Hello Everyone! I hope that all is well at home and that justine and Braden loved their first day of school!
This week we had a great week! We talked with a bunch of people this week, had a some miracles and we found a couple people that seem like they are going to be great investigators this week.
As we were walking one morning down the street, one lady approached us and told us that she was a member of the Church, but she stopped going because she married outside of the church. Now she wants to start going to church again and we started teaching her husband, and he seems very interested.
We also starting teach a referral from one of the members, Alejandra, who also seems very interested... she is just a little bit distracted during the lessons. Her mind changes subjects super fast, and its hard to keep a focused lesson, but she is learning little by little.
As we were knocking the door of a member`s house to visit him, we contacted a lady on the street that was walking by (the people usually take a while here to answer their door, so we had time to have a conversation while waiting). We started talking with her, and she was very interested, then as we asked her address, we found out that by coincedence she was our next door neighbor.
And this week, Juan Rojas is going to be baptized! His baptismal interview is tomorrow, so nothing is completly sure yet. But he seems like he is ready for baptism. He is going to be an awesome member of the church. I don`t know how, but he retains information super fast. He read the Book of Mormon once, and he understands pretty much the whole story.
So things are going pretty good right now!
Oh, and if you guys want to come here to pick me up in Puebla after my mission, I think that you can do that, and I think that it`s a great idea. I just need to know a couple months ahead of time so that I can tell the mission president to change my flight plans. So just let me know well in advance if that`s what you`re gonna do.
Thanks for the letters! I hope that you enjoy reading two letters every Monday now! I love you all! Your the best Family in the world!!
Until next week.
Love,
Elder Shane
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
8/18/14 Los Angeles, with Elder Rosales(3)
Well this week was a pretty great week. The mission is awesome! It`s wierd thinking that Ynez has already ended her mission. Maybe she`ll write me now that she`s done :p. It`s also wierd thinking that Kannon is just beginning. Two years sound like a long time but it goes by super fast... if you work hard. The other day we ate with one sister in the ward whose son got back from the mission a year or two ago. She said that time for her was like an eternity. For me, the first few months in the mission were a bit slow because I had to adjust to a completely different lifestyle, different language, different country, I had to learn how to be a missionary, learn how to talk to people. I, sure that`s how it will be for kannon. but then after a ffew months, his mission will fly right by him.
In this part of Puebla, it is hard to find new people investigators to teach, but we have seen a good amount of progress with the few investigators that we have been teaching. And with miracles we have found some great investigators. We talked with a good amount of people this week, and most of the people that accept us are from other areas. So we have been relying alot on referrals from the members to find new people to teach. And we have had miracles with referrals.
One day as we were walking down a busy street, a young man runs out of the store where he works to talk to us. He said that he was an active member in the church from a different ward. He told us that his boss, Elvia, was super interested in the church. So later we passed by and he introduced us to Elvia, and she now has accepted a baptismal date. Then a member of a different ward, with whom we share our church building, told us about her aunt who was also interested. We started talking with her, and this week we are going to start teaching.
Anyway things are going good in the area, even though this area is a bit difficult. I feel good about the effort that we are giving. Well the mission is awesome and Kannon will do great!! I love you all so much! you are an awesome family!!!
Love,
Elder Shane
In this part of Puebla, it is hard to find new people investigators to teach, but we have seen a good amount of progress with the few investigators that we have been teaching. And with miracles we have found some great investigators. We talked with a good amount of people this week, and most of the people that accept us are from other areas. So we have been relying alot on referrals from the members to find new people to teach. And we have had miracles with referrals.
One day as we were walking down a busy street, a young man runs out of the store where he works to talk to us. He said that he was an active member in the church from a different ward. He told us that his boss, Elvia, was super interested in the church. So later we passed by and he introduced us to Elvia, and she now has accepted a baptismal date. Then a member of a different ward, with whom we share our church building, told us about her aunt who was also interested. We started talking with her, and this week we are going to start teaching.
Anyway things are going good in the area, even though this area is a bit difficult. I feel good about the effort that we are giving. Well the mission is awesome and Kannon will do great!! I love you all so much! you are an awesome family!!!
Love,
Elder Shane
Sunday, August 17, 2014
8/11/14 Los Angeles, with Elder Rosales
Hola, and good afternoon! Sounds like this has been an exciting week for everyone! Shortly, all the goodbyes will just be a memory. But the mission is awesome! The MTC will be a short but awesome experience, and then all too soon, kannon will be out in the field working!!!
Today for Pday, one of the sisters in the ward was going to teach how to make some mexican snacks called gorditas, which are basically corn tortillas, with beans cheese and salsa, it`s simple but pretty good. But she cancelled last minute today, so instead we went to explore a huge mall that is in our area called Liverpool. There is a huge Ferris wheel in front (see picture). It`s the same ferris wheel that I went to a couple months ago after seeing the pyramids of Cholula. While exploring the mall, we found an ice skating rink... so we`ll probably go there next monday for Pday.
The people in this area are very different from any other area that I have had. In this place it`s almost all business. On every street there are a bunch a businesses, companies, stores, etc. When people are outside walking, they are going somewhere. There are very few people outside strolling around or taking a walk. With that said, most of the people are in a hurry, and they don`t have a lot of time to talk with us. Something I learned is that if we start a conversation with people talking about religion, they usually ignore us, but they are usually willing to help find a street or give us directions. So if we start a conversation by asking for directions (even if we don`t need them), they are more open to talk to us more. All in all, the way we work here is very different.
But we are starting to find some new people to teach. Juan Rojas (the guy who read entirely the book of mormon) is progressing pretty well towards his baptism. The members are starting to give us more refererrals. Something that I have learned with referrals from the members, is that if they feel the spirit, they think of names of friends or family or acquiantances that they want us to teach. But if we as missionaries teach a half hearted lesson without the spirit, the members can`t think of names when we ask them who else could we teach.
Well, I am learning so much here. Things are going great here. but I have gotta go, we have clothes hanging up outside drying... and it just started raining... dang it. But I love you all and I am super excited to hear about Kannon`s experiences!!!!!!!!! So tell him to always send me his emails!! and I will also send him mine!
I love you all!
Until next week.
Elder Shane Davis
Today for Pday, one of the sisters in the ward was going to teach how to make some mexican snacks called gorditas, which are basically corn tortillas, with beans cheese and salsa, it`s simple but pretty good. But she cancelled last minute today, so instead we went to explore a huge mall that is in our area called Liverpool. There is a huge Ferris wheel in front (see picture). It`s the same ferris wheel that I went to a couple months ago after seeing the pyramids of Cholula. While exploring the mall, we found an ice skating rink... so we`ll probably go there next monday for Pday.
The people in this area are very different from any other area that I have had. In this place it`s almost all business. On every street there are a bunch a businesses, companies, stores, etc. When people are outside walking, they are going somewhere. There are very few people outside strolling around or taking a walk. With that said, most of the people are in a hurry, and they don`t have a lot of time to talk with us. Something I learned is that if we start a conversation with people talking about religion, they usually ignore us, but they are usually willing to help find a street or give us directions. So if we start a conversation by asking for directions (even if we don`t need them), they are more open to talk to us more. All in all, the way we work here is very different.
But we are starting to find some new people to teach. Juan Rojas (the guy who read entirely the book of mormon) is progressing pretty well towards his baptism. The members are starting to give us more refererrals. Something that I have learned with referrals from the members, is that if they feel the spirit, they think of names of friends or family or acquiantances that they want us to teach. But if we as missionaries teach a half hearted lesson without the spirit, the members can`t think of names when we ask them who else could we teach.
Well, I am learning so much here. Things are going great here. but I have gotta go, we have clothes hanging up outside drying... and it just started raining... dang it. But I love you all and I am super excited to hear about Kannon`s experiences!!!!!!!!! So tell him to always send me his emails!! and I will also send him mine!
I love you all!
Until next week.
Elder Shane Davis
Sunday, August 3, 2014
The Week of 7/28/2014
Well, I am here in my new, Los Angeles ward in the city of Puebla area with my new companion, Elder Rosales, from Tamaulipas, Mexico (in the north right below texas on the east). And I am district leader now!
The area i`m in right now is the richest area in the mission. There is so much money here. There are a bunch of shopping centers and malls, nice cars, huge houses. It`s a pretty nice place to live; we eat a lot of food, and we don`t have to walk far to the grocery store, but the people are a bit more closed than in my last areas. When I was in the state of Tlaxcala, it was easy to find people to teach. But now that I have an more challenging area with very few investigators, I have a greater desire to find the few people that are willing to accept the gospel. Lately we have talking with a good amount of people in the streets. The majority of them ignore us and keep walking... it`s kind of funny, but there are always a few people that accept us everyday.
The majority of the members of the ward here are rich, or in the upper middle class. So instead of cooking food for us many of them buy us food, or give us money for us to buy a meal... so we sometimes eat some pretty expensive food! There is a huge rich-person mall in our area, so somethimes we go to the food court and eat some good american fast food.
Something that I have learned is that there are many areas in the mission that are said to be bad areas, so when missionaries arrive in those areas they work with the attitude that they probably are not going to have a lot of success. With that attitude, they won`t have success. One of my goals right now is to work in this area with a good attitude. If we have faith, the Lord can work many miracles in this area.
My new companion, Elder Rosales, is from Tamaulipas, mexico. He is an awesome guy, a little bit serious, and a hard worker. We get a long great, though our companionship is a little bit quiet.
We are going to work hard this week and talk with a lot of people! I have learned to love talking to people even though many don`t want to talk to us. The mission is awesome! I only have about 8 months left before I go home. For me, time will go by super fast!! I have even more photos to send this week, but the Internet Cafe that we are using right now has the computers locked so we can`t download anything... so next week we`ll go to a different place. But i love you tons. Thanks for your emails. I always appreciate your letters! Until Next week.
Love,
Elder Shane Davis
The area i`m in right now is the richest area in the mission. There is so much money here. There are a bunch of shopping centers and malls, nice cars, huge houses. It`s a pretty nice place to live; we eat a lot of food, and we don`t have to walk far to the grocery store, but the people are a bit more closed than in my last areas. When I was in the state of Tlaxcala, it was easy to find people to teach. But now that I have an more challenging area with very few investigators, I have a greater desire to find the few people that are willing to accept the gospel. Lately we have talking with a good amount of people in the streets. The majority of them ignore us and keep walking... it`s kind of funny, but there are always a few people that accept us everyday.
The majority of the members of the ward here are rich, or in the upper middle class. So instead of cooking food for us many of them buy us food, or give us money for us to buy a meal... so we sometimes eat some pretty expensive food! There is a huge rich-person mall in our area, so somethimes we go to the food court and eat some good american fast food.
Something that I have learned is that there are many areas in the mission that are said to be bad areas, so when missionaries arrive in those areas they work with the attitude that they probably are not going to have a lot of success. With that attitude, they won`t have success. One of my goals right now is to work in this area with a good attitude. If we have faith, the Lord can work many miracles in this area.
My new companion, Elder Rosales, is from Tamaulipas, mexico. He is an awesome guy, a little bit serious, and a hard worker. We get a long great, though our companionship is a little bit quiet.
We are going to work hard this week and talk with a lot of people! I have learned to love talking to people even though many don`t want to talk to us. The mission is awesome! I only have about 8 months left before I go home. For me, time will go by super fast!! I have even more photos to send this week, but the Internet Cafe that we are using right now has the computers locked so we can`t download anything... so next week we`ll go to a different place. But i love you tons. Thanks for your emails. I always appreciate your letters! Until Next week.
Love,
Elder Shane Davis
Sunday, July 27, 2014
7/21/14 Tlaxcallan 2, with Elder Salazar
Good afternoon and hello everyone! Guess what... me and my companion are leaving the area, and they will probably put sister misisonaries here in Tlaxcallan. So today we had to deep clean the house, and wash all our clothes. So we didn´t have alot of time to do much day, other than play soccer for a little bit with some of the young men. But tomorrow, they are going to send me to a new area with a new companion. So I´ll let you guys know next week.
On Sunday luckily I saw some of the people we taught and baptized in Atempan. We saw Enrique, Fernando and Angel, Guadelupe, and Dayane, and they are all staying strong in the church! It´s always awesome seeing that your converts are enduring to the end. Im planning on visiting all of them before going home from my mission, including Berenice, Corina, and Rafael. Seeing converts strong is really something that gives me joy in the mission.
Marilu (the investigator that we started teaching a little while ago), her husband, and Aquilina, are really starting to progress well. Mario Alberto, who was baptized because his parents made him, really has never been strong in the gospel. When we started teaching him and his family, he said that he didn´t really want to live a gospel life right now; he didn´t really feel the need or have a desire to do it. He just wanted his family to do it. We are now seeing that as we teach his wife and mother in law the gospel, we also see that desire grow in him to live it. Marilu is already completely sure that she wants to be baptized, but Aquilina is having problems leaving some of her traditions that she has had her whole life.
But the mission is awesome! With that said, I have some advice for Kannon especially (but it can be applied to all). While I was studying at BYU idaho, I used to ask different return missionaries about how they felt about their mission. I generally recieved three different answers; 1 I would rather not talk about my mission because it wasn´t a really great experience. 2 It was alright, I´m glad I went; I learned alot and it was cool. 3 It was the best experience of my life! The choice is ours to make. There are very few people that give an answer like number 1, where it was a bad experience. But it is our decision to make the mission a bad experience, a good experience, or the best experience of our lives. To choose answer 3, you need to work with all your heart, might, might, and strength. You need to work hard to improve weaknesses, improve your relationship with God. Are you willing to do what´s necessary to make the mission the best experience of you life?
I have some photos to send but the computer doesn´t have a place to plug in my SD card. So I´ll send them next week.
But I´ll let you guys know next week about my new companion and new area!
I love you guys a ton!!!
Love,
Elder Shane Davis
On Sunday luckily I saw some of the people we taught and baptized in Atempan. We saw Enrique, Fernando and Angel, Guadelupe, and Dayane, and they are all staying strong in the church! It´s always awesome seeing that your converts are enduring to the end. Im planning on visiting all of them before going home from my mission, including Berenice, Corina, and Rafael. Seeing converts strong is really something that gives me joy in the mission.
Marilu (the investigator that we started teaching a little while ago), her husband, and Aquilina, are really starting to progress well. Mario Alberto, who was baptized because his parents made him, really has never been strong in the gospel. When we started teaching him and his family, he said that he didn´t really want to live a gospel life right now; he didn´t really feel the need or have a desire to do it. He just wanted his family to do it. We are now seeing that as we teach his wife and mother in law the gospel, we also see that desire grow in him to live it. Marilu is already completely sure that she wants to be baptized, but Aquilina is having problems leaving some of her traditions that she has had her whole life.
But the mission is awesome! With that said, I have some advice for Kannon especially (but it can be applied to all). While I was studying at BYU idaho, I used to ask different return missionaries about how they felt about their mission. I generally recieved three different answers; 1 I would rather not talk about my mission because it wasn´t a really great experience. 2 It was alright, I´m glad I went; I learned alot and it was cool. 3 It was the best experience of my life! The choice is ours to make. There are very few people that give an answer like number 1, where it was a bad experience. But it is our decision to make the mission a bad experience, a good experience, or the best experience of our lives. To choose answer 3, you need to work with all your heart, might, might, and strength. You need to work hard to improve weaknesses, improve your relationship with God. Are you willing to do what´s necessary to make the mission the best experience of you life?
I have some photos to send but the computer doesn´t have a place to plug in my SD card. So I´ll send them next week.
But I´ll let you guys know next week about my new companion and new area!
I love you guys a ton!!!
Love,
Elder Shane Davis
Sunday, July 20, 2014
email received on July 14th, 2014
Hello everyone! I hope all is well at home!
Thank you for the letters this week!
This week we had an interesting week. We worked hard and talked with a lot of people about the gospel and a descent amount of people accepted. The interesting thing about the people here is that there are many that accept listening to us, but the difficult part is finding them again. They usually forget about there appointments. On Saturday we had an appointment with a guy who supposedly wants to be baptized. We ran into him on the street 2 hours before his appointment, so we took the opportunity to remind him of his appointment at 6, then he said that he would be there. Then he wasn´t. That is one of the greatest challenges of this people, is that they aren´t in their house when they say that they´ll be in their house.
Today for Pday, we played soccer some of the young men, because they just got out of school. It was pretty fun. The Latinos play quite a bit better than I do, but when we play basketball I do alot better.
This is the last week of the transfer, I am pretty sure that me and my companion are both going, and that they are going to put sister missionaries here. First, the zone leaders called us and asked us this week how safe this área is. 3= meaning not safe at all. 2=meaning questionable, kind of safe. and 1=meaning super safe. The area of Tlaxcallan 2, is a number one. Then later the Assistants to the president called and asked the same question. So it´s looking like they are going to put sister missionaries here. But nothing is for sure, so I´ll let you guys know the next.
There are a lot of sister missionaries that have been arriving in this mission. I think that it is because Puebla and Tlaxcala (the two states that pertain to this mission) are two of the safest states in Mexico, especially Tlaxcala (where I am now). This is a very safe mission, so that means that they are going to put more sister missionaries here.
Well, all is going well over here. We are working hard and improving every day. The mission goes by so fast... Kannon: you will be surprised at how fast it goes, so always work hard and do your best. Learning how to open your mouth and share the gospel is an interesting process. Don´t procrastinate.
Thank you all for the support and prayers! I love you all so much!!
Until next week,
Elder Shane Davis
Thank you for the letters this week!
This week we had an interesting week. We worked hard and talked with a lot of people about the gospel and a descent amount of people accepted. The interesting thing about the people here is that there are many that accept listening to us, but the difficult part is finding them again. They usually forget about there appointments. On Saturday we had an appointment with a guy who supposedly wants to be baptized. We ran into him on the street 2 hours before his appointment, so we took the opportunity to remind him of his appointment at 6, then he said that he would be there. Then he wasn´t. That is one of the greatest challenges of this people, is that they aren´t in their house when they say that they´ll be in their house.
Today for Pday, we played soccer some of the young men, because they just got out of school. It was pretty fun. The Latinos play quite a bit better than I do, but when we play basketball I do alot better.
This is the last week of the transfer, I am pretty sure that me and my companion are both going, and that they are going to put sister missionaries here. First, the zone leaders called us and asked us this week how safe this área is. 3= meaning not safe at all. 2=meaning questionable, kind of safe. and 1=meaning super safe. The area of Tlaxcallan 2, is a number one. Then later the Assistants to the president called and asked the same question. So it´s looking like they are going to put sister missionaries here. But nothing is for sure, so I´ll let you guys know the next.
There are a lot of sister missionaries that have been arriving in this mission. I think that it is because Puebla and Tlaxcala (the two states that pertain to this mission) are two of the safest states in Mexico, especially Tlaxcala (where I am now). This is a very safe mission, so that means that they are going to put more sister missionaries here.
Well, all is going well over here. We are working hard and improving every day. The mission goes by so fast... Kannon: you will be surprised at how fast it goes, so always work hard and do your best. Learning how to open your mouth and share the gospel is an interesting process. Don´t procrastinate.
Thank you all for the support and prayers! I love you all so much!!
Until next week,
Elder Shane Davis
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)