Happy New Year!

OH MY OH MY so much has happened I don't even know where to start. Let's see, first, I love my family more than ever and I am so grateful that I was able to see their darling faces on Christmas day! What joy! It was nice refill of family love. The rest of Christmas was great too. We started in the morning with Sister Cooley and Sister Gonzalez, making breakfast and opening gifts together (Christine, Joe, and Tristin Jakins are amazing and brought me some presents down from Calgary on Christmas Eve last week aren't they amazing or what?!), then we gathered as a zone and played White Elephant together! That was fun stuff, I ended up getting half of a heart "best friends" necklace, Elder Gibbs brought the gift and has the other half lolz. Then we went to the Rooyakers for a brunch. Then SKYPE :) And then dinner at the Thompson's house! We ate turkey and cranberries and lots of yummy desserts and sang fun carols.

Anyhow the rest of the week went just lovely. This transfer our zone set a lot of high goals for this area and all the other zone leaders from different places laughed at us and it was pretty sad so we've all been working really hard and as the transfer ends today we've reached and exceeded 2/3 and almost made the third one, missed by two. BUT for this area, we've about tripled the amount of work that's been happening! YAY! Who's laughing now!?

And today, since it's New Year's Eve and we can't proselyte after six we have a full day p-day. So this morning we all went curling! No, we didn't do each others hair.. haha It was so much fun too! I love it! Who knew that curling would be so fun. I've seen it on the Olympics before and promptly turned the channel before I fell asleep but surprisingly enough it was exciting and wonderful. I have to do it again someday.

And guess what else?! SISTER HUNTLEY IS GETTING TRANSFERRED! She's going to Calgary! I'm excited for her. I think it will help her grow and become the missionary she wants to be by starting fresh and all. It will be good for her. And I'm excited to be staying put with a new companion (pray for me that she'll be amazing please) and for all the great things we'll do together in the Legacy Ward!! Whoop whoop! I'M PSYCHED OUT OF MY MIND.

Well, don't get too crazy tonight at midnight! CTR haha

xoxox,

Sister Davis

Ho, Ho, Ho!

It really is the most wonderful time of the year isn't it?! All the lights and the love, and my favorite: the Spirit of Christ. What an amazing feeling! I am full of gratitude for my Savior and the sacrifice that he made for me so that I can have peace and happiness in my life. I will be forever grateful to have this opportunity to serve and to bring others to the same marvelous truth that has changed my life for the better.

I am so so excited to skype my favorite people in the world tomorrow and to spend the day with families here in Lethbridge. I am just loving life. I had a week or two that were really hard but with the help of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I have been able to overcome anything that has happened. Also, all the love from home helped out a lot too! Thank you for the Christmas tree! It's all taped up on my wall with all the darling ornaments. It made me cry happy tears! I love it. I am so blessed!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

xooxoxo,
Sister Davis

Oh, My!

OH MARVELOUS. This week was busy, busy, busy! We did lots to prepare ourselves for the church tour/open house we put together for Saturday afternoon.

So on Wednesday afternoon for a couple hours the whole zone gathered in Downtown Lethbridge to do a "downtown blitz" so we all split up in different directions and talked to every single person that was in our path. It was awesome! We invited loads of people to come to open house and just talked a lot. Our little mini miracle that day: We were walking down the street when the bus pulled over to let people out and there was a girl that exited the bus but was about ten steps or so behind us and I got the thought, "Hey, you should talk to that girl" and without thinking more of it I stopped, turned around, walked right up to her and introduced myself. She was super interested and even suggested we sit inside a little restaurant to talk more (it was ridiculously windy and cold this day) so we did and we taught her the whole first lesson! And she wants to learn more!!! Unfortunately though she doesn't live in our area but elders in another ward will be happy to teach her I'm sure! So that was glorious. 

Then on Friday we, and Hermanas Cooley and Gonzalez, all got together and made a big ol' jug of hot chocolate and some neon bright signs to stand outside the church building giving out free hot chocolate to people walking and driving by. That was loads of fun! (This is the day I had to buy new snow boots that go up to my knees because it was so bloody cold). Many stopped and we had the opportunity to talk to lots and give out invitations to all! Someone even accepted a Book of Mormon so that was pretty wonderful.

And then Saturday was the big day. We got pretty pumped before the tour started because guess who came to Alberta! Elder Bednar! Like whaat? He went to Calgary and talked with the missionaries there but since we're far out in the boonies we couldn't drive there so we just gathered at one of the stake centres here and watched it broadcasted live. It was amazing. This man, is the most wonderful man in the world! He definitely kicked our bums into shape for sure, truly inspiring. There are going to be some major changes around here for sure! I'm psyched. So, getting to the church tour. We had 5 fourty-five minute tours going from room to room tlaking about the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We were in charge of his birth and baptism and asked our ward mission leader Brother Larson and another couple, the Smith's, to do the presentation and it went really well! The Spirit was really strong throughout the whole thing and it was really touching. Not as many people showed up as we had hoped but it was still wonderful! We're hoping the next one we do will have a better turn out and run a tad smoother. (Crossing our fingers)

Anyway, it was a lovely week. Can't believe how close it's getting to Christmas...where did the time go? Weird. Thank you for all your love, prayers, and support!

xoxoxox,
Sister Davis

 Christmas with President and Sister Nicholas!! (I mean Santa and Mrs. Claus)

the cute little Christmas tree Bishop Pavan bought for us

Snowed In

So this last week was snow weird. At the end of p-day last week we got a text from our zone leaders telling us that because of the weather conditions not only were we not able to drive our cars but we weren't allowed to leave our apartment. The Sister Cooley and Sister Gonzalez were with us and they couldn't leave either so we had a big ol' sleepover at our place and then all day Tuesday we weren't allowed to leave either until about 8:30 at night! Can you believe that?! We were thinking "it can't be that bad outside..." and then we opened our front door to a hundred feet of snow with the impression of the door into it. (I'll send a picture of that goodness) So all day we read scriptures and watched Mormon messages. It was weird not being able to go out and do real missionary work though. I felt trapped a little and frustrated that I couldn't invite anyone to come to Christ. We were this close to ordering pizza just so we could talk to someone from the outside world! But figured we didn't want to put anyone else in danger either.

The rest of the week went surprisingly slow, probably the longest week yet and it was cut short? Strange. But I was finally able to meet one of the recent converts in the ward, his name is Jesse, about 30 and has some nice gauges and loads of tattoos, EVERYBODY can be ready for the gospel, no matter what they look like. He's a funny dude with a pure testimony of Christ. Very touching.

Also, Sister Huntley and I decided we wound make birthday cards for all of the less-actives in the ward that might be forgotten and unknown and we are stopping by to drop them off throughout the month. We've had three thus far, two of which had moved, and one that miraculously let us in and chatted with us for a while, offered to take us out to eat sometime, and said this was exactly what he needed. I pray he'll come back to church.

So yes, this week was great! Ended on a good note with the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. That was the first one I've ever seen and man, it was amazing! I loved Elder Nelson's talk. The parts of it where the voice of Jesus was narrating was so touching, and the pictures of Christ made me cry. 

I am so grateful for this Season of Christ and feel so lucky to be a missionary at this time. I know that Christ lives and that he loves each and every one of us. I know that because of him we will be able to live with Heavenly Father again someday. We should celebrate Christ like we do in December throughout every day of the year, wouldn't that be wonderful?!

I hope everyone has a fantastic week! Be thankful it's not as cold where you are. On Thursday Lethbridge was the coldest city in North America, even colder than the North Pole!!! It's the best.

LOVE and PRAYERS coming your way!!!!

 my fave sisters ever (gonzalez, cooley, and huntley)

xoxoxoxox,
Sister Davis

The Windy City

IT'S SNOWING LIKE CRAZY TODAY! They grounded our cars again today. It's awesome. We had to find a ride this morning to the library and then we're going to walk to the mall after we're done emailing for lunch and to hang out there like a bunch of seventh graders because the church is too far away to walk there. We're so cool I know haha

Anyway, this week has been hard, but good. The other day we parked our car to look at the map and this black cat ran from across the street to my side of the car so I opened the door and it just hopped right onto my lap! We named him Midnight and he went on a ride with us to the stake centre across town to pick up invitations for the church tour we are putting together in a couple weeks from now. He loved that! It was fun, like having Kitty Purry with me all over again.

Man, I wish I could write so much more but the countdown is on and I didn't leave much time to email everyone yikes my bad.
But just know that I love it here.

My testimony is strengthened every day and I love my savior Jesus Christ with all my heart!

xoxoxox

HAPPY DECEMBER YALL

love,
Sister Davis

Holy Smokes!

This is unreal. I'm in Lethbridge! Seems like a totally different mission from Calgary. A lot more small town-ish with loads more members it feels. My new companion is Sister Huntley, she's 19 and from San Diego area. This is her first area, the Legacy Ward, and she just finished her 12week training program. but it kinda feels like I'm training all over again.. I hear that she and her trainer didn't get along very well and by looking at the progress (or lack there of) in the area, I'd believe it. BUT we get along like peanut butter and jelly so we are going to make this place explode!! It's going to be great!

I'm sad to have left Arbour Lake.  It was really beginning to feel like home...that's probably why Heavenly Father sent me away! Hahaha!  I miss Sister Waller, and the Jakins, and Palmers and everybody there, but I have met lots of the members here in Legacy and they are all super nice. We're just going to have to work hard to help them be more inspired to do missionary work! We are going to do great things in this area, I can feel it.

We don't have any investigators at all so we are super duper focusing on finding the people who the Lord has prepared for us to teach. Which means we are knocking, knocking, knocking! Sister Huntley never tracted with her old companion and I quickly let her know that was going to change.  Haha!  She now loves it, as do I so it's perfect!

All the missionaries in the zone are wonderful, too. We have high ambitions for the area, but when our goals are made with faith I know that we will be able to accomplish them.

Let's see, what else is new? I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Wait, that's not new at all...oh well! My life is wonderful and I love knowing that I have a purpose in life. It's nice to feel loved and at home where ever I go because Heavenly Father is right there with me. Yeah, I love it. I love my Savior and the joy he brings to my life. Gaaaah! LOVE EVERYWHERE!

Oh yes, Happy Thanksgiving to all you American folk! I hope you'll take some time to write down a few things every night that you're thankful for. I do that and it really helps me to count my blessings. I'm grateful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the atonement, this gospel. MY FAMILY! and of course all of my fantastic friends and the support I get from both. I'm grateful to be here in Canada, and to be serving my Lord. It is a great time to be living!

xoxoxo

Love,
Sister Davis

 Me and my new love Sister Huntley on transfer day

My fave Hermanas! Spanish Sisters Cooley and Gonzalez

Joy, Joy!

Happy Remembrance Day yesterday! That's what they call Veteran's Day here in Canada. The library was closed because of the holiday so here we are today! Yesterday though we were able to go to one of the services in a big huge auditorium with lots of veterans in uniform and a wreath laying ceremony and all that good stuff. It was a cool experience to be able to have a time to remember all of the people who served their country. A very touching time for sure.

So on Thursday Sister Waller got her training call from the assistants yay! So she'll be training next transfer a brand new missionary, fun hey?! It'll be good. I was so excited for her and then I realized that it meant I'd most likely be getting transferred next week. Sad day. I've fallen in love with my ward and it's going to be really hard to leave them. We have been doing lots of great work here together and I've gotten quite attached. It'll be a teary day when I have to leave this glorious place. But it's alright! Heavenly Father has a different plan for me and that's totally fine. Send it my way! I'm excited for whatever happens.

Okay can we take a moment of silence to remember what else happened yesterday? I'M AN AUNT AGAIN! haha Baby Luna was born. I can't believe it. I pretty much missed the whole pregnancy so it's weird that Anna has another baby now..and that she'll be a whole year old once I get to give her a big squeeze. Which brings me to my next statement. I've been on a mission for six months can I get a WHAT WHAT. How in the world did that happen. I want to stay here forever!!!!

There is always so much to tell that I can't narrow it down and everything gets stuck in the end of the funnel and then nothing comes out. I'm sorry.

Spiritual overload is always happening in my head. I love it. I love that I'm able to be doing something that is most important in this life. Check out Doctrine and Covenants 15:6. There are few things in this worldly world that are of true worth to us, and declaring the gospel is one of them!  Never have I ever been so happy in my entire life.

And to make things even better Sister Waller and I are helping someone put up their Christmas tree in a few hours!!! OH WHAT JOY it is that Canadian Thanksgiving was in October..Straight to Christmas whoop whoop!

xoxox,

Love, Sister Davis

Just Some Pictures

 Jakins baptism

 At Johnston's Canyon

Welcome to Banff

Whoop, Whoop!

It's -6 degrees Celcius today. Welcome to Canada, folks! haha I absolutely LOVE it! Yesterday morning during our personal study I look up and see snow falling outside..I gasp to Sister Waller and she looks then looks back at me and we simultaneously get up, grab our boots, and run outside. It was awesome!! So all day Sunday there was snow falling and it was amazing. So beautiful. We even had to scrape snow off the car..we were giggling the whole time because we were having so much fun! It was great.

Anyway, to the important stuff. Christine, Joe, and Tristin are officially members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! Whoop whoop. Their baptism was on Thursday and it was absolutely magical. The ward really stepped up and lots of people came and it was a really spiritual night. The program was great, the two speakers were really in tune and the first talked on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the second talked on the Plan of Salvation. But my favorite part of the whole nice was the actual ordinance of baptism. Joe was first and after he came up out of the water his face was priceless. Happy doesn't even begin to describe the expression on his face. Especially when he saw his wife walk down into the water and then when his son was baptized too. And I thought my baptism was the best day of my life! THIS WAS GREAT!! I love being able to share the joy and peace that comes from this gospel that I love so much, and to see others accept, live, and receive the blessings is such a wonderful experience. That's why I'm here.

Well it was so great.

There is probably so much more that I could write about but I'm going blank and decided to use the remainder of my time on the computer today to do some family history (thanks daddy!!!) and these are the most important anyway so highlights are all you get! Thank you for the love and prayers!

xoxoxo

Sister Davis

 Our first snow :)

 Me and Sister Waller so excited after the Jakins baptism!

The view outside our house. 

Yes that's our car! Woohoo for Subaru!

Let It Snow!

It snowed. Okay, maybe not really but it was pretty dang close. On Thursday it was freezing cold and windy and then started to rain and before we knew it this rain turned into slush and there was snow slush falling from the sky. It was awesome! We were parked outside a less-active member's home about to inside when all of a sudden  big plops of slush/sleet started hitting the windshield. I let out a scream of joy! I was so excided. It was so cool. Didn't last long though, only about forty minutes.

Anyway, as for the juicy stuff. The Jakins family had their interviews on Saturday and they are getting baptized!!!! Holy smokes. We've had lots and lots of ups and downs (way downs sometimes) but everything is coming into place lately. We had trouble booking the building, the stake centre is a busy, busy place that's for sure. But after many phone calls we got it and they are on schedule for Thursday, October 24th! Woohoo! We are so pumped. We were over at their home yesterday for Thanksgiving dinner and it was soooo good. If you're thinking, what the heck Sister Davis you're high Thanksgiving is in November, think again. Canadians do it in October. Yeah, took a bit to comprehend for me too but whatevs. So they made turkey and stuffing and brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes and beets and pumpkin pie YUM. Yes, I ate brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, AND beets. Surprised? Me too. And they were surprisingly delicious! I'll admit, Thanksgiving wasn't quite the same without hot fruit, but it was still yum yum yum. We also watched President Uchtdorf's "Forget Me Not" talk together and it was really good!! I'd never seen it before and I just love it. A good reminder to all that we truly are daughters (and sons) of God. Christine is super psyched she said yesterday "I have so much to learn, teach it to me now I can't wait!!!" haha she's so funny. She joked yesterday at how young we were "I could've birthed both of you!" she said. Good times, good times.

So yeah, life is fab. I finished the Book of Mormon yesterday during personal study HOLLA. We got to the end of the hour and I had two pages left and I looked up at Sister Waller and asked if she was done with her chapter and she shook her head no and I'm like good! five more minutes then! haha and so we each got to finish. It was so good. I love the Book of Mormon. There has been lots of stress lately (more than normal anyway) and I kept trying to figure out what the Lord was trying to teach me out of all of this and at first I thought it was patience because we all know we could use some more of that but as I read the last few chapters with this question in mind I realized once in Moroni that the Lord is trying to help me to increase my faith, hope, and charity. During our zone training meeting yesterday we were challeged to make a goal to do something that will help us to improve ourselves and right away I thought to how I can improve my faith, hope, and charity. There is always room to improve so that's something I'll be working on.

Our zone is wonderful. During this same meeting we had the opportunity to share with eachother our testimonies of how the Holy Ghost and the Book of Mormon have played a role in our conversion. It was such a spiritual meeting and taught me an important lesson: Always bear your testimony. It brings the Spirits and it changes hearts. I'm making a goal to share at all times whether it be in words, thoughts, or actions. I WILL NOT BE DENIED.

I love you all! You da best.

xoxox

Sister Davis

 Me and Tristin! He's such a goob!

 The leaves actually change colors here!

Lights On

Transfers are tomorrow...I'M STAYIN. Holla. Thank heavens! I love serving here in Arbour Lake with Sister Waller. I don't know what I would have done if I had to leave the Jakins before their baptism! Cried. Yeah, I would have cried a lot. Not that I haven't been doing that a lot recently anyway. I mean, lets get real, I cry all the time you know that! But this week there has been lots of tears, mostly good tears though so yay.

First, there was general conference. So of course that means tears. Multiple times. But it was so good! I don't have many conferences to compare this one to but I'd say IT WAS THE BEST OF THEM ALL. I loved President Uchtdorf's. He's amazing. And Elder Soares. And all of them. So for Saturday morning session we went to our less active Lisa Martins house and she made us breakfast and then we watched all together it was great! Her nonmember husband even watched with us which was a little miracle. Then Saturday afternoon we went to the stake centre and watched it with all the other missionaries. I made sure to bring my new blanky I bought from Target last week (YES they have Targets and I was in heaven). It's so fluffy i'm gonna die!!

So get this. As we're running out to the car Sunday morning to go to the stake centre again for conference I'm rounding the car to the driver's side and there's little egg shells on the ground and my first thought is aww that's so sad they must've fallen from the tree! But boy oh boy was I wrong. Our car got egged. Can you believe that?! Like who does that.. When we went to the Whitehead's yesterday to help Sister Whitehead do some baking/cooking her husband was outside cleaning it for us, isn't he a sweetheart?! Anyway then for the Saturday afternoon session we went to the Jakins house along with some other families in the ward. They are great at fellowshipping!! Except when we got there Christine was having a little freakout. Darn Satan. She was pacing all over the place fuming. She was really upset when she found out that during the baptismal interview they ask about committing crimes, having abortions, or participating in homosexual relationships but they don't ask about other sins like people raping or beating children who don't get convicted. She just didn't understand and didn't listen to us when we tried to explain it to her.. So we called up to President and he talked with her to try and answer her questions and calm her down. It sorta kinda helped but just resulted in tears unfortuneately. But then we took a breather and went back downstairs to watch conference (we'd missed the first 30 minutes or so) and by the end she was all calm and collected and it was great. We even played the board game that Sister Waller and I made. It's called Celestial Pursuit. It's adorable if I might say so myself. I wish I'd taken a picture. It all worked out well and they are still super excited about being baptized so they can be sealed and that eternal perspective is what really matters so yay! It's going great.

So yesterday we had a district meeting, the last district meeting of the transfer and oh my gosh it was amazing. Elder Krogue, our district leader, is going home this week. And he decided that for our meeting we were all going to share with eachother the circumstances before our missions that brought us here and why we're staying. It was the most spiritual time ever. Where else can you sit in the room with six nineteen/twenty year old boys who are bearing their testimonies and just bawling their eyes out. It was so tender. I have the greatest district ever! I'm sad that a couple of them are leaving us this week.

OH YES! THANK YOU SO MUCH. Just thank you! I got the "wallpaper" in the mail on Friday and that's another reason for happy tears this week. I have the best support in the whole wide world. I love all of your sweet messages and I'm so grateful for each and every single one of you. I couldn't have asked for a greater eternal family.

I have so thankful to be serving the Lord. I've been having a lot of lightbulbs going off in my head lately as I've been getting my priorities in order. Loving the Lord, and serving Him with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I know that this is where He wants me to be. I know that Heavenly Father loves and knows all of us personally. He's always there with open arms. Don't be afraid to ask! I hope you know that too.

Have a great week! I love yoU!

XOXOXOXOX

Sister Davis

 Sister Waller and me at the temple.

 My fave place to be!

 We had to stop...

Thank You!

Full House

OH JOY.

It is just great.

Last Monday night we had the privilege of having family home evening with the Jakins at Bishop Evan's house and it was lovely. Went all out too with songs and lessons and activities and treats! It was fun and then dun dun dun Bishop told them that Joe wouldn't be able to baptize his family. Yikes. Christine was devastated, had to leave the room crying. It was no bueno. I was sad for them but it's more important for them to all be baptized as a family together than to separate it blah blah blah it was a big tangled mess for a bit but now it's all situated and they are simply grateful that they are able to be baptized! Man oh man am I looking forward to that glorious day coming up in the next couple weeks!

Also something else wonderful that happened: we went to the temple! Woohoo Bishop and Sister Evans were nice enough to bring us to the temple on Friday and it was amazing. Simply amazing. It had been way too long, like three months for me! I wish I could go every week. Anyway, the Lord has been blessing me with little big spiritual moments that build my testimony every day this past week. We've been tracting a lot which means we see a lot, a lot of people who have different beliefs than I do and I knew that I needed to have an even stronger, more unshakeable testimony of each principle of the gospel to help me from feeling discouraged when people reject the invitation to learn more. So I asked Heavenly Father to help me do that. And every day, no joke, He blessed me with an undeniable Spirit blast to the heart on a specific principle within the Plan of Salvation. Brings such comfort to know that God knows me personally and that he knows how He needs to reveal truths for me in a specific way for it to make a ever lasting impact on my heart.

Also on Friday we helped Sister Palmer paint her basement. Sister Palmer did the top line and around door frames, Sister Waller did the bottom line above the baseboards and windows, and this girl got to use the fancy roller and painted my heart out doing all the middle. My hand was cramping and got stuck like a claw for a while but we finished the whole basement over the course of two days so holla. Plus, when we were over there ZLs brought us our mail! My fave. Downed those cookies and trail mix in like thirty seconds while listening to my childhood gospel CD. Love it. THHANKS a million.

So Saturday. Oh boy. Lisa Kelly miraculously texted us and said she'd be able to meet with her a 4:30 so we were super psyched and made sure that we were at the stake centre on time and then we get a text saying she'd be 15-20 minutes late, which was fine we could wait, take some more time to prepare. Then it turns into 45 minutes and ladies start showing up to start preparing for the Relief Society Broadcast that starts at 6 so we help out with that, cutting pies and putting out table cloths and still no Lisa. The broadcast starts and then at 6:30 we get a text, "we're here!". Geez. I was probably more frustrated than I should have been but I was thankful that we were able to see her at all! Lisa's baptism date is in two weeks and she's still living with Devin. We're trying our hardest to help her realize that's not okay but Devin (with the help of Satan) is very convincing otherwise. I just love Lisa so much and I know how much it will be a blessing in her life to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a difference it made in my own life. I'm praying she will make the right decision sooner rather than later.

Then on Sunday it was fast and testimony meeting which was wonderful as always. Probably more so because sitting right next to me was the Jakins family and they always bring a smile to my face to see how much the gospel has already changed and improved their lives. Sister Waller and I also were asked to give a presentation to the ward during the combined third how on the goals that our ward is working on. It went really well and I can't even tell you how thankful I am that I have a companion that I love so much! The whole ward can see the difference and they are getting more and more pumped every week. Enthusiasm is contagious! All I can say is that it's so important to remember that our ultimate goal is to live with our Heavenly Father again and that He trusts us with trials here on earth so that we can learn, grow, and succeed. Setting goals like daily scripture reading and prayer help us to progress and prepare ourselves for when these trials come that we will be able to stand tall and strong.

I hope you always remember this.

Have a fantabulous week!

Love,

Sister Davis xoxo

p.s. CAN'T WAIT FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE NEXT WEEK! Get ready! Have a question ready that you want answered

Pink skirt club with Sister Howie and Sister Hinckley!

Where's My Sweater?

Yeah, it's gettin' a bit chilly over here! And windy too- I have to hold down my skirt, channelling a less scandelous Marilyn Monroe. But nothing too bad yet, knock on wood. The mornings/afternoons are really nice but as the evenings start to roll in it gets time for sweater weather. 

On Saturday night we had our ward Cornbust, which was just a bit party in the church parking lot with pulled pork sandwiches, corn on the cob, lots of different kinds of salads, and plus some fun games! During dinner it was super windy! My hair was flying all over the place and I could barely shove the food into my mouth quick enough. But dinner was way good. And the Jakins family came, yay! Oh, and leading up to the Cornbust we had a bunch of flyers and were determined to invited everyone we knew so we went to (almost) every single person on our ward list and dropped them an invite and guess what! People came! We were so happy! People showed up that haven't been to church in years it was awesome. Plus we had invited this woman named Anna who we found in our area book that hasn't been contacted since last year and she came too! And we invited her to church and she came to that too! Woo! Anyway, back to Cornbust. So after we ate it was game time. At first it was just all the kids playing but I was totally pumped so of course I had to get all up in there too and show 'em how it's done. So first we had a six-legged race, yes, SIX. So Melinda Palmer, Sister Waller, and I were one time all tied at mid-calf, and we went up against the men- Joe Jakins, Michael and Jeffrey Palmer. 3-2-1 we're off! We run run run (speed walk) and wait for it....WE WON! Girls vs. boys and we whipped butt man. It was phenominal. Christine Jakins got it on video on her iPhone ya'll have to see it sometime. So good. And then we had tug of war, which practically ripped the skin off my hands ow but totally worth it. It started to get super freezing outside and windy so we decided to move the party to the Jakins house for hot chocolate and lemon squares (divine). We ended up having a really great lesson about some of the commandments. They are really looking forward for their baptism, and so am I!!!!!! Friday night we actually all went to a baptism together and the Spirit was so overwhelmingly strong throughout the whole thing. Christine was just bawling and she said that she was having the same feelings that she had when she went through the temple open house the first time last year. Couldn't help but cry myself, tears of joy!

Saturday morning we also had the annual city-wide food drive that the church does for the Calgary Food Bank. Out stake alone filled three and a half semi-trucks of donated food! It was a really cool thing to see. We were at the drop off point for a few hours and it was so..magical to see all the cars coming by with trunks of filled bags. So cool.

So yes, it was a lovely week. We had re-trainers training on Friday and learned lots! Mostly about how to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all of our lessons, which won't be difficult because faith, repentance, making and keeping covenants, and enduring to the end is the foundation for everything that we do in this life.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you!

I LOVE YOU!

xoxox,

Sister Davis

 Me and Elder Staley (ZL) reppin' our Jesus shirts

 The beautiful visual I made for our Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson for the Jakins

 A puppy I found that looks like Stella!! This one's name is Wifi though haha

 All my strong Arbour Lake girlzz

 Sister Waller, me, Christine

Holding the Jakins' rainbow boa constrictor snake ahh

Jakins

The Jakins Family. That's all I have to say. They are absolutely wonderful! The second time we went to their house to meet with them they had just been reading, reading, reading everything! Joe and Christine both got the Gospel Library App on their phone and Christine was telling us she practically had to pry it out of Joe's hands before bed time. I love it. We were teaching them about the restoration and we weren't even half way through it before we set a date for baptism!! GAH SO AMAZING. Sister Waller asked little Tristin why he wanted to be baptized and he replied, "Because I want my family to be together forever." Oh my gosh, my heart just melted right then and there. I love that their ultimate goal is for their family to be sealed in the temple because having that as their vision just helps everything else fall into place. I know that the Lord prepares people to hear the gospel and boy, oh boy, are they prepared or what! I love them so much. It's easy to love them. Heavenly Father is so present in our lives I just love that they were able to find that out for themselves so they could feel of the love and joy that He brings into this world.

During my personal study yesterday I was reading in Helaman 8 and when I read verse 25 it really got me thinking. So it talks about giving up the "treasures in heaven" for worldly treasures, or at least it does the way I interpreted it ha and it sparked a thought in my mind about the topic of success. What is success? Is society's definition of success different from Heavenly Father's definition of success? Our whole point to being here on Earth is to prepare to meet God and the way we do that is through the gospel of Jesus Christ, faith, repentance, keeping and making covenants with our Heavenly Father, and enduring to the end by continually following his commandments and making righteous choices. That, to me, is what success is. Not all these fancy cars or monster houses or riches upon riches, but instead to be blessed with the "treasures in heaven." That's what I want anyway.

Yes, it's been a lovely week in the Arbour Lake Ward. Fabulous weather. Loving people. Amazing companion. I couldn't ask for anything more!

I hope you have a wonderful week!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoox

SISTER DAVIS

  Me and Sista Waller with our pretty blue pamphlet making member visits

Me and my girl Dakota

I Stand All Amazed

Oh joyous day!

Those pictures you sent me of Lynx: ADORABLE. It should be illegal to be as cute as he is.

And oh I am so happy to hear about Kenzie and Sarah's adventures in China and Italy! Like wow. The pictures look so amazing and of course reading your stories are hilarious. I miss my friends so much but I'm so proud of them all for going out and being all over the world whether it be serving the Lord or for work or whatever it may be! Gaah. Such great examples I have to learn from.

So many lovely examples everywhere! The ward here is beyond amazing. All the people we've seen this week Sister Waller and I just walk away gawking at how fantastic they are. We just started a goal making thingy for the ward to get people focused on making progress in "Perfecting the Saints, Redeeming the Dead, and Proclaiming the Gospel." My personal fave is proclaiming the gospel so we're helping ward members to do just that yayyyy.

And the other missionaries I serve with here are great examples to me too. Our district is like brand new to this area and we had our first district meeting last Wednesday and oh my gosh it was amazing and so inspiring. Elder Krogue is DL and we love him. He's so focused on the work and brings quite the bond within our district it was amazing. He helped us to really study on serving the Lord with all of our "heart, might, mind, and strength" and we broke it down to the bone and really got me super psyched about my purpose and a good re-charge mid week.

Sister Waller and I were planning to go door knocking that night and it would be her first time doing so...she was nervous, as was I the first time I did that BUT IT WAS PHENOMINAL. We knocked doors for less than an hour and a half and taught two whole lessons and got three return appointments! The Lord is always watching over us, we just needed to put in our all to see the blessings thereof. We met Miranda, Cassidy, and Terry that night and we are meeting with each of them either tomorrow or Wednesday this week so please keep them in your prayers! I really hope that they will recognize the peace and happiness that comes with living the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. OH AND another miracle happened. So we had a man from a different ward call us and tell us about their friends who wanted to join them at church so he said he'd be bringing them to our ward yahoo! The family is the Jakin's; Christine, Joe, and Tristan (10) and they are so amazing! We met with them on Saturday just to get to know them and give them a friendly face to see at church yesterday and they are so prepared to hear our message.

The Lord has definitely blessed me this week and I know that He is blessing you too even if you might not think so He has given us everything in this life. And I mean everything. He loves each of His children unconditionally and wants us to return to live with Him so He's provided us with a way to do just that. Ah, what a marvelous plan. What a marvelous Father.

I hope each of you have a wonderful week. I think of you and pray for you often. I LOVE YOU!

xoxo,

Sister Davis

She's a Keeper

Oh joy! I love my life! So. Here's what has happened lately.

Last week on Wednesday night we all drove to the Willow Park Chapel in Calgary to meet all the new missionaries coming in hot and fresh from the Provo MTC. For lack of better words, I was totally freaking out. So all the newbies (yup, that's not me anymore!) were sharing their testimonies I was trying to figure out which one of them would be with me. So nervous. Then they took turns getting up to read their new assignments and the first sister gets up and she reads "Arbour Lake Ward"!!! That's mine!! I go up to greet Sister Waller with a fatty hug and then we sit down on the left side of the chapel together and I ask her where she's from and wait for it she's from Gilbert!! Such a tender mercy from the Lord. For a bit she was actually living right by Kino Jr High so we know all the same places and gaahh so good. Then we parted for the night and then Thursday morning we went back to transfers to see all the missionaries going to new places and say goodbye to those going home or going South. Sad times, more of my fave friends have left but made room for the new friends right?!

So Sister Waller is fabulous. She's 24, graduated from ASU and taught first grade for two years before deciding to serve a mission. She's so smart and enthusiastic and we're totally best friends. We get along great. I think she's a bit overwhelmed with all the work and all the new faces but I mean who wouldn't be, that was me three months ago! Ha

But it's marvelous. We've been out walking and talking and already picked up a few potential investigators that we're seeing this week which we're super excited about. Lisa Kelly picked a new date for a baptism that we're working toward and we're trying to help her boyfriend Devin have some real intent lately. Please pray for them!

We're also working a lot with goals. Man oh man so many goals. We have personal, companionship, ward, zone, and mission goals! SO MANY it's hard to keep up but I just try my bestest to become the missionary my Heavenly Father wants me to become.

It's hard though. Training's hard. Lots of responsibility and trust that is on me..I still feel like I barely got here, oh wait? Ha It's good though. Daily learning and growth means we're progressing! I hope you all are having a great week! I love you!

xoxo,

Sister Davis

 

1) our four generation picture!

Sister Waller, me, Sister Fenn, and Sister Douglas (Fenn's trainer)

2) me and my baby girl! we were waiting for da bussss

 

I'M HAVING A BABY!

                                                    

That is right, folks! I'm preggers. Haha I don't know if all missions use these terms or what but when you train someone they are your baby and you become their mom or dad and so forth so that means that I'm training this next transfer! I get to meet her tonight when all the new missionaries come in from the MTC. I'm super excited to meet her and I just already love her so much! So when I got the transfer call the assistants called in the morning and told us that there had been something up with the financial records in the office for our living and we needed to call Elder Bryant (the older man that's in charge of all that stuff) and they gave us his 'new' phone number. So we call Elder Bryant and he's telling us that our fridge is using up too much power and they're getting billed for it. He tells us to go over to the fridge to look for a knob in the back and we're searching and searching and can't find anything and we're so confused and he's like "usually it's behind the pickles on the second shelf, or at least that's where it is on mine" and this is where we're sensing it's a little fishy.. and he asks "what kind of food do you have in there anyway?" and Sister Fenn tells him and he replies "well you better start buying some softer foods because Sister Davis is having a baby!!!!!" hahahah we were dying laughing and it most definitely was not Elder Bryant haha they got us good.

So then we had a training meeting on how to be trainers and it was so great. President Nicholas really laid down the rules and holy macarole do I have a lot of responsibility or what!? I have so many goals and such that I'm working on so that I can be the best trainer for my baby girl. Need to be an example at all times, not that I'm not already trying my best to do that but my awareness has been amped up a bit. I'm nervous, but way psyched. And I know that I can turn to the Lord for help, He's good at that.

Anyway, lots of great things happening. Lisa and Devin have been slowly but sure progressing. She's been getting really confused as to what to do because she really wants to be baptized and doesn't know if or where she wants to move out to since she can't be living with Devin unless they were married which yikes I wouldn't recommend for high school kids. Sister Fenn and I actually taught the young men and women during sunday school about eternal marriage this week. Still trying to wrap my head around why their teacher asked us to teach it you know since we're uh single missionaries? haha but whatevs it was interesting and I learned a lot, mostly how important temple marriages are and how much a group of 15-17 year olds don't listen very well haha It was good though.

Yes, it was great. Today, since it's transfers week, is p-day so we're all gathering as a zone to have a picnic! So precious right? My whole district is either getting transfered or going home so it will be a cute little goodbye to them and then it will just be me alone here with my new missionary. It's hard, you know, you get so attached to people and make really great friends with them. Sister Fenn and I have actually been getting along amazingly well lately and it will be weird not to have her around anymore..buuuut I'M SO EXCITED FOR TONIGHT SO I CAN MEET HER! I'll tell you all about it next week.

 

Love you,

Sister Davis

 

 

                                                       mine and Sister Fenn's title of liberty

                                     having too much fun (it's a soda pop beverage don't worry)

 

 

 

Miracles on Miracles on Miracles

OH MAN OH MAN! What a great week this has been!

A while ago we had our Zone Conference where President Nicholas promised us that if we did our two and a half walking days every week we would see success in our area. We took him up on this and walked like crazy this week (which I love! the weather has been pretty nice lately knock on wood so it's very enjoyable outside. maybe even a little warm sometimes...Sister McIntyre told me I'm turning into a Canadian since I'm acclimating and stufffff haha). Anyway, so we walked loads and talked to errbody that was in our path. But it wasn't until Friday that we started to see a difference.

So Friday morning we started the day with a little zone get together...Elder Burns, our zone leader, was leaving to go home the next day so we all got together and did Tim-Tam Slams in remembrance it was so fun. Let me explain a Tim-Tam Slam. It is divine! So there are these cookies that are called Tim-Tam's that are like rectangular chocolate wafers covered in chocolate. So you take a little bite of opposite corners and then dip one side into hot chocolate and suck it up like a straw and once the hot chocolate makes it through you quickly pop the whole cookie into your mouth and let it dissolve and oh my goodness it's amazing. Ah-mazing I tell you! So yeah, we did that. So I guess AFTER this is when we started to see a difference haha

We called a referral that we had from church headquarters, her name is Aleah and I spoke to her on the phone and she's great! She's a less active member and right off the bat asked if someone in the ward could give her a ride to church holla! And then we went to another less active's house, Lisa Martin. I love her she's great! We made cinnamon rolls with her and then she and her husband Alan also fed us dinner. Oh my the cinnamon buns were also delicious. Sister Fenn made this cream cheese frosting that she had memorized the recipe for and it just made the rolls so so good! Gaah so much for a diet HA. So the little tender mercy at the Martin's was that Lisa said she was looking into signing up for an institute class this year, score! I really hope she does because that would be so great for her.

Then on Saturday morning we helped out at a "Fun Run" at the Arbour Lake Community Centre. and we got to talk to lots of people there. Then afterward I guess Arbour Lake won community of the year or something like that and some magazine threw them this big block party at the lake so even more people came it was great. Planted some seeds of happiness there.

And Sunday was the miracle of all miracles. After church Lorena brought her 11 year old daughter, CiCi, to us and we found out that she wants to take the lessons and get baptized! Yay! Then we met with our investigator, Lisa, and her boyfriend, Devon and we talked a lot and then Lisa's like "so the bishop said I should talk to you about picking a date for my baptism..." Boom so she picked August 31st and Devon also said that if he got an answer than he would be baptized on that date too! Holy Macaroni, right? It was great. The best part for me, a big testimony builder, was that in the morning I decided I would fast because Sister Fenn and I had prayerfully made some transfer goals that we wanted to accomplish that we hadn't made any progress on and our transfer is coming to an end at the end of the month and I couldn't take it anymore so I fasted. And all day I was just rejoicing in my fast because I knew that in the Lord's time blessings would come and we'd be able to make progress on our companionship transfer goals and then low and behold before I even broke my fast the Lord blessed us with two new investigators and two of our investigators on date! What a miracle. I know that the Lord is watching out for us and all he wants us to do is to do something about it. We have to put some work into our prayers, into our lives, in order to receive His blessings. And it is so worth it! I am overwhelmed with happiness for Lisa, Devon, and Cici!! They won't even be able to comprehend the amount of joy that will come into their lives as they follow Christ's example.

I'M ON A SPIRITUAL HIGH, FOLKS!!!!!!! I hope it lasts foreverrrrrrrrr.

So yes, I love it here. I love being a missionary. Thank you for the prayers, I can feel them! The Lord loves each and every one of us so much and knows us individually. Such a blessing to have this knowledge.

I hope everyone is having a great week! My heart and prayers go out to you all.

Love,

Sister Davis

 

me and sister strathearn in the fudgery in Banff SO GOOD

 me and my fave Lisa Martin

 making Cinnamon rolls

 walking lisa martin's cat, Maverick

 

Dont Worry, I'm Still Alive

It's been crazy busy. YAY!

I don't have much time but I thought I'd let you know I'm still breathing, still working hard, still loving every minute of missionary work.

So: Alma 20. I read it this morning during study and it changed my life. Lamoni's father's heart was softened because of Ammon's 'great love' for his son, Lamoni. Shows us how important it is to have love and charity for everyone because we are an example to those around us and their perceptions can change according to the way we treat others with kindness and loyalty. Mmm it was a good one. I really love the Book of Mormon so much. I tell Sister Fenn every morning how great it is I'm sure she's sick of it by now but it's just so darn amazing I can't get enough! Every story brings so much more light and strength into my life. Even if you're just reading it to read it, it can be pretty entertaining too I catch myself laughing as I picture the events taking place in my head. But more importantly are the lessons we learn from it. Just like in the Bible how Jesus teaches others through stories and parables that are full of symbols that we can relate to our lives depending upon our faith and knowledge. Same goes for the Book or Mormon. I just read and read and read and gain and gain and gain so much! Gah I love it.

I love it all. We're teaching some kids in the ward who are preparing for baptism and we watch the restoration video with them and tears form in my eyes every time. The Spirit is so strong that there is no denying the feelings that come into my heart and I know that the Holy Ghost is testifying to me the truth of the restored gospel. It's so important for us to be constantly asking our Father if this gospel is true. Constant, continual conversion is what keeps us fresh and keeps us building upon our faith and our foundation.

I really liked what Alison wrote to me from Reid's talk about becoming the person Heavenly Father wants me to be. Got me thinking a lot and realized there's always room for improvement. So I made a list of goals and I got started! 

Thank you for all the prayers and emails and letters, they make me happy and keep me going.

I love you!

xoxo,

Sister Davis

Oh My My My

Oh boy. So I guess Monday was a Canadian Civic Holiday? All the libraries were closed so we couldn't email. And then on Tuesday we had a big ol' Zone Conference all day pretty much so we didn't have time to email then either. So here I am, Wednesday night, at the library emailing all my favorite people! Start by saying thank you so much, Anna, for all the pictures you mailed me. So much better sending the flash drive so I could see SO MANY! Little Lynx is growing so fast! Can't believe he is walking and getting hair cuts and is just the cutest thing I've ever seen. And know what else is growing fast? Anna's belly! You look so good preggers, it's amazing. I'm glad everyone is doing so well. Can't believe school is starting for Fletcher...thank heavens that's not me haha and thank you Alison for the updates and the pics! Holy macaroni can't believe Reid is home. So weird. Give him a hug for me please.

Anyway, this past week and a half has been so lovely! Last Monday seems like so long ago I had to look in my planner to remember what happened. But we had our ward Family Home Evening that didn't turn out as we had planned but it was still a success. We wanted it outside but it was freaking cold so we had it in the gym and played games and practically ran out of food, but it was still great! Both our investigators and their families came and participated and totally loved it so that's all that matters anyhow haha.

Also, last week, last Wednesday, we had exchanges! I just love exchanges so much. Instead of staying in Arbour Lake like I did last time, this time I went to the North Stake in the Coventry Ward with Sister Sagers. She's six foot five and skinny as a pole. Super funny and I just love her. She just got a new companion at the beginning of the transfer and I guess they kinda sorta clash a ton just like me and Sister Fenn so it was nice to know we weren't the only ones. Sis. Sagers really opened up to me about their situation which was such a blessing because she's like Sister Fenn and I'm like her companion Sister Johnson so it was good to get the inside scoop of what was going wrong and how to fix it. Anyway, we did a full day of walking and tracting, like knocking on doors and it was great!! I totally loved it. I love knocking doors, it's my favorite. Not the most efficient way of missionary work but you get to meet tons of new people and it really builds my testimony. Having people slam doors in my face is quite the experience but instead of bumming me out I'm more sure of the reason why I'm out here in the first place. Why I'm spending my time spreading the gospel instead of at school, or in a career or whatever else it may be.

Then on Sunday we had a little day of miracles. So Sister Fenn and I have been working a lot on making a Ward Mission Plan to get the members involved with missionary work. We finally finished it by Friday, presented it to Brother Palmer on Saturday, then presented it to Bishop Evans Sunday morning during PEC(priesthood executive council). They loved it, bada boom bada bang. Then the young women in the ward invited our investigator Lisa to go to sunday school with them and she was just so happpy to make new friends! After church I asked her how it went and she was beaming! "I made two new friends today! and we're going to get frozen yogurt this week!" It was so cute! I'm so happy for her.

We also got to teach our investigator Justin on Monday. We were planning on teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ but as we were starting with faith it turned into a lesson on tithing. He said he thought people telling him to "just have faith" were saying it as a cop out and all that which is understandable for him to think. So we talked a lot about what faith means and how we can increase it. Especially through acting, like with tithing. It went great! The Spirit was so strong. Gaahh so amazing.

A novel later...my bad. But it's jsut so fabulous. Our zone conference yesterday was just what I needed to hear. All about exact obedience, asking inspired questions, using the scriptures, and more greatness from President and Sister Nicholas and his assistants. So great.

Time is flying!

Prayer is a life saver. So comforting, always. TRY IT.

Love,

Sister Davis

 

 

Mini Miracles

So this week. Oh boy. This week. It's been...interesting that's for sure. We've been helping people in the ward with moving and cleaning and all of our appointments have been falling through. And it's freezing. Yup, don't worry about it it's just July and 10 degrees Celsius. Legit I'm wearing a scarf today...yeah... haha I guess that's what you get in good ol' Canada! haha But yeah, it's been a rough(ish) week. Started Monday night we had our lesson with Justin fall through because they've been having lots of crazy stuff happening lately. So Justin and his wife Lorena live with Lorena's sister Yvette. Yvette has four crazy kids and they all live in the same house so it gets a bit chaotic over there! But I guess Lorena has been having some issues lately and was in the hospital and so on Wednesday or so we went over to talk to her but she wasn't home so we chatted with Yvette and her husband (they're on a break) was in town because he was also in and out of the hospital and so we talk with them for a while and have interesting conversations and then the next morning Yvette calls us in a panic asking for Sister Howie's address and we're getting for her and she's like I'm sure you're going to find out anyway and tells us that last night after we left her husband got super duper drunk and sped off in their car, ends up turning a corner way too fast, hits a gas line, swerves into a house and boom explosion, three houses up in flames. So she was making sure it wasn't the Howie's house or she would have "never been able to see her face again." Yeah, crazy stuff right? He's in the hospital waiting to recover and then he's going off to prison, poor guy. But yeah, they're having a hectic week, send your prayers in their direction please!

Oh yeah, so we've been cleaning houses right? Sister Walton even commented and told me that she's never seen girls my age clean so well, I told her I got it from my momma ;) haha Sister Fenn thinks I'm crazy because I like to clean so much but I wouldn't have to clean so much if she wasn't so dirty.........haha jk but really though. I don't mind it it's quite calming for me.

And also this past week: Sister Fenn and I are opposites to say the least so sometimes we have some contention between us BUT this week I think all of the hard things really brought us closer together so yay! I'm happy about that. We do this thing every week at the end of our weekly planning called Companionship Inventory where we tell each other their strengths and how they can build up weaknesses, ask for help, share goals, resolve any issues and so forth. So I really love this part because I recognize that we have things we need to fix but Sister Fenn totally dreads it and would ignore it completely if I wasn't so persistent haha so we were doing our comp inventory and we talked it all out and the next day was a walking day and we like actually talked a lot! Which is awesome because usually I can't get a peep outta her. I always ask question after question after question and got brief responses but this time and times after were much much better! WOOHOO I'LL MAKE HER LOVE ME I WILL.

We also got to work a lot on planning for our ward family home evening activity that is tonight that we're ultimately going to have to move to the chapel :( instead of outside at the park because it's toooo cold. Oh well, I'm sure it'll still be fun! We also planned out our Ward Mission Plan to get all the members involved with setting and keeping and making goals! I'm all about goal making it's great.

So with all the cancellations and all the members gone for holiday this week would have been a total bust but yesterday night it was all made up for! So there is this family, the Leavitt's, who we've been trying and trying to visit for weeks. We've stopped by countless number of times and no one was ever home. So Sunday night we have about twenty minutes until we can go back home and we've already attempted to stop by 7 members who weren't home and we're like what the heck why not?! So we're parked across the street from their house and we say an extremely heartfelt prayer, open our eyes, take a deep breath and then BAM she pulls her SUV into the driveway and HALLELUJAH! OUR PRAYER WAS ANSWERED within SECONDS it was a miracle. So good. So good.

Anyway, that was my week! Pray for me so I don't freeze to death please.

That is all. Thank you so much for the video Momma, I can't believe Lynx is walking so fast! He's just so darn cute. And Anna and Logan are in Colorado now??! Who woulda thought. Do you have an address for them? Or tell Anna to check her email would ya? I LOVE YOU ALL!!

xoxoxoxoxooxox

Sister Davis