My Week, Destiny's Baptism, & Armed Security - July 29, 2019

Monday - We played ultimate Frisbee with the YSA ward for Family Home Evening. It was a lo to fun. We had a lot of people come out. We went to the church and printed out Destiny's baptism programs.

Tuesday - On Tuesday we had a lesson with a doctor who lives in this area. He was very against anti-vaccines. :)

Thursday - We went to Institute. Bro Aardema gave a powerful lesson on Luke 15. It was awesome. 

Friday - We helped Brother Gupta dig up some roots in his yard, but we didn't accomplish much those roots were everywhere. :) We had a lesson with Destiny and her grandma. She came in from out of town for Destiny's baptism. We also went to Euclid Beach to teach a lesson. Our appointment didn't show up, but I was called an Albino again. This has happened a lot of my mission. crazy!

Saturday -We had Destiny's baptism. It was a great day. I was able to baptize Destiny and sing at the baptism. I sang Abide With Me Tis Eventide. I think it went well. Elder Stoddard and I made funnel cakes for the dessert after the baptism. Everyone loved them. They are super easy to make. 

Sunday - We went to church and Destiny was confirmed. The Johnson's had us over for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We roasted marshmallows with the bug people. lol

Our church has a full timed armed security guard 24 hours a day which is crazy. So, we usually go there for pdays. It is a safe place to hang out. East Cleveland is like a mini Detroit. lol  We shop at ALDIs out here. They don't have them in Vegas. 

Tonight we are going for a hike in the cultural gardens for FHE. It has been a great week. Four months to go..

Elder Davis

"You can't hold her, but she can sit next to you"

Elder Neeser, Elder Lambert, Destiny, Me, Elder Stoddard

Destiny

Destiny and Members of the Branch

YSA Members

Do you believe in God?, Indian Food, & Elevators - July 24, 2019

It has been a fun week. I really like this area and the people that we get to work with. The Young Single Adult ward has awesome people. On Saturday, we "ran" a 5K through historic Kirtland around the temple. It was a good day. 
There is a young family who lives below us. Their son found fireflies the other day, and he was so excited. We caught fireflies with Lincoln for a while. It was a lot of fun. The kids were trying to ambush us the other day. They had buckets of water and hoses, but we came home 15 minutes late and they had given up before we got there. It is fun to have great neighbors. 
We have been visiting a lot of members this week. Member referrals are always the best way to find people. We have great members in this area.
We played ultimate Frisbee this week for Family Home Evening. We get to go to the institute class each week. It is good to learn with everybody. 
Last week we went to the branch president's house and had pizza and cookies. It was so fun. Having dinner with members is always good. 
We are both staying in this area for another transfer. I have 3 transfers left. We still have our car, but will be moving soon. The new apartment is in a high rise in Cleveland. There is an armed security guard and it has an old elevator. If you know me, you will understand why that is not going to be fun for me. 
We had awesome Indian food this morning with a member from the Shaker Heights Ward. He showed us how to meditate and we had the best vegetables I have ever had. It was great. 
This Saturday we have a baptism. I am going to sing and baptize Destiny. We are really excited for her and grateful that we can teach her. 
I have never been so tired in my live, but I am happy to be in Ohio working for our Heavenly Father. 
I used to worry about things a lot and a story about Elder Ballard. There was a family who had lost their grandma. They didn't know how to go on, so they were meeting with him. He just said something like "do you believe in the plan of salvation? Do you believe in God?" If you do, then stop worrying. He is in charge. I try to remember everyday that our Heavenly Father is in charge. It has helped me. We all need to have more faith. 
Miss you all
Elder Davis

Cleveland

Cleveland

Lake Eerie

Looks like a great place

Pizza and Cookies with the Branch President

Kirkland 5K & Working - July 13, 2019

It has been a fun week. We are tired though. We walked/ street contacted for 80 hours. This definitely kept us busy. We taught a lot of lessons this week and we have a baptism set for next week.
We planned a beach bbq for the single adult ward tonight. It should be a lot of fun.
We are running in a 5 K this Saturday the 20th in Kirkland, Ohio. It is nice to have fun things to look forward to.
I got my packages and the shoes fit great. Thanks!
Have a great week
Elder Davis

China, BBQ, Trash, & 4th of July - July 8, 2019

It has been a good, busy week. We have been working hard, riding the bus a lot, street contacting, serving, and teaching everyday. There isn't a lot of downtime. We walk around the area near a college campus and the museum of art. It is cool there. We have a baptism on July 27th. We are excited for that and really love teaching the people of Ohio. We met a two college students from China the other day. They had never heard of any kind of God, higher power, scriptures or any of that. It was an interesting conversation to have. We definitely take our beliefs for granted sometimes. We are lucky to live in a country where we can live any religion we want to.
We helped out downstairs family clean out their gross trash cans with diapers int hem. It was service, but it was gross. We walked through an art museum. It was pretty cool. I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Morse. It is always nice to see a new face. We played cards with the YSA ward on Sunday night and had a linger longer after church. We live in a great ward. They do a lot of good things.
I love to cook out here so we made some spicy Chinese noodles this week. It was pretty good.
Fourth of July was good we heard fireworks all night long outside. The YSA ward had a fourth of July bbq. It was good to go to that.
The work is going well. I'm happy. Can't believe I only have 5 months left. Time is going fast.
Love you all
Elder Davis

Wax Museum

Museum in Cleveland

Cleaning our Trash Cans

The Thinker, Ice Cream, & My Motto - July 1, 2019

It has been a good week. We went on two exchanges one with Elder Neiser. He's a good guy and the other with the traveling trainers. When I was with Elder Neiser, we heard gunshots. So, that was fun. We taught Destiny at Mitchell's Ice Cream. She is a great person and liking the missionary discussions. Mitchell's ice cream is a place in Ohio. It is great. 
We played card games and mafia with the YSA ward for family home evening. They are a great ward with a lot of amazing members. We also taught a lesson in one of the dorms at the college here. It was weird to be back on a college campus. There are a lot of people here who want to find answers and draw closer to their Heavenly Father. So, that has been a great experience. There are a lot of summer salesman here. They are from Utah and travel in the summer to sale stuff. They are all college aged. It gives us a lot of people to talk to. we have been teaching quite a few lessons a week and doing a lot of street contacting. We also met a CEO of a casting company who looked exactly like Zendaya.
We also had Zone Conference. The mission president and his wife gave a great lesson on keeping the sabbath day holy. It was a great lesson.  
We went to Cleveland and saw the "Thinker" statue. I had seen it before in my dads books and pictures. It was interesting. It was bombed about 40 years ago, so that the base is kind of blown up and the sculpture is not perfect. Kind of a powerful reminder. I'll attach a picture. 
The other day the people who live below us heard me singing Les Miserables "One Day More." Apparently, I sing loud. :) So, that was funny! 
Our area will be losing our car at the end of the month. They have to cut back. We have a good bus system, so we will be using that. Should be interesting. 
We have a BBQ with the YSA ward tonight. That should be a lot of fun. They are really good people. I am happy to be here in this area with these people. The weather is great as well. 
I can use some white short sleeved shirts, mom. :) The gospel is true. My new motto is "If it won't matter in 1000 years, than don't stress about it."
Love you guys
Elder Davis

the Thinker

Mitchell's Ice Cream (pralines and Cream is the best)

Caught in the Rain - We were soaked!

Zone Conference

Steak and Shake

Working Hard in Cleveland & Bus Crazy Man - June 25, 2019

Hey Everyone

I am having a great time in my new area. The ward is great. They do a lot of activities and are super supportive of the missionaries. We are teaching 5 new people. That has been exciting. There is a lot of work to be done here and that makes the days go faster. 

Cleveland is a nice city. We live near a lot of the art museums and there are two colleges here in town. We can't proselyte on the campuses, so that is a bummer. It has been nice being over a YSA ward. We have the largest area in the mission. So, we are glad that we have a car. 

We went to a big Asian market this week. It was cool. We bought some food there to make at home. I enjoy cooking and we cook a lot of good meals. 

Thanks for the package. I really appreciate the mail. 

I had a crazy experience on a bus that I forgot to write about a few transfers ago. We were riding a bus in Columbus. A guy came up to us adn started yelling at us that we believed in Joseph Smith and just yelled in our faces for about 10 stops. He just kept telling us how awful we were. Finally, we got to his stop. He got off still yelling. The bus driver turned around when he left and said... "that's John, he hates everyone." We both just laughed. People are definitely opinionated and don't mind being hateful. It is sad, but makes for a good story. 

Have a great week

Elder Davis

Shaker Shack & Lots of Pics - June 17, 2019

It has been a good week. When we got to Cleveland on Thursday the sister missionaries told us we were supposed to be volunteering in Kirtland. So, we headed up there and worked at the strawberry festival with the Kiwanis Club. Ohio loves festivals. They have a lot of them. They liked us so much that we went back the next day and helped also. I met a senior couple who is serving in Kirtland. They used to be in my dad's ward when he was growing up. So, they know my grandparents and family also. They are the Isaac's. They were super nice. We scooped a lot of ice cream together. 

Our apartment is called the Shaker Shack in the mission. It is one of the best apartments. It is so nice. We live above a member family. We love it and the elders before us left a lot of food so that was great. 

Our ysa branch has about 50 people who come on Sundays. They were super nice. It is going to be a great area. We have one sister on date for baptism and are teaching several others. 

We have all of the cool places in Cleveland in our area. We have two colleges. One is a music school. So, we talked to them about letting us proselyte on campus. They said that we definitely could. 

There are a bunch of art museums and cool places to see here. We can't go to the Indians stadium though, dad :). It is out of our area. 

Elder Stoddard and I get a long well. We are a lot alike. He is from St. George. 

We live near Lake Eerie so that is pretty cool. It is going to be a great area. I am excited to be here. 

Elder Davis

Sayre and Elder Stoddard

Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival

Scooping Ice Cream

Sayre and Brother and Sister Isaac