Hey Everybody!
So, I’m going to share some highlights from last week before I get into this week.
Last Friday, we had Zone Meeting, which is where all the districts from the Zone get together for training from the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders.
The Zone Leaders, Elder Pulsipher and Elder Sanabria, had three people come up front with basketballs. One basketball was filled up, one partially flat and another quite flat but still able to bounce.
Each person took a basketball and had to bounce it below their knee for a minute. If it stopped bouncing, they had to stop dribbling it. Elder Evans was bouncing the filled one and it was super easy for him to bounce it, while the other two had some trouble keeping it going.
The Zone Leaders talked about how God is the one dribbling the basketball and we are the basketball. The more we are filled up, the easier it is for Him to dribble us. Likewise, the more obedient we are, the easier it is for us to be instruments in His hands.
The Sister Training Leaders, Sister Black and Sister McGarvey, talked about how we keep recent converts active and how we help investigators to be baptized. We SEEK….
Sacrament-Partake of the sacrament to have the Spirit to be with us,
Enlighten- Have and Attitude of Humility (broken heart, contrite spirit),
Establish- Match the right member with the right investigator, and…
Keep- When we continually are obedient, the Lord will bless us.
They were both really good and it was cool to learn from them.
After Zone Meeting, we went on exchanges to West Bridgewater with the Zone Leaders, but they live in Brockton, so my first exchanges were in Brockton! It is so different…..it is south of Boston by a little bit and is basically old two story buildings with sidewalks… asphalt sidewalks…., one lane roads and almost no white people. The majority of the people are from Cape Verde or Haiti.
There are four sets of missionaries in Brockton: 1 English, 1 Portugese Elders, 1 Portugese Sisters, and 1 of Haitianaries (Haitian Creole). Almost anyone is open to listening about the Gospel or giving you their phone number and tracting is about the easiest thing ever invented. Most of the people there don’t work, so they are just outside all the time. It is such a different world. I was with Elder Sanabria for the 24 hours.
We taught three lessons on Friday night, and went tracting in the morning. We probably got 5 or 6 numbers while walking around, which would be a miracle if those numbers had come from Cape Cod. It was a great experience and I grew a lot in confidence as a missionary, and Elder Woodward said that I grew a lot as a missionary, too, over the weekend, which I’m excited for. I feel like I have been growing more comfortable in members’ homes, more knowledgeable in how to preach the gospel, and more confident in talking to others.
We visited the Whydah Pirate Museum on P-Day this week and it was really cool. The Whydah (wi-duh) was a pirate ship that crashed almost 300 years ago and was discovered in the 1980s right off the shores of Cape Cod. They have been pulling up chunks of stuff that are in concretions since it was discovered. The concretions keep it well preserved, so there are so many artifacts that have helped historians to have a better idea of what life as a Pirate was like.
They also claim to have the only authenticated pirate treasure in the world, so touching pirate treasure was cool (they put individual pieces of eight under plastic and you could put your finger through a quarter sized hole in the plastic and touch the pirate treasure. Kinda lame, but still cool!) The museum explained a lot about the basics about pirates, jobs on the ship, kinds of ships, kinds of tools and weapons, life as a pirate, specifics about those on the Whydah, and kinds of treasure. It was in Brewster and the whole district and a recent convert from Brewster came! It was a lot of fun and very educational. How is that for a P-Day? 😉
We had a baptism this week (Saturday). 🙂 It wasn’t an investigator, but it was still special. I had the opportunity to baptize a member’s youngest son on Saturday. His father had passed away about a year ago, and the father had baptized all 7 or 8 of the children except for his youngest before he passed away. It was small, only the family was there, but it was a good thing. A few family members bore their testimonies at the beginning and it was beautiful to feel their sweet spirit and the love they had for each other. Elder Woodward confirmed him right after he was baptized and it was a cool start to the evening.
Earlier that day, we got a call from Sister Miller…….Elder Woodward, suffice it to say, freaked out…..she asked us what we were doing that afternoon/evening and we said we had a baptism, but no dinner appointment. She asked if we would like to go to dinner with them since they were on the Cape for a P-Day, and we immediately said yes (….this doesn’t happen very often …. or at all ….ever).
Later, we were contacting, since the Zone goal was to contact 205 people and we contacted 7 people, which was pretty good) and as we were knocking on a door to inquire about a confusing statue out front, a voice from behind us called out,”I’m interested in your message”.
We spun around and it was the Millers! Caught in the act was probably the best way for them to find us, but it was really funny! We met for dinner in Mashpee, which is between our area and Brewster, and had a great night with the Millers! We talked about progressing investigators, our areas, the best part of our missions so far, and general small talk.
I felt completely comfortable around him and it was a rare and special experience to be able to be in such a personal situation with them. They thanked us for all that we do and said that we were great missionaries, and that just gave me a confidence boost! They are amazing and so loving towards each missionary in the mission and I am so lucky that they are over this mission.
I know this Gospel is true and that the Lord will support us when we are doing our best to be like Him. The more we work to align our wills with His, the more specific our prayers become and the more specific His miracles and blessings in our lives become.
Living the commandments and keeping our covenants are so important and allow us to have that spiritual power. As we strive the best we can to keep the promises we make at Sacrament, the more we can have the Spirit with us throughout the week.
I love you all and thank you for your love and support! Keep the faith, be faithful, and seek to pray for and be worthy of miracles. The Lord loves you and will provide.
Love,
Elder Davis
Where the Lord Wants Me 