Week 87 - Evry

Oct. 27, 2014

Hey family and friends,

 

I don't have that much time to write so I'm going to keep this short and sweet and just tell you a funny story haha.

 

(Sorry mom, you probably wont like this story haha)

 

So the other night, Elder Empey and I didn't have any appointments scheduled and we wanted to do something new with this "extra time" that we normally don't have. We decided to take a bus and travel to the edge of our area that hasn't really been worked in by missionaries for a long time. We eventually made our way out there and started knocking on some doors.  

 

We did some door knocking for a while and didn't really see any success. One guy even came outside, and said "Who do you think you guys are?? Why do you want to bother me with your Jesus nonsense... my God is my wallet, now get off my property!!"

 

At least... that's the edited translation of what he said haha. Basically, he was a real sweatheart...

 

Anyways... not a ton of success...

 

So we went back to the bus stop and realized that we missed the bus that was going to get us home! The next bus wasn't going to come until well after our missioanry curfew... so we were stuck in a little predicament.

 

We couldn't walk... we were way to far away so we didn't really have any other option other than wait for the bus.

 

After a while of waiting... we got a pretty dumb idea. We decided to stand by the bus stop and hold our thumbs out like we were hitch-hiking! We kind of just did it as a joke... but the second car that drove past us stopped and asked us where we were going! We told him Evry and he said he was going in the opposite direction.. so he wished us luck and sped off.

 

Haha we were amazed that somebody would even stop! Just for fun, I re-read the missionary rule book and couldn't see anything that said hitch hiking was against the rules... so we decided to keep our thumbs out!

 

Haha believe it or not, only a few minutes later another guy stopped and asked us where we were we were going. We said evry and he told us to hop in!

 

Haha we were super excited and couldn't believe our luck. The best part is... we had about a decently long car ride ahead of us so we were able to introduce ourselves and explain who we were and what we did as missionaries.

 

He turned out to be really interested! We even prayed with him in the car, right before he dropped us off. His name is Brice and he is a super nice, father of 3 and we should be seeing him and his family again this weekend.

 

Miralcezzz!

 

Dang, that turned out to to be a kind of long story... but I hope you still enjoyed it! Moral of the story, anything can be turned into a missionary opportunity! 

 

Have a great week,

Elder Davis

Pictures 10/20/14

These are my favorite clothes :)

From left to right...

Christelles Boyfriend, Christelle (19 y/o daughter of Jean Yves and Martine), Me, Martine, Jean Yves, Jeremy (who is Jean Yves son....  in this picture is holding his daughter... but he has a son named Gavin!!!), Elder Christiansen, Elder Johnson

Teaching the good word!

Going to find some doors to knock on!

Week 86 - Evry

October 20, 2014

Hey Everyone!

This week was amazing!

Saturday was probably one of the best days (if not the best day) of my mission! I got to go back to Versailles to see the baptizm of Jean-Yves and Martine Belin. Not only did I get to go and see it... I got to do it! Martine called me during the week and asked me if I would be willing to baptize her. I didn't know what to say, but I eventually managed to get out a "oui"!

Man it was unreal! I am so happy for their family. There were a lot of people there to support them, including the Poznanskis who came all the way from Angers to watch the baptism. It was so great to see the Poznanskis again!

Jean-Yves son, Jeremy came up to Versailles to baptize his father which was a super powerful thing to watch. Seeing a son, baptizing his father... how cool is that!

Basically, the whole experience was just amazing. I even got to see Alain (not Célia though because she had work and couldn't come) again and talk to him about baptism!

 

I sent a lot of pictures, so hopefully by looking at those you'll be able to feel a bit of the joy and love that was felt on Saturday!

 

It's days like Saturday that make it all worth while. I wouldn't trade these experiences for the world!

 

Being a missionary is great!

 

I love you guys,

Elder Davis

Pictures 10/13/14

So I hope this wasn't against the rules... but my whole mission I've always wanted to touch the Seine River. This week we had a lesson with someone who lived right on the bank of the river so I just had to touch it!

I was knocking on doors last night and found three new "amis". If you look really closely you can see the other 2 on my neck ;)

Week 85 - Evry

October 13, 2014

 

Ok, seriously so many amazing things happened this week that I have no idea where to start.

 

Let me start by telling you the coolest thing that happened. 

 

Yesterday, I got the best phone call of my entire life. Elder Johnson called me to tell me that two of my old investigators in Versailles (Jean Yves and Martine) are getting baptized this saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Words cannot express how happy I was to receive that phone call. I got to teach their family for a few months when I was serving in Versailles and now they are finally getting baptized. I love that family so much. Elder Empey and I are going to the baptism this saturday. So amazing!

 

What else happened this week?

 

Well, Elder Empey and I worked our hearts out all week and the Lord blessed us! We met a man named Marc Albert who was baptized about 8 years ago, but then went completely inactive only 3 months after his baptism. After about 8 years with no contact from the church, two mormon missionaries (Elder Davis and Elder Empey) knocked on his door this past week. He let us right in and we hit it off great! He opened up to us and told us his whole story of why he joined the church and why he fell away. Most of the time we just sat and listened... until the end when we were able to share a simple message and testify to him the importance of coming back to church. He accepted the invitation to come back... and he came to church yesterday! For the first time in 8 years he came back! It was so amazing to watch the members of the ward welcome him back. It was literally like watching the 1 lost sheep come back and join the 99. Just goes to show you that it is never too late to come back!

 

We also met another lady this week in a super amazing way. The way we met her was a long story... just trust me when I say that meeting her was either a HUGE accident or a huge miracle (and let's get real... we know it wasn't an accident). Anyways, she told us that she hadn't been to church in several months and that she has recently fallen into some past sins that made her feel unworthy to come to church. We testified to her that church was were she needed to be on sunday and she commited to come...

 

Not only did she come yesterday... but she got up in sacrament meeting and bore her testimony of how she knew the church was true and how it has blessed her life more than anything else she has ever come into contact with. She even gave us a referral to visit one of her friends. Watching her share her testimony in sacrament meeting was a super special experience for me and everyone who got to listen.

 

Ok, if that wasn't enough miralces for the week...

 

Guess what else happened at chruch.

 

So yesterday was my first sunday in the Evry ward since I've been transered (General Conference last week doesn't count). And so I didn't really know any of the members... Anyways, when I walked into priesthood I had the feeling to sit by a certain man. I talked to him before the lesson started and came to find out that he wasn't a member and that this was his first time at church. This man (Bernard) stayed for all 3 hours of church and loved it! He loved it so much that after church he asked Elder Empey and I what he needed to do to "be a part of this church".

 

We told him (right there in the church parking lot) that he needed to be baptized and that we were having a baptismal service on the 9th of November. He said that he would be honored to continue to meet with us to prepare to be baptized on that day.

 

Are you kidding me? Seriously, how does that "just happen"? It doesn't happen by accident that's for sure. God knows His children. The ones that have "left the fold" and the ones that are searching to be a part of it. God either guides His missionaries to find those lost children or He guides the lost children to the missionaries. Either way... He is in control of His work.

 

I'm so grateful to be a part of it.

 

So... basically to sum all of that up. Life is good. I LOVE Evry. I LOVE my companion Elder Empey. I love being a missionary. And missionary work in France is accelerating fast!!

 

Less actives are coming back, and people are flocking to the font to get baptized.

 

I'm a happy man! Have a good week everyone!

Elder Davis

Week 84 - Evry

Oct. 6, 2014

 

Bonjour à tous!

Hope you all had a wonderful week. This week was transfer week for us in the mission so it was pretty intense! Transfer weeks are always full of sad goodbyes and exciting hellos!

Lets start with the "goodbye" half of the week.... We did a FHE with the Belins and the Babins before I left so that was fun. The Belins are such great people and I'm realy grateful for the chance I had to meet them and work with them. I miss them a lot already!

Saying goodbye to Célia and Alain was sad too, but I told them they need to get baptized before I go home in December so I can go back to Versailles and see them haha!

It's so weird not being in the office and seeing President and Soeur Babin everyday. They're so great. They taught me so much and have done so much for me. I love them!

I also had to say goodbye to Elder Everett who just finished his misison and went home a couple days ago. It's so weird... all my old companions are going home!

As far as "hellos" go... I got to pick up my cousin at the airport! She was one of the new missionaries that came into our mission so it was a super great opportunity to be able to go with President Babin and pick her up along with all the other new missionaries.

That was the first time I've seen her after about 2 years! We got to talk, catch up a little bit and of course take some pictures so that was great. I'm really excited for her to be in the same misison as me.

Of course, General Conference was this past weekend. Geez, I hope you all had a time to watch/listen. I was super, super touched and inspired. I left conference feeling more motivated to be a better person. Such a great feeling.

So I am now serving in Evry (city south of Paris) with Elder Empey. Evry is great and Elder Empey is a STUD! I'm super grateful to be here right now. I feel like there is a lot of potential in this city and in this ward. These past couple days we've been finding all day long and we've met a lot of cool people. We're probably going to be doing a lot more finding this coming week to really build up our teaching pool.

I'm super grateful to be with Elder Empey too. He's a super strong, young misisonary. Full of energy and super willing to work hard and be obedient. We're working really well together so far and I know there are lots of cool experiences ahead of us.

Well, I think that's it for this week.

I love you guys, talk to you soon,
Elder Davis

Pictures 9/29/14

Me with the Grinotier family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

         This was the most unexpected picture I've received, but I guess even Elders need to relax and have a facial on occasion. ;)