11/22/2010

11/22/10

Hey everyone!

This week went really well! I am thrilled with how things have been going and I have felt really good here in the mission. Things have still been tough helping out my companion to get excited to be here on the mission but he has improved a lot and has allowed me to try and put into play everything I have learned on the mission. It has been good for the both of us and I have come to love him a lot and it has allowed me to serve him and try to help him to the best of my ability.

On Friday we had a zone conference and it went really well! We talked a lot about gratitude and the talk that the prophet gave us this last general conference. It was a great talk and a much needed one as well. It has changed my perspective a lot in these past few days and I have really tried to put it into play and be more grateful. The best part of it was learning to always look at what we have and not what we don't have. As people we always seem to look at what we don't have in life. What we are missing. Or what someone else has that we don't. Or what talents others have and we don't. There are endless examples, but it is something that really applies to the mission and the area we are in and the companions we have. We need to just learn to be grateful for what we have and thank the Lord for that and not just ask a million times for the things we don't have. That is how are prayers always seems to be.... a whole lot of asking and very little gratitude. The Lord knows what we need in the end, we need to thank Him more for all He HAS given us, and the blessings will come.

I tried to use apply this in the past weekend and I feel like we really saw results. We have a new family we are teaching and they all came to church. The ward did a great job befriending them and all. Plus our other good investigator Hector Uribe came and is all excited for his baptism this week! :) He loved church and all the members and he is just so happy to become a member of the church. Plus Felix came for the first time in a white shirt and all! :) I was thrilled and he also has a baptismal date! He is going to be baptized the 11th of December! 2 days before I have to leave! And now worries he is NOT getting baptised for me or because I am leaving. He went to visit his family last weekend and had made the decision to get baptized a couple of days ago now that his family is starting to support him more. But because his family won’t be able to be here the 5th of December he has to do it the 11th. I am really happy to be honest. We also has the principles of the gospel class about the gathering of the house of Israel and he really understood it and got really excited to be able to help his family accept the truth as well. The ward mission leader was out of town and I had to teach the principles of the gospel class, and it went a lot better than I had expected and there were like 15 people there and they all seemed to like it. :)

Oh and we also have found a good number of new families to teach. We found this one couple, Jesus and Marina that are recently married and SUPER receptive. They accepted our message perfectly and are way excited to learn more. There were the one that asked us when we can come back! ha-ha! It was funny. We also found a few other new families as well, but we need to teach them a little more still to see if they are really going to keep their commitments or not. We have been good about looking for a lot of new people to teach and letting go of the families that really are not that interested. One of the families is super rich and have a huge house and all and are so happy to have American friends.... It is kind of funny. They are really receptive as well so we will see if they keep progressing this week. Also yesterday afternoon we had the big stake activity we have been planning for a while. I actually am the one who planned it and organized it.... but now that I am not the Zone Leader, I did not have to speak or be in charge of it yesterday and just sang in the Choir we had. I was pretty happy about it. I got to plan it and all, but I didn't have to stress about it much :) It turned out well and a few recent convert gave their testimonies and we sang a number of songs and it went great. There was a good number of people there and a strong spirit more than anything. I really have come to like our stake president and his wife, President and Sister Gabaldon. Sister Gabaldon led our choir for the activity and I worked with the stake president to plan it all. They are a nice family and I feel like I will keep in touch with them even after the mission.

Well, all goes well here in Chihuahua and it has not gotten too cold yet so that is great. I continue to work as hard as I can and I promise I really am giving the best I have. I was a little sad the other morning because I felt like I had not achieved all that I had hoped to in the mission and I was sad my time is running out, but then the spirit made me KNOW that I had worked hard that I have changed more that I understand right now. That I have struggled at times but that is has helped me to grown and repent and prepare myself for all I will come to face in life. It was a nice feeling and I am determined to not let the Lord down during these 3 weeks that I have left. I know that He is counting on me.

Thank you for all of you love and support! It really means more than you know!

Love

Elder Andrew Davidson