9 June 2014

This was a very interesting week.

On Monday night, we had a new experience. Chicken feet! Yes they are edible, but they aren't quite like anything I'd ever eaten before. But in my personal opinion, they are better than pig feet. At least the sister who cooked them did a better job.

Tuesday we had  our district meeting in La Paz. To go home, we have to change buses in the Lima. While we were waiting for our second bus, we met a man named Abner. We started talking, and then we sat down at a nearby table. In the end, we talked to him about the gospel for almost an hour. In the end, he thanked us and said that what we had shared had been like a fountain of water in the desert. He is probably a little prone to exaggerate, but it was nice to know we had been in the right place at the right time. (While we were waiting, I also tried aloe vera juice--something I had never tried before, but really quite tasty. I think it was essentially grape juice with aloe vera pulp.)

Thursday we had a miracle when we were finally able to have a lesson with Dasayli and her husband, two inactive members. At the end of last transfer, we volunteered to help Dasayli stack the bags of flour in her pulperia and then we shared a short scripture. This time, it was easier to get in the door. I think that what we did last time, combined with the luck that it was a quiet day in the pulperia helped. Once we got in the house, Hna Hill spotted an opportunity to serve--we washed dished, swept, and organized a little. In the meantime, the husband came home. And we were able to share a short lesson with both of them.

Friday and Saturday, we were accompanied by Hna Valentina, an 81-year-old lady who is a missionary to the core. We had taken her Friday because she wanted to introduce us to one of her friends, and from there she wanted  to keep teaching with us! Saturday, we took her to look for one of her cousins. When the appointment fell through, she accompanied us to another couple of  short appointments and contacts. She even started talking to people she didn't know, introducing herself, the church, and then us as missionaries. Hna Hill put it succinctly when she said that Hna Valentina makes us looks bad. After all, we are the one who are supposed to open our mouths with everyone.

Sunday, it was a struggle to find the people we wanted to teach, but it was still a day with some really good experiences. The first was Hna Teresa. As we were walking down the street, I felt like we should talk to a couple sitting outside their house. The man, Wilfredo, was someone we had talked to before, but we had never met the wife, Teresa. We shared a little about ourselves and then about the Restoration. Surprisingly, the thing that really caught their attention was tithing. They asked us if our church had to pay tithing. We said that tithing was a commandment, but it was personal rather than public. Further it was 10 percent, and 10 percent of zero is zero. That really caught their attention. I think they had a bad experience where someone called them out publically for being behind on paying tithing. Sharing that point caught their attention and softened their hearts. They accepted a pamphlet. As the wife began to leaf through, she commented that she hadn't realized we believed in the Holy Ghost and that was the reason why she hadn't previously accepted the missionaries. As we left, Teresa was already reading with interest.

From there we headed off to do some contacting. We passed a house where an hermana was busy washing a pile of dishes in her pila. We offered to help and were thereby able to get to know her and her cousin. We shared a short message and we're going back Tuesday. The cousin, Kate, hasn't been going to any church. As we testified of the Book of Mormon, I think something got her attention, and I hope she'll continue to learn and that she will follow through on the invitation to pray about what we taught.

It was nice this week to see the way the Lord helped us find people who needed to hear more about the gospel. I know that the things we were able to accomplish this week weren't any credit to our personal abilities. I just know that because we gave it all we had the Lord strengthened our weaknesses. (Ether 12:27)

Love,

Hermana Davis

2 June 2014

Dear family,

I am attaching a photo of a big ugly toad that we had in our back yard.

Also, during one of our lessons on Friday, we were joined by a bat! I've seen bats swooping around at night, but this was the first time I saw one in daylight and crawling around. Maybe its wings were hurt or maybe it just liked the song, because it crawled right through our lesson as we were singing ''Families Can Be Together Forever.'' I wish I would have had my camera! But after some excitement chasing the bat around, we recovered and had a good lesson.

Sunday we had our first coordination meeting with our new ward mission leader. While we were discussing how to further the work in our ward (in the Bishop's office which has air conditioning!), a large storm rolled in. It was still pouring, complete with thunder and lightning, when we finished. The thunder and lightning were really close together, so we waited until the lightning was a little farther away. Then we ran home, getting soaked and laughing all the way, because there is really nothing else to do. I like getting soaked, as long as it's right before going home.

Changes week is always an interruption. And you can lose a fair amount of time with all the necessary good-byes. Going into Wednesday night, we had very few lessons for the week, but Sister Hill and I worked like crazy. We contacted lots of new people and taught lots of lessons. We even worked really hard to have members in as many lessons as possible. Friday was an exceptional day. Saturday was really rough, as we were just ready to throw in the towel for the day. Sunday we saw miracles again--six lessons in the afternoon, and each one of them with a member. (We took one of the YW with us for two hours, then a returned missionary, and finally we dragged an investigator to the house of a member family.)

I am going to send this fast because there is a thunderstorm rolling in. As long as the power doesn't go out, I will send a little more!

I love you all!

Hermana Davis

And just so you know what the other picture is...We cleaned our house this morning, and I defrosted our freezer. I was just about to give up, when the ice came out in several big chunks! I put a small ruler so that you can get a sense of scale ;).

Well that is just about it for the week. I love you all! Keep reading your scriptures, saying your prayers, and going to church, and we'll all be doing the same things!

And if you really want to, you can go knock on doors too and share the gospel ;)

I love you!

Sister Davis

28 May 2014 I Believe in Miracles

Hello family,

It has been an interesting and overall very good week (or nine days if you want to think about it that way).

This past week we worked really hard. The mission goal is for each companionship to teach 35 lessons each week. I consider it an acceptable week if I manage 30 or more, but for me 35 lessons has been somewhat elusive. Some weeks here have been somewhat rough, and we've had weeks in the mid to low 20's. But we really wanted this last week to be a good week. So we did everything we could, and we had many small miracles. For instance, we managed to have a lesson with Saul, someone whom we have been trying to teach for the whole transfer. Only once before did we manage to have an appointment, but as soon as we started to teach there was a downpour, and the noise on the metal roof made it almost impossible to teach. But this week we found him almost by accident when an appointment fell through. We were able to take him to a member's house and teach the message of the Restoration. We invited him to come to church. Just like Hna Lopez had been inviting for almost six months. He had never followed through before, but Sunday he came to church!

In fact, for this whole transfer, we have been struggling to help our investigators go to church. We teach and we invited, and almost nobody follows through. But Sunday we had seven investigators at church. And attendance in the ward surged. Normally attendance is around 100, and on a good Sunday, 125. But Sunday attendance was 144. It was a good high point to end the transfer. I am grateful that Hna Lopez's last Sunday was a good one. 

Monday, of course, I talked to you guys, which was a fun few minutes to see and hear you all. It's strange to see the house and remember a little of my life before I came here. It's strange to remember that I wasn't always a missionary here in Honduras. In the evening we had two different family home evenings.

Tuesday morning, at the last minute, we went to the airport to greet the new missionaries. The sisters from Ceiba were going to go, but they were delayed a couple hours, so we went to the airport and then passed the baton. On the ride to the airport, I commented to President my struggle to speak English when I talked to my family. And commented (joking) that I needed another English-speaking companion, like Hna Trujillo. But mostly I love that Spanish is becoming part of me. When I first got here, I was frustrated that I had to always read the hymn book. I was used to the fact that in English I had many of the hymns partially memorized; I only had to glance down occasionally. But I am getting to that point in Spanish. I am super happy that I can once again sing while I play piano, because I don't have to focus too much on reading the text and can focus on the notes! Hooray! (In Palermo, I almost never played the piano, because I prefer to let the members who can play keep playing, but here in Porvenir, I am the designated pianist.)

We spent Tuesday afternoon running around to say good-bye to members and investigators. At home, I don't really remember that the missionaries went to visit half the ward to say good-bye, but the culture here is a little different. The people here adopt the missionaries as part of their lives, and they expect us to say our good-byes. The culture shows in other little ways. If you run into someone in the street, you greet them (handshake or hug, depending hermano or hermana). Then even if you only chat for 45 seconds, you repeat the process to say good-bye. Including if it's a group of people. You can spend more time greeting and saying good-bye than talking. But should you happen to linger and talk afterward, you once again repeat the process to say good-bye. 

Tuesday night we were up late packing. And once the stuff was packed, unpacking to cut down on weight. The little scale Mom gave me came in handy, and we weighed and reweighed suitcases. We slept for a couple hours, and then it was time to go to changes meeting. Our final prayer before we left the house was really hard. I've loved being with Hna Lopez, and I didn't really want her to go home just yet. 

And of course there are always the nerves of who could be the new companion. Being ever curious, I had gone through the list of sisters, found all the latina sisters who had more that 8 months in the mission, and tried to figure out who could be my new comp. I had a list of a couple of possibilities. But none of them had transfers. But now let me tell you, I believe in miracles. I am comps with Hna Hill! Ever since we were in the same district in the CCM, we had always hoped that we could be companions, but we had consigned ourselves to the possibility that it was almost impossible. In fact, last transfer, President Klein specifically commented that he almost never puts two North Americans together. But miracles happen, and we are super happy. We were all smiles in the transfer meeting. 

And now this evening we will head out to work and continue the work here in El Porvenir.

I love you all!

Hermana Davis