Happy April!

Buenos Dias Padres!!!                 April 4, 2011 

        This week has been a little bit different then the last few. We slipped up on little things here and there, but are still continuing to do well and spread the Gospel. I think our fire from the first few weeks that we had together has kind of worn off a little bit, mainly because we are always just ridiculously tired at the end of the day. It is hard to continue to go and go and go for 14 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This week was filled some pretty random moments. We had people flip us off, we had others try to hit us with their cars, and just a bunch of random people come up and talk to us. We did have some good uplifting moments don’t you worry about that. (Ever notice how much Chad LOVES the word RANDOM On Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to the Temple as a mission or most of the mission. It was good to get out and just enjoy the Temple and talk with other missionaries. It was all the missionaries from Cedar City down to St. George. We had about two thirds of the mission there. (See Picture of Elder Davis with Elder Bravo and the Temple.)

One of the big things down here lately is the weather. You may think ‘he has said that before’, but it is way different now! The temperature made the jump from being kind of cold and rainy, to being 88 on April 1, and that isn’t any joke!! Can you imagine 88 in April? It doesn’t even get to 88 until about mid June! We will see if I survive a whole summer down here in St. George.

Well there was another random guy that we were teaching and we were just talking about missionary work and all the things that we sacrifice to come serve the Lord and he just was completely dumbfounded on why we did it. This guy has been in gangs his whole life, lived in the ghetto and been involved in drugs and all that stuff. After we explained everything about missionary work, he just kind of looked at us and said, "Guys I respect you a lot. You got more balls then I do to go out for two years and give up your whole life."  I just thought that was pretty cool to see that some guy was testifying on how hard a mission is and that it truly is a sacrifice to come out and serve, and it may be a little more of a sacrifice for some then others.

We saw a lot of President this week. He was at the temple and he was also at our training meeting. He provided us with a lot of stuff to ponder and think about. He helped us see what we really needed to be doing in our areas and things like that. He is a man that lives by the Spirit. (The Mission President presides over 120 missionaries and has a BIG responsibility!)

I guess the main event from this whole week was General Conference. It was definitely a good one. But I mean I don’t know what of Conference isn’t good. I didn’t watch all of it in Spanish, but I did watch one session in Spanish. I could understand basically all of it, but it was definitely easier to listen to it in my native tongue. I am just grateful I even had the option to choose what language. One of my favorite talks would have to be President Uchtdorf. He has a really good principles and thoughts that he comes up with. There was a lot of emphasis on service and a few other things that I won’t have to worry about for a while. J 

Updates from home and answering our questions:  I did get the "Easter" package as you called it. I am pretty sure I am stocked up on candy for the next 3 months. I did appreciate the Instant Breakfast and the shaker. I also enjoyed seeing the plans for the new roads and things in the area. (We included the revision to the highway here in Burbank, which includes two roundabouts and an overpass.) It’s good to hear that Trevor got his visa. He is a very lucky guy, because most of the visas for Brazil have been taking forever. He will enjoy being at a different MTC. (See Elder Trevor Lott’s blog for details.)   I am glad that “E” came over for a visit and he brought his new little buddy. That’s funny that Chay didn’t want anything to do with his puppy. (See Picture of Ethan and his new puppy!) The one thing I did notice was that the baseball team changed their hat style this year, to the style that we wanted to have it last year, but I am not complaining. Well I don’t have all that much to say, I am wishing you the best and hoping that you are enjoying your time and counting your blessings. Have a great week! Be the example you know you should be! Love you mucho!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!!!!    Te amo!       ELDER D