11-04-09

Hey!

So this is going to be the lamest email I ever sent and I hope that none of my other emails are this lame... ha-ha! I have absolutely no time at all to write with all of the Chihuahua trips I have taken. I have lost a lot of my p-day time and so it’s been tough trying to do everything and still have time to go to internet cafe.

This was an exciting week to say the least! There were a lot of things that happened and I have so much to tell you all.

So the most exciting part was “Day of the Dead” and the activity we put on in the cemetery. Day of the Dead is the first and second of November, and it is like a mini fair at the cemetery. Everyone goes and cleans off the grave of the one who has passed away and then puts lots of nice flowers on the grave. But also everyone goes to sell food and stuff and the whole event turns into a fair. So the mission president had all of us go to the cemetery and put up a little table with lots of pictures of Christ and we brought all kinds of pamphlets. Then people came over and asked as loads of questions and we were able to contact like a billion people. It went great and we have enough work for the whole month now! It worked great because the people who have an interest in learning about Christ are the ones to come over and talk to us so we get the best of the people. Plus there were a lot of people there so we had plenty of people to talk to. The other missionaries, our leaders, were going to help us... but they bailed out to go work only in their town so we were alone, but I learned a ton because of it. I feel like I have become a much better people person and learned to really bring a lot of energy to the conversation. I have learned to present myself in a good way - if that makes sense. My comp is way nervous and timid so it was great to see him come out of his shell. I could tell he felt real awkward but he did great and we both stepped up and learned a lot. I felt so awkward for like 3 minutes and then I loved it and just went about talking to everyone. Even if we don’t teach anyone, we gave the church a little better image because a lot of people have crazy ideas about the church.

Halloween was sad... no decorations or trick or treaters or anything.... it’s not even a special day here. But we had a great lesson with Brenda and Chewy on Halloween night so it was much better than a normal night.

We also had interviews with President Flores this week. He came by and we met him at the church. It went well and I left real motivated. I have not really realized how much of a difference we have made here until he started asking questions and then seemed so surprised with our responses. Oh and in August our mission completed our goal of 200 baptisms in 1 month and that is the most baptisms this mission has EVER had in one month!! We got a cool shirt to remember the accomplishment (but we had to pay for... ha-ha). But it’s cool to be a part of, especially since I personally baptized 6 in the month of August :) Oh and I got a few great letters from home too, thanks grandma and Cheryl for the letter and I also got a few letters from so friends who are out on missions as well.

So this week we had to go and get permission from the local government here to be able to go to the cemetery to put up our table and we had a lot of fun doing it. We went about making friends with all of the government people and now we have all kinds of friends in the local government. They even gave us a huge map of Meoqui for FREE!! Cool huh! We did not have a map that even showed all the streets or anything and now we have a great big one with all the street names and all! Plus we even ended up teaching a group of the government people and then more and more people started coming by and then we taught the whole group of people. It also made me see the large economic gap in between the upper class and the lower class. There is such a difference between the two and I thought about it a lot. The largest part of the gap comes from the mentality of the lower class. Yeah there is the whole situation they are in, but the way they see things and the goals they set are what really define the difference. I try really hard to give the people hope and push themselves to leave the poverty behind and TRY to reach their maximum potential. They don’t set goals and without goals how do we even accomplish anything.... It was a weird thought process that is hard to explain.

So today I was in Chihuahua the whole morning for the whole tooth bit. We slept in the mission offices last night and it’s been great because I have made friends with all the office people in the mission home. I talked a lot with the assistants and I learned a whole lot. They taught me by their example and we discussed for a while about the mission and things to improve on and such. I liked talking to the leaders of the mission and trying to see what makes the leaders “leaders” and why others aren’t. The thing they ALL have in common though is their level of obedience. Obedience is the secret to life I have decided. It takes a lot of humility and patience, but it’s something to really work on.

So that is the week for the most part.... All goes well and I have been healthy and all. We have a LOT of work for this next week so we will see how it all goes. I love you all so much and thank you for all of the support!

Love

Elder Andrew Davidson

10/28/09

Hey everyone!

So another week down and many more to go! So this week went well for the most part, I have been a little sick these past three days, and not that it’s too bad. It’s just sad because no one really cares... sad, but true. You just have to deal with it and act like you are not sick and keep working to the best of your abilities. I guess if you have a good comp he would care, but all of mine just look at me like I need to suck it up more and doesn’t say much to me.... Life in the mission. It always teaches me a lot about little sacrifices and relying on the lord, so that is always great.

Today I have to head to Chihuahua again; we were just able to get in our email time before we have to leave. Kind of sucks to lose your p-day for a month for a tooth... But what can you do?

So there have been a number of good experiences this week. We have been working a lot with the part member families and the less-actives and have had a number of Family nights this past week. It’s always a lot of fun and interesting. In one of them we were having it in the lower end part of town and we had a good activity all planned out and the people were going to write stuff out and all.... but then as we started we remembered that no one could read or write... opps.... ha-ha ! We made it work out and we were just a humble group of Gods children trying our best to learn :) I liked it!

So our investigator Brenda, who is 30, continues to progress a ton! We hope to baptize her this week end, but we have to wait to see how a few things work out. She is very strong and knows the gospel; she just needs to allow it to really touch her heart. She is actually the best friend of Chewy; they are not dating at all, just really good friends. So that’s exciting.

Oh and this week we confirmed Chewy and then had Chewy and Edwin ordained to the Aaronic priesthood! :) It was awesome and chewy already talks about a mission! Okay, so side note, we made the radio here in Meoqui!!!!! One of the members was listen to the radio, and then some Catholics got on and were bashing other religions, what they often do, and they mentioned us! SO I have mentioned that I started an English class and it was free and it was a chance to serve the people. So this radio station is over all of the area and delicias and other bigger cities. So these Catholics on the radio mentioned us giving English class for free! Cool huh? I don’t think they meant to help us out. Not sure if I explained the story well or not, but it was funny to us.

I continue to love the work and love being here in Meoqui. Even as times get tough i know why i am here and what I need to be doing. Obedience is the secret to life. If you want to be happy, follow God’s advice, it’s ALWAYS the best advice :)

Love you all!

Love, Elder Andrew Davidson

10/19/09

10/19/09

Hey everyone!

So another crazy week gone by already! I swear time keeps speeding up! I had to be in Chihuahua again yesterday so I did not write. I had to see the dentist again for the whole root canal bit. I have to go each week for like a month; does it always take this long? Guess I have never had a root canal before so it’s new to me. We came back yesterday in the night because I did not have to have another appt in the morning. SO that was good.

This past Friday we had the baptism of Chewy, or Jesús Huerta! He is one of my best converts and is amazing! I have already told a number of stories about him, but it was an amazing experience to be at his baptism. He is already preparing to receive the gift of the holy ghost this weekend as well as receive the priesthood so he can baptism his best friend who is going to be baptized the next week! :) Cool huh? He is way excited and so is she! She is not his girl friend, but she is a lifelong family friend who continues to progress as Chewy is! His younger brother, Edwin, my convert is going to receive the priesthood this week as well! :) Chewy also goes to institute and all and has friends in the church and everything. We have even talked about the mission a few times as well! :) I know its quick, but I want him to want to go for the whole year or so he has time to prepare. :)

Also when we were at the baptism and we eating cake after (yes, we bought a cake) some guy from Oklahoma comes in and looks for me and starts talking to me in English. He is here for work and is a member and saw the church open and just wanted to stop by and say hi. Turns out he went to the BYU Oklahoma game in TX and showed me pictures and all! He wanted to talk to a few people, but doesn’t speak Spanish.... so I forgot and start introducing him to Chewy and such as he wanted to congratulate him and then after one would speak they would both look at me to translate... it was weird, but kind of cool. I forget most of the time that I speak two languages so it’s fun to remember sometimes.

So we had stake conference this week and there were two members of the seventy there so that was cool. One was from the first quorum of the seventy and part of the area presidency of Mexico and gave a great talk. It got Chewy all excited all over again and it was fun to be there with him and explain a bit of the church organization to him.

So we had a family home evening this past Monday with a recent convert family and it was a lot of fun. They are all so humble and ready to learn, but yet so unsure of themselves. They always want us to tell them how to do it all... but then they don’t learn. So we help them to do it all and just help out a little. It’s a lot of fun and I love being with families :)

Oh and my comp turned 20 this past Sunday so that was cool. I made him breakfast and gave him a little present. :)

The work continues to go well and I love being here. It’s a lot of work and can be really tough at times, but I would not trade these 2 years or experiences for anything! Thank you for all of the support and love!

Love,

Elder Andrew Davidson

10/13

Hey family!
So WOW these past two days has been rough to say the least! I learned a lot, so I’m happy about that, but I’m just really tired right now. So this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I was sick, especially on Sunday. I couldn’t even get out of bed Sunday morning and then I got all ready to go to church because I just felt I had to go as hard as it was for me. So this Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting and I have my convert, Edwin(12) there wearing a white shirt and tie for the first time which alone made my day as he had his priesthood interview! :) PLUS his older brother, Chewy (22), was there in a white shirt and tie with his friend, Brenda (30) who will be baptized next week! :) It gave me all the energy in the world when I saw them there together - happy and excited! THEN Chewy gets up after 5 or 6 people had borne their testimony and said "I’m the one getting baptized this Friday (it was announced)" and then continued on to say how excited he was and how proud he was to be a member and how real and true the gospel is. AS AN INVESTOGATOR! He isn’t a member yet! It was the best moment of my life. I have never been happier than hearing him bare his testimony! He called us out during his testimony and it was a little awkward...But he was just saying how we were the sign God sent and have changed his life forever. We even talked more about a mission this week and he is going to go to institute as well! He is amazing and has such a strong testimony. Then.... I don’t know how because I had not eaten in 2 days, but I got up to bear my testimony and it’s was so great and the whole meeting was very inspiring and spiritually uplifting! :)
Then on Tuesday in the morning we went to have zone conference in Chihuahua City, which is like an hour away. It was AMAZING and I learned so much! After I had my dentist appt so we went with the mission president and his wife, who I really like, and it was so cool to just feel like their kids and to go run a few errands and talk for a while and THEN we get to go to their house which is the house for the mission president! We got to eat with them and their son, who I got all excited for water polo and it was really a fun experience. The house is SO cool though! When President was giving us a tour of the house we saw the room where the general authorities stay when they come! I touched the bed.... ha-ha!
Then the hard part of the trip.... waiting in the dentist office from 5 til 9 just to be looked at.... then them telling me I need a root canal because of a bad filling I had that was loose and allowed food to get stuck in for a while.... and then being operated on until 1:30 in the morning! Yeah! SO then we go the mission office, where the assistants sleep and where all the offices are, and slept for a few hours and then went back in the morning. I was there from 9am till 12pm ad then we TRIED to go back to Meoqui, but someone was killed in the bus station so we had to wait a few hours.... carrying like 30 pounds of materials for the zone the whole time. Also we saw drug deals when we were walking.... they were moving someone in very rich clothes and he was holding a HUGE M-16.... not an everyday sight.... So then as we are walking back just trying to get home and then about 4pm a member who is a "detective" who also has a huge M-16 and a pistol in his truck he opens the door and says get in as he moves is guns around to allow us to fit! It was kind of funny and weirdly not that strange. Guess I have been here for a while. Everyone here has a general respect for us and knows us and our purpose and don’t ever mess with us. That is a LITTLE part of my days. I have to go back next week to have more work on my tooth done, so we will see how that goes.
Crazy huh? One of the highlights was when we got stranded out of the bus station in the hot sun, in jackets, and lots of stuff to carry I realized how much I have changed. My comp was all frustrated and upset and it made me realize how calm and optimistic I was. I wasn’t frustrated or mad or angry at all... Plus not to mention my throbbing mouth after having it jacked around for so long. But I was semi happy and really calm and just looking forward and making the best decisions I could step by step, not letting the pulls of life phase me. Obviously I still get frustrated, but especially since the prophets talk on anger, I have really tried to cut it out. It does NO good and just destroys the things we care about most. You know? It was part of my learning day, just rolling with the blows of life and not letting Satan get you frustrated. :)
Life continues onward and time is flying!!!! Wow! I love the mission and love the gospel!! It’s everything and I know if I live it, I will be happy. No matter the circumstance. :)
Thanks for all the love and support! Oh and thank you grandma Davidson, Emily and Suzy Bush, and Sandi for the letters! :)
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

9/29/09

Hey!

So I don’t have much time today because I spent all my time writing my family individually and writing a little longer emails... sorry!

But this week was another fast week and I am pretty sure I worked harder this week than any other week in my whole mission. We taught a ridiculous number of people and we really stayed diligent. I have one of the hardest areas in the mission to say the least and so we have really have the privilege to learn to continuously stay diligent and not let up. Obviously we had times when we lost a little bit of time, but we stayed real strong. I feel like running every morning and getting up early has helped us to really stay focused and diligent. :) It’s something I really need to learn and carry into my life when I come home.

So I realize that I need to be better at telling more stories when I email and tell more about the lives of the people we teach and less about the little things... ha-ha sorry. So I will try to tell more stories of the people from now on. I don’t not have much time and the internet cafe is about to close, but I will write what I can.

So right now we are teaching someone named Jesus (Chewy) Huerta Gallegos and he is the older brother of a convert and is 22 years old. I’m pretty sure I have mentioned him before. So he continues to progress and we have become great friends. But the other day we were ending a lesson with him and his friend and we invited him to say the closing prayer. So in his prayer he mentions how he wants all of the people who feel lonely and alone like he did to find the missionaries where ever they live. Then he says that before we came he had been praying for a sign that God exists and loves him and that he can be lead and that WE are that sign. That he has come to have so much more faith and loves the changes he has made and how much happier he is. So he mentions all of this in his prayer thanking our Heavenly Father for all of it, and we were just like.... WOW.... We all felt the spirit very strong to say the least! Then after I was writing in my journal and reflecting on what he said and I realized how very sacred this calling we have is. How lucky and privileged we are to be here and how we are to be this "sign" from God. We are to be on His errand for these two years and need to be doing all we can every second of the day. We need to allow ourselves to be totally obedient and be lead by His guidance. How amazing is the opportunity to be a missionary! I recommend it for anyone! It will change the way you see the world and teach you how to truly be happy! :)

So we are getting kicked out right now, but I promise to tell more stories next week! The work goes on and we are working hard! Its tuff sometimes here in Meoqui but I have come to love the people and all they continue to teach me each and every day! This is all one big learning opportunity for everyone! :)

I love the work and thank you for all of your love and support! Oh and thanks Larissa and Grandma Stevenson for the package and letter!

Love you all so much! Thank you for all the support!

Love,

Elder Andrew Davidson

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9/22/09
Hey everyone!
So time goes by SO dang fast! Weeks just fly by because we have so much work to do and we have become so concentrated in it!
This past week was not too exciting but I learned a ton! I had a lot of great learning experiences and it’s helped me to become a better missionary. :)
Life being super busy is normal for us and we still don’t have a bishop or really any leadership here so it’s been a little tough. We put on our ward activity this past Saturday and it went really well. We had a lot of people there and we had a lot of fun. I’m a MUCH better public speaker than I even thought I was a year ago. I actually have come to enjoy it :)
So we have been running every morning at 6:15 and it’s been great! I have lost a little weight already and I feel so much better during the day. We ride bikes all day so we get exercise, but the running in the mornings has made me feel a world better physically! :) I really hope to continue to run every day for the rest of my mission! I guess we will see how that goes... ha-ha but I’ll try,
So with the investigators: Chewy (Jesus) has progressed a lot and has quit smoking and drinking and we are working a lot with him. He is 22 so it’s been great teaching him, but he has crappy friends so it makes things harder. He is the brother of my convert‘s Edwin. It has been really good to teach him all the lessons because of the similarity of our ages. I have learned a lot of how to apply the gospel to my life when I get home. Edwin has also gotten really excited to see the changes in his brother and he is real inspired to be strong in the gospel. Also we met a way awesome family this week. They are really smart which makes teaching a WORLD easier and they know a lot about the bible, which also helps a lot. The smarter people are the better as long as they are not prideful... But it’s a family of 4 and they think missionaries are so cool and ask us a million questions every time we teach them! Just about the work we do and how the whole mission thing works. It really is crazy how efficient the church is and how organized everything is! We really have high hopes for them!
So I decided I really LOVE little Meoqui today! :) I love the small town feel and it’s so much easier to separate yourself from the world and just WORK! We were in Delcias today, the big town close by and I felt so awkward being in a big town... ha-ha! I guess it’s hard to explain, but I love my little town and the people here.
I love the work and that I get to be here! The gospel is true and I have never been surer of anything in my life! I KNOW it! :)
Con mucho amor!
Elder Andrew Davidson

9/8/09
Hey!
So today we have like no time at all because we are using the internet in the morning and this place is about to close for lunch time. Speaking of that, the WHOLE town here just shuts down completely between 1 and 3 for lunch time. Nothing is open and no one is on the roads, it’s crazy! Everyone just respects the hour of lunch time too much and everything closes down, cool huh?
So this week was not terribly exciting, we had zone conference this past Thursday so that was cool. Zone conference is when all the missionaries close to me all gather together with the mission president and 6 missionaries teach along with the president and we all become better missionaries. SO I had to teach and it went well. Not as good as I hoped it would and I felt bad immediately after, but I talked with the mission president after and he said it went real well and I should expect to do it again in the near future.... great!! I was not as nervous as I thought, but I needed to me more direct because I went a little over on time. But I was WAY nervous before conference though. Conference went really well as a whole and I really enjoyed it. Oh and Elder Juarez, my first comp was there and it was good to see him. He was all excited I was going to teach during zone conference too! The point is that I learned a ton and struggled enough to help me learn even more so I can continue to get better each time, you know?
Oh and I got a few letters too! Grandma Stevenson, Paula, Steve Swan(missionary in NY) and kali all wrote me so that was great to hear from all of them! Today I hope to get a few letters sent out as well.
Also our bishop is not longer here... our only help... so now we have to do and lead everything and have no bishop for the time being. It is a lot of work and we have so many people we are visiting right now, but its taught me a lot and we have to stay very focused to get everything we need to do done.
I love being here and love the work! Mexico is awesome! :)
Hope all is well and home and thank you for all of the love and support!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson
9/15/09

HEY!
So another week down and I have 8 and 1/2 months in the mission! CRAZY how fast time flies! I just had my birthday! Well I guess today feel like my birthday because I got an amazing package from home and from Paul and letters from grandma, a convert, and another missionary here in Chihuahua! SO that made my day! :) Thank you so much! I already wrote my family emails, but thank you so much Paul! I loved the letter and the tie and especially the PMG. Danielle has a note I sent to you from her. :) Also thanks grandma and grandpa! I love hearing from you! :)
So this week was not too exciting and a little tough to be honest but it has taught me SO SO very much. It’s really allowed me to become a better missionary and focus on what’s really important as a missionary and what I need to do to help the people feel the power of the message we are sharing! It’s helped me to reflect a lot on why I’m here and what I need to be doing here. Meoqui is definitely one of the harder areas in the mission with the members and all and without a bishop, but it has allowed me to stretch and grow in ways I could not have imagined before.
Anyway, so the English class went well and a lot of new people are coming. Plus it teaches me a LOT of patience. Lot of repeating things and talking real slow. I have decided I would like to work at the MTC when I get back so its taught me a lot about teaching a language and how best to do it. It’s fun though and I get a kick out of the fact that I teach a English class. :) Also on sat we had our monthly cooking class and it went real well. Well for the most part. So I had to teach this week and I taught how to make caramel popcorn. Everyone LOVED the caramel popcorn and how easy and cheap it was and thought I was so cool for knowing how. The women here just assume all guys can’t cook at all, well because it’s true here, and were all so amazed with a guy teaching how to cook something. I had fun doing it. I was meaning to take a video of it but I forgot to...sorry. It was also cool because I had to learn a whole other vocabulary to teach how to cook it and all and I expanded my vocab a lot in the process. I also think in Spanish now.... like 100%.... weird.... sometimes I remember I speak Spanish and think it’s funny. You know?
So yeah we had those activities this week and we are planning a family home evening as a ward for this sat and we have assigned all the members a little part and have flyers and all so I feel like it’s going to work out really well. Everyone is really excited about and we hope to get a lot of people out to church in the process. Oh and we spoke again on Sunday. I guess it’s not news anymore. But we had 30 min to fill and my comp used 9.... so I talked for like 20. It went by real fast and I didn’t even I filled the time till after. I have grateful for the opportunity to plan and direct so many activities and give so many talks because I am really becoming a lot better at it and learn a TON in the process. I especially learn a lot about people and working with groups of people and learning to be a better leader and keep their attention. You know? I have never been a big fan of group projects so it’s taught me a lot about working with people to accomplish a goal. I’m grateful to say the least. Hard, very very hard at times and a lot to do and figure out, but rewarding at the same time. :) That’s pretty much the story of the mission.
Oh and I completed my second full journal the other week! I’m on my third and write a page everyday still :)
So the work has been a little slow and hard. A lot of people just live together and decide they are together and never get married, and we can’t baptize people who are not married so we have to work a lot with people to get married. It is weird to give council and all seeing how I’m not married yet.... ha-ha. There have just been a lot of hard situations out investigators are facing, like family deaths and illegally entering the US with their family and then get exported living away from them and all. And it’s hard because we want to solve their problems and help them, but we have to remember we are to teach them to confide in the gospel and use it to solve all of their problems and get through all of the trails. You know? We do what we can. But it’s taught me a lot about family and marriage life and what does and doesn’t work in marriage and what it takes to have a successful one.
The work goes on and I love the people and Meoqui, even if it is a little bit hard at times. I grateful to be here and know there is NO where else in the world I rather be than here. The gospel is TRUE! ;)
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

9/1/09

Hey everyone!
Thank you for all of the birthday emails, they made my day! Yes today is my birthday and I’m glad I can email everyone on my actual birthday, makes it a little more special. To be honest I was dreading my birthday a little and thought it was just going to be a sad day and be no different than the rest. So I was trying hard not to expect much seeing how I don’t know many people yet or know them very well yet, but surprisingly it has been a great day! I washed a lot of my clothes last night so I don’t have to wash so much today, oh and we wash our clothes by hand. Like with soapy water and a scrub board. The old fashioned way ;) We also shower by filling a bucket with cold water and dump in on ourselves in the shower... :) I love life here though. I actually really like washing clothes by hand, it MUCH more effective and CHEAPER :) It just takes a LOT more time, is the only real down side.
Any ways so in the morning my mission president and his wife call me and wish me happy birthday and they were driving to a zone conference of another zone and all the missionaries in the car sang me happy birthday and also sang the Mexico birthday song too! :) PLUS the coolest part was that my best friend here in the mission, Elder Killpack, who I have not heard from or seen in 2 months now, was in the car too going to his zone conference and I got to talk to him for a few minutes! :) It made my morning! Plus there are 180 missionaries in the mission and he called me personally to tell me happy birthday! cool huh?
Then we went to district meeting and it is my birthday and it’s the birthday of one of the sisters in our district, so after the meeting we had cake and it was fun. They made us take the biggest bite out of the cake that me could and then shoved our faces in it! I have pictures and a video of it all. I am going to try and send a picture of it home. So also someone in the sister’s ward made a piñata! The best part was that it was Michael Jackson with the silver glove and ALL! I laughed so hard! I’ll send a picture home of that too! :) We then played a little basketball and it was a lot of fun, we have 8 people in our district by the way. Then my comp and I came back to little Meoqui and cooked hamburgers and drank IBC root beer! It doesn’t exist here in Mexico but someone brought it back from the states and sells it in their little shop. Today has been a good day, especially since I did not expect much. I’m glad it’s a p-day though, so it was at least a little different, you know?
So this week as a whole has been pretty good. We still have loads of work to do and have been diligent, but of course we can step it up. Oh and we spoke in church on Sunday again. We speak twice a month here so that is good. I have really come to enjoy speaking to be honest. I always learn a lot and I love being able to share a message with everyone. Plus I’m not really nervous anymore before or during. It’s becoming a more normal thing. And of course I learn lots of Spanish in the midst of it all too :) Oh I spoke about family prayer this week and how amazing it is!
So sorry, but I’m not going to tell the Paula story today... it’s been a little bumpy this past week and so I’m going to wait till it has a good ending to tell it. Sorry!
Oh and when we were teaching two of our investigators at the entrance to Meoqui. It’s a road that comes in and everyone sells things on the side of the road. And so we are teaching two of them and there is an ex-bishop of a ward over in Delicaias that works there too. So his daughter and the ex-bishop, stops by and she has a non member friend and we contact her and what not, and then it turns out the daughter lives in CA and is visiting and went home yesterday. So she asked me if I have any letters I want to give her to send and she can send them from the states, which is WAY faster and for my home telephone number and she is going to call you mom and ask if you want to send anything to me and that you can send it to her and she will bring it to me in October when she is coming to visit again. You can send something to her if you would like to, she seems reliable. But just expect a call from someone who does not speak too much English - ha-ha :) So I was able to send a letter off to home and to Larissa through her and I feel like they should get there real quick, but who knows. It was great luck and she is a very nice lady! She drove all the way from Delicas to Meoqui to get the letters from me to send! :)
So we have had a few more meetings with the bishop to be discuss working together and really helping the ward grow and such and then at the end of our 2 hour meeting, he tells us that next week he is leaving to Monterrey!.... so we think the old bishop is going to be bishop again because there is no one else, but who knows, I guess we are going to have to wait and see this week. But we have organized the priesthood quorums and got quorum leaders called and all and have a list of all the calling holes we need to fill. So we will go little by little reactivating people and baptizing people to fill the holes and get the ward going real strong.
Oh so I also am officially an English teacher... ha-ha! I teach English classes every week and we made flyers and all and have them posted all over town. We only have like 14 people in the class but a lot of people are interested and it gets people out to the church and allows them to get to know the members and such. It’s been really successful so far and since I just learned Spanish I just use all the games and activities we did, but in English. It’s a lot of fun and the kids call me professor which is funny to me :) We have started a weekly English class, mutual activity, and a monthly ward family home evening and cooking class! It’s been fun to be honest! I love working with the ward to such a great extent, it’s been really rewarding to say the least. :)
My companion and I have been getting along really well! We work together really well and have been really unified in teaching! It’s just great to have a companion who wants to be obedient as well. The last two were so difficult so it’s nice to have a good chill companion!
So Edwin Huerta was baptized this week. Aida and Javier Hinjos didn’t because Javier had to leave for work this past weekend and so we are going to have their baptisms this coming week so we are stoked for that!
We also have been working a lot with Edwin’s mom who WAS a less active and we have really become friends with her. We are even starting to put goals for her to enter the temple and get sealed to her husband, who died a year ago, and to her 3 kids. Well only 2 are members but we are working with her other 22 year old son to get baptized right now. She is a lot of fun and WAY happy and I love feeling like such a part of the family. We are actually going to their house at like 7 to have an appt with her son and she said she was going to make something for my birthday! :) She was the only one to offer something, but I’m excited!
WOW! So my zone leader just called me and I have to teach in zone conference this Thursday! Only 6 people teach and they are the zone leader, the 3 district leaders, the assistant to the president, and ME.... cool huh? It’s the conference with the mission president and his wife and the assistants and ALL. I’m really excited and nervous! I know I will learn a lot from the experience so I’m excited! I’ll be sure to tell you how it goes.... :)
So that is about all of this week! All goes well and I LOVE being here and love the work! Oh and thank you Danielle for the package! I love it! I have not gotten anything else from others yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I do! :)
Love you so much, the gospel is true and if we LIVE it, it will change our life!
Con mucho amor,
Elder Andrew Davidson

8/24/09

Wow! So a lot has happened this past week!
So first off on Wednesday I received my new comp, his name is Elder Agustin and he is from Puebla Mexico. He has been on the mission for 5 months and was in my district in Juarez for the whole time so we already knew each other and we have always got along. I am also officially the senior companion with 7 and a half months in the mission but we still work 100% together it just that someone always has to be senior and the other is junior companion. I have always liked him and he is obedient and diligent, so that is GREAT. We get along well and I’m just way excited to have a companion who is not way dead in the mission and wants to work hard too! We are DEFINITELY going to make a big difference here in Meoqui! I’m way excited! Oh and he likes to play basketball, so we go to the church in the mornings and play so that is nice (we live 2 blocks from the church, or less).
So we have had a LOT of success this past week! It’s been amazing! First off we have the Hinojos family. They are a family of 7 and we baptized the two kids over the age of 8 this past Saturday, and we are going to baptize the mom and dad this coming Saturday. The dad, Javier, had to give up alcohol and really make a few big changes so we are pumped to help him out, and have really seen the difference and happiness in his life as he has embraced the gospel! They are EXTREMELY poor but it’s always a ton of fun to be over at their house because they have 3 little kids, 3 years old, 4, and 7 and they are hilarious! They find big bugs and play with them and it’s just a lot of fun to play with them. They don’t have any money to buy church clothes so I really want to buy them some. I don’t have any money right now, but I’m hoping someone sends me a little money for my birthday next week and I will use it to get them like a white shirt and tie. There are flea markets here so it should be real cheap, but I figure its a little way I can help them out. They also taught me a lot about pooling together as a family to make things work and about how really working together can make a difference. They are awesome!
So then there is Edwin! He is 12 and his mom is a less active, but she says she will be at church next week and her older sons are also members so we have been working with them a lot to help them get back into the church and be HAPPY! Edwin is EXTREMELY intelligent and his dad died a year ago, so we have taught him a lot about the plan of salvation. He gets baptized this week as well.
Then we have Paula and Aolani, they have a WAY cool story that is a little longer. They are going to get baptized next week so I will tell their story next Tuesday, or the one after their baptism. Sorry!
Oh and when they whole mission had changes this past Wednesday I got letters from mom, Mara, the Elms, Elder Lindsay, Larissa, and well a convert from Juarez too. I changed areas during special changes so the rest of the mission changed a lot this time around. I LOVED the letters and I am going to respond to all of them! Mara I am not sure where to send your letters and I’m pretty sure you have not gotten my last letter.
Oh and Danielle I got your package already! THANKS! I am not going to open it yet because I want something from my birthday. So yeah I will be 20 by next Tuesday! crazy! I’m excited, but to be honest not really.... I’m pretty sure it won’t be too exciting, but I’m not here to celebrate birthdays, I have people to serve!
It’s also been way cool being senior companion as I get to make the decisions. I like it... ha-ha! But really it’s not that much fun, but it has helped me to grow a lot and to be diligent all the time and never let up.
So yeah, it’s been a great week and I love being a part of these people lives, they are so amazing! I really love the people here! It will be hard to go back to the states ones day... Through serving people I have really come to love them so much and care about them. I love being on the mission and all the opportunities I have to learn and grow everyday because of it! There is nothing I rather be doing than serving the Lord right now!
The gospel is true, learn it, LIVE it and apply it. It WILL change your life; there is no doubt about it.
I love you all so very much!
Elder Andrew Davidson
P.S. This is my last email as a teenager..... HA-HA

8/17/09

8/17/09
Hey everyone, so another week in Meoqui! And my birthday is in 2 weeks from today! Wow time has flown by! Crazy to think I will be twenty! I feel like it won’t be a great birthday because I have only been here for two weeks and I am going to get a new comp tomorrow... but I’m not here to celebrate birthdays so I don’t expect too much.
So my companion went home on Sunday night with all of the others, and yeah it was a little distracting for a little bit because it made me think about what things will be like when I go home. But I have been with Elder Woodward an elder from my generation since then so we have just been working here while we wait for changes to come around. We will all get our new companions tomorrow so that is exciting. Also on Saturday I had a really good interview with the mission president and he was real direct with me and thanked me for pushing Elder Regnier and Elder Mar (my last two companions) so much. He helped me out a lot and it got me real excited to lead here in Meoqui, and try to really make the difference here.
Things have been changing around a lot with all the changes and people going home so I have been able to talk to the leaders quite a bit and it has really been a big help and I have learned so much! I’m pretty sure it would have taken me like 5 years to learn what I have learned in the past 7 months here. It’s been a real up and down experience but it amazing to me how much I get to learn each day and how blessed I am that I get to be here and work with the amazing people of Mexico.
I have already met a ton of amazing people here in Meoqui and I should be better about telling you about the people we are teaching... sorry. I don’t have too much time but we are preparing a family of 4 to be baptized this next Friday. There are many more stories but I’ll be better next week about telling you about them!
Life is great and the gospel is true! Live it and be happy!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

8/11/09
Hey everyone!
So another week has gone by and my first here in Meoqui.... wow... It has been a long week to say the least with a lot of ups and downs. But it’s been pretty good and I am starting too really like the little towns I am in. I say towns because there are 4-5 out skirt towns that are also part of my area, but Meoqui it the biggest town and is where we live.
It’s been a little tough with the companion because he goes home this week, but I have really pushed him a lot and he has been an excellent missionary. The past few sets of missionaries here really slacked off a lot to say the least so a few people have so-so ideas and church activity has gone down a little, but I really hope to be the difference here and bring it back up! I have my work cut out for me to say the least. I have these two weeks to learn the area with my comp and learn from him and then I am on my own. It’s going to be a lot of responsibility. I know if I confide and rely on the lord I can do it, but it will definitely be tough. The leadership here is not too great so my comp and I have to run all the church activities for our little town. It’s exciting though! I really feel like I can make a big difference here and I am excited for it. It has been a little distracting with my comp and 3 others in our district leaving for home in a couple of days, and them talking about home all the time and what they are going to do. But I really decided I would not even want to go home right not, I have so much more work to do and learn here on my mission.
Oh, so when I got here we had a way tiny and not very good house and I have already got us a new house. It’s only 10 dollars more a month and is twice the size of our last apartment and has a well working toilet and hot water for showers. We woke up and cleaned it real real well and are moving today! It’s a little tough with my comp because he leaves in a week and could care less, but he helps out. Oh and I spoke in church on Sunday again and it went real well! I felt real good after talking and it gets easier each time. Plus here we are going to speak every second week of the month so I will get used to it.
So yeah Meoqui is coming along, it’s a farm town and they produce a lot of corn, alfalfa, and watermelon. And I love watermelon and it’s SO cheap here. Like 50 cents for a HUGE watermelon so that’s cool!
I’m grateful to be here on the mission and I have never known more than I know now that the gospel is true and that we really can be happy in life, we just have to LIVE the gospel principles and watch them take effect in our lives!
I love you all so much and that you for all of the support!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

8-4-09

Hey everyone!So wow! This week has been a long one and a whole lot has happened! First of all, PLEASE DON’T SEND LETTERS OR PACKAGES TO THE P.O BOX OF JULIANA OROZCO IN EL PASO. I am not longer in Juarez and don’t send anything to there. Send it all to the other addresses, the one for letters and the other for packages.

The REGUALR EL PASO ADDRESS FOR MY WHOLE MISSION THAT GOES THROUGH MY MISSION PRESIDENT, BUT TAKES A WHILE IS:

FOR LETTERS ONLY
Elder Andrew Davidsonc/o Edgar Flores Prieto1650 Sioux Dr. CH. 44781El Paso, TX 79925

FOR PACKAGES AND ENVELOPES ONLY
Edgar Flores-Elder Andrew Davidson2220 Bassett AvePMB 106El Paso, TX 79901

I am now in Meoqui. It’s a little town below Chihuahua and I’m in the south part of the state. Crazy huh? I’ll tell you all about it in a second, but first I was in Juarez, my old area, until Monday morning. So this week we had 2 baptisms. We baptized this Ricardo and Dulce I think I have mentioned a number of times. They are 21 and 16 and Dulce, is 8 and a half months pregnant! Crazy! She is 16 and pregnant already. But they are amazing and it was so cool to baptism a couple, it’s a rare thing in the mission. They have a lot of family in the church and I feel like they will be lifelong members. We baptized them on Saturday and confirmed them on Sunday and it was great.
Also on Sunday we had a meeting with the Mission President and the Stake president and the assistants to the president! Cool huh? Usually only the zone leaders get to be there, but our stake does not have zone leaders. Because there are 4 stakes and 3 missionary zones, so my comp and I got to fill out all of the forums and be there are present it all to them. I learned a TON! When else am I going to get to be in a meeting like that? I really learned how we can work with the church leaders more and what we need to be focusing on and such. And my comp is new to the area so I had to answer all the questions about who is where and details and such. Plus my comp was a little nervous so I got to answer a lot and talk a lot at the meeting.
So I HAD a WAY awesome investigator named Javier. I’m not sure if I have mentioned home before, but he was going to be my best convert. He is like 50 and lives with his son. He has changed tremendously and is so smart and understands the gospel more than other investigators usually do. After we taught him about the plan of salvation he said, “so I have decided I have to do all I can to make it to the Celestial kingdom!” Cool huh? He was smoking about 20 cigarettes daily and we have got him down to almost none and he also quit drinking alcohol and coffee as well. He is a FOR SURE future leader of the church and he loves fast and testimony meeting and plans to bear his testimony next month already! We were going to baptism him this Saturday, but I am not longer there so that is sad. But I know he is in good hands.
So on to the crazy stuff. On Monday morning I was just doing my exercises at about 6:35am and then our zone leaders called to tell me I am going to change areas to Meoqui. My first thought was what in the world is a Meoqui! Ha-ha! So I had to pack and be at the bus stop at 10 am for my bus. Then I traveled all day to the south part of the state. Like an hour below Chihuahua and close to delicias. I have only been here for a day or so, so I don’t know too much yet. But it’s a little small town and the whole town is our area! How cool is that! Oh and the coolest part is that we have BIKES! I am an official missionary now. I have a bike! So I am here with Elder Mar... Who goes home in 2 weeks... weird? But it’s a little tough because I have to learn all I can in only 2 weeks and then he leaves. But the hardest part is that he does not know much about the area because he has only been here for 4 weeks. I have a lot to learn about the area and from him so that is cool and I’m excited. I feel like the next two weeks are going to fly by though. We have to work our tails off though! So our house is way small, two rooms, and we have nothing. I slept on a bare mattress last night because we don’t have any sheets. The little pillow is extremely yellow and old ... so they are going to send me sheets from the offices. The last person here just bought his own set of sheets and took them with him. It’s a cool little town and I really hope to make a difference here. I left a LOT back in Juarez and had a great area and a lot going for me, including an earned temple trip for completing out last month’s goal. So the whole zone goes to the temple this Thursday.. .but not me.
I now have 8 people in our district and we have to travel to the town over to attend district meeting. Oh and we have sisters in our district and its really weird to me. Because there are none at all in Juarez so I have never even really seen a sister working here with us. We are also in the district with the zone leaders and I really like the zone leader here and he is an awesome elder! We had to teach today in district meeting and my companion did not plan anything, but I planned out both parts and the activity so it all went really well. Much better than I thought it would and the zone leader there, Elder Lowe, really like it and pulled me aside and talked to me how much potential I have and such. Cool! I’m not sure it was too good, but if I learn to rely in the lord 100% I will be able to accomplish things here in the mission. Because with my own talents and abilities I do not have much going for me... let alone Spanish... so I got a lot of working to do if I want to try and reach my maximum potential here in the mission and later on in life. It has been humbling to be here and know nobody or the area or the people, but I really like it so far and I know I am here for a reason. The Lord needs me here and I need to do all I can because who knows when I am going to change areas again. I have 2 weeks to learn all I can and then I have to be able to run the area with a new companion. I’m a little nervous, but I hope it will all go well. I will keep you posted. Let me know if you have questions about the area, I will do better to describe it better next week. But I’m real excited and have a LOT of work to do. Oh and 4 elders in my district out of 8 are leaving in 2 weeks.... crazy! I am trying to keep them excited though!
So yeah, if you want to send something you have to send it through the mission president mail, which is really slow. So if you want to have something to get here around my birthday day you have to send it like now...(Sept 1st). Oh and I got letters from Kendra, and Ty, and Kali, and Larissa, and Grandma Davidson this week! I love you all and it has great to hear from all of you! I will do my best to write you back! Things are a little crazy today, but next week I will write!
Love the work and love the mission!
Love,Elder Andrew Davidson

7/22/09
Hey family and friends and everyone!
So another week already! I was a pretty good week overall for the most part. We had 3 people to get baptized this weekend pasado (last weekend), but they all fell through so that was sad, but things are going well with them right now.
So after another week with Elder Regnier, things are going well and we are becoming good friends. He is a little explosive and gets frustrated but it’s taught me a lot. I have to work on a lot of different things to get along with him so it’s been great when it comes to how much I have been learning. I feel like I learned a ton this week like Spanish, the gospel, and about leadership as well. So my companion is a leader of our district (smaller group of missionaries) so we had lots of meeting this week in the mornings and I have learned a ton as I am around the other leaders more. Plus I get to meet other missionaries and become friends with them. This morning we had a special meeting at 7 a.m. that was 35 minutes away with ALL of the leaders from Juarez (there are 3 zones here and over 100 missionaries) so there were a lot of leaders. The assistants to the president were there too and they taught us about an activity we are going to do this weekend. My comp and I are teaching about 40 youth for 3 hours, because all the leaders are going to teach at this big multi-stake youth activity. Cool huh? I’m excited! It was also cool to know a lot of the leaders there and it’s been a great learning experience. Plus my new comp uses a lot of different words so I have been able to pick up a lot of new Spanish words and ways to teach.
The only down side with my comp is that he is way old in the mission and is not as motivated to work as hard... but it’s been great because I have had to step up and teach more and be the leader which is actually a lot harder than I thought, but I have learned a ton!
Also we have a new investigator who is way awesome; his name is Javier and he is way ready to hear the gospel. He has been searching for the Church of Jesus Christ for a long time, as in the same Church Christ established when he came to the earth. He hates when church leaders are paid to lead and are leaders based on knowledge... both of which are not part of the church that Jesus Christ Himself established. I’ll write more on him next week and we will see how it all goes.
Sorry I don’t have more time to write, but life is amazing! I love serving others 24/7! It’s like a dream life and I have never been happier in my life! Crazy huh? Service is the secret to happiness! Well that and family and the gospel... but they are best combined!
I love you and miss you and thank you for your support!
Love
Elder Andrew Davidson

7/14/09
Hey!!
So a LOT happened this week and I’m sad I am only able to write a small chuck of what goes on but just know every day is exciting and new. I love it here is Juarez; the days are much more exciting!
First off I got a new companion! Elder Jaurez went to the south of the state and I am with elder Regnier who is from Cuernavaca. I’m not sure how to spell it. Supposedly it’s really pretty there because most people freak out when he says where he is from. He has been in the mission for 22 months now and leaves in 2 changes. He is way relaxed and a cool guy. I am already learning a TON from him and he is a much better teacher than Elder Juarez was. Plus the words, or vocab, he uses is a lot different so I learn a ton from that alone. He knows more English than Elder Juarez does but never speaks in English. It’s really hard for me to speak in English and don’t really like to so we always just talk in Spanish. I feel bad because he needs to practice too, but it’s just harder to talk in English.... ha-ha. We get along well and I’m excited to have him as my comp!
Our leaders called us at 1am on wed and said we have changes and that we had to be at the bus stop at 6:30am so we got like no sleep. It was also a very humbling experience to be in the bus stop with all of the other elders and realize how little I am to the mission.... I worked with our zone leader until our companions came in from Chihuahua. It was a long day and I missed Elder Juarez more than I thought I would, we are good friends.
We also had baptisms on Sunday again and baptized the two daughters of the lady, Ivete that we baptized last week. It was SO special and exciting to see them together and to see Ivete helping her daughters out and the family being so united together. Ivete was never home and not a good mom before and one of her daughters told us she doubted her mom loved her before, but now after they have grown and changed so much through the gospel they are now praying together and are much more affectionate together and her daughters are happier than ever! I was just so great to see them all together and happy.
Since my companion has changed I have had to step and lead the conversations and introduce people so it has helped a lot with my Spanish. I am much better at leading the lessons and directing everything we are teaching and leading our conversations into the lessons. Stuff I need to be good at to be senior companion. I have learned a ton and have SO SO much more to go so I’m excited!
Oh and I had to speak in Sunday again but we did not have time to prepare so I had to just bring my scriptures up and spoke for 15 minutes! I was so calm and collect and organized it was crazy! I really liked it and know that the Lord was there helping me! We had so much going on with people being there and organizing the baptism and yet I was able to speak really well. So that was exciting. People even said stuff to me after and congratulated me
Life continues to go well and I really like all the new people in my district and my comp. I have more opportunities to learn and to apply what I learn into my life. I can really test and try my faith through my daily actions because faith always leads to action, always!
I’m so happy and grateful to be here and to serve the people I am privileged to be with everyday!
I love you and your support means so much to me!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

Andrew's Address while in Juarez:Juliana Orozco c/o Elder Andrew DavidsonP.O. BOX 971802El Paso, TX 79901
or go to Dearelder.com and send a letter on-line. Just put Elder Andrew Davidson for the missionary and pick Chihuahua Mexico for the mission.
Diane
Hey everyone!
SO first off how exciting that Paul is home! Weird I won’t see him for another year and a half. (Paul just came home from serving a 2 year mission in Korea)
So this week was one of the better weeks I have had so far in the mission! I felt really good this whole week and a lot of it was because I officially feel like I speak Spanish fluently. I can teach every part of every lesson and answer just about all questions; obviously I still have along way to go. But I just have to occasionally ask what a word or two means. The whole Spanish thing has just been really weird this week. All my dreams are in Spanish and I think a lot in Spanish, and am no longer aware of when I am talking in Spanish. As in before I had to really choose and think to speak, but now it’s just comes out and I talk... I don’t really know how to describe the whole thing. The weirdest part was yesterday at night we were walking home and some people we know, one of the members of the ward, walked by and we talked to them for a second or two. But the things is they don’t speak Spanish because they are from India going to school here, so they only speak English. So in order to speak in English I had to think SO hard! It was the weirdest thing ever! After, I didn’t know if I was happy or sad. It was just so weird to have to think so hard to speak such basic English. I kept responding in Spanish too and they got mad at me... ha-ha. Once I start speaking for like 20 minutes I’m okay, but just the 2 minute conversation in the street was so hard.
Anyways... So yeah that’s the latest with Spanish. I still have a LOT to learn to though and I need to stay focused on studying more grammar.
So we had another baptism this weekend. We baptized Ivete Ventura Garcia and we were going to baptize her two daughters with her but their dad took them for the week end so they are going to get baptized next week end. Sad that we could not baptism them together, but it was awesome to baptize Ivete. I was much more relaxed this time around too so that way nice. I think I’m finally used to the whole thing, well at least not new anymore. All went well and she was way excited! Oh and after we went to drain the baptismal font and we looked at the water real close and we could very visible see the parasites! Crazy! They were all jumping around and were real little... hopefully I didn’t get any during the baptism... ha-ha!
Also we are going to baptize a couple next week and they were in church this week again so all is going great with them! it’s rare to baptize a couple here so I’m way excited.
Oh and the mission president and his wife were randomly in our sacrament meeting so I was glad we had a lot of investigators with us! He gave us the thumbs up too! It’s cool to have him there because he is the authority over all of the state so all the leaders look up to him a lot and we are with him so it’s cool. We have 5 baptisms planned for this week so I’m way excited!
Oh and I have been praying a lot for more opportunities to serve people and do more service projects and this week we found a new investigators who needs a lot of help. She is 50 and lives alone and just broke her foot so we have been help her a lot and just being there for 45 minutes a day helps her to not feel so alone all the time. She smokes so we have been working with her a lot in that aspect and she has done very well with all her goals! She has a baptism date for 2 and half weeks from now.
Okay side note, so turns out we drink a lot of tap water.... I know there are going to be a lot of people mad at me for saying this but it’s true... We never drink tap water in our house because it’s bad for you. But people give us water all the time in their house and it’s almost always from the tap. Most times they get it from the tap and them put a drink flavor in it and the put it in the fridge so it’s does not taste so bad and is cool. But either way it’s from the tap and most people so that because not many people have money. So far I’m all healthy but it’s not like there is much I can do. Not ask for water? Then I would die because it’s so dang hot here. Reject the water like I’m too good for their water? Obviously no... I’m protected so I’m not too worried.... haha. We do what we can though.
Also there was a big search really close to our house the other day. They had helicopters and there were tons of people driving around in their police trucks and we were like wow.... The helicopter was cool because there were lots of people hanging out with their guns and it was circling around! We see lots of cool stuff in Juarez!
Speaking of Juarez, so when we teach people part of the lessons is talking about the 10 commandments. One of which is that we are not supposed to kill people... self explanatory no? So this week we taught the 10 commandments a lot, and 3 times we had to explain it and all the whys and such. One time we had to teach why it was so bad and they had all these situations for us to judge. Like, but if they did this.... We are we are like, NO! Don’t kill people please! Ha-ha. Only in Juarez Mexico! I love it!
Oh and another exciting event that happened this week was that I ate tacos made with "machito" Which is cow heart, brain, lungs, intestines, eyes, and stomach! Nada spec of regular meat! My convert made me eat it, and to be honest it did not taste that bad. I kind of liked it to be honest but I already thought I didn’t like it because of what it was. But I ate the whole taco and it wasn’t bad at all!
So all continues to go well and I am working hard and enjoying the mission! We continue to see success from our obedience and the mission has been amazing! I read a quote this week in PMG and I really liked it. It was in Spanish so I’m not sure of the exact words, but basically it says, If you want to be happy, forget yourself. Forget yourself and begin to serve others because in selfless service is where true happiness lies. If you are not happy, stop thinking about what YOU want or what YOU need or what YOU don’t have or are missing and just serve others. How true that is and I have been really trying to apply all of the gospel principles into my life this week. Because a lot us know all of the principles, but yet we still fail to apply it to our everyday lives. I have been really trying my best to do that to a greater extent and have been so much happier because of it. How great the gospel is and how great that we have such guidance in our lives. Apply the gospel, live the commandment's, and BE HAPPY! That’s the point of it all, be happy! I am so grateful that I can be here and get to share this happiness with the people of Mexico! It’s the greatest things I have ever had the privilege of doing in my life! I love the work and love and miss all of you! Thanks you for all your love and support!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

Hey everyone!
So life continues to go well here for me. Since we have stepped up our obedience we have seen a lot of changes in our success here. There have been tons of less actives back at church and we have 4 baptism dates for this week end and 3 for the next week! Things are going really well here!
We have been teaching a mom and her two daughters for the past month and a half and they are getting baptized this weekend, so that is really exciting! She is very strong and is overcoming a lot and growing so much! I’m really proud of her. She has a rough past and is really learning to apply the gospel is her life and see the difference it makes.
Also we had an activity with the ward we put on this past weekend and it went really well! There were a lot of people there and we had like a ward social with sports and games, food, and a little devotional before the activity. It went great. So we are pretty much the people who lead a lot here so I have learned a lot about planning a putting on activities and it’s harder and more stressful than I had thought it was... ha-ha. But we have been working with a lot of less actives and it was good to get them all out to the social and see their progress. Also we got a lot of references too.
Life in Mexico is pretty exciting and new every day. Sometimes I’m hitch hiking a ride and just think to myself like wow... I’m in the back of a truck riding around with my comp speaking Spanish in JUAREZ Mexico.... ha-ha. It just hits me how crazy it is to be here. So we have changes this week and I don’t expect to move but I think my comp will so I will let you know how it goes. My address to write me here is in one of my first emails from here, like in March if anyone does not have it.
Sorry I don’t have more time to share a message with you all, but I just love you all!
Humility and patience are the key to everything is what I am learning and striving to develop. Two things I REALLY need to work on so I am putting my all and really trying to apply what I am learning everyday to help me be a better servant of the Lord.
I love you! Thanks for all f the love and support! I love hearing from you!
Love
Elder Andrew DavidsonAndrew's Address while in Juarez:
Juliana Orozco c/o Elder Andrew DavidsonP.O. BOX 971802El Paso, TX 79901

6/23/09

So I know I always say I have no time... but this week I have even less because I had a lot of problems with my email this week.. SORRY!
So the week went really well and I really learned a lot. We had divisions twice this week with our zone leaders and I learned a ton. Divisions are when we trade companions for a day to learn from each other and only the leaders do it and because my comp is a district leader we trades companions and so one of the zone leaders came to our area with me and I really had to step up and lead all of the lessons and conversations so that was good. He also taught me a ton about tricks and tips for lessons, but also for the mission. SO that was really good. Then the next day our other zone leader (we have two but they are a companionship) came to my area with me to interview our baptism candidate. Yes, we had a baptism this week!!! yah!!! I’ll talk about that in a minute. But so he is American (the other was Mexican) and we talked a lot about the “mish” and he goes home in 2 months so he really passed on a lot of really good advice to me. He says I have the potential to really be a good missionary and leader and that I have been given certain talents for a reason and I need to really step up and use them. I need to work with everything I have to really leave the mission with no regrets. He really helped me out and motivated me a lot and I’m really applying a lot he taught me.
So our baptism on Sunday! So I got to baptism our investigator, Sandra Lizeth Campos Valenzuela. It went so well and her husband has a baptism date for the following Sunday. I hope he can get ready in time! Sandra is so so strong and really wants the best for her family and has such a strong testimony. She has made a lot of changes in her life and she is so happy and excited and it is the most amazing feeling ever to know I was able to help her in that. Her husband is more doubtful, but he is just a little lazy to change. Because change is not easy and it takes work, and although there are many people who know our message is true and feel the spirit and receive and answer, they just don’t want to change. Sad I know. But we are working with her esposo a lot and he is progressing but he still has a few more changes to make. Also Sandra’s baby was really sick last week on Sunday and we gave him a blessing and by that night he was completely fine and happy and Sandra really gained a lot of faith from that. Sandra is about 30 I think with one baby, and we have been teaching her for a little less than a month. Oh and here is something was special about it all, all her family was baptized 8 years ago and she is the only non member so it was a big deal to get her baptized. We also reactivated 3 members of her family through her baptism. Her other sisters are already active. It was very exciting!
Oh and I gave my first priesthood blessing in Spanish! Crazy! It went so well and I don’t know that I have ever felt the spirit that strong in my life! It was a huge testimony building experience! It was really special to me and I really felt like I was able to be an instrument in His hands! I love the Lord and this work!
I’m all healthy and safe and continue to work hard! I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

6/16/09
So I have like no time to write once again... so I’m going to be real brief. Sorry!
First of all we had Zone conference this past week so that was a lot of fun to see all of the missionaries and we learned a ton so that was good. It was also nice to be able to respond to all of the questions and participate in the conversation without being afraid. Well my Spanish is always a little worse in front of a lot on missionaries, I’m not sure why. I guess I’m just not very confident with my Spanish yet. I’m still learning though and everyone tells me I’m learning really fast so I guess I’m doing okay with that part of it. Also I’m friends with the Zone leaders now and the other district leader so it made conference a little more fun to since I know most of the other elders now.
My comp and I have continued to put a lot of stress on obedience and have continued to have extreme success here! It’s been going so well and we have got so many less-actives back to church and I love when they start to see the blessings poured back into their lives once they are active again! It’s one of the greatest joys in life! I love being here and being on a mission!
So one of the coolest things so far in my mission happened to me this past week! So on Saturday at night we get called and asked to speak the next morning... and I was just like wow... I get to speak for 15 minutes in another language tomorrow with no time to prepare. But the old me would have been all upset about how rude it was of them and how inconsiderate of them. But I was just like; wow... well I have to speak tomorrow whether I am happy or sad so I just accepted it. So in the morning I wrote down a few scriptures I wanted to share on a note card and that’s all I had time for. Then I spoke on Sunday like I always wanted to! All I had was the note card with some scripture references and I talked for 16 MINUTES! Crazy! In another language! I have never been able to successfully give a talk in English like that let alone Spanish. And I was calm and not that nervous during the talk and never really struggled for words and could say what I wanted to. In the end I left out a few things I wanted to include but it went so well! I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father after because He helped me out so much! For me, it was a little miracle. And it turns out there was an ex-mission president there who is an area authority and came up to me after and said I have great Spanish and had a great message. He is from Mexico but his wife is from NJ but they have lived here for 30 years together, as in Mexico. So that was fun! It made me very excited and gave me a little more confidence in the whole language thing.
So life is good, I am safe and healthy! Juarez is CRAZY! But exciting! I love the work and the gospel is true!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

6/9/2009
Hey everyone!
SO this week has been good! I have never felt the spirit as strong as I have this past week! It has been amazing and we have been striving to live worthy of its guidance every moment of everyday and it has made a huge difference in our teaching! Especially with the less-actives because we have really been working a lot with them the past month, that’s why we have not baptized in a while. But this Sunday we got a lot of them out to church finally. One family had been inactive for 8 years! Crazy! And it was fast Sunday and it was by far the most amazing fast and testimony meeting I have ever had in my life! So in the beginning there were not many people getting up, so I had a great plan!
First, I made a deal with 4 different people that if I went they would go, and two of them were my converts and I REALLY wanted to hear them share there testimony. So then I went up and spoke and then they all came up! It was great! I also felt really good speaking; I was not nervous at all and never struggled with my Spanish at all while speaking. Then after they shared their testimonies there was a 6 person line and sacrament meeting went 20 minutes over! It was so great and I really felt like I was able to help the ward out a lot.
Oh and since my companion is a district leader now the zone leaders came over in the morning and studied with us and the senior zone leader studied with Elder Juarez and the junior zone leader studied with me. It was amazing! I learned so so very much and he taught me so many great principles and scriptures and more than anything we talked about how they all apply to the mission and how we can all be better missionaries because of it. I have really been allowing the spirit to help to me grow this past week and has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. I love being on a mission and I love being here and I know that this is where the Lord needs me to be!
So we had a lesson with a investigator yesterday and it was our second time there and so were read part of Moroni 10 and invited her to pray and I bore my testimony with all I could and then my comp did and it was so powerful and I KNOW she felt the spirit! Also she was mentioning a lot of the sacrifices of a mission and so I brought it up that yeah, we leave a lot back at home to come here, but we are here because we want to share the joy and happiness of the gospel and we have been privileged to share it with her. We are not here to get baptisms or to get memberships. We are here to serve the people and if we can share just a faction of the joy, peace, and comfort we feel with the people here, we have done our job. We do not leave everything we have and knew for personal gain, but we are here for the people and we only want to help anyone that will allow us to. She took it very well and I think it helped her to see how very real the gospel is and how much God loves us because it all comes down to that. Anyways it went very well.
Oh and also people on the street are coming up to us and contacting us! We have really been able to notice a completely different spirit we can carry with us when we are being obedient. People come up and say who are you? What do you have that seems to make such a difference? It’s great and my companion and I really have learned a lot from the experience.
Like I have mentioned before, it all comes down to the very simple point of obeying the commandments and then receiving blessing in every form. Larissa shared Mosiah 2 with me in her last letter and I feel like it perfectly describes this principle. Especially verse 41. I know we are not perfect and never can be, but we can repent and learn to be humble and we can be far better than we ever thought we could be through our reliance on Him we can become that person that we thought we could never be. It has been crazy to me to realize how real the guidance of the spirit is and how it’s really can help us to guide every part of our lives. And no it does not mean we have to become this "molly" Mormon who is perfect, but we can just strive to be our best in the situation we face every day. We can do our best to develop the Christ like attributes that we lack the most of.
I have a hard time with patience sometimes, as everyone who knows me already knows. But I have come a long way on it since I have diligently but my effort into being better at it. I’m not perfect and far from it, but I continue to grow and become better at it every day. I am quicker to apologize when I get frustrated and do my best not to allow my pride to interfere with my humility. No, I am far far far from perfect or even good, and make many mistakes every single day. And sometimes it’s hard, but I try to do my best day in and day out, but most important I am working to allow the Lord to make up for what I lack.
Sorry to go off on a random tangent, I guess I should tell more crazy stories about the crazy things we see every day! ha-ha I love Juarez!
Oh and so my English is just getting worse every day. I am officially losing my pronunciation in English and can sound stuff out anymore.... sad.... Sometimes I can’t even answer my comps questions about English anymore. Sad huh? Spanish is going well though. So that is what is important, right? Also when people talk to me I always respond in Spanish, it’s just what comes out first. Some guys here who don’t know Spanish and were visiting us kept getting frustrated because I kept responding in Spanish to their questions... ha-ha. My comp thinks it’s hilarious so I guess that is good.
Oh and just so people know I think it’s best to send birthday packages to the package office address for the mission. I think I will change by then and please remember it takes a month to get packages through them. Sorry to mention it early but I don’t want to forget to mention it. And my birthday is in less than 3 months away! Crazy!
Sorry I don’t have more time and thank you Larissa for the letter, I love it and the pictures! Oh and I think last week I forgot to mention I got letters from Linda, Sandi, and Kendra! Thanks! Thanks for all for the support and love! I need it!
Love
Elder Andrew Davidson!

June 2nd 2009

June 2, 2009
So I actually have no time this week. I used my time to right personal emails to mom, dad, and Danielle so sorry about that. But the week was good; my comp is now District leader of our district so that is cool. He is learning how to be a leader but I am too so that is cool. We have had a few meetings already and it has been good to get to know the other missionaries and see what kind of leaders the missionaries are. I feel like I learned a lot from their examples. It’s also been good because we have really been striving for obedience with exactness, like shower for only 10 minutes and all the little rules. And we have really seen many blessings because of it! It has been amazing to see how straight forward the principle of obedience is and blessings you receive when you follow it! The scriptures say it like a million times but I feel like sometimes we fail to understand it. But the truth it’s very simple and not always easy, but ALWAYS worth it! Always! I really want to share a story about our new investigator but I don’t have time sorry, I’ll try next week. We just really have been seeing the blessings from working hard and being obedient to the best of our ability! Oh and I put my first baptism date, as in I invited them to get baptized all on my own!
Also I had a full 25 minute conversation on the bus alone with another passenger. I understood everything he said and he understood what I said and we just talked a lot about random things and then he asked a lot of questions about the mission and such. He is way excited to have the missionaries visit him and was fun to talk to. He was a little shy and nervous because well we are in Juarez, but I lead the whole conversation and asked all the questions for the most part! It was really exciting! Because I talk to people a lot but the conversation is always with my comp too, so it was cool to have it just be me and him and my comp and sitting somewhere else talking to someone else on the bus. I guess that sounds silly, but it was really exciting after when I realized that I just talk without any trouble in Spanish. Exciting huh? It a really weird experience learning a new language and not speaking English and having my mind think more in Spanish.

Oh and I got a letter from my buddy Steve (room-mate at BYU) who is serving in NY, NY and part of CT I think, but it’s crazy how different our missions are, yet we are sharing the same message! And he gets to go places on p-day... ha-ha. I was a little jealous for that... but it was good to hear from him. Thank you Linda and Sandi for writing! I love hearing from home!
Anyways, all is well; we are working hard and being very obedient! I am learning a ton and am very exciting to be here in Juarez! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! I need it!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson

May 24th 2009

HEY EVERYONE! Hola!
So another week gone already! So first off I didn’t change areas and neither did my companion, which was really surprising to be honest because he has been in this area for a while. But I feel like he is going to change in a like 2 weeks to be honest. My Spanishl is coming along well. I’m rarely nervous now during lessons and such and I’m not afraid of questions anymore.... haha Because before it sucked when people asked me a question and I didn’t understand and just had to look at my companion to help. But things are getting better every day and I feel a little more comfortable. I still get frustrated a lot with myself because I want to be completely fluent. Which I guess it’s good because it helps me to always give all I can to learning the language better. Oh and there are a million slang words in Spanish, like seriously! WAY WAY more than in English. But I’m learning a lot of those too. So the worst part about the language thing right now is that I’m forgetting a lot of English. I know that sounds silly to say, but seriously. If I am trying to talk in pure English it’s really tough and I have to talk slower and I’m forgetting a lot of words. Like I know them in Spanish and not English... to be honest I hate it. It’s really frustrating when I can’t remember a word in English. It is my language! haha I guess languages are a “use it” or “lose it” kind of thing. Most days we don’t talk in English so I lose it. I can still write okay because I have never written too much in Spanish. But I always want to write in Spanish in my journal because we just spoke Spanish all day. Sorry to say so much about that, it’s just frustrating right now. But I guess it’s good because it means I’m learning Spanish. I just never thought I would really forget words in English. Because it’s just something that is so engrained in you, you know?
Oh so some people here use Gooses for guard animals! Crazy huh? Because they are mean and vicious and I guess guard your house. Every time we see it I always think it’s so weird so I thought I would mention it. They are really mean by the way; one chased me and bit me! haha But it’s better than dogs because they are slower, BUT faster than you think!
So these past 3 weeks have been really eye opening. I have learned a lot about life the past few weeks. I don’t remember if I mentioned this last week or not, but this week we had to deal with some problems even more. We just help a lot of people with family issues and life problems and alcohol. Alcohol is the worst! It literally kills families and we are helping a number of people with that right now. But it just kills me to see how sad and hurt their families are and we really have been working hard with their families. I think I just understood so much less when I first arrived so I was much more ignorant of the problems people would talk to us about. But it’s been a very hands on life-lesson learning kind of experience. Sorry I don’t have more time to tell more detailed stories about it but I guess it’s better to not tell the sad and bad stories that happen here. When we were helping someone dump alcohol down the drain and clean up and such my comp and I talked a little about alcohol and how bad it is. Because before he was a member he drank a lot and he just could not believe that he used to waste so much money on alcohol and he was just like "how could I ever have enjoyed that." I mention this because there is a lot of pressure to drink in high school and college and a lot of people get harassed for not drinking. So after this whole experience with dealing with the MANY problems that alcohol causes I remember something that president Gordon B Hinckley said about alcohol. I don’t remember the words exactly but he said, if we never drink for the first time, we will NEVER drink for the second time and we will NEVER become an alcoholic or an addict. I understand that there is a difference between drinking to get drunk and a glass of wine. But alcohol is HIGHLY addictive and harder to quit than smoking, at least in about 12 cases that we have been helping people with. It is just not worth the sacrifice to drink, it’s just not worth the money first of all and everything that comes with. People say they do it to have fun, but if you can’t even remember the night how can you tell me you had fun? Sorry, I guess I sound like an angry person today, I’m not. I just have developed a very strong opinion against alcohol over these past 3 months here. It is just pure foolish to get involved in it, just flat out foolish. The problems that come with it are just not worth it, and anyone who says it’s all in "good fun" is just ignorant. Also many people think, oh I’m going to go drink and it will affect nobody but me - wrong. It hurts SO many people around you and especially your family and your close friends. Okay ill stop my frustration with alcohol, I just don’t want anyone who reads my emails to get caught up in all of the MANY problems that come with alcohol.
I’m very grateful to be here and to be able to learn all I have been able to learn. I have learned countless life lessons that are really going to help me to be a better person after my mission. Obviously the whole gospel side of it, but also the life lesson’s and stuff about family and marriage and such too. I feel like I am going to be a MUCH better father because of all I have been able to learn so far, I still have 19 months to go!
I guess I just don’t want anyone to miss out on the amazing experience of a mission.
Oh and on Friday it rained SO SO hard! Like it was just dumping rain! And at first we were like ah! And hopped under a close roof because we were like 4 miles from the house and were in the street. But then I was like oh I’m a missionary! And we just kept on going and walking through the street. I loved it because everyone thought we were nuts but it was an easy opportunity to show our devotion to the work and how little everything else matters right now. We were soaked though, like I could have jumped in a pool and hoped out and it would not have been any different! It was fun though to just be trudging along the best we could in the rain.
Oh and I was like 30 feet away from a gun fight! Cool huh? Like I said I feel like I have been much more exposed to life these past few weeks. A police man died and so did a teenager and the cop was only 22 years old. It was really sad and kind of scary to be honest. I have never had people yell at me to "get down - get down" before. It was just like the movies. I was really sad though, and even sadder when they explained to me that they just clean up the bodies and that’s it. Nothing happens, no investigation no nada! I was really sad after they told me that. It was like 30 shots fired too, crazy! I live in Juarez!
Oh and people here drink cucumber flavored water... it’s really gross... haha But there are a lot of people here who really like it. Anyways, life is good and I love it here and love the people! I love that I get to be here and love more than anything that I get to serve for these two short years! I’m doing well and healthy! No worries! I love the work! Thank you for your support! I love you all so much and can’t wait to hear from you soon! Oh and PLEASE send pictures! They are the best! Please could someone in the Davidson family take pictures of the graduation party for Emily, Aubrey, and Katie and send them. Thanks! Congrats!!!
Love,
Elder Andrew Davidson