Vallery Farmhouse Bakery, Echanges, & MLC - October 28, 2019

Hey everyone!

This was a busy week. Monday we drove to Columbus for MLC the next day. We stayed at the mission home. We got there at like 11pm at night. Tuesday we had MLC with all of the mission leaders. We role played hair cuts and dress standards. I got to critique our mission president's hair. lol  After that we had to drive Elder Koontz to the doctor in Mad Lake. That is London where I served earlier in my mission. We got to go to the Vallery Farmhouse Bakery. I got to see Eddie. I also saw the Watson's from London. It was a great day. We didn't get home until 11pm that night also.  Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Lambert. His companion and him live in Youngstown also. It has been fun to be in the same are with him again. We had district council that morning. We found that cool rock (in the picture below). It was on the Youngstown State University campus. We also saw a cool El Camino.  Thursday there wasn't much going on. We taught Rita. Friday we did our weekly planning. So, lots of planning that day. :) Saturday we played volleyball with people from the city. We also helped a lady move out of her house. It was a lot of moving, but kept us busy.  Sunday we went to church. There are over 600 inactive members in this area. So, we just want to get to know the members and help them if we can. 

It has been raining a lot. So, we are out of car miles, and the rain makes it hard to bike. So it goes. For Halloween we will just stay in side that night, but on the 1st the ward is having a trunk or treat. We are going to decorate the truck and go. That will be fun. I'm working hard but excited to only have 45 days left. 

Have a great week and keep working hard!

Elder Davis

Elder Anderson and Elder Davis

Vallery Farmhouse Bakery

Jib Jab Hot Dogs

Fall is Coming

Salapos Family 

Youngstown State University 

Youngstown, Ohio

Missionary Broadcast & MLC - October 21, 2019

Thursday I was in a trio for the day, and then we helped a lady moved. Friday was weekly planning with my new companion, Elder Anderson. He is from Boise, Idaho. 
Saturday was a missionary broadcast. President Ballard and Elder Christofferson spoke to us about our country. They said that we need to pray for our country that was founded on the power of prayer. Sunday was a member broadcast with Ballard and Cristofferson and we went to church.
We rode our bikes around this week. I hate to bike! :) Today we did some shopping and cleaning. We are heading to Columbus tonight for MLC. It will be nice to be around the other elders and see some of my old companions. 

Shirt from the Clothing Swap

Cool Halloween House

Elder Madsen's  new suit

Volleyball Mishap, Hot Chocolate, & Mission Call - October 16, 2019

Its been a good week. We did some service, had meetings, and got our transfer calls. I will be staying in Youngstown as the Zone Leader. Elder Madsen is leaving and I am getting Elder Anderson as my companion. This is the last transfer for me. Can't believe I only have 58 days left. I had my interview with the Mission President this week. It was good. He is a good man. We are getting a new white handbook in November. We don't know what it is in it yet, but apparently there are a lot less rules. 
We also have a training tomorrow with Elder Christofferson and Elder Ballard for the missionaries in the Northeast America Zone. We are excited for that. 
On Saturday we invited the area to come play volleyball at the park. We made 5 gallons of hot chocolate and bought cups for everyone. Then... no one showed up. :( Kind of sad. The hot chocolate may be rotting in the 5 gallon cooler. lol  But this is how missions are. You just keep working for the small miracles and amazing small moments that come along. Below is what we did each day this week. I am excited for transfers. Elder Lambert will be back in my zone. 
I was able to call home and "be there" when Elly opened her mission call. I am excited for her to serve the people of Ventura California. Three missionaries in our family! 
Killing it :)

Monday--We went to Hubbard and did some service for colleen
Tuesday-had dinner with Salapo and walked around
Sunday-church and stake correlation
Saturday-volleyball mishap
Friday-weekly planning and stuff

I got my travel plans. I will be home December 14th! See you in 58!

Volleyball Sadness

Indian Dealership

Huge McDonalds

Stupert, Our roommate

Calling on Pday

Elly's Mission Call

We made old bay fries and cheese sauce

Decorations, Conference, Favorite Quote, and Stupert - October 7, 2019

Hey everybody!
Its been a good busy week. Since our wasp episode last week we have continued to kill them everyday in our apartment. We think we have killed at least 300 wasps. So, that has been fun. We got the Halloween packages, mom and dad. The minion is in our living room and we named him Stupert. Thanks Sarah! We are going to put him in the bed of our truck for our ward Trunk or Treat. We are excited for that. We have been decorating our apartment for Halloween. That has been fun. 
We are really busy in this area visiting ward members and taking care of our mission zone.  We are over 13 companionship. So, they keep us busy. 
We have been visiting a couple living in a assisted living home here in Youngstown. They are great. The wife had a craft show this week, so we went. It is nice to visit with them. Life gets lonely sometimes. We try to get to as many people as we can. We are constantly providing service for people. I really like that part of my mission. Helping people is what I like to do. I try to always care about the people. That is why I am here. 
We go to a lot of admin meetings. Tonight we have stake coordination. We also did training visits with the assistants this week. I was with Elder Bench. That was a good experience. 
Elder Madsen and I get along great. We are different, but it works. President Stratford told us when he put us together that this would be "one fun companionship!" lol 
President Stratford also gave me a great compliment t his week in our interviews. He said, " If there was one missionary who was so planted in the gospel sod that he couldn't be removed and loved the Lord more than anything else, I would bet on you Elder Davis." That was nice to hear.  
I loved General Conference. My favorite talk was Elder Ballard when he talked about his wife and the importance of life. Being worthy of those moments is something I strive to be all of the time. I can't wait to read the talks again.
We had volleyball night again this week, and the sisters brought some investigators. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait to hear where Elly gets called. I'm excited for her. 
Keep working hard to be worthy of the great moments in life
Elder Davis

One of my favorite quotes. Its not about how much you have or how good you look. It's about your heart. 

Halloween Decorations and Stupert :)

Wasps!! - September 30, 2019

Hey everyone!
It has been an eventful week in Youngstown. We actually live in Niles which is a small town outside of Youngstown. It is a nice place. Youngstown has some rough places, but we have met a lot of nice people there.
We are teaching some great people. We always have good discussions with them, and they are always good to us. 
This week we had wasps in our apartment, so we called a guy to come and take care of them. While we were gone the maintenance man came in and sprayed the nest, but did not get rid of them. So, when we arrived our front door was covered in live wasps. With no alternative, we put our coat jackets over our heads so we wouldn't get stung, wadded up some paper to be fly swatters, and charged. We killed them all. So, our front porch is covered in dead wasps, but we did not get stung. We have a video of this. I'll send it next week. 
We had zone conference this week also. Zone conference is a 6 hour training at the church. The president trains us in the chapel, and then we have missionaries training. Me and Elder Madsen did some training this week. We did learn that the white handbook is being updated and changed for missionaries. The new one comes out in October. Missionaries can have head phones now among other changes. I got to see Elder Lambert and Elder Stoddard at zone conference. It was good to see them. We did a training with playdoh. You were supposed to make a person you love and figure out how to incorporate them in your teaching to make it more personal to you.  
It's been a good week. Can't wait to see you all in 75 days, but whose counting. :)
Elder Davis

Oh, and I found a Thelma!! Hype