Monday, August 27, 2012


Family and Friends,

With Sister Olivo (She is going to Byu-I. Take care of her :)

We passed the Watts towers while on splits


Family and Friends,

Things are going a lot better now that we have adapted to our new schedule and gotten into the groove of things. My favorite thing about this week was going on splits for the first time! My companion stayed in Malibu and I was able to go down to Lynwood(Spanish area) and serve with one of our Sister trainers, Sister Olivo. It was fun to experience something new and I learned a lot. I was blown away with how many people we were able to talk to in just a few hours and reminded of just how unique our area is. It was also a bit of a confidence builder for me because in Malibu we can go for... a while without talking to anyone about the gospel despite our best efforts, but in Lynwood we spent over an hour on just one small street and were able to teach five people and refer someone to the Elders serving in the area in English. It was exhilarating and helped me realize more how the Lord is able to use us as instruments in His hands. While our areas couldn't be more different I was able to apply some of the things I learned from her which resulted in a positive experience in our area. My favorite part of the exchange was teaching a recent convert family how to conduct family home evening. They showered me with hugs and kisses and after the fact the mother said she felt as though an angel had entered her home. Hispanic people are so loving it amazes me! I don't speak Spanish so I was only able to greet them, but I shared a scripture with a little help and was more or less able to sing with them. I understood most of what was being said to some extent and the spirit was very strong. The children spoke English and we became good friends. Sister Olivo said that she doesn't understand why I'm not Spanish speaking... Neither do I! :) Anyway, we're needed where we're needed. Richie was unable to make it to church this week because he didn't sleep the night before, but he did say that he would like a blessing. We taught him about the Priesthood and have been hoping that he would want one at some point because we know that it will be a faith building experience for him and help him understand the purpose of the Priesthood and how powerful it is. We have been meeting with him a lot more often which has been good. He has a lot going on in his immediate family right now and are trying to help him understand that the gospel can help. Right now he knows that it is something that he needs to be doing, but he still feels that it is one more thing that he has to worry about. We have been trying to help him have spiritual experiences that will help things click. He struggle with wanting to know everything about everything before he can know that it's true. We have found that he is a visual learner and this week took him to the VC to watch "On the Lord's Errand" about the life of Thomas S. Monson. It was definitely a success. We have been able to meet more often with members. We are working to help them participate in missionary work and we're starting a 40-day fast in September with that in mind. I'm crossing my fingers that it results in some referrals and good teaching opportunities. The weather has been a cooler this week which has been welcomed by us. I'm so grateful that we're right near the ocean and have that breeze. Even if it means experiencing a little envy toward all the surfers and beach combers. Well, as always I love every one of you... unless you're a stranger... How available is this blog anyway? ;) Well if you're a stranger I guess I love you too! After all, it's the greatest commandment. Have a great week!

Sister Davis

Monday, August 20, 2012



Seven and a half months doesn't buy a heck of a lot(only Mom will get that) but hey! You can't beat our view. 



Friends and Family,

Surprising news this week! I'm still in Malibu, I'm still with Sister Hara, but there IS a twist. We're off-site! No Visitors' Center assignment this transfer. It's going to be an interesting transfer! I was hoping to go full-field at some point for the experience, but usually that involves going to another area entirely and serving with a full-field sister. Needless to say Sister Hara and I were very surprised, as was everyone at the VC. I will miss a lot of things like seeing all the sisters everyday and soccer in the mornings. Plus we had to give all our online/call-center contacts away! We did move to another apartment though which is nice because it is closer to our area and we have another companionship for roommates. I enjoy having roommates, but they are Visitors' Center sisters and it's a little weird not to go with them. We had a very trying week otherwise. At least I did. Every last one of our potentials dropped us, leaving us with just Richie(I'm so grateful for him)! We tried to find new people all week to no avail. I think that one of the most difficult parts of missionary work is when you work until your just toast and when you account for the day you don't feel like you served or taught anyone. That's a gross feeling. I'm struggling to find the reasons behind this change when we barely had enough work with our Visitors' Center assignment. I guess that's where faith comes in and trusting in the Lord's timing and purposes. I hope you are all doing well. Love ya!

Sister Davis

Monday, August 13, 2012

Sister Davis CLAM News

Six month mark! With Sister Cole

Me and Sister Baeza. We also did a few chores in the VC

Me and McCall

Our ward mission leader and his wife


Friends and family,

Things have gone really well this week, but I'm anxious to see what will happen with transfers. The VC is at a turnover point right now, which means that all the older sisters are going and new ones are coming in just a few transfers. My group was kind of the first of the "new generation" and we feel a little bit of pressure because we still feel new and yet we are quickly becoming some of the oldest. The temple has been closed for cleaning, but the center has not been as slow as it was at the last closing AND we were able to spend a few hours helping out this week. I was able to clean the chandelier crystals in the sealing rooms adjacent to the celestial room so needless to say that was a great day. I have to tell you all about my new friend McCall. She came in a few weeks ago because she is studying religions and needed some information for a paper she was writing. We hit it off immediately and ended up talking for over two hours(I think to the dismay of my companion- ha ha :s). Anyway, she said that she would come back to visit and bring me some classical music. I thought that was sweet, but didn't necessarily expect to see her again. Long story short she has been back twice and become a very dear friend. She laments that we can't actually do anything together for another year, but we show her a little more of the visitors' center each time she comes which she always enjoys and she said that she would read the Book of Mormon. I'm praying that I serve in her area at some point. We had a good lesson with Richie this week. He chose the topic when he asked the question, "So what exactly will be expected of me once I'm baptized? Do I have to go on a mission?" Ha ha, it was a good segway for talking about enduring to the end, and I think he was relieved to know that he is past the cut off age to serve a mission... After his lesson we met a woman(Helen) just sitting on a bench who seemed very happy to talk with us! She didn't speak much English, but we made an appointment to bring her the Book of Mormon in Farsi. A few days later we went to see her and ran into another Persian woman(Parvin) walking her dog. When she introduced herself I tried not to visibly react because I recognized her name. She is a potential that Sister Olsen and I had tried to contact. She invited us to her home and once we were inside she insisted that she feed us. Our dinner appointment had fallen through and we had JUST eaten out. I was dying. She wasn't very interested in our message, but she did say that she was feeling lonely and then we showed up! We will try again with her. As it turns out Helen and Parvin live in the same apartment complex and know each other. when we invited Helen to church she said she would come if Parvin does. I hope, I hope! What would be really wonderful would be if Parvin could translate so we could really teach Helen. Helen was very happy to see us again, but she is Jewish and I worry that if we are able to get someone to translate she won't be interested once she knows what we're actually saying. Not really. I have faith! She did say that she loves to read, so I'm praying that she will feel the spirit as she reads the Book of Mormon. I don't feel like I'll be transferred this go around, but i have been in Malibu for nearly six months now so you never know. We joke that I won't until I've taught a lesson in Young Women. I had done everything else in the ward but Relief Society which I taught yesterday. It was my first time ever and I was nervous, but it ended up being really fun. A mission is good practice for future callings among other things. Like everything in life... I had a funny phone call in the teaching center this week. I finally got ahold of a referral I've had since basically the beginning of my mission. Unfortunately he wasn't interested in meeting with the missionaries, and when I offered to mail him a Book of Mormon he said, "Oh I have one of those. I had a big crush on a Mormon girl once and when I asked her for a date she gave me a Book of Mormon." Ha ha I couldn't help but laugh. Go team! Well I love you all. My favorite six year old is turning seven this week! Love you Isaac. Watch for my letter.

Sister Davis

Monday, August 6, 2012



Friends and Family,

Hello again. I think the best news of the week is the fact that Richie stayed for Sunday school! He was very apprehensive, but expressed that he knew he needed to. After sacrament meeting we went outside for some fresh air so he wouldn't get overwhelmed and when we went back in he ended up loving it. He still left before priesthood, he'll get there one step at a time. He always says "baby steps" and he means it genuinely not as an excuse or anything, but it always reminds me of "What About Bob?" if you've seen that you'll know what I'm talking about. I was a little worried at first because the teacher for gospel principles was out of town so we joined gospel doctrine. The teacher is an extremely fast-paced intellectual and I was praying that Richie wouldn't feel out of place. At one point we both missed the scripture reference. He of course looked at me wondering and was a little surprised when I was looking at him wondering if he had heard it. We both shrugged and laughed. We figured it out after a second, but it was just a good moment where I became human rather than just a "missionary" and I think it made him feel less out of place. I kind of want to experience a new area, but I don't want to get transferred just yet because I feel like Richie is getting to a point where he really feels cared about, but he hasn't quite made the full transition from just feeling that from us to feeling that from the ward. I guess I don't know because I've never been transferred, but it seems like it would just feel weird handing people off. Anyway, back to Sunday school. There was a really humorous discussion going on about how the world is telling people that they shouldn't teach their children what they believe, but rather let them grow up and choose their own beliefs- be their own person kind of thing. Essentially they are saying that teaching your children to believe what you believe is brainwashing them. That concept makes me a little sick to my stomach to be honest. We all laughed when someone commented, "So they're saying that rather than brainwashing my children I should let the media do it? Genius." The teacher pointed out that most of the people he has met with this opinion don't actually have children yet, but still. Satan is sneaky. Craziness. Is all the world this crazy or just Southern California? Don't answer that. It will just depress me. Anyway, it made me think about a tour we took with a great family with 3 kids and a fourth on the way. We kept asking the four year old boy questions about the importance of families and he would respond just as I might expect Isaac to saying something about various body parts blowing up... Later when they were about to leave he raised his hand so I of course called on him, and he asked, "Why is the temple so important?" I asked him why he thought it was important and his answer was priceless. He said, "I don't know... I don't know a lot about Jesus, but I like Him!!" His mom shook her head and I just laughed. I was so glad that his parents had been making an effort to teach him about the gospel, I was grateful to my parents for doing so, and especially excited to teach my own children. I think to brainwash someone you have to convince them to believe something that's false, which means that teaching one's children about the gospel can't fall under that category because it is absolutely true! What a blessing it is to have parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins,and friends that teach and emulate those truths! Thank you :)

Sister Davis

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandpa Dorman! I hope you are getting well.