We got a bonus email in addition to the hand written letter Josh sent, woohoo!!!
Hi mom,
Coming up on a month already. Wow, time flies hope everyone at home is getting excited for Halloween without me this year. This week we've really picked up the Spanish speaking and been doing class almost exclusively in Spanish I'm really glad I understand all of it some guys are completely lost. The Lord has really blessed me with understanding the language. I heard FHE went pretty well without Nellie and I but that it was weird not having us there. We start teaching completely in Spanish starting next week so hopefully by then my tongue will be loosed and the language will just flow from my mouth. Nothing real exciting happened this week so that's all I have for this week. Oh but in 2 weeks we go to the Spanish consolate in Salt lake to do our visa work so I'm super excited. Can't wait!
Love,
Elder Davis
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Week Three
Finally some substance from Elder Davis. I need to start teaching the rest of my boys how to type, having to type a two page letter... can you say carpal tunnel, but I'm not complaining.
Hi mom,
Sorry I didn’t get around to the letter sooner. I miss you, but I’m fine here it’s starting to get better. During the week we do a lot of studying and reading. I fall asleep a lot, but I’m trying not to I want to b e a good missionary and son so I’m trying my best to make you proud. I’m so happy that you’re getting a lot more business, now I know that Heavenly Father wants me to be here doing his work. Right now I’m back at my apartment with my companion he’s not feeling well so we’re missing our meetings. I haven’t really had any other time for anything I’ve been so busy, so I guess in a way this is a blessing.
Well, I guess I’ll give you a little bit of my schedule so you can have something to put on your blog because I can only peck at best on the keyboard. We wake up at 6:30 every morning; I wake up at 5:30 to go to the bathroom because the food here sucks eww! We either have MDT, service, or gym right after we wake up so there’s always something to be awake for. MDT is Missionary Directed Time or basically study time. My companion likes to waste it most of the time so I have more personal study more than anything. We’re supposed to have everyday at least one hour personal, one hour companion, and one hour language studies, but my comp likes to do his own thing and hasn’t gotten into his head he’s stuck with me so he lays a lot of the time when we have teaching appointments, but I’m being patient with him and trying to be a good example so we’ll see what happens.
We have service once a week, it’s usually cleaning the apartment building its right after we wake up so it’s a good wake up activity so we all usually are falling asleep again by the middle of class again. We have 5 gym periods a week the only days we don’t are Sundays and P-days. We usually work up a good sweat at gym and we only get 1 laundry period a week so our room smells pretty ripe the day before P-day. My roommates are my comp and another companionship Elder Phillips and Elder Taufa. I went to Franklin with Elder Taufa so it was weird seeing him in the same room as us. He was in the 67th ward in our stake too so it was even weirder. My district is as follows: Elders Degearge, Taylor, and Cordon they’re going to Mexico City with me. Elders Checketts, Taufa and Phillips are going to Veracruz. You should write a letter and tell them what to expect there. Elders Kleven, French, Lee, Wood and Cridle baugh are going to Lima, Peru; 4 to the North Mission and one to the Central Mission (Kleven). The Peruvian Elders leave on Wednesday so our district will be smaller by 5. They are going to the MTC down in Peru and for some of their training they actually have to go out and proselyte while they’re still learning the language HA! It’s going to be sad when they leave we’ve gotten so close in these short weeks, but that’s life.
My teachers are Hermano Memmott and Hermano Oswald they’re spiritual giants and they teach with such conviction even without the missionary mantle, I can’t imagine how they were on their mission. Hemano Memmott is very calm and is a very lovable teacher; he just got off his mission in June. Hermano Oswald knows the scriptures and gospel doctrines like the back of his hand and teaches with a lot of power. They both are excellent language teachers too. My branch President is President Walker and his counselors are Bro. Johnson and Bro. Warren. President Walker is a little on the strict side, but he is very wise although he can’t speak Spanish so that’s a drawback. Bro. Warren is like and old cowboy and he is real laid back. Bro. Johnson served in Peru so he speaks Spanish and is very wise through his years of experience. Sister Johnson is also very sweet, she reminds me of Grandma.
Every Sunday 2 people from our zone have to give a talk in Spanish, but the catch is you don’t know who they are until sacrament meeting so they give you a topic that week and you have to write a talk every week just in case. I haven’t gotten called on and I have my fingers crossed, I don’t like public speaking as you already know. On Tuesday and Sunday night there are devotionals usually there is some sort of general authority there. The night before I got here I heard that Elder Holland was here giving a talk AW! That would’ve been so cool I’m mad I missed it. Every Thursday we have a large group meeting on how to become more effective missionaries, they’re pretty helpful and insightful. So that’s just a little bit of what goes on here, if I sat here and wrote all about it there’d be a whole book just on the MTC. I’ll write you next week, tell everybody I love them and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. You’re all in my prayers at night and I can’t wait to hear from you.
Love,
Elder Davis
Hi mom,
Sorry I didn’t get around to the letter sooner. I miss you, but I’m fine here it’s starting to get better. During the week we do a lot of studying and reading. I fall asleep a lot, but I’m trying not to I want to b e a good missionary and son so I’m trying my best to make you proud. I’m so happy that you’re getting a lot more business, now I know that Heavenly Father wants me to be here doing his work. Right now I’m back at my apartment with my companion he’s not feeling well so we’re missing our meetings. I haven’t really had any other time for anything I’ve been so busy, so I guess in a way this is a blessing.
Well, I guess I’ll give you a little bit of my schedule so you can have something to put on your blog because I can only peck at best on the keyboard. We wake up at 6:30 every morning; I wake up at 5:30 to go to the bathroom because the food here sucks eww! We either have MDT, service, or gym right after we wake up so there’s always something to be awake for. MDT is Missionary Directed Time or basically study time. My companion likes to waste it most of the time so I have more personal study more than anything. We’re supposed to have everyday at least one hour personal, one hour companion, and one hour language studies, but my comp likes to do his own thing and hasn’t gotten into his head he’s stuck with me so he lays a lot of the time when we have teaching appointments, but I’m being patient with him and trying to be a good example so we’ll see what happens.
We have service once a week, it’s usually cleaning the apartment building its right after we wake up so it’s a good wake up activity so we all usually are falling asleep again by the middle of class again. We have 5 gym periods a week the only days we don’t are Sundays and P-days. We usually work up a good sweat at gym and we only get 1 laundry period a week so our room smells pretty ripe the day before P-day. My roommates are my comp and another companionship Elder Phillips and Elder Taufa. I went to Franklin with Elder Taufa so it was weird seeing him in the same room as us. He was in the 67th ward in our stake too so it was even weirder. My district is as follows: Elders Degearge, Taylor, and Cordon they’re going to Mexico City with me. Elders Checketts, Taufa and Phillips are going to Veracruz. You should write a letter and tell them what to expect there. Elders Kleven, French, Lee, Wood and Cridle baugh are going to Lima, Peru; 4 to the North Mission and one to the Central Mission (Kleven). The Peruvian Elders leave on Wednesday so our district will be smaller by 5. They are going to the MTC down in Peru and for some of their training they actually have to go out and proselyte while they’re still learning the language HA! It’s going to be sad when they leave we’ve gotten so close in these short weeks, but that’s life.
My teachers are Hermano Memmott and Hermano Oswald they’re spiritual giants and they teach with such conviction even without the missionary mantle, I can’t imagine how they were on their mission. Hemano Memmott is very calm and is a very lovable teacher; he just got off his mission in June. Hermano Oswald knows the scriptures and gospel doctrines like the back of his hand and teaches with a lot of power. They both are excellent language teachers too. My branch President is President Walker and his counselors are Bro. Johnson and Bro. Warren. President Walker is a little on the strict side, but he is very wise although he can’t speak Spanish so that’s a drawback. Bro. Warren is like and old cowboy and he is real laid back. Bro. Johnson served in Peru so he speaks Spanish and is very wise through his years of experience. Sister Johnson is also very sweet, she reminds me of Grandma.
Every Sunday 2 people from our zone have to give a talk in Spanish, but the catch is you don’t know who they are until sacrament meeting so they give you a topic that week and you have to write a talk every week just in case. I haven’t gotten called on and I have my fingers crossed, I don’t like public speaking as you already know. On Tuesday and Sunday night there are devotionals usually there is some sort of general authority there. The night before I got here I heard that Elder Holland was here giving a talk AW! That would’ve been so cool I’m mad I missed it. Every Thursday we have a large group meeting on how to become more effective missionaries, they’re pretty helpful and insightful. So that’s just a little bit of what goes on here, if I sat here and wrote all about it there’d be a whole book just on the MTC. I’ll write you next week, tell everybody I love them and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. You’re all in my prayers at night and I can’t wait to hear from you.
Love,
Elder Davis
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Week Two..
... I was told that missionary letters are usually longer and better when they first arrive at the MTC, then as they get busy out in the field they only have a short time to write so the letters get shorter... Well, we're in trouble then.
I'm doing fine I'll be writing you this week use the return address on there so the letters get here faster. If I stay busy I have fun so I'm always busy so it is fun. Going to the temple here is probably the best thing I do. Tell everyone that if they write I'll write back. I love you all and hope everything going fine. That's good you're busy I'm glad to hear that.
Me gustaría compartir mi testimonio con ustedes yo sé que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios y el Libro De Mormon es el libro más correcto en todo el mundo. Yo sé que Thomas S. Monson es un profeta verdadero y que Padre Celestial nos ama. Saliría estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo. Amen.
Proof read this I have to work on it well I don´t have much Time left tell everyone else I love em too and I pray for them every night. Thanks to eveyone that contributed to helping me get out here I´ll be writing you in the near future
Love, Elder Davis
I'm doing fine I'll be writing you this week use the return address on there so the letters get here faster. If I stay busy I have fun so I'm always busy so it is fun. Going to the temple here is probably the best thing I do. Tell everyone that if they write I'll write back. I love you all and hope everything going fine. That's good you're busy I'm glad to hear that.
Me gustaría compartir mi testimonio con ustedes yo sé que Jose Smith fue un profeta de Dios y el Libro De Mormon es el libro más correcto en todo el mundo. Yo sé que Thomas S. Monson es un profeta verdadero y que Padre Celestial nos ama. Saliría estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo. Amen.
Proof read this I have to work on it well I don´t have much Time left tell everyone else I love em too and I pray for them every night. Thanks to eveyone that contributed to helping me get out here I´ll be writing you in the near future
Love, Elder Davis
Week One...
... Actually it was about One and a half weeks before we heard from him, but who's counting.
Hi mom P-day is Friday, but I only get half hour to e-mail but I can write whenever I get letters so if that's better you can do that. I need you to send an address book with all the addresses in it so I can write everyone. And you need to send that debit card tell the little ones I love em and give skylar my email address. My comp's name is elder Checketts and I'm senior comp. I might not send pictures home until I get to Mexico because access on these computers is really limited. I hope my patriarchal blessing is almost done I really need to read it. We went to the temple today the provo temple is really beautiful especially right up against the mountains, other than that Utah is kinda dumb and it's cold here. Sorry about the wait but prep wasn't till today so send letters if you need to they'll probably move faster than waiting until p-day. Bye till next week
Sincerely
Elder Davis
p.s. You can still call me Joshie it is my name:)
Hi mom P-day is Friday, but I only get half hour to e-mail but I can write whenever I get letters so if that's better you can do that. I need you to send an address book with all the addresses in it so I can write everyone. And you need to send that debit card tell the little ones I love em and give skylar my email address. My comp's name is elder Checketts and I'm senior comp. I might not send pictures home until I get to Mexico because access on these computers is really limited. I hope my patriarchal blessing is almost done I really need to read it. We went to the temple today the provo temple is really beautiful especially right up against the mountains, other than that Utah is kinda dumb and it's cold here. Sorry about the wait but prep wasn't till today so send letters if you need to they'll probably move faster than waiting until p-day. Bye till next week
Sincerely
Elder Davis
p.s. You can still call me Joshie it is my name:)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Parting....Such Sweet Sorrow
This was the first thing I saw Tuesday morning, it was kind of bitter-sweet. Josh and his friend Skylar did a great job at packing all of the stuff he needed to take. I thought it wasn't going to fit, but they did it!
by 7 am he was dressed and ready to go.
At 8 President Lawes and Brother Howell and Eric set him apart as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. President Lawes' blessing was so beautiful. The power of the priesthood is a truly special thing.
We were all very happy and proud to see him off. Dallin and Skylar even dressed up for the occasion
Had to run a couple of errands on the way to the airport and everyone was hungry so we stopped and Pro's Ranch market to get some food
Then my mom and some friends showed up to eat with us and see us off to the airport.
Had to run a couple of errands on the way to the airport and everyone was hungry so we stopped and Pro's Ranch market to get some food
Then my mom and some friends showed up to eat with us and see us off to the airport.
His brothers were all so helpful and eager to see how the process all worked that they carried all of his luggage all the way to the check in.
All of the cousins showed up to the airport to wish him good luck and give him lots of hugs and love.
All of the cousins showed up to the airport to wish him good luck and give him lots of hugs and love.
Then we waited for a while until it was absolutely time to go...
...and waited a little bit more.
...and waited a little bit more.
Then we had a few tears and lots of hugs, the little one wouldn't let him go, they would hug him then run after him to give him more hugs. It was so cute I hope Josh felts all of that love.
Eric and I were fortunate to get a couple of courtesy passes to walk with him all the way to the gate. And I do have to say that was one of the hardest things I've had to do. He had the scardest look on his face and his eyes were all welled up with tears. I gave him a huge hug and told him not to be scared and that we were soooo proud of him.
We say him take those last few steps into the plane and then Eric and I sat there and stared at the door for a second. Then all of a sudden I started to cry, so much so that I could not gasp for air, I have never had that happen. So after I started to breath and regain composure we walked back out where everyone was waiting.
We stayed until we couldn't see the airplane anymore. I know he couldn't see us, but I hope he felt our love and support.
Dallin said later that night, "This is so weird, this is so weird, I don't know what I'm going to do without my best friend." I'm so glad that they are such good friends it fills my heart with so much happiness. Day one, 729 more to go and counting....
Eric and I were fortunate to get a couple of courtesy passes to walk with him all the way to the gate. And I do have to say that was one of the hardest things I've had to do. He had the scardest look on his face and his eyes were all welled up with tears. I gave him a huge hug and told him not to be scared and that we were soooo proud of him.
We say him take those last few steps into the plane and then Eric and I sat there and stared at the door for a second. Then all of a sudden I started to cry, so much so that I could not gasp for air, I have never had that happen. So after I started to breath and regain composure we walked back out where everyone was waiting.
We couldn't see the plane from where we were so we ran over to the parking lot where we could see his plane. It was a small one.
All the boys had a hard time with it, but especially touching was Ammon, he cried and cried. He's so sweet and they are all going to miss him so much
We stayed until we couldn't see the airplane anymore. I know he couldn't see us, but I hope he felt our love and support.
Dallin said later that night, "This is so weird, this is so weird, I don't know what I'm going to do without my best friend." I'm so glad that they are such good friends it fills my heart with so much happiness. Day one, 729 more to go and counting....
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