Belgium - Week 20 (Brussels)

7-8-13

 

Hello Family and Friends,

Kind of weird to think that I've been on my mission for 30 weeks now.  I'm not sure how I realized that, but that is really hard for me to believe. I feel like I just left. I guess time flies when you're working hard and having fun. 

This week was super legit. Full of miracles and success. We had some awesome highs and some scary lows... overall it was quite a busy week. 

Last week for P-day we went all over the city of Brussels and saw some famous stuff and ate at some famous places. I think after emails and grocery shopping today were going to go buy some Belgium ties and what not.   

We found a bunch of cool new investigators this week. One is a young couple Kingsly and Marseila (he is African from Nigeria and she is from Spain and only speaks Spanish). Its been a really cool experience because we've been teaching them in English and Spanish. I am super awkward teaching in English, but luckily Elder Player is new enough that he can teach in English without forgetting words like me. We have also started learning some Spanish and using Spanish copies of the Book of Mormon to teach Marseila. I want to be fluent in Spanish haha I'm thinking about buying a Spanish dictionary later today. 

All this week there have been huge concerts and parties right in front of our appartment so that's been pretty crazy. Luckily our windows cut out most of the noise. Belgium music is so weird haha. No wonder most Europeans listen to American music. 

The fourth of July was pretty uneventful, but at the same time it was one of the best 4th of July's I've ever had. In the morning, me and the 3 other elders said the Pledge of Allegiance and we had our American flags all over our apartment. We also listened to Patriotic Music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir all day. We weren't able to light fireworks or anything, but we did do a lot of reflecting about our country. Being away from the USA on the 4th of July was cool because it really made us reflect on how amazing our country really is. Its true that you never really appreciate something fully until its gone. I will never take the USA for granted ever again, GOD BLESS AMERICA. 

On Friday our kitchen sink exploded haha so that was a messy experience. Luckily myself, Elder Player and the other elders were in the apartment when it happened so we could clean up our flooded kitchen. We aren't sure how it happened exactly. I think the pipes were pretty clogged up and with the washer running it made everything back up. 

Sunday was amazing, we had an investigator there named Mosa. We met him on the metro and he is so amazing. He has so much faith and such a huge desire to do what is right. He said he loved church and could feel the spirit super strongly.

We have been so blessed here in Belgium. Elder Player and I are having more success than I've ever before had on my mission. We are finding new investigators and teaching like crazy. Elder Player is a stud. He really helps bring out the best missionary in me. His French is progressing fast and he just has such awesome goals and hopes and dreams for his mission. I know he'll be able to accomplish them if he keeps the fire he has right now. 

Life is so good. I have been so blessed. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be here in Belgium. I never before in my entire life would have ever thought I'd live in Brussels, but I wouldn't change this experience for anything. The people I have met here have already made a huge impact on my life for good. Each day I get to wake up in Brussels, forget about myself, and do everything I can to brighten the lives of those around me. In the end, I think I am still the one who benefits the most. I have never been this consistently happy in my life. 

Thank you for all you do for me. I will continue to keep you guys in my prayers. Missionary work is accelerating fast... And I've learned that it will continue to accelerate with or without you. Its up to us to decide if we want to be apart of it or not. I hope you chose to be a part of it. Whether that means getting a tag and coming out to Belgium, or just helping out the missionaries where you live. There are amazing experiences waiting for you, I promise that's true because it happens to me every day. I invite to you become a part of it.

Talk to you next week.

Elder Davis 

 

 

 

 

 

Belgium - Week 19 (Brussels)

7-1-13

 

Hello Family and Friends,

 

Greetings from Brussels Belgium! I am currently writing you from a very sketchy internet cafe with a very poorly working computer so this could be interesting. I have so much to tell you guys this week! First of all I picked up my new companion on Wednesday. His name is Chase Player (yeah I know... his name is too legit)! Elder Player is a 19 year old stud from Salt Lake City Utah.  On Wednesday night we arrived in Strombeek which is basically a subdivision in the city of Brussels (we live in the northern half of the city). Turns out we are living with a couple other elders (Elder Wood and Elder Wilson). Living in a 4 man apartment is pretty awesome.

 

This week has been full of finding, finding and more finding. Since we are basically opening up a new area, we have to start everything from scratch. We couldn't just walk into the city and start teaching the people the last missionaries had been teaching, we had to find our own. I kind of like that though. Its been super challenging, but I have seen the Lord lead us to find people already. Despite only having half of a week and no investigators as of Wednesday night. We still managed to teach 11 lessons... 9 of them being on the street. By teaching a lesson on the street I mean that we contacted someone, taught them and prayed with them all on the street. I may have already explained that before but I can't remember. Of those 11 Lessons, We got a bunch of contact information and follow up appointments so that was super sweet. What's crazy is how many of those lessons came at the last minute. Once again, never too late for a last minute miracle! We are very blessed.

 

Belgium is VERY different from France. I can't even begin to explain all the differences. The biggest difference though is the people. Belgium really is the melting pot of the world. People come from all over the world to live here... especially Muslims and Africans. I swear, you could be walking down one street and it will feel like you are walking in Iraq (which is not a very comfortable situation when you have Jesus Christ written on a plaque on your chest and are getting stared down by a bunch of Muslims). I accidentally contacted a couple Muslim men this week and after I did it was super awkward. But anyways... don't worry mom, we'll be fine! On a lighter note, there are other streets here in Belgium that make you feel like you are walking in Africa. Let me just say.... I LOVE AFRICANS!!!! Of the 11 lessons we taught, every single one of them was to an African. Africans are just so cool and laid back and immediately interested in Jesus Christ and the message of the Restoration of His gospel.

 

However... I did meet a couple Africans this week who were like pastors/missionaries for a different Christian church. They were pretty nice, but all they wanted to do was bible bash. I'll admit, I didn't back down like I should have and got pretty fired up during our bible bashes haha. I learned my lesson though, bible bashing is not effective because the spirit can't be there and in the end nothing good comes from it. Elder Player is going to help me walk away from Bible bashing situations from now on.

 

Elder Player is such an awesome comp. I'm very impressed with his level of French and confidence. Even though he's only been here a couple days, he still has the courage to go up to people on the street and talk to them. We are going to have an awesome couple of transfers together. We've already learned a lot together.

 

Lets see... What else do I need to tell you. The Church here in Brussels is huge. There are a couple really big wards. Half the ward is made up of Americans though. There are a bunch of American families living here that work for NATO so that's pretty cool.

 

Overall its been a very hectic week with moving and what not. Its been a whole lot of change all at once, but I know the Lord has been there with me every step of the way. This is His work, and I couldn't do it without His help. I love you all, thank you for all of your letters and emails and packages and prayers and support. I appreciate them much more than I can express. I am praying for you guys!

 

Until next week,

Elder Davis

France - Week 18 (St. Brieuc)

6-24-13

 

Hello family and friends,

So I guess I'll cut to the chase and tell you all the big news. I found out last night that I am getting transferred! I will be serving in Strombeek, Beligum for the next 12 weeks (minimum). I am soooo excited. Serving in Saint Brieuc has been amazing, I have had so many cool experiences and met so many amazing people here, but I am also excited to move on and meet new people and see more miracles. I think I can honestly look back on the past 4 months I spent in Saint Brieuc with no regrets. I gave my heart and soul to this city. 

But.... the big news doesn't end there. Turns out I will also be training a new missionary. So I am whitewash training and opening up a new companionship in the area. Basically that means I am going to an area that has never a second companionship of Elders before and starting from scratch with a brand new missionary in a city I have never even been too! I am super excited though, this is a huge responsibility and is definitely going to be tough, but I know the Lord will help me. He qualifies those whom he calls. Bring it on!

I pick up my new companion fresh off the airplane from America this Wednesday morning. I will let you know next week his name and the other details about him after I meet him. 

This means that today and tomorrow are going to be crazy days. I have to pack up all my stuff and get stuff ready for the big move. Oh, Elder Fish is going to be training too so that means another brand new missionary will be coming to Saint Brieuc in my place. 

This week was awesome. We had a miracle happen on Friday. I'll share the short version of the story. Basically we had to buy bus tickets to take a long bus ride to a neighboring city. After we purchased the tickets we saw we had 45 minutes until our bus would leave. We had a decision to make. We could relax during those 45 minutes and wait for our bus.... or we could use those 45 minutes  to talk to some people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the city. Thankfully we chose to talk to people. In those 45 minutes we talked to 2 people who were interested in our message. We taught each of them (separately) a lesson of how the church of Jesus  Christ was restored through a modern prophet and prayed with them on the busy street and got their contact information. Why is this a miracle you ask?? Because during the past 4 days Elder Fish and I would contact and contact for endless amounts of hours with no success. IN the past 4 days nobody would give us the time of day let alone their phone number. Yet, because we chose to be diligent, the Lord blessed us and put two people in our path who were prepared and looking for something that could bless their life. 

There is never too little time for a miracle to happen. As a missionary I know we need to use EVERY second effectively. 

Thank you everyone for your prayers, letters, emails and support. I know that Jesus Christ is my older brother and that through Him we all can find more joy and peace in this life. 

Talk to you all next week!

Elder Davis

My new address is:

11, ave des Gloires Nationales 

1081 Koekelberg

Belgium

France - Week 17 (St. Brieuc)

6-17-13

 

Hey Family and Friends,

 

So this was quite a busy week. We spent most of it on trains and traveling. On Tuesday we had to take an 8 hour train ride to Limoges (Central France) because Elder Fish had to take care of some legality things there. After you've been in France for a year you need to renew your paperwork so you can keep living in the country. Pretty inconvenient, but pretty important stuff! Wouldn't want him to get kicked out of the country haha. We took care of the legality paperwork on Wednesday then we took an 8 hour train to Paris and then Angers. We were only in Paris for about 40 minutes since we had a little bit of time in between trains. In that 40 minutes I got to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time! I could only see the top part of it at a very far distance, but I still saw it. Its pretty legit, I hope I can see it better in the future. Anyways... On Friday we had a zone conference in Angers which is also in western France. Zone conferences are basically just big meetings where a bunch of missionaries get together and our mission president speaks to us and gives us training. It was awesome. I learned a lot and I'm excited to start putting these things into practice here in St. Brieuc. Its also nice just being able to see all the other missionaries.

 

Sorry today's letter is short. We are having some pretty bad computer issues today. Next week I will find out if I stay in St. Brieuc or if I will be moving on to another city. Keep praying for the good people of France!

 

Thanks for everything,

Elder Davis

Pictures!

 

 

#1 Me with the Plante family. One of the families in our branch.

#2 Me with Jean Christophe. We made some cookies to take to some less actives. Man I'm getting fat!

#3 Last Monday Elder Fish and I played some catch. Felt so good to finally throw a baseball again!

#4 So while I was in Paris this week during our 40 minute gap between trains I saw the Eiffel tower for the first time. This is all I got to see though

#5  I gave Elder Fish some pitching tips ;)