Well this week was a pretty good week. Today we had interviews with the mission president in the morning, so we are a got back a little bit late so sorry about that. But things are pretty different in this area, especially with the ward. My last ward was pretty functional and the members were for the most part pretty good members. But in this ward the members really don´t do anything other than go to church on Sundays. It´s a little bit frustrating. Working alone, the missionaries can have success and baptize a few people, but if the members of the ward also did their part in their own callings and missionary work, there would be miracles. Thats why the leaders of the church have been stressing this lately.

Regardless, this new area is going to be an adventure. Also, last week, we were told that we are splitting the area, meaning that another set of missionaries is going to be working in the same ward as us (they also told us that they will be sister missionaries). We will be working in one half of the ward and the other missionaries in the other half. So that will be interesting to see how that all plays out.

Right now I don´t have much time to say much more. The other day we ate crickets (they actually aren´t bad) But i attatched some photos.

Oh and by the way, (dad wanted to know) my companion is from Santiago.

Well I love you all! I hope that all is well! don´t worry, Ill communicate more next week!

Love,
 Elder davis

Sunday, November 24, 2013



Week of November 18th

Well, I guess I gotta tell you all a little bit about my new area. Right now I am in the Ward of Teotlaltzingo (have fun saying that one) in the stake of Tlaxcala. This area is quite a bit different from my last. My last area was in small city, now i am in a place that reminds me a little bit of Idaho. There is a lot of space, a lot of farms. there are small cities in my area scattered around in the land filled with nothing (like Idaho). There is a lot more poverty here; a lot of people that struggle to feed their families, but there are also a lot of rich people too that live in large houses.

I also have a 17,000 foot mountain in my area, called Iztaccihuatl (see picture). It is a little too big to climb on a Pday but it is pretty cool to look at. The people seem to be a little bit more receptive here than my last area, less rejection.

But the interesting thing about these small towns here is that every weekend they party. With loud mariachi band music and a lot of alcohol. Yesterday we say around 20 to 30 drunk people walking in the streets, some of them were completely passed out on the floor. The drunks seem to like talking to the missionaries, especially the white güero (blonde) missionary with an american accent. They always yell at us and offer us a drink. An old lady (she wasn`t drunk, she was just crazy) offered to let me marry her granddaughter when I come back to Mexico... She was this dirty and impoverished 12 year old girl. This place is really interesting.

My new companion`s name is Elder Torres, from the Dominican Republic. I sent a picture of us helping some members in the corn field; Elder Torres is the one wearing a green jacket on the left. He is pretty good companion, he works hard and we get along pretty well.

I think that this new area is going to be an adventure! By the way, I got the package that you sent me on Tuesday, thanks for everything that you guys sent me! I love you so much!

Until next week,
Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Week of November 11th, 2013

Well, first off: Tomorrow, I will finally be leaving my first area! I have been here about six months which is a bit longer than normal. Normally people are in one area for about 2 or three months. But I won´t have any idea where I am going until tomorrow... so that means you guys won´t have any idea until next Monday.

On Saturday we had an interesting lesson. We contacted some people and they were willing to listen to us. When we entered the house there was no light (they forgot to pay the bill), and there were about 5 or 6 people in the room and they all had wierd questions about our church. One guy asked us about our position on gay rights and so we told him. then he argued that anything is ok as long as both are in agreement. Then they started arguing some other awkward things that all have to do with the law of chastity, it was interesting, all taught in dark room.

On Wednesday I did splits with another missionary in our district (meaning we switched companions for a day). And we taught a guy that was born in Mexico, then lived in the US for 20 years, and he is back here in Mexico. I think that I speak better Spanish than he does, he forgot everything. So we taught him in English. I was weird teaching someone in English but it was fun! After speaking nothing but Spanish, it is fun to speak English with people, such as the other american missionaries.

After about 5 weeks of hard work with little success, this week we had quite a bit of success! We had 5 investigators and 7 Less active members attend church this Sunday! And one of the investigators called us and told us that "I have decided that I want to be baptized". The sad thing is that I am leaving the area tomorrow. But what I learned is that if we work hard, we will have success after time, not right away, but in the Lord´s time.

Well that ends my hour. I talked to Ynez and apparently people make fun of her accent too (hahaha). Kannon: Next week I want to hear what you are doing to prepare for your mission, because the better you prepare yourself, the more effective you will be as a servant of the Lord. Thank you all for your love words of encouragement!

Sunday, November 10, 2013

week of November 4th


Hello family!

Well, this is that last week of the transfer (6 weeks), so next monday in my letter I will be able to tell you if I am leaving this area or staying. I am pretty sure that I am leaving because I have almost been here in the Atempan ward for 6 months, but we´ll know for sure next week.

My companion, Elder _______ during these past 5 weeks has tried my patience a bit. He is a great missionary, but he tries patience a bit (details don´t matter). So I have learned to be a bit more charitable and patient in the past few weeks. After I let go of some of the things that bothered me, I could feel the Spirit´s guidance increase. There is always something that wee need to give up or to sacrifice, something that is between us and God. Maybe it is 30 minutes to read the scriptures, maybe it is a funny joke that is a little less than appropriate, or gossip.

Today for Pday, our district of 8 missionaries decided to go to the Centro de Mercado (market center where people in tents sell low-quality items for cheap). It is always fun going there. All that I bought was a jacket for 90 pesos (about 8 dolllars). Mexico is an interesting place, quite a bit different than the US, Talking about Mexico, you should tell Alex Scullin congrats, both of my companions that I have had are from Monterrey.

In our mission, the Mexico Puebla North mission, About half of the male-missionaries are white (from The united states, mostly from Utah), the other half are from Mexico and other Latin countries. And there are also about 30 sister-missionaries, all of which are Latin. But apparently, next week, the first white-sister missionaries are going to arrive in the mission, which is wierd because I have´nt spoken to a women in english for almost 6 months.

Well, my hour just ran out. I hope all is well at home! You all are always in my prayers! I still didn´t get what I asked for last week: I want to know what each of you are doing individually to participate in missionary work! Well, I love you all so much!

Until next week,
Elder Davis

Sunday, November 3, 2013


Week of October 28

This week was a little bit interesting. As of right now, all of our investigators are super difficult to find in their house. Just about everytime that we have an appointment with one of them, they either cancel or they aren´t in their house... so every time that happens, we go and visit a less-active member (someone who doesn´t go to church). So for that reason, we are having success among the less actives, but not so much among the nonmembers. 7 of the less actives went to church this Sunday, but none of our investigators... Nevertheless, that is still success in one area, but we still need to improve in the other.

Lately, the leaders of the church have been telling the members and the missionaries to work together in unity in missionary work. In the Liahona Magazine, they said that our job as missionaries is to help the members to do the work, not vice versa. That is something difficult because all of the members are used to having the missionaries doing all of the missionary work, and in my ward right now, there are very few members that do anything in terms of missionary work. I encourage you all to not be those members!! The members should be the ones doing to missionary work and telling us how we can help. This gospel is the only thing that can help people resolve their problems completely! If we open our mouths and share it a little and show our light, people will come.

The adjustment of missionary work is going a bit slow right now. In The Book of Mormon, in the scripture Alma 31:30, the prophet Alma is praying and he asked the Lord "how long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people?" I am sure that President Monson is also praying for us in a similar manner: "how many times do I need to tell them to work in unity before they actually do it. How many souls  could have been saved if the members and the missionaries worked together for the salvation of souls?"

Well anyways, today for Pday, we played some soccer in the morning, then we went to Little Ceasars. We play soccer almost every Pday, its pretty fun. After two years of this, I might not be bad at soccer when I get back.

well thank you to all you guys for the emails this week (except kannon)! In the next email that you all send me, I want to hear what each one of you are doing to participate missionary work and how you are helping the Lord "hasten His work".

I love you all muchísimo (alot)

Elder Davis

Monday, October 21, 2013

OCTOBER 29TH

First, I´ll answer the questions that Dad asked:
-What kind of superstitions do the people have?
   One thing that they do that is wierd is for two days after halloween, on November 1st and 2nd, they have a holiday called Día de los Muertos (Day of the dead). What people have told me is that the spiritual world and our world are the closest on those two days. And to honor their ancestors that have died, the put food in front of their houses as an offering. Then after the two days are over they eat the food.
   The other thing is the Virgin Mary. All of the catholics here believe that Mary answers their prayers. And just about everybody in this part of Mexico is Catholic. About 95 percent of the people here are catholic and they really aren´t open to learn about anything else.
-Besides nuttela, is there any other food item mom should send?
   Well, nothing that would be able to get her safely from the US.
-Do they have dreams they tell you about?
   yes. I believe that I told you about "O...." a bit, the crazy christian lady. She always tells us about her dreams. some good examples of what her dreams are: A tree talked to her and told her where to go, she dreamed that her husband tried to kill her (and she said that the next day it happened), she dreamed that she should not join the church of the Jehova´s Witnesses. Later she told us that while she was in the bathroom, the voice a woman came from her shower, whispering her name. I´ll tell you more of her dreams when she has more, but "O" is an extreme example. other people have dreams and things, but not nearly as much as her.
-Do the girls flirt?
   not really. Sometimes, in mocking tones they try to speak English (all that they know how to say is "Hello, how are you? my name is ...")

Right now, I feel like I can understand most everything and I can say without trouble everything that I need, the only thing that I lack is my accent. Sometimes I say something or ask a question, and the person doesn´t understand, so they look at my companion, and in the exact same wording, he repeats what I just said. It´s pretty funny. I guess with time my accent will fade.

Something about missionary work is that improvement comes with time. If we are doing everything we can to improve everyday, over time... we will be awesome! But if we are not doing everything we can to improve, we will see little or no progress over the course of long periods of time. The reason we left our heavenly home with God to come here to the earth, is to become more like Him, to progress a little bit at a time until perfection. But we can´t do that without Christ.

Well, I love you all! Thank you again for your letters and encouragement!

Until next week!!
Love,
Elder Davis

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Week of October 14th

Well yesterday I had to give a talk in church for the first time in the mission. I decided to talk about obedience to our ward. One of the things that I shared was that we obey because we love God and we love our neighbor(see Matthew chapter 22) and that all of the laws and commandments given to us are based on this love. You can measure how much you love God by how obedient you are. I think the talk turned out alright, and I didnt mess up too many times in Spanish!

Right now, we have a lot of investigators that have so many problems. For example: We haven´t seen our investigator Angel for about a month, maybe more; Olga separated from her husband that used to beat her but she keeps going back every Sunday to talk about their problems rather than attending church; Alejandro is a flake, we always set appointments with him but he isn´t there; we have one investigator, Georget (11 years old) that wants to sin more before she gets baptized... and so on. Missionary work is difficult, but they all need a lot of help coming to Christ and that is what we are here for. The work is difficult, but the truth is, there isn´t anything in the world that I would rather be doing right now!

By the end of this week, I will have been in the mission for 6 months! that is already a 4th of the mission, I know that it doesn´t sound much but it went by pretty fast!

ever since the day I got here in mexico, it has rained almost everyday... but I think that it is almost over! Almost everyday it rains a bit, but every couple days it pours super hard. One of those days was tuesday when we were walking home from a little bit far away (like 20 minutes walking). It started to pour harder than I have ever seen it rain in the states. When it rains that hard there is really nothing that you can do to keep dry. I was wearing a rain jacket, but my companion and I got soaked so bad! It was pretty funny. At first we were running through the rain to get home faster, then it got to the point that we couldn´t have gotten any wetter, so we just walked through flooded streets. That happens every once in a while. It is always pretty funny

But... yeah the mission is awesome! I feel like I have progressed faster in these 6 months than in any other time in my life! I just have two request for the package that you are going to send me: The ties that I have in one of the bins in the basement, and a jar of Nutella. And yeah, every once in a while a handrwritten letter would be awesome... but it takes like 2 months to get here.

Thank you all for the letter I love you all so much, you are an awesome family!

Until next week,
Elder Davis

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Pictures for week of October 7th



Week of October 7th

This was a pretty good week! I recieved a new companion, Elder Fonseca. He is a pretty great missionary. He has been in the mission for 7 months (only a little bit more than me). Elder Fonseca is from Monterrey, Mexico (the same place as my last companion) and we get along pretty good and we work good together. I am still in the same place as where I began, Atempan ward, Chiautempan Stake in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.

Today we and some other missionaries in our District went to small taco restaurant. This place had a lot of wierd tacos on the menu: Eye tacos, brain tacos, cow-head tacos, and cow tongue tacos, and then some normal tacos. So I decided to try an eye taco (see picture) and another Elder from Idaho decided to try a tongue taco. The eye taco just tasted like chewy goo with salt and salsa it was interesting, but not bad. I still dont know which animal the eye came from, but I would think that it would taste the same coming from any type of animal.

Now I have a little story to share. On Wednesday, I and Elder Fonseca went to visit Herman Norma, a 70 year old sister in the ward. There is a rule in the mission manual that says that we cant enter any house if there is not an man with us or in the house, even if the situation doesnt seem like it would be a problem. Norma was in the house with her two grand daughters, so told her about the rule and then she told us that her son-in-law was going to be in the house the next day, thursday. So on thursday, we went back to visit her, and we found her and a friend of hers in the house too (the son-in-law was in the house sleeping). So we taught her friend and she now wants to hear more about the gospel. The point of the story is that if we stayed and taught Norma on wednesday, disregarding the rule (and remember that she is 70), we wouldn´t have found her friend the next day.

The Lord blesses us when we are obedient. But we won´t know the blessings of obedience until we are obedient (I believe David A Bednar talked a bit about that Saturday at the General Conference).

The conference was awesome over the weekend. Luckily, for the English-speaking missionaries, we were able to watch the conference separately in English. President Monson is the prophet of God in these days. God still speaks with us, His childern today just as much as he did in Biblical times. Just as Dieter F Uchtdorf said: the fulness truth is here, the priesthood is here, forgiveness of sins is here, and we invite all to join!

Well thank you all for the letters this week! I am glad that all is going well at home! Good luck with everything! Until next week!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Letter From Shane, week of October 1st

This week was an interesting week. Tomorrow I am going to recieve a new companion, but I am still staying in the Atempan Ward. But I wont have any idea who he is until tomorrow. But its alright, Elder Alejandre has been my companion for more than 4 months, which is a little longer than usual.

Now to answer your questions:
1. We want to know more about the people there: are they poor, what is the typical lifestyle and how does it different from us?
-The area that i am in right now is one of the richer areas in our mission, but the standards of living are a bit lower than they are in the states. The average house is small, has two floors and an accesible roof. everything is concrete, carpet is pretty rare, but the carpet that does exist is old and gross. Not many people cars, and most of those that do have cars cant afford to fix them or maintain them. They dont maintain the roads very well. 
2. How far do you have to walk everyday.
-We walk just about everywhere, i think we walk 5 or so miles everyday. There are some places that are a bit too far to walk, so we talk something called a combi. Combis are these vans that are everywhere, they are just a little bus, you pay them $5.50 pesos (which is less than 50 cents in US dollars) and they drive us. But over all, we walk alot.
3. We want to know more about the weather. Does it rain? is it hot, humid, etc.
-Right now, it rains a lot just about everyday, when the sun is out, it gets a little bit hot, about 80 or 85 degrees, and it gets a little bit cold at night. I believe that the rainy season is gonig to end in October or November.
4. What is your favorite food there?
-I like just about all of the food here, but it is really different from the states. We eat one of four or five things just about everyday. Pozole: this soup that the make out of corn, I have no idea what they do to the corn but it looks like teeth. Milanesa: which is chicken that they somehow flatten down to be really thin. Often they chicken and salt into boiling water and give it us. And carne asada, which is just cow. we eat every one of those meals with corn tortillas and salsa
5. do you have to cook sometimes, if so what do you make?
-We almost never cook... I sometimes make eggs or pancakes, sometimes I make a sandwich, but that is about it.
6. Have you gained any weight, or have you grown any? Are you able to work out ever?
-I haven´t seen a scale since i left the MTC in Utah, so I really dont know, but I dont think that my weight has changed much. I exercise sometimes in the morning, but not as much as I should.
7. Are there any foods you are craving from back home?
-Everything home cooked.
8. what do you want for Christmas, if we are able to send a package? 
-I would be happy with anything. But I also left a lot of my ties at home in a bin in the basement... I getting bored of the same 10 ties that I have because that is the only variety I have in what I wear.
9. Have you had to use your atm account or anything? Are you surviving on the money they give you.
-No, I haven´t had to use it yet, I am doing alright with the money that we get.
10. Are you starting to like mexican music?
-Not really. All of the mexican music includes a tuba, an accordion, and a singer with a wierd voice, its kind of wierd. 

Well everything is going pretty well. I hope that all goes well with the company (freaken obama). I used up my hour typing and answering the questions. Next week I´ll tell you who my new companion is. The gospel is true! Jesus is our savior and this his one and only true church and he will come again in His glory... soon (that is exactly what the world needs right now)!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Latest Picture of Shane


¡Hola familia! 9/23/13



This past week has been a pretty good week! We taught a lot people worked hard and improved a lot!

There are a lot of less-active members here. There are more less actives then actives. There are several reasons why people stop going to church. Some of the common reasons are: they don't have a testimony, someone offended them, the missionaries that baptized them didn't teach them well, and there are a few that are just dumb. We started teaching a family this week, she is a single mom inactive in the church with two unbaptized sons,  they are both good kids.

We taught another less-active member of the church a while ago that got baptized to have more friends and to "give the missionaries baptism points". And now we are trying to reactivate her.

This week, we had chicken butt soup. By butt, I mean the anus, the gross part; so we ate chicken anus soup. It was chewy and it felt weird but it didn't taste bad. Every day is a new adventure.

This week I realized that I need to teach better. I realized that I was teaching lessons, and covering the material that we need to teach. I wasn´t really teaching to the needs of the people. So I studied a bit on what I can do to improve, and the Preach My Gospel says that to teach with power, a missionary needs 4 things: needs to know the mission language well, know the doctrine well, develope Christlike attributes, and depend on the Spirit. The first three I have constantly been improving a little bit at a time, but the difficult thing to do is depend on the spirit. There are countless scriptures that say that the spirit teaches, not us. That is a process that I think every teacher of the gospel has: to learn to let the spirit teach through them. Sometimes I think that I know the doctrine and the language well enough and then I forget to let the Spirit do it´s job. I have been trying to improve and I already feel that I am improving a lot but I still have so much to learn.

This is the last week of the transfer (a transfer is six weeks). At the beginning of each transfer are the changes. By next monday I´ll know if I am leaving or staying, and if i´ll be getting a new companion, but I wont know where or who. So i´ll tell you next week!

If you guys want, you can make a list of 10 or more questions of things that you want to know.

Thank you for the emails this week! I am glad that everything is going well at home! The mission is awesome and I am super greatful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and labor in his work!

Until Next week!
Love
Elder Davis

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Week of September 15th

Hello all!! ¿Qué onda vatos? (In mexican spanish, that means: what´s crackin homies)

Well i guess I´ll start by telling a cool experience that happened this week. There is one family in the ward that is a pretty good family, the Velez Aguilar family, which consists of the mom, Claudia and her two sons, David (15 years old) and Carlos (11). The mom is mostly active in the church, but has trouble waking up at 8 in the morning. Her son, David, is a really good kid, he studies the gospel a lot, and he tries to share it with his friends (something that I wish I did when I was 15). We visited them to talk to David about his friends and sharing the gospel, but the lesson became sort of a counseling session. Claudia complained to us that David wasnt that respectful to her in the home, and that he didnt do his dishes. Then David started complaining about her a bit.

The funny thing about this story is the way that they complained about eachother. They would complain, but rather than show emotion or cry or something normal like that, they laughed. It went something like: "He is very respectful to other people hahaha, but he doesnt respect me that much hahaha". And david would reply "that is not true! hahaha I respect you in the house hahaha!"... All I can say is that it was interesting. So we had them say 5 different things that they love about one another and then they could say specifically what they wanted the other to do different, then we talked about charity. The gospel blesses families so much!

In the mission, they just changed something... before, investigators had to attend church 2 times and then they could be baptized, but now they have to attend 5 different times. They did that because there are too many converts in the church that stop attending shortly after baptism because they dont understand the importance keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. Right now, we have two investigators that want to be baptized, Olga and Alejandro, but because of this rule, we are going to wait a couple more weeks before their baptism.

Lately I have been feeling like I am understanding a lot more español. When we are talking about the gospel, I can understand just about everything and I can say just about everything that I need to!

The Lord is hastening his work. Missionary work today is bigger than at any other time! I am greatful for this opportunity to participate in the Lord´s work! Thank you all for all the support! I am glad that all is well at home! I love you tons!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Week 16 (I think)

¿Qué pasa familia?

This week was a pretty good week.

We have two relatively new investigators that we have been teaching for 2 or 3 weeks. Gloria and her daughter Teresa are family a convert in our ward. Teresa 20 is years old (looks a little older), and she is interesting. She talks like a 5 year old girl, wants to serve a mission, and is very "unique".

Our investigator Alejandro (the one that gets super excited when he talks about the gospel) is going to elope is going to go to some small town and elope with his "roommate" so that he can get baptized.

I think I told you guys about Ángel last week. He wants to join the church but we can never find him. And his parents really like angels: their house is full of paintings and little statues scantily clothed baby angels (you know, like the ones in every old person´s house), the people here are interesting.

I feel like I am starting to be able to communicate better in Spanish now. I am understanding a little more everyday, but some people speak fast and they dont pronounce their words well at all! The gift of tongues is a funny thing, it works just as hard as you do. If I dont study the language one day I cant speak Spanish as great that day; it isn´t that I know less Spanish that day, I just dont recieve as much help that day.

I am glad that all is going good for you guys! How is Justine doing in High School? Is Kannon Dating?

Dont worry, I havent gotten that sick in a while, and dont worry mom, I dont have to take special medicine to kill parasites.

One the members of the ward told me that he met the brady family from San Bernardino, California in Palmyra, New York. Tell them that Hermano Izquierdo says hey.

Kannon: I hope that you are always preparing for your mission. I hope that you are always studying th scriptures and seeking knowledge and understanding. Always try to improve your personal relationship with God. In D&C 93 (I cant remember the verse), God says that to the obedient, He give fulness of knowledge

I love you all more than I can express through email. You are an awesome family! thanks for the letters this week!

Love
Élder Davis

Wednesday, September 4, 2013



This week has been a pretty awesome week! my companion, Elder Alejandre baptized Sergio a year ago and he is going on a mission this Wednesday, and got to go to the temple this Wednesday. So me and Elder Alejandre got to go. The Mexico City temple is super awesome! Sergio going to be an awesome missionary! 

A month or two ago, I believe that I told you all about an investigator named Ángel. He is the 18 year old boyfriend of a member in the ward, Aranza. And when we found him two months ago, we taught him, he wanted to be baptized, and then we never saw him again (because Aranza wouldn't help us find him) until a week ago on Sunday, when he decided to go to church with his girlfriend. So we talked with him, he gave us his address, and we he reaccepted baptism, so that is pretty awesome. Ángel is good kid, when he knows something is right, he does it, regardless of Aranza´s poor influence.

I´m glad you guys had a great trip this weekend in the sierras (minus the rain)! Kannons: congratulations for getting into ceramics, feel free to use all of my crappy pots to get good grades.

I am super grateful for this gospel and the blessing that it has been in my life! I am also grateful for this opportunity to help others receive this light into their lives.

Our mission president, President Christensen, spoke to the youth of the stake (the area that I am in). He said that before the mission is the time to prepare. He expects missionaries to come already having a knowledge and a testimony of the gospel of Christ. They should come willing and ready to work hard all day everyday. They should come already knowing how to be obedient. All of my preparation has helped me in the mission: studying Spanish, the Book of Mormon, the Preach My Gospel, always trying my hardest to be obedient.

I am glad that you are all doing well at home! thank you everyone that wrote me this week! I love you all and thank you for the support. Until next week!

Love,
Elder Davis

Pictures of Temple trip




Sunday, September 1, 2013

Week 14

This week has been a good, but interesting week.

We found a new investigator this week. He contacted us in the street, he told us how much he delights in reading the Bible and how he lets Heavenly Father flow through him. He is super excited about reading the bible. when he is not working, or sleeping, he is reading the bible. He is a very interesting cuate (spanish for guy). Every time we go to teach him, before he lets us say a word, he speaks for about 15 minutes about a lot of his beliefs accompanied with very dramatic hand gestures, powerful voice inflections (He is pretty much yelling), and a lot of enthusiasm. In other words, I have never seen anybody so excited about the bible. He accepts everything that we teach, and wants to get baptized, but first he needs to marry his "wife". The other day, while he was discoursing and telling us how much light God has brought into his life, he told us that he used to be involved a lot of shady things. He found God and changed a whole lot; and we are helping him change even more.---remind me after the two years and i´ll tell you more. its amazing that God can change peoples lives so much!

We have one investigator, Olga, who used to belong the Cristiana church... a church that speaks in the "gift of tongues" (meaning they babble really loudly and call it a gift from God). Olga has already abondoned her old church, so she felt comfortable to make fun of it this week. She said that half of the people when they "speak in tongues" always say SHABBADABBADOO!! Apparently that means something... but the problem is that they dont have the gift of interpretation.

The true gift of tongues is a gift that God gives to people through His Spirit that helps us speak in unfamiliar languages to help others come to Christ. So unless it helps other come unto Christ, it is not the gift of toungues. God has given me the gift of tongues to help learn Spanish faster than I would on my own, so that I can preach His Gospel. Right now, I can say just about everything that I need to say without much problem. what I lack right now is that I cant understand much of what peope are saying, unless it is about the gospel, then I can understand most of it. But I feel that I have progressed a lot in the language!

Yesterday, I got to play the piano for sacrament meeting in church. I didnt to so good because I have practiced in 4 months, but the people here dont know any different. There is only one other person in the Ward that plays the piano, and he has his daughter play. 

Thank you all for the letters this week! Tell the Gunnoes that I got their letter this week, and thank them for me! Justine: good luck in High School, dont be that worried, Rim is better than MPH, always hang out with people that uplift you and respects your standards (also be someone that uplifts others). I love you all! Thank you for being such a awesome family!

Love,
Élder Davis

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Week 13

This week has been an interesting week! Elder Alejandre, and most of my district were so sure that I would become a trainer (The first companion of a brand new missionary); but actually, I have no changes. they told me that I am still with Elder Alejandre, and that we both are staying the same area. So I am still in the ward Atempan in Chiautempan, Tlaxcala, México. I was expecting change, I actually wanted some change, but Elder Alejandre is awesome, I am excited to be another 6 weeks with him!

Well, dont worry, I am not sick anymore, it was just for a few days, but I was only too sick to work for one day, that was a P-day, so it really didn´t matter anyways. I expect to get sick many more times in the future... because thats what happens in México, everybody gets sick from the food.

Today, we played a lot of soccer for p-day with some other missionaries. We went to this park that has a turf field (it was a pretty crappy turf field, but it was cool because we usually play soccer on pavement). It was pretty fun, though I play like a gringo.

In my area of mexico, there isn´t any tourism at all, so there are just about no white people... except for the missionaries here so we get a lot of atention, especially the blondes. Some people on the streets will say stuff like "hello!" in sort of a mocking tone, sometime "¡Hola güero!" (Güero= white boy, or blondy). There is this one homeless old guy that walks around our area and every time that we see him he yells "¡Güero! ¡Güero!" and then he asks for money. This one crazy guy looked at me and started saying a bunch of wierd things, "la tecnología de Alemania" (the german technology) and then walked away before he said anything else. It is kind of funny.

All is well here in México! I love the mission, though it is always difficult. Thank you all for the letters this week! Why are they doing seminary on the computer? that´s kind of wierd. I am glad that all is well at home! Kannon: the time passes quickly, dont waste it!
I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Baptism


Pictures from week 12


Week 12

This is the last week of my training (Which is the first 3 months in the mission field)! This is the last week of the transfer, which means that this Sunday, I will know whether I am leaving the area or staying, training a new missionary, but I will not know where I will be going (if I leave) or who my new companion will be (if there are changes). I will know all of that on tuesday next week.

We baptized 2 more on Saturday! Maricruz and Dayan (Mother and daughter) are now members the Church! I baptized Maricruz and Elder Alejandre baptized Dayan. Baptisms are awesome! It´s a great feeling knowing that the Lord brought them to Christ through our efforts.

I got a bit sick this week. We ate some delicious burgers in this little shack... bad  idea, they were really good, but now every time I think of that burger, I feel sick again. I feel for the most part better now. 

I ate crickets this week. Apparently they catch crickets this time of year, cook them, and eat them. They really have no flavor. They also eat cactus here. They call it nopal. It is sour, slimy, makes a squeak every time you chew it, and I dont know why they eat it.

We had a zone conference last week on thursday (where the mission president comes and talks to 2 different zones, about 50 or 60 missionaries). Our mission president, President Christensen is pretty awesome. Right now, he has been trying teach us how to teach with power. One of the first steps to do this is study. If we know the doctrine really well, then the Spirit can bring to our remembrance that which we should say. The earlier that you start, the better.

I am glad all went well with your campout this week! Sounds like it was a fun trip! The mission life is full of ups and downs, I am not going to tell you many of the downs because they really dont matter. Congrats mom on the new job! I hope all goes well. I love you all very much! Thanks for the letters this week!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Week 10



Another pretty great week! we are going to baptize 2 more this Saturday! Marycruz and her daughter Dayan. Marycruz is in her mid 40´s and her husband (whom I will talk about in a minute) is in his70´s (yes, i typed it right). And Daian is 25. They both love learning about the gospel and are excited about their baptism. This family has been investigating the church and taking lessons from the missionaries for about 6 months; I dont know what took so long, but for the past few weeks Maricruz wanted to be batpized but was scared to ask permision from her husband, which is a requirement of the church to be baptized. He is almost never home because he works in the state of Mexico, but we finally found him earlier this week and we talked with him. We asked him for permision for Marycruz, then he talked for an entire hour and a half until he finally said "sure". People do that more often than you´d hope in Mexico. 

Next week is my last week of my training. Probably my last week with Elder Alejandre. Our mission president very often has people train right after their training. Training is the first three months in the mission field. So it is likely that I will be a trainer after next week, But we wont know for a little while. That would be an interesting experience if it happens, recieving an elder brand new in the mission.

I recently got word that our mission might start contacting in the streets again. For a while this mission has been primarily teaching references from members, not people contacted in streets.

Kannon: I am glad that you had another awesome experience at efy! Just about all the youth in my ward went to efy last week too (it is only like $30 in Mexico). The nonmember-nephew of a brother in the ward here went to efy, came back and told us that he wanted to be baptized! (He lives in Mexico City though, so it is not our baptism). The spiritual experiences that happen at efy are the result of living the gospel everyday, such as reading the scriptures everyday, and other things like that. Keep that spiritual gas tank full!

Enrique, the 15 year old that we just baptized a week ago also went to efy. efy is a great recent-convert-training-camp.


Thank you for letters everyone this week! Thank you for being an awesome family! I love you all and apoligize that I dont have pictures this week!

Love,
Elder Davis

Sunday, August 4, 2013



Week 9

We finally baptized on Saturday! Enrique (15 years old), Fernando (9 years old), and Angel (8 years old) all were baptized. I got to baptize Enrique and Angel, and Elder Alejandre baptized Fernando. It was pretty awesome! Enrique is pretty good and mature kid that needed a little more direction in his life, the gospel will give him a lot more than he ever thought that he needed. Their mom (Guadelupe) cant get baptized yet because she can very rarely attend church on Sundays because she works. But she want to get baptized but decided to let her kids go first until she can switch her schedule. Oh, and Enrique is going to EFY this week too, I think that will help him stay strong in the church.

I believe that earlier, I told you all about out investigator Olga. She is a little bit loca but she has a great interest in the church and she is probaly in her late 30s or early 40s. We took her on a tour of the church building a couple days ago. We showed her a picture with all the presidents of the Church on it, and as we all know, they all were really old except Joseph Smith. When she saw the picture of Joseph Smith, She started saying "Wow! he is really good looking! the best looking prophet there was with the blue eyes... wow!" and that went on for a minute or two, then she looked at me and held up the picture of Joseph Smith next to my face and said: "You look alot like him! its no wonder why they chose you to be Joseph Smith in the play. if Joseph was that good looking, I betcha Jesus was even more good looking than him! He must have been tall and muscular..." then I shared the scripture Isaiah 53: 1-3 ... read it.

By the way, I got the Dear Elder that Mom sent 2 and a half months ago... just thought I´d let you know.

Well, I really dont have much more to share about this week, Kannon: I hope you had fun at EFy (he wont get this until after he gets back) and remember that you will be going on a mission in probably about a year, see D&C 84:85. I love you all so much! until next week!!

Love,
Élder Davis

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Week 8

We are going to baptze this saturday! I believe that I have told you guys about Guadelupe´s family (Guadelupe the mom, and her three sons Enrique, Fernando, and Angel). We will be baptizing her three sons. Guadelupe wants to be baptzed, but she works every Sunday and can never make it to church. She is trying to changge her schedule but it might take a while. Enrique (15 years old), Fernando (10), and Angel (9) have been attending church every Sunday for the past while and they will be baptized right now, and their mom later. I am pretty confident that everything will go through with this baptism, though it happens a lot where people dont show up or lose desires right at before.

I think I told you all earlier that my zone leaders decided to have all the 30 missionaries in the zone do a play in order to find investigators, well we did it last night. In the play, we pretty taught the lesson of the Restoration of the Gospel in theatrical form. They asked me to be Joseph Smith when he was younger. It was interesting. But my part was 30 seconds long and I didnt say anything (no complaints there). They pay consisted of the Apostasy, the First Vision, and the Book of Mormon. My companion was a Lamanite in the play (see the first picture). My scene consisted of a pastor of a different church telling me that I am going to go to hell if I dont find a correct church, a different pastor telling me that I should find a good church, I read James 1:5, then they showed the first vision on a movie. Everyone wanted pictures with me afterward, we all know how much I like attention. It was very interesting way to find investigators, but we now have like ten references that we need to contact this week, so I guess that it worked!

I feel like I can communicate pretty well now in Spanish (in comparison with 8 weeks ago). I can understand most of what people are saying, I can say just about everything I need to say (if i say it slowly). i have still got a ton to learn though. Something kind of funny: my zone leader who is from the US, who has been in Mexico for more than 20 months knows how to speak Spanish pretty well, but he has a pretty hilarious accent. Ask Dad to speak Spanish in the most gringo accent that he can, and youll know how it is.

I am glad that the Catalina trip was awesome! thanks for the pictures! congrats on catching those sharks.

The Lord is definitely hastening His work. The Brethren have started to put more and more missionary-related responsibilities on the members of the Church. I dont know if you guys saw it a few weeks ago, but there was a missionary broadcast thing done by the Church encouraging mission Presidents to start changing the was missionary work is done, encouraging the members and the missionaries to work in unity in missionary work. In our mission, we dont spend afternoons  knocking on doors or contacting in the street, we do just about all of our work through references of the members and very little through our own finding efforts. Yesterday, we as missionaries hardly brought anyone to the play, but we encouraged the members to do all of that. i encourage you guys to partcipate in missionary work at home. Think about how the gospe has blessed you, think about how it can bless your friend´s lives, then tell the missionaries about those friends. Kannon: spend an afternoon with the working with missionaries one day, I wish that I did that more! -D&C 123:12

I love you all so much! Thanks for the pictures and the letters this week! until next week!
Love,
Élder Davis

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Week 7 in Puebla

Well, I took pictures this week. The volcano Popocatepetl (popo for short) exploded a little bit. I want to climb it, but it is not in our mission, it is so tall that we can see it from very far away.

Dad: That is awesome! You are going to be a great counselor! I hope that the meetings that come with the calling are fun!

We have one baptismal date right now! but she doesnt live in the area, she works as a iron-er (yes, she earns her pay by ironing shirts) in our area. we can teach her but we cant baptize her. I still call that success!

Mom: Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... soon
Kannon: why didnt I get a letter from you this week?
Everyone except Kannon: thanks for the letters, I love recieving emails you guys!

Today for Pday, we played fútbol (I shouldnt have to translate that) with two other companionships in our district and with some of the young men in the ward (including one investigator). It was pretty fun, though I am not that great at soccer.

I feel like my Spanish is improving. Yesterday I saw one of the elders that was in the MTC at the same time as me, his spanish was a little worse than mine, that made me happy... just kidding.

We just recieved two sister missionaries in our district. The mission president, President Christensen said that he is trying to have 50% Elders and 50% Sisters by the end of the year, that will be interesting because when I came to Puebla, there were 8 sisters and more than 120 elders in the mission.

Well, I love you all so much, thank you for the letters this week (except kannon). oh, and this Wednesday, I will have reached the three month mark in the mission (including the mtc). Thank you all for being awesome!

Love
Èlder Davis

Friday, July 12, 2013

Week 6

Well, this is the last day of my first 6 weeks the first cambio (I dont know the word for that in english, ask dad). I will be staying with my companion because  training goes for 3 month (2 cambios). but dont worry, Elder Alejandre is awesome. 

First: something funny about Tlaxcala (the state of mexico that I am in). In order to advertise, cars drive around with these ghetto looking megaphone type speakers that advertise some really loud. There are these trucks that go around selling propane tanks (apparently propane is quite popular here). The play this stupid song that says gas ever other beat super loudly. People walk around with carts selling corn, tamales and other little snacks screaming there heart out the item that they are selling (the lucky ones have a megaphone). They do the same thing for politics too. they just had an election for state government, but before the election, cars would drive around with megaphones strapped to the top playing annoying songs that get into you head. I dont know how people decide to vote here, but maybe some vote for the candidate with the loudest speakers, or the best song, I dont know, but i am glad that the elections are over.

Now for moms questions:
1. Do you ever get to play the piano, if so when?
I got to play once or twice, but I have only seen two pianos since I have been here, one in my chapel, and the other piano was in a different chapel. It is kind of funny, there is almost no musical talent here, there is one brother in the ward that plays, but he insists that his 13 year old daughter plays during church so that she can learn. she only plays the top single note of each hymn, and one time she played the wrong song... its interesting.
2. Are you able to teach the discussions in spanish? How are you feeling about your spanish?
Well, the discussions are just about the only thing that I can speak in spanish. when the subject is about the Gospel I cant understand much at all. but I do feel that I have progressed alot in this first 6 weeks. I do all of my studies in Spanish and I can understand just about everything.I am not worried at all
3. Do you feel your testimony growing? Please share any spiritual experiences you have had.
Definitely! Something that is pretty awesome is learning to let the Spirit teach through me. often times during a lesson, the Spirit will put into my mind something that I should say, or a point that I should teach. I still struggle with the language when this happens, but I can amost always get the point across.
4. Are you getting along with your companion?
Yeah, we get along great! obviously he does things that bug me, but I am sure that I do things that bug him too. But Elder Alejandre is a hard worker and a great teacher, and I am greatful to have him as a trainer!
5. What kind of foods are you eating, and do you love "real" mexican food?
We eat pretty well. We eat with members just about everyday and usually they cook pretty well. My favorite foods are what we eat when we go out though, One thing that we eat everyonce in a while is Carne Arabe: It is just meat that you put in corn tortillas, but it is really good! I have only had two bad measl: 1. Mole de panza (the pig stomach) 2. this one sister in the ward (who is probably more than 80 years old) cooked us a bowl of unsalted flavorless vegetables, and bony, soggy fish in some sort of soup or broth. it was interesting, we have 4 missionaries in the ward and we all ate that, the other three missionaries got a little bit sick (luckily I was fine).

Language story: last night, we sang for a few minutes in the ward choir, the choir director asked me if I wanted to sing Bass or Tenor, I told him "No me importa". I though that that phrase was a polite way of saying "It doesnt matter", but in spanish it is the equivalent to saying: "I dont give a crap". But he understands that I am a gringo haha.

Con amor,
Èlder Davis

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Week 5 July 1

Hola familia!

Tell Dakota congratulations! that is an exciting mission! when is he leaving?

And now to answer Dad's questions:
In general, are the people nice to missionaries?
yeah, the people are pretty friendly here! the members love the missionaries, they feed us pretty well.

Have you been in any scary situations?
Well, nothing that scary. One time, it was raining and we were walking to our next appointment when a car pulls over and offers to drive us. The driver was driving a trashy beaten down bug (which is a very popular thing here), he was covered in tattoos, i dont know what my companion was thinking, but he entered the car and i had no choice but to follow. The driver told me in broken English that he has friends in the "southside" while showing me his tattoo on his hand of 13. then we asked to be dropped off not very far from the point that he picked us up. it was interesting

How are your allergies/ sniffing?
My allergies are fine, except when we teach someone with cats. Carmen, a less active member has 10 cats. The Juarez family (most of whom are inactive) has 15 cats. The family of Maricruz just got a cat. There are a lot of cats. Dogs are always outside, so they arent a problem. 

Any sickness?
I think that I have a cold right now, but I haven't gotten really sick ...yet. Everybody gets food poisoning eventually.

Have you had any really hot foods?
Not that bad. The members that feed us intentionally take out all the spice in just about all the food because they know that they will be feeding a gringo. I like spicy foods, but the people here like it quite a bit spicier than I do.

Any embarrassing moments?
Well, the only white people that anybody ever sees here are wearing a white shirt and a black nametag, so I get a few stares but, I can`t recall anything too embarrasing.


With a sister in the ward (who is retired and has a lot of time on her hands) we made these little dolls last week for Pday (she did almost everything). They are pretty cool. Elder Alejandre`s looks like Harry Potter and mine looks like Draco Malfoy. But it is a pretty cool little souvenir.

No baptisms yet. We have two families that are progressing alot though. Maricruz was going to get baptized this saturday, but her hopefully-soon-to-be-daughter-in-law needs to get married. Guadelupe`s family wants to be baptized but wont commit to a date. We still havent found Àngel...

By the way, I dont know if any body has sent me physical mail, but it takes about a month for it to get to the mission offiices, and we dont go the the offices very often to pick up mail because it is two hours away.

I am going to be in a play (we all know how much I love drama). My zone leader, Elder barnes is putting on a play of the restoration to attract investigators. It is an interesting idea. I will be playing the part of Joseph smith. The part is 30 seconds long, and I dont say anything (I have no complaints). I have to show emotion; its wierd.

Well, my hour is up. Thank you everyone for the emails. Life is great! I love you all so much! Kannon: all that I have to say about your accomplishment is congrats. You are such an amazing family!

Con amor,
Èlder Davis