Email - I was like a girl in the mall when I went through the meat section

Weekly update DEC 5th - DEC 11th

Off to play some basketball in the new sweet shirt I found. 

It helps me get into the other players heads before hand. :)

MONDAY: I have some good news! I no longer have to use $30 a month to do laundry. We have a washer and a dry in the house, Idk how well they work but we have them.

Picture of my new place

 To get groceries, we went to a store called Aldi and it's not super big but everything they have in there is sooooo cheap! I was like a girl in the mall when I went through the meat section.  After that we made lunch and headed over to the Caldwell chapel (that's where the zone meets up on p day to play sports). Pretty much all we play as missionaries is basketball or dodge ball. Some zones do super fun stuff like beach volleyball or other super fun stuff but not us. Not yet ;) that evening we stopped by our new investigators house (Ronny) and he told us his wife has a super bad disease and we told him we could give her a blessing and he said he would love. We promised to come by on Wednesday. He said that he feels different when we come over, he said he feels the love we have. They are honestly the most humble and golden family! I have faith that they will be baptized soon. Please keep them in your prayers 

TUESDAY: We had to drive to Ihop in Bloomfield for a little meeting that my comp had with the other district leaders and zone leaders. So the comp of the other district leader and I had to sit at a different table. Since it was like an hour meeting, we figured we would get food... he has been in the mission like 5 days or something like that. That night we had English class and the only lady that showed up was our Chinese lady. It's crazy to listen to her speak mandarin!! After English class we walked out to find snowy slush all over our car.

 It was raining most of the evening. I'm just waiting for the snow to come! Most people here say it doesn't usually come until January:( We then went over to another one of our investigators house and I got to know them better. The dad likes fishing so to break the ice a little I talked about fishing and showed him a couple pics I had. We then taught them a lesson and it seems the dad is much more willing than the wife, she has lots of doubts about everything about us. But we are here to help her with that. They have 2 boys that are potential too! 

WEDNESDAY: I had to go back to the hospital for a follow up and I waited in the waiting room for like 1 1/2 hours and when I finally got in they spent like 2 min asking me questions and then they said I was good to go! I made some cookies to bring over to Ronny's family after lunch. We headed off to the English member named Brother Thomas and pretty much what he does is he teaches us how to teach lessons better. It's actually super helpful! After we told him the situation with Ronny's wife and he told us, he is a doctor and that he wanted to come with us to check her foot out and give his medical opinion. That evening we had brother Thomas come with us to Ronny's and he checked out her foot and told her what she had and had a super cheap prescription written for her and we just had to translate this all. After he left we gave her a blessing and they were so grateful. Now, this is the craziest thing I've heard on my mission... after the blessing she told us that the past two nights she had a dream that we were going to come over and put our hands on her head. She then said she had a dream that we would bring a doctor also. She told us it was a revelation and she knows that we are an answer to her prayers and that we are the people with the correct message! She then asked us when and where we have church so she and her family can go! 

THURSDAY: We picked up the Sister missionaries and drove over to the mission presidents house for "Traditions with the Taggarts" we got a super nice home made breakfast with the whole zone! French toast, hash brown, sausage, bacon, all sorts of good food :) We had a little zone conference thing after that. Then we went to the hospital to give an English member from Haiti a blessing. She had an amazing conversion story!! We road over to Diegos and Carols house and taught the restoration and put them both on date to be baptized! I found out in the past two years in this area, only 1 person has been baptized!! We then headed over to the Aquinos and had bomb Peruvian food! 

FRIDAY: We did service at a play like Goodwill or D.I. Afterwards they gave me a nice north face jacket!! We had a dinner planned but when we got there they said they were busy but handed us a pizza. We ate the pizza in the car and then headed to the church to help someone remove a shelf in the church. Ronny called us up and told us that his wife made us some food. We got there and he was telling us how thankful he is to know us! 

SATURDAY: Well Frisbee got canceled... because it was "too cold" idk why! It was 22 outside :) We went over to Nidias house and helped her get all her Christmas stuff out of her shed. After that we cleaned up the house a little bit and now it looks much nicer. This place is crazy. I see like 10 Maserati, 10 Teslas, Bentleys, and Aston Martins like every day!!! We helped the lady we have on date move a super heavy dresser from one house to another. That was tough! On the way home there was a group of 16-18 year old girls who were being all crazy and doing the call me sign. Girls are crazy here. 

SUNDAY: When we woke up the windchill made it feel like 14 degrees! After church we drove over to Newark and I felt like I was headed home since that is where I started my mission for 3 months!! On the way there it started to lightly snow so that was fun! We practiced singing the songs for the Christmas fireside for like 2 hours then we actually started the whole thing!! I sat by Elder Marz the whole time and that was a blast!! 

After the fireside I said hi to a bunch of the old members! When we walked outside, there was snow on everything. It was the first real snow of my mission! 

I love you all and remember that families are forever!! I have an invitation/goal for all of you!! Now that the new year is coming, I want one of the goals for the new year to be to have family home evening every Monday with the family! The prophets promise us so many blessings if we do! I love you all and the mission is great!! Here's a nice pic I liked about family home evening.

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - They call me Mr. Clean

Weekly update NOV 28th-DEC 11th

MONDAY: Today is my last day in Ironbound. I didn't think I would be leaving. After the normal p day morning routine we went to the chapel and played some basketball and I had some people write in my journal. After we got home we got ready quickly and headed over to José Cuartas (one of my favorite members/ ward mission leader). At his house my comp and I made a bunch of cookies with them since that's what they wanted to do for my last day with them. We then came home and I packed some of my stuff for like 45 minutes and it was sad knowing that it was my last time sleeping in Ironbound. I really came to love the members and the area. There is a lot of work to do there. I'll miss that area a lot! I'll miss feeding the squirrels by hand too. Haha

TUESDAY: Today was the first day of my 4th transfer (if you include my 6 weeks in Mexico). I woke up for the last time in Ironbound and I finished packing for the next 2 hours while my comp slept. The Portuguese Elder then drove their car over to us and we packed all my stuff in their car. We dropped them off and headed out to the Short Hills chapel which ironically is where I am serving. All the Elders who are getting moved met up there. I got to see Elder Marz, Taylor, and Kelly. They were all in my district in the MTC! I hope I can be comps with them someday. We finished up and I said goodbye to Elder Rios and loaded up my stuff into my new car! We have a 2013 Ford Fusion which is a decent car for the mission. There are lots of 2015-2017 cars in the mission. I'll miss having bikes tho. My legs got pretty nice from riding bikes all day ;) now I'll just get fat. We then drove over to my new house and it's a really nice house.  It was just sad to walk in and see that it was a mess! The Elder who served there last just finished his mission so he didn't care what it looked like after he left. They never cleaned it in like 2 months so it was nasty! We went through the cabinets and fridge and got rid of almost everything that was in them. I think people are gunna start calling me Mr. Clean or something since whenever I get to a new apartment I throw out so much stuff! There was food in the cabinets that expired in 2012!!!!

 We then had a couple meetings and it was raining hard all day! So I was soaked anytime I was outside. While walking down the street to an appointment I found $20! 

The scary mannequin thing that is right by our front door in my new house. 

It scared the 💩 poop out of me the first time I saw it. 

I now use it as a jacket rack :) 

WEDNESDAY: Today was my first full day in Summit, New Jersey (that's where my house is) we had a little zone meeting to get to know everyone so that was fun! I have Elder Taylor in my zone now! He was my MTC companion! My companion is district leader so that should be fun! After that all the Spanish missionaries got together and practiced singing the Christmas songs and it was terrible haha. We met a super cool family from Peru in the evening and I think we can get them baptized with hard work and prayers! 

THURSDAY: My comp had a training meeting so I was comps with Elder Wargah from Brazil! He has been in the Portuguese program, English program, and now the Spanish program! He is a super cool Elder! We cleaned the house a little, talked about my area and tried to walk down the streets and contact or find some service to do. Nobody is outside here! We are trying to do the 25 days 25 ways thing, Check it out on Mormon.org and try to do the goal each day. Tell me how it goes, 

FRIDAY: We had service at a place called bridges and helped unload lots of boxes and stuff. After we finished they gave me a nice waterproof jacket. On the way home we stopped by Taco Bell and ate a lot and then had to stop at Pep Boys and get our oil changed. We talked to quite a few people in the evening and they all said my Spanish was super good so that made me feel better about the language. 

SATURDAY: We woke up and met up with like 30 people and played ultimate Frisbee for like an hour and it was tons of fun! Just a little windy. When I said I was from Mesa they all said, "Mesa is like the new Mormon capital of the world" haha. We went to the church to help the Gherkies set up for a little party and after we finished they had us stay and I got to eat white people food! So crazy!! We spent some time knocking doors and found an area with lots of Hispanic people so that was a good day! 

SUNDAY: I am not in a ward anymore of 150 people, I'm in a branch of about 35 people. Super different. Anyway it's super weird to see all these white people. Especially people my age. After church we helped a less active set up her Christmas tree and that was pretty fun!! We had a meal appointment with a Peruvian family and we got super good food! It might have been better since I ended my fast with that meal haha but I still loved it!! 

Sorry my weekly emails have been getting less and less fun. I'm trying to write just about the different things that happen!. Anyway please go to Mormon.org and start doing the light the world thing daily. I promise you will receive so many blessings as you do. I love you all and stay warm!   

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Last week in Ironbound

I'm not going to do the daily update the same this week because when I finished my weekly update after like 2 hours, it disappeared some how... I'll just talk about the best stuff from this week.  

Well last Monday on the way to the church for p day it was snowing a little bit. Just random flakes falling. Not much but it was still snow! Yes I did play a little bit of sports and I felt fine haha. I couldn't resist playing sports.  It always makes me feel so good. Since I had just gotten home from the hospital that morning, my parents sent food to my house that night. They sent me shrimp scampi, garlic bread, a big green salad with ranch, chicken tenders, fries and fried Oreos  (they were so good)!!  All the food was able to feed me for a few days after that. 

#nodishes 

We said goodbye to Elder Lelua because he leaves in like a week. He is from Samoa. 

I also made a ton of cookies to give to members since it was close to Thanksgiving! So we went to Walmart and I got some cookie mix and made a ton of cookies. All the members we gave them too loved them and they said they wanted more. 

The two Portuguese elders got a hold of my I pad and took a bunch of pictures haha. 

Well, Thanksgiving was awesome! We woke up and went to the Maple Wood chapel and played basketball with like 12 other elders and it was a blast. Then we went to a park by the river and All the missionaries from 3 zones got together and played footbal. I was QB for my team most of the game and it was so fun. 

We also gave some presents to some members and had to make wrapping paper out of magazine.

On Sunday I confirmed José Chamba and everyone said my Spanish was super good during the blessing so that made me feel pretty good. I will definitely miss the people here in Ironbound and the ward I have served in for the past 2 1/2 months! 

I was told that I'm getting transferred and my comp is staying. I will be going to Short Hills, New Jersey. Completely different than here in Ironbound. I have been serving in the poorest park of New Jersey and now I am going to the wealthiest part. 

 I did get a pretty awesome shirt and hat here tho!! 

I'm sorry that my weekly update was lame this week! Because my other one was deleted I didn't have time to type much. I love you all and next week I'll tell you about my new area and companion.

This is the new shirt and hat I got. Last pics with Elder Rios. 

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Hole In My Esophagus and The Power Of The Priesthood

University Hospital in Newark

November 11th - 14th, 2016

TUESDAY: I woke up and my throat hurt super bad. I figured it would go away if I drank a bunch of water so that's what I did. Since it was raining hard, we got a ride to district meeting. For part of the district meeting we each got our own room to go to and pray for 15 min. That was super neat! My head and throats started hurting a lot longer but I didn't think much of it, it was just a normal sore throats that would go away. We then had a meeting with Ramon and bishop came. I felt bad because I didn't talk much during the lesson cause I felt so nasty. The sisters went to Walmart and got me some cold medicine and cough drops so that was super nice! My voice was like gone and I sounded terrible! We went home and I got some rest.... well I tried... I got up and puked a few times and couldn't get much sleep at all.

WEDNESDAY: I got a little sleep over the night and I woke up and my whole body ached. I figured I had the flu. It's terrible being sick without a momma to take care of you. I layed in bed for a while until I felt good enough to get out of bed and did all the dishes as always. We had an appointment with Ramon and because I wasn't feeling well,  José Luis Vasquez ordered us an uber so I didn't have to ride 30 min over to the appointment on my bike! We had a good lesson but I started to feel like junk again. My comp told me to just keep going and go to the church for family home evening so I did. Half way through I felt so bad I had to go out and lay on the couch in the hall. After family home evening José Luis Vasquez gave me a blessing and I felt a little more comfort. After, we got a ride home and we were walking José Chamba home I stopped half way and I puked my guts out in a trash can on the sidewalk.

THURSDAY: I slept pretty bad again but it was little better than the night before. I still felt like poop so I layed in bed. Over the past 2 days when I would lay in bed my comp would too haha i wish I had that opportunity to take advantage of my comp being sick! When he was sick for a day I just studied like crazy and I loved it! We then did weekly planning and it went good. We then made lunch and I made some instant mashed potatoes and they were bomb! For dinner a member gave us pizza. After that we rode out to Jose Cuartas house and set the baptism plans. It was sad because we tried to get his family to come to church and it was sad seeing him bear testimony to his family who were members and they just didn't care much. It made me feel so blessed to be in the family I'm in!!

FRIDAY and SATURDAY.....Well FRIDAY I started out good. We woke up and went to Irmas for breakfast. I felt like 90% better and I was able to ride my bike and stuff. After Irmas my comp said he wanted to go to Payless since he had a 20% off card that ended the next day. We got there and I found a pair I liked for like $24 and figured I would get some while we were there. He forgot his wallet though so we went home and got his wallet. We came back and got the shoes and then came home and did some language study. We then went to Glenda Amadors house and she made us a good hot ham and cheese sandwich.  It was kinda spicy too. We then rode over to Winstons and Maria's and we taught them and had some crackers and popcorn and I felt like I got some food stuck in the back of my throat... we just decided to ride over to Ramon's and it still hurt and I was starting to be a little surprised the feeling had not gone away... we then went to Jose Cuartas and tried to eat some bread and water but I felt like that just made the feeling worse. My comp stopped to get pizza and I couldn't eat since my throat hurt so bad. I tried drinking some water but it hurt so bad to try and swallow. My comp was getting worried so he made me call the mission nurse. She told me I needed to go to urgent care. So we called the senior missionaries and by this time it was 8:00 PM. They came and got me and my companion but there were no more urgent cares open (this was a blessing in disguise) so they made the decision to take me to the ER... I didn't feel like it was necessary especially since I hate making people spend money. But they said I needed to. So we went. I got my number to wait and instead of waiting a few hours like most of the people in the waiting room they called me right away. (Another of many blessings) I came into what they called the asthma room and sat there for like an hour and they checked my pulse and gave my some breathing treatments. I then went and got x rays and by this time it was about midnight. I waited for a while again and then they decided I needed a cat scan... (biggest blessing ever) I didn't know why but I just went with it. After the cat scan they gave me an EKG. That's where they check how my heart is doing. During the whole night I saw all sorts of messed up people come in. That's why I kept getting bumped back because it was people who got shot or beat half to death or car wrecks. Just all sorts of crazy stuff happens here in Newark! So after waiting for a while a man came to me and got me my own room. He sat me down and started asking questions about what was happening. He then said "well we have a very serious problem on our hands, a problem that has killed lots of people at this hospital" by this time I was pretty scared... he then said "you are going to need to call you parents and tell them that they are going to need to fly out here asap. We will probably have to do surgery on you very soon. This isn't something to mess around with. It appears that you have a hole in your esophagus probably caused from when you were puking hard the other day. You now have air in you neck and chest so that means anything from you throat can get into your chest and to your heart. This has killed people in 3 hours here.  We need to do 1 more test to see if you for sure have a hole and where it is. But you will probably have to be here for a couple days at least. I was pretty shaken up after hearing how my sore throats is actually something super serious. I was pretty scared but knew I was in the Lords hands and no matter what happens would be what he wanted. My companion and Elder Gerkhie then gave me a blessing. I was able to calm down a little and feel at peace that everything would be ok. A couple hours later they brought me into a room where they made me drink this liquid that they could see through the x ray and it was super nasty!! I drank it fine and they said we are surprised to say that as of right now we can not see any leaking from your esophagus. This happened at about 8 am on Saturday morning. I was praying all day and night that I could be healed to the point where I wouldn't need surgery if it be the will of God. After they told me they couldn't find any holes I just cried because I knew the blessing and my prays and many others had been answered. The power of god is infinite! They also stuck a camera down my nose and like a foot down my throat to see if they could find anything and he said I couldn't find anything but we still want to keep you here for another day just to make sure no infections happen. We want to make sure that you get all healed up. They said the air in my chest would just be absorbed by my body. So pretty much I just lay on bed with an iv in me and watched all sorts of crazy injuries get rolled in. I only got 1 hour of sleep over the night time so that was pretty tough. They also told me that I couldn't eat or drink until I leave. So as of right now I'm so thirsty! I know that they are pumping me up with water and stuff so I'll be fine. At like 7 Saturday evening I got transferred to a different room with a real bed! So after I got moved over there a couple hours later I look over and I just see this guy laying in bed peeing straight up in the air... yeah I was confused too...

SUNDAY:  I got like 1 hour of sleep last night... I thought I was going to go home Sunday morning in time for the baptism but they still kept me there. I was sad because we had 2 baptisms... I lay in bed all day and wasn't able to eat or drink until lunch when they let me drink! At around 1 I was thinking that Ramon and Jose Chamba were being baptized! I was excited to baptize Jose but I'm just glad he was still baptized!! I got to eat dinner for the first time in days! The food was actually decent. Some meat with gravy and mashed potatoes! The hospital is not a super fun place to be though! I just wanted to get out! I felt so much better!! I finally got out of the hospital on Monday morning at like 11 AM!

I know that all the prayers were answered and I'm so grateful for the power of blessings! I know that without the blessings and prayers things wouldn't have ended the way they did! I'm so glad to have my Heavenly Father and Mother to watch out for me!! I know they were there to help me as I was nervous and not knowing what would happen! Thank you for all those who were praying for me. I love you all! Also my favorite scripture Joshua 1:9 fit perfect for this week!

Elder Gerkhie (Senior Missionary Couple - Sister Gerkhie is not in the picture)

After 4 days and 3 nights, I'm ready to go home!!

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Trip to Manhattan (Temple, 911 Memorial and The World Trade Center)

MONDAY:  Walmart again to return my comps broken bike and do our weekly shopping. Ends up Elder Rios got the same bike as mine. A "fancy" beach cruiser" I don't know how he likes it! Anyway since it was just Halloween all the candy was 50-75% off! Soooo I got like 3 different types of candy... I need to stop!  To make up for it I got carrots, apples, canned peaches and canned pears! Starting now I won't by any more candy! I'm trying to eat healthier! Later that evening we picked up Jose Cuartas and took him to our appointment with a new investigator. He was a referral from the Kearny sisters. We taught him the restoration and showed him the restoration movie, then asked him to be baptized. He said yes to the 20th of November! We will have to work fast to have him ready by then but we can do it! The only problem is if he doesn't find a job he is moving to Pennsylvanian where he has a job waiting! 

TUESDAY:Today we had zone conference and it was super good! I like meetings and stuff because I always learn something! We then had lunch and fundamentals. By the time we got out of all the meetings it was 3:30!! We came home and most of our plans canceled so we went to Blanquitas house and she fed us. We then rode to Harrison and had a meeting with Urrelo and he fed us too! We rode home and took Jose Chamba to Blanquitas house and talked about baptism and he said he agreed to be baptized on the 20th of this month! She had the elections on and they all were so mad when trump had the lead. Most people here hate trump with a passion!! I was super curious who would win. Almost everyone thinks trump would lose.

WEDNESDAY: Well trump won, didn't expect that! Along with that, today was a good day! Temple day!! The whole zone met up at the church and went over to the Harrison train station and took the train to the World Trade Center station. That place is so cool!! It is huge!!

 We had to walk a couple blocks and take the train the rest of the way to the temple. When we walked out of the station I saw buildings bigger than I've ever seen!! We were super close to the World Trade Center! It was sooooo tall!

We got to the Manhattan temple and it is pretty small but still super cool! We went through the temple and it was amazing!! There is also a church in the same building. The church has a basketball court so it was weird to see people walking into the temple doors in gym clothes and basketballs. Super crazy!

 We went and got street food after that and we got gyros. They were pretty good! We still had like 25 min so like 10 of us walked the 1 block over to Central Park!! It was so beautiful!! The trees were changing colors and it was a cloudy day! 

We had an awesome view of New York! I can't believe I went to New York for the first time today!! I want to spend a couple days there after my mission just to look at stuff! The park was amazing! On the way back to the train station we stopped by the huge pools where the twin towers used to be and they were so big!!

New York was awesome! I need to know what food I can get next time that is close to the temple!! 

THURSDAY: We had a service day at Sinai retirement/ rehab center and played games with the people there. It's funny because most of the people there don't like my companion. When he comes over to them they leave. That place always has funny stuff happen! Definitely not a good place to be if you are a germaphobe! We then had a meeting and brought a girl in our ward who just got home from a mission. We taught Ramon the plan of salvation and he liked it! He understands a lot! He was going to have to leave if he didn't find a job but he found one! We got our weekly pizza and ate it at the members house who lives  next door. We then went to Christians house and talked to him about going to the temple. The whole day I was just in a white church shirt and tons of people had jackets! They all kept asking how I wasn't cold! 

FRIDAY: Breakfast at a members house and it is similar every week... Good thing we like it! We came home and I did language study while my comp slept. During lunch I made some brownies and they were super good!

 We then did weekly planning. We got juked on our next lesson so we stopped at 1 of the million bakeries and shared a piece of flan. I love flan! Today was windy and cold! The wind just makes everything worse! We then got Jose Chamba and walked over to Blanquitas house to have her help us teach him. After the lesson she made tea for us. Each time she would walk out of the room I would pour mine into her cup hahaha she didn't find out until the end! Everyone was laughing so hard. My comp always just drinks it because he says it's good and he doesn't want to be mean. Jose Chamba is getting baptized the 20th he asked me to baptize him! 

SATURDAY: Today I bought chicken at the store and a member used it and made us lunch and our investigator Jose Chamba!

  Elder Quintero came over and gave him the baptismal interview and he said he is good to go! Set for the 20th! We had an appointment and they gave us a sandwich to go and as we rode I passed 1 of many hobos and I gave him it and the hobos around him seemed mad I didn't give it to them. I told him to share haha. We went to the church and made the baptismal agenda for the baptism the next day and then went home! 

SUNDAY: We picked up Jose Chamba and we went to the church. The font was already on when we got there so that was nice! Church was nice and we had a few investigators show up! I got to wear my golden tie again! We had the baptism after church and it went great! We set up lots of appointments so that was good!

 I love the Sabbath day! We talked to a member and he said next Monday he would take us fishing!! I'm so pumped! I really hope it happens!! The weather hasn't gotten super cold yet so that's sad! 

Well anyway I just wanted to tell you all I love you so much! Help the missionaries in any way you can! Always give them referrals (people they can help) and try to help them out in any way! Each of you can be missionaries every day! Get out there and find the lost sheep! It's amazing to watch people come back and grow in the gospel! Read and pray daily! God wants to hear from you and help you out! The church is true!!! 

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Contacting Can Give You Sore Muscles

MONDAY: Well "ya tú sabes" it was Halloween! We woke up and did the normal stuff like each Monday. After shopping we got home and had to ride bikes over to the sisters house and get their car. My companion's  Aunt was coming through Newark and wanted to take us to lunch and he said he got permission from president to go so we went and picked her up from the train station. We then went to Elm Street BBQ for lunch and then took her too the park and showed her kids that the squirrels eat out of our hands! Her kids loved the ardillas (squirrels). I didn't have tons of time to email today but oh well. We had to be home by 6 and couldn't leave the house since they don't want missionaries out during Halloween stuff. We stayed and planned and listened to some church music. 

TUESDAY: Today we had language study at the church then a super good district meeting by Elder Quintero the district leader. After that we had an exchange. Elder Quintero came with me to my area. He's a little bigger so I knew bikes would be a problem... anyway we were on our way home and we stopped at a red light before crossing. The cars on the opposite side got the green arrow but he didn't know that so he just started going. The cars that were turning had to slam on their brakes since he just went right in front of them and he cause a wreck! The car in front slammed on the brakes and the car behind him didn't stop so he wrecked into the back. I told him we should probably stop because we had to be witnesses but he said let's just keep going so we aren't late to our appointment. So we went home... when we got home he told me that we should have stayed... haha we then went out and contacted. We had a lesson soon after and we had a member come with us. It was a little scary because The other Elder is learning Portuguese so I had to do most of the lesson but he still helped! We found out they have 2 un-baptized sons!! They fed us a sandwich with eggs and hot dogs and hot chocolate! We then went to the next appointment and got fed again. I had to pray to get all that food down! It was rice with all kinds of random stuff in it. Some rock hard things were in it, I'm scared to know what it was... I need to work out more before I have gained even more weight! We have nights where we get fed like 4 times!! 

WEDNESDAY: Today was my 100th day! I can't believe it's been that long! I made elder Quintero a bomb breakfast since I decided that whenever I lead an area on an exchange I will make the other person breakfast. We then had a lesson after some studies and when he went to get on the bike he bent the pedal... we tried to keep riding but then the pedal just fell off as we were riding... I was laughing so hard! We walked over to his appartment and got his car and went to Walmart to get new pedals for my companions bike. We fixed the bike and exchanged back. We went to look for less actives and we got into a house and while we were upstairs we heard a voice from down stairs yell to us to come down and was yelling "who is in my house?!" So we went downstairs and the lady was asking how we got in and she said she almost "popped us". Good thing she didn't! We then taught Winston and then went to a members house and they got us a combo and flan! The flan was so good!! 

THURSDAY: After studies we went to church with the ports and all of us had meetings with the president. He just told me what we needed to work on and focus on. It was super helpful! After that we went to a members house and we taught the word of wisdom and she gave us all her coffee and we dumped it in the trash at the park! I'd say 75 percent of the members here drink coffee... President told us each time we knocked on a less actives door and they weren't there, we had to knock 20 doors around it! We got lots of numbers and referrals and a super cool guy! When we gave him the Book of Mormon he went into his car and just started reading while his friend was working on the door! We then had a member give us food and she said we couldn't come in so we went to another members house and ate really quick and taught our investigator our second to last lesson. She then committed to be baptized on the 13th of October!! We then went to a different member and showed him "only a stone cutter" he then asked us to give him a blessing since he was having some stressful stuff go on. While I gave him a blessing the spirit was there. I love giving blessings! 

FRIDAY: We were headed to our breakfast appointment at Irma's when my bike broke... for now it's fixed but if I stop peddling it will break again... we met a new lady at Irma's and she had potential! We came home and did language study and lunch then we did weekly planning. 

Then we went and had a meeting with Winston. We then went to Harrison and met with members and got fed again! We had a bunch of referrals from over there so we went and visited a couple and met a guy who seems golden! He just moved here from the Dominican Republic! We got to know him pretty well and now we can help him out! He has a lot of potential! He wants to learn more and went to the LDS church many years ago! 

SATURDAY: I've been in the field for 2 months now! Well we woke up at 6 and went to the park with 6 other Elders and played soccer! It was pretty cold but I was prepared for it lol. We then rode bikes over to the church and right before we got to church my bike broke again but I didn't have any tools to fix it! I hate not having tools to fix stuff!! So after coordination we walked like 2 miles to Walmart and had the Portuguese Elders run by the house and grab my receipt. After about an hour of waiting for them we got the receipt and were able to return the bike. I got one that was the same exact price! We rode home and had lunch then started calling. I came up with a good idea for each time we called to help my comp try harder to set up appointments! For each person that didn't answer I had to do either 30 crunches or 10 curls. For each person that answered I had to do either 10 push-ups, 15 dips, or 30 calf raises. (I knew I would have to do lots of these work outs so I didn't do the number super high). Last, if they set up an appointment I had to do a 45 second plank or 30 squats! Let's just say I had to do lots of each! We set up more appointments than ever since he loved watching me suffer and work out non stop from like 5 people in a row not answering or seeing a couple people set up appointments!

 We then went to a members house and showed a cool church movie and I brought popcorn. We then went and brought Jose Chamba to a recent converts house and talked about baptism and she told him of all her blessings and why he should be baptized. He committed to the 23rd of November! He told us that he wants me to baptize him so I better learn how to say it in Spanish! 

SUNDAY: Well today was pretty weird since it was the first time I've taken part in day light savings! We got an extra hour of sleep last night and when we woke up it was light! But now it's dark by like 5 pm lol. At church I helped take part in a baby blessing so that was neat! We had 156 people come to church today so that was the most I have seen here! I feel bad because the Portuguese Elders only had 12 people show up... Cathy got her baptismal interview and now she is good to be baptized the 13th (next Sunday)!! After church we came home and called people and I had to work out a lot again!! We went and started knocking doors and a man answered and asked who we were. We told him we were missionaries and he got so mad! He started screaming at us and cussing at us. Threatening us all sorts of crazy stuff! He told us he was gunna have his dog attack us if we didn't start running! He started calling for his dog so we got out of there! Welcome to Newark! Some people are just not very nice to missionaries! 

I just want you all to know that our Father in Heaven loves you. He has big plans for you. Be the person he wants you to be! We have so many blessings waiting for us after this life! During this life we get to choose where we will spend eternity!! So use this short time we have on earth to do everything you can to return with you Father in Heaven. We can all do that through the atonement of Jesus Christ. He is waiting for us! The time is now! Don't feel like you have to do what everyone else is doing! Do what God wants you to do!! I love you all!! 

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - The Retirement Center Throws One Heck Of A Party and I Had To Turn Into A Mom

MONDAY: Well today was my sister Lacey's birthday so Happy Birthday Lacey!! As usual each p day we do laundry and then go to Walmart.

People of Walmart?

No, it's just Elder Rios with soggy pants 

Today we went to boogies to get a hair cut but he only had time to do one so I let my comp go. After Elder Rios haircut we went to Marshalls and I got a super nice jacket.

My new sweet jacket

Lunch came after that then a ride to the church to play sports. I had to respond to like 35 people who told me Happy Birthday this week, it was really cool having that many people think about me. I got a package of candy and a cool shirt from my sister Sheridan and her husband Riley a few days after my birthday.  That was a cool surprise.

My new shirt from the Pulsiphers

We went to Harrison after p day and tried to contact some less actives. We stopped and got a 6$ pizza and then took the left overs to Patricio since he hadn't answered our calls all day. When we got there he seemed different. He told us he didn't want to be baptized and had so many doubts. He told us since he started to meet with us he got kicked out of his house for meeting with us and now he lost his job. He said if the church was true these things wouldn't happen. We tried to share all sorts of scriptures and how we receive trials to strengthen our faith but he wasn't having a change of heart so he dropped us for now... he said the less active member he lives with has been saying all sorts of bad things about the church. We will continue to work with him. Keep him in your prayers!

TUESDAY: We woke up and rode to the church and we had to put on jackets since it was like 35 degrees. At the church, I had to lead language study so that was pretty crazy! Then we had district meeting and it was super good! Then the whole zone had lunch and Elder Bowman gave me a tie that Elder Donaldson left for me before he went home! Then we had a transfer and I went with Elder Santana. They are the Portuguese elders... we had appointments all day and as you can guess they were all in Portuguese... I could understand a pretty good amount of it. I knew what they were saying the whole time so that's cool! I would just teach in Spanish and they would understand me. They all said my Spanish was super good so that raised my self-esteem! I loved being with him cause we never had time to take a one minute break! That's how I like it! The best days are the busiest days!!  We had to do a lot of driving though... and I was the only one with a license since he is from Brazil so I had to do all the driving and let me tell you. The drivers here are terrible!!! We had a great day and I spoke a lot of Spanish and talked to a lot of Portuguese people!

WEDNESDAY: Today was my 3 month mark! Elder Santana and I had a super good study time in the morning and he taught me a lot! We went to an appointment but we got juked so we were walking home and passed by a fish market so of course we had to walk inside. The store smelled just like Mexico and a mixture of bad at the same time! The new watch I bought got sized for me at a little watch store.

My new watch looking swank

We then exchanged back and then my comp called and messaged people for a long time. Not much good came from it. I studied Spanish the whole time he called so I was doing something productive! Then we went to Winstons and his mom made us some dinner and he kept asking me to play video games with him. We were there for wayyyy to long. We then had Noche De Hogar and we didn't have a ride for our investigator so someone in the ward ordered us an uber. As we waited we talked about baptism and he told us he doesn't want to be baptized for a long time.

THURSDAY: We had a meeting with Kelly a new investigator of ours and the ride there was pretty different. It was cold and raining the whole 30 min bike ride there so by the time we got there we were soaked. I had to convince my comp to go to this meeting I told him we work rain or shine! I'm glad we went because she agreed to be baptized on the 13th of November. We then went to Wendy's on the way home and then to the church. The Ports picked us up and we went to the the rehab/retirement home to do our service. We played dominoes with Steve this week and he was a little different. He was breathing super hard and was a little crazy. On the floor above us there was a "party" but it was the most depressing thing I have ever seen. People were laying in beds that they had rolled into the room and everyone was just sitting in wheel chairs staring at the walls as super depressing music played. There were a few people just screaming and bouncing up and down in the wheel chairs but hey it was an experience! Every time I'm there I hear people say super funny insults to each other and the elevator is the best/funniest 5 min of my life! Everyone just makes fun of each other and calls each other names. We came home and we had a dinner appointment and she just handed us pizza and went inside. We called a bunch of people and looked on Facebook for people after eating.

FRIDAY: After studies we had weekly planning and planned for the week and called some people. We then went to Winstons and read the scriptures with him and on the way home we stopped at Pão De Vida (a Portuguese bakery) and my comp got some food. We then tried to contact a referral but the address just lead to a nail salon and no one with that name worked there... then we rode bikes to an appointment in Harrison and it was windy and cold and right before we got there she canceled on us... he then told me that he wanted to go use Facebook to contact at Dunkin Doughnuts... I honestly don't like the I pads other than for emailing but that's just me... it was awkward in Dunkin Doughnuts because these girls my age walked in and kept looking at me and smiling! Cmon don't they know I'm a missionary!! Lol luckily they never talked to me. Crazy girls these days... haha anyway we rode home and had a lesson with Cathy and taught here some of the commandments and they served us a sandwich with Bologna and pork fat :) nasty! Then we came home and my comp cut himself while trying to open a hand warmer with a knife... so I had to turn into a mom and get him all fixed up.

SATURDAY: After breakfast we had to put on warm clothes again since we had to ride our bikes to church and it was like 38 degrees. We had weekly coordination and after we set up the baptism and made the baptismal agenda. It took way too long to figure out how to print it and how to use the printer we had like 6 people trying to figure it out! So after we got that done a member from a different stake told us when we got a baptism he would take us to lunch and he took us to this Peruvian restaurant called El Chevere I had chicken heart and cow stomach and all sorts of goodies ;). I also had this potato cake thing called causa and it was decent... not really but hey I ate a whole slice.

Paraphernalia from El Chevere 

 We came home and had an appointment with some members in Harrison and gave them a lesson but they told us they don't think this is the only true church but that most churches are true... we got fed Asian food there and it was good"ish"... I can't wait to get home and have normal food!! 21 months ;) JK I'm trying all sorts of new foods here! We then had an appointment with a part member family and watched the 20 minute version of the restoration!

SUNDAY: I got to wear my golden tie again today! I am going to wear my golden tie each time I have a baptism! That's what my grandpa gave it to me for! Anyway we got to church and turned on the font since it takes 3 hours to fill up!! After church started I confirmed Winston a part of the church and gave him a blessing, it was so amazing! Since he speaks mostly English he wanted me to do it in English. After church we were able to watch our investigator Christian Joel Morales get baptized!! He chose a member to baptize him and I was so happy that he made this choice to be baptized!!

My second baptism October 30th, 2016

Christian Joel Morales

 We came home and started knocking doors looking for our less actives and we were looking for this less active lady when a man open the door and let us in. He told us he is a member in the English branch and he wasn't going to let us in but as he was walking up the stairs he felt like he needed to let us in and feed us... so he did and about 5 minutes after he let us in it started pouring out of no where! We then shared a video and I bore my testimony and he said we were an answer to his prays and he wanted us to come back again in a few days!! Blessings are real!! We then had to go home since it was almost 6 and today and on Halloween we have to be in the house by 6 o clock! So since I'll be in the house studying make sure you go load up on candy for me!!

The mission is amazing and it changes people for the better if you let it! I know that I have changed in so many ways and I'm going to continue to change! I love this opportunity that I have!!

I LOVE HEARING WHAT'S GOING ON AT HOME!

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Birthday Wishes And My First Baptism

A small reminder to us all, that sometimes it's the little things that matter most.

MONDAY:  Typical P day (laundry, shopping, cleaning, sports). We had Winston's parents sign the permission slip for baptism! Winston told Elder Rios he wants him to baptize and me to confirm. I'm going to have to learn it in Spanish! 

TUESDAY: I had a normal first half of the day and then we went the house of a referral we got. We waited 30 min for her to get home and by that time we only had 15 min to teach before we had to leave to the next appointment. We taught a small lesson on the Book of Mormon then had to leave. We went to our next lesson and I asked the girl to be baptized and she said she would work on it! We have her down for the 30th of October! We then went to Patricios house and it was soooo hot in there! Our lesson was way too long... after the lesson I looked up at the ceiling and it was covered in maggots!!! 

WEDNESDAY:
 TODAY WAS MY BIRTHDAY!! 

I made myself a nice birthday breakfast with sausage, eggs, and hash browns with some juice! Just like home! Elder Langi gave me a Pokémon card, a sucker, and a pop tart! We had language study, then we had district meeting in my new district and then we all ate lunch! I got a super cool package from the Montierths and it was full of all kinds of snacks!

 My parents sent me money for some warm sweaters, a really cool ring with the tree of life on it with the scripture 2 Nephi 8:12 engraven on the band inside and more food! 

 We then went home and had a lesson with a crazy less active who HATES Donald trump with a passion... we showed Winston the font and the baptismal suit he will wear. After that my cousin Taylor, who lives in our stake gave me some delicious cupcakes which was super cool!! It's a blessing having her nearby. On the way home from church we got a call from a pizza delivery guy and he was saying our pizza was ready but we said we didn't order a pizza. He called back a couple min later and said my parents ordered a pizza for me!! When we got home I had a pizza that my parents ordered from home and they wrote happy birthday with pepperonis!

 So today was a pretty awesome birthday! My comp never told me happy birthday but hey that didn't bother me! I had so many emails and people telling me Happy Birthday! I can't believe I only have 1 more year to be a teenager!! I am so happy to be spending the last year of my teenage years serving the lord!! 

I've come to realize something cool! So, my birthday always falls on a hunt of mine so usually on my birthdays I'm in the field hunting. Now I'm still in the field for my birthday just a little bit different;)! My buddy Garrett Montierth sent me something I loved! It said: 

Obedience is the price.

Faith is the power. 

Love is the motive. 

The spirit is the key. 

For CHRIST is the reason!

THURSDAY: We rode bikes after studies and went to the church. We set up a wedding for one of our investigators! We did that for a long time! Then we went home for a meal appointment at a members but she just walked out and handed us the food. We went back to the church and continued to help. I like doing service because time flies! It was just me helping and my comp kinda watched lol.

 We went and did service earlier today again and played battleship with Steve. He only likes the missionaries! 

FRIDAY: Well after studies we had weekly planing and I did most of it on my own but hey I'm learning how to do it better! We then went to Winstons to talk to him and see how he was doing! My comps tire was flat at the church so we walked from our house to the church with some tools to change the tube. We walked an hour to church and he forgot the tube... so we had to drive the Portugués car and the traffic was so bad it took like an hour and a half to drive home and back. Fixed the bike all by myself haha he didn't want to get his hands dirty.... I figured I could serve him and show him how to do it. 

SATURDAY: So after some study time we were in the middle of a FaceTime conference in our room. All of a sudden we heard brakes screeching and then felt the house shake and a loud crash! We ran downstairs and we saw a car half way into the restaurant right below our house!! The boy who was driving tried to back the car out and ran away! People had to catch him and bring him back. He had drugs and stuff on him and looked pretty young so that was a pretty rough way to start out the day!!

 Then we went to help Patricio move into his new house in Kearny and it's so pretty there! I don't think the weather will be in the 70s for a few months now! It will probably pretty cold from now on. 

 On the way home a member drove us and we went through a beautiful park called "West Hudson Park" it was so cool! It had two ponds and I wanted to go fishing! Maybe on a p day some day!! Then we went to the wedding of Christian (an investigator we are baptizing October 30th) and his wife Sandra Soto. It was a pretty crazy experience being there.

I'm not sure if I said but I found out that my sister is having a baby boy!! I'm so excited!! 

SUNDAY: We went to the church and turned on the font for Winstons baptism. After church Elder Rios baptized him and next Sunday I will be confirming him!! My companion didn't say his full name so like 10 min later he had to baptize him again. He had like 20 people in his family show up.  They were mostly Portuguese! So the Portugués Elder's found a lot of work from this baptism! If they don't have 35 people coming to church by the end of the year they will get rid of the only Portugués branch in the state!! So we hope these people will start coming to church!! After the baptism I had to share a little testimony on baptism in Spanish so that was a little scary. It was pretty good! We got home and my comp said he didn't feel good so he went to bed so I had a long time to study. I'm so happy that Winston was baptized!! We have 3 people planned to be baptized next Sunday!! I hope they all get baptized!! We will work hard to make it happen!! 

  

  

My Golden Tie That Papa Gave Me Before My Mission.

I Was Told Not To Wear It Until My First Baptism.

October 23rd, 2016 was that day

I'd just like to bare my testimony on this church and I know that it is true. The church is like a family. People will only find peace and happiness when they become part of this church. I know that we can all use the atonement in our lives each day. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it brings me so much peace whenever I read it. There are so many stories and experience that will help us with what we are going through. The lord suffered for us so he knows EXACTLY how to help us! Go to him in prayer and ask for his help. He will help you. He wants us to be happy! I love you all! The mission has taught me so many things! I've grown from all the struggles and trials and I know that each of us can grow from our weaknesses and trials each day. Read the Book of Mormon each day and you will see a difference in the day! I know these things to be true and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen! Love you all!! 

mason.davis@myldsmail.net