12/18-17 - A Baptism, A wedding, transfers and did I mention it's Crazy Hot here!!!

Oh my goodness! This week was absolutely insane!!! and very hot and crazy and great and oh my goodness I love my mission!!!!

Okay first wow Nestor y Amelia.

THEY GOT MARRIED AND BAPTIZED AND THEN THEY GOT THE SPIRIT AND THEY ARE JUST SO AMAZING!!! They just glow and it is so amazing. They are just so great. I cant even describe how great they are. And what can I say when you are going to have a baptism Satan does not want it to happen.

Something always goes wrong when you are trying to have a baptism. So Saturday morning Hermana Robinson and I went to drain the font and fill it up. There was only a tad bit of water in the bottom that didn't get drained so we tried for an hour and a half to drain the font. And it would not drain oh my goodness the struggle was so real. We tried everything and after an hour I started draining it with a bucket and pouring the water outside. It was so bad. But we finally got it after a lot of work and prayer. So we cleaned the font and filled it back up so that we could have a baptism that night. When the baptism had started we were so busy with the wedding that we forgot to check it just to make sure it was all still good. So when Nestor y Amelia were going to get into the font literally half the water had drained out. We don't know how either because the motor and everything was turned off. It could have evaporated because ndirachori it was 122 degrees on Saturday here and it is only suppose to get hotter. But I don't know what happen. So we started to fill the water back up and we sang songs to fill the time. It was very stressful and we were worried that Nestor y Amelia were going to be upset or something but we talked to them and they said that it doesn't matter that it was all going to be okay and the only thing that is important is that they can be baptized. They are so solid. So we got it filled and a recent convert got to baptize them, which is so powerful. It was such a spiritual experience and when they got out they were just smiling from ear to ear. It was behind amazing. Then Sunday they got the Holy Ghost and after they just hugged each other and were so happy. It is so great to see and so great for the members to see how this gospel can truly bless the lives of people. Then we had lunch with them after church and they are so cute. They are just so happy to be in the church. Oh by Sunday bishop asked all the missionaries to give talks.

Hermana Robinson is so amazing. She gave a talk that brought the Spirit so strong. Like everyone in the room was crying. This is my second talk already and this one was better than the last one. My Spanish was better I feel like but I still have a long way to go. What is important though is that I talk with the Spirit because my Spanish isn't perfect but the language of the Spirit is universal and this is what really changes the hearts of people. It was a good experience. 

Another highlight of this week. We went out singing with a family here. We went to a few houses of members and investigators and sang Christmas songs. It was so great and the closest I have felt to Christmas this whole time. It was so amazing. And this old grandpa came up and gave us candy while we were proselyting.

 

 

Oh man but did I mention it is hot here. Because it is HOT here. You walk outside you just get drenched in sweat and you sit inside your house and get drenched in sweat. And on Wednesday I think, our power shut off for some reason. And within minutes we were dripping sweat. We were doing our studies so we couldn't leave. And I don't know if I am going to regret telling y'all this in the future jaja but we were dripping sweat. It was soooo groddy and so hot and just so bad. The power was off for a good 20 minutes but it felt like a life time. When it came back on it was just so amazing. Cant even describe it. Gosh it is going to be a long summer here. 

Besides the baptism I had another pretty amazing and spiritual moment this week. We have been teaching a girl named Rosie. She is super great and I think I talked about her in my last email. But her sister is living with her boyfriend and the father of her kid. This guy, Fernando we will call him because that is his name, served a mission and got married in the temple but separated from his wife and didn't get divorced and kinda just went downhill pretty fast. We were having a lesson with Rosie and we asked him if he wanted to join. He has never wanted to join us but this time he said sure. So we started to give the intro to our lesson on tithing when Fernando raised his hand and asked if he could ask us something. He asked us in English because he didnt want Rosie and Lourdes to be able to understand him. He asked us how we know God is in our lives. Hermana Robinson started talking about how she is happy in her life and I sat there very quiet. He turned to me and asked me if I was happy. I cant tell you the feeling that came over me. My heart was racing so fast and in that moment I could see and remember all the hard times I have had in my life. I turned to him and with almost tears in my eyes I said Yes. I am extremely happy. I went on to tell him how my life hasn't been easy. I have had trials and pains and afflictions but we all have. I told him I had peace. He asked me how to get peace because he doesn't have peace in his life. I knew he knew all the answers I was going to tell him. The pain he had behind his voice hurt my heart. He knows it is the truth, he knows God is there but he has lost his way. I asked him what he was willing to do to find peace. After a pause he said everything. I looked him straight in the eyes and asked him where he was going to start. He looked away and in that moment the Spirit was so strong. I cant deny it and neither can Fernando because he started to get nervous and turned the lesson back to Spanish and back to Rosie. But it was good. We planted the seed and he has been helping us with other lessons with her. It is great to see him slowly start to come back.

In other news I am out of my training and have a new companion. Transfers were TODAY so it has been super crazy. Hermana Robinson packed up and left to go to San Lorenzo and be an Hermana Leader!! She is going to be so great and I am going to miss her like crazy. My training with her was so much fun I cant believe it. But I am excited for my new companion. Her name is Hermana Ostvrig

She is from Minnesota and she came into the mission as a Latina so her Spanish is killer. I think we will get along really great. I am stoked to see how things go. 

To Heaven and Back!

Hermana Davis

12/11/17 - Wonderful email from Herman Robinson

We received this wonderful email from Hermana Davis' companion and trainer. Hermana Robinson.  She is from Highland, UT.  Can't wait to meet her.  Her kind words were such a nice blessing.

Hermana Davis and Hermana Robinson. October 2017-Mid December 2017

Dear Kim and Ray Davis,

Hello! Hermana Robinson here! I know that we have never met, but I feel like I already know you! As you probably already know, your daughter is about to go into her last week of training! Woohoo!! I just wanted to write you guys a little email to let you know how great it has been to be your daughter´s trainer.

Basically, Hermana Davis is the best, and I feel like she trained me. She is such a hard worker and so brave. I remember the first day, I didn´t even give her time to unpack. I told her to drop her bags because we had a lesson we had to get to and she did it without hesitation. Her first lesson in the mission field, she said the opening prayer and bore simple testimonies that brought the Spirit unlike anything else. She also has a very good head on her shoulders haha. She´s just very smart. She works hard but works effectively. She is always, always, always trying to be better. She is very focused on the people, and makes everyone around her feel loved. She keeps things light hearted and fun, even on the hard days. I have not heard her complain once. She tries to help in every way that she can and is very selfless. She loves you two, her brothers, sister'in'law, and niece so much and is working hard to make you proud. And you should be proud! She is wearing the Davis family name very well. Thanks for raising such a great daughter. She has been a blessing in my life and Paraguay is blessed to have her! She´s doing a lot of good down here. 

I think we might be getting separated right before Christmas, so I won´t get to meet you guys. Makes me sad. I have heard so much about you! But luckily we live close by so I´ll see you after the mission! Woohoo!

Love,

Hermana Robinson  

12/11/17 - transfers are coming and Man it's Hot!!

Hola everyone!!!

This week literally flew by in the blink of an eye. We have been working really hard to try and plan the baptism and wedding for Nestor y Amelia. They are so great and so ready for their baptisms. They had their interviews and are ready to go. Lets go back to the beginning of the week and hit some highlights though because this week was super awesome.

Okay so Monday and Tuesday we worked really hard. The heat has been crazy here and seriously you cant escape it. Everywhere you go there is humid heat. But it is suppose to get a lot hotter so I guess I should enjoy this heat while it lasts. Wednesday was great. We were about to head home and we were just short of the goal of contacts we wanted that day so we both said a prayer in our heart and went out to find 6 more people to talk to in 5 minutes before we si o si had to be in our house. We went out on the hunt and were blessed when we found 10 more people and got to over come, is that the word, we got to superar nuestro meta. It was a blessing!

Wow was Thursday an amazing day!!! We had our Christmas activity. It wasn't our whole mission just our zone, but it was so much fun! They surprised us and took us to Presidente's house. It was so cool. And their house is chuchy, like fancy. It had carpet! We got there and did some skits and took some group photos. Then Presidente Wilson told us his and Hermana Wilsons conversion story and background on their lives. They are so great! It was so cool to see some pictures of them before and pictures of when Presidente Wilson was in the airforce. After that we were all just relaxing before we ate lunch and talking outside. We were taking photos by their pool and it was so funny. Everyone wanted to get it. Presidente came up to Hermana Robinson and I and asked if we liked ping pong. I was like yeah I like ping pong. He told me, lets go play then. So we went into this little house in the back that was a pool house and it had a ping pong table in it. So Presidente and I started playing and he was super good. He said we should play a game to 5. We started and he was winning! But I couldn't let that happen jaja. In the end I barely won 6 to 5. It was so great! And not to pat myself on the back but I was the only missionary who was able to beat Presidente. It was so fun!

There was basketball and a soccer ball. It was kinda weird to just sit and talk and play games. It felt like I was in the CCM again. Then we went inside and ate lunch and got to watch all of the Light the World videos on the church website. They are so cute. If you havent watched them go watch them because they are really great videos, and then after go do all the different things for Light the World, because I promise it will change someones elses life and your own. After the videos we got to open our presents. Presidente and Hermana Wilson gave us this really cool pen with the mission name on it. After we got to play games and stuff a little more. It was so much fun!

Friday was a different story though. It was still a good day but it was a hard day of work. Friday was a Catholic holiday for the Virgin of Ca´cupe. Everyone walks to Ca´cupe and worships the Virgin Maria with their statues in hand. Then they all get drunk and party pretty much. But if you aren't walking to Ca´cupe then you are holding groups in your home to worship the idol stands they have to the Virgin Mary. It is definitely crazy. No one was home and if they were they would be very rude to us for trying to talk to them. It was great though because on days like this you meet the best people, the people who are actually going to progress. Because everyone else was drunk in Ca´cupe. It was a little creepy though to walk pass peoples houses and here them in a monotoned voice repeating prayers to Mary will sitting in front of their shrines with either a candle or a statue in their hands.

Saturday we were determined to make up for the lost time and wanted to work extra hard. The morning was a tad bit tough. None of the people we had in plans were home. Probably all still in Ca´cupe. But we found a girl named Yesenia. We started teaching her and we were starting to talk about how we can have families strong and happy with the gospel. We paused as she started to cry. The Spirit was so strong in that moment. We asked her if that was something she wanted, to have peace and happiness in her family. To have unity and strength. She nodded her head yes and as we taught the rest of the lesson, the Spirit was so strong. I think she is going to progress really good. Also Saturday night Nestor y Amelia had their interviews for their baptism! It was great. Their testimonies are so strong and before their interviews they were asking us different questions about holidays like what we do for Christmas, and it was really awesome because I had Catholic friends in high school I got to help them understand the traditions in the Catholic church versus what we do in ours. It was really awesome. They passed the interview and now we just got to finish planning their baptism and wedding. How exciting!! 

Another person we have been teaching is an 18 year old girl named Rosie. She is so sweet and great. She doesn't understand a lot of things very well. We have had to teach slowly and repeat a lot of lessons to make sure that she is fully understanding what we are teaching. At first she wasn't really getting it. She has had a lot of problems with addictions and she has moved from family member to family member to try and find her home but it has been really hard for her. But we started teaching her and she started reading little bits and pieces of the Book of Mormon and we started to see a change in her. Slowly and gradually. As we have continued to teach her she has changed more and more every visit. She stopped her addictions and her prayers have gotten so sincere. She has made a big change and you can see it in her. You can see she just glows with the light of the Gospel. She started reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning and is already almost in second nephi. She is just so amazing. She really is a testimony builder on how much this gospel blesses people and families. The biggest difference is that we need to do our part to receive the help and the blessings that God promises and Rosie has been doing her part! 

On Sunday it was really awesome. So on Sundays after church and with our studies we only have a few hours to work so we have to make sure our plans are solid so that we don't waste anytime. We made our plans and we set out to work. And literally EVERY SINGLE one of our plans fell through. We walked from family to family, investigator to investigator, and member to member to try and find a lesson to teach. We were searching for someone to share the gospel with. Everyone was either too busy, working, not home, or something else. It was getting very frustrating because I thought we would at least find one person. For Light the World on Sunday was to share a scripture with someone. Something that we do everyday and we weren't going to be able to do it. I was getting down because we only had 10 minutes left before we had to go in for the day and finish our studies. And the one family we always visited, who is always home and always lets us in, wasn't home. We didn't know what to do and I realized that I was having the wrong attitude. If I was going to be diligent, I was going to have to work till the last second, with all my heart might mind and strength, to work and not be frustrated because God had a plan for us. He has people who needs to hear our message and we are just His instruments, His mouth piece and we needed to rely on Him to find people. I realized I was so caught up with just having good numbers and lots of lessons that I was forgetting that it isn't about the numbers, yes they are important, but it is about the people, the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father who needs help finding the path to the tree of life. I needed to forget my own worries and get to work.

I said a prayer to apologize and to find one person that needs our help. We walked around the corner of the church to contact some houses. Houses around the church have been contacted about a hundred times since they are so close to the church. But we clapped on this one house and a lady came out. We started to talk to her and asked her if we could share a quick scripture with her. She happily agreed and we asked her what importance Christ had in her life. She said not any. We asked her why and she just broke down and told us about her life. Her mom got really sick a few years ago and passed away and she has been suffering from Epilepsy. She didn't understand why a loving God would let this happen to her. It was very hard for me to see her like this. Because a lot of people think that. A lot of people question why bad things happen in this life. The Spirit was so strong as my companion and I both opened up to Alma 7 11,12. We explained that the Lord knows us by name. That He loves us and cares for us. That Christ suffered not only for our sins but for our afflictions, pains, sadness, and everything in between. We testified how Christ knows every single feeling and pain we have suffered. That He knows our story and knows our struggles. He suffered so that we wouldn't have to be alone and that we can rely on HIM. The Spirit in this 8 minute lesson was so strong. I knew that this lady, Nymfilda, needed to hear the love the God had for her. I know that He loves her and that we were ment to share with her. And I testify that God loves each and every single one of you. He is there for us when we want Him to be, when we need Him, and when we think we don't. 

This is my last week in my training. It is kinda scary to think that I wont be in my training anymore but I am excited as well. Transfers are next Monday and I don't know what is going to happen. We have a lot of Hermanas who are finishing their mission so we will see how things go. I am so grateful to have this area to work in, with these members, and our investigators. Seriously this is such a great area. And I am grateful to have my companion. She has also been a large blessing in my life to help me be the best missionary I can be.

There are no coincidences in this life. God has a perfect plan for each and everyone of us. I know that. And I know that everything that happens, whether it be good or bad, is for a reason, is part of His plan. God carried us through our trials and will be there for us when we think we don't want Him, but really we do. If there is ever a moment in life when you think that He has forgotten you, I know he hasn't. I know he loves us all, knows us by name, and will give us all the blessings of heaven, if we are willing to rely on Him and show Him we want to follow Him. Show Him we will hold on to the Iron Rod and face the trials we are given with a broken heart and a contrite spirit so He can make up the difference. I know He lives and loves us. I am so extremely grateful to be able to serve the Lord and help others to feel the love of our Heavenly Father. 

Hope you are all doing great and enjoying life. I love you all. Till next week. 

12/4/17- Hot..Hotter and Hotttterrr ( and Wet)

Hello everyone !

Wow December already! Where has the time gone!!. This week was super busy, like all the other weeks on the mission. Nestor y Amelia are getting married and baptized in 2 weeks so we have been working to plan their reception. It is so fun to see Amelia get excited about it. The rest of the week went by in a blur. It has been extremely hot and humid. Paraguay is the land of the wet. You are either wet because it rains and floods or you are wet from sweating so much. You cant escape it. And the time you want to get wet and shower, your water shuts off. On Thursday I don't know what happened but we didn't have any water in our house. So that was an adventure. Luckily things were back to normal the next day. 

So I mentioned Nestor y Amelia. They are so awesome so I have to talk about them again. On Friday we signed their ficha, the paper needed to say they were baptized into the church as a member so they can have callings and things like that. They were so excited when they signed it. And now all of Amelia's kids want to get baptized too. So we are preparing the whole family to be baptized together and Alfredo is preparing to do it. Oh so exciting!!

Oh and since it has been freakishly hot Hermana Robinson and I made homemade popsicles.

We blended up some fruit and froze it, but while we were in the super buying fruit a lady right in front of us just passed out. It was crazy and everyone started freaking out and gathering around her. It was insane. I wanted to help but there were already so many people circled around her. I said a prayer in my heart and hopefully she is all better now. They took her to the hospital. I don't know why she passed out but I blame the heat as part of it.

Sunday was the chilliest day I will ever have on my mission. First off Amelia and Nestor brought their kids to church. Poor little Eder, her son who is 9, he is so shy and it was all a little overwhelming for him and he was starting to cry and I thought Amelia was going to leave and take him home but she is so amazing. She was just like nope he needs to learn to be at church it is good for him. Oh man she is so great. After we at a church open house in Kaáguy Rory. It was so great. Sadly only 4 people showed up but one of them is super solid and we got an appointment with him tomorrow. He wants to get baptized. But there was this American couple there and it was so weird. They are living here for the last 6 months for work and they don't speak any Spanish hardly so we were talking to them in English and it was so crazy. It felt good to be able to understand someone like fully understand everything they say. It was so fun and it was great and very relaxing day. It was also awesome because they were both returned missionaries so it was great to hear their stories and it made me so excited about serving my mission. It was so great.

 

Something rough that happened this week had to do with my Spanish. All my emails always are wow this week was great, this week was so amazing. And don't get me wrong. Every week is better than the last, every week flies by as I feel the Spirit and have the incredible blessing to serve the Lord and preach His gospel. But that doesn't mean it is always easy. Every day we have difficulties we have to over come. But the main thing to remember is that you can over come them. Saturday we were teaching a girl name Jana. She is super great and so sweet and we were teaching her lesson 1. My Spanish has been progressing fairly well and I know I am no where from being fluent. But during that lesson Jana could not understand me hardly at all. Anytime I went to teach she would turn to my companion and ask her to explain it because she didn't understand. It was very frustrating and I wanted to just give up. It was pointless to have me talk when she was just going to turn to my companion and ask her to say it all over again. But for the month of November I studied the Christ like attribute of Diligence. And the most important thing about diligence is that you give Christ your all. Even when you feel like giving up, when you are tired or you don't want to do it anymore, you give Him your all because He gave you His all. So even though it was frustrating to continue to talk and try to focus on not being frustrated, I remembered that if I was diligent and trusted in the Lord he would help me. And that it doesn't matter what language I was speaking, if I was speaking it good or not, the Language of the Spirit is universal and she would find her answer through the spirit not my Spanish. In the end it was a very good lesson. She had good questions and I feel good about her. I feel like she is going to get baptized. 

It was another amazing week living the dream here. 

 

 

11/27/17 - Alfredo Gets Baptized !!!!

Hello everyone

Highlight of the week Alfredo got baptized!!!! It was so amazing. When he got out of the water he looked so happy. It was so amazing and the service was so pretty. The Spirit was so strong during it. And Nestor y Amelia said the opening and closing prayers! And they did so amazing. And the bishop told us that he had never seen investigators pray in public before. Only after they get baptized. They are so amazing. 

Other highlights of this week. 

We were walking to an appointment and we walked passed these like 6 construction guys and they were lifting this super big role of wire up a telephone pole. But they weren't getting anywhere. When we walked by we said Hi and then made a joke about like yeah strength! They asked if we were strong and we were like yeah obviously so if you need help. We thought they were kidding but they were like yeah help us. No one in Paraguay asks for help. We asked seriously, and these guys were like yeah help us. So we put our stuff down and started lifting this heavy wire up a telephone pole. It was so funny cause Hermana Robinson and I were lifting and all the 6 guys were trying to pull on this rope to lift it up. It was funny. Then they still weren't getting anywhere but it was like halfway up the pole and the guys told us that's where they wanted it and we could keep walking but thanked us for our help. They told us they wanted it just hanging in the middle of the pole. Jaja it was very different.

Oh it was also Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!.

Man am I glad to have an American companion during the major holidays because it is just so much more fun. For Thanksgiving Hermana Robinson made this chicken curry dish and we made rice bowls and these really good potatoes. It made the house smell like Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun. Then we ate. Oh we were so full by the end of it. But it was super good. We had these big plans to dress up like an Indian and a Pilgrim but we didn't really have time. But if Thanksgiving was on a p-day then si o si we would have done it jaja.

Something strange that happened this week. We went to an investigators house and she has these two little kids. One is Israel and he is 6 and the other is Lujan and she is 3. But they are handfuls. The mom is always gone at work so they don't really listen to her very much and they are very crazy. So we were talking to the mom and my hands were behind my back holding my Book of Mormon. Israel ran behind me and started hitting the Book of Mormon in my hands. So I moved it and put of my hand and he was hitting my hand. Then he goes up and licks my hand. Before I can think to move it he bites my hand. Okay so I move my hand and look at him. I turn back to talk to his mom and he goes and bites me in the butt. What kind  of 6 year old runs around biting people in the butt. The last lesson we had with this family Israel spit in my face twice. Very rarely will you find a Paraguayo who disciplines their kids. But really who bites people in the butt!

So this week we had a baptism and whenever something good like a baptism comes up Satan tries extra hard to stop it. Doesn't matter who it is or how hold or nothing. On Friday we needed to teach Alfredo because he needed one more lesson before he could be baptized on Saturday. We were working really hard to get him this last lesson. But 30 minutes before the lesson he told us that they were going to go play futbol. We told him we needed this lesson and so we would give it to him and then he could play. But then Amelia was sick, so we couldn't teach him in his home and we couldn't teach him at all unless there was a lady there. So we made plans to teach him in the church and he was going to meet us there. We ran home trying to think of who we could ask to come with us. A lady came to mind named Lucia. But she always works on Friday nights. So when we got home we started calling people to see if they could come help us. We called, I swear, like every woman in the ward and either they were working or didn't answer the phone. We were stressing so hard because if we didn't have this lesson, Alfredo couldn't be baptized. After a long time of calling people, we decided to call Lucia just in case and it was her day off and she was just about to leave to go visit some friends but she said she would help us first. She is so amazing! It was such an answer to our prayers. And we had one of the most spiritual lessons with Alfredo that night because we talked about temples. It was very special.

Then Saturday came and it rained so hard. The streets were like rivers.

We had to go fill up the baptismal font and when we were crossing it was up to my knees in some of the parts and it had a strong current. And it rained all day. Paraguay kinda shuts down when it rains I was afraid that people wouldn't come to the baptism. We wanted a lot of people to come to have a big welcoming in the church after Alfredo was baptized, to make it really special for him. And it rained and rained and rained some more. Around 4 or so it finally stopped, another answer to pray, and we the baptism was going to start at 6 so we told Alfredo to come at 5:30. Another thing about Paraguayos is they are always late. So we figured if we said 5:30 they would show up right before 6. Well they are not regular Paraguayos because they showed up at 5 and we were studying. So we hurry and got dressed and met them. They were all done up in their Sunday best and looked so good. We took some pictures and it started getting close to 6 and no one was there. We called the people giving talks and they didn't answer. We called the person who were going to perform the baptism and he didn't answer. We called the witness and he said he wouldn't be there till 6Ñ30. It was very stressful because we wanted to have a spiritual experience for Alfredo. But it was a good test on patience. Everyone got there and we started and it was an amazing service. The spirit was very very strong. 

Sunday Alfredo received the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was so awesome. The smile on his face was just so pure and I am so happy for him. This gospel is true! It blesses lives, I have seen it. I love you all!!