Sister Davis's Weekly Post

P-Day BBQ

The Family with Sister Olsen

Friends and Family,

 I was so excited to see pictures of my immediate family with my one and only Sister Olsen! I knew I was going to miss her but I didn't realize how much. Things have been kind of slow going here at the Visitors' Center as well as in our area and those are the hardest times as a missionary without a doubt, but I read in D&C something the other day that really helped me. I have always wanted to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time and that in and of itself can bring a lot of worry and stress. I'm sure you can all relate to that. While for me it is wondering where I should be as a missionary and if I really was supposed to come to this mission at this time, for others of you it might be that oh so familiar question of "Did I choose the right apartment complex? Oh no... What if I'm supposed to be living somewhere else this semester? Now I'm probably going to be in the wrong ward and I won't meet my eternal companion.. He/she will end up marrying someone else! My entire destiny will be thrown off and I'll end up miserable and alone!" Ok I'm kinda kidding... but I'm probably not too far off! Anyway, the point is that I am continually learning and re-learning(re-learning things is my specialty) that as long as I am living worthily and turning to the Lord I will always be where I need to be. D&C 6:14 "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time." When I read that I felt that it was for me and that I just needed to keep going. If I wasn't supposed to be right here right now then I wouldn't be. I have always had the desire to serve a mission, and when it came time to decide I was actually pretty stubborn about it. A large part of my testimony has to do with our desires. I know that the Lord can work with our desires and I personally believe that some of our desires have been given to us as gifts to help us accomplish the things that we need to in this life. For example; I can't explain why necessarily, but I always wanted more siblings and especially a sister. Every day for... years I prayed for another sibling and for a sister. I'm sure that Isaac and Emrie would both still have become a part of my family without those prayers, but I still felt that they were answers to my prayers and that my spirit understood that our family needed them. When people ask me why I wanted to serve a mission I share a lot of different reasons. I wanted to experience a full-time mission, not just hear about them. I wanted to change the way I had seen others change on their missions. I wanted to witness the joy of someone accepting the gospel and claiming the blessings that I have always had. Still, the root reason that I'm on a mission is that I have always wanted to go. There are so many reasons, but when it comes down to it, it has been another one of those desires that has just been there or that i couldn't really explain. I am so grateful that the Lord can take those desires that we have and out of our smallness bring great things to pass. I have to run, but I love you all! Have a good week.

Sister Davis

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

Sister Jenna Davis and LA Times

Friends and Family, The week before transfers is always a little weird, especially for me because as of now I have only ever sent my companion home, so I always know there will be a big change. My companion - Sister Olsen - will be in Rigby Idaho this coming Wednesday and would probably be delighted to meet any of you. Besides that she has agreed to say only good things about me so... Anyway, things have been really picking up in the Visitors' Center since summer began and I've discovered that I love taking youth groups around(not really a surprise). I like to turn the snarky comments that the teenage boys tend to make and somehow relate them to the gospel. Never a dull moment! Taking them through the center and seeing them interact with their leaders has given me a greater appreciation for the leaders. They really can make all the difference, and I'm so grateful that I always had leaders that worked hard to get to know me and plan activities that were not only fun but also helped me become spiritually independent. In other news, Richie is doing well. We invited him to a baptism yesterday, which he attended, and I think it cleared up some of his apprehensions about his own coming up in August. He is pretty devastated that S. Olsen is leaving and we're all hoping that I don't get transferred because an entirely different companionship might not go over too well with him. I'm sure it would all work out though. We are working hard to help him feel at home in the ward so that once he's baptized he isn't dependent on the missionaries. We saw Zach at the center this week and he is planning on being baptized at the end of this month! We had our first real lesson with Elaine and it was great. She seems more curious than anything, but she took notes the entire time and asked really good questions. She graduated from Harvard which is a little intimidating, but she will certainly have no problem reading the Book of Mormon. She made a comment about how small it was which was nice because we usually hear the opposite. She is so compassionate and generous that I can't help but imagine her holding some kind of Relief Society calling. Every time we see her she just goes on about how she wants to do something for us. She is a marine biologist and keeps offering us jobs as ambassadors for her NGO group that's trying to put a stop to overfishing. The point is she is a sweetheart, and I'm praying that she will begin to see the gospel for what it is rather than just an interesting religion. She promised us that she would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. I know that anyone that is willing to experiment will come to know that it is. Rob and Cade are back from their vacation so I'm hoping to have an update on them sometime soon. I feel like the lesson I learn and re-learn everyday is to have faith and trust in the Lord. Not a lot that we do in this day and age requires faith. In the past if people wanted to eat they had to plant seeds, attend to them, and wait and watch; hope and pray that the right amount of rain and sunlight would be present to help them grow. Now we go to the store. If we want information we get it from Google or ask Siri? Is that her name? Anyway, most everything we could ever want or need is within our reach no questions asked. Still, growing in the gospel still requires as much patience and faith as ever especially in missionary work. We have to trust(and it can be harder than it sounds) that if we get out their and do something, God will too. Well, I have to run, but I love you all and hope you're doing great! Sister Davis

Elaine and I after church Sunday

Robert is one of our regulars at the VC. He always brightens my day with his extensive vocabulary :)

Friends and Family,

 I hope things are going a little more smoothly back home. I'm sad to hear that grandpa had what sounds like a pretty terrible week... I'm glad to know that he will be alright, especially after seeing the pictures of his totaled truck! It's been a busy week for me as usual, but I like being busy in general. Elder Johnson from the Quorum of the Seventy and his wife came and trained us at our zone conference. He talked a lot about how we learn spiritually and how it is similar to other types of learning, but completely different as well. Like learning a skill, learning spiritually takes practice and repetition. We can read the Book of Mormon 100 times and still learn spiritually. Basic beliefs can be added upon and our knowledge increases. If we are learning factually all that is required is study and memorization. He taught us that too often, missionaries are content when the people they're teaching get the facts down and think that reason enough to move on. We talked a lot about how spiritual learning requires action. Unless someone has an experience where the spirit testifies to them that something is true then they can't fully understand what the gospel of Jesus Christ means in their life personally. If it isn't personal then it isn't lasting. These kind of experiences require us to do something, to take an action based on faith. We receive a witness only after the trial of our faith. Am I the only one that seems to constantly forget that? I'm slowly learning one experience at a time that as we simply go on; as we do what is right continuously the Lord will direct our paths. Too often I hesitate, waiting for some kind of spiritual witness that will tell me that "yes, that is what I need to do or say." Unfortunately it doesn't work that way! At least not for me. However, more and more often I am able to look back and see that as we pressed forward with faith things have fallen into place. I'm sure that learning to recognize and follow the spirit will be a life-long pursuit for me, but I'm learning now that the recognizing part will not always come before the following and for now that's OK. I wonder if those of us who grew up with the spirit in our homes, associating with people worthy of it, and just always having the gospel to direct us sometimes take that spirit for granted, or fail to recognize it simply because we are so used to it. When I think of it that way it doesn't stress me out so much that I'm not receiving or recognizing a constant stream of direction from the spirit. I'm just grateful that it has been a part of my life always and that my struggle is recognizing it, when it could be not even knowing about it, or heaven forbid not wanting it! Anyway, we also talked about how our willingness to continuously learn and live the doctrine of Christ will help us become more powerful teachers because we will KNOW that it works on a deeper level than we did before, and more fully appreciate the blessings that come from being truly converted.The last thing we discussed was how to be a low-maintenance and high yield missionary and ultimately member of the church. Someone that fits that description is basically someone that doesn't ask "what can the church do for me?" but, "what can I do for the church?" It's also someone that provides solutions rather than just problems, and the best part is that they are usually the happiest out of the bunch. In the end it was a really good conference and we left with a lot to think about and do differently. Otherwise we had a great week in our area. There must be something in the water because twice this week people stopped US and asked US to pray with them. The first man actually knelt down on the side of one of the busiest streets in our area(Sunset Blvd.) and offered a prayer. The second one was a woman and she held our hands and prayed and then asked me to. Both prayers were... extremely unique and neither resulted in return appointments, but I am glad that we were recognized as servants of the Lord. We saw Richie again of course and he is progressing, but feeling a little overwhelmed. Rob and Cade are still out of town, and we see Zach every now and again at the Visitors' Center. We have a new investigator named Elaine who we haven't actually taught yet, but we invited her to church and she came! She was only able to stay the first hour, but she seemed to enjoy it and ended up staying for a while talking to people. She mentioned that there were a lot of similarities with Catholic Mass which made her feel comfortable, and she really liked the differences as well. She specifically mentioned that she loved that it was so family oriented, that kids are kind of allowed to be kids and it really impressed her that the speakers were out of the congregation, especially because the talks were great this week. Wow. As I was sitting with her in sacrament meeting and kind of explaining things I came to a realization that I sure hope I can remember because it was a pretty big one for me. It is easy to let doubt creep in and think that if I wasn't here someone else would be. Sometimes I just feel like (and I know this is terrible) I'm just doing a lot of things, and I'm so tired, and maybe not much is happening or the great things that are happening still would be if I wasn't here etc. BUT as I was talking with Elaine I realized (and I know this sounds obvious) but if I wasn't here, then I wouldn't be here! I have been given this time to be a part of the miracles that are happening. What an opportunity and wonderful gift! I know that hearts are being prepared to receive the gospel and I am so grateful that I had the desire to find out what a mission would be like because now I get to be a small part of this marvelous work. Sister Davis

Cala Mission Blog Pics

The California Los Angeles Mission blog has recently posted pictures from Elder Paul Johnson's visit, temple day for the Marina Zone, and the VC missionaries.

News from Sister Davis

With Joy Price, my old coach from the Idaho Ballroom Academy

With Mark and Ilana Gallup, originally from Rexburg

With Sister Olsen

Capture the flag with noodles. Our Zone goal is "Choose to Find" and when we accomplish one of our goals we get to capture another companionship's flag. Our keeps getting taken because, well... 

Noreen- My favorite lady from Fireside, the convalescent home. We took her to forever 21 to buy electric pink keds. She's a cutie

Zach at the VC

Hiking

Friends and Family,

It has been a great week with plenty of pictures to share. We transitioned Zach to the companionship serving in the YSA ward and heard that he enjoyed church on Sunday. It sounds like because we taught him 3 times I'll be able to attend his baptism! Who knows, Sister Olsen may be able to come back for it as well. We had a bit of an awkward missionary moment when we took a picture with him after touring the Visitors' Center and he threw his arms around us at the last second. Richie did the same thing with Sister Olsen at his place. Apparently we need to be a little more clear? Anyway, Richie actually came to the Visitors' Center this week as well and while we were talking about the companionship of the Holy Ghost we asked if that was something that he wanted. He said "how could I not?" So, the long and short of that is that his baptism is set for August 4! It is interesting to me how the same principles need to be taught or emphasized so differently for different people. We took him around on Saturday and he said there was a 50% chance he would be at church the next day. I'll admit I was a little surprised to see him show up, but he did! He had to run after sacrament meeting but I really think he enjoyed it. He deals with some social anxiety so I don't know what he was thinking of how friendly everyone was, but that is exactly what's going to help him overcome those things. He seemed pretty comfortable explaining to everyone that this was his first time and I thought it was neat that he was telling them that he was starting a new life. Richie was actually a referral from his friend who is investigating in a neighboring mission. I guess his friend contacted him this past week and from the sound of things they will be getting baptized around the same time. Awesome! I hope I don't get transferred. I wore my hair up on Sunday which I guess I don't do very often because several of the ward members expressed concern about Sister Davis being transferred without warning! Brother Tyler (who reminds me of Dad because he teases me relentlessly) was upset until he got close enough to read my tag and realize that I'm still here :) I'm glad that me leaving would be disappointing to more than just me. I just feel like that's my ward now and I can't imagine serving anywhere else. It's highly unlikely that I'll serve all my mission in Malibu though, so the beat goes on I suppose and I'll love the other areas as well. Something that we have been working on with our members lately is family mission plans. Novel idea! We brainstorm with them about how they can do missionary work on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and the next time we see them present them with a typed mission plan that they can put somewhere visible and use. Just an idea for maybe an upcoming home evening. The other pictures are of the people that stopped in last week and a hike we did earlier today. I love you all and hope you are all doing tremendously well. Oh ya! I got a package from the young women in the ward and it was so good to hear from all of them. The 15th ward has some amazing girls with solid testimonies and if you're reading this: I hope you know that each and every one of you has been an example to me and I love you! Keep up the good work. Don't skip seminary. Study your scriptures. Pray always. Continue to be an example to everyone around you. I'm so very proud!


Sister Davis

Sister Davis's Weekly News

(Picture of Sister Davis with her Uncle Brad, Tawni (holding Nike), Brianna, and Stockton, found on Facebook)


Friends and Family,

I do have a couple of things to update you on even though it has only been a few days. Unfortunately I forgot my camera today so pictures of Uncle Brad and his family as well as some Idaho Ballroom Academy friends will have to wait until next week. I also saw some of Dad's good friends- the Gallups who were able to perform some Nashville Tribute music here at the center. Our investigators are doing so well! Rob and Cade are very busy and heading off to Hawaii for a week so they are kind of on hold, but Richie and Zach are really progressing. We haven't been able to get Richie to church as of yet because he plays tennis on Sundays, but we invited him to be baptized this week and while he doesn't want to set an exact date he did say that he can see himself getting to that point. His main struggle is the "Mormon" label. He wants to be baptized, but doesn't know that he wants to be "a Mormon". We have explained how the nickname came about and everything but it just still freaks him out. I think we will watch some Mormon.org profiles with him because he hasn't done it on his own and I think it could clear up some of his apprehension. We really need to get him to church as well because you can't not want to be a part of something that you haven't tried... especially when it's awesome! It's interesting to try to find that balance between boldly inviting and yet not being overbearing. Sometimes it's hard to convey to people just how important this really is. That in and of itself can be frustrating. Also, people have their agency which is sometimes hard for me to fully understand. In my mind there has to be a certain way to approach it, a principle or phrase that will convince them that they need the gospel in their life! If only that were true. Some won't accept it. Some won't even listen long enough to really understand what it is that they aren't accepting, regardless of how many times I practiced that door approach in my head. Anyway, enough of that pessimism. On the other hand, I also know that the Lord is preparing people. Zach came to church! He stayed all three hours and as he was sitting with us my mind was going a million miles an hour. "I really hope he isn't bored," "How would someone who has never been to church in their life process all of this?" I'll admit, I was a little panicky. I tried to explain things as we went along since we only had one lesson beforehand that didn't really involve anything that would be going on at church. When I told him about the bread and water he said "Did you say wine? You know I'm a recovering alcoholic right?" I tried not to laugh as I repeated "no, no. Water..." The great news is that he loved it. He said that he had an experience during the sacrament and that it felt like a big family even before anyone really spoke to him. He seemed to enjoy Sunday school and after priesthood mentioned that he liked how the scriptures they discussed seemed to apply to him. The BAD news is that he's 20... so we will probably be transferring him to the companionship serving in the Santa Monica YSA ward :( I'm pretty disappointed that we most likely won't continue to teach him, but when he prayed with us for the first time he specifically asked to be able to meet new people that care about more than just getting high and wasted... Ya. I'm thinking he would really like the YSA ward :) I think that is pretty much the update. The VC is good. We gave an impromptu lesson to someone that came in who wants to have the lessons and be baptized. His friend who brought him wants him to just come here and have all the lessons with the sisters, which we took as a compliment, but he actually lives in an assistants' area so he should be connecting with them soon and hopefully we'll get the updates. My first few weeks here I never would have dreamed that I would be saying this, but I really love my area and I hope to stay in Malibu for some time. Word on the street is that Will Smith is living in our area currently, well a lot of famous people have homes there, but he is the one that my companion and I are unsecretly hoping to bring into the fold. I love you all! Thank you so much for all your support. Sister Davis