Email - Puking, Fishing and Soggy Fish Sticks

~Elder Mason Davis and Elder Evan Marz 

*This makes me so happy!

(Email mostly unedited :)

MY LAST P DAY IN THE MTC!!! Well I will give you a rundown of the things that happened this week. someday ill work on making my letters into paragraph form... any who the food here is pretty good the only meal that usually sucks is breakfast... at la tienda I bought a sick David and Goliath scripture case for my Spanish Bible and Book of Mormon. 1st off, the flu has been going around here and luckily i haven't got it yet! we have had 3 elders in my district get it but as of right now everyone is good. the second elder who got it threw up exactly like the girl in pitch perfect! sorry if that's too much detail but it was like a fire hose! in basketball we played DAVIS instead of PIG so that was pretty neat. i feel kinda cool cause i can touch the rim haha. Three days in the past week rained incredibly hard! On Saturday night there was a thunder storm and the lightning was so bright it woke me up and the thunder was so loud! That's alright tho because i love the rain and loud thunder. one thing i miss a lot is the beautiful sunsets we have in AZ! there hasn't been one cool one here! i also miss my bed a lot because the beds here kinda blow! i wish i had pics while here but i don't have a camera! I have seen a lot of my good friends which is super cool! i live in a house with about 5 rooms and 4 people in each room so each night we all get together and have a huge work out sesh. this past week has flown by! I am kinda sad to leave the mtc... jk im so pumped to get out to teach the people in new jersey! oh yeah, on Sunday they ran out of the good dinner then had to give the rest of the people soggy fish sticks which was pretty nasty i was low key sad that i didn't get the chicken wings but its all good. A lot of the nights here there is a mariachi band out in the city just playing and singing for hours! I kinda like it and understand some of it! Elder Marz who is in my district loves fishing just as much as I do! I never thought i would meet a person who liked fishing as much as me! He made flys for fly fishing and he was so good that Cabelas sold his flys! He sold them to people all around the world! So there are a lot of love birds here! they are super green and pretty! after church I was walking home and i saw a baby parrot! that was pretty neat (Dillon word)! 

 A couple days ago a couple of the elders were rough housing a little and its got kinda out of hand and one elder got pushed into a window and it shattered! He only got a little cut on his hand so that's good! I saw a cool tie in la tienda so i bought it for my companion and he thought was was cool of me. it was the same tie that i bought the first couple weeks i was here! It's sad seeing all my friends leave the mtc and get out into the field but ill see them in a short two years! I only have one more lesson to give so that's pretty exciting! I am so glad i have this opportunity in my life to go serve the people of New Jersey in the Spanish language! This 6 weeks went by a lot faster than I thought it would!" next time you hear from me I'll be in New Jersey! I wish I had some more pics to send! I will when i have an I pad in jersey tho so that's something to look foward to! I looove you all and the amazing example that you guys have been in my life! Work hard each day, pray each night, and keep your standards high! 

Mexico city Temple with CCM Companion

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - A Day In The Life at The CCM

I am on my 5th week here in the MTC.  I’m sorry I just throw a bunch of random little things in and there’s no order or story. I just add things I remember to talk about so don’t h8. Last Tuesday we went to the temple again and it was just as amazing! I love going to the temple. The drivers here in Mexico are crazy! I swear there are no traffic rules! Everyone just cuts each other off and does what they want! But that’s alright because we are in a bus. It takes about 45 min to get to the temple! It’s like the 5th largest temple or something like that I’m not sure. We met a couple who has spent the past 10 years trying to visit all the temples in the world and the Mexico City temple was their 109th temple! We have been practicing singing Abide With Me Tis Eve Tide in Spanish and it’s amazing. It’s one of my favorite songs! We are singing it in sacrament meeting the day before we leave. 

Well this week we found out it’s a tradition for the 5th week district in each zone to give candy to the 4th weekers... so we got a huge pile of candy on p day last week and now tonight we have to give candy to the 4th weekers. I’m pretty excited to scare them and say they are in big trouble and stuff but then dump out a huge bag of candy! 

Something I have liked doing is getting together with elders in my district and doing some tie trading! Some people will love ties you have, but you think are ugly so you can give them your ugly tie and get a super cool one from them 

 

You asked about a typical day at the MTC.  Here it is:

- Wake up at 6:30 PM

- Be in class by 7.00

-From 7 to 7:30 we do personal study

-7:30 to 8:00 AM we have breakfast

-8 to 9 we have more personal study

- 9 to 10:30 we study doctrine and fundaments.

-10:45 to 11:45 we teach investigators (but while in the MTC they are just our teachers but we teach them like they are real). This is all in Spanish FYI.

-Two companionships teach during that time so it’s usually a 30 min lesson.

-From 12 to 12:30 we study the Book of Mormon

- 12:30 we have lunch and then we go home and get changed for gym.

-We have gym from 1:35 to 2:30 and that’s probably my favorite part of the day! We play basketball pretty much every day! I’ve gotten a lot better at basketball and so now its fun lol.

-After gym we have language study from 3 to 6  

- 6 PM we have dinner.  

-6:45 to 7:45 we study the language on the computer and from 7:45 to 9 we have more language study!

The other day we actually taught a real investigator and I was way nervous but we did well! The food is pretty good here! I love when we have chicken wings or Costco chicken bakes or Costco pizza. It’s nice cause at La Tienda they sell tide pods so that’s what I have been using for laundry. It rains a lot here and we have to run to lunch or class or home in the rain but its Gucci. I have been here for almost 1 month. So, I have two teachers and the one in the morning got engaged and the teacher in the evening just told us she was pregnant. She told us before she told her husband. They have some super cool shirts and scripture cases here! We just had 60 elders leave to the field and yesterday we had 184 elders come! We watched a movie on Jesus life and it was amazing watching him heal people and knowing that we have that same priesthood! We also watched a movie called the stone cutter and it was amazing I recommend you watch it. I’m sorry my typing is terrible because I have to type superfast and the computer is in Spanish so I don’t know if I spell something wrong. I love you all and the mission has been amazing and I know it will only get better! Write me anytime you want and I’ll do my best to write you back each week! Remember who you are and keep your standards high! Talk to you guys in 1 week!

Email - Pterodactyl Poop and Laundry

Elder Davis with 7 other Mountain View High School boys currently at the CCM

~Thanks to Megan Montierth who sent this beauty over to me.

Well I am more than half way done with the MTC and almost 3 percent done with my mission! I'll do my best to remember all the things I wanted to talk about! 

This week it didn't rain as much as usual! One of the nights it was sprinkling and my companion and I  both saw lightning that was straight up green! It's foggy most morning's here and in the 50s so its amazing! Most gym days we play basketball and the first couple days I was terrible, but now everyone thinks I'm the best even though I still am terrible. I just sit under the hoop and wait for someone to pass me the ball. We have a lot of pork, beef, and chicken here. The food is surprisingly decent. I love the burger and curly fry days! Also every Tuesday we get new Elders and that night is Costco pizza! My comp and I have to talk to all the elders in our zone since we are zone leaders. it can be pretty stressful when there are lots of struggling elders. But I'm working hard to help them all. On p day last week we went to the temple and it was amazing! Its a beautiful temple! We are also going to the temple this week! We get randomly assigned by the president to go to the temple. and the temple is a 6 hour thing so most of our p day is used with that but its alright! On p days when we don't have the temple we have like 8 hours to clean our house, email, sleep, and play sports! I feel like the days are long but the weeks fly by! Last week idk why but I put my watch in my pocket and I accidentally sat on it and shattered the face... I broke the glass out and continued to use it because it still worked but soon enough all the hands fell off except the hour hand... I think I'm gunna use a different one lol.  

So there's a store here and they sell all sorts of random stuff. I found a sweet paisley and striped tie! It's kinda orangeish corral. I bought it because it cost 45 pesos which is only like 2 dollars and 50 cents! All the deal in there are amazing! I get all sorts of stuff at la tienda like candy and ice cream and laundry detergent! 

 The mosquitoes here are kinda bad so I spend the last 10 min before bed searching the whole room to make sure there are no survivors. I've only been bit like 10 times while I've been here.

We watched the amazing church movie on John Tanner and everyone could feel the spirit. That was one of my favorite things to watch! I recommend you all watch it! 

Something that has surprised me is that I love doing my laundry! I look forward to it every week! It's fun and I feel like I can do things on my own! I guess I feel self sufficient and that's what i like! I had around 9 friends just from mountain view here! We all got together and got a picture but sadly I don't have that picture yet or any pictures for that matter but when i do I'll be sure to send them out!

The funniest thing happened while we were talking to an elder on a bench,. We were just talking when a bird pooped on my companions shoulder! It was one of the nastiest poops ever! I'm pretty sure it was from a pterodactyl. No idea how to spell it... our Spanish has been getting better each week and a couple of days ago my companion and I  gave one of our best lessons! We gave the lesson on Gods love for us! We have made our investigators cry in a couple lessons and you can feel the Spirit. I got my hair cut about 45 min ago and they did a surprisingly good job. It's a little short but that's ok! One thing that I've loved doing is every night after we get home me and my companion and 1 more companion work out. We do crunches, push ups, calf raises, planks, wall sits, dips, and one more thing I can't remember. I was pretty sore the first few days but now I look forward to working out each night! 

It's the most awkward thing when you forget your name tag... everyone asks what's your name and stuff just to make you feel stupid haha.  Well anyways I think that's all I have to say. I just want to let you know that this gospel is amazing and the Holy Ghost is amazing and helps me everyday while I've been here. Keep your standards high and work hard! I love you all and I'll see you in a short two! 

Please email me!  I love to hear what's going on at home!

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Beef Jerky, Love Birds and a Temple Trip

Unedited version of Elder Mason Davis' email home. We are sure proud of him!
 

well my second p day is here! ill just go in order and answer your questions. i was super suprised when i got to the airport and got on the plane because i was the only missionary on my flight! i thougyht there would at leasst be a couple others.yes my companion is the redhed and he is from west valley utah. hes super cool and we are getting along a lot bettter each day. hes pretty athletic.yeah elder marz and i have become best friends hes super cool! he loves hunting and fishing! hes 6 foot 4. i dont think they move anyone up in the spanish classes. we stay with our district pretty much all day long and do everything together.i am progressing a lot in spanish some days i feel like i learn and remember a lot more than others.i would say im like 4th best out of 10 becuase some people are just really good at studying but i still know more words than them. i am getting better at conjugating so that helps. but yeah im super excited to get out and talk to everyone in the field because i know i will learn very fast in the field.  It rains probably 5 days a week and theres always fog in the morning so its pretty cool. one thing they dont have here is cool sunrises or sunsets so i miss that! the houses cover the hills around us! there are houses on the sides of super steep hills its crazy! i would buy a camera but the cheapest one they have here is a little over 100 american dollars. the food has been treating me really well and there have only been a couple gross meals so im super thankful for that. the beef jerky you guys sent me is super good and every one thinks im gunna get fat for how much i eat. by week 1 i was already up 5 pounds! the best foods are probably on tuesday when they have costco pizza!yeah im only able to get on to my email 1 time a week and that is wednesday and we only have 1 hour to email. yeah it feels really good not to be the newbies! we are on our week 3. we have been teaching some newbies how to creat a lesson and how to go about the day so thats pretty cool. im sure the cabin ias beautiful right now with lots of deer! you guys better get some big deer in unit 30a. the days are starting to fly by which i never thought i would say because the first week was so slow! ive made lots of great friends and we play sports with new people every day! we play basketball and ultimate frisbee mostly. yeah let me know what car you end up getting! me and my compánion gave our first lesson without a lesson plan and without the translated lesson witrh us. we did really good and we have been getting better and better each day. so my companion was the district leader which kinda made the district leader also since i had to go to all the meetings that he did. but that was up until sunday when the branch president called us in for a meeting and asked us to be ZONE LEADERS! its crazy that the kids who had only been here for just under 2 weeks got called to be zone leaders. its gunna be a little bit harder beacuse we have to help all the districs in our zone. there are lots of love birds flying around but they are like twice the size of the ones we have.  there is a store here that they sell a bunch of random niknacks and everything is so cheap! you can get emperadors for like 8 pesos which is less that 50 cents! and shirts for like 5 dollars in pesos and magnum bars for like 50 cents. i love going there and just getting a bunch of random stuff. i got a shirt at la tienda for colton and a pin while we were at the temple! we went to the mexico temple today and it was super cool! its super white and pretty inside. going through the veil was a little difficult because we had to do it in spanish. we had people help us but they were super fast! the drivers here are all insane! everyone cuts everyone off and people pass at the worst times! they make you look like a good driver haha. its hard to remeber what to talk about but ill try and remember more random stuff... oh yeah we had a missionary go home this week. he was in our district. not sure why but it was still super sad seeing him leave not even two weeks in. the care packages you guys send me are super cool! thanks a lot for everytghing! well i guess ill try to bare my testimony in spanish. im sure i will learn more and it will get better. yo se que, jose smith es una profeta verdad. a causa de jose smith la iglesia es restuardo. yo se que el libro de mormon puede una bendicion en nos vidas. mediante fe en jesucristo todo es posible y el puede respuesta sus oraciones. yo se que el libro de mormon es verdad y puede cambia su vida. yo se que dios nos ama, en el nombre de jesucristo amen. i love you guys and pray about you daily! i canty wait to hear from you guys next week! ive only got 40 minutes left but just know im doing great and my testimony and knowledge on the gospel grows daily!


mason.davis@myldsmail.net

First Email Home (mason.davis@myldsmail.net)

Elder Mason Davis and His District at The CCM. 

Well the time has come! I finally got my first p day! I got on a plane last Tuesday and headed off to Mexico to where i will be staying for the next 6 weeks. the first 4 days were super hard because I had to get used to the time difference and we have been learning so much my head hurts! everyone when you get here says make it to Sunday and everything will get better. its way true! the days have been much better and we are starting to have a couple min in the day to stop and think for a second! at first we hardly had time to go to the bathroom! my district is amazing so I am very grateful for that and I have a great companion! more than 50 percent of the people here are from Utah its insane! they have a store in the mtc that only takes pesos but the deals in the store are amazing!! you can get a twix or kit kat for like 6 pesos which is only like 35 cents! my p days while I'm in the mtc will be every Wednesday! The food has been great and I'm already loving it! I'm so excited to continue to learn Spanish and grow in the gospel! the president here said we are only allowed to miss our family for one week so I guess I'm not allowed to miss anyone now. I still miss everyone but I know I'm in the right place and it will be a blessing in my life! I have lots of friends that I grew up with in the mtc right now. more elders and sisters came in today so i am no longer the newbie lol. I only have 1 minutes to write. I know I will learn much more in the gospel and i can already pray and bare my testimony in Spanish! fyi the computer reads all the words in Spanish so it underlines almost every word I type in red so I don't know when i am making a typing error so forgive me ha-ha. I don't have an i pad yet so i wont be able to get many pics. the ones I have were from someone in my districts camera. we pray all day long my knees hurt we do it so often but that's alright. feel free to write me! I love you all and would love to hear about how your lives are going. well that's a few of the things I remembered from my first week. its super hard to remember the things I wanted to write about but hopefully I will be able to get better and better. talk to you guys in one week! love you all!!!!


I know Elder Davis would love any and all emails.  Please feel free to email at: mason.davis@myldsmail.net