December 29, 2014 San Nicolas

Hey!

It was really fun to skype you guys! DID YOU HAVE FamilyHomeEvening!? do it tonight tooo please. Es algo que los profetas modernos nos han pedido a hacer, y sé que todos de ustedes van a ser más felices a dentro el hogar si lo hagan.

I´m trying to work out as much as I can. Thanks for the jump rope, this one is better than the one I bought here because It´s heavier and I have to hold my arms out farther, so It´s a better workout.

Davis testing out his new monocular for spotting birds.

Sounds and looks like Utah is really fun as always! Tell grandmas and grandpa that I say buenas!(rarely anyone says hola here, it´s always buenos dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches, or just buenas...sometimes my companion and I play a game where we´ll say buenos dias(good morning) in the afternoon, or buenas tardes at night hahahahaha, and then we´ll see what they reply) I haven´t checked walmart for journals. We got a sweet mission journal from the mission president as a gift though!(still need the moleskine ones though) I´m glad that the gifts got there on time and that you liked them. I´m kind of jealous of nathaniel´s [fixed gear bicycle] tires, I´think I´ll just buy some new type wheels when I get home hahahaha. That would be fun to ride around together.

A new bird guide for Davis - birds of Mexico and Central America.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND DAD! and happy new year. On Christmas here in Mexico they just go crazy. The 24th there were just so many fireworks, and most of them sound like gun shots (Some of them may have been gunshots [don´t tell mom that]) hahahaha. No, this is a safe zone that I´m in (Which is why there are a lot of hermanas in this zone)

 I don´t know what will happen on new year´s eve. My comp said that last year they went home early because everyone went crazy. My area is pretty nice though so that might not happen hopefully. I got a couple [local] recipies so far.

Davis with Elder S and the Stake President's son - showing off ties that were gifts from the Stake President.

This week has been a pretty hard week to find new people to teach and such. We lost those 3 investigators (we actually got the couple back just because their son O is super cool, they are kind of on standby though until they decide to get married) and not really any of the people we talked to wanted to talk at all. We had thought that it would be easier to talk to people in this season, especially since all we talk about is Jesus Christ! It wasn´t so however. No matter. One thing that I have learned while reading through the New Testament (Besides that Christ knows who Nathanael is) is that it a privilage to preach and work in his name. One thing that Christ tells the Seventy in Luke 10 is that when someone rejects them, they also reject him(Christ) and his father that sent him. Another thing that I found in Acts was that one of the apostles said(dont remember where) that it is a privilage to be worthy to suffer in the name of Christ. So I just need to remember, whenever we are just being rejected, and persecuted, That the Lord stands right there with us, just as our names are right next to his on our plaques. 

 

And THIS is why Davis' hair looks like that - The Stake President gave Davis some of his own personal hair product.  Note how shiny his son's hair is.

E was confirmed a member yesterday and is super duper happy! O comes early to church and is just a super good deacon, he might be in 2 nephi now, that´d be cool.

Mom I´m doing Swell! I hope you´re all doing swell! 

Here is your topic for FHE if you need one, this one is easy: John 13: 34-35 (As I have loved you love one another)

Tell everyone else that I´m doing Stellar!(Not Steller as in Steller´s Jay though)

Thanks for the gifts!!!! They´re awesome!

I love you

Elder garner

December 22, 2014 San Nicolas

Hey Mom!

Ok, I´ll wear it everyday, even if it´s foggy and rainy. No se preocupe. [In response to Mom’s request for him to wear sunscreen.]

Some quick requests: Can you send me that music that I asked for in the mtc? The stuff like Gimnopedie and bolero and all that stuff? Thanks. Also, can you send me a Moleskine journal, like the one I have now. If you want I can send you a picture of it next week. Its a really good journal but I probably have over 2 months left in it. Actually could you send me two? I write a page every day in my journal. Gracias.

Elder S, E, and Davis

E got baptized yesterday! and President and Hermana Swapp came! It was really awesome and I got to do the baptism! Hahahaha his elbow almost didn´t make it under the water, but I got it under. E bore his testimony at the end and he has changed a lot. I remember when we found him he was a pretty sad guy, but now he´s always happy. Except in the picture hahahahah! I don´t know why but mexicans just don´t smile in their pictures! ah no me importa. 

Hermana and President Swapp, E, Davis, Elder S., and another fellow.

It sounds like the house is gonna be crazy. I´ll be excited to see it. [In response to reports of new home improvement projects.]  I bet you´ll get an iphone 6. I saw one and it´s almost as big as an ipad.[In response to news that Mom’s phone was crushed and will need to be replaced with something way too big.]

Anyway. I AM GOING TO SKYPE YOU AT 4PM PACIFIC TIME. ok? Be ready for that. I don´t know what will happen if it doesn´t work. We are going to skype at the stake president´s house so if it doesn´t work on your side then I could probably use his cell phone or something. I´ll figure it out. I´m going to call Mom first ok, so be ready with that one. If not then Dad´s and then Thannys. I´m excited to talk to you!!

Also, I got your package and letter this Tuesday. Can you tell me again how your lesson went? I like the idea of it and all, That we have to be in the world but not of it. I haven´t opened the presents yet hahahah, Thanks for wrapping them. They wrote what was in the box so I know I got a book, legos, and the other thing was smudged so I guessed Moriancumer, the brother of Jared. hahahahah. [It’s a monocular – small enough to keep in his pocket for spotting birds.]

Vermillion Flycatcher

Oh, I did send a package home with a member who was visiting Texas and he was gonna send it. Tell me when it gets there.

I´ll send some pictures now. See you on Thursday!!! I Love you!

Elder Garner

December 15, 2014 San Nicolas

2014-12-15 San Nicolas

Hey Mom, Thanks for the hot chocolate instructions.

It sounds like everything is going well over there, I´m glad Nathaniel is doing well in school. If he goes to BYU though I don´t think we would ever be there together unless he went a year before a mission. That wouldn´t be the worst thing to do if I were still there.

Davis and 4 other missionaries pose for a picture with a nun.

We´re going to have a baptism this Sunday! We met this guy named E my on my first P-day in the mission field, and he told us to come visit him the day after. That lesson we had was so powerful; he had been jobless and such and our lesson just brought him so much comfort and peace. Right in that first day he wanted to be baptized. We promised him that he would have a lot of trials as he continued to follow the example of Jesus Christ and live the commandments that the Lord has given us, but that he would also be blessed very much and that he would be able to find work.

Well after about a week of teaching him, he did find a job, but then we could never see him because he was never home. We got really anxious and frustrated and two weeks went by where we didn´t see him. We finally saw him in the local market and made an appointment to see him. Phew, we found him. When we had the lesson, we were surprised of his faith, because we thought that he had lost his desire to be baptized and such. He told us that he had been praying everyday in the way that we taught him! Wow! That´s something that got us really excited! We had to talk to him about not working on Sundays because it is the Lord´s day and that we need to go to church. Not a problem, E changed so now he tries not to go to work on Sundays and he has been at church for the past two weeks. It was still a bit hard to find him on weekdays, and for a couple days he was working in a mechanic shop right by the church. We headed over there and talked to one of the guys who worked there. His name was A, and is he interested! We talked to him about the restoration and gave him a pamplet and at our next lesson with him. that pamplet was just marked up with questions and all, it was amazing. There was a concert at the temple yesterday for christmas (It was awesome ill tell you a bit about it during skype) and he came with us! He drinks, which is something we have to talk to him about, but he is almost always spot on with the commitments we give him!

Monterrey Mexico Temple

Anyway back to E, he´s doing really well now, still not having the easiest time with work, but he´s really happy. He does want to go work in the states (he has a visa and all so he wont be illegal or anything) but he asks us if he goes to the states if there will be an LDS church there, and of course we tell him of course! oh yea, E speaks pretty good english too because he worked in Vancouver with his brother for 2 years i think. I have seen how this gospel has blessed him so much, from the time we met him to now, he is so much happier. He´s laughing and smiling all the time and it´s great. I know that when we try our best to be obedient to the things our heavenly father has commanded us, and when we repent of our sins and constantly try to follow Christ´s example, we can find great happiness, even in the heart of trial and difficult times. I´ll send you pictures of the baptism next week.

For the Skype, I´ll probably skype on Christmas on the 25th from the stake president´s house because he´s in our ward. I´ll write down the skype addresses you sent me.

also...There´s AP BIOCHEM!?!?!?!?! WOAH. hey mom, after about a year in my mission when I´m super comfortable with all of my spanish, you´ll have to send my diagrams of biology stuff labelled in spanish so I can learn that in spanish (and multitask and review all of that stuff hahaha) My MTC teacher told me not to stop learning vocab after you have become comfortable speaking and such. Learn all you can while you have the gift of tongues!

I think that´s about it for today, here are some pictures and tell Nathaniel to email me next week, and dad, they send funny emails. [Mom's emails aren't funny?] I´ll send a letter soon.

I love you all (and have you been doing FHE and scriptures and prayer and all?)

I love you

Davis

P.S. a sneak peak? of a Christmas surprise? huh? what´s this? (I hope it gets there on time, it should’ve been sent last week...it might get there late) DONT WORRY YOU’LL STILL LOVE IT!

Is that the Christmas surprise?

P.P.S. Hahahahahah no way! I bet he likes three rooms though! [Davis responded to the news that we put a window in Nathaniel's room so he can sleep in there when it is hot instead of moving into the guest room, and Davis' room...]

December 8, 2014 Still San Nicolas (I think...)

How is everything!? quick checkup:

are you doing family home evening? Are you all reading your scriptures everyday and having family prayer? Is dad and nathaniel doing home teaching? (I feel bad about that question because i never did it)

If you were doing all that for this whole month, THAT would be an awesome christmas gift.

Still haven't gotten the package, but that doesn´t mean it´s not here. They hold onto it until a zone conference or interviews or the next time you go to the offices. So i´ll get it the 23rd because that´s when we have our mission christmas event. Don´t worry if it´s not a lot mom! Do you really think that it would matter to me? the best gift is going to be skyping you guys! oh, i´ll probably do that in the Stake President´s house, he lives in our Barrio (ward). a good thing to send me next christmas would be home made jams...yum! that would be awesome. But i think I´ll go buy some nice khaki pants.

HOW COULD I FORGET TO WRITE NATHANIEL LAST WEEK? I feel so bad. I´ll write him right after this.

This week has been well. O went to the temple this saturday to do baptisms for the dead already and he has already passed the sacrament! He´s really engaged in the church and it´s awesome because i remember being concerned about that a month ago where he didn’t want to go if his cousin wasn’t going. we have a couple of other investigators right now, but I still don´t want to write about them yet. 1 of them is progressing much though so I´ll probably tell you about him next week!

Gosh there´s so much to say in so little time! I´ll write a letter today about my first change that you can get in about a month hahahaha.

My companion got called as the district leader! hahaha isn´t that cool; to have your trainer be the district leader? I was reading grandpa johansen´s mission memories and his trainer was.

I made some banana pancakes, they were super good. We bought a lot of stuff last week so we could just make our own breakfast and dinner. We´ve been eating a lot healthier now, pretty healthy actually. :) I still wear my retainer every night and brush and floss everyday.

Oh, how do you make good hot chocolate with the abuelita tablets? We make it and its kind of particle-ish.

Hey! I finished the Book of Mormon again! 2 times already in the book of mormon, and now I´m already in 2nd nephi in spanish! The Book of Mormon is  the best!

I don´t know if the way I´m writing you is good or not, I haven´t looked at how C(ousin) or GK do theirs, but let me know.

I´m going to write Nathaniel now.

I LOVE YOU

Elder garner

December 1, 2014 San Nicolas

Sounds like Thanksgiving was fun. for our thanksgiving we ate some cookies!

I got Canadian brass last week. I don´t think Fantasia 2000 is on it, or if it is I can´t find it. I´ve scrolled through all of the songs on that SD card but maybe there are more songs on it? Can you send me the Charlie Brown Christmas music?

This week was an exciting week for O: He got baptized, he became a member and got the Holy Ghost, he became a deacon, he´s going to the temple this saturday! and he moved houses!(still in the ward, pheww)

  Davis looks like a giant in this group.

The baptism was a scramble at the beginning. I let the Brother baptizing him borrow my baptism clothes because he said he was a 32 waist as I am. Well it turns out that 32 waist in mexico is a bit bigger than 32 US! hahaha he had to squeeze into those things, it took a little while but he figured it out. Next, we had Pants for O and told him to bring a white shirt. Well he brought a white shirt...with pokemon on it or something hahahaha. We had to run to a nearby member’s house to borrow a shirt. It was super cool because I felt like James Bond running in a full suit. after we finally got all of the mischief settled, the baptism went smoothly and it was an awesome experience for O.

I´m getting more and more confident with my spanish each day. I have found that when I have confidence, I can say a lot more than I think I can. I have always been outgoing, but for some reason I get nervous to talk to people on buses and trains. Nevertheless, I went on divisions this past wednesday with one of the zone leaders, and I was in his very large area so we had to take a bus to the other side of it. Well, we split up and started contacting the whole bus! Oh goodness at first I was a bit anxious, but the Zone leader told me "It´s not important what anyone thinks, and it´s not important if you mess up. If you fail just try again, that´s how you´re gonna grow and get over this little fear you have." So I just went and talked to people, by myself, with only my knowledge of the language and the faith that I would be able to get enough to help them out in some way. Well it turned out great. I was kind of sweating from the experience but it was a great experience. I´m going to continue to work on talking to people on trains and buses so I can have the 100% outgoing personality that I should have.

Thanks for the recipes mom. We learned how to make some good food at a member´s house last P-day.

Davis is making gorditas.

Tell Thanny to check his email everyweek, especially this week for next week. cuz his Bday and I have some favors for him.

hmmm, I think that´s what I got for you this week. I´ll try to write another letter soon.

It´ll be fun to skype you guys!

I love you!

Davuuuuuuus Garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnur

just downloaded the 6 canadian brass songs Grandma sent me. tell her  to send more of them. and all of the charlie brown christmas that´s the best.

November 24, 2014 San Nicolas

Davis and his companion at the Monterrey Mexico Temple

Hey, let me answer your questions super fast.

Dont have a simplified version [of the spanish hymnbook], its ok im doing well with the regular. I bought my own at the temple.

No thanksgiving here, thats an american holiday only. [Chris, Davis' dad, celebrated Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic when he was on his mission.]

Luke [cousin] is a junior right now i think, but grandma told me that he will be able to go [on his mission] around the time Carson [another cousin] and I get back.

I think i can do pouch mail, that's probably a 7$ peso stamp (about half a dollar) I´ll ask my trainer about pouch mail, but what I did was just gave 5 pesos to my zone leader for the letter. [A letter arrived from Davis with what looked like a $7 stamp, but was postmarked from Salt Lake City.  It took two weeks to get to us.]

Haven´t gotten any packages yet.

OK! now I´ll tell ya some stuff! :)

I did take out some money from the personal card I have, 1000 pesos, about 80 dollars worth. I did buy one souveniur with some of the money...I found a super nice blanket for you. you can have it in two years. Other than that, I´m just gonna use the money for a couple of necessities, such as buying a tan pair of pants. 

Also, watch out for a cool Christmas surprise in the mail...in about 3-4 weeks hahaha.

Davis with his companion, J, and J's family at the church.

We had a baptism yesterday! J., a 9 yr old in a recently reactivated family, and guess who got to baptize him? The bishop wasn´t there this weekend so I got to do it! Most of the time you try to get a member to do it, but this case it was I who did it! Good experience, J. was really happy after that, and also really wet and kind of cold! once we got in the font and grabbed my arms, he clenched his nose and tried to sink into the water! hahaha it was pretty funny that he was super ready to be submerged. I had to tell him [to wait until] after I said amen.

Also, I will not ever be telling you about our transfer goals or such, or only with hindsight. Here is why: Two of our investigators did not come to church this week so they can´t get baptized in this change. Investigators have to come to sacrament meeting at least 4 times before getting baptized, that's a rule of our mission. But we still have faith for them. Anyway, I´m still trying to figure out what to tell you in these emails. O. is getting baptized tomorrow, and that´s super exciting!

I´m almost finished with the book of mormon again. I have two weeks left to finish it, seeing if I can finish it within this change. Something I read today was in Alma, talking about the Stripling Warriors. I forget the chapter and the verse, but it says that they were concerned of the liberty of their families more than their lives, and that their mothers taught them to doubt not, and God will deliver them. 2 things: 1. We should never doubt our faith. as Pres. Uctdorf has said "Before you doubt your faith, doubt your doubts." When we have faith the Lord can do marvelous things. 2. Thanks for teaching me mom, in Alma 37:35 it says to learn wisdom of keeping the commandments in your youth, and I wouldn´t have been able to do that without you and dad.

Also, can you send me a recipe of how to make good banana pancakes. I´ve been eating healthier also, I eat a banana every day and I try to eat whatever other kind of fruit I can find. are there other healthy meals I can make, or something?

Sorry about the weird format of this email. I´m going to write Nathaniel some things right now. Oh, also, can you send me Vince Guaraldi Christmas trio? That's  appropriate.

In front of the church before J.'s baptism.

I love you all,

Davis

November 19, 2014 San Nicolas

[Note to reader: Davis did not send an email on Monday which is the usual "preparation" day (p-day).  We did feel pretty sad and had not expected to hear from him for another week.  It was a fun surprise to get his email on a Wednesday.  He responded to these questions in his email:
1. What do you do to work out?
2. Do you eat at members' homes? 3. What are you eating? 4. How is the Spanish coming along?]

Bet you were sad that I didnt´send an email this monday...because our P-day was today because fuimos al TEMPLO! I have pictures, but I´m at a different Ciber so I won´t send them this week.

ok:

1. There used to be a jump rope, I broke it. Need to buy one next monday, it was useful. I usually do core, push ups, tricep dips, jumping squats with some giant cinder block, more leg stuff with two giant cinder block sticks, and I use the stretchy band. I really just try to get up and start working out asap until 7. It´s hard to actually break a sweat, i´m trying to find a way to do it.

2-3. mexico, the biggest meal is lunch. We eat at 2pm with a member. I´ve always had tortillas, and I've had stuff like spicy soups, uhhh I don´t know the names of things, various meats, beans, rice, other stuff, and mole (yuck,hahah) I haven´t had any fruits yet, but I´m going to buy bananas. There isn´t a lot of fruit here and it´s hard to eat healthy on your own time. I´ve probably had a little bit too much meat in the past few weeks though (it´s reallllly good though).

also, the weather right now is CRAZY! one day it´s super cold, the next day it´s hot. this time of the year the weather in monterrey just changes whenever. one day it was raining so much, and since the roads aren't well constructed, the roads were rivers and I was using my umbrella to protect us from the buses flying through these ´¨rivers¨ then it got hot and then it got cold and then it got hot and...

4. All of the latin missionaries say that I speak really well for only being out for this long. The two gueros (whities/gringos) say that I speak super well two for a 3 wk mexico missionary, so does the Stake president and a lot of others. The motivation helps, but remember I was an impatient person before my mission so this is pretty challenging. I think it´s doing well though and I´m trying to speak spanish as much as possible with my comp.

ok here´s some investigator stuff:

right now our goal for the change(transfer) is to have 5 baptisms and 4 confirmations(since they have to wait a week for confirmation) and right now we have...5 baptismal dates planned! I want to talk about O a little bit again, he´s getting baptized next tuesday. Also, he has a good buddy in the church who is just a year younger than him and he is isn't a recent convert family(baptized this past january.) It´s exciting because we´re going to have his friend´s dad baptize him! It´s super good because it´ll give O some support in the church, and since the recent convert family hasn{t been super active, it´ll give them some responsiblity. They´ve actually been pretty active though in the past couple weeks which is awesome! and we´re going to help them start having family home evenings this monday and...O will be there! O is super smart because he is quick to understand the gospel and such...and he makes sure to ask questions when he´s confused! super bien! also, we taught him how to say ¨the book of mormon is true¨and ¨joseph smith was a prophet of god

anyway, I only have time to tell you about one other investigator. He is a father in an all member family, except for him. He´s been investigating¨the church for 14 years. He hasn´t had a problem with alcohol, but he would go drink with friends. So far, he hasn´t touched alcohol for almost 4 weeks, and he´s going to get baptized in two weeks! It´s super awesome and his family is super excited! We´ve talked to him about how we can recieve the priesthood and bless his family with it, and we´re planning on talking to the whole family about being sealed in the temple after he´s baptized and has been a member for a year.

Also,

I don´t drink a lot of soda, that was just a picture, we drank that soda in about a week and a half. the nice thing is though that a lot of stores just have a lot of bottle caps I can have. Also, Hermano P (The 14 year investigator) has been getting teeth pulled recently, so what motivation is that to brush every day!!! Don´t worry mom, I´ve brushed my teeth thouroghly every day since I got to the MTC, flossing is improving, somethimes I forget.

Also, if you can send me music via email, I´m aloud to download it. If you can figure it out then Awesome! If not then it´s ok. but if you do, i´d request that you send the Christmas album of Canadian Brass, and Fantasia 2000 (I have the original 1944 fantasia)

If I forgot anything, you´ll hear it on monday!

I love you guys!

Davis

oh yea! one last thing! Guess who is the pianist for the ward!?

[Davis was the pianist in the spanish-speaking unit's sacrament meeting at church for a while in high school even though he hadn't played piano for a couple of years...)

November 10, 2014 San Nicolas

[Note to reader: We took a weekend trip where we attended church in a ward in Encinitas, CA.  While we were there we saw a picture of a missionary (Elder D.) from that ward in the same mission as Davis.  We talked to some ward members about Elder D and learned that he had just been assigned to the mission offices.  I sent Davis a photo of the photo of Elder D by email.]

Hahahahah I know Elder D! He's secretary of materials.

Wow, Nathaniel is fast, I´m kind of jealous hahaha. That´s almost as good as my best sophomore time. I'm trying to work out as much as I can here though, with the 30 minutes we have in the morning. I have found that it gives me much more energy for the day. I do miss running though.

Oh, you need to tell the bank that I'm in Mexico so they don't cancel the card if I use it. I have another missionary debit card, but that's for food and stuff. I could use mine for souveniours and such. I want to get some soccer jerseys for Nathaniel and stuff but I need to find ones without Carta Blanca logo on the back, a beer company.

Let me tell you a little bit about my area. San Nicolas is a pretty well off city (My zone is san nicolas, area is nicolas bravo) It´s not super wealthy or anything, but they have things. There are a couple really poor parts in my area though. Most of the houses are smaller than our living room plus kitchen plus front room are with the chandelier. There are a lot of stray dogs. something funny to do is if there’s a small stray dog barking at you, you pretend to pick up a rock and it runs away.

Here's a joke: ¿Porque las camisas de los Lamanites tienen arrugas?... porque no tienen planchas!

Ok I´ll explain: Why do the shirts of the lamanites have wrinkles?...because they don´t have Plates/Irons (planchas means both)

Davis and 12 year old O

We've been teaching an 18 yr old named A, as well as his cousin O. A was staying with his aunt working here in Monterrey, but his job was so terrible that he quit, and now he is going back home to puebla MX. He has a desire to get baptized though, and it turns out that his mom is a member! Yay! hopefully he answers the prayers of some other missionaries. We´re still teaching O, who is 12. He's super cool and has a really good knowledge of the bible. He´s reading his book of mormon (hopefully every day like we asked him to do hahah) but now that his older cousin is gone, he doesn´t have as much support to go to church. We´re finding a way to get him to come. It´s kind of hard when the rest of his family isn´t in line with the gospel, since his mom is in a "union libre" (not married) but shes also married to someone that she isn´t living with, so she basically is in a big pickly and can´t get baptized. It must be pretty hard for O, but he´s a great kid and he always has a good attitude. Here´s a picture of him, and then there´s a picture of me and my comp. with A, O, and a member (taller guy).

Davis, Elder S, A, Taller Guy, O, mysterious little girl.

I´ll tell you about more investigators next week.

Also, Bottlecaps! Since the water isn´t great here, a lot of people drink a lot of soda. I have 150 bottle caps just from two weeks being here; I´ll probably send them some time so keep my bottle cap collection safe because im still going to make that mural! I don´t like caffienated ones, so I don´t drink them, but I have a lot of coca cola bottle caps because It´s super popular here. Also, I don´t think I´ve actually had more than one taste of coke or pepsi before now, but when we go over to a members house and they just have a giant bottle of pepsi and that´s all there is to drink, well, ya gotta. hahaha it always just has a weird taste :P

Davis is going to mail bottlecaps home from Mexico?

Also, I´m sending pictures to you because the computers at this Ciber are really safe and stuff, but I probably won't in following areas because my trainer said he has gotten viruses on his SD cards and couldn´t take anymore pictures with them.

Also, no interesting birds! psh

Alright, I´ll be back next week to tell you about all of the amazing things about being on a mission!

Love you all!

Davis

11/3/2014 San Nicolas

Elder S (trainer) and Davis (trainee) at the Mission Home in Monterrey Mexico.

Mexico is great! I was assigned to the second smallest area of the mission, only about 1-2 sq miles. The area is called Nicolas Bravo in the town San Nicolas (also the zone), It´s only a short ways from Monterrey.

 My companion´s name is Elder S and he´s all the way from...Provo!  hahaha Yea he´s not a native but he speaks very good spanish. My spanish is, well, going. I´m working really hard to just say as much as I can say and understand as much as I can. I know that I´m going to have to be patient with myself, and that it will take a couple of months, but I´m just too happy to be here and to be working that I don´t let that get me discouraged. In Ether 12:27 it talks about how if men bring their weaknesses unto the Lord, we will make them strengths. That is something that is really promising to me. I try to talk to everyone we pass by, I think that it´s important that everyone has the chance to use their god given gift of agency to choose whether or not they want to accept and listen to more of the glad tidings we have to offer or not. After all, men are free according to the flesh...(2 Nephi 2:27) 

That´s awesome that Nathaniel did that well! WAY TO GO NATHANIEL YOU´RE DOING AWESOME! Tell everyone that    I´m doing awesome, and that I love being a missionary.

As for the birds, my area is really urban so I´m not gonna see any cool birds for about 3 months. I saw those other birds at the mission offices. The birds I have seen here that are different are: Inca dove, Couch´s Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, and some parrakeet sp.

Here are pictures of our home. It´s smaller than the apt. that I stayed in at the MTC. It really just reminds me to be very thankful for all of the things we have, like those new cabinets hahaha. There´s also a picture of me and my companion and me eating a campachana (really good)

 I´ll send you a letter by mail too!

I love you!

Davis

10/28/14 Monterrey Mexico – Mission Home

[Davis arrived in Monterrey Mexico 10/27/14 and spent the night at the mission home ("headquarters/office") He sent this message 10/28/14 before he was assigned a trainer/companion and sent out to his first area assignment.]

They gave us a little time to let you know that I´m well in Mexico. It´s really nice here and there’s a super cool mountain. The sierra madres are great. I haven´t gotten my trainer yet but I will in about an hour. I´ll let you know how my first week goes next Monday. 

So the mail address is 

Calle Chiapas #2202

col. roma sur

Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, 64700

It´s the same as was given before. This is the mission office and you just send it there and they disperse it from there to where you are. Meeting the mission president was great.

Also, I´ve seen Gila Woodpeckers and White winged doves, a scissor tailed flycatcher, some species of gnatcatcher, a lot of great tailed grackles, and a spindalis species (kind of like a sparrow).

I already love it here! I love you guys! Awesome picture too!

Davis

[Note to reader: the picture to which Davis is referring is the one below.]

 

Nathaniel is running really really well ;)

October 23, 2014 Provo MTC

Davis and Elder L are ready to go to Mexico.

I'm ready to go to Mexico!

We are leaving the MTC at 3:35am Rocky Mountain time, We will probably get there around 5am and be comfortably at the terminal at 6am. So I can call at 6am when It's 5am there, when you guys are just getting up. Our plane leaves for Dallas TX.. I am going to buy a call card so I'll have a considerate amount of time to talk. We arrive in Dallas late morning in that time zone I believe (what time zone is that called?) and we have a 2 hour layover. Our plane for Monterrey will only be a half hour flight! Short flight! So I can have more time to talk in that time if you want.. Send me a Dear Elder on what time you want me to call you. I think that SLC would be the best but Dallas will probably work too. I have a goal to give someone a Book of Mormon while in the airports or at a terminal. There are additional fees for bags over 50lbs. and a carry on can at most be 40lbs. so if I need to I will be sending some extraneous things that I don't need home tomorrow in a package. 

I got the music. At first I thought that some of the classical music wouldn't be allowed (Like Gershwin) but my companion just told me classical music, even with some brass and loudness, is allowed as long as it is wholesome :). I have some requests for the next SD or whatever. "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel, "Clair de lune" By Claude Debussy, and "Gimnopedie" by Erik Satie, maybe  the compositions of the planets by Holst (just the good ones that are wholesome, like Jupiter(especially))  also, Tchaikovsky's 2nd and those other classics. Also, the MoTab album Consider the Lilies, the hymns "Lord, I would follow thee", all of the war songs like We "We are all enlisted" "Put your shoulder to the wheel" "Onward christian soldiers" etc. and "Press Forward Saints" as well as that one song that has the lyric "rest my Ebeneezer" or something like that that everyone likes to sing for special musical numbers. Also there is a good album on my phone called "Sunset in Vienna" or something like that that has a bunch of short piano solos and they're really nice. You should be able to find it there wasn't a lot of music on my phone.

As for last minute things that I need grandma to send me: Jump rope, a nice one not a plastic one, and if she can't find one then at least make sure she doesn't get a large jump rope because smaller ones are better. [Reader FYI: a jump rope has already been bundled into Davis’ Christmas package to be shipped shortly]  And a nice blue tie that I would wear because I only have one blue tie!

Here's a picture of just me and my companion Elder L at the Provo Temple one last time. The shoes are great!

Talk to you soon! I Love you!

October 16, 2014 Provo MTC

Sounds like Nathaniel is doing great at Cross Country! He already crushed my freshman time! It sounds like everything is going well ever since I left...hmmm. Must be because me being on a mission is giving all of you so many blessings

I'll tell you about a typical day in the MTC:

At 6:30 we wake up. My companion takes a long time to get ready so I make him take a shower first. We go to breakfast at 7:15, and then on most days we will have study time in the morning. We'll do personal study for an hour, companion study for an hour, and then language study for an hour. But, our language study usually gets cut short because we will go teach an "Investigator" for about 30 minutes. It is really fun to prepare for the lessons and feel the spirit in them, even if our spanish isn't great. We have lunch at 11:30 and at 1:20 we are scheduled for gym time. The past week I haven't been able to go to the field to play soccer, but our district likes to play foursquare a lot. hahaha. after that we have class again at 1:50. This is usually Hermano Clark. He'll do language teaching with us, preach my gospel stuff, "progressive investigator" which is where he will pretend to be an investigator and We'll teach him. He's a great teacher. at 4:55 we will go to dinner, and then we'll have class again at 5:40 with Hermano Lund. He started being our teacher a week and a half into being in the MTC, because before, he was one of our investigators hahaha. But now he's our teacher, and a great one too. He'll do the same types of things that Hermano Clark will do. at 9:00 we will plan for tomorrow and then at 9:30 we go to our residence and write in our journals, get ready for bed, and I sometimes have enough time to write a letter. That's a day in the MTC! Also, We have devotionals on tuesday and sunday nights and they're always really good!

Can you send me some more Songbirds of North America Stamps? You can get them at the UPS store. Hmm also some more black socks probably. I can't think of anything else...maybe some banana bread if you want to make some more (without nuts this time?)

Thanks mom! I love hearing from you guys and I love you all so much!

Also, I can buy a call card to use at the airport here at the MTC, and darn I wish you could send me the field guide now ;) Also, did you put "My Shepard will supply my need" on the cube?

I love you,

Davis

Oh a couple things I forgot.

1. I come home august 29th 2016...just in time for school! [That is the first day of theFall 2016 semester]

2. Don't send a package to Mexico without putting a picture of the Virgin Mary on it, because then there's a better chance it won't get stolen or anything.

3. Today we went to DP Cheesestake in Brighams landing for dinner, and a Jack Johnson song was on. hahaha I miss home.

4. I did initiatory today at the temple instead of an endowment session. It was fun.

5. I think we get our flight plans tomorrow.

6. I'm pretty sure I have my visa, we went to the Mexican Consulate a couple weeks ago and they just had us take a picture and scan our fingerprints. They said that getting a Visa to Mexico is easy so I'm sure that I'm good to go I think.

7.Almost got a Black Capped Chickadee to sit on my finger

8.That's about it for now. I sent a letter to you guys today. 

Love you,

Davis

October 9, 2014 Provo MTC

Davis and GK
YES I DID BUMP INTO G.K. ON SATURDAY AND THEN SUNDAY AND THEN TUESDAY. So far I've seen him every time I've been over to Main Campus. 

Davis and GK as babies.

Tell Nathaniel I say AWESOME JOB! Let him know that at my first cross country race I ran a 22:00 and my first time running at lake casitas I ran a 20:42. My fastest time freshman year was an 18:36. Let him know that if he can beat my PR of 15:30 by the end of senior year I will get him something really nice (I'll have a job by then so I can do that) Cross country has taught me a lot about mental strength and it is helping me on my mission and I know it will continue to help. 

I'm almost done with Alma, I'll probably finish it today. I really love reading the book of Mormon and all that it has to offer. My companion and I usually teach three lessons a day now to "investigators" We speculate that their just new converts that work here, but it's good practice! 

The view of Mt. Timpanogos from Davis' window

On Preparation day, we will get up and first do our laundry, then we will write letters or email, and then we will go play a sport for about an hour. Today we played foursquare hahahaha, our district is all about it. I really enjoy playing soccer whenever I can get Elder G. to go on a temporary exchange to go play, since he likes soccer too. We play with this other district that is going to Cuarnavaca(?) Mexico. I don't know if that's right but I know that its just south of Mexico City. and guess what, one of the elders in that district is a Birder!!! His name is Elder Q. and he went to BYU for a year and he took the Ornithology class and said it was super fun. I'm gonna keep in touch with him, and also I'm going to email the mission president to see if I can have a field guide so be on standby for sending me the field guide to birds of mexico hahahaha.

 I don't know the brand name of the shoes, because the name was on the sole and it has been scratched off, maybe just go off of the pair I wore at home (it's the pair with the little metal thingy across that doesn't have the "D" shaped rings...or maybe it does, you'll know.) Do you think you could send me a photo album of pictures of our family and then of me with my friends. You can probably find pictures on my phone.

 I'm more than half way done with the MTC, just 18 days left! I'm super excited to go to Mexico! Also, I'm going to send a letter to our family, but then I'll also send letters to each of you individually, the first one will be for Nathaniel since I just did it. Sorry I couldn't send any this last week.

Davis and Sister S. at SLC airport on their way to the MTC

Also, The Mission President's Wife said that I can have a field guide so can you order a field guide to the birds of mexico and send it to me please please please!? Make sure you get a good one teehee :P

Also, Thanks for the banana bread, It's delicious, and the joe joes

Love you mom,

Davis