Hiya Fam!
Thanks for your letters and thanks again for skyping with me!! It was the best Christmas gift ever! I'm glad you all are doing well!
I'm
glad you all are enjoying the Christmas holidays and that the trip home
went well. New Year's Eve here
sounds pretty much the same as everywhere. Most people go out and drink
and members get together with family and friends and eat food. I haven't
heard wnything different that happens, but I guess I'll find out tonight.
Well, kind of. We have to be home by 7:30 (so we're not out with all
the drunk people) so we'll just have a little New Year's Eve party of
our own. Boxing Day was fun. We got to watch Despicable Me2. So cute! I
loved it! We didn't go shopping with the Elders to the big mall but we
went to the mall in Ilford and it was CRAZY! It was like our Black Friday.
Lots of sales and too many people. The Elders said the mall was just
jam packed with people. They couldn't even go into some of the stores
because it was so crowded. I'm sorry to hear about the non-Christmas
sacrament meeting on Sunday (although I'm glad Grandma's ward was so wonderful). If it makes you feel better we didn't get to sing Christmas
songs either. And it was worse. For the closing hymn, we sang hymn
number 40. Since the chorister wasn't there, they asked me to conduct
the music. I have never sung that song before in my life.... and neither
had anyone else in the ward. I don't know who chose it but the organist
didn't really know it either and no one in the ward was singing. It was
a pretty dismal way to end the meeting. We had some investigators there
for the first time. Hopefully they were still able to feel the spirit
of the rest of the meeting. Relief Society and Priesthood was especially
wonderful. They had asked us missionaries to do a presentation. I think
it went really well. We showed some videos from Hastening the Work of
Salvation. And we talked about how as missionaries we are here to help
the members with THEIR missionary work, not for them to be helping us
with our work. The spirit was there very strong. I remember talking with Shayla before I left Gillingham and she said how excited she was to have a Christmas that really means something. It's so important to keep Christ in Christmas.
That's what it really is all about and it's when we remember the reason
for the season that we get the fullness of Joy the season is meant to
bring.
The work here is going so brilliantly! We are seeing so many miracles and meeting so many wonderful, prepared people!
This
week we've had the miracles of referrals. We got a referral from the
Watford Elders. His name is Frankin and he's from Cameroon, studying HR
Management here. He is great. He's so prepared and I know once he gets
his witness that the Book of Mormon is true he will be the best member
ever. We had another lesson with him on Saturday and he said that he had
invited two of his friends to come along. It was amazing! The spirit
was there so strong during the lesson. The members that came with us
asked us if they could come back the next time we taught them! One of
his friends is also from Cameroon and studying HR Management. He is
great as well. This friend was participating the most during gospel
principles on Sunday. This week we also found some old referrals that
the office had sent. It was a whole pile of them and none of them had
any notes of being contacted (we're suppose to note what happened with
the referral and send it back to the office). We felt that we should
contact all of these referrals and see if they were interested or if
they had even been contacted. One of these referrals was for Neli. When
we called her and she heard who we were she got so excited! She said
that yes, we definitely needed to come see her and she was going to
bring a friend as well (another referral). We went to teach her and her
friend on Sunday. Neli is from Cameroon and studying HR Management.
Sound familiar?! We asked her if she knows Frankin... she does! What a
small world. So we've decided we just need to teach the entire HR
Management class and get them all baptised. Her and her friend are also
very receptive! Another referral from the pile was Joseph. When we
knocked on Joseph's door, he said he had requested a Book of Mormon and
no one had brought him one. We set up an appointment to see him. We just
taught him this morning.
It was wonderful!! And he has a lovely FAMILY!!! YAY!! So many miracles
from referrals. This truly is the Lord's work and he is aware of each
of his children and will place them in the path of those who will help
them find the restored truth. Who has the Lord put in YOUR path that YOU
need to reach out to and share this wonderful message with?Let the Lord
use you to accomplish His great work!! I promise it's the best!!!
I really have learned this week how much the Lord is shaping me to
be the daughter of God that he needs me to be. He gives each of us
experiences so that he can shape us into the person he knows we can be.
I'm so grateful for this time that I have to be in the Lord's furnace
and for him to be shaping me. And at the same time I get to be an
instrument in him shaping others! This is the Lord's work. He is
hastening the work of salvation. And if we follow him, we will receive
the greatest blessings that he has in store for us, the greatest being
eternal life.
This morning
in my personal study I was studying baptism and pondering on why
baptism is so essential. I understand all the symbolism behind it, but I
guess I was really thinking why covenants are so important. I know that
God loves us and really wants what is best for us. He knows that as we
make covenants with him that we will work harder to keep them and do
what is right (it's like why as missionaries we must commit people to do
things because on their own they likely won't do it), and it is a
blessings for us that every week we can be reminded and refocus. And
D&C 130:20-21 also really stood out to me. The blessings that come
from making covenants are the greatest blessings we could ever hope for
and strive for and so the Lord must require us to do important things.
Hopefully that makes sense. It makes sense in my head but is hard to
explain it. I'm just grateful God loves us and knows what we need so
that he can bless us the most!!!
I love this work! I love my Heavenly Father! I love my Savior! And I love all of you!!
Keep being the wonderful people that you are!
Love,
Sister Davis
P.S. Isn't it so crazy that Saturday
I'm half way?!! Where is the time going? I don't know, but I'm loving
every second of it!! :) Although I can't wait to be with all of you
again, I'm so happy that I still have 9 more months of being a full-time
representative of my Savior! I'm going to keep making the most of it!
Lots of love xoxox
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