It Just Keeps Getting Better!

Hello everyone ! How are you all doing? I will give you a run down of the past week or so...its been a good one !!!

Friday : We had zone leader counsel. It was really good. Starting next transfer pdays are going to be on Monday . Also transfers will be different. Now we will just show up to the transfer meeting and find out who our new comp is there....kind of like you did it in your mission I think nate? That will be good though. After the counsel we had an awesome day ! We taught 4 investigator lessons. They were all from sierra leone haha. I love those people. Their very similar to ghanains. We went to this one guys house named Ambrose. He is awesome ! We had dinner with him and his wife....what did they feed us ? Casava leaf fufu with pepper soup!!!! I thought fufu was in the past...boy was I wrong. This soup was SPICY !! It was already way hot outside...then I started eating the soup and bam !! I was sweatin haha. I couldn't finish the soup...it was just to spicy for me ! I tried. I did finish the fufu though.

Saturday : It was another good day for us ! We had this potential investigator from Ghana that we found a few weeks ago. His name is maxwell. We have tried visiting him quite a few times and had no luck. Well we were in the area so we stopped in. What a surprise we had !! Maxwell was there, his friend was there, and his roomate was there ! All ghanains. We taught them all haha. It was a blast. Then before we left maxwell says " My bruddas , have some fufu with us !! I was like sweet ! Then I was like, Maxwell can I have some amooney abamoon instead ? He was like ofcourse my bruddah haha. Amooney abamoon is rice and stew. Its not to bad. You eat it with your hands. You pick up a pile and swirl it in the soup they gave us, which was palm nut soup haha. There was some meat in there to and I ate a little then I heard maxwell from the kitchen say " I hope you like the meat ! Its cow intestine ! " you should have seen my face...i thought i was going to die !!!!! Also that night we had a solid lesson with our investigator named Freddy...hes 18 and from Ghana as well. He is awesome !!

Sunday : Freddy came to church !!! I was sooo excited !! All his family is pretty hardcore baptist so I was surprised to see him there. At the end we were talkin to him and he was like " wow this was really good, it all made sense. I am bringing my friends with me next week !!! " It was a miracle.

Monday: Oh man this was such a good day !!! We had a really good lesson with one of our investigators who is struggling alot. We taught her about the atonement and the spirit was strong. She said her husband is interested in learning more about baptism, so were going back to teach him later this week. Then we saw a former investigator in the area book from about a year ago. Its a ghanain family so I was like man we gotta check this out. We went over and had an awesome visit !! The parents aren't as interested but the three kids are. They are 14, 16, and 9. They are legit !! They had a book of mormon sitting on there table and I was like " have you guys been reading it ?! " They were like ya we read it as a family a couple times a week !!! I was like oh man that is awesome !! Were going back on thursday to start teaching them.

Yesterday : I was on exchanges with a greenie. We had another awesome day. We taught a few investigators and visited some less actives. We were tracting and ran into these sweet kids ! They are from sierra leone. They are 23, 18, 16. One is muslim but the other two are christian. We sat down and taught them the restoration and showed them the movie and they loved it !!! Were going back tonight to teach them and invite them to church !!

It has truly been a week of miracles. We are being so blessed right now. I am so gratefull for these experiences. I think alot about what I would be doing right now had I not come out here, its scary to think about. I am so gratefull for the things Ive learned and the struggles I continue to have that let me continue to grow every day ! I love this work !!!

Love you guys !!

Elder Davie

The Week of Miracles!

Hello Everyone !!

How is everyone doing ? We had a pretty good week. We had a miracle happen to us on Saturday night. So we had an appointment scheduled with Freddy at 8:00 pm. Freddy is this 18 year old Ghanain kid we found while tracting about a week ago. So we pull up to the apartments and its like 7:55....we knock on the door and Freddy isn't there !!! We were both kinda bummed and were just like what the heck. Well we decided we would tract the building right next door and then try Freddy again. God works in mysterious ways. He always has a plan in mind. We knock on this one door and this girl named Ume (oomay) answered. She is from Sierra Leonne. She is 18 year old and is a senior in high school. We were talking to her on the doorstep for a second then she was like " You guys wanna come in? " Those are the golden words ! So we went in and taught her and her family for a while. They said they have actually been looking for a new church to start going to. It was awesome. So ofcourse we committed them all to come to church the next day ! Ume ended up coming and loved it. Her family didn't make it so hopefully this week they will be there. I was thinking though, had freddy been home when we tried going there we would have never found ume and her family ! Then we ended up going to freddys after and he was home ! Not only him, but his entire family !! We taught his two sisters and his mom and his aunt. It was awesome. We taught them the restoration and showed them the restoration dvd. They loved it. We had another miracle happen to us. We were tracting the other day and we knocked on this door and this lady answered. She was on the phone so she was just like ya ya not interested and whatever. Then she was like hang on. She was talking to her husband on the phone..then she was like " My husband said he wants to meet with you guys so come back. " We ended up going back on Sunday and wow, this guy was awesome ! His mother just passed away last month and he is looking for a source of strength right now. We had an awesome lesson with him and he told us to come back and keep teaching him ! Had his wife not been on the phone when we knocked we would have never found him. It was so awesome. These are 2 experiences I had this past week that let me know, this is the lords work. He will make things happen if we have the faith ! Its been a good week.

Well I hope everyone is doing well. I got the st patricks day package you sent me !! Thank you SO much !! I loved it !!!! Love you guys !!

Elder Davie

Looking for More Ghanians!

Hey Guys !

How are all you doing? Its a little earlier than usual I know, I will be back later today to check my email again and write some more. We are going to DC today with the Ashburn zone leaders. Brother Mccoy is taking us on a tour of the capitol building ! It should be fun, I am excited !

Last Saturday I went back to Mt Vernon again for a baptism ! It was for Rachell Oku....They are a recent convert family and their daughter rachell just turned 8. She asked me if I would baptize her so I did ofcourse. It was awesome !!! It was great to be back there again and see everyone. I forgot my camera but President Albright got a couple pictures and so did my last companion so they are going to email them to me ! It was awesome though.

Besides that there really isn't a whole lot going on here. This area is tough. We tract alot and it seems like we only meet spanish people and middle eastern people. Obviously we can't talk to the spanish because of the language barrier and middle easterns are mostly hardcore muslim so we don't really get anywhere there. Its hard, but its not impossible. Last Saturday night we found some Ghanains ! I was sooo happy ! We taught this guy named Freddy. He is 18. Hes sweet ! He told us to come back this week and teach him some more. Then on Sunday we were tracting and we found another house full of Ghanains !!! It was awesome !! We are going to hopefully start teaching them as well !!

On Sunday we had to teach the gospel principles class....we taught the lesson on the word of wisdom. It went pretty good. Then that night we went to a mission home fireside which are always fun !! Overall its been a pretty good week ! I am excited for today, it will be fun. Well I look forward to hearing from all you guys !!! I hope everything is going well !!! I love you !!

Elder Davie

More Baptisms!

Hey Everyone !

How are you all doing? Sounds like its been a good week for everyone, minues your camera getting stolen em !! That totally stinks !! I lost like 200 pictures of my mission when mine got stolen. Well I definatly had an eventfull week. Elder Richards of the 70 was out here for a mission tour. We had meetings on Wed, Thursday, and Friday, then again on Sunday for Stake Conference. Wednesday was a meeting with all the bishops, ward mission leaders, and stake presidents in our mission, it was really good !! Thursday was zone conference, which I had to conduct. It wasn't as bad or scary as I thought it would have been. It went well. Friday was a leadership meeting for all zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers. It was pretty good ! After that we had a zone leader counsel which was fun. Overall it was really good ! Oh ya so Elder Richards interviewed 5 people from every zone conference. Ours had like 50-60 people there and who got picked....I did ! Ofcourse haha, I had a feeling I was gonna get picked. I was pretty scared, Elder Richards is intimidating, but I tell you what I had one of the best interviews ive ever had. It was so good. He gave me alot of awesome advice and we had a good talk. It was like 20 min long so it was really fun. There is alot of stress gone now that the week is over. Then yesterday we had interviews with President. It was such a good interview, I loved it. He is so sweet, I love him so much !

Then on Saturday I had to privilege of going back to Mt Vernon !!!! Esther Boatang was baptized !! She is the one Elder Larochelle and I found, shes the jazz fan haha !! It was amazing to not only be back in mt vernon but to see her get baptized ! She was so excited !!!!! I was so happy to be there, you have no idea. In my interview with president the first thing he said is " So do you miss mt vernon? " I was like " You have no idea ! " haha. He said well at least your being honest :) Things are going pretty good here. Im starting to get used to it a little more each day. I was just thinking, next transfer is when we do our mothers day call.....crazy !!!! time is going by way to fast.

Oh ya guess what?! The zone leaders in ashburn are 2 of my best friends out here....as a zone leader you can call other zones ( hope that makes sense) usually you cant call anybody who isn't in your district....anyways so they called me and said " Hey we had dinner with the mccoys !! They are sweet !!! There is another baptism this saturday for this girl named rachell oku. They want me to baptize her so im trying to find a ride down there !!! It would be sweet !!!

Sunday night was one of the best nights ever !! So Alex Boye did a fireside/concert at the temple visitors center. Oh man it was SO good. If you EVER have the chance to see him perform live, go to it !! He is an amazing entertainer...hes hilarious !! You would love him !! I got some videos I will send home !!!

Anyways thats all the exciting news that I have for this week !!! I love you guys !! I will send some pics

Elder Davie

New Area!

Hey guys,

I'm officially in the Annadale Zone serving in the Annadale Ward. What a crazy week we have ahead of us. Elder Kent Richards of the Seventy is touring our mission right now. Tonight we have a meeting with all bishops, stake presidents, and zone leaders at the mclean stake center. It should be interesting. Tomorrow we have a zone conference for our zone, fredericksburg, woodbridge, and spanish north. Guess who got called on to conduct....me ofcourse. Out of 8 zone leaders they just had to choose me !!! Im freaking out. It will definatly be the biggest meeting ive ever had to conduct....its scary. Then on Friday we have leadership meeting with elder richards from 9-3 then we have zone leader counsel from 3-5. Wow. Long days. Then on Saturday we are doing something AWESOME !! Remember when I told you about Esther? She was the Ghanain lady me and elder larochelle found a couple weeks ago...shes the jazz fan ! Well she is getting baptized on Saturday !!! Luckily I was able to find a ride so we are going to head down there and see it ! I can't wait !!! I will make sure to take plenty of pictures. !!!!

We had an awesome experience on Tuesday. We took one of our investigators up to the temple visitor center. He loved it. We had the sisters there take him on a tour and teach him the plan of salvation. Afterwards we were seating in front of the christus statue. We were talking about the gospel and then he just stopped for a second said " Wow I really needed this today. Thank you guys so much" It was awesome. He was able to feel and recognize the light of christ and the power of the holy ghost. Also I have some GREAT news !!! I heard from the elders in mt vernon about some news on Ohenabuh...the ghanain prince we baptized. Apparantly he has already baptized 13 members of his family....that is incredible ! The power of one !! Remember how I told you Elder Allen was gonna be my roomate...man this kid is hilarious !!!! haha. Hes sweet. He is the funniest person!

I hope you guys have an awesome week !!! I am excited to hear from all of you !!! I love you !!

Transfer Time!

Hello Everyone !

Well lets just say it hasn't been the best couple days ive ever had....... Transfer calls came in last night...Im leaving Belle Haven. Aghh man I did not want to leave....I really really didn't. I am going to be serving in the Annandal Zone. I am a Senior companion again. My companion is going to be Elder Buie from Cottonwood Heights Utah. Well I think he actually lives in the avenues. I was his Zone Leader in Ashburn a couple transfers back. Hes a good kid, it will be fun.

I am so sad that im leaving. I have gotten so close to alot of people here. I think one of my weaknesses is that I tend to really open up with people and connect to them, making it very difficult sometimes to leave. Its hard developing these friendships and then one day packing up and starting from ground zero again. Its no fun !!!! Its really, really hard for me to start at the beginning, knowing nobody in the ward, and going through that whole process again. I know nate probably knows exactly how I feel. I was really hoping to spend more time here....man it stinks. This is the best area in the mission...im convinced of that...I heard that it was before I came here but man it really is. I am going to miss the ghanains more than anything !!! They are like family away from home. They are amazing. I guess im leaving for a reason though right ? I hope so !!!

Another thing that is sad is we have a couple baptisms coming up in the next 2 weeks. Its frusterating because it seems like in every single area ive been in I will find someone and teach them but then I always get transfered right before their baptisms !!! Esther is getting baptized on February 26th. She is so funny i love her !! Shes like 60 something years old I think. I will hopefully be able to find a ride and come back to see it. She was way mad when I told her I was leaving. We have another investigator named Russel. Man this guy is something else....he is awesome !!!!!! Hes pretty ticked that im leaving....he hates change so he hates having missionaries come in and out and what not. He gave us $50 yesterday and said " Lunch is on me...go get yourselves a nice steak somewhere !!" This guy is so sweet. Im going to miss these people !! Sorry if it sounds like im venting...I kinda am :) Its just hard. Sometimes it would be nice if they would let us call home every now and again to vent haha.

So like I said im going to the Annandale zone. It should be alright. Kinda stressfull since thats where president lives and the assistants so you always have to be at your best ! Guess who my roomate is going to be ?? I will give you a hint....Emily dated his brother while we lived in temecula....yep ! Elder Allen haha. I talked to him this morning....hes a good kid it will be fun to get to know him a little better.

Well I love you guys. Keep me in your prayers...its going to be a very stressfull week. We have the MTC leaders here touring our mission and then Elder Kent. Richards of the 70 is coming to tour the mission next week.....scary. It will be nice to have that stress gone. Well I love you guys so much !!!! Thank you SOOOOO much for the valentines package !!! It was an AWESOME surprise !!!!!!!! You guys are so good to me !!!

Elder Davie

Another Miracle!

Hello Family !!

How is everyone doing ?! I am great ! We had another great week here in Alexandria, VA. I love this place ...I really really love this place. I want to finish my mission here....not likely it could happen though. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I got transferred next week. I hope not !!!!

Here is another miracle that happened to us this week :

It was Saturday afternoon. We had just visited a recent convert and were leaving his place. We had some extra time before our next appointment so we decided we would just tract the area where we were. We knocked this building and on one door this lady opened named Janet. She is from Ghana ofcourse. She said " Come back in five minutes, im busy." This is a typical ghanain response while tracting. So we were like alright we'll just finish the next building and we'll go back and see what happens. We go back and Janet opens the door and lets us right now. We sat down and started talking for a bit. She informed us she is Methodist but has seen the missionaries before. Then she said " I want you to meet my sister . " Her sister came out and she saw our name tags and said " Latter day saints??!! " We were like yep !! She said she had been going to the mormon church in Ghana every week before she came to the United States 8 months ago. Apparantly she was living with a boyfriend in Ghana so she wasn't able to get baptized. She said she had been looking for the church here but couldn't find it !!! And even better, she is a Utah Jazz fan hahaha :) We had an awesome lesson with her that day. We came back the next day with Maxwell, our Ghanain member and she loved it. The next morning she was at church and made so many new friends !!! She will probably be baptized here in a couple weeks. Her sister Janet also said " I will come to church in a couple weeks and maybe I will become a member too ! " It was awesome. The lord led us to someone he had been preparing for years. The best feeling in the world truly is to know you have been an instrument in the hand of the lord.

I LOVE the Ghanains here....they are so amazing. I can't wait for you guys to meet some of them. One day im gonna go to Ghana ! haha. I can't believe that transfers are next week.....these past 6 weeks have gone by crazy fast....its weird. I wish we had another 6 weeks in this transfer. So many awesome things have happened and I have loved it !!!

Not much new is going on with me...same old missionary work ! I am excited to hear from you guys !!!I have alot of pics to email so I will go do that now....love you guys !!!

Elder Davie