Week 5

Hi guys!

I only have like 4 full days left here! It is going to go by so so so fast! I honestly can´t wait to get to pittsburgh! I love it here, but I am ready to go and start teaching real people! And just feel like a real missionary!!!

I´m glad the savior of the world musical was good and that grandma is going with you guys to the ward party! That will be really fun! The first presidency christmas devotional was really good! I was a little bummed that president monson didn´t speak though! It was all about service, so it got me really excited to go out to the field and be able to start serving people! I´m so glad I get to leave before christmas! I can´t imagine having to be here for christmas because you can´t get any packages and I don´t even know if you get to call home! We started packing some of our stuff today, and it got me so excited to go!

And I am keeping a journal dad! I´ve written in it every night so far, and I´ve been pretty detailed. I´m actually a third of the way through that journal you got me at deseret book before I left, so I will probably want a new journal soon! Maybe for my birthday?

Man i don´t even know what to say. Every day is basically exactly the same, so it´s really hard to distinguish day to day. We have our in-field orientation on friday! I seriously can´t wait to get to pittsburgh! Honestly I just want to be back in the united states! When we land in chicago, I am going to be so so happy! 

WOW... I don´t even know what to say about the 49ers. What happened? It´s probably because I´m not watching. I hope kaep steps it up because I think he can be really good. I also hope we get a new offensive coordinator, and I also hope that jim harbaugh does not leave the team, because he´s so awesome. but wow. losing to the raiders? I can´t believe it. Luckily I don´t care half as much as I used to because that is just embarrassing. just look forward to next year I guess. 

Oh this is so funny! I can´t remember if I told you guys about this or not. so if I did, just read it again and laugh again. so when we first got here, we got these water bottles and they just told us to fill them up because they have like water jug things everywhere, and so I had that bottle for awhile. and I would always throw it up in the air while I was walking and try to catch it. hermana andelin (a girl in my district) would throw her bottle up and catch it too. so one night we had a break from class, and we went outside and starting throwing the water bottles. so she accidentally throws hers backwards and it lands on the roof. I was laughing so hard, and I was like: "rookie mistake." So then I try to throw my water bottle super high, and because I'm trying to throw it so high, I throw it backwards and mine lands on the roof too! I was so sad! But anyways, it is still on the roof and you can just see it sitting on the edge of the roof hahha. so for breakfast, they have these like yogurt drink things, and so I just get one and wash it out and fill it up with water and use that as my new water bottle. I've had to get a few different ones because when you throw it really high in the air and then don't catch it, they start to break. so anyways I had one that I threw suuuuper high in the air, and then it hit the cement, and the bottom just breaks open, and all the water flew everywhere. so I had to wait until breakfast the next day until I could get a new one. then at breakfast, they didn't have the yogurt bottles, and I wanted to cry!!! but then at dinner that night, they had the refrigerators open with the yogurt. (I think they just hadn't locked them yet because normally they never have them open, and right after I got one, I saw a guy walking towards the refrigerators with keys!) so I was sooooo happy and I got a new bottle. then that night, hermana everett and I walked outside after we taught or something, and I tried to throw the bottle suuuuper high, and I throw it backwards, and it lands on the roof. I WAS SO MAD. I had finally gotten a new bottle and then I lost it like an hour later. So now I have two water bottles on the same roof! hahah but it was pretty funny.

okay another funny story. so a few nights ago it was like 9:15, so everyone in my district was all kneeling at the front of the room ready to say a closing prayer. and elder ferguson was still sitting at his desk. so he looks up and says "oh shoot!" he didn't know we were ready to say prayer. so he stands up super fast, turns around and starts running to the front of the room, and then totally trips over his own feet and falls flat on his face!!! like literally not just a trip, a fall! it was maybe the funniest thing i've ever seen. It must have hurt, because it made a really loud bang. but he was laughing so it was okay. but just imagine someone standing up really fast, turning, starting to run, and then suddenly they are just sprawled out on the floor. hahhaa

oh okay this is pretty funny too. so one night during class, my teacher said "abuelita" (which is grandma in spanish). and she asked us if she knew what it was. well i thought she said "arbolito." arbol is a tree, so I was thinking, well it's probably a small tree. so I say "small tree" and everyone else says grandma. I was dying laughing! the funny thing is that no one heard me, which was pretty awesome since it would have been pretty embarrassing, but I told them what I said anyways because it was so funny. small tree instead of grandma haha. I was so confused why we were suddenly talking about trees. I was like what does this have to do with what we are learning right now? ha

so last night during our district review after the devotional, one of the elders was talking about how the guy who spoke talked about preparation for a lot of things. and he said: "i've never heard of preparating my testimony before, and I think that's pretty cool." then another elder says "yeah, i've never heard of that one either." get it?  because he said preparating. hahaha it was so funny

man i still love the book of mormon so much! I can't believe i didn't read it all the time before I left. like geez, what was i wasting my time on before I left for my mission? I should have been reading the bom all the time! personal study time is my absolute favorite! every time I read the book of mormon, i feel so happy after, and everything can apply to me right now! it is just such a cool book!!!! 

so we are teaching three investigators right now. both of our teachers play as an investigator, and then we teach one of the missionaries in our district. our lessons are going pretty well! it's so cool that we are able to feel the spirit in a pretend situation. but i am so ready to be able to teach real people! and I know it is going to be so hard once I get out to the field, and it's going to be a lot more work, but I am really really really excited for it! it's crazy that i've already been out for 5 weeks! it sounds like nothing but it has FLOWN by. like I only have 17 months left! it's going to go by so fast! the weeks go by so fast. it's so weird.

oh so for fast sunday, we ate breakfast and lunch on saturday but no dinner. and then no breakfast on sunday, but we ate lunch and dinner. So it was like a full 24 hour fast. I actually didn´t get half as hungry as I was expecting. so one of the districts in our zone left really early on monday morning (so now we are the only district left of the first zone we had! one district left last week, and then this district just left this week. so it also makes me want to leave even more because I´m so jealous that they are all out in the field now!), but anyways on sunday night, they had like a last meeting thing, and they were going around just saying some last spiritual thoughts they had. and we were in there to say goodbye so they told us we could just stay.  but anyways, I felt the spirit so strong in there. one of them shared alma 17:2-3, and it´s when alma sees the sons of mosiah and he says his joy was full because they were still his brethren in the lord. and so the elder was just saying that he hopes that when he sees us again, we are still strong in the gospel too. The spirit was sooooo strong in the room, and it was just a huge confirmation of my testimony. I just knew that there would be no way I would have felt that feeling if the gospel wasn´t true. It´s so cool to be around missionaries all the time here, and the spirit is so strong. Like I seriously can´t believe how much my whole outlook on things has changed in 5 weeks! 

one thing I will really miss here is the weather! normally hna everett and I do language study outside, and we just sit on benches in the sun, and it feels so nice! my legs are getting a tan hahha! but I can´t wait to finally have a white christmas! it will be so cool! 

ps. you guys are so lucky that I write you so much. Every time someone looks at my email, they say: "wow that´s a really long email. I bet my family wishes I would send them an email like that" hahhaha. 

how is everything going with you guys? everything about the same?

oh dad! I keep forgetting to tell you! I love your questions! I especially loved the one from last week about why scripture study was important. I read a lot in d and c about how first I need to obtain the word and then preach the word. And without the spirit, I can't teach. And one way I can get the spirit and keep it with me is by reading the scriptures. I wish I had time to tell you more about what I found, but I found tons of scriptures about why scripture study is so important and that I need the spirit when I teach. It's so awesome how all the scriptures fit together so well! I love the scriptures so much! the book of mormon has seriously changed my life these past 5 weeks. 

okay I think that is all! I love you guys! i hope the christmas season is going well! do lots of shopping, and then send me all the stuff you buy! hahah okay love you guys

hermana davis