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