Jan 14

Howdy,

Sister Farnsworth is really great, she has us over for dinner a couple times a month. When she told me she was going to email you a picture she said something like "I'll try to say something nice about you too but I can't make any promises." She's funny. She came to a lesson with Brenda. It went pretty well, Brenda said she would come to church but she didn't. I think she probably forgot because she's usually pretty reliable. Brenda is really quiet so its hard to know where she's at, when we ask her a question she usually just smiles  and doesn't really give an answer. She believes everything we've taught is true but we're encouraging her to really pray and ask so that she can find out for herself. I've found that a lot of people have a hard time praying.

Teaching Sunbeams sounds like a lot of fun. I'm glad to know that Heavenly Father has a body, that is really important. It's one of the first things we teach to investigators.

Wow, that is a long break for you. What will you do with all that time?

I work with a lot of African American/black (whatever terminology you prefer) people here in Bryan. A lot of the time they will ask questions like "Now, your church isn't just a bunch of white people, right?" Since being here I have noticed that a lot of videos (mormon messages and what not) from the church include people from all around the world, its nice.

So we have an investigator, Rosemary, and she's probably 70ish. She has come to church pretty much every Sunday for the past 2 years or so with her sister who is a member. The ward actually didn't know that she wasn't a member until the missionaries started teaching her. We asked her this past week if she wanted to continue the discussions but she said no, so instead we are reading the Book of Mormon with her. Her problem is that she hasn't accepted Christ as her savior and she doesn't really feel the need to change because she has a pretty good life. Mostly she just finds things interesting but who knows, maybe one day she'll read or hear something that will change her mind. 

Our mission has changed the goals since its a new year. Now our goal is to baptize weekly and invite at least 25 people daily to hear a message about the gospel. It will take some faith but this is the Lord's work so it is totally possible.

I got the package that you sent, thank you very much. I didn't realize how many pictures were in that folder, sorry about that. Thanks for all the allergy medicine. I had bought some last p-day so now I have a ton. I think something might have happened in the transfer of music onto the flashdrive because only about 20 songs appear when I plug it in but I did like the songs that I heard. 

I am just running of out things to update you on. As a missionary, I do so many things in one day that by the time the next day rolls around its hard to remember what I did previous. Maybe I'll just start taking a picture of my journal and I'll send that to you. Just kidding but that is actually not a bad idea....

Yesterday I ate some fried oreos. They were super tasty.

I hope everything is going super well. How is Dad's change in work hierarchy going (I'm not really sure what to call it)?

I love you,

Sister Davis

Jan 4

Howdee,

It was really fun skyping, it kind of seems like it didn't actually happen. It just went by so fast. Christmas was good but I am glad that it is over. People are less busy and our schedules are more normal. Most of the referrals we received told us to come back after the holidays so I imagine we'll be working with them this coming week. 

We have a new investigator! Her name is Brenda and she actually referred herself from mormon.org. She says that she has been looking for the truth and when she was online one day she came across mormon.org. Sounds crazy but I think there was some divine intervention working with her internet browser. We have taught her the first lesson and she accepted our baptismal invitation but she wants to wait a little before setting an actual baptismal date. We're excited.

So transfer calls were last night and Sister Gregson is getting moved. I am super sad. We kind of knew she would probably leave but we were still hoping that we would all stay. I'm in denial. Today is her last day in Bryan and she doesn't find out where she's is going or who her new companion is until tomorrow. Sister Funk and I feel slightly overwhelmed because everyone in Bryan loves Sister Gregson and neither of us have finished training. We'll be training ourselves for the next six weeks. It is really nice being a missionary because you can really feel that Christ is your companion. Even though, Christ has promised to not fail us nor forsake us throughout our lives, as a missionary that promise seems to ring stronger than it has before.

That's cool that Stephanie got married. I haven't seen her in forever. 

When do you go back to work? Do you have a longer break because they changed when school starts?

I'm not really sure what to say because I'm just really sad that Sister Gregson is leaving. I think this will be a good learning experience. I also feel like there's a lot in store for Bryan, a lot of good things to come. President Pingree has/is really amping up the goals for the new year. During Christmas Conference he mentioned the one of them is to have one baptism a week. That sounds pretty tough but I really believe that we can achieve it. Its not something that will happen immediately but as we keep up with these referrals and as members keep working with their friends, I think it can be done.

My allergies are killing me. I guess there's a lot of cedar trees in Bryan and during this time a year they let off a ton of pollen. Since its a bit humid here the pollen is just kind of stagnant in the air. They call these allergies cedar fever. It's unfortunate.

I hope you enjoyed the holidays and have a fun new years eve.

When you send me the small preach my gospel, can you also send some thank you cards and stamps? They don't have to be fancy, if you have some that you don't like you can just send me those.

Love,

Sister Davis