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

Email - There's Nothing That My Mom Would Make Now That I Wouldn't Eat

Anyone who knew Elder Mason Tanner Davis Pre-Mission would understand 

the significance of the title to this email!!

My super organized room now 
Notice my top bunk surrounded by cardboard boxes.  Apparently I roll
around alot at night and all my pillows end up on the floor.  With this invention, 
I don't loose my pillows anymore :)

MONDAY: My companion and I were picked up at 7:00 AM to go do the laundry with the Portuguese Elders. After laundry, we went and taught Winston a lesson and his grandparents drove us to Walmart after for our weekly grocery shopping! Since my journal is almost full I had to grab another one. I didn't need to get much food at all since I have so much from the package my mom sent me! But knowing me it will probably get eaten pretty quick. We played soccer with Winston because he said he was super good. But... my little sister may have been better... but hey it was fun and he liked playing! At around 2:30 when we got home and we cleaned up and emailed till 6:00 PM. My parents are in Mexico right now so they are probably having tons of fun! I can't wait to get home and see how much that place has changed! They sent tons of super cool pics! My brother in law Riley sent me an 88 page document of hundreds of questions people could ask and the scripture to answer the question. If I can learn a lot of them, or all of them I would never be stumped on a question again! I'm going to start waking up at 5:30 everyday so I can have more study time to study things like that.

 We have another person who is getting baptized on the 30th of October so we planned his baptism. 

TUESDAY: We headed to the church to do language study with the Spanish Elders in my zone, then we had a district meeting. The district leader got a bowl of syrup and put 5 mints in it and asked one sister to blindfold the other and had her get the mints out and she had syrup all over her face! After that he said "That had nothing to do with the lesson, I just figured I needed to be more fun"! After lunch at church we did this thing called the hot seat, it's is where the missionaries who are leaving have to answer the questions we have. We only had one elder leaving. So we asked him funny questions and spiritual questions then he gave his testimony and then we all sang "God be with you till we meet again" and he got all teared up. He was my street pops which means that he was my companion for the fear buster my first day here! The fear buster is where all the new Elders find an Elder and walk down Central Newark and contact people. So that's a pretty good way to get rid of the fear! After the hot seat we had a dinner appointment and we got noodles, chicken, and beans, and as always, we got jello! Then we went back over to Winston's house and taught him a lesson then asked his dad if he would give him permission to be baptized.  To everyone's surprise, he said he would! So now we have him planned for the 23rd of October! Then my comp said he felt sick and he wanted to go home and it was 7:00 so we went home sadly. While he crashed in bed I studied The 4th missionary" which is something that will change my mission and my life if I choose to do what it says. 

WEDNESDAY: I got my comp to wake up with me at 6:00 AM so that we could study some of the questions my brother in law sent me. After that we took a beautiful drive to the mission home in Morris Plains! A lot of the trees are changing color so it was super cool! 

After we got home we had two lessons and the 2nd lesson was a dinner appointment and when we got there she handed us a box of pizza and a soda and said goodnight and closed the door.... so we went home and ate. Then we had family home evening at the church and Elder Langi sang and it was just as good as ever! 

THURSDAY: today was TAC which is what they do the last THURSDAY of every transfer. They have everyone clean their house from top to bottom so that they can be clean if they get transferred. The next person would want it clean! I wish we had more time to clean but let's just say, from the day I got here to now, the house is completely different! When I got here it was like a cave and just nasty! I'm so glad my parents raised me to be a clean person! (I think he put's this in every email - ND) When I get home I will always have a clean house! I made some new rules with my comp and President told me to be strict with them but my comp wasn't happy about the rules at all but that's alright. My family told me that Mexico was super different without me there! I'm sure it will be so much different by the next time I go! One of the lessons we had tonight was a combo (Brazilian BBQ) so I'm always happy when we get that! At that house we walked the members dog for him at a park that is right by his house and it was so beautiful!! You could see this HUGE church called the basilica or something. 

FRIDAY: We had breakfast at a members house and she gave us pretty much the same thing as last week. Cheese on bread, hard boiled egg, bologna , home made fries, hot chocolate, and juice. I was happy to have it and it was pretty good! Then Elder and Sister Gherkie came and checked our house and made sure we cleaned it and they said it was a whole new house compared to what it was last time they saw it. Then I packed for the exchange with Elder Trask so I had to ride my bike with my bag of all my stuff to the church which was kinda hard, but hey, no one said a mission would be easy! Elder Trask and I made a goal to get 5 people's numbers before the end of the night and we ended up getting 6!! One of his investigators that was golden and was gunna get baptized 2 days later said she didn't believe in the Book of Mormon or in this church anymore so we tried to help her understand but she has given up on us. So, Elder Trask was super depressed about that for the rest of the day! He helped me learn how to use time wisely so that I can get the most out of each day! He is a homie and I'm super sad that he is getting transferred out of my zone! I'll miss the kid! 

SATURDAY: Well, Elder Trask and I accidentally slept in till 7:00 somehow!!  Anyway we got ready quickly and did the same stuff we do every morning. We had some appointments and contacted. We had an appointment cancel so he took me to a Venezuelan street food place called "Munchies" and it was something that I would have never eaten before my mission but I ate it and it was pretty good and he gave it to us for free!! My parents would be so proud of me for eating it ;)

  I have eaten so many things I would have never eaten before and there's nothing that my mom would make now that I wouldn't eat! Then we went to the church and studied as we waited for my comp to come back so we could exchange. Right when we got back to Ironbound a less active introduced us to a man who we taught named Patricio. He cried a lot and seems super interested! He said he would be baptized October 30th!! Now we have 4 maybe 5 people getting baptized from the 23rd to the 30th! I hope we can get them all baptized and keep them active!!

 We had a lesson with a member and they gave me a tie since they asked me how old I was and I said it's my birthday in a couple days. So they told me it was my birthday present! I can't believe I will be 19 on October 19th!! Next weekly update you read I will be 19!! 

SUNDAY: We went to church with our new investigator named Patricio who is golden! I had to anoint the oil for a blessing in Spanish which was pretty scary, since I've never done it before. A leader had to help me haha. I've come to realize how hard members are to work with here! They are just as hard to set up appointments with as investigators are! That evening my comp wanted to call people for like 3 hours so I decided to study Spanish for like 3 hours. I decided that I am going to start writing 5 words down a day and making it a goal to use them 3 times each through the day.

 I made it to the end of my first transfer! I will probably remain with Elder Rios for another 6 weeks though. 

 So our investigator Patricio told us that he didn't have a mattress so we looked around for one and our ward mission leader told us he had one but that it wasn't an extra but it was the one that he sleeps on with his wife. He told us they could sleep on the couch till they had enough money to buy a new one! Now that's amazing!! 

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!  

My birthday is October 19th, please send me mail!

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Elder Mason Tanner Davis

100 Elm Road Apt. #4

Newark, NJ 07105

(Only letters, no packages can be sent here)

Email - A Bike With Only One Wheel and The Member's Generosity

MONDAY: Well, today was my four week mark! I can't believe I haven't heard any of your voices or hugged my mom in two months! I guess she will have to wait 22 more. Sorry mom! Well today was p day so we went and did our laundry and now it's 8$ total to do laundry! That's crazy! After laundry we went to Walmart and loaded up on food for the week. :) when we went to Walmart my companion bought super expensive glasses and he only uses them like 1 time a week to read and that took an hour... well anyway when we got home we cleaned up the house so now I feel much better!! I'm gunna clean the house every p day so that it stays clean! I pretty much always do the dishes... after p day we rode over to Harrison and it's a whole new place over there!! It's super pretty and there isn't trash all over the ground! On the way home from that appointment we went to Wendy's and I ate until I was super full. Then as we got almost home we got a call that a member had dinner ready for us... I’ve been eating so much food here!! I've gained so much since I left! I guess I need the weight though...

TUESDAY: Every Tuesday all the Spanish elders and sisters go to the church to do language study so that is pretty neat! I feel like I learn a lot! Then at 11:30 we have district meetings. I learned how to better ask people to read the Book of Mormon. We call it the motive. We show them how important the Book of Mormon is in their specific needs after we give them the restoration lesson. Then we ask them to be baptized! After the district meeting everyone meets in the kitchen for lunch. Somebody brought super good pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! They were gone fast though... after that we had 1 hour of fundamentals. After that we had a meeting but as usual, it canceled... so we rode back home and went to the park and found another potential investigator. We then rode back because we had English class but nobody showed up after we waited there for an hour... then we rode back home and Hermana Blancita gave us food like she does every Tuesday! After that we went back to the park because I made a goal to never go home before 9:00 starting today! We found someone at like 8:50 and we were able to set up an appointment with him after playing basketball with him for like 20 min! Super cool guy! 

WEDNESDAY: We had a meeting today with all the missionaries who have been here for like 3 1/2 weeks. We got a ride from the sisters serving in Harrison and we headed off to Morristown. It is super pretty there! It's a whole new world from where I serve! We drove about 50 minutes to get there. Once I got there I saw my MTC companion and he is the only one that I haven't seen here in the field! Out of the people that were in my MTC district. It was super cool to see him! He's an awesome missionary! I also saw my friend Elder Marz, he always set a great example to me in the MTC on how to always be obedient and the blessings will follow. We learned how to plan better and how to contact people better which was super helpful! Only the trainees were in the room with the Mission President and we all talked about struggles we have had here and how we received help and that was pretty cool. After having lunch, we headed home and had our appointment cancel so we rode our bikes a couple miles to contact in Harrison. We got 1 more potential while we were there! Then on the way home my back tire almost came off and the back section of my bike was just ruined. The ball bearings were falling out so I had to walk my bike home 2 miles. Since my bike broke and we had to walk we missed an appointment... well that evening we taught a guy at the park who sincerely cared about the people and was crying because of how bad the world has become and wished to help everyone. He was super nice and now he is another potential we have! 

THURSDAY: since my bike broke we had to leave right after breakfast in order to make it to our appointment on time. We had a good lesson about the importance of the Book of Mormon. Then we came home and did some language study and had lunch. I always make super solid lunches! The Portuguese elders moved out today so now we need to sweep and clean up the mess they made and clean the places where their beds used to be! After lunch we had a service project and it was to play games with elderly people in a retirement home! Me and Elder Santana played battleship with Steve! Whenever I would say "you got me, or you're winning!" He would just simply say. "I know" haha he was super cool! After that we had dinner at a member’s house and it was decent... it was a slab of meat, a half cooked egg just like my dad likes it (I'm embarrassed to say this dad but it was actually pretty good. Sorry for always making fun of you when you ate them like that.) also plantains which I get fed a lot here, (I don't like them at all) then there was rice and an avocado. Which aren't bad but aren't good. After that we had English class. They would work on 1 word for minutes... it's hard to watch them try and pronounce a letter or a word. It takes most of the class to say a whole sentence! It makes me feel better about my Spanish and they always say my Spanish is the same as most elders who have been here like 6 months! Some have even said a year! Through the day we were asking members for a little money to help us get a new bike and they were more than willing to give. The people here are amazing!! We saved up 60$! 

Good

Not so good 

FRIDAY: Today was a pretty cool day! I am so thankful for the members who would give us money to help us get a new bike! A member told us he would drive us to Walmart to get a bike and to be ready by 11:00. So we were! And 11:00 came and he changed the time to 11:30-12:00 so we waited till 11:30 and 12:00. Then he finally came at 1:00 but I was still so happy that he was willing to drive us to Walmart since it would be about a 90-minute walk! We got to Walmart and I got a super cool $83 mountain bike! I was so thankful for the people who helped me get it! Then we got home and did weekly planning and me and my companion set up a lot of goals that I feel will help us be better missionaries! While he called people I got the Portuguese room and cleaned it all up and got all the exercise stuff and made a decent little work out room that I plan on using every day and lifting weights so I don't get fat! Talking about getting fat, for dinner we went to Elm Street BBQ and it was super good as always. We together ordered the $13 plate but instead gave us one that was $18... oh well. It rained most of the day but a lot of time the rain is more like mist here. That evening we helped an investigator named Hans play dominoes.

SATURDAY: Today was the first part of the 186th general conference! We rode our bikes to church after our studies. We left at 11:30 and had about a 25 min ride so made it just before 12 when the first session started. I loved the talk by Neil l Anderson! It had a lot to do with missionary work. Then for the second session a member handed out candy and I got mamba and tootsie rolls! The second session was super good and I saw my friend Kyle Larson in the choir singing! That was pretty funny! It was crazy when people opposed the prophet! Anyway I loved the talk given by Kazuhiko Yamashita. If you haven't heard it then go listen to it! Also I loved the one given by Dallin H Oaks! I filled a whole page taking notes on his talk! After that Hans picked us up and drove around for like an hour... then went to a bakery and they got food but I didn't because everything is expensive and I'm still cheap! ;) we got back to the church and listened to priesthood session and it was kind of sad not to do it with all my cousins and family like we usually do but hey. I was with a bunch of elders! I loved the talk given by Le Grand Curtis Jr. and the talk given by Dieter F Uchtdorf! I learned so much on how we can help people and about how we need to serve everyone and judge no one, and how we need to open our mouth to everyone! I learned a lot more than that. Those are just a few of the things! 

SUNDAY: we started the day with normal personal and comp study then we had lunch and went to the church. We started watching conference at 12:00 and in the first session I loved the talks by Lynn G Robbins, Henry B Eyring, and many more. We aren't supposed to judge people because none of us are perfect. We are supposed to do all we can to help and love people. Help them by using Christlike attributes. In the second session I loved David A Bednar, Carl B Cook, and Dale G Renlund. There were so many talks this conference on the atonement, serving others, finding joy, having faith, missionary work, the importance and the power of the Book of Mormon, and many more! Watching conference here on a mission is a whole new experience! You look at the talks and everything in a whole new way! I wish we had general conference every week! I felt so good while listening to the speakers! I'm so blessed to be here on a mission to serve and teach the people here in New Jersey. Remember to read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family every day! There were lots of talks about how that will be a huge blessing to all those that do. I love you all and remember when things in life get too hard to stand on your feet, go to your knees in prayer.

Bathroom Selfie

mason.davis@myldsmail.net