Friends and Family, Can you believe that this is my fourth transfer? Time has no meaning on a mission. Somehow I can go from feeling like I just arrived to feeling that I've been here for years in a matter of seconds. It has been kind of a crazy week with transfers. I said goodbye to some very dear friends that have been such a huge part of my mission so far, and I'm still getting used to the Visitors' Center without them. My new companion is Sister Hara from Tokyo Japan! I think she was a little disappointed at first because she had some misconceptions about Malibu. I won't lie and say that it's the easiest area in the world, but I think I have her pretty much convinced that it is going to be her favorite area. She has been out about a year so if she's anything like me she could be there until she goes home. We're a little bummed because everyone seems to be flying the coop for summer so it's hard to set appointments and teach people. Our area IS a vacation spot, so I'm not sure why people are gallivanting off to places like Kansas for heaven sake. Anyway, the beat goes on. Hopefully we can use the extra time that we have to find more people to teach. There was an older couple that came into the Visitors' Center and took a tour with some other sisters that really enjoyed it and admitted to watching KBYU on occasion. They referred themselves and live in our area apparently so I'm excited to see what might develop there! Richie is still around.. He wants to be baptized, but needs to be sure that it's the right thing. I agree! The only problem is that he doesn't see the connection between keeping commitments- reading, praying sincerely, etc. - and receiving his answer. He always says that if he doesn't talk to us or see us that he isn't as happy and I am racking my brain to find a way to convince him that it doesn't have anything to do with us. It has to do with what he does with us, and if he is willing it can take the same effect when he does it on his own. It's a process, but I know he'll get there. As far as what I have been pondering upon lately... The usual I suppose. Sometimes in difficult moments when I just feel so weak, I wonder why it has to be so difficult to become. I feel like I have the desire. I want to be a great missionary. I want to be so many things. Why is it that I couldn't just have been born "being." Of course it all comes down to the purpose of life; opposition in all things, learning, and progressing, but a member of our ward said something in church that really hit me and shed some light on it at a different angle. We remember and care so much more about things that we learn for ourselves. I guess it comes down to a sense of ownership and accomplishment. Like a teenager would treat a car that they bought and paid for themselves better than one that their parents handed them, we are more grateful and aware of what we have become because we did something. We know we have faith because that faith has been tried time and time again and we can still stand and testify. In fact we can testify more powerfully than ever before. It can be an overwhelming thought that we have to continue to become for an eternity :) BUT we can trust in our older brother who can see the end from the beginning and will not let us fail. Love you all! Sister Davis