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