I'm Back!

Whoop whoop! I can't even begin to say how happy I was when I found out I'd be back in Calgary. I love all the bumper to bumper traffic, and the shopping centres on every corner, and the houses slammed right next to each other it just brings me so much joy!!! I'm such a city sister. 

So the wards I'm in are Auburn Bay and Mahogany. Yup, that's right, TWO of 'em. It's a little overwhelming trying to differentiate between two different wards but I'm getting used to it a bit more every single day. The wards are super young too. Like the average age is 10, no joke. Between the two there are about twenty women that are either pregnant or with a newborn it's ridiculous! I've never been in such a "family" sacrament meeting haha but it was wonderful. Everyone I've met so far are all super nice and welcoming and I'm so grateful for that. We even have a few investigators already, one of which we set up a baptism date for last night! Holla! His name is Dayton, fourteen years old, super sweet kid. Toward the beginning of the lesson he was having a lot of doubts but the Spirit was so strong and he was even able to recognize his own change of heart and chose his own date! It was wonderful. My companion is Sister Smith, from Payton UT. She's 19 and a total sweetheart, kinda reminds me of my university roommate Justine a tiny bit haha she's a hoot! We get along great and I'm super excited for all the things we''ll be able to accomplish. She's been out for 3 months or so, just got done training, so I'm greenie busting again it's so fun! Except this time I don't have to drive!!!!! YAY! So nice to sit in the passenger seat. 

Well, time's out! 

Love you all, thank you for your prayers!!!

Real Quick!

This'll be a real quick one! Like a three liner. 

We went to the temple this morning in Cardston because our pday was today (Tuesday) instead of yesterday and it was glorious! \but that also meant that we emailed waaaaay later than usual so that's why this is coming so late. And then we were late for our computers so someone else took mine and now \i'm on some lameo temporary one writing uber fast just to tell you I'm alive! AND I"M BEING TRANSFERRED BACK UP TO CALGARY!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOO I'll miss it here, the people for sure but it was time for me to leave I think..

Any how I forgot my camera in the car too so this is just a super pathetic email SORRY 

Love you bye?

xoxo

Sister Davis

This Week

OH boy.

Tuesday: Exchanges with Sister Bowers, we were in the MTC together so that was the bestest reunion! We did lots of walking and freezing and picked up a newb named John! What a nice guy. He's looking to turn his life around and we're going to help him do it lilili! It's going to be wonderful. Those short 24 hours Sister Bowers and I spent together were completely amazing. It was really nice to be with a companion and just have overwhelming unity with one another. The Spirit was so strong in all of our appointments and it was really inspiring. Sister Maynes and I have been working on that so much lately but we haven't gotten to that "one"ness quite yet but I know that it's possible so that's my hope for us!

Wednesday: We had just gotten done with our dance party at the Good Samaritan's (old folks home) and we were walking outside and I thought we should go see Sister Plevza. She lives across the street in another old folks place called Blue Sky Lodge and she is a very active member and our plans were to go knock on less active doors and so I start to have this battle inside my head thinking "do I just want to go see her because I don't want to be walking outside in the cold or do we actually need to go see her?" You can see my dilemma, I didn't want to be wasting time. So I give in and we start heading over there. Before you can get through the doors you have to punch in their room number and she answers and we say "Hi, Sister Plevza?" and she quickly replies "Come on in!" Like we didn't even tell her who it was....so we get to her room and she goes "I was just praying to Heavenly Father that He would send you girls to me again because I didn't have your phone number or anyway to get a hold of you and I needed to talk to you about my friend Belle, you see, she needs to get wet!" hahahah so the Spirit's amazing. And we're hopefully going to start teaching her 89 year old friend next week whoop whoop!

Friday: Our investigators Heather and Chris invited us over for dessert and we taught them all about the restoration of the priesthood. It was awesome. She's having medical problems with her pregnancy right now and we've been super worried about her like she's way overdue and having lung and asthma issues so she's going to have to go to Calgary because the Lethbridge hospital can't treat her. So after we taught the priesthood we asked her if she would like a priesthood blessing, she responded "yeah line 'em up!" haha she's a hoot!

Saturday: We helped our less active Amy paint her living room it was a blast!  And she wanted me to free hand "Come what may and love it" up on her wall with a big honkin' tree under it lol I tried my best and she loves it so I guess that's all that matters. We'll add all the leaves next week probably..we had a mishap with the green paint and it was all dried up and nasty..

Sunday: Sabbath is my favorite. The Harris' gave the talks in sacrament and they did wonderful. On how to strengthen families and on repentance. Both well needed subjects for everyone. What I took away from everything this week is that it's all about charity and the love that we have for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Every decision we make, every word we say, every thought we think, should be based on the love that we have for God. If I love God would I do this, or say that, or think this? With charity comes faith, patience, and hope. What a glorious thing, hey!

Thank you for your prayers!
xoxoxooxoxo,
Love always,

Sister Davis

P.S. THE SUN SHINES IN LETHBRIDGE! Short sleeves, no tights, and flats today 

 holla I love +2C

Long One

Holy Spirit, Batman! Oh my, this was the bestest week ever. It all started on Tuesday during our Zone Training Meeting. It was the answers to my prayers and it really helped to get us focused on why we're here. Our zone leaders are super amazing and really care so much about us and the work that they know we can do. Elder Palmer had us all crying as we were all sharing the reasons we came on a mission and reminding us of our calling. Elder Bernal invited us to do the Check Your Progress assessment that we all packed away after our twelve week training program was over haha and we are going to do it once a week for the rest of the month. So Wednesday morning before study I went digging for mine in one of my suitcases. It's two pages of statements that we can rate ourselves on how well we're doing...mine had things circled from months ago when I was back in Calgary and let's just say it was an eye opener for me I didn't realize how much I was slacking. It's a lot easier to have a good attitude and work hard when you are having a lot of progress and so I guess I'd been losing that a bit since it had been pretty dead here for a while but that's really no excuse to be a bum (let's get this straight though, we've been working really hard and working lots but what needed to improve was my attitude and commitment to the work we were doing). So after I did that assessment I knew I needed to step it up for my Heavenly Father. I made some promises to Him and then during companionship study let Sister Maynes know what needed to happen and she was all in! So now we are aware and keeping each other in check and motivated! And let me tell you what happened! MIRACLES.

We promised to talk to everyone we saw (thank you to Hermana Brown in Peru for inspiring me on this one) even if it meant crossing streets or walking backwards to get to them! So ever since Wednesday morning that's exactly what we've done. Had some good experiences and some not so good experiences but the good ones are what we'll focus on lol we've been able to meet SOO many new people and invite kajillions to come unto Christ. It's awesome! We've also been doing "The Last Knock" which is where at the end of the night when we just want to go home because it's almost curfew we prayerfully decide on one last door to knock to keep us going and motivated to do the Lord's work and we have seen miracles from this! We met a guy named Damion on Friday while doing this and then had a lesson with him last night that was simply the most amazing thing ever! And then after his lesson last night we did it again and, wait, there's a little story there. So we're walking this street and are looking for THE house. The Spirit tells me it's the one right in front of us where the people are watching tv, but then Sister Maynes suggests the house to the right of it. So why not?! I say, they both need the Gospel right? So we go to the other house and there's a gate that we have to go through to get to the front door and I'm trying my hardest to open this darn gate and it just won't budge! Heavenly Father literally blocked this door from us to lead us next door to the original house where we met Melvin who we're meeting with for a lesson next week whoop whoop! So yes, God has blessed us with many miracles this week as we have been diligent and trusting in Him.

We also had the wonderful opportunity this weekend to hear from Elder Nelson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It was so neat! It was broadcasted again, just like with Elder Bednar came to Calgary. A lot of what was taught was something that Sister Maynes and I had been learning every day last week so it was confirmation that we were on the right track! We only have one more week in the transfer and we have only accomplished half of our companion goals so we really gotta step it up and start inviting everyone we see to be baptized haha it's gonna be good.

It's been a real up and down kind of transfer but now we're up and we're going to keep going up! Nothing will bring us down!!!! 

Wanna know something else super wicked cool? We went to the movies this morning as a zone! haha the Movie Mill is owned by a member in the stake so he put on our very own private screening of Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. It was amazing! It always makes me cry and it was a great way to start our pday. The Movie Mill also has mini golf and frozen yogurt so we just had the time of our lives this morning

And what the heck I'll throw in the embarrassing moment of the week just for fun! We were pixie-ing our less active with a nice little sticky note attack on her door that said "Always remember to smile!" and right as I'm putting up the last sticky note her dog starts barking and we totally freak out and turn to run as fast as we can and I didn't realize there was a step down and WABAAM I'M ON THE GROUND IN A MATTER OF SECONDS! It was hilarious we couldn't stop laughing! But don't worry we didn't get caught, and I'm not all that hurt just a few scratches that's all. I can't believe I made it the whole winter without biffing it on ice but of course the day that it's sunny and clear I face plant it, AWESOME.

Welp, remember, it's a good day to have a good, good day!

Love you forever and for always!
xoxoxo,
Sister Davis

p.s. sorry not sorry for the novel. so many more wonderful things happened that I keep remembering but by the time I was finished you really would have a novel so I'll send pictures instead, they're worth a thousand words aren't they?

 my fave sisters (maynes cooley and hendricks) at the movie mill nothing says fun like free popcorn yumm

me + sister christensen = hole in oners

There is Sunshine in my Soul!

Two words: Pray ALWAYS. I've been learning a lot about that recently. I've been kinda slackin' with my prayers right before I go to bed because by the time I'm going to sleep I am completely and totally wiped out and falling asleep during prayers and all kinds of stuff. It was bad. BUT this week I made a very real effort to change that and to be more like Enos and just pour our my heart and soul to the Lord. Man does that feel good or what! I've realized the difference between perfectionism and becoming perfect in Christ. 

Perfectionism is trying to make everything perfect and being perfect while only relying on me, myself, and I. Things like having books aligned from biggest to smallest, and having clothes hanged in rainbow order, and parking in the same spot every time you go to the store or your whole shopping experience will be ruined.. Yes, I do all these things and it's not simply OCD.. However, being perfected in Christ is accepting him as our Savior and being obedient to his commandments because of our faith in his Atonement. We can't become perfect without Him, without his eternal sacrifice. He suffered for us and for all of our imperfections. He was hurt and mocked and crucified. But for what? For us! For you, and for me. This has never been so clear to me but through many prayers of asking in faith, I know that this is true and I will never deny it. Like one of my favorite songs "I'm trying to be like Jesus; I'm following in his ways. I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say. At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice, But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers, Love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought, For these are the things Jesus taught." So pure and simple. I LOVE IT!

This week was obviously wonderful. Sister Maynes and I have been searching high and low for more people to teach and were out walking, talking, and knocking. It was snowing and uber cold but we were prepared with many layers and warming packs of all different sorts. A member told us it was "inhumane" to be walking outside in the weather and it just made me think of Christ and all the pain and inhumane things he had to go through and we just kept moving forward. We have it pretty good here really! We have a home, and warm clothes, and food every night. We have so many blessings that it would take me hours to record them all down.

Also, I've been stalking lds.org for all the news and pictures from the Gilbert temple dedication. Boy oh boy are you guys lucky people or what for being able to experience that up close and personal! It's definitely on my bucket list to be able to witness a miracle like that. The Lord is building many temples for his saints and for our communities to learn more about our Heavenly Father. He has so much love for us it fills my heart!! My heart is overflowing!!!!

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DO WITHOUT YOU!
xoxoxox
Sister Davis

p.s. I found a cactus is Lethbridge!