Elder Mason Davis : Email - Free Haircut, Packages From Home and Tight Living Spaces

MONDAY: well my plan to work out everyday isn't going to go super well because I found out I can only wake up early to work out if my comp gets up with me... he's not very happy about that idea but he said he will try. Well anyway we started the day with laundry and as always, while the clothes washed we went next-door and got some doughnuts from dunkin doughnuts.

Then we headed to "boogies" to get a haircut. Yes that's the name of the barbershop in Newark. He does a job and even if he didn't, I can't really complain because he isn't a member but still cuts missionaries hair for free!

After that we went to Walmart and on the way home I sent a package to my family! They said it would be there on Wednesday or Thursday.

I only had like 3 hours to email today since we didn't get home till like 3:30... but we spent the rest of p day cleaning the house since I like living where it's clean. And we need the spirit to be with us and if it's dirty we can't feel the spirit. I'm super thankful my parents raised me to be clean! And we emailed every once in a while while cleaning. We will clean next p day too ;).... Don't tell my companion.

I loved getting updates about home and I especially love getting pictures! Random pictures are the best!

For dinner I made guya rice with chicken and it was bomb. We set up an appointment in a sketchy part of iron bound to give a guy a Book of Mormon. On the way home we passed a guy walking his bike so I turned around to help him but I couldn't fix it. He was super thankful that I tried though.

Guaya Rice with Chicken

TUESDAY: I had the whole morning to do my studies which is super awesome because we usually have appointments during the time we should be studying. Then we had lunch and after lunch we talked to Carlos and my comp wanted to just kinda hang out with him and ride around and talk so that was a waste of like 2 hours. After that we got a ride to the church from Hans and I finally asked him to change his nasty music but he just got mad at me... president told us to ask people to turn of the music while we are in the car if it isn't good music. Then we had English class and they are doing a little better but still really struggling.

I got 2 packages today! One was a super sweet jacket and a beanie from the cabin :) and some pens I made at home.

The other was completely full of food and stuff! I loaded up my shelves with all that! I won't even need to go to the store for like a month now! On part of the box they wrote "WE <3 YOU" so I cut it out and now that piece of cardboard is hanging above my bed!

That evening we asked a less active member to watch general conference on the computer and on the way home we grabbed the food that hermana blanca gives us each Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY: after breakfast we had a big zone conference from 9-3. I learned a lot about exact obedience. I have been trying hard everyday since the field and I've come to realize it's gunna be a lot harder than I thought cause I'm gunna have to do it on my own. The food they fed us there was decent but nothing super good. After that I went on an exchange with elder Layton who is from Thatcher AZ. He is an English Elder. He is 1 transfer older than me. I went to his area in north Newark. While we were walking to an appointment we decided we should get ice cream so we did and it was pretty good. While walking to the next appointment I saw a super nice Lotus (the yellow car) as you can see they are super small.

We had 3 appointments and I was actually able to share what I wanted to since it was English. I want to be able to say what I want in Spanish now! I also saw a huge rat run in front of us. The area where they serve is pretty sketchy!

THURSDAY: Elder Layton and I had breakfast and some study time then we took a bus to the church to drop off my bag. The appointment we had got canceled to he took me to get some pizza. We went to this place called blaze pizza and you get to choose the dough, sauce, and all the toppings you could want but it's a little expensive it's almost $9.

After that we walked down the street and did service at a different church. We helped with their clothing drive stuff. We had tons of bags full of clothes and some were super dirty or covered in cat hair and they just told us to throw them away. We sorted all the clothes out for them. After that we transferred back and Elder Trask popped my tire and had someone else fix it since they didn't know how to change a tube... later that night the tire almost fell off so we asked a guy we knew if he could fix it since we were far from home. At the park I contacted someone and did the whole thing completely by myself and it was pretty cool because I could understand almost everything he was saying and could get a decent answer out.

FRIDAY: we had breakfast at a members house. She made us an Ecuadorian breakfast. We had an Ecuadorian croissant with Ecuadorian cheese. They called it queso fresco. Also a hard boiled egg, tomato juice and hot chocolate. We tried to do weekly planning after that but we had a few problems focusing. That evening we helped a less active move some stuff around and after we talked to her 10 year old son. We talked to him but he spoke English so I was happy but sad about speaking Spanish. We asked him to be baptized and he said yes to October 26th! After that we were headed to a lesson and a lady was yelling at us to be careful on the bikes so we don't hit anyone. As we talked to her she would yell at every single person that rode by. It was pretty funny.

Equadorian Breakfast

SATURDAY: we woke up at 5:45 today so we could go to the park and play soccer with 4 other elders. We played till 7 and I was better than I thought I would be. I wasn't very good though. We showed a less active the "because of him" video. It is one of the best videos I have watched! It's my favorite on on the mission! I feel the spirit every time I watch it! After that we tried to finish weekly planning and I did it mostly by myself because my comp said he wanted me to do it. Then we stayed in the house till like 5 since my comp wanted to call people. Super bad waste of time because we got no where. We then rode over to Harrison and on the way back we got rained on super hard. We were soaked. We came back to make food for Jose chamba and we made him ramen, eggs, chicken, and rice. When we went to his house his ceiling was 6 feet tall! I had to duck everywhere I went! And some parts it was only 5 foot!

SUNDAY: while at church we had a member get up and give a talk about how the prophet said that we can't eat meat at all and also that we break the word or wisdom when we drink or eat anything with caffeine. That was pretty awkward since there were lots of Investigators at church today. So the bishop got up during the 3rd hour and had to clarify that meat is fine and that we can drink soda... after that we got the paper that the ward filled out for us. The one where people write their name where on the date they want to feed us. There were two meals for each day and 62 meals this month and only 9 meals were taken and all by the same 3 people Haha good thing I have a TON of food!! That night we actually got fed and I was surprised when I was able to understand most of the conversation! Anyway this week has been pretty good! It was a little slower but hey not every week will be the best!!! I've also come to realize that the seagulls here are more like pigeons... they don't eat fish they just eat gross stuff from the river!