Transfer time!

Ciudad Evita 2B!

Hello Family and Friends,

So I am in a new area, Ciudad Evita 2B. It’s about 10 minutes away from the temple of Argentina. And from what I’ve heard the ward is awesome. Woohoo! There are about 80 members that attend church and our goal is 90. I know we can do it. And the best thing ever...we have a Walmart in our area!

My new companion is Hermana Ochoa de Cordoba. She is a recent convert of about almost 2 years. She only has one transfer in the mission and I’m finishing her training. Training is 12 weeks, so we get to do the program 12 Weeks again! Haha. Entonces, I’m a Mama! Aha. She is so awesome and just is ready to work. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to train a new missionary and want to be the best I can be so she can love the mission and the gospel just as much as I do. Leaving Claypole was very sad, but I left with many families that are progressing and enjoying the blessings of the gospel, so I’m very happy. The mission always has changes, but the thing is being ready to have a love for even more of Gods children. I know that there are people waiting to hear and accept the gospel here in Ciudad Evita. I feel the love of the Savior so much and just want people to feel of this love and receive the blessings our Heavenly Father desires to give to each of his children.

This last week I had in Claypole was great. Saying goodbye to everyone was like leaving my family. But I’m ready to have even more family. I love you guys and miss you all.

Love,

Hermana Davis

P.S. I’ll have pictures next week. Sorry.

Five Months!

Final week of this transfer! 5 Months in the mission!

Well we definitely had a miracle this week at one of our lunches with my favorite member, Hermana Rita. She gave me about 3 pounds of oatmeal and a can of tuna. Anyway, Haha, my bag had so much weight in it and my companion and I wanted to return to the apartment but I said no were going to knock on a few doors first to finish our contacts for the day. Well I clapped in front of the door and a woman came outside we shared a message with her because she wants to feel peace constantly in her life, she then invited us into her house and it turns out, her husband is a member! He´s a less active right now, but elders taught him and he always had them over for dinner and he just adored his missionaries. Well it turns out that he was almost able to enter into the temple, casi 3 months. But his wife and son passed away, and now he’s married to a non member and adopted a 15 year old that was abused. This family is so awesome and has such an amazing desire to enter into the House of the Lord. I know that when we are close with the spirit, Miracles are performed because Heavenly Father knows the people that are ready, we just have to have the faith to receive them. 

Well I completed 5 months in the mission and to celebrate, we bought ice cream. Woohoo!

Entrevistas con Presidente. The meeting President Calquin was different because it’s a new president but it was great in its own way because we have to contact people in a new way. Every time we talk to someone, we share our testimony and just follow the spirit, and with this the people automatically feel the spirit if were speaking from our hearts. And this week we talked to so many people and it definitely works, we just have to have the courage to open our mouth. So I challenge you guys, to share the gospel with one person this week. Only share your testimony, and I know that when you do this people will recognize your light and know you’re speaking the truth. 

So we were late for our lunch because there was construction where the bus stop is for the collectivos. The member gave us the food in a container and my companion and I had a lovely picnic in the park. This week has been beautiful and Argentina is starting spring early this year! It’s so gorgeous outside and all the trees are starting to blossom.

Oh yeah, for our zone activity we watched Finding Dory and played Monopoly! And we bought 3 liters of Coca Cola. I’m not sure this exists in the United States, but it’s huge! Haha. 

I love the gospel so much and know that when we are obedient, the influence of the spirit and amount of love you feel in your life is extreme.

Love you all! Choy! Thanks for writing me.

Hermana Davis

Faith and listening to the Spirit

Just another week in Claypole!

Everyone thinks that I’ll be leaving Claypole because I have almost 3 transfers in Claypole. Only two more weeks more and then well find out, what’s next. The mission has been great. Especially this week, my companion and I have 5 new investigators. Woohoo! Maria, she’s the daughter of one of our other investigators, and is 20 years old and just loves knowing more about the church and wants to feel the love of her Heavenly Father in her life. Ramona, she was a contact while knocking on doors, she has a smile mental problem and wants to have an eternal family but the thing is that she doesn’t know where to find men with good values. Kind of funny, but the church has many resources! Haha. And lastly, our miracle family, contacting for an hour because we didn’t have any appointments, knocked on a door and no one was home. Then this family walked up and said they lived in that house. We then were talking to them and invited us in to share a message with them the day we met them! So awesome. Lorena and Gustavo are married and have 3 kids. 18, 16, and 8 years old. The whole family is muy amoroso. Muchisimo! We have an appointment with them this Saturday and I just love them so much already. Lorena has the brightest smile and I just am so grateful for my calling to help this family live with their family for eternity.

Definitely having faith and listening to the spirit is the most important in this life because when you listen to the spirit and act upon it, the result is always great and your testimony grows so much more. I love the Lord and the gospel with all my heart. Sabrina wasn’t in her home this week because she works a lot but we have faith will find her this week. 

Walking in the street this week, giving tarjetas to people. We then knocked on a door. And a lady said that she doesn’t like us because we are from the United States and that we are spies. But in the moment I didn’t know what the spy is in Spanish. So I offered to give her a tarjeta of the church and my companion was so embarrassed. Haha. The lady didn’t accept my card, but such a funny memory. 

The picture below is our little "Sam’s Club", where we do all our shopping on Monday, "Dia". Also, the train we take everywhere to District meetings and Zone conferences. It’s so fast and travels everywhere in Argentina. And a picture from our porch when it was such a foggy day in Argentina! 

Love you all so much, till next week!

Love,

Hermana Davis

Two new videos!

Check out the video page.  McKayla sent a couple of videos of her and her companion.

Rain, Sabrina, and the Carnival!

Lluvia, Lluvia, Lluvia!

This week has been extremely wet and cold but Heavenly Father is definitely blessing Claypole with our faith. We received a reference from the Hermanas of Burzaco. So the day when there was a storm outside and it was raining, windy and freezing cold we decided to visit Sabrina. We shouted her name because it was raining so hard, It’d be impossible to hear us if we clapped. She then opened her door and let us in! We taught her the Restoration and during the lesson she was asking like  "There’s a church that exists with the authority of God?" And totally understood the apostasy and the reasoning why there’s a lot of different churches. She, Let me repeat Sabrina, asked us when she can be baptized. Haha. We then told her the date and she wants us to teach her daughter that is 9 years old also. She said that she is looking for a church to attend but doesn’t know exactly what she’s searching for. Ending our lesson, she asked us if she can buy a white dress for her baptism. Sabrina is such a blessing and answer to our prayers. With this experience it helps me have a testimony that when we work hard and have faith, he will help us, we just need to have faith and endure in Gods time. Yes, the life and the mission is hard, but i know that God is preparing people’s hearts right now that are ready to hear the gospel, and just need us to share something simple with these people to help them remember the light of Christ in their lives. Always take the time to share the gospel with someone and be patient with Our Heavenly Father. When we show our faith and act on it, we will always receive the blessings we’re looking for. 

Some fun things that happened this week is that, in a lesson with an investigator, we were giving her a tour of the church with nephew. And just the primary was practicing for their primary program. The primary president invited them to church and participate in the program. Then, a little girl that’s in the primary whispered to the primary president that she wants Las Hermanas, hear them sing their song. I don’t know why but in this moment, I just felt like a missionary and the love of the ward. I have never felt the amount of love the people have for missionaries. Sitting in the sacrament room, watching them sing, it was like I don’t know. I just love the mission so much and all the people in Claypole. 

Carnival! Every third weekend in Claypole, they have a carnival. So my companion and I decided to contact people about the gospel in this event. We talked to a lady that was selling cotton candy, we then bought cotton candy and it was the weirdest thing in my life. Because it’s so humid in Argentina the cotton candy was like eating itself, and dissolving because it was so humid! And it’s the messiest thing ever to eat with humidity. Pobrecita mi companera, she had sugar all over her jacket. Haha. 

And lastly, teaching English. I never knew that teaching English is actually really hard. I am so happy I’m learning English to Spanish because Spanish to English is so complicated. Haha. But that’s fun, we have classes of English every Tuesday and Friday. Oh yeah, by the way, I think I’m a pro now at leading music. I’ve led the music in all three hours in church for the whole time I’ve been in Claypole. It’s like I’m the only person that knows how. Haha. But it’s fun, I love serving the El Barrio de Claypole. 

I love you guys so much and enjoy this week! First week of August. Woohoo! Choy!

Love,

Hermana Davis

Smile!

Friends and Fam Fam, 

Your favorite missionary speaking, Haha. This week has been so crazy and filled with the most interesting things that happened. During the week we are too talk to a lot of people about the gospel, contacts in the streets and clap in front of houses to meet more people. Well Thursday, we clapped in front of the house like three times, and waited, then a man said to wait a minute through the window. He then came running out in his boxers, this short tiny man! Haha. We were so confused and disgusted at the same time. Weirdest experience in my life, and he wasn’t that interested in our message, but please never again. I guess people in Argentina, the men and women practically wear nothing in summer because it’s terribly hot. So that should be interesting when it comes in 3-4 months. Lol.

Exchanges this week! But the only thing is that the Hermanas of Adrogue didn’t have water or light at all. So we had to walk down stairs with big pots to fetch water and walk up the stairs, we did this like 6 times. Haha. It was fun though because we had candles everywhere and just talked and told stories because we weren’t able to do our stories. We then woke up at 8:30 in the morning! Woohoo, I got a little more sleep because the sun doesn’t rise until like 9 in the morning here and we don’t have light so why wake up early when there’s nothing else to do? Haha. 

Proselyting in a "Villa" area this week, or dangerous area because we have less actives. While walking around trying to find the less actives house and talking to people in the street, there then was a big group of Jehovah Witness´s talking to people also. We then went to another area to find another less active member and there they were again, proselyting in the same area. It was awkward but I guess this area was the place to be in this day. People usually think were Jehovah Witness´s so it was actually kinda normal. But that was funny because everywhere we went there they were. Haha. 

Our new mission president, Presidente Calquin told us that when we preach the gospel with a smile people will see the happiness within us and recognize and want that same spirit. I had an experience this week, while contacting people I felt that we should talk to this specific lady outside, cleaning up her house. I then asked if she needed any help, presented us and that we would like to teach her more about Christ, while talking i had a smile on my face. We finished talking and have an appointment with her this week, as we were walking away she said that she loves my smile and the reason why she wants to hear our message is because she wants to feel that same peace and happiness I have when talking to her. I know that because I followed the spirit and listened to the counsel of my president, I found this Cecilia, that may be lost or having a trial and needs the gospel in her life right now. Looking for moments always to share the gospel is so important because there are always people that need the blessings we have. Service to others always changes the heart of the person that serves. 

I love you guys so much and hope you’re staying warm because it is so so cold here. I love Argentina, I love Claypole, and i love serving my Heavenly Father. 

Love you all! Write me!

Love,

Hermana Davis

Photos it’s a tradition in Argentina when you turn 15 to have your banner in the street for one year after your birthday. 

The photo with the kids is a less active family, Familia Barreto.