Monday, April 25, 2016

Divisiones 3 times!


Hermana Davis - sea lions in background

Happy Hermana Davis with lighthouse

Hermana Davis


Hermana Littlefield and Hermana Davis 

On splits with Hermana Cardenas! (Aubrey was her trainer...her mom)

Aubrey and Hermana Villanvicencillo from Ecuador

Hermana Toone from Canada and Aubrey

Hermana Davis and Littlefield

Hermanas in Ushuaia

Snow outside the pension


International signs
 Below are all pics of beautiful snow-covered Ushuaia where Hermana Davis is serving




This week we did Divions 3 times! It was crazy, but we got a lot done and learned a lot from the hermanas. I did divisions with Hermana Villavicencio from Ecuador, Hermana Cárdenas (my hija from Oklahoma), and Hermana Toone from Canada. 

As for our investigators:T
Jose: He is reading and praying! After explaining (once again) the importantce of baptism. He finally understood that he must be baptized in order to return to the prescence of God. Everything is starting to click :) He came to a point in the lesson when he said, "I don't have anymore questions. I understand." It blew my mind because he always has a ton of questions that are off-topic or super deep doctrine.
Abel: He is struggling a bit. Please pray for him! He isn´t as excited for his baptism and his family is passing through a rough time. 
Sebastian: We contacted him before we went to Comodoro. We finally found him yesterday. We taught him about the Book of Mormon while on his doorstep. It went really well and he said that he would read.

We had 3 less active families come to church yesterday. One of the Hermanos that came hadn't been to church in 2 years! It was such a miracle :)

Spiritual Thought; CPR saves lives...spiritual lives.
Church
Pray
Read

Do it! I have seen so many people slack on the basics and that´s how they lose their testimony and go inactive for years. It´s the small and simple things that help our little seed of a testimony grow into a big tree of conversion. 

Love you all,
Hermana Davis

Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Lighthouse at the end of the world



It's winter!

We built a snowman....with Hermana Littlefield

Snow outside our pension

Hermana Davis in Hermana Littlefield's glasses


Aubrey and Hermana Littlefield at Subway!

Aubrey and her Hermana friends!

Name tag with Lighthouse in background

Lighthouse at the end of the world



So, I know I just wrote on Wednesday (because Monday I was in Comodoro,) but our crazy week didn't stop there.  On Wednesday we bought some spray to kill the worms. When we returned to our pension we found a gas leak from our water heater. We ended up sleeping with the Hermanas in Centro. They basically live in a hotel, so I wasn't even mad :)

On Friday we had interviews with President. They were my last interviews :( It also began to snow...a lot!

On Saturday the missionaries from Rìo Grande came to Ushuaia for district conference. Hermana Càrdenas came! It is so cool to see her progression! She is such a great little missionary :) We also had a lesson with President Rogers and Alejandra and Juan. It was a little surreal to see President Rogers in their little house, but it was neat to see how he teaches and testifies with such a strong spirit. 

On Sunday we had district conference. I also took part in a giant snowball fight outside of the church.

Today we went to the lighthouse at the end of the world! We saw birds and sea lions. We also had a snowball fight on the boat. I still can`t believe that I am here in the South pole. We also went to eat Subway in the mall and we bought some expensive ice cream :)

The Christlike characteristic I have learned this week is mercy. We have a person who recently gave into temptation after a long period of being strong. When we talked to them I could feel their deep despair. I felt a portion of their pain. This person felt so ashamed and so terribly far away from God. I testified to them with all of my heart that the atonement includes them. Then, after the prayer, I looked in their eyes and said, "You can still arrive at the celestial kingdom. It will be hard, but you can make it. I`ll see you there."  I just love being a missionary!!!

Our investigators are doing well. We have been focusing on being bold in our teaching and we are seeing results. I`ll give you more details next week :)

Pray that Abel can be baptized this week!

Love, Hermana Davis


 

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

German, Consejo and worms

Hermana Davis and Hermana Littlefield

Hermana Davis in front of a store

Happy, happy Hermanas!

Hermana Davis with Renee - her Chilean Grandpa
in Rio Gallegos

On bus to Leadership conference

Hermana Davis on her way
to leadership conference

Dinner on the bus

Hermana Littlefield and Hermana Davis

Hermana Davis in Chile


Strait of Magellan - Dolphin!

Hermana Littlefield's blanket covered with
 worm like maggots...yuck!
So, I want to start this email by saying that there is never a dull moment in the mission :) I love the adventures! 

Adventure number 1: We were contacting in the street. I contacted a lady and introduced myself. Then I made a joke about the cold and rainy weather. She said, "Do you want me to take you in my car?" So, I went against all of my child-hood stranger danger and I got in her car. She took us to the Anonima. When we entered we saw a huge guy who looked like a foreigner. He followed us through the Anonima. I was starting to get a little nervous when suddenly he said, "Do you speak English?"  My comp responded, "sí" (love her!) Turns out that this guy was from germany and he is here with his russian girlfriend. He was looking for a place to put his tent. We ended up talking about religion and he said that he was protestant. He then asked, "what is the difference between your church and mine?" We taught him about the apostasy in english in the Anonima. The mission is too awesome! #worldwide

Adventure number 2: Consejo! (Leadership Conference)
We left Saturday at 5am. We passed through Río Gallegos. I stopped by Rene, (recent convert). He is such a cute little Chilean grandpa. He said, "I went to the meeting where all of the capo jefes talk." (capo Jefes basically means beast-boss.) Turns out he was talking about general conference! Such a capo!
We arrived at Comodoro on Sunday at 7am. I did divisions with Hermana Ming from California. She is the Sister Training leader in Comodoro with Hermana Osorio from Viña del mar Chile. In consejo I saw all of my best mission friends and learned about being an example and not being conformist. Loved it! We left Monday in the night. When we passed the Magellan Strait I saw dolphins!!!! #chileanseaworld 

Adventure number 3: This morning my comp and I woke up super tranky (tranquilas or easy going) at 6:30am. We said our prayers and then sat on our beds wrapped in blankets because it was freezing! Then my comp said, "There are worms in my bed!" Turns out that there are hundreds of maggot-like worms all over her bed. They are still there right now. We called the Mission Pres and he said to buy some chemicals and to throw out the mattress. Luckily my comp was a super good sport and we were able to laugh really hard about the whole thing. 
That is the spiritual thought of this week: When you find worms in your bed, just laugh it off! Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. God sent us her to be happy, but like everything else in this life it is a choice. Do what President Monson said and chose the harder and better choice. When it would be easier to complain just smile and be grateful.

Love you all so so much!
Hermana Davis

Monday, April 4, 2016

Conference at the end of the world

Happy Hermana Davis in Ushuaia 

Hermana Davis all bundled up in Ushuaia

Hermana Chinchillas and Davis with an Argentine pizza

Hermana Davis

Twins!  Hermana Adams and Davis

Hermana Littlefield and Hermana Davis

Hermana Littlefield and Hermana Davis - cold, wet and happy!

View of ocean port in Ushuaia

Chillin during conference break in her new boots

Hermana Littlefield and Hermana Davis

Hermana Davis, Flores and Villavicencio on splits

Ushuaia
Ushuaia mountains 
Conference week is like Christmas! Plus, it´s really cold down here so it adds to the feeling :)
This week was just the best! I felt the spirit so much.
1. I did divisiones with Hna Flores and Villavicencio while waiting for our comps. We laughed and talked and ate gomitas (gummy candies). I love those girls!
2. My comp arrived! She is such a beast! One of the best sister missionaries that I´ve met. I feel so blessed to be her comp :) She finishes one transfer after me. We set goals together to give our all the last few transfers. We have been working harder and smarter than ever and we can see the fruits. We also just have a blast together. I am so happy!
3. We set a baptism plan with José. We wrote his fecha on a paper and put metas (goals) that he needs to do to prepare. He came to general conference all by himself and loved it! Such a capo! I can already see him in baptism clothes :)
4. We contacted a taxi driver on our way to centro. He said that he had built the baptism font in our capilla. I asked, "Do you know what we do in the font?" It was a more than perfect opportunity to explain about baptism. We took down his address and passed the reference to the elders.
5. Giuliano Piccini returned from his mission in Brazil. We had a branch question and answer session with him and he bore his testimony. It´s a bit difficult to understand him because he speaks a mixture of Spanish, Portugese, and English :) I imagine that I will be the same when I come home. He has been helping us out by giving us advice and references. Hopefully he can accompany us this week.
6. General conference answered all of my questions! I felt so much love from Heavenly Father. I just know that this church is true. I feel it. I am grateful that God talks to us and gives us guidance in our lives. I loved the talk of the Prophet and of Elder Holland. I can´t wait for the Liahona (Ensign magazine) so I can review the talks.
7. We left to do contacts in the 2 hour break. We contacted this guy from Turkey (in English) and invited him to conference. He said he couldn't go because he was headed to Antarctica in 30 minutes. Sometimes I forget that I am just a hop and a skip away from the freaking south pole!!! #Ushuaia #howlowcanyougo?
8. During the 2 hour break on Sunday my comp and I took a little break on a bench by the ocean. It was super tranquil. We watched the tourist boats head off to the farro (??) We looked at the snow-covered mountains. We watched the English tourists take pictures by the "fin del mundo" (end of the world) sign. I just LOVE the mission. 
9. We had a feeling to stop by the Hernandez family last night. They are both RMs and menos activos (less-active) . When we stopped by the hermana told us that her uncle had died that day. We talked to them about honoring temple covenants and how reading, praying, and going to church as a family will help them receive the blessing of the gospel. It was a neat lesson :)

Bueno, I love you all so much! Like Elder Holland said, Let conference change you. 

Con amor,
Hermana Davis