Know From Where Your Strength Comes

Dinner with Leticia at Bishop's House

Hey Everyone-
Wow another week has gone by! Hope everyone is doing great. The week was good but challenging. But that is life right? There are constant ups and downs which make us stretch. It is going to be a short email this week. We are meeting up with a member today so we have little time. Teaching has been going good, it is the constant thing in a mission that you are always trying to build your teaching pool. We are teaching some really good people right now. Been traveling a lot in the zone to do divisions and also interviews. I love the opportunities I have in baptismal interviews to hear and see the changes that are taking place as people make the decision to follow Christ. Some of the greatest spiritual experiences I have had have been in those interviews. I feel blessed to have come to know so many great people here in Brazil, people I have taught and people I serve with. I consider those some of the priceless blessings of my mission.

Grabbing Dinner with Elder Jackson and Sisters Ribiero, Azevedo and Janiero after Interviews

Just a quick spiritual thought. As a missionary I love reading the scripture in 3 Nephi 5:13 where Mormon says:

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

It is a simple but powerful statement in which he testifies of Christ, his own divinity and purpose. I think it is pretty empowering when we know who we are and whose we are and what our mission is. If we can all remember those 3 things on a day to day basis when we encounter decisions or situations we are more calm and at peace and able to handle what comes our way. I hope we all can remember where our strength comes from and the real reason we are here.

Tenha uma boa semana ! (Have a great week.)

Elder Davis

Streets of Limeira

Elder Campos Visit

With Sister and Elder Campos at Missionwide Meeting

Oi todos-
Hope everyone has had a good week. My week was great. We had Elder Campos of the Seventy doing a tour of our mission . He used to be the mission president of the Belem mission here in Brasil. I got to speak with him and his wife a little after our meetings. It was pretty awesome.

Entire Mission with Elder & Sister Campos

This week we also set 6 baptism dates and had 8 people at sacrament meeting so that was super awesome! It is all going really well here in Limeira! We're working hard and we're seeing the Lord's hand in our work. The Lord is blessing us so much here and I am so thankful to Him for that. One guy we are teaching is a youth named Samuel. The lesson we had with him this week was really spiritual and I felt the spirit of the Savior so much with us in that lesson. We actually were supposed to have a lesson with his mom and her two daughters but he was there instead of them for a reason, Heavenly Father places people where we need to be sometimes. When the mom and the daughters weren't home, he let us to come in and we talked to him. He regularly does not stay and listen to the lessons. Instead he goes to his room and stays there until we leave. But this time we talked to him a bit and then he started to speak English with me so we sat and used the opportunity to get to know him by speaking in English with him. Elder Oliveira also knows English very well, almost fluently. So we're talking and Samuel opened up and started to cry as he shared with us some challenges he has. So I asked him, Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Jesus Christ? And their power to overcome any obstacle? He said yes and was very emotional. We then had a good discussion about faith, repentance and the miracles that Christ performed and can perform for us. Following that we gave a blessing to him. We then talked about baptism being a door, that change sometimes does not happen all at once but comes little by little and he must do all he can to show his faith in his actions. It went well and we all felt the spirit that night as we left. So on Sunday we look up and there he is. He never goes to church with his family but this Sunday he was there in the chapel. 9:00 a.m. His family was very impressed that he wanted to go to church. It was a very spiritual and super awesome experience. Miracles are real!

With Elder Costa

Valdir is a another man we're teaching. He is really ready for baptism. We took him to a baptism in another ward so he could see one and we almost had to hold him down so he didn't get in the font. He was ready to be baptized then and there. haha Seriously he wanted to enter. He's going to be baptized this week. He told us at church this week, "Thank you for bringing me here.Thank you very much, I was in need of this all my life. Every week I'm here 9 a.m." Was super cool to see how excited and grateful he was for the gospel. Another guy we are teaching Ronivilson came to church for the first time this week and said to us " I really like it so next week can I visit again? Or is it something you can only do once?" I was like, what!?! Sure you can! We want you to come every week!

It has been a great week and I loved every minute. Our ward is cool and works with us so much. They are really good to us. There's a sister named Mara. We fight (not really fight but you know what I mean) with the sister missionaries over who gets to go to lunch at her house more. She always bakes bread for us. She also always has a family home evening night at her house, without fail, every Monday that we can bring the people we are teaching to. I love her so much. She says that she is our mother in Limeira! haha

Lastly I want to share something I thought a lot about this week. We sang the hymn "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" at one of our meetings and as I listened to the words I thought of the people we were teaching and myself too. It can bring every one peace to know the Savior is there for all of us and made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. It is so important that we remember when we are in our Gethsemane where we should turn.

Where can I turn for peace?

Where is my solace

When other sources cease to make me whole?

When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,

I draw myself apart,

Searching my soul?

Where, when my aching grows

Where, when I languish,

Where, in my need to know, where can I run?

Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?

Who, who can understand?

He, only One.

He answers privately,

Reaches my reaching

In my Gethsemane, 

Savior and Friend.

Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.

Constant he is and kind,

Love without end.

Have a great week!

Elder Davis

Trust and Believe in Him

With Marco (the Ward Mission Leader) and his family

Oi-

It's been a great week! Hope everyone is doing well. It's transfer week and I am leaving Sao Joao da Boa Vista. I love the ward here and am going to miss everyone. I have only been here two transfers but I am excited for the change too. It has been super to work with Elder Kleinkauff and all the missionaries in my district so it will be hard to leave them but change is good too. I am going to Rio Claro zone as a LZ working in Limeira. My new companion is Elder Oliviera. We have 2 districts and 22 missionaries in our zone. Excited to get to work. I have a lot of visits to make today so I am going to try to make this short.

With Sister Nascimiento and Sister Jesus at their investigator's baptism

In Poços de Caldas with Christensen and Ricarte

Lot of good things happening. Ademir is doing well and making great progress. His baptism date is August 19. I won't be here for it but I am so glad he is on the path he is and making the changes he needed in his life. He has made some huge changes, really miraculous changes and he recognizes the help he has gotten as he has tried to change. He knows it is evidence that God does love him and will help him. Tuesday and Wednesday I was with my LZs RIcarte and Christensen in Poco da Caldas for divisions. That was a great couple days, I love those guys and learn a lot from them. Sister DiMartini came up to SJBV for her last week in the mission. She goes home this week and so does Sister Mendez. Both awesome missionaries - they will be missed.

Sao Joao da Boa Vista Zone minus the Elders & Sisters of Mococa

The awesome cheese market in Poços de Caldas

P-Day hike to Aguas de Prata

I wanted to share something that I heard when I recently listened to a Conference talk by Elder Eyring entitled "Walk With Me". In that talk he is talking to priesthood holders in the church and he says "if you feel a little overwhelmed, take that as a good sign. It indicates that you can sense the magnitude of the trust God has placed in you. It means that you have some small understanding of what the priesthood really is." He goes on to talk about the priesthood and how we should strive to understand it and use it to strengthen ourselves and others. Sometimes we do not recognize it but Christ is always there with us. We need to believe and trust in Him and His power which is the priesthood.

Wherever we are in the path of life we need to choose to believe and trust in Him.

"My dear brethren of the priesthood, in many ways, we are like the two disciples who walked the road to Emmaus on that first Easter Sunday. It was Resurrection morning, but they were not yet sure there was a resurrection or what resurrection even meant. They had “trusted that [Jesus of Nazareth] should have redeemed Israel,” but they were “slow of heart to believe” everything the scriptures taught about resurrection. As they walked along and tried to reason it out together, “Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. I testify that when we walk the path of priesthood service, the Savior

Jesus Christ goes with us, for it is His path, His way. His light goes before us, and His angels are round about us. ”

Let's not be "slow of heart to believe" but trust in Him. Our Savior is right there with us. Have a good week.

Elder Davis