Good morning! December 19, 2009

thank you so much for helping me out mom! your the best!!! well its kinda
strange that they havent called yet. because the office elders always call
to let the parents know the flight times and all that, plus they sent a
letter to you and the stake president with my itineray in it. but i will
email you today from the mission email sending you the flights and all that,
you wont need to respond to that email i will just forward it to you so that
you have it. they sent it in the mail but the mail is slow and i am just
guessing becuase of everything goingon here they havent found time to call
you and tell you the flight times. but i will send them to you. anyway i am
really not sure what to say to you this week, seeing how i will be home on
friday. its crazy how fast time flies. i mean i am feeling exactly how i
felt before i left on the misison. i mean i am so used to brazil and
everything here that going to another country and speaking another language(
even though i know it) and just ahve to get used to new things again is
kinda scary. i mean i know what i will be doing but still i mean its just
all too weird.
this week has been interesting we have been working alot in the office
preparing for transfers, the new missionaries arriving and the others going
home, and then big christams party that we are going to have. the worst part
is that its all going to happen  on the same day! tues is D- DAY!! it will
be transfers and the newbeis, and the christmas party! all in the same day,
so its been crazy trying to plan everything to happen ontime and get
everything ready, but the best part is that me and my companino have found
time to work in the field this week, we have had to run home almost
everynight to make it home on time, but we ahve been able to work quite a
bit in the area. we found this man last week named Carleon. he went to
church with us last week, and through the week this week we have been
working with him. he is a great guy, he still lives with his parents, but
thats alot more normal here in brazil. ( he is like 32) anyway we invited
him to be baptised this sunday, and he said that he knew that it was
somthing he really needed to do and taht he understood the importance, but
didnt feel ready and wanted to wait, so last night we took him to the ward
christmas party where he got to know all the members, and there we even set
up his batismal interview, so by the end of the interview he was way excited
to get baptised, and then we went and told all the members, and they got all
excited, so end of the story is that he has decided to get baptised this
sunday! we are going to go to a family night with him tonight and then
tomorrow morning we have marked a breakfast at a members house and me and my
companion are going to make breakfast( pancakes and syrup and eggs and what
not) breakfast american style!!!! its going to be so cool!!! then his
baptism will be at 6:30 PM after church and all that. we are way excited,
this will be my last sunday in brazil and my compnaions last transfer in the
area, he will be leaving he office this next transfer. so we are both pretty
stoked!

but that has been my week this week, so how are things up there, i told you
mom that you dont need to anything big, just you guys there is enough, you
dont need to clean the house or any thing like that!!! just be at the
airport, so really dont exhuast yourself getting ready for me to come home.
save your strenghth for when i get home! :)

but i hope all is well mom. i love you so much, and i am definitly excited
to give you a BIG hug!!!
oh and yes you can tell michelle or yvette...not sure which one wanted the
biz cookie, but i will bring some home for her.

TE AMO MAE!!!

ps thats so great about the other plan ticket, now we can come back, i will
just start looking for a visa when i get home then!

Elder Davis



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Update

well first off i want to say sorry for not taking the time to write you all.
just remember that i love you all and i am very gratefull to have a family
like you guys!

elder buck got very sick, some type of virus in the brain, he is in acoma
and is not doing very well....that has been the story this week, well today
however some of the results from some tests came back and he is doing
better.
today however i spent the day with the medical adviser for brazil, and elder
bucks mom and stepmom. we went to lunch and talked about elder buck. then we
went to the hospital and got to see elder buck. today was  a great day cuz
he opened his eyes!!!! he didnt talk or keep his eyes open very long, but he
showed improvement from not doing anything. so the odds are getting better.
from the start they didnt give him good odds at all but there have been just
way to many prayers and fasting giong on and he is starting to show alittle
improvement. i could explain alot more but i dont have any time seeing how i
was out all day. and i have to leave one more time on busness to get back by
6 to go teach! so i am sorry for the short letter.

oh and michelle did wish me happy birthday! haha i guess you said something
to her, she is way nice. she does look very young though...hahha well love
you all and i will update you later!!!

Te amo,
elder davis
Alma 48:17

forward it like its hot....

Well well family, we meet again....
i am pretty sure in the hustle and bustle i forgot to write to you all last
week, maybe mom shared something with you from what i wrote her, maybe she
just forwarded it like its hot...no sure....but whatever the case just
thought i would all let you know that i am alive!

but really i will fill you in on whats going on. so this last week as been
extra busy in the field and the office. I have had a lot to do that the
president wants done beofre Elder Scott gets here and we have also been
trying to get as many hours in the field as we can. and i have noticed that
the lord has really been blessing us. a few weeks ago we found a family of 6
and started to teach them everyonce in awhile, well the dad works and
studies and the mom works late every night, so its been hard to find them
home alot. but when we do find them home it alwys pays off. the dads name is
fransico and the moms name is rita, they have 4 daughters  that...i am
afraid if i tell you there names it will just confuse you, i mean i am still
confused. the all start with an R and all sound almost the same thing. the
oldest daughter is 14 and then 12 and then 2 twins both 10 ( of course) :).
Well last week we taught them about the book of mormon and since that night
the father hasn not been able to stop reading, he has been reading in it
everynight...and if any of you know missionaries...we started to get all
excited like we were opening christmas presents! so the other night we got
the bishop of our ward to go with us to teach the second lesson!! man was
that the best lesson ever!! i mean man was the spirit strong...our bishop
brought the house down, man do i love that man. the best part about the
second lesson is that you teach about the atonement of christ. you explain
to people why they are really here and where we are all going..... when you
hear this lesson there is jsut no way to not believe..ya know..i mean no one
else explains it like that, well this family was really interested and are
giong to go to church with us tomorrow!!! so i will definitly let you guys
know how it all goes.

well with Elder Scott coming, there have been a few things( sarcasticly)
that have had to be done. but all in all i am very excited about it, its not
always that you get to have meeting with an apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ! our meeting will probably go from 9 in the morning to about 2 in the
afternoon. ITS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME!!

well i hope everyone is doing well! hope no one has the swine flu...the
church keeps sending us stuff here in the missin office...stuff that we ave
to do to protect the missionaries....its a little ridiculous, but its form
the lord so we are 100% here!  :)

Love ya all!!!!

Um Forte Abraço,
Elder Davis
Alma 48:17

E aí Davis Family

Bom dia para todos! well its great to hear that everyone is doing well, and
that a few of you have even got jobs now... good for you guys!
well where to start off...this last weekend was aweseom! it was conference
if some of you already forgot, but i am sure you didnt. i hope all of you
had a chance to watch conference because it was so good! as i was sitting
watching conference one thing came to mind and that is that even though
everyone had a different talk that they all found a way to mention something
about love. at least for me, this conference it seemed like they had said
alot abuot love. love your family, show your love for your family, love your
neighbor, but always show christ like love. i mean there were alot of
different topics but as i listened to them all i kept coming back to the
same topic...LOVE!
i really liked the talk from Elder Oaks as he talked about the Law of God
and the Love of God....that the law of God cannot override his love that he
has for us.  I really liked the talked that Elder Bednar gave about showing
love in our families. HOw its not enough to just say you love someone but to
show forth your love. one thing that i have really loved about my mission is
Confernce! i mean here on the mission it just feels like something else. I
mean i get excited for general conference the same way i got excited for
christmas when i was a kid... haha  One of the talks that i really really
liked was the talk from Elder Holland....all i can say is wow! Everytime he
gives a talk he gives it with such emtion you can be half way around the
world and still feel what he was trying to tell you. His tesitmony about the
book of mormon was so strong, after the talk i felt like saying " how can
you not believe he was called by God" i mean thats the biggest thing for me,
after conference how do the people continue to dwindle in unbelief! you
listen to a Prophet of God speaking! i mean we just heard what God wants us
to know for the next 6 months. I hope you guys already made goals on how you
can improve?  i mean whats conference worth if we dont listen and then look
to improve on what we need, on what God just got done telling us. Man i love
confernce!

well as for things here, this week was horribly busy, we had an area 70 come
and visit the mission so we were preparing for that and the zone confernces
that will be taking place. My zone conference was yesterday and man was it
amazing! Elder Itinosi, the area 70 came to the zone confernce and talked
with us. he gave a training and talked to us for about 4 hours...what a
training that was....man he is good. It was one of those meetings that you
leave to pumped up that you are ready to go out and baptise the world! He
talked about things we can do to be better teachers, and stuff we can do to
become better missionaries. it was fantastic. if i had all day i could try
and tell you more about what he said but the more detialed report might have
to be al ittle later.

well this next week will be a little slower, nothing to big planned yet..
but at the end of OCT. we will have Elder Scott visting us here in the
mission....what a privlege... an apostle of God is going to come talk to us!
thats one of the coolest things, is getting to shake the hand of an Apostle,
you just feel the light iluminating from them. You cant help but feel good.
its awesome!
so thats going to be a really neat experience, i am way excited for that!
oh just to let you guys know i am getting the letters, i have sent a few
replies, i really do try to write to everyone and i always can, sometimes it
just takes a little longer, so if i havent responded yet, dont think that i
didnt get your letter, i did, i have jsut trying to find some time to write
back.
at least for me one thing is that the last 6 months start to go by way to
fast...but also you start to get really busy...and i mean realy busy!
can you believe though, someone asked me the other day at the conference how
much timei had left, when i did the count..i have like 4 months...what is
going on!? time is going by way to fast, as you are trying to make th best
of the time you have, it seems to just fly away!

well we do have a little of work to do today, so i have to get giong, but i
thought i would send a pic to ya guys, this was a few weeks ago when we took
some MORTOS to the airport. it was kinda weird, cuz i got here first in the
mission and then i ended up taking sister kevern to the airport. anyway dont
forget EU AMO VOCÊS!!!

com grande amor,
Elder Davis

Alma 48:17

E AÍ...CONFERENCIA CHEGOU!!!

Sup family! so first off....conference is here! are you guys excited!! i
sure am, its like one of the best times of the year....its not like
everyweek you get to hear the prophet of God speak to you and tell you what
you need to be doing!its like the best cousel you get every 6 months. we
will acutally be leaving here pretty soon to go watch it. we have to go to
the chapel in Asa Norte to watch it. but its going to be awesome, man do i
love conference...you all are going to be watching it right....? that have
better been a big YES! well other then confernce today, i hope that everyone
had a great week.
this last week for me was great i mean we started the week off with a
baptism on sunday! there just isnt any better way to start the week then
with a baptism. The baptismal meeting was great, alot of members stayed to
support the lady that was getting baptised, her name is Anna carolina, it
was great the ward was really supportive( which helps alot).
then on into monday....which started the craziness.... monday was transfers
so all the missionaris met at the chapel in Asa Norte where we always have a
ilttle meeting, kinda like a family night. the presidente gives a little
message, then there is always a little snack and then the missionaries leave
to there new areas. so with that happening on monday, it always gets really
busy getting all that ready and all that. then tues was the day that the old
missionaries go home, and the new ones arrive. so that day always gets
really busy, taking people to the airport, then picking up the others later
that day, then taking others to the airport at night, then having all the
meetings with the new guys, and ya filled and filled with stuff all day, we
normally dont get home till about 11 or 11:30 at night.
wednesday we had the medical advisor for all the mission in brasil here in
our mission so we had a short meeting with him in the morning and then lunch
at the mission home, and then sister pizzirani had a meeting with all the
sister missionaries and what not, i think we got home that night at about 10
oclock, somethig like that. by thrusday i was pretty tired already but spent
most of the day at the desk, trying to catch up on all the stuff that i
hadnt done since monday and all the stuff that had piled up. so thrus and
fri i spent a lot of time in the office, but the good news is we got time to
leave to go do the good stuff...TEACH! the few days that we were able to
teach this week we kept trying to get everyone to go to confernce. we have a
familly that will go today, for the second session and one more family that
will go tomorrow for the second session as well. so thats going to be great.
i think the best meetings are conference....not saying that church meetings
arent good, but come on, confernce is jsut one of the best meetings there
is, i mean we get to hear from the prophet and the 12 apostles!!! doesnt get
better then that. so we are actually going to leave here in a bit to go to
the first session of conference in the chapel.
oh and just to let you guys know mom asked if i was getting your letters
from mission ties....yes i am...i have been a little bit of a slacker at
writing back but yes i am getting them, i just need to be better at writing
back, i do always get to them, just not right off the bat sometimes. well
like i said, things have been pretty busy around here these past few days,
and things are gong to get a little busier becuase we are preparing to have
a visiter here in our mission....this next week we will have a member of the
70 come to our mission and then at the end of october Elder Richard G. Scott
will be coming to talk to us!!!! how cool is that!!!! i am so excited!! he
will come talk to our mission! it is the coolest thing to be next to an
apostle of the lord. sometimes its just hard to explain, but its such a
different feeling around them....i love it! so we are preparing to recieve
those 2 people here in the next weeks.
i cant believe that i am on my last 4 months, i got a letter from chase
bradshaw the other day and he had mentioned that the next letter that he
will be writing will be from home....man time passes no eh?
he will be coming home on oct 6th!! i cant believe that 2 years have already
gone by, i mean derek is coming home in the next weeks also!

well i would love and chat a little more but i got to go catch a bus for
confernce...and i CANT BE LATE! so love ya all tons, thanks so much for all
the prayers!!! you guys are the best. EU AMO VOCÊS!!!

Com Amor,
Elder Davis
Alma 48:17

outubro já?

BOA TARDE DAVIS FAMILY!!! hows the gang? hanging in there, the day to day
busle(spell check)...anywho from the little that i have heard everyone is
doing great....so funny story( yes random sorry) so these last few days have
been super busy for us here in the office, and the post office has been on
strike aswell so we havent been receiving anything for the past few weeks,
we today i was running in and out of the office and when i got back to write
some emails i sat down and starting writing, as i was writing i was feeling
like some american candy...yes i know pathetic....fazer o que....well i left
my computer in search of something to eat..seeing how i havent eatin
yet...and i walked over to the place where we keep some food, and i found 2
packages on the floor, well thats not where they should be so i picked them
up to put them where they should go and come to find out one of them was for
me! that defintily made my day!!! so once again thanks kari and mom! you
guys are the best....i am so making pancakes next pday....its the pancake
breakfast we do it every month.....

well as i just got done telling you this last week has been really busy, i
havent spent much time in the office, i have always had to leave to go do
someting somewhere or go buy something for someone....its been fun. i have
spent alot of time out of the office this week, however not where i want to
be..:(  friday morning i had to go to a city in Goias, another state to a
city called Lago Azul. We have a house there for the missionaries and we
deciced to take them out of the house for reasons that i wont tell mom..haha
any way to end the contract we had to reform the house, and i am usually the
one that goes and looks at the house and decieds what needs to be fixed or
painted and then i go buy all the mateiral to do the job and then call
someone to do it for us( its alot cheaper this way in Brazil) so ya i have
gotten good at that here in the office..haha anyway that took up a good part
of my day on fri, by the time i got back there were alot of stuff that had
piled up on my desk having been gone all day and i had to finish up a few of
those exciting things. by the time i got done with all that, me and my
companion hit the road running to get to our appointment that night, with a
family that we had been teaching just these past few days. thats proabably
the best part of the day, when you get to leave the office to go do real
work. we were able to teach a few families that night, each about the book
of mormon, man i love teaching about that. the spirit is always so strong
when you teach someone aboutthe book of mormon, you get to show them how
they can know that this is the true church of christ, its amazing the power
that the book of mormon has to convert the hearts of its readers.
our area is a pretty poor area so not very many people are married, some of
the families that we are teaching are not married, so we have been helping
them to prepare to get married so they can get baptised. the other night we
went to one of the  families and the mom and the dad werent very thrilled to
get married so the night before we had taught about eternal families, when
we got there the next day they keep referring to each other has their future
wife, or future husband....i thought it was pretty sweet!  oh random
thought, so we started to tell them about conference that was coming up and
that the prophet of God was going to speak to us, they started to ask when
they could go and what time it started and all that, man i love Conference,
its like that best thing ever, during my mission everytime that we have
taken people to conference they always walk out wanting more....that or they
walk out with a testimony. its like the best thing that ever happened! i
mean you get to listen to God speaking through his prophet, telling us what
we can do to be more happy, to have more peace, to be safe for the world, to
hold fast to the rod. there isnt any better advice on this earth then from
the Prophet.
so this leads me to a question....are you guys excited for confernece? i
hope so cuz its like the best thing ever!
well has for next week man transfer week is like the craziest week of the
transfer. monday is when all the trades happen, when all the missionaries
trade companions, and ya its crazy, we have to organize it all and get it
all ready at the chapel for that to happen. then tuesday is the day that all
the people leaving go home and all the new missionaries arrive. so we have
to get all the missionarios home to the airport, pick up the new ones later
that day, have all the trainings with the new guys, take them to meet their
trainers and abunch of other stuff, then wednesday we have Elder Brinton
coming to the mission, he is the guy that is incharge of the health of all
the missionaries in Brazil. he is going to come talkto everyone on
wednesday, so there will be a big meeting with him.....and then the rest of
the week we will have to try and catch up on what we normally do mon. tues.
and wed. so its going to be busy!
well i hope that everyone is doing well, thanks again for the package it
really did make my day! :) LOVE YA ALL TONS!

Amo vocês,
Elder Davis

ANIMADÃO!

Well how is everyone!!! hope you are all doing well, as for me, things here
are great! a few weeks ago we had found a less acitve family in the street
and went to teach them later that week, well when we got there the dad of
the family has his brother living with them, the kid has got 18 years, and
is really an awesome kid. His name is Juliano, and he will be interviewed
tonight for bapstism tomorrow!!!! so me and my companion are way stoked, my
companion is way new on the mission, so this will be his first baptism and i
am definitly goig to make sure that he gets to baptise Juliano! ITs going to
be so awesome, the other couple in my district is going to have a baptism
too, its a single mom of about 35 years. i interviewed her last night and
man has she gone through some problems, but she is so firm and is way
excited to be baptised! its the best when you have people like that! So ya
our district is way excited for tomorrow, plus we go to the same ward, so
the baptisms are going to be together! it doesnt get better then this, when
you can help someone else on the path to eternal life.

well has for things here in the office, we finally finished the audit
reports, so i wont have to leave to do those anymore, which i am very glad!
haha they werent that fun! haha but this next week is the last week of the
transfer so we have a bunch of stuff to get ready for the people leaving and
the people coming! so this next week is going to be a busy week here in the
office. but busy is good right? ya thats what i keep telling myself..haha
well thats whats going on with me!
has everyone been sending letters to jake, it might need it for a few
months, i know thats kinda a long time, but it will really help him. he will
start to get better, especially when he gets out into the field. anyway hope
everyone is doing great! thanks again for everything you guys....EU AMO
VOCÊS!!!!


Elder Davis

September 12, 2009

Helllo!!! well goodafternoon! so we found a little bit of time in between meetings to run to the lan house. but how are you doing! from the sounds of it, not to bad. i did get the chance to talk to jake....man was he a wreck....when he was talking to me he told me that he was going home for sure.that all he wanted was to cuddle up with you on your bed, and that the only thing in the world that would make him feel better was seeing you. we talked for almost 2 hours and we talked and talked, i shared scriptures and experiences but he just didnt want anything to do with it, all he wanted was to go home. by the end we were both balling our eyes out. he had told me that he had prayed, fasted and studied everything to feel the spirit but it just wasnt coming. and i am sure thats all becuase he was very very surprised and all that to be in a new place, where he didnt know the food the people, the language, and pretty much everything else. i am sure he is having a harder time then me...i had a great companion...i am sure his companion is great as well, but if you dont get along with your companion the mission becomes very very hard...i have had that happen a few times in the field. but thats the best part you learn to love your companion, but in the ctm your still new at everything, so loving your companion is like the last thing on your list...haha but he will learn. the only thing that i would suggest is contine to write him....the one thing that will help him continue to feel your love and suppport is all the letters and packages. he will need as much as possible. so if anyone sits down to write either of us always write jake first. that way if you dont have time for 2 then at least you will have written jake. he needs it alot more then me......so tell everyone that they need to write at least once a week if not more, he will really really really need your support. he is freakin out cuz he is so far from home, and doest know what to do. so continue to write him, and packages help alot too. i really dont need anymore, i am almost home, so you guys just hang on to that money and take me out to eat, but jake will really really need your help. from everyone!!!! so letters packages even if its just a little package, it doesnt have to be a big one every few months, it can be  a small one more frequently, but just send something, he really needs to feel the love that everyone has for him.
its true the ctm feels like a prison after awhile, cuz you are stuck inside for 2 months, and only leave once a week. but its all good, the only thing that you guys can really do is send a lot of letters, thats whats really going to help him.
 
anyway on my end of the world....man have things been busy. i have been able to leave the office and teach but not as much as i would like to, we have been really ridiculously busy this week espeically becuase of the zone conferences.so this entire week was running around running around and more running around. but this next week will be a lot better. last week however we found a less active member family in the road and went to visit them last week. well they are a great family, that moved into our area in the last weeks, and really wanted help to come back to church. well the dad of the family, his brother is living with them and he went to church with them last sunday, so we have been working alot with him. he is a great guy, any time we had this past week, we went and visited him. we have marked his baptism date for the 20th of sept. which is next week.
my time is the office however, i am not sure what is going to happen., i know that i will at lest be here till november because i am not training anyone, so if i start training next transfer, then i will leave in the second week of nov, if i dont start next transfer then its a big probabiliy that i will leave at the end of dec. thats what i think, but we will see what the lord wants. this however is my last audit that we will be doing this year. we did one of them this morning and man......they were alot of stuff wrong, so we havent even finished, we left for lunch and  a little break and then we have to go back to figure things out...(everyones head was going to explode so we stopped for a little bit) hahaha anyway like i said yesterday it is really hot here, i thought braslilia was hot, but man i would take brasilia over this heat anyday! its so much nicer in brasilia right now then here in tocantins! its like that walk out in to the sun thing and start melting!!! haha but ya gotta love it baby!
 
oh and this thing about you coming down, that would be a great idea, like 2 days in brasilia and then 3 or 4 days in são paulo. and yes the temples are close enough to go to both of them, they are like 2 hours away form each other. so its not like really close, but if you go by car its like 2 hours. as for são paulo i dont know if renting a car would be a good idea cuz no one will know the city, so i think it would be better to not get a car in são paulo, but here in brasilia, i think it would definitly be better to rent a car for a few days then taking the bus. i have driven around the city so much running errands and such that we could get a rental car and have no problems getting around. if you need help getting a good hotel or a rental car, i can help you from here, if you need. but ya those are my thoughts on everything.
 
plus there is a family here that both me and elder buck know because we both worked here in the office, and i told them that you were going to come down, and i think they are going to have us all over for lunch one day, so you can pretty much plan on that.
 
hey one other thing, you should really work it out that jake can see me here, if its possible it would be a lot of help to him i think, i will definitly be in the office at that time, and it would be really easy for me to be at the airport, so we just ahve to work it out that he will have a layover with enough time to talk to me. if its possible. anyway one thing that will really help him is lots and lots of prayer, and fasting for him. and LETTERS AND PACKAGES!!!!!! seriously they help alot. well i tink i better get going to not be late to the next meeting. tell everyone hi for me, let them know that i love them and that i am sorry for not writing to everyone. but just remember that i love you so much!!!! thanks so much for all the support you ahve given me throughout my mission and the support you continue to give me. hope everything continues to work out inthe garden....i am alittle jealous! hahah
 
TE AMO!
 
Have a Great Day!
 
Bonnie Davis
Ph: 801-262-4285
FX: 801-262-3188
bonniedavis1@gmail.com
 

SUP ya´ll

well well well, i cant really get on you guys for not writing me, cuz i
kinda of been slacking these past few weeks, but it was for a good cause.
the first 2 weeks we had those audits that i am sure that i told you all
about. however this weekend is a bye weekend for the audits, so we get to
have a normal weekend this weekend, but then next weekend we are going back
out to do some more audits! we still have 2 left, both are really far away,
so we are going to leave friday and will be back on monday. so i am not sure
how things will work with the email and all that but we will find a way, if
not, then its going to be a few weeks but fazer o que.... well jake big
fellow!!! hittin it up in ctm dog! dude its the best place ever man, to bad
that none of you guys will know what its like, jsut me and jake.....jk
think bout it, when jake and me are both home, we are only going to speak in
portugues all day and none of you will understand...its going to rock! thats
right we missionaries rock! :) well there is not much to say, i would like a
report a big old list of stuff but that stuff that has been happening this
week was really mostly office stuff. its been way busy, the presidente has
been chagning alot of stuff up.

this month i will have to go to the airport 3 times! man i really dont like
the airport, you see people leaving and you see people arriving with the
families and all that stuff....man...airports are no fun...i went there
yesterday, then i have to go back on the 15th and again on the 29th! when i
was there the other day, i bought something to drink, and the only thing
that the airport has in common is that everything is ridiculously
expensive...pois eh! well hope everyone is haeving a fabulous
weekend....HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!! ( its the independence of
brasil...from who i am not sure, i think it was portugal...something like
that)  anyway love ya´all...oh and erin...now that you are starting this 3
year jornada ( journey) we are going to make some sweet guidelines------
1st-no dating untill i get home   2nd- you can only date the guys that i
talk too, if i dont meet them, no dating them and 3rd- you cant date anyone
3 times in a row....you got to change it up and date different guys....

ok.... these guidelines( rules) regras---- are offically in action, and will
continue untill your graduation.

signed by
Benjamin Byron Davis
Erin Davis





ok well love you guys! hope you all ahve a great week!

jake take advantage of the ctm man, its one of the best places ever!


Elder Davis

the new staff August 22, 2009

Well we had transfers this week and a few members of the staff got switched
out, one being my companion. so i am not with elder ribeiro! like most of my
companions he is from sao paulo. i am sure you all had the same
question....is my companion really 19 years old? and the answer is an
affirmative. its funny cuz everybody we talk to thinks he is like 15 years
old. he only weighs like 115 pounds!! some times i feel like i have this
little brother next to me all the time....haha he is a great kid just looks
really really young! but ya so we got a new staff this week. there is a new
excutive secterary and a new secterary of supplies. so with the switch of
missionaries this week, the office got kinda crazy, trying to deal with all
the normal stuff but also trying to train the new guys on what they got to
do. but we all made it through the first week.
So these last few weeks we have been teaching a family that is only living
here in brasilia for like another month or so, then they will be moving back
to their home in Bahia. so anyway they were progressing really fast, they
had been to church a few times and to some activities. anyway we were
preparing them for baptism this sunday and the interview was marked last
night. well during the interview, our zone leader found out that the guy was
not married to his wife! he had told us that he was married legally and all
that but forgot to mention it was to another women, so the baptism got
postponed untill he can get married to the woman he is living with...ya it
sucked, but he is goingto get married as soon as possible and wants to get
baptised before he goes back to Bahia. other then that surprise me and my
companion are going to TRAVEL! ya thats right we are going to a city about 3
hours away by car, to do the audit for the branch there. we are leaving
today and giong to be returning tomorrow night. so i am trying to get
everything down right now before Pres. sergio gets here ( the 2nd counsler
to the mission president) cuz when he gets here we are leaving right from
the office to Unaí.  

These next few weekends we will be traveling to the branchs of the mission
to do the audits for them. so thats going to be EXCITING!

well now i want to know whos idea it was to put my face on a cardboard cut
out....i wont lie it was pretty funny, but i just hope you guys took me to
the beach! things are giong to be was differnt now, i am already gone, jake
is on his way out! there arent going to be any guys at home, just when nick
goes over to visit! watch out nick! its only going to be the girls territory
for a few months...you gotta hold out till feb. reinforcements are going to
be arriving then.

well hope everyone has a great week! Jake dont get nervous man, its the best
thing ever! your going to love every minute of it, and erin good luck with
school....and take it slow with the dating thing...there is no reason to
rush into it, you got few years of that infront of you. love you all, thanks
again for the pictures!


Eu amo vocês,
Elder Davis

Minha Nossa!

Bom Dia everyone! well i would like to thank those of you who sent me
letters....and i will try to get a response in the mail today! But from what
i hear everything seems to be going pretty well for all. Jill is making her
way back home ( cheesy phrase) Erin is about to start highschool and
driving!!! Kari is choosing ugly names for her new kid...haha jake is almost
out the door and going to be in Brasil with me! and well anne is still is
washington....( love ya sis)
well like i said you all seem to be doing very well, me on the other
hand....i am doing great! it seems weird to think about it but i have
already been in the office for 4 months now....!!! man time passes here. I
am not sure how much more time i will spend here but probably a few more
months. I think i will be here till like november, could even possible be
december, but we shall see. I know that you are all dying that i explain
more of what i do here in the office, i tend to put that i was just busy
during the week. I tend to put that becuase the stuff that i normally do is
just like normal office stuff..... i worry about the payments in the
mission, all the missionary houses, and whatever else may come up, which
almost everyday something tends to come up. so sometimes it is a little hard
to explain everything i do during the week. But once again plenty to keep me
busy. :) Things are starting to get al ittle bit busier becuase transfers
are coming up, next week is the last week of the transfer, so we are
finishing up some things for the elders arriving and leaving. these past few
days i have had to do alot of translating, i am the only american in the
office, and the president has this book that he gives to all the new elders
when they arrive, well it was always just in portuguese, and now he wants
the americans that arrive to have portuguese and english, so i am been
taking alot oftime to sit down and translate the `starter book`you could
call it. ya that has been very exhuasting, i dont think i want to be a
translator when i get home. haha
Anway as for the field work, it has been a really good week, that family
that we were teaching are progressing, although the dad cant get baptised
now, they are continuing to read and to learn more about the church. this
last week we have found a few families that have really showed some
interest. One of the families that we are teaching now are really
interested. They have like 10 people leaving in a little one room apartment,
but they are all very great people. It has been fun to visit and teach them,
they remind me of you guys, they are about the same ages, and like to joke
around. They have recently moved to brasilia from another state close by,
but they are really open people, willing to share whatever they can. They
are way cool! we have been able to teach a few other families that have been
progressing also, just alittle slower, but its been really cool to see the
progress of each of these families.
Jake i hope  you are getting excited for this man, there really isnt anythig
better to bring a new light into the lives of others, espeically when they
have never really had any light in there lives. you really get to see people
change!
Well once again i will try to get some letters out todao for you guys, but i
just want you all to know how much i love each and every one of you. i am so
grateful for my family, EU AMO VOCÊS!!!!

Elder Davis

só corrida! August 1, 2009

Sup fam!
well first off, thanks for all the letters, i did recieve a few letters from
ya´ll this last week. Life seems to be very exciting at home. Everyone seems
to be busy with life and all the things that tend to come with it.
well let me tell you all about my week, this week like always was busy here
in the office with plenty of stuff to work on, and plenty of work to be done
before transfers. We just finished the 4th week of the transfer so these
last 2 weeks of the transfer will start to get even busier like always.
Monday was the last set of zone conferences, monday i spent running around
buying this and that, whatever was needed in the zone conferences. Tues and
wed i spent most of the day out of the office, resolving the problems that
kept coming up, and thrusday we had to take a missionary to the airport. he
was leaving a few weeks early from the mission so we woke up early to take
him to the airport. Thats always fun, going to the airport on the
mission...( NOT) haha
well as for our area, we were able to leave everynight and work a few hours
in our area. A few weeks ago we took a family to church that really enjoy
it, they didnt stop talking about it, they were able to go again this last
sunday and this last week was there baptismal interveiw, but after the
interview we had to mark the baptismal date for dec.
we were all a little sad becuase of that, but they really are a great family
and they are going to continue to go to church and continue to prepare for
their baptism in dec. We have been teaching some other great families but
last sunday some things came up and they were not able to go to church with
us. but we marked with them again for this sunday and everything looks good
to go.  

well something came up,i have been away from the computer for like an hour,
i had to take care of somethings here in the office, so i kinda lost my
train of thought...sorry.

Well sorry its short this week, thanks again for everything, i love you guys
a ton!

Elder davis

HAPPY 24 DE JULHO!

Hello to all!
well how is everyone doing? From the bits and pieces that i have been
hearing, most of you sound to be doing pretty well. wich is good to hear.
things here have been wonderful! last week i told you guys about a family
that we were teaching that we had marked to go to church with us, well they
went! and man did they love it. The dads name is Amarildo, and his wife name
is Elane, and there only daughter, monica. they all went to church last week
and they cant stop telling us how much they loved it! It was so cool, when
we went back the next day to see how they were doing and to share a message
with them, they just couldnt stop telling us how much they loved church on
sunday! its been the coolest experience teaching this family, they always
have great questions and are really eager to learn. we have been preparing
them to be baptised which will probably happen next sunday! ENTIRE FAMILY!
so we are getting pretty stoked around here. yesterday on the other hand,
was zone conference. it was great! you can tell that Presidente Pizzirani
was called of God to be the presidente here in Brasilia. the conference went
from 9 in the morning to 6 at night, it was pretty long, but very inspiring
and very uplifting. really what everyone needed to get that excitment and go
back out to work! the message that the presiddente shared with us at the end
of the confernce was about the holy ghost, and how he contines to purify us
through our lifes. he talked about how baptism cleans us from all of our
past sins, but as we have the holy ghost with us he helps us to clean from
our present sins. it was a really good message. anway as you can all see
things have been great here! Me and my companion have been working really
hard, the office has been keeping us really busy but we have been able to
focus alot on our investigators, which has been really nice.
anyway hope everyone is having a great week. One thing that was thinking
alot about this week was the temple. Its been awhile since i have gone, and
really when you are away from it for so long you really start to appreiate
it and what it really means to have one close by. thats probably one of the
biggest things that i have missed, so i want to challenge all you to go to
the temple in these next few weeks. Thats talking to all of you Jake and
Erin. I hope you all do everything you can to at least go once. i want you
all to know how much i love each and everyone of you, and how greatful i am
to have such a loving family! i love you guys alot!!

BEIJOS!   :)

ELDER DAVIS

HAPPY 24TH OF JULY!

HELLO Davis family!!!

Well i thought i would wish you all a happy 24th of july seeing how the
holiday will be passing by until  my next pday. well how is everyone doing?
As for me, well this week was an interesting week. Thursday we had to take a
missionary to the airport that was going home about a month early...it was a
sister missionary...cough cough... anyway so wednesday night we tried to
call her and tell her she needed to go to another city and stay the night
with some other sister missionaries so that we could pick her up in the
morning and take her to the airport, well when we called she wasnt with the
missionaries, she had left with a member doing who knows what.... well we
spent the night calling everyone we could to find her, we had the sisters of
that area looking for her and everything, the only cool part is that they
are in gama centro, my first area, and we had to call a ton of members in
that area to look for her, so i got to call alot of members from my first
area, that was really cool. to get to talk to them and everything, well when
we finally got ahold of her we had to find a ride for her to this other
city, all in all we finally got this sister to the right place at like 10:30
at night. the next day we took her to the airport..ya that was weird, cuz
there wasnt any other sisters going home, so she was going home by her self.
so it was just me and my companion, our driver, and her....even though thats
what the presidente told us to do, i felt like i was breaking rules...hahaha
it was weird, man getting home is going to be even worse!!! well that was
thursday, early in the week however was actually going really well. we have
been doing everything we can to get out of the ofice early each night to
teach in our areas. one of the things that i have been seeing is that the
lord really has been blessing us. this week we found a family that really
was wwaiting to hear the gospel. Senhor Amarildo and his family. it was
really cool, the first time we taught them they invited us in and all sat
done infront of us eager to hear what we had to say, they all had very good
questions and durig the whole lesson you could really feel the spirit
testifying to them that it was true. we gave them a book of mormon that they
promised to read and we marked to go to church with them this sunday. just
in this one week they have really progressed alot. I know that when we show
the Lord that we are willing to put forth the effort and work hard, he is
ready and willing to bless us. Teaching the gospel you can really see how
much light that it brings into the lives of others.
Well thats a good quick summary of my week, the office was just as busy as
ever, we have had a lot of stuff to do these  past few days. but were still
moving along. i just cant believe that we are already half way through july!
this year really is flying by!!
well hope everyone is having a great week! i will let you know the progress
of this family next week! me and my companion are going to teach the the 2nd
lesson tonight, which is the plan of salvation! we are really excited about
it!
thanks for all the help you guys give me!! i love you guys tons!

EU AMO VOCÊS!!!

ELDER DAVIS

PS  my subject kinda said it for me but HAPPY TWENTY FOURTH OF JULY!!!
somebody drink a DP for me! :)

JULHO!!!

HELLO FAMILY!

Can you guys believe that we are already in the month of July! This year is
flying by way to fast. Since i have been in the office time has been flying
by. I already have 3 months in the office and it definitly hasnt felt like
that. This last week we had the new missionaries arriving and the older ones
leaving, so once again we had to take them to the airport. but this time was
a little different, we took all the brazilians to the airport in the morning
at about 6 in the morning, and then had to be back at the ariport at 11 to
pick up all the newbies. we got them to the mission home and all that, and
then had to be back at the airport at 5 with the americans. Tuesday was wy
busy for us, we went to the airport like 3 or 4 times that day, going and
coming, giong and coming. but it was pretty cool, we had like 5 americans
arriving on the mission this time, and 16 total. there were also some
sisters that came in this group. i always like picking up the newbies,
freash out of the ctm. Its always very refreshing...hahaha.... but anyway
after tuesday, the week stayed pretty calm. we had plenty to do but i wasnt
running around like a chicken with its head cut off!! haha well mom said
that you guys got my letters, i just hope that each of you pick up a pencil
and send something my way...:)

So how is everyones summer? from what i have heard its like close to 95
degrees up in utah...that stinks for you guys, its winter here so i am
kickin it in the high 70´s to low 80´s, so ya the weather here is pretty
sweet. at night its like in the 60´s....and man am i loving it!!! but i wont
lie i could really go for some freezing tempeture, some snow on the
ground...man that sounds good.

well its pday( obvisously), me and the other elders here in the office are
going to ask for a pizza, so we are pretty stoked about that, they got some
pretty good pizza down here.

anyway well me and my new companion have started to work in a part of our
area that no one has been working in for awhile so its all kinda new to us,
but its been cool.its a diferent experience to go into an area where you
dont have a area book, or a teaching group and you jsut got to start looking
and talking to everyone to start. the other day we met this family that has
this little boy of like 3 years, man when we were teaching this kid just
would not stop running around. i mean if you want a defintion of A.D.D. i
found it! this kid was so hyper! its definitly different here in brazil,
speaking of the way that people raise there kids. they kept telling him to
be quite but he would just keep going, and when they want to punish him( you
could say) they just take off their flip flops to spank>.... could be a good
idea mom...JK ahaha but seriosly though, its so werid, everyone wears flip
flops( cuz they are alot cheaper then shoes) and they spank there kids,
dogs, whatever with them. its brazil! haha
when we were out teaching the other night in this little city, we came
across this party that the people were setting up in the road......man do
brazilians like sound or what...they turn on the music and they literly
blast it! you could here that music for miles, and i am not liying, and the
best part is that is agaisnt the law but no one does anything, they just go
with it. i was like a good 200 feet from the speakers passing by to the
other side and i felt like i would go deaf, and there were people with in a
few feet of the speakers....ya i am pretty sure they are deaf now!

well things with the office have been moving along. the weeks here fly by,
you always have so much stuff planned in one transfer that when you get half
way done with them,thats its already the 4th or 5th week in the transfer! so
we are always running to finish something here in the office. this last week
however was a little differnt, there were 2 days were i had to stay in the
office all day long cuz we had the people from são paulo come and do the
audit for the mission. so i stayed with them doing the audit, man that was
fun, i definitly dont want to do that when i get home.

so i dont know why i am telling you guys but i just thought that you guys
might get a kick out of it. so the other day i was in my office on the phone
and our driver was headed home, well some missionaries called me and i had
to leave to resolve their problem, so i jumped up and went to the window to
call our driver, so he would leave jsut yet...well we are about 4 stories up
and i opened the window to stop him from leaving and as i opened the widow
(with the hand that had the phone) i dropped my phone from the 4th story
window! sweet uh.....its these blond moments that makes me wonder about
myself.... but the best part about it, is that when i went to pick up my
phone...it still worked!!!! 4 stories and the thing still works!!!! thats
some good brazilian quality!!  

well hope everyone is having a good week, thanks agian for all you guys do
for me!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Eu amo vocês!!

Elder Davis

ps i put some sweet pics in this email, cuz the fly shutter wasnt working
today. I sent a couple pics of the missionaries that i sent home this week,
the brazilians and americans! ´LOVE YA GUYS TONS!!!

importante!!!

ok so its not as important has the title would have you think, but its from
me!! so it gotta be of some importance right!? well i hope everyone is doing
well! things here have been very busy with transfers next week but we have
been able to get most things done. this next week however i will be in the
office for like 2 days straight with a guy from são paulo that has come to
do the audit for the mission! thats going to be exciting...doing
auditing!!!! hahaha gotta love it! well the only down side to this last week
is that because of all the stuff that the president had us doing we didnt
have hardly anytime to work in our areas. very little time if any, we have
been trying to get an apartment  remodeled to deliver on wed. we have been
getting ready for the family night that we have with all the missionaries on
the transfer day ( monday) and also getting things ready for the people
leaving and the people coming on tues. its has been a none stop week. most
of us are pretty exhuasted but we did get alot done, and hoply we will be
prepared enough for monday and tuesday, ( some of the busiest days of the
transfer) the only thing that i can be for sure of is that i know i am
staying in the office and also that i will be getting a new companion. so i
know you guys want to know what happens here in the office, so i will try to
explain a little;
well most of the days i have to spend quite a bit of time out of the office,
doing lots of things. lots of times i am in the bank to pay bills or things
like that, and man the banks here always....ALWAYS... have lines of like an
hour or two long. there are alot of people that live in this city!!! then i
have to buy something for the mission office or the presidente or the
missionaries. most of the times i am resolving a problem with a house or
apartment, ( rent, damage, or some type of complaint that the owner comes up
with- which tends to be alot) some times i have to resolve problems with the
cell phones on the mission, of the phones in the mission office and mission
home. really the most of the time i am resolving some type of problem that
has to do with someone getting paid for something. people that do work at
the mission home, people that do stuff here in the office for us, owners of
houses, people that do work on the missionaries houses for us...there is
always plenty to do here in the office. you have to keep on yourtoes and
always be ready to resovle something!!! hahaha but its good, i have been
learing alot about administration and finances. which will really help me in
the future. this is why i love saturdays so much now.....50% of the calls
that i get stop for the weekend, its just the missionaries that call me sat.
and sun.!! the weekend is the best thing there is!!! but then there is
always the stuff that i do in the office, i have to worry about paying the
missionaries every 2 weeks, and reimbursing them for stuff that the mission
pays for, like bills and what not. that and making sure that if they need
somthing that it gets takin care of.

well thats a good run down some of the stuff that goes on here. it really
does get pretty busy here but busy is good. its better then just sittin in
the office!!

from what mom was telling me, everyone has been home this past week, anne
and brandon, jill, kari, meg, jake, erin...the whole gang!!!

jake...PARABEMS!!!  (congradulations) its the temple awesome man!!! i would
really like to get a letter from ya man, telling me how it was, i really
would hav like to be there but no worries, there will always be lots of
times when we both get home!! well i am out of time, i got to get running
again, still got a few things to do before the night is over, just stopped
long enough to write you guys an email!!!

corrida! July 19, 2009

Well one more week has gone by, it seems as though for me that this transfer
has gone by really really fast. we will be starting the 5th week already!
this last week for me was really really busy, good but busy. we had
conferences so that kept everyone here in the office on their toes. running
around trying to get everything together and making sure that everything
that was suppose to happen, happened. But now that the week is
over....things have slown down alot and i have been able to breathe. This
next week should be a pretty calm week, or at least a normal week here.
However at conferneces it was pretty funny cuz what happened was that when
elder buck became the financial sec. he lost alot of wieght and what not,
well i have been in the financial spot for about 4 weeks now and when we
were at conferneces the other day some of the elders kept telling me that i
was starting to look like elder buck....i was losing wieght and i was
looking alot whiter....( the lack of sun during the day) so ya i am not sure
thats the best thing i have ever heard but what do ya do. i wish i had more
to say sometimes, tody just isnt the day. i am at a lack for words, really a
lack of what to say. I am pretty sure i didnt metion it but the mission
president is in my ward...we rarly see him, he is usually out at another
ward or something. Ok so really i am not sure what to say, i know that
sounds retarded becuase i just got done telling you how busy my week was,
and know i cant even think of anything to write to you guys. all i can say
is that its been busy..haha a few days we were waking up at 5 or 4:30 in the
morning to get things done. I think part of it is that we were really busy
but its just stuff that we have to do, not like anything really interesting
thats been going on....once again however we have been looking for an
apartment...i really dont like moving....after doing it 4 times here on the
mission...i am so done! mving is the biggest pain ever..you would think that
its not seeing how missionaries dont have hardly any furniture and we just
have suitcases but at the same time, even with few things.....man i really
dont like moving! but it looks like thats exaclty what will happen here very
soon. well hope everyone is have a great week!

oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR
KARI..........HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

sorry i didnt write last week...i know i am a slacker...but even though its
late i still wanted to send it! love ya tons sis!!

dont forget i love ya all! tchuazão!!

elder davis

sup my hommies

NOTES FROM MOM:

To understand the pictures you need some info. On Mothers Day Ben told Jacob
that one of the things he really missed was carpet. No one has carpet. I was
getting ready to send Ben another box, so I cut out a piece of carpet and
put it in the bottom of the box. I will also share portions of the letter
Ben wrote me. He is not a very good letter writer so unless you ask him
questions you do not get much information. He got my email after he wrote
the one to the family so I have added some of the info here.

FROM BEN:
I am very excited to hear about your garden but at the same time a little
sad that I wont be able to eat some of the stuff...fresh!! But that's how it
goes. I know you won't even recognize me when you see me, not because of my
looks, that's pretty much the same, but I have grown to like a few
things....including vegetables.....not all of them yet but the
majority...!!! hahaha look what the mission is doing to your son!

well about our baptism, its a guy named Janari...it tsounds really weird in
englihs, you definitly have to say it with a portuguese accent...hahah but
he is like 28 years old and lives with his sister. who also seems really
interested, but the other day when his sister asked him if he was getting
baptized...he gave a very confirming YES! It was pretty sweet, we got way
excited, he has been close to baptism these last few Sundays but has not
wanted to take the step, and now this Sunday he has committed to be
baptized! That family that we found last week will be going to church with
us on Sunday to the stake conference, they are way cool. They are all
catholic but a great family that is really open to hear other people, which
make things a little bit easier for us. :) Elder Buck is doing great, he had
a baptism last week and is preparing a guy to be baptized soon, he is just
eating things up out there. And about the box... I was just kidding...but we
did eat a lot!! I am the only American in the office so the Brazilians had a
little feast with the bag....they really like American chocolate.. haha that
article that you gave me was pretty cool, way interesting to read! I didn't
think you could do that.....be on a mission and ask for your future wife to
come down and get married and serve with you....i am pretty sure they
wouldn't let you do that now, but its a way cool story...their daughter was
a true Brazilian!! Hahaha

FROM MOM AGAIN:
                I sent Ben an article that was in the Mormon Times section of the
paper that told about a missionary that went to Brazil (David O. McKay was
president) He left his sweet heart behind. She was also planning on going on
a mission. Well the missionary wrote the prophet and asked that she be sent
to the same mission and that they could get married and be companions. That
is exactly what happened and they had a baby while they were on their
mission. It was a neat story. Would not happen today but was fun to read.
Well that is about it, take care everyone. Two and a half months we will be
sending off another one. Gotta love it in Brazil.

MESSAGE TO FAM:

yo yo yo  whats kickin with the davis gang? sorry guys i am turning
brasilian...its just what happens. :) so whats going on with everyone? i got
a few letters from ya all and i will try to repsond to them this week! oh
and I GOT THE PACKAGE!! i couldnt stop laughing about the carpet...i got
some pics that i will try and send to you guys....they are pretty good i am
sure you will all love them...but yes jake thanks for the carpet....LOVED
IT!  kari thanks for the cookies...i am way stoked to make them! i will let
you know how they turn out!  so what happened to mom....she sent me a pic
and man has she changed.... i definitly liked the hair...somebody is a hot
momma! well thanks to everyone for the package....me and the office elders
pretty much ate everything up man! but we are still workin on that peanut
butter! man do i love that stuff. so do you guys remember that show
survivor? well they did one here in my mission! survivor tocantins!!!! my
mission has like 3 states and they did it in the part of my mission that is
like the hottest there is and where they still have lots of indians living
there! cool uh? i should have tried out to be on the cast.... do you think
the president would let me go do survivor for a little bit....ya probably
not! haha well things have been great here in the office, we have a bptism
tomorow after stake conference! everyone is getting way excited for that!
this last week has been alright, filled with things to resolve however, but
we all made it through it! in one piece miracleously! but things just keep
moving along here, they dont wait for you, so you just got to keep up on
things. well sorry that today wasnt an espitle, but when its not its
not...you know what i´m saying..:) LOVE YOU GUYS TONS, thanks again for the
package! hope everyone has a good week!

ps jake- whats going on with you man, i havent heard any of the lastest news
from you!!!
erin- you remember what we talked about on the phone...hahaha
megan- i am still waitin on that letter.... we both know that i can wait...i
am good at it ( do i need to remind you of the brownie incedent) hahaha

dont forget i LOVE YOU GUYs!!!

Elder Davis

ENTÃO!

well i will try and tell you guys all that happened this week but to be
honest it will be hard....this week was really really busy. monday was
transfers so all day long me and elder buck were running around buyin things
and doing alot of stuff in the streets( as we say) to get ready for the
transfers that night. once that night came...even more stuff..... we had to
make sure all the right elders and sisters that were going home we at the
right house and that their suitcases were in the right spot for the next
morning. the next day we woke up at 3:30 in the morning to get ready and get
all the missionaries to the airport with bags and everything...that took
awhile, so after we got everyone to the airport and sent home...which was
pretty `trunkie`i wont lie, we then had to run back to the office and get
ready to pick up the newbies! that was way fun....to see them completly lost
and stuff...i just remember how i was......IT takes away all that trunkie
feeling!  well after we picked up the newbies we took them to the mission
home to have a training and to have lunch.  well we dropped them off and
then went runing around to finish up lunch so they could eat....well then we
had to do some practices with the new guys and do our training about what we
do here in the office, and then we were kinda of done. we went back to the
ofice and tried to finish up some office work before the newbies passed by.
well when we finlly had a day to actully work in the office there was alot
of stuff to do, so the rest of the week we have been trying to finish all
the other work we left to do. so here its just run run run. but it keep  you
on your toes!!! things have been great though, i have a new comp, brazilian
again. his name is elder queiroz, he is from sao paulo. we had a little bit
of time this week to work in the field, and the time that we did work, we
found a new family but we have marked with them to vistit next thurs. so i
will have to let you know how that goes. anyway that was my week in a nut
shell!! hahah a small nut shell but a shell none the less. well i hpe that
everything is good with you guys, i have to go do some office work today so
i am kinda in a hurry but i am alive and kicking and having a great time
doing the lords work!
jake you better be getting excited cuz it doesnt get better then this man!
you are giong to have the best time in fortaleza....2 reasons...one your
going to be on a mission, and two your going to be IN BRAZIL!!!! well love
and kisses for all, dont forget me! :)

EU AMO VOCÊS!!!!!

ELDER DAVIS

hello everybody!

so how was everyones week! hope it was good! has for me it was really really
busy! this next week is transfers so there is alot for us to get readt. all
the people that are coming and all the people that are leaving and all that
good stuff. we have been running around all week doing this and that and
what ever the president needs. its been crazy. the thing is...that the day
of transfers only get crazier. you aton to do and little time to do it. but
thats what comes with being in the office. i know you all are proably dying
to know what i do in the office, but really its like a normal office job.
you deal with alot of normal people trying to fix their problems and you
have lots of missionaries calling for this or for that and wanting you to
fix your problems...and much much more.  but the worst part is that this
will be the last week of the transfer, so that means that elder buck will be
getting transfered and we both will be getting new companions. but all good
things come to an end. well its been some tempino since mothers day, so how
is everyone.... some of you promised letters.......and i am still waitin to
respond..... :)!    well to be straight up honest...i just went completly
blank...i cant even remember what i wanted to say. i had to help a
missionary that passed by the office and now i dont know what i wanted to
say. so.... just remember that i love you guys!!!! and jake get to learnin
portuguese man!!!  ok well hope everyone is diong fine!

EU AMO VOCÊS!!!!!

elder davis the 1st!

Sorry its so short....

well i will have to be honest with you, last week we didnt have the chance
to go bowling because of the time and everything. so this week we worked
things out and we WENT BOWLING!! so ya we had to leave a little bit early
today so i wasnt at my desk today. anyway things are going great here, this
last week has been really really busy, we havent really had any time to work
in the field cuz president has been asking alot from us. so we have been
spending alot of time in the office this last week. really late nights. but
with transfers coming up its only giong to get busyier.  i guess the last
week of transfers the president just keeps sending us to do stuff for him.
but its all good. anyway just wanted to send you some pics of what we were
doing today!!! ahaha hope you like them. anyway gotta go
dont forget jsut wanted you to know that  I LOVE YOU!!!!
hope ya have a great week, i will talk to ya later.

elder davis

tudo bem neh?

hello hello hello hello! so how is the family? so time is flying to fast, i
am way excited to talk to you but its already mothers day and man this whole
mission thing is going by way to fast. but i would like you all to know that
i am doing GREAT. these past few weeks have been lots of fun being
companions with elder buck again, but also really demanding. the whole
office thing is alot different, you have a lot to do during the day at the
office, and then you got to go out and are expected to do all the stuff that
the normal missionaries do with 10 hrs in their day. its really been a new
challenge. its like a completly different mission, you work with normal
business people all day resovling problems or doing this or that for the
president and then you got to turn around and go out in to your area and
work like the other missionaries. its been a good experince so far though.
but the president talked to me and elder buck this week and elder buck will
be training me to be the new financial sect. so i will have to deal with all
the spending and finanices  of the mission pretty much. its good though cuz
you learn alot of stuff! you pretty much have to me completly organized with
the money or its your head.....so ya, you get really organzied pretty fast.
there are 4 missionaries in the office right now. usually its just us here
unless the assitentes deciede to come by or the presidente or something. but
normally its just us. but things have be great, there has just been alot to
learn. but last night me and my companion went out to work and when we were
out we made a contact with this family infront of their house and got inside
to teach the whole family, it was really cool, they all seemed to be really
touched by the message and are all excited to go to church tomorrow. so we
are pretty excited here!!! we had a recent convert here that has been
awesome. somtimes the recent converts are scared to tell there friends about
you or they tell you that there friends dont want to hearyou, but this last
recent convert, was this lady and her 2 boys. but the lady is awesome, she
has been telling everyone about the church, and we have been teaching alot
of her friends, and its great cuz she always comes to teach with us and
wants to bear her testimony...she is awesome!!! but ya everything here has
been going great. man i am so excited for you jake!!! this is going to be
the best 2 years of your life man! you are giong to love BRASIL!!! its the
best country ever man! the people here are really friendly, you can make
friends with anyone! your going to love your mission man, i have heard alot
about fortaleza man, its hot.....:) but its awesome! there are some
missionaries here in my mission that are from there. my last companion was
from there. ELDER ALVES. its the bomb man, your going to love serving in
brasil! you will here this phrase all the time, espeically in the CTM ( MTC)
`their are 2 kinds of missionaries, the ones who go to brasil on their
mission, and the ones that wish they could go to brasil on their mission`
hahaa its true i wont lie! :)

well hope everyone is doing great, i love you guys tons! i want to thank all
yu guys for always helping me with everything. you guys were always there,
and i am so glad to have a family that supports me on my mission, this is
the BEST thing in the world, there is definitily no other place i would
rather be! EU ESPERO QUE VOCÊS TEM UMA OTIMO SEMANA!!!!!

EU AMO VOCÊS!!!!

elder ben-jamin davis!!!

SNOW!!!!!!

So this last week we had a huge climate drop that resulted in a big snow
storm....it was some huge front that came off of the atlantic, no one was
expecting it, so it hit brasilia with a surprise! There were lots of
accidents on the roads, cuz of course they dont know how to drive in the
snow. and pretty much everything shut down, they just didnt know how to deal
with. it was the weirdest phenomenon that i have ever seen in my
life.................OK so i would so love to see the look on your faces
now....man if i had a camera....so was that cool that i totaly just lied to
you guys, i hope so. CUZ I FOOLED YOU! :) ok so i was just kidding, there is
no such thing as snow where i live, most people have never even seen or
touched it. i just miss snow, but i shouldnt speak to much about it cuz you
can jsut watch, i will get home and hate snow and miss the 24/7 SUN!
NOT!!! i love snow! well anyway, whats going on with all you guys! hope
everyone is doing well. untill now i have passed 2 weeks in the office, its
alot differnt here cuz you spend the day at a desk and then leave at 5 o
clock. its like a normal office job, but instead of going home and relaxing
you go out and teach!!!! its been great though, a little while ago the area
that me and elder buck are in now was a little slow, but things have been
picking up really fast, we have been finding people to teach which as been
awesome! other then the field work, the office work as been well office
work. we actually do alot of stuff here in the office, and just like at
home, it can get tiresome! hahaa but its great, ya gotta love it! i guess
the good part about the office is that you get your letters and packages the
second they arrive in the mission! so there are some ups to it. this last
week we had zone conf. man was it great! it was an all day conf, and the
pres talked about alot of things that are really going to help this mission.
Our pres is really inspired of God! In the conf he was talking about christ
and that one day we will all have the oppurtunity to be face to face iwth
him. he described that moment with such clarity.......that all i could say
after was wow! it was just way cool, it made me want to get to the end fast
so i can see my savior! :) but i still got a few things to do here on
earth..haha today we also had your district meeting, and becuase elder buck
is the district leader, he gave the training, i wont lie it was kinda weird
cuz he was my comp inthe ctm and everything and now he ws giving is
trainings and all that stuff, it was cool though. well i am doing GREAT-
OTISSIMO!!!!  and i hope you guys are too. LOVE YA GUYS TONS- EU AMO
VOCÊS!!!!

ps jake now that you will become brasilian my sugesstion is that you learn
as much portuguese as you can, use the money that you get from your job and
buy those computer programs or some books or whatever you can, and learn as
much as you can know. even if its only a little, do as much as you can, you
will be alot better off in the ctm, i wish i would have done it. but you
cant buy the book or what ever and look at it once and then put it down, you
got to read it every day, set some goals and stuff and really work at it
man!!!! you wont regret it!!!!! it will be the best thing you can do right
now! well LOVE YA GUYS, THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYTHING!  

pss sorry again for lying.....i wont do it again.....well i cant say that
cuz then i would be lying again cuz i jst might...love ya! :)

pss lets not call it lying- thats not a good word, lets call it fibbing :)
hahah talk to ya guys next week!

Elder Davis

sup fam!

well hello hello! so i talked to you guys like a few days ago so there is
not much to tell ya. i have only been in the office a few days but its been
pretty cool. i am companions with elder buck again and man has it been
awesome. good old times. well i will tell you guys a little about what i do,
so we get to the office and 8 in the morning and start study at 8 just like
before, study until 10 and then do a language study for 30 min. after that
it starts the day. we start call ing the zone leaders to get info and other
misionarys, i have to order stuff for the mission for all the companionships
and stuff. i deal with all the letters and packages that arrive for the
missionaries, and some more little things that ihave to take care of, it
doesnt sound like alot but it can fill a days work. elder buck is the
fininical sec. so he takes care of all the money on the mission, but he will
be trainig me and then i will have to do it. but he will always have to
leave the office to take care of stuff with the bank and lots of other
people, so i go with him, so sometimes we spend a few hours dealing with
problems outside theoffice. but at 5 o clock we leave the office for the
field and go to work, we work till 9 like normal and then go home and plan
for the next day. its a lot different then being a normal missionary, cuz
you have alot of real life problems to deal with during the day, then you
have to go work in your area at 5 and leave all those problems behind in the
office. its way different. but ya its a good oppurtunity, you get to learn
how to be an account for a business pretty much. but thats pretty much my
day. because we are a business as to say, we have to stay open monday
through fri. so our pday is on sat. and pretty much we have to be ready to
do anything the president needs. which could be really almost anything,
things to prepare for a zone conf. things to do for a missionary. things to
do for missionanrys coming or going, there is alot of stuff that goes on in
the office. but anyway i tried to send mom a video of me but i dont know if
it will work, if it does you will see it, if it doesnt.....guess you wont.
:)
i am still agetting to know my new area so i dont have to much to say about
it. so i have heard that vitor, the guy i baptised in santo antonio
descoberto wants to serve a mission!!!! ya i was way stoked to hear that.
its such a good feeling when you see someone truly converted to the gospel!
i love it! well thats pretty much whats going on with me these days! hope
everyone is doin well, dont forget
EU AMO VOCÊS!!!!!

ELDER DAVIS

hello minha familia! April 13, 2009

whats up guys? so this last sunday we had lunch at this members house and
pretty sure it was the best lunch ever. it was easter lunch and it just
turned out that the food that, the sister made was pretty much a sunday
lunch at home. we had potatoes ( very creamy) carrots and peas and some type
of roast! with of course RICE, but it was still awesome! they bought this
big chocolate easter egg that we all pretty much destoryed! haha but ya it
was a really good easter. Tiago was confirmed that sunday too, and given the
priesthood!!!! i was so excited! you wont believe it but it is only his 4th
sunday and he already bought a suit and everything, he actuallyt bought the
suit and everythinglast week for conference! he is a stud!!! well in other
BIG NEWS, transfers were today and believe it or not, just after 5 weeks
here in sobradinho 2 i got transfered! i am going to work in THE OFFICE, and
the strangest thing is i will be companions to ELDER BUCK!!! so i will be
companions with my ctm comp again, cool uh? i thought so. i will definitly
miss the members here, this is a great area and the ward members are
awesome. but just like all the other areas i have had, it all ends sometime.
this last transfer i have been with elder alves, and man have i learned alot
from him. i think the thing that i would say that i have come away with the
most is more patience. this transfer i havce learned alot about patience,
which has been really good. anyway how is everyone at home, hope you are all
doing OTISSIMO!  i think the only thing that i have come to not like on the
mission is the moving.....i really dont like packing!!! you can never fit
all the stuff you took out at the first of the transfer! ahaha well i dont
hvae much to write cuz we are kinda in a hurry, with it being transfers and
all but ya just remember i love you guys tons!!!! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR LOVE
AND PRAYERS!  
eu amo vocês!!!!

elder davis