Manti Pageant!! Legit!

Manti Temple At Night



Hola Padres!!!              27 June 2011  

Well as you can tell, it is Monday, so that means another letter/email from your son in the mission field. This week was pretty interesting, it was accompanied with a few changes and we are just rolling with them as the week continues to move on. 

Well I guess I can start from last week and work back to today. Last Monday for our fun activity of the day, we went and played 9 holes of golf. It was pretty legit. Golf is still a frustrating game, but it was a little more relaxed playing as a missionary. So we got to go play for free with the Zone Leaders, because of some guy that they know. So we went and played, I still got a little competitive and I end up only shooting a 12 over par. I don’t think that is so bad for not having played golf for over a year. 

This week I also went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I went to the English area with Elder Booher.  I learned a bunch of things on this exchange. One, that once again, English work is so much different from Spanish work. Everything is just tweaked a little bit, and it is a little more political. The another thing is really weird, but I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. If you remember at the beginning of my mission I would get headaches from being around all the Spanish and because I wasn’t used to it, I would have a headache all day. Well now it is the reverse effect! I was out with Elder Booher and speaking in English was pretty hard, it was especially difficult to try and remember the vocabulary about the Gospel. I have just forgotten so much about the Gospel lessons and I usually don’t spend that much time speaking in English during the day. So my head was just pounding the whole time as I was trying to speak English to all these people. Well I am thinking it is probably a good thing that I am at that point since I have been called in Spanish. I still speak good English, but most of the English I remember is just the slang and daily language I speak with my companions or other missionaries. The Spanish is just starting to over run the English.

Another new experience for this week is that I have two new roommates. They are the new English Elders for the stake that we used to cover in English. They are just living with us "temporarily", but they may end up staying with us for good. It is a little different to have some more people there to talk to when you come home at night. It feels a little like we are back in the MTC when there were so many people around you and in your room. 



Pageant - Savior Visit





The biggest event that happened this week is that Elder Leguizamon and I were asked to go up to the Manti Pageant, or the official name is the Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant. It was super legit! It was the farthest north I have ever been on the mission, and it was probably the longest car ride I will take on my mission. We went up there because before the show, we go out amongst all the people and talk to them and ask them for referrals for their friends and family. I felt kind of like a salesman, but it was pretty crazy to meet and talk with all these people. There were people from all over too. The show itself was pretty cool, it was a cool story line, but I heard that it doesn’t compare to the Hill Cumorah Pageant, but it was still a good experience. I think it is pretty funny that the whole town of Manti is only 3000 people, but that night at the Pageant, there was a total of 18,000 people! So that is quite a crowd!



Seating for 18,000!  Wow!

WEATHER . . Well the weather here is just one thing HOT! The days just keep getting hotter and hotter, earlier and earlier. It hit about 112 here this week, but I guess that is just one of the things that I will deal with. At least I know that there are a few more Elders that can share the experience of walking in the heat.

Well I hope everything is going great back at home, I didn’t get an email this week, so I don’t really have anything else to reply to, but take care and have a good week! (I am the WORST MOTHER EVER . . .  I just got busy with life and did not send a weekly email.  However, to make up for it, I am writing to him every day this week via regular postal service.) 

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

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Hola Padres!                   20 June 2011

          Well it is that time of week again! The weeks just continue to move faster and faster. It was a good week with ups and downs, but these are the joys and struggles of a mission.  I have learned that trying to keep up two different areas really sucks! (Since beginning his mission, he has covered both an “English speaking” area and a “Spanish speaking” area at the same time.)  Every time we would try to focus on increasing the English work, the Spanish work would decrease. Then every time we just focused on the Spanish work, the English work would plummet. It felt like we were always going back and forth with trying to get them both to increase at the same time, but it is just basically impossible. Now I won’t have to worry about trying to get both of them to increase at the same time -- I am now back to being just a Spanish Elder. The mission is bringing in two new Elders to cover the English area that we had, so it will be a change once again to just being Spanish speaking.

I guess the HOT topic this week is the weather. It definitely got hot this week. It was in the triple digits the whole week until Sunday. SEE PICTURE You can see it from the picture the it was 106, but after we took that picture it did get hotter. The one thing that is ever changing is the humidity. There isn’t too much humidity here, but when there is a little change or increase, you can definitely feel it!

Well my son, Elder Leguizamon is definitely progressing. It is cool to see all the changes that come when you first come to the mission. It is weird to think that I was that "greenie" about 10 months ago. He is really keeping me on my toes though; he is making me really be the best I can be. This week we had another Zone Training. It was a little different typically we just practice with our companions. This time we asked members or investigators to come in. It was definitely a lot different to teach someone who wasn’t already on the same page as you. We also gave a seminar in the park to a bunch of Spanish speaking people. It was put on by a school for kids that had Spanish speaking parents. We talked about how we can come closer as a family and also about all the Daily Dose classes that missionaries teach, or basically the English classes.

I want to say thank you for the package. It was a pleasant surprise.(See PICTURE of NEW DAD t-shirt.) I will definitely use all of that stuff. I also received another package from Uncle Howard and Aunt Robin. It is definitely nice to have all that support from family. THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT!

Sunday here was absolutely crazy! We had meetings all day. They started at 7:30am and they didn’t end until about 3:45pm. Most of those meetings were Sacrament Meetings. I went to four Sacrament Meetings. So I think I may take a break from going to Church, because I went to a month's worth of Church in one day. What do you think? (That was a joke!  J)  Then our last meeting of the day was a Spanish Fireside. It was super powerful. The Spirit was there and the testimonies given were super strong. It made me realize that the things that I went through to obtain my testimony weren’t as bad as others. I didn’t have to travel 7 hours to listen to the missionaries or travel 2 hours every Sunday to Church, or even disobey my family and leave them all to gain my testimony. It just humbled me a lot and made me realize how blessed I am. This Gospel has truly changed my life, and I will always be grateful to those people that helped me straighten my life out, to them I am eternally grateful!

Well I am sorry that I didn’t send anything home for Father's Day and I am sorry that Pops was sad because it was his first one without me being there. But it will be just another one and I will be back in no time. But I am grateful for my father and everything he has done for me!  

I am still here loving every minute of my mission! The time is going by way to fast, but that is just something to deal with. Thanks to everyone and make every day great!  (See picture of Chad and Elder L holding up Mexico (Chad) and Argentina FLAGS.)

Live it! Love it! Preach it!   

  Con amor,   ELDER D

Elder D is a "New Father" of a Greenie

Buenas, Beunas Padres!               13 June 2011 

      Here we go to find out another week in the life of me, Elder Davis. Well this week was one of the strangest weeks I have had since I have been on the mission. (Actually, Chad says that A LOT!!)  It was just because so much was going on and so much happened in such a short amount of time. I wasn’t in my official area for two days because Elder Lopez left on Tuesday, but I wasn’t going to get my new companion until Wednesday, so I had to be with different Elders who didn’t have companions either. So I basically ended up with 5 different companions for 2 days. It was a pretty crazy thing.

Well I am officially a father. (Mission Lingo: Training a brand new elder from the Missionary Training Center.)  I am a proud father of an Argentine. Yep, he is from Argentina, but he came to his mission from the huge town of Clearfield, Utah. His name is Elder Federico Leguizamon. I know what you are thinking, it is a really long name and it is hard to pronounce. Almost everyone here has trouble trying to say his name, but with practice I am sure it will come along. He is definitely burning with that "greenie fire". He is a really solid missionary and is ready to work, so that is what we are doing, work, work, and some more work!



Elder D says HOT SAUCE
 is eaten on everything!



The work that is happening in this area is a little different though, now that we are a bilingual area. Now that I have to try and teach people and contact them in English as well as Spanish, I seem to be getting the two more and more confused and have trouble switching back and forth. But I don’t know why we inherited this area or why we were placed here, but there must be a reason or a person that we were sent here to teaching some or meet someone important.

This week I had some pretty strange events go on. I learned just how generous the Latino people are. We learned this when we were tracting in a trailer park. We were just knocking some doors and we smelled someone cooking some carne asada and then we happened to find the house and we just started to talk to them and see how things were going. The first thing that we found out is that there was a guy there that was trying to get to Denver for a job, but he couldn’t pay for a bus yet and needed some help, so this family picked him up and took him to their house for the night. (Charitable act #1) Well after that we were just talking and we were about to leave and go back and knock some doors, but they asked us if we had eaten, (we had not and didn’t have a dinner that night either) so we tried to play it off and say that we were okay, but they wouldn’t have it so they gave us a bunch of carne asada and chicken. (charitable act #2) This just surprised me a lot because a lot of times people have an opinion on Latinos thinking that they are rude and all of that, but they are really some of the most humble people that I have ever met in my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to come here and learn Spanish and also learn about this culture and people. It has definitely changed my opinions on a lot things and it makes me appreciate a lot more of what I have.

This week we had to go to a bunch of Sacrament Meetings in English. It was weird after going to Sacrament Meetings in Spanish for 9 months and only going to about 5 in English in those 9 months. They each just have a different feel to them, but I have been more accustomed to the Spanish ones. I guess change just comes with time.



Glasses?  Who is HE Foolin?



This week we also had a BAPTISM!!!! We baptized a guy named Efrain Roman Lopez. I had been teaching this guy since the first day that I got here, so it was a good thing to finally see him get baptized. Baptisms are always some of the nicest things that you can see on a mission and this one wasn’t any different. It was also cool that in the first week that my companion was in the field, he had his first baptism! Well this was a strange week, but a good one. This transfer will definitely be filled with some crazy experiences and some learning opportunities.

Well Mom I am sorry to hear about everything and I just want to let you know that everything will be okay. I know it is tough and hard to handle right now, but the Lord has a reason to everything. Put your trust in Him and He will provide, that is something that I have learned very strongly here. I always have you in my prayers and I am sure that part will never change. Stay faithful and all will be well!!! Always remember that I love you! (I have been working for a school district for 5 years and found out this week that my position is eliminated.  I am without a job. Shock!)

Well I am grateful for another week here in the Lord's vineyard and love all of you!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!     LES AMO!!!!      ELDER D

Elder D will be Training a Brand New Elder!

Hola Padres, y todas las otras!                 June 6, 2011  

It is that time of week again, and this time the email comes on the right day of the week. (No Holiday!)  This week was very up and down. We had a lot of struggles and we saw a lot of things not go our way. For instance, we had one night where we had 4 teaching appointments set up and they all seemed to just have some random thing pop up and so we had all of them cancel. We also had two baptisms planned for this Sunday, but both of those didn’t happen either. One didn’t happen because the lady we have been teaching for a long time decided that she was going to try going to another church for a while. This got me pretty upset, because she has had some crazy experiences and she knows the Church is true, but chooses to keep holding herself away from it. The other baptism we were supposed to have was a guy that we have been teaching for a while as well. We finally put a firm date for baptism and we were getting everything set up and he goes to Provo so we couldn’t do his interview last week. Then this week he doesn’t show up to Church and so hopefully we will fix the problems and get them scheduled back up for baptism. I guess these struggles are just part of the work.  Lehi said "there will be opposition in all things", I guess I am just really finding that out for myself. 

I continue to change little things every week. This week I started to carry a hardback cover of the Book of Mormon with me everywhere I go. I have found that it tends to spark little questions and thoughts when people see me with it. It also makes it easier to use and explain the book to people that we contact. 

He didn't eat the whole thing,
 but sure tired!



This week I had the TORTA CUBANA, Pt. II. (SEE PICTURE) It was just as big as the first time which didn’t make it any easier, but a tradition is a tradition right? Well, I didn’t quite finish it this time, but I think since  I had already finished it once before, I didn’t have the same drive to complete it. (A missionary has to eat!!!) 

Also this week I have figured out that people make it seem like the things we ask them to do are the hardest things in the world. I remember in high school, that if someone said I bet you can’t “squat” that much, I would go under the bar and attempt to do whatever I was challenged to do. However, when we ask someone to read a single page in the Book of Mormon and pray about it with a sincere heart, they just look at us like we just asked them to jump out of an airplane without a parachute.  I guess I am just frustrated with some of the people we teach and they act like they are interested and then just don’t do anything. To read a chapter in a book, or THE BOOK, is not really that hard if we understand what is hanging in the balance. But our Heavenly Father has given us our agency "to choose liberty and eternal life or captivity and death", but it is just something I need to understand a little better. Everyone has their right to accept or reject the message of the Restored Gospel. I should be thankful for what the Lord has let me do, just like it says in Alma 29:1-3.

The weather here too has gotten hotter. Everyone always said, "oh this has been mild for here", but now everyone is saying, "the heat has started to come!" That is a true statement. It has been in the upper 90s all of last week and I think it got all the way up to 99! So it is hot, but I am sure Jett (Scrimsher, a friend from our ward currently serving in Panama) is having a worse time in Panama then I am in St. George.

This week we went and gave a blessing to a guy that had surgery to remove some cancer that he had/has. It was honestly really weird to be back in a hospital, especially visiting someone who just had surgery to remove cancer. (Chad’s father had his left kidney removed that had cancer one year ago.)  I thought back a lot to when Pops had cancer and that whole week and how crazy it was. But this time it was a different feeling, I had a strong feeling of peace and that everything is all set up for us and that God has an eternal plan for each one of us. It is just one of those many blessings of the Restored Gospel.



COOL PIC - We DO send Mail Regularly!



Well I have some good news for you all..... I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER!!!!!! (Ha ha ha Chad Thomas)  Well before you jump to conclusions and get your mind going, I am not going to be a real father, just a “father” in the mission field. It means that I am going to train another missionary who is fresh out of the MTC. It is going to be a really weird experience, but it will be a good thing. I am super excited and grateful for the opportunity. So I will be staying here in St. George for at least another transfer. The bad news is that I will once again have another companion. This means I have had a different companion every single transfer. I don’t know if that is a good thing or bad thing, but we will see if the pattern continues. I am bummed that Elder Lopez is leaving, but he is going to be "follow up training" another missionary. That means he will be serving with a missionary that is going into his second transfer in the mission field. We are both moving on to bigger things. We don’t know if they are better things yet, but definitely bigger things in the mission with more responsibility.

News from Home – I asked Chad what he would like (if anything) for his birthday coming up July 30. Well for my birthday, I don’t really know what I want or even what I need. I am pretty set on everything. I am probably going to send a box home of shirts and things that I don’t need anymore.  I will be sure to let you know if anything comes up.  

I am glad that Kevin (Ireland, from Burbank High School) did well in the Feeder game and that he got some more baseball offers. What schools were they? Be sure to let me know what goes on with that. Well I am glad that you splurged a little and bought a pool, which will be nice to have in the summer. It is really 4 feet deep? Does that mean Bryson stands on his tippy toes? If not, that kid is HUGE!!!! (We sent him a picture of 4 year old Bryson, his nephew in the pool, touching bottom!)  Oh and what ever happened with the bathroom? I thought you said something about it needed to remodeled or a new floor or something??? (Yes, it still needs to be fixed, but we ran out of money to fix the floor and get a new shower/tub.  Life happens!) 

I guess that concludes just about everything I can talk about right now or get through. Well I am grateful for the information and the emails that you send! Take care and make each day a little better!!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!     Les Amo!    ELDER D!

Memorial Day!

Hola Padres!                   31 May 2011

       Well it is good that there was no email from a distraught mother. But you guessed right, we weren’t able to email yesterday because of Memorial Day, everything was completely shut down, but here we are today with the permission to email. It is a really good privilege to have.

All these weeks are moving by so quickly. This is the last week before transfers, and it seems like that Elder Lopez and I just were put here as companions. I honestly do not know what will happen here – if I will be transferred -- but I will go where the Lord wants me to go. There are rumors here and there, but by next Monday I will have all that information on where I am going and what is happening.

Well since "the Change" everything has been different. (The “change” Chad is referring to is his desire to be a better missionary, put forth more effort in following the Lord’s plan for him and being more obedient.)  I can come home at the end of the day and feel pleased with what has happened and I can go to sleep with no regrets from the day. I know that I will go out and do the Lord's work and then come home and feel that I did what he wanted me to do. I am really loving my mission more then ever. I am understanding my purpose and what I am here.  It is carrying into my work and work ethic. Because of it, our way of working has changed a little. We have been focusing on people more and numbers less. For the first part of my mission I have looked to numbers as something that needed to be achieved and that was what was expected. However, I learned that if you focus on the people (what is important), then the numbers (what is not as important) will follow. People are what we are called to teach and help and that is what I am going to dedicate myself efforts.  It has made me want to embrace the trait of charity (the scriptures define charity as the pure love of Christ).  I have felt charity at times, but I have not really had charity for everyone.  On occasion, I have even felt dislike for some people. So I am really trying to develop that love that Christ had for everyone and make sure that they feel of that love.

Weather.  The weather has been getting hotter and we have been walking a lot more, but that is just one of the little things. I really can’t complain about walking because I know that there are missionaries that never even get cars at any point in their missions, so I am trying to be content with what I am given.

Since we were walking so much, I had to by some new shoes to help keep up with all of the walking. Don’t worry Mom, I got a good deal and went cheap, but they are quality shoes. (Get the idea that THE MOM is the penny pincher and is always concerned about money???) They are really saving my feet from killing me.

The companionship with Elder Lopez is still working well.  We get along like good friends. We have been helping each other become better and really finding how we can improve as missionaries. This week did have a really weird moment. I saw Elder Bravo again, well I guess now he is just Brother Bravo. (Elder Bravo was Chad’s previous companion and he was at the end of his mission and returned home.) He was back down here because one of his old companions was getting married.  We went on splits for about an hour and we knocked some doors. It was super weird; I was having flashbacks to when we were companions. He still had a little bit of that fire and still talked and asked everyone to do this or that. It was some really good stuff.

I did get a little trunky this week, but it wasn’t that bad. (Trunky is a term used by missionaries when they are thinking about home.)  We walked by the public pool here in our area.  I walk by and see all that stuff going on and it just made me realize that I am not going to be working at Memorial Pool this summer. It is weird to think that I won’t be there after 3 summers. But it is just a little sacrifice to make. But it does make me miss the pool and swimming, especially when it is like 96 here the whole time and we walk by about 3 or 4 different pools everyday. (Prior to his mission, Chad was a lifeguard at the local pools.)

Yesterday was a pretty cool P-day. (Memorial Day) It was different because we didn’t have emails, so we had so much more time to do other things. We went out to Snow Canyon, and we visited the Lava Caves. They are these caves that some how work their way down into the ground about 200 feet or so. It was cool, it was pitch black and you had to squeeze through some tight spots and climb a few rocks.  Definitely one of the craziest things I have done on my mission!

I hope all is well back at home. Stay strong and trust in the Lord!  Live it, Love it, Preach it!!! 

    Con muchismo amor,      ELDER DAVIS

May 22 Time to Improve

Parental Note:  Chad has been “thinking” about ways to better himself and improve on his missionary service.  I debated including his post about his struggles, because we think he is doing very well!  Chad has always pushed himself hard in the sports arena and I guess being a missionary is the same to him.  He wants to be the very best.  – The Mom

Hola Padres!                                                       23 May 2011

Don’t worry, you are the first on the list today and you will get a nice full thought email without worrying about time! I am glad to continue to have all the emails from home and to hear about everything there. I am so grateful for your support.  (We gave Chad a difficult time because our letter home last week was pretty short.  He had spent most of his time sending emails to his friends and left the parents to the very last and almost ran out of time!)

Well we had an excellent week, I really enjoyed and I am trying to find the good in everything and not the bad. Last week I said I was thinking a lot, well this week was full of doing and changing. The change is the hardest part, but it will be for the better. It all started when I went on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Pressgrove. He was my Zone Leader, my first two transfers in Hurricane. He came to my area and we just talked about a lot of stuff and he really opened my eyes about my mission. He is about ready to go home, so he was trying to share all his insights and trying to help other missionaries become better, and in my case it worked! He gave me a talk by a mission president called "The Fourth Missionary". This talk honestly changed my mission. Before, I guess, I was kind of taking my mission for granted and doing things that I wanted to do, but this talk helped me realize that I didn’t come on a mission to do things I want to do or have a vacation. I came on a mission to do the Lord's work and this is His time not mine. I really am understanding how important it is to submit to His will and not ours.

There are many missionaries that just cruise through their missions and never benefit or change at all from their experiences. I definitely don’t want to be one of those missionaries who reaches the end of their missions and starts to regret how they should have done more. I want to come to the end of my mission and say that I know I did my best and not have a regret. In the end I will be accountable for how I spent the Lord's time. So now my mission will never be the same. I changing to be that missionary that I want to be and know I should be. I could try and put the blame on others or say that my mission was influenced by this or by that, but in the end with everything in life, I am accountable for my own actions. Change isn’t going to be easy, but it will definitely be worth it and it is definitely necessary.

Well back to the missionary efforts.  We are back to walking again. After 4 weeks with a car, it has been sent back to Salt Lake and we aren’t going to get another one. It is definitely different to be walking again. I walked for 6 weeks with Elder Bravo, but it is like conditioning with anything else, if you don’t use it, you lose it! I definitely lost my walking stamina, especially since it is a little hotter now then it was 4 weeks ago. Also the first day that we started to walk again, it rained all day long. So we learned that no matter the weather outside, the work must go on!

Elder Lopez and I had some crazy lessons this week. It ranged from meeting drunk people and making a grown man cry. We have changed our teaching styles a little and we have been bolder in presenting the messages. (Hence that is why we made a grown man cry for calling him out.) Well this month, we have really been studying the importance of church and why we go. So through all that studying, I have come to find a better knowledge of why church attendance is important to me. I realized that our Savior sacrificed everything for us, so why can’t we sacrifice a few hours to go to church and learn of Him and remember Him? The Sacrament is so important to us and why we even go to church. Jesus himself set up this sacred ordinance for us and I feel bad to look back at my life when I didn’t understand why all this happened.

A mission is truly a learning and changing experience. I know that I will never be the same person again because of my mission. That is definitely not a bad thing either! I love my mission more then ever and this love will continue to grow. Thanks for all the support that you have given me! I love you so much!

Vivalo, Amalo, Predicalo! (Live it, Love it, Preach it!)

Tu Hijo         ELDER D

Brief Letter - Visited "the narrows" Rock

Hola Mami y Papi.                 May 16, 2011 

It is that time again here.  I kind of procrastinated this letter, so hopefully I will get it all down before the computer kicks me off. This week was another good one, of course. We are still going with the flow and are still teaching about 35 lessons a week. (By any standard, that is high!)

I guess we can just start with last Monday. We went to Dixie Rock and took some more pictures of St. Geezy and then we went to this place called the narrows. Which is exactly what is says; the narrows. It is a gap between to rock walls and you basically force your way through it until you get to the other side or the top of it all. There is a picture attached to show you how tight it really was.

This week was filled with a lot more thinking, and I am finally getting everything straight. A mission isn’t easy, because salvation isn’t easy. But I know that it really isn’t our work, but it is the Lord's and if we trust in Him, he will provide a way to accomplish it. I am finding that being a District Leader isn’t all that different. It is basically just collecting the numbers from the District and then reporting them to the Zone Lords. The one thing that I do enjoy is to be able to do all the Baptismal Interviews. It gives me a chance to know others and their stories. It is a really cool experience.

This week we had interviews with the Mission President. Once again he just seemed kind of bland and he gave me a set interview.  I guess I will just have to deal with it and adjust. (Some Mission Presidents are very personable.  Others have their talents a bit more hidden!!)

News from Home:   I am glad that Bry's party went well and that he enjoyed it. The picture of him before church was super cute! He is SOOOO Big!! I am glad to hear that the (Columbia Burbank) baseball team is doing well and that they are going to Regionals. (I mentioned we received Kevin Ireland’s graduation announcement and asked Chad if he remembered those days so long ago -1 year) Well I do remember all those days of getting ready for Graduation and all of that, it seems just like yesterday. It is crazy to think that is has almost been a whole year.

Well I just want to let you know that I love you a ton and am really starting to enjoy why I am here.

 I am definitely LIVING IT, LOVING IT, AND DEFINITELY PREACHING IT! I hope you are all doing the same!

Te Amo!      ELDER D

Happy MOTHER'S DAY!!!

(For all those who read Chad's blog who are not members of our church, to preface this letter -- missionaries are to be focuses on their field of labor and not be in too much contact with home.  However, full time missionaries are allowed to phone home twice a year at Christmas and on Mother's Day.  We enjoyed an hour long visit -- laughing at his struggle to think of the right words in English!  He is loving what he is doing and acknowleges the 2 years are going by FAST!  We love him and miss him, but wouldn't change a thing!  -- The Mom)  The Picture is of Big Bad Elder Chad overlooking St. George, Utah aka St. Geezy.) 

Hola Benditos Padres!!                           May 9, 2011  

Well I am sorry to say that this letter will probably be pretty short since I just talked to you for an hour yesterday! I don’t really know what else to say, but I sure will give it a shot.

This week was pretty up and down, but it was good nonetheless. This week was full of a lot of learning experiences. I really used my brain a lot this week and thought a lot about what I was doing here and how I can make myself a better missionary. I still have not got a grasp on everything, and am trying to work everything out in my mind. The battle rages on! So with this thinking, my brain was on overload and I couldn’t think in English or Spanish! I was caught in between both languages and not understanding either. L  I guess that happens sometimes, and it is happening to me!

One thing I did learn is that I need to start focusing on others more and how I can help them, and less on Elder Davis. I am on a mission to help others and that is where my true focus should be.

The one crazy thing that happened here in St. George this week was the IRONMAN race. So I thought I may never have another chance, so I decided to compete. Well that definitely didn’t happen, especially since you have to swim 2.2 miles and as a missionary I can’t swim. Maybe later in my life I will try to complete the 2.2 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and then 26.2 mile run. There is always hope that I will be able to try that, or maybe not!

The call home was definitely the best part of my week, it was a different experience. I was at that point where I was just shedding the "trunky" thoughts of home after being with Elder Bravo, and then I am pulled right back in with a call home. But it was worth it! It is also weird to think that 8 months has already passed in my mission and then the next time that I call home, it will be when I have 15 months into my mission. The time goes by so fast and unfortunately there is no way of slowing it down.

The weather here is ridiculous!  It was in the 90s most of last week and topped out at about 96, so it was pretty warm and now we are going to have some thunderstorms for the next few days. But all is well here in St. Geezy.

How are things up in your neck of the woods? Well once again Mom, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!! I hope you have a good week and enjoy everything that comes with it!

Live it, Love it, Preach it!     tu hijo,        ELDER D