Email - Last Fishing Excursion in NJ. Just Look At These Beauties!

Weekly update for June 6th - 11th, 2018 

    

      Hey everyone! Let me tell you this PDay was so calming. We didnt have to shop cuz we have way too much food, so that made it a lot more relaxed. So, basically we did laundry, took our car in to change oil, and we fished! Hahaha last week we were driving by this BEAUTIFUL park with a pond and rivers on the way to set up and appointment for our oil change and we were like, "this is in our area?" hahaha cuz we figured we only got Paterson, but nope! We have a beautiful park and as you know... I love fishing! So, this week while the oil was getting changed we went out there and caught about 10 fish. Hahaha. It was a party. And the pond had HUGE turtles! It was so crazy. I wish I got a better picture but they'd run away, and the biggest one was about 2 feet long. It was so sick.

      As for being fishers of men, the work is still moving forward! Kinda slowly in some aspects, but you know what? It's a good patience builder. Julio is our Dominican buddy who's 19. He has been a slow goer and couldn't come to church this week. But we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he's down! We also found this girl named Cindy who has had the hardest life ever. Like oh my goodness. She was on the streets of Guatemala at age 8 fending for herself.  And there's more to it, but let's just say she hasn't had it easy. But she wants to learn more about the gospel. Let's hope it works out.

     This week we had soooo many people lined up to come to church. They told us straight up, "Yes we will be there." and then the morning of we got a ton of messages saying they couldn't. Like what the heck? We were so bummed. So we just said a prayer asking for God to send some people to church. And when we got there three of our English class students came and our RC Noelia brought a friend. We were so grateful to God for sending us those people. And I still am.  Miracles like that happen so much in the mission it's amazing.

     Honestly God gives us what we ask for. Like, 4 people at church, or a Mexican who has met with missionaries, or more peace. Whatever it is that we may want, he can give it to us! Maybe with time, and of course if it's his will. But if we have the faith and courage to ask him for what we want, he will respond.  

     Thank you all for your prayers in my behalf! They are working. And I ask that you keep them up. Pray that we can find people to teach, and who will actually progress. I know that as we do, we will find those who are prepared. 

     These weeks are flying by and I’m doing all I can to make the most of the mission. I love the time I have here and I never want it to end. I love the Book of Mormon and I know it is true. So we also had zone conference this week and at each zone conference the missionaries who are going home at the end of the transfer get a couple min to give their testimony.. so I took some time to think about what I would want to say in the 2 min they give us. I spoke of the importance of the family, keeping the commandments, the priesthood, and bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. I know he lives and loves us. Have a great week and look for ways to have the power of God in your life! Be worthy of it. I love you all! 

Elder Mason Tanner Davis

Morristown, New Jersey

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Met A Man Who Speaks To The Dead.....Ehhhhh

Weekly update for May 28th - June 3rd 

Happy Monday everyone! It's funny how Mondays for me mean I get to talk to my family, rest a little bit, and play some sports while for everyone else it's the most dreaded day of the week. 🙂 hahaha just a weird thought.

Oh man here's what happened this week:

On Tuesday, we had transfer conference and I got to see so many missionaries I dearly love and many of them I won’t ever see again! So sad! I got a pic with my mission homie Elder Marz! 

Later in the week, we were working super hard on getting our English Classes growing. We have been inviting literally everyone. Everyone on Facebook, on the streets, at table stands, everywhere! It's crazy! And people have finally started showing up. This week we had a whole class of... (drumroll please).... 4 people! 😀 haha yeah it seems like nothing compared to when I was in Bayonne and we would get about 25 people every week. But you know what, it's progress. We have been working English class super hard. So I'm just super happy our class has grown this much.

And we were doing a table stand for English class and this super weird guy came down the street. Hahaha I'll send a Pic, he said he was connected to the dead so he was dressed like some old guy? Kinda like pirates of the Caribbean outfit. It was super weird, and nobody stopped to talk with us with him there... So kind of unfortunate but something I'll never forget. Hahaha. He was nice though.

Anyways we definitely have had some cool miracles. We found a family that is really just so kind. It was fun talking with them and everything their kids like doing, we like to do. As you can imagine we connected super well! We are visiting them this Friday. Wish us luck.

This week we also fasted and prayed that some unexpected people would come to church, and 4 people came that we really weren't expecting. Yes, another huge miracle. And two less active families came as well. It was soooo cool. There is some definite progress being made here.  Noelia is sharing the gospel everywhere she is. She's a legend! I just got a message from a random person I talked to on Facebook a long time ago and she asked me if I knew this lady (Noelia) who was teaching her about the Book of Mormon on the bus (she knew about the Book of Mormon because I gave her one a couple months back). She is teaching everyone about it. 

Sorry this is long, but I wanted to commit you all to pick some things to improve on, whether it be writing in your journal, or saying better prayers, or reading in your scriptures every day, listening to conference talks in the mornings whatever. But don't choose too many! Choose 2 if you want, and then just go little by little, and I promise you'll see huge changes! By small things come huge miracles! 🙂

So my comp always adds quotes of the week that he thought were funny and it usually is the things I say so here is a couple quotes from this week. 

Quotes of the week

1. There is no rebuttal for someone who testifies. - Sister Hess

2. Nothing you say is going to change my mind on what I know. - Sister Hess

3. There's a flipping guillotine on the ceiling! - Elder Davis after hitting his head on a corner of the ceiling that was like 5 1/2 feet tall. 

4. Hey look! There's a drunk man! With a weed Wacker... On a bike... With a flat tire... - Elder Davis

Well anyways, I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

- A fox in the parking lot -

Elder Mason Davis (Paterson New Jersey) Alma 7: 11-13

Email - My super cool "Action Shot"

Weekly update may 21st-28th 

Buenas tardes a todos! Como les va? 👨🏽‍🌾

Well for my last 6 weeks I will be staying here with Elder Risenmay. We are going to work so hard The word Trunky will not even be in our vocabulary! (Trunky pretty much is a missionary slang for wanting to pack up the trunk and head home or just getting lazy and not doing missionary work). I know we will see so many miracles this last transfer. I’m super excited to see what will come. Also< I’m curious to see who reads these emails.... soooo if you read my emails, send me an email so I can know! :) thxxxx

We finally found Bianka! But she has been anti-mormoned by her dad and some catholic pastor lady. 😞 so sad! The pastor said that our church was too strict! Seriously? Bianka literally was changed by the gospel so much! Like, how? How could she go back against what has brought her so much happiness and peace? Something that she used to know was true? She wanted to get baptized so bad! And now nothing. Aw man. We left her apartment a little let down.

Although we were super sad, had no other choice but to pull up our boot straps and immediately get back to the grind! Honestly, we left that apartment with nothing but the future ahead of us. I know that sounds so cheesy, but honestly we just left and kept going on! Are we still sad she doesn't want the gospel? Yeah. But there are so many people out there still looking for the truth! There's a whole area full of potential. And we aren't letting anything stop our energy! 

- Photo taken of me, proselyting in the street - 

I call this my cool "Action Shot"

Later this past week, we found a super cool lady named Maria. It's crazy cuz you can easily recognize with some people if they truly understand the Restoration of the Gospel. Like, some respond like this. "Wow that's cool. God always answers prayers." but they end up saying, "Well I've been catholic my whole life, and I have God in my heart."... First of all, so what? Second of all, that makes no sense. Hahaha. Then there are people like Maria who say this "The true church of Christ is back? Really!? Where is it? Oh my goodness. I need to go! I need to preach this to everyone I can! Can I bring other people next time you come? You're giving me this book for Free?! Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!"

Do you see the difference? Hahaha. So we found such a prepared person and we are meeting with her soon! So we are so excited for that! 

Moral of the story? Don't let anything stop the work of the Lord! Don't let any hiccup, trip, mistake, bump in the road, detour, obstacle, sin, or trial get in the way of your Eternal Happiness! We are all in this road together! And while we all have different experiences, we all fall. We all feel crappy sometimes! But like Elder Uchtodorf said "Success isn't based on how many times you've failed, but how many times you rise back up!" So rise up everyone! Receive the help of Christ and get over whatever you're going through. And I promise you'll be able to do it.

So lots of finding this week. And it looks like a lot more this week. Will people shut us down? Probably. But I'm sure there are people who will accept us too. And honestly, I like thinking about that more. 🙂 

Elder Risenmay and I bought matching ties too! ;) 

Also, Noelia was finally confirmed with her daughter this Sunday and right after she was confirmed she had already been assigned to give a talk and it was amazing! She did so good and didn’t write down anything! At the end of her talk she was inviting all the members to talk to their friends and do missionary work and she said. "Sure the missionaries have badges, but really, that's the only difference between us and them. We all need to do our part to bring others into the fold!” 

Love you all! Follow the council of our recent convert Noelia and Christ and bring others into the fold. Be an example. You don’t need a plaque to invite others to Christ. Have a great week sharing the gospel! 

- Weekly Random Picture Below -

One of the treasures you can find on the streets of NJ

Elder Mason Davis (Paterson New Jersey) Alma 7: 11-13

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Baptisms and A Trip Into NYC

Weekly update for May 15th - 22nd

      Wow time is flying and I need it to slow down! I love the mission soooooo much. 

      This week was a great one. On Tuesday I got to go on exchanges back in Passaic and it was neat! I got to see my recent convert family and they were so excited! Also while we were there, a huge storm came through and we camped out at a random persons house while we waited for the worst of the storm to pass. They now want a Book of Mormon ;). 

       Alsoooooo Noelia and Paula got baptized. We are so excited for them and know that they will be of so much help to the church! The baptism went very well and so many of her friends came to watch and now want to learn! 

       While walking down the road the other day we walked by a young boy who reached his arm out to shake my hand as we passed. He then told me that him and his whole family were members from the Dominican Republic and had been looking for the church here! We are so excited to bring this family back into activity after 4 years out of it!. They have already been sealed as a family. 

       So today we got to go to the temple and we were supposed to do endowments but sadly the room was full so we got to do sealings instead. It was amazing to see how families can be sealed together for time and all eternity. I can’t wait to also have an eternal family! New York is so crazy. It was so nice and calming to be able to get into the temple and out of this crazy world. 

       Well I don’t want to make it too long but I just want you all to know that I love this work. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I’m trying to be like him. I love you all and invite you to make time to get to the temple. It will be worth any sacrifice. 

- Weekly Random Pics - 

     

Elder Mason Davis (Paterson New Jersey) Alma 7: 11-13

Email - Last Call Home and some "Interesting photography"

Mother’s Day weekly

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! 👩 

This week  was so amazing. I got to see my beautiful mother and my family. It was crazy to realize that next time I see my family it will be in person. But, for now I need to stay focused. 

Big News! Noelia and Paula are getting baptized this week. We are so excited for them. Noelia is so ready its crazy. She testified of the book of Mormon to some investigator in the class that was kinda being dumb. She said, "Well if you wanna know it's true, read it, pray, and follow your answer. God will tell you!" That was so amazing. So we are excited for this upcoming weekend. Life is good!

Yesterday, I was able to see the lovely faces of my family. 🙂 I just hope they know how much I love them. It's great knowing that no matter how far or long we are apart, we are still best friends. There's nothing else in this world like having an Eternal Family. I am so happy to know that I'll be with them for the eternities. Nobody else I'd rather be with. 

Again, Happy Mothers day to my mom. I love her so much and don't know where I'd be without her. 🙂 

We had a super awesome Mother’s Day party and I ate lots of food and we sang the song Mother I love you for the ward in Spanish! We didn’t have any practice but it went well. Sorry it’s such a short letter this week, but I was able to discuss the rest of my past week with my family yesterday.   

I love you guys! Hug your mom's this week! They deserve all the love in the world honestly. 🙂 

- Random Pics of Awesomeness -

😂

Elder Mason Davis (Paterson New Jersey) Alma 7: 11-13

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Can You Accept a Challenge?

Weekly update for May 1st - 6th 

Hey fam! Como están todos?

First of all. Thank you for all your prayers. Noelia got her job Now she's getting baptized in 2 weeks. Ahhh, so awesome! Julio came to church and he's progressing so well for baptism. 

Unfortunately, Bianka had to go back to the Dominican Republic for a little bit because her grandma is dying. 😞 so she couldn't get baptized yesterday. But I know everything has a purpose and that it will all work out. As soon as Bianka gets back she's getting baptized. 🙂 I'm so excited.  I also got to go back to Passaic on an exchange and got to see some of my members, recent converts, and investigators. I loved it!

 This week the Elders over there had a ping pong table in their house. It turns out that I’m a ping pong wizard and I’m down to play any of you at ping pong now. Call me Bruce lee. Honestly tho I instantly had a love for ping pong. 

It was really cool this week.  My comp and I went to a meeting with the leaders of the mission and it was so spiritual it was awesome. It's so cool seeing the Lord guide our prophet, to the apostles, to the seventy, to my mission president, to us, and us to the other missionaries. Like there's nothing else like this. Divine revelation from God really is such an amazing gift. And it is for everything! Like, there's no limit in what ways the lord can bless us. There's no limit of questions that we can ask him. There's no limit of answers. No matter what your question, there's an answer. No matter your trial, there's a way out. No matter who you are, one day you can truly become like our Heavenly Father and his only Begotten. Even Jesus Christ.

I love my savior. I am so grateful for the sacrifice he made, just to help me become more like he is. It was such a selfless act. To help such imperfect people. Like, I'm here in Paterson, where I've seen more sin here than in any other place in my life. Yet Christ experienced every single pain these people have felt. He took their sins! He went through what they have, because he loves them. Even though they reject him and don't keep any of his commandments. He continues to love them and call them. His hand is outstretched still. It's so amazing. Christ's love is so real, and it's there for all to receive.

How do we receive it? Ask and ye shall receive. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. I testify that it's true. Everyone can have this love. Why wade in hardship? God wants us to be happy. So let's be happy! Let's rejoice! Let's praise Jesus Christ and preach his name to the world! There's way too much to be happy about in life. Why focus on the bad? 🙂

But of course I know hard things happen. So I want to commit all of you to just ask God straight up for the help you want. Don't lie to him. Hahaha. Ask for what you want. For help, for health, for better grades, the new Avengers movie, for your next door neighbor to please turn down the music cuz you have district meeting the next day and need to sleep. Whatever it is. I promise that God will give you what you need. Even if it wasn't what you expect. I love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Elder Mason Davis (Paterson New Jersey) Alma 7: 11-13

mason.davis@myldsmail.net

Email - Wood2Hood

Weekly update for April 23rd - 29th

 Espero que estén bien! 

       Well I’m not sure there is anything very interesting from this week... but I’ll try to make this email fun.

       On Thursday we had zone conference and we trained all our missionaries on how to be more bold and helping people make and keep commitments. They really liked it and we feel that it should help our zone do better. So the name for our zone is #Wood2Hood. Wood, because a lot of our zone is super rich and is in the woods. Number 2 because we are zone 2... haha and Hood, because we also have a couple really Hood areas like the one I’m in... so we cover from wood2hood. 

      We are teaching a lot of people. Honestly we have been so blessed with finding prepared people to teach and work with! The members are helping us so much by introducing us to their friends and coming out with us to teach! This ward is amazing. I’m so grateful to be able to serve here with these people and my great companion! 

       This week is going to warm up a lot and when it warms up it gets crazy... let’s just say that when the temperature goes up here so does the wickedness... we have to make sure we are smart with where we go and who we talk to. It’s really sad... 

       So Bianca’s baptism may be happening this coming week! Like 85% sure that it will be happening if all goes well.So keep her in your prayers and helpfully we will see more to come this month of may.

       Also some crazy news is that we will be getting a missionary that was serving in Bulgaria. All the missionaries over there had to leave, so 4 of them will be coming to New Jersey and one of them will be in our zone. 

       I love you all and I’m grateful for all your prayers and support! Have a great week! 

Elder Mason Tanner Davis

mason.davis@myldsmail.net