1/29/2018 -THIS WEEK WAS CRAAAAAZZZZZYYYYY

THIS WEEK WAS CRAAAAAZZZZZYYYYY

 

Hermana Davis & Ostvig

Okay okay so let me catch y'all up because it has been crazy. First we had a baptism!!! Eder was baptized and it was so great.

When he got out of the water he had such a big smile on his face. It was so fun to see. But poor Nestor. In the rush of trying to get little shy Eder ready for baptism we kinda forgot that Nestor, who was going to baptize Eder, had never done that before. So we didnt teach him what to do or what to say. I felt so bad. But he is a champ and we told him the night before. He came with the words down and was ready to perform the baptism. The first time it was awesome. He said it perfect and it was great, but he didn't put Eder all the way in the water. After that he was really nervous and messed up on the words a few times. Pobracito he had to do it like 3 times and I felt so bad because it was our fault he didn't know what to say. But he is so amazing because after he was telling us for his next baptism he will be better. But he did so good and I almost cried to see my convert baptize his step son. Nestor was baptized only 1 month ago too. Oh and Amelia, she gave a talk for Eders baptism. She was so nervous too. She got up with her cute Book of Mormon and read what baptism is and said how excited she was for her son to be baptized and sat down. It was short, but it was so spiritual. She is so great. They both are. Oh my Eder is baptized!!!

And Sunday he received the Holy Ghost and he was so great. He walked up there with Amelia and she was so proud. After she gave him just this giant hug. My heart almost break it was so cute and amazing to see before cambios. Eder is a member!! He told me he wants to serve a mission when he is older. Oh it was so great.  

Okay so now for the craziness. So on Thursday we were kinda having a rough day. We didn't have a lot of lessons. I was feeling rough about my Spanish so we decided to go celebrate Hermana Ostvig hitting 6 months on the mission and get a Lomitos. Guys they are so good. It is a tradition Paraguay food and wow it is good. So we went out at 9 and got it. We got back in the house at 9.15ish and we had just sat down to eat when the phone rand. We thought it was the elders and they almost make jokes about eating Lomitos because everyone does it. So I was getting ready to make them jealous for the fact that we have lomitos. But no it was not our zone leaders. It was PRESIDENTE!!! I gave the phone to Hermana Ostvig. She was talking to him and we thought for sure he had seen us go buy lomitos and that we were going to get in trouble, but literally everyone does it. It is like tradition to go out and get lomitos. He asked us how many chairs we had. Then he told us he was coming over when some stuff for our apartment and he would be there in 30 minutes. We hung up the phone and oh my I have never cleaned so fast in my life. Don't get me wrong our apartment was not dirty, but in the middle of the week it was not Presidente ready. So we threw our lomitos in the kitchen and cleaned so fast. I wish I had pictures because it was so beyond clean. It looked so good. Everything was perfect. Then we waited. They came and right before they came in I sprayed air freshener.

It was so funny because the office elders were with Presidente and Hermana Wilson and they were like wow it smells so good in here and Hermana Wilson was so proud she was like Yeah because they are Hermanas. It was so funny. So they brought in an extra chair and we were kinda confused. So then they brought in a new mattress and we thought it was for my back because Presidente was asking me if mine was okay. They they brought in a whole new bed. We were so confused and Hermana Wilson told us that there was going to be a trio!! So they came in a took Hermana Ostvigs bed out and put in a bunk bed. WE HAVE BUNK BEDS. So that's crazy. Home improvement came in and improved our home then left. So at 10.15 at night we were just left with this bunk bed and the fact that we were gonna have a trio. So we ate super fast and got ready for bed. It was crazy. So we had some ideas of what was going to happen. Hermana Carpio has been really sick and been in the hospital for a long time. So we figured Hermana Varga was going to be with us. We that's what happened. They didn't shut down Fernando de la Mora 1.2 but right now Hermana Varga is with us, but Hermana Carpio had to return to her house. It is sad because she was just about to celebrate 1 month on her mission but she has been sick and miserable this whole time. We are going to have a trio in Fernando for this cambio and maybe next. The problem is the number of missionaries coming in is even so we have an odd number of Hermanas. It has been pretty interesting to have three people in our little apartment but it has been fun. 

Okay also we have been teaching Valentin y Carolina again. They are the investigadores that have the conocimiento of 6 year olds maybe. They dont understand things very well. But we passed for them and have been teaching them, their neighbor Ever, and the brother of Valentin, Melano. Melano like only speaks Guarani and is super humble. He cant even read. Valentin and Carolina are even more crazy if you can imagine. But Ever has a lot of potential to progress. He read the whole bible and knows it very well. He wants to learn more. He has been reading the Book of Mormon so he can understand. He has really good questions and he has come to church twice now. The problem is teaching him is really hard because Valentin and carolina. Because Ever is so smart and quotes the bible they think they have to as well. They go off on rants about the bible and think they are experts on missionaries. Valentin went on a rant for 20 minutes maybe on what kinda of fruit was the fruit in the tree of good and evil while holding a pomelo. If that doesnt describe our lessons I dont know what else will. It is really hard. We want to teach just Ever so we can have a really spiritual lesson and help him find his answer, but so far we havent been able to find a way to do it. 

Ndirechori tomorrow is cambios. How could I forget. Let me tell you whats happening to me...

I am getting sent to the compana!!! I am going to Paraguai. I am companions with Hermana Carhuancho, havent met her yet but it is so great. I am going to Zona 5 and guess who is my hermana leader......

Hermana Robinson!!!!

That is so crazy. I am going to the compana. I am so stoked. It is going to be so crazy. Hermana Ostvig and Hermana Varga are staying here in a trio and they are training!!! Oh that is going to be so crazy. I cant believe it. But yeah so that happened. 

Okay wow so this week was insane. I am sure there is so much to catch you up on. Everyday here on my mission I learn more and more of how much God really does love His children.

He has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. We aren't always going to see the big picture, but we should always trust that He knows what He is doing. I love my mission. Every day it is hard and humbling. But I am so beyond grateful for every experience I am going through. I know without a doubt that this gospel is true. Wow I would not be here if I didn't. But I see how this gospel has changed peoples lives and it continues to change my life everyday. Its a little hard to express my feelings in English now, but I cant tell you all enough how amazing this experience has been. If any of you are even thinking about a mission. I would invite you to pray and sincerely ask if it is something you need to do. Because it is hard but it has changed my life for the better and I know that it can bless each and everyone of you. I love you all so much and I hope everyone is doing fantastic. 

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To Heaven and Back!

Hermana Davis

1-22-2018- Bowling and mac and Cheese! Life is good!!!

Oh man this week was crazy! So lets start off with I almost cut my thumb off. It got caught in a fan and could have been really bad. But I was protected si o si. Also almost had to give another talk but luckily Hermana Ostvig has my back and volunteered to give it for me. It wouldn't have been bad I mean I love giving talks but I have given three and she has only given one so really I am just helping her out jaja. But lets start into the week.

SO this Saturday Eder is getting baptized!!!! It is so exciting because it has been really hard to teach him. He is very very shy. It has been a struggle but he really is just so innocent and wants to be baptized like his mom. The only thing is, is he left to the compana to visit his uncle. We told Amelia that si o si we have to pass everyday to teach him or else he cant be baptized this week. It is a little stressful but it is all going to be okay. 

We have been teaching Edgar and Gisele. I think I wrote about them last week. They are so amazing. We taught them again and they accepted fecha to be baptized. Then the next lesson, Saturday, we taught them about the Book of Mormon. Edgar left halfway through the lesson because his friend came over to help him fix his car. That was kinda sad, but they both had a lot of questions about what clothes they need to wear to come to church, and what they needed to do, what they should bring. They have this desire to do the right thing. Gisele also really really has this desire to follow Christ. She told 3 of her friends about our visit and was telling them they need to pray. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she kissed it she was so grateful and so excited to have it. Sunday morning we walked to their house and picked them up for church. 

We stopped by to teach Rosie again. She left to visit her other sister and Lourdes said she was a bad girl and that we needed to talk to her. So we passed and visited her. There was a huge difference in her. Her smile was gone. She lost her light. We had a really good and spiritual lesson. She told us that she missed her family and how she felt so alone. We had a strong lesson about the Atonement and how Christ is always here for us. How he suffered for each and everyone of us personally. And also how we can rely on the members in the church because we are all family. By the end of the lesson she was crying and so was Hermana Ostvig, but a little bit of her light started to come back. 

It was Juan's birthday on Wednesday. We made a little goodie bag of American candy I have and gave it to him. We sang to him in English and he was so happy. His smile was so big and it was so great to see. He told his family that the candy was only for him and then he ran off and hid it jaja. It was hilarious. 

We have a ward mission leader por fin! We haven't had one almost the whole time I have been here. His name is Delio and he is a recent convert. He is also like 70 years old. He is just this cute little grandpa that is so excited to be able to serve. We had a meeting with him to talk about some of our investigators and he showed up and had bought all the missionaries a notebook and a special pen and some treats that we could eat while we talked. He told us his conversion story and it was so cute. He is so excited to be able to help. The hard thing is he is so very hard to understand. He talks really closed mouthed and with Guarani every once in a while. But he is so happy to help us. It almost made us cry when he came in with all the gifts for us. 

Oh yeah and we went bowling for our district activity. It was so much fun. It was way funnier than last time. The elders and I were messing around that the loser would by the winner lamitos. I definitely won. I bowled a 111. It was great. The elders still owe me jaja.

Also we had some crazy experiences. So we were walking this street Yegros, and this drunk guy started walking towards us. We had a goal that day to talk to literally everyone we came in contact with. So we were going to give him a tarjeta no mas and so we did. He was like wait I have something to show you. He started searching his pockets and then looked in his underpants and started to grab something out of his underpants. Hermana Ostvig and I looked at each other and by the time I had to look back at this man to tell him no and we were leaving Hermana Ostvig was gone. She just took off and left me there. I looked at her in just shock. I was like deer in the headlights. I looked back at the guy and he was super confused too. He took out his phone because he was trying to sell it. Aint no way we were buying that!!!

We gave him the invitation and I tried to catch up to my companion who was like the roadrunner. It was so funny because the guy was so confused that one minute she was like can we give you a tarjeta and the next running in the opposite direction. The same street I almost got kissed by a random guy. He was very persistent. But I didn't don't you fret dad.Needless to say we don't walk that street anymore if we can help it.

Also we were contacting the main street and a guy called us over. So we walked over there and he was drunk too. So he started talking to us and it was clear we weren't getting anywhere with him. So I invited him to go to church and he looked at me and asked me to stop speaking Portugues. He went on to tell me he doesn't speak Portuguese and only Spanish. We laughed as Hermana Ostvig apologized and we walked away. I turned to her and said struggling to learn Spanish but it is nice to know that my Portuguese is still good. Guys gift of tongues. Okay so also we have a new list for lunch with members but it isnt working really well. We tried to call and confirm with this one Hermana but she doesn't have a phone right now. We talked to the Presidenta of Relief Society and the other Hermanas and they all told us that she is expecting us at 12.30. So we should up and this poor Hermana was so confused as to why we were there. When we told her we had lunch with her she felt so bad because she hadn't prepared anything. So she whipped something up really quick even though we told her she didn't have to. So we ate and then she asked Hermana Ostvig if she wanted more. I don't know what Hermana Ostvig heard but she accidently answered yes. So she brought us like all the food she had in her house. It was so sweet but we were so beyond full that day. She gave us like 5 different courses of food. It was so sweet though.

Also we were walking home one night and we were kinda upset because we didn't find any new people to teach that day. But we walked past this house and there was some girls outside and we contacted them. They were really nice and let us in. We started teaching them and I realized they were just a little bit different. Hermana Ostvig started teaching them and I realized they were not really retaining the information super well. So we set up an appointment to return and when we left Hermana Ostvig was like well that was an interesting lesson. I turned to her and told her it was because they were high. Yep we taught some people that probably aren't going to remember that we taught them. They were all giggly and paranoid. It was kinda funny that we taught them. But they were really nice. Oh and we were in lunch with Nestor y Amelia and they have this like kitten that literally is the devil. It is so awful. We were sharing a scripture at the end and Hermana Ostvig was bearing her testimony when all of a sudden this psycho cat bit her in the leg. It looks like a vampire bite. But she like screamed in the middle of her testimony. It was a pretty good bite too.

Some people get attacked by dogs in the street but she got attacked by a kitten in lunch.

Yeah paraguay jaja.I am sure there was a lot more that happened this week. But it was kinda a crazy week. This week we found 17 new people to teach. Almost hit the standard of 20. This is semana 6 which means next Monday we find out cambios. Guess we will see what happens. Hermana Ostvig is great and I think she is gonna train after this. But if she doesn't sí o sí next cambio because she is a great missionary and helped me a lot. Cant wait to see what happens. I love you all so much. Thank you so much for all the support. I hope everyone is doing great. Feel free to email me some of your crazy stories. You are all amazing.  

Also we realized the germex is the most Utah thing because this is part of the sunbeam song 

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To Heaven and Back!

Hermana Davis

  

  

1-15-2018 -Thank you so much for the package!!!!!

Thank you so much for the package!!!!!

Man did all the elders want to be my friend when they saw that I got another package.!

It was pretty funny. All of them surrounded me and asked what it was. They all picked it up. They were so excited. That night we set up our little light tree and had Christmas. It was so much fun. And we I do really like the purple dresses. There is more than one so I don't know which one you were all talking about but I wore the one with flowers to church yesterday. Thank you so much for everything. I am never going to have to buy mints or gum again in my life. 

This week went by in a flash. We only have 2 more weeks before cambios again. It is crazy because I feel like we just had cambios. Hermana Ostvig and I have gotten a lot closer. She is really great and she reminds me a lot of Kelsey. She is so sassy and it is so funny. But this week we worked a lot with Eder and this family Portillo. Oh and we found this miracle couple. They are searching for the truth so bad and we just happened to clap on their door. Oh it was so great. We didn't get to teach them a lesson. We just listen and got to know them but she asked us how to pray properly and we taught her. She then said one of the most spiritual prayers. It was so amazing to hear. She asked for peace and unity and she was so thankful that we came and answered her prayer when she was looking for the truth. I cant wait to go back and teach them again. But I am really excited for Eder he is starting to open up to Hermana Ostvig. I am probably going to get transferred after this and so he will probably be my last baptism in this area. He is so great. He is like my little brother. Its so nice that I know how to work with kids because Hermana Ostvig is like using all these big words or just talks but I know how to teach in the primary. So thanks mom forr giving me that calling before I left. But it has been really great. Oh my last night though, No no no no no. Last night there was this car parked outside our apartment and the alarm kept going off every 5 minutes no joke. It was so annoying but it like stopped for a bit so we thought we were good for the night. No I woke up at 2 in the morning and it was going off. Every 5 minutes throughout the whole night it was going off like crazy and I couldn't sleep. But Hermana Ostvig could sleep through World War 3. So she was fine. It was rough. Also at 5 in the morning a few nights ago our neighbors set up this giant speaker and they got drunk and started singing and doing kariokie. AT 5 IN THE MORNING. NO no one approved of this. And they were so aweful because they were drunk. They did it for the rest of the morning. So yeah that was my nights. Oh man if you guys are gonna do kariokie dont do it at 5 in the morning. Nope. I don't approve. But back to more important things. Transfers are soon and I am almost positive I am leaving this area. It was pretty hard to adjust to a new companion but now I am going to have t adjust to a new companion and a new area. I mean I don't know for certain but I am also almost positive Hermana Ostvig is going to train after me. So she will stay here and I will peace out to a new area. I don't know. I guess we will find out. How is everyone else doing. How is life and your callings and work and everything. I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and being my family. You guys are so great. 

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To Heaven and Back!

Hermana Davis

1-15-2018 Dear Mom & Dad

Dear Mom and Dad.

I always feel really bad because you guys write me all the time and I hardly ever write you back. It gets really busy trying to reply to everyone. But you guys should be number one. I wanted to let you know how grateful I am to have you as my parents.

As I started the Book of Mormon over again I love how the first thing Nephi feels obligated to say is," I Nephi having been born of goodly parents". Not I Nephi a wise and obedient man, not I Nephi a young and prosperous boy, not I Nephi, a servant of the Lord. I Nephi having been born of goodly parents. The role of mom and dad are essential to Gods plan. One of the highest honors and Nephi makes that known. It isn't always the case, that not everyone can say I have been born of goodly parents. But I definitely can say that I Hermana Davis, having been born of goodly parents have been extremely blessed to be loved and cared for.

You both are so amazing. Thank you for teaching us kids to walk in the ways of truth and soberness, to love one another and to serve one another (Mosiah 4.15) by being an example to look up to. I know we weren't the easiest children to raise and that we all had our ups and downs. Our trials and difficulties. But you guys helped us all through each and everyone with love and patience and firmness. I am so grateful that I got sent down to you guys as my parents. I love you all so much. Whatever is going on in your lives, work trouble, tooth trouble, house trouble or furnace trouble, because that seems to always break right around this time, I know that it is only Satan trying to stop this family because we are all doing so much good. Mommy, Daddy, I love you both so very much. I am so beyond grateful for all the sacrifices you made and are making for our family. I couldn't

be on my mission without you. Thank you for always writing me and taking care of me even though I am in a completely different part of the world. You guys are the best. Kisses, butterfly kisses, hugs, some sassy sly remark, more hugs and kisses. I love you.

Your little girl

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To Heaven and Back!

Hermana Davis