CHRISTmas Week!

 Pictures include missionaries from the Hurricane area, and Chad's "Secret Santa" gift -- a pair of snowman slippers and at the bottom, crazy Christmas lounge pants for all!  Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hola Mis Padres!!!!!                            27 December 2010

          Como le va?? (How is it going?) Well I hope that your Christmas was good!!!!  Well I mentioned the rain in my last email, and let’s just say it produced a lot of rain! It rained constantly for about 6 days! So with all the constant rainfall here, it caused a little bit of flooding here. The once Virgin "River" was huge for the people around here. But even with the flooding, this "River" was nothing compared to the Snake or Columbia. The rain and flooding got so bad that they had to begin to evacuate the towns of Virgin and Rockville, because they were scared that it was going to be washed away. This was just pre-cautionary because they thought that maybe the Dam about Rockville might break from all the water. So it was a pretty crazy time here! On Tuesday night, we also had a power outage! We were in the middle of teaching a lesson with the Lopez family and then boom! NO LIGHTS! We were in a basement which made it a little worse, but it was still cool to be here and experience all of this on my mission.

Well with all this talk about weather, I guess I will just keep it going. It is nice, without all the rain. It is so nice here that I can walk around in just a short sleeve shirt and I won’t be cold at all! The joys of Southern Utah! Well for P-Day last week and in the morning for exercise, we have found new entertainment. The Sisters were given this laser tag set from one of their ward mission leaders. But this isn’t just any old laser tag set. What happens is if you get hit, you get shocked but you gun. So there is a price to pay, but it isn’t unbearable. It’s actually really fun, and it helps us wake up in the morning! Well with our District, we had a Secret Santa thing. So I got hooked up with a sick present from Sis. Mariano. Check the attached pictures of the snowman and the slippers! So that was pretty interesting, you can always count on girls for something creative.  (sick – means really good!)

Well with it being Christmas this week, most of our investigators were in Vegas, California, or Mexico. So we didn’t have that many people to teach. But when we did, we just watched the Joy to the World movie. We probably watched that thing about 6 times in 3 days. So it got kind of old. But still was a good movie.

Well Christmas on the mish, is like no other place! It was super fun and exciting!! We had a few meals on both days, thanks to the Zone Leaders. So we got to play some “Just Dance” on the Wii with one family. It was pretty legit, made me kind of like I was kicking it back with all the friends in B-Town, but it was a good escape for a little bit. Christmas Eve dinner was also with the ZLs but with a different family. We ate with the Bringhursts. I know it’s a pretty big name. But their house was jam packed full of different people! There was about 50 people total there. We just ate and chilled, they even got us all a goody bag and a present. They made us all pajama pants. My pants were a frog wearing a Santa hat. They are pretty legit.   (picture attached!)

Well Christmas Day was just as fun as Christmas Eve. We were once again with the ZLs. But before we went out on the town, there was THE CALL (home). I know that you enjoyed it as much as I did. It was good to hear your voices and especially the voices of Bry and Chay. They still can melt my heart even from a 1000 miles. Well the one major thing about Christmas Day was that we all went out in just "regular" clothes. Let me just say, it threw a bunch of people for loops. They were expecting us, but didn’t really know that we were there when we first got there. When we went to eat with the Spendloves, we went in and sat down and were there for about 5 minutes before anyone really recognized us. When we were introduced as the Elders, people just started laughing. Before they knew that, they just thought we were family friends or boyfriends that were brought over for Christmas. But we set them straight. I started to make everyone look at my tag on my shirt. We also ate with the Law family. We rolled to that house 6 Elders deep. Well while we were there, it was just mayhem! When you have 3 Elders that are just crazy, (Springer, Booher, and I) Things are bound to get a little crazy!

I discovered that I still have the ability to make people laugh. In Spanish it’s a little harder to tell jokes, or quote movies. But overall Christmas was incredibly legit! It was a lot better then what I expected! Yesterday the Branch was a ghost town! Just as our investigators were gone, our Branch members made the same trips too! We did our best, but still only had one investigator at church! Bummer! Well last night, I made one of the worst mistakes of my life! I decided to eat a jabenero!!! (sp) We went over to Bro. Felix's house to collect a tie before Perez left, cuz last night was transfer calls. But he ate one to get the tie, so they asked me to eat one too! Well needless to say I did it, but the after effects sucked!! Luckily I got it on video! But I drank too much milk trying to cool off the pepper that I ended up throwing up! I drank a half a gallon of milk in like 10 minutes. So 1 jabenero, half a gallon of milk, and 30 minutes later, I walked out of the house a proud owner of two new ties!!! The things missionaries will do for ties!! But my collection has begun to grow!! Better start thinking of a way to make that quilt Mom!

But last night was also transfer calls! I am staying in Hurricane for at least another 5 weeks. But I will be getting a new companion. His name is Elder Hernandez. He is from Spain. So I will be required to speak a lot more Spanish, but it will help me out a lot! 

Well that is my amazing Christmas week! I hope that yours was just as eventful as mine was! I love you so much!!    Live it, Love it, Preach it!!!         Elder D

Feliz Navidad!

               Hola Padres!!!     20 December 2010

Feliz Navidad!!!!!!     The time for Christmas has come to be. It is way different then being back at home. Back at home, I hardly even knew when Christmas was, or what it meant. My time was always filled with basketball practices, or games, hanging out with friends/girls. Being on my mission has really opened my eyes to what the true meaning of Christmas is. It is tough to be away from all the family and friends, but it is going to be okay. I have no worries about that. I know that I will be blessed and the people I hold most dear will be blessed.

Well the weather here has been extremely outrageous! It has been raining for the past 5-6 days. It has been raining constantly for the last 12 hours or so. It has been coming down pretty hard too! I have gotten a lot of "Oh you are from Washington, you should be used to all this rain." or "Oh you are from Washington, now we know where all this rain came from, you brought it with you!" Oh if people only knew that it doesn’t rain in B-Town all that often.

I am glad to hear all is well with Pops and the news about being "out of the woods" for now. (Chad is referring to Darin’s cancer concerns) I hope that it will continue that way. And don’t worry about the praying part that is something that happens everyday, multiple times a day. That is also cool to hear about the Missionaries up there. How did that happen? (the local full-time missionaries asked to spend Christmas Eve with the Davis Family!)  Did you basically cry and say "I have a boy on a mission, I need you to come over!" I just am making jokes about it. I do still think it is pretty funny that they are spending time with you guys, because we have never had missionaries over on any holidays before. (the Elders even came over and shoveled our walks after the recent snow because they knew Darin was recovering from surgery and couldn't shovel the walks.  They have been great and gave him a blessing prior to his surgery.)  But they times are definitely changing, huh? Now that you both are getting old and what not.   J

Being in a "regular" companionship is definitely different. It is a good learning experience. I am having to teach more and be more vocal so it is definitely helping the learning process. This last week seemed like it took forever, and at the same time it didn’t. I have been dealing a lot with the thoughts of not being home for Christmas and it is a hard fact to deal with.  I love being out on a mission and wouldn’t trade it for anything. This is exactly where I am supposed to be, and I just need to keep losing myself in this work!

The worst part of the days are always in the middle of the day from like 11- 5. They are always slow and boring. Mostly because all the people we are trying to contact or teach all work during that time. So we mostly spend a lot of time walking during that time. But the nights are usually jam packed full of lessons and teaching. It is extremely rare to have a night where we don’t have a lesson scheduled. Well once again I experienced how different English missionary work is then Spanish work. I went on exchanges with one of the ZLs, Elder Pressgrove. He is a legit missionary. He is from Kansas. Well English families are definitely different too.

         We also had a huge training in St. Geezy (St. George) with the Mission President from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. It was pretty good, just very long! We have been applying what we learned into our teaching. That night I was feeling pretty sick and down, and then we watched “The Testaments” with Ricardo, and it changed my night. As much as our message is for others, it is for us too. Watching that movie really helped me see a bunch of things that I can do better and some truths that I really need to know and focus on. One major thing, was the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It definitely opened my eyes to once again see how real and how big of a sacrifice it really was!

We had the Branch Christmas Party and we were able to have a bunch of Investigators come. It is amazing what some free Mexican food will do! Well I also truly learned what it was to be a bold missionary! This is something that I haven’t developed yet and that I truly do need to develop. This one thing will change my mission from being an average missionary, to being a great missionary.

This Spanish thing is coming along a little bit. I am beginning to understand almost all of what is said. And can pick up and understand Spanish even around English now and before I couldn’t do that. The major problem I am still having is speaking it! That is probably the hardest part, understanding is one thing, but speaking is another. It will come with time, I still have 20 months to perfect my Spanish!

I hope all is well back in Burbank and enjoy the snow and this Christmas Season! But don’t forget the true reason for this wonderful season of gift giving and gift receiving. That reason is our Savior, Jesus Christ!!!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!!!!!!       Elder D

Oh! “The 12 days of Christmas” is pretty awesome.  I like trying to guess what the gift inside is going to be by the scripture!!!  Give the kids a hug and kiss for me!! Did you make me CDs??? Just curious! (He asked for copies of our church CDs – we are working on it!  It takes longer than we thought!)

love you!

FACEBOOK UPDATING (Naughty or Nice?)

Hola Padres!         13 December 2010  

Well to start off, I am going to answer the question that has been on your minds the whole week!!! I actually had permission to get on Facebook from the Mission President. We all did, we were all allowed to get on and see if there was anything we needed to clean up. But sorry for all the confusion. Just know that I wasn’t breaking any rules or anything. I am being obedient to the rules here, don’t worry about that.

Well this week has been all over the place. Just hit and miss with all the investigators. We have been out walking a ton this week. We have been just walking during the day and going all over Hurricane. It can be quite a hike sometimes, but it is good to get out and get some exercise. While we were out walking and knocking some doors, we had the opportunity to meet Ken and Barbie. Well not the dolls, but a husband and wife. They are very devout Baptists and pretty hardcore.  We just talked and talked and talked for like an hour. It didn’t go anywhere, just a fun little fact to be able to say I met Ken and Barbie on my mission.

Well I can already tell that Christmas out here on the mish, is going to be way different then back at home. Back at home, it was always filled with basketball practices and games. Here it is filled with eating and we actually are being permitted to watch a "worldly" movie, Toy Story 3. I don’t know if that is really that worldly. Sometimes all this Christmas thinking makes me miss home and wish I was there, but I know that it is just a phase and that this is where I need to be.

Well I am in a normal companionship now. Well weird for me, but normal for everyone else. Elder Carter received his visa. So this morning he headed out to catch a plane back to Salt Lake. This is really weird. Elder Carter was able to teach me a ton and help me grow. He is an extremely solid missionary. He will “do work” down in Mexico City.

Well I went on some exchanges with the Zone Leaders for a night. They are pretty interesting characters. The work is so much different teaching in English than in Spanish. It's beginning to be hard to teach some things in English, just because I am so used to them in espanol.

Well the one funny thing we did this week, we went to a house that has their Christmas lights coordinated with some music and we did a full on dance session in front of it. I will try and send you the video. It was pretty legit. (See Chad’s Facebook page.)

Well I hope that all is well in B-Town. And don’t forget the true reason for the season!!!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!!!

Elder D

FIRST BAPTISM!

Well Hello My Dearest Parents!!!              December 6, 2010 

Well it has been a pretty good week here in Hurricane, Utah. I am glad that everything went well with dad’s checkup and Dr. Golden is amazing. Mom, what movie are you going to go to with Marilyn??  Yes, talking with Bro. Demille was pretty legit! (Chad was having dinner with Brother Demille's cousin in Hurricane, and his cousin called Brother Demille in Burbank so Chad could talk to him!) He is an awesome guy and his family here is just as great!!!!

But I will kind of respond to your email as I go, with everything I have planned out.....

        Well this week has been a lot of up and down everyday. Which is to be expected but it kind of gets me down sometimes. We talk to a lot of people, but it’s a lot of the same people every week. There isn’t a whole bunch of new people to contact around here. So needless to say, we get shot down by a lot of people. On the downside, I too have been sick. It just seems to get me when I don’t need to be sick. But I think I am getting better and it should continue. Don’t worry Pops, I am doing all I need to be doing. Well now to the good things of this week.

Well I went to the 12 Step Addiction Recovery Program. Being on a mission really makes you realize the certain addictions you have in my life, so President Leonard told me to go take care of them. Just kidding!!! Gotcha!!

 Elder Carter and I went the the meeting with our investigator Ricardo, to help him feel more comfortable. (to the 12 step addiction program) The cool thing about this program is that it helps you just be a better person. I know that I learned a ton of things and I am sure Elder Carter did as well. With that being said, I would just like to apologize for everything bad I have done. I know that I haven’t been the best kid or best son, but I am on the right path now and just want to say sorry for all the tears and grief I have caused you over the years.

We were also able to go teach 5 lessons in one night. That is pretty awesome, because the previous high for me was only 3. Another other cool thing was that all the lessons were with a member present. That is a hard thing to do. We also had some pretty funny things happen to us this week. We had a lady try to pawn off her daughters on us! I have heard of this happening in other countries but not in Utah! She was extremely persistent too! She came up and asked us the typical questions, where are we from, and stuff like that. But then she just came out of no where and started throwing out questions about girlfriends and what kind of girls we like and it was so weird!! She then started telling us about her daughters and giving us all these details and showed us pictures on her phone, Elder Carter and I were like wow lady, you just need to take it easy!!!! This is by far the funniest moment I have had in the mission. She was so persistent that she wanted us to meet her daughters and come over on Christmas and everything. She even took down our names and said “they will right to you!” Seems a little desperate to me... but I am guessing that this won’t be the last time that this will happen.

The other really funny thing that happened, was on Saturday. So we were out walking around to try and visit some people all in the same area. A little background is that most people here just honk and wave. And that is pretty much everyone here. So we were walking and we heard a honk from behind us, so we turn around to see a guy hanging out the window and screamed "Hail Satan!" We were all caught by surprise to hear that, but especially since we are in the good ole state of Utah. After we all realized what had happened, we all enjoyed a good laugh on the sidewalk.

As you know, we ate dinner will all Bro. Demille's cousins. They are all super caring and kind people. Their dinner was pretty amazing too. The cool thing was that they ate Ranch Dressing on pretty much everything, so I felt pretty much at home.

Now to the craziest part of my week, SUNDAY!!! This day was jammed packed of stuff to do. We had to attend like 5 Sacrament Meetings, 4 Correlations, a dinner, and a BAPTISM!!!!!!!!!! We were basically running around like chickens with our heads cut off from one building to the other. The Baptism was my first here in the mission! So I was pretty stoked!! It was from Ingrid Castro. She is married to a member and they moved here with their family from El Salvador about 8 months ago. The Baptismal Service was super, super spiritual. The actual baptism itself was kind of awkward, but it got the job done. We should be able to baptize her two sons here shortly as well.

Well this week has been jammed packed with things to do. Time here just flies by so quickly! I hope all is well. I love you so much!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!        Elder D

MAILING SOMETHING TO ELDER DAVIS? Here are some guidelines!

We have received a few calls about sending Chad letters and/or packages.  ALL MAIL NEEDS TO BE SENT VIA UNITED STATES POST OFFICE to the Mission Home address.  No UPS, FedX or any other private company.  USPS mail can be forwarded to missionaries without any additional charges.  This will apply for his entire mission.  :Q
      Chad loves your letters!  Thanks for keeping in touch!  If you would like to send him a package, you know he would love that too!  However, keep in mind that he cannot have any HUGE items that he will have to carry with him for 2 years!  He CAN have MUSIC -- hymns, Mormon Tab, inspirational CDs.  We will be sending him a individual CD player, so if you would like to send him an inspirational CD, he would love that!  The Mission President also sent a note encouraging us to follow mission rules and do not send any reading material other than the approved list (which he already has) and no distracting toys or clothing. 
    This is such a fun time of year and Chad is enjoying his experience and growing closer to the Savior of the World and His mission.    May you all have a blessed holiday!