Crazy Weather and Another Baptism

Hey Family!

How are you guys?! I hope you had a great week. How was Texas mom? I bet you had a blast. Was Austyn following you around again? Haha. I can't wait to see the kids. I am not going to recognize them. I can't believe they are almost 4! Well except Addy and Taylor. So how has everything been going for everyone? I heard there are tons of fires in Texas em? Hopefully they're not by you anywhere. The weather has been CRAZY here lately! I don't know whats going on but northern Virginia has seen one thing after another! We had a tropical storm roll through here. It rained for 6 days straight...all day! On Thursday it started raining worse then I've ever seen....the roads started flooding and everything...it was nuts!! Luckily none of the missionaries were hurt. It has been a busy week for us. We have been working on transfers all week. Its quite the process. I can't believe its already time to start doing it again. I swear we were just moving things around on the transfer board! Its a neat experience to be in there with President and be apart of the transfer process. There are always a lot of factors that play into it but it all comes down to is this what Heavenly Father wants? Its neat. On Monday we went to the Nationals game which was a blast!!! There were like 6 home runs. The Nats killed the dodgers! It was great. Today were going to help a couple missionaries move then we have a couple lessons scheduled the rest of the day. We might try and squeeze some racquetball in somewhere too.

Another miracle happened. Back in January Elder Bell and I were working in Mt Vernon. We were trying to stop by this guy for weeks and we finally met him...Russel. He is the one that I got pictures with by the huge motorcycle. He is the sweetest guy ever! Hes from Ghana but hes been the states for a long time. Hes like an older brother. Well we taught him for months and then I ended up leaving. Well Russel's dad passed away in July. He was a stake president in Ghana. Russel went to Ghana to be with his family and be at the services for his dad. He ended up going to church a few times and loved it! He came back last month and told the missionaries he wants to be baptized!!!! He went to church this past week and he loved it! Russel is going to be baptized on September 25th. This is a mission maker for me. I love this guy with all my heart and I absolutely can't wait to be at his baptism. It is going to be the best feeling ever.

My last transfer starts next week....I'm going nuts. I'm scared, hesitant, nervous, anxious, and just kind of unsure. This has become my life out here. All I know is missionary work. It feels like I've been doing this a lot longer than 2 years. Ya tracting isn't always the funnest thing to do, meetings get boring sometimes and the stress is enough to make someone go crazy......but in the end I love it! I will honestly miss not being here doing these things...and I never thought I would say that. You always hear the missionaries going home say " I wish I had a little more time and I would do anything to keep being a missionary!" I always sat in my chair thinking ya sure ya do. Now that I am coming to that point I'm starting to feel like that! I would do anything to just have a few more transfers....a little more time to reflect and to try and refine myself. I hope every day that I have become a better person out here. I always think " Did I do enough? Did I work hard enough? Is Heavenly Father pleased with my mission?" In the end I have had some amazing experiences that have changed my life. I never knew northern Virginia existed before my mission and to think of all the amazing people Ive met out here blows me away. Ive been waiting my whole mission for a confirmation to know that this is where I need to be. Why didn't I go to Ohio? Surely I was meant to meet someone here from Ohio and baptize them right? I was wrong. I have had the strongest feelings the past couple months that this is exactly where I needed to be. Not because there was someone from Ohio that came here that needed me....but just because there were people in northern Virginia that I needed. Its a humbling feeling. Sorry I'm just kind of rambling on. I have been to the airport 5 or 6 times in the last 6 weeks and every time I go I get this pit in my stomach. I'm scared for when its my turn! I just have to face it head on though.

Well I gotta get going but I am going to try and email a couple pics real quick. I love you guys!!!

Elder Davie