The Latest from Elder Davis

La Semana Santa...

Here In Guatemala we were brought an interesting array of traditions due to the East season. Some of the traditions were beautiful, others were delicious, and some were just weird. Almost all of the days were celebrated by Catholic processions in the streets and sand paintings called alfombras. Also, throughout the week just about everyone makes sweet breads and like halloween youths and children meander through the streets asking for bread... but they carry around home-made Judas dolls and noise makers screaming "pan para judas" (bread for judas)... The Judas dolls are later presented before the public and burned. The townspeople also choose the best Judas doll and the owner wins a prize. Yet the funniest part of it all is that many of the jovens running around asking for bread do it dressed as girls or in other ridiculous costumes... including adult diapers. 

As fun as the semana santa was we did not get much done since everyone was celebrating in the streets or on the beach. Furthermore, while contacting just about everyone used the festivities as an excuse for not receiving us. The worst part is that once Sunday came around everyone was sick or too tired to go to church...yet after church we joined the priesthood of the branch to make some visits, afterwords we made a super spicy green mango salad. It was delicious and really pumped me up for the true mango season in about 3 weeks.

Today for p-day I convinced my comp into going to a small archeology museum in Reu... It was really small but great for my crave.

Tomorrow I will find out if I have transfers or not. We are pretty sure that I will be going but we'll see. The church is true.

Cuídense      -Elder Davis 

Post Number 42 from Elder Davis

As a mission we received the shocking news today that one of our late assistants (RM) was shot and killed this week. The whole mission is shocked by the news given that the elder was loved by all. Elder Fifita will be very missed. Although in times like these the knowledge we have of God's plan gives us the comfort that he's not gone; but rather simply getting back to the mission grind on the other side. This incident serves us all as a reminder of the delicacy of our lives and the sense of urgency in which we should live. (Alma 5)

Since I arrived to the mission the president has really put an emphasis on humility and has warned us over and over again of the consequences of pride. I have always enjoyed the messages that he has given on the topic but haven't really had a rough run in with pride until recently. The district is having a hard time right now and is lacking in motivation. Some want transfers, others are homesick, and the rest just don't want to conform to mission life...the adversity is really bringing the pride out in the open and it's not hard to see that we are not achieving much because of it. Thanks to the many experiences I am having here in Guatemala i am learning many very valuable life lessons and gaining a better understanding of the commandments of God. They are difficult to understand but they are all for our benefit and freedom, not our restriction. The commandment to be humble is so important and I can promise you all that humility can open so many positive venues in our lives. The sad part is that sometimes you have to fall on your face for the lessons God teaches us so clearly sink in... I wasn't necessarily the one to fall in this circumstance, but when the ship hits a reef just about everyone on board gets tossed about. All in all I am doing what I can to help the district but one of the ugliest attributes of pride is that it us incredibly stubborn and doesn't like to listen... and Latino pride does not like it when the gringo gets in the way...and I am the only gringo in the district.

The bright-side is that transfers are coming up and I believe that I will be leaving Pueblo Nuevo. I will miss the area and the people (especially Esther and her family) but I am ready for a change. I really hope they send me to a place where people like the missionaries, at least a little bit, considering that everyone thinks that we are a bunch of lying thieves here. Literally. I am praying that I will get sent to a place where my loving nature will be well received.

At the moment we are working hard to find prepared people. We are going to the farthest reaches of our area in search of them, the hard part will be getting them to church on Sunday. However, we have high hopes in the farther reaches of our areas.

Well thats the piece this week. I am learning a lot and deepening my testimony with every experience. I love you all and, of course, the Church is true. -Elder Davis

From Elder Davis

Hey gang, so this week absolutely flew by and ended up with two baptisms! After a lot of fruitless contacting we started visiting less-actives and caring for the investigators we have. Two of the families that we visited had children of age and after a bit of work and teaching we've got them coming to church and participating. Naturally, once we had the families back on track we baptized the kids. We baptized a 9 year old bay named Joel and a 10 year old girl named Jasmine. I had to repent a little bit because I have looked down on the missionaries that baptize lots of children. It was my pride more than anything but I now understand that the commandment of baptism is not discriminatory. Yet I am still focusing in the people that can really take part in the growth of the church. Speaking of such people we have a young mom named Ana Velasquez who is showing allot of promise and keeping her commitments. We are having a tough time getting her to understand that Christ only has one church... but that's nothing new. We are trying to get her husband interested but he is difficult to find (We don't know if that is his intention or not...) We are also visiting a man named Marvin and his family. He has been telling us that he wants to get baptized and come to church but he has been a bit difficult to find as well. I am also a little worried that he is taking advantage of us since he has been saying that he wants to legally move to the states and he wants an invitation letter. I am honestly completely ignorant to the workings of the immigration system and now that he understands that he has stopped talking about it. So we will see what happens with him. As for our other investigators, they aren't too positive but as always we are looking for more.

Lately I have learned, or rather, come to understand what kind of control we have over our lives and the kind of results we can achieve. Sometimes it is hard to believe but we have in our control a lot more than what we think; we just have to take the initiative and avoid discouragement. In the mission I have found myself blaming my failures and trials on my circumstances. Yet I realize now that it has all been up to me. As of right now I am making it a goal to take the initiative and not to be something that is constantly acted upon. I invite you all to strive to do the same. Gracias al sacrificio expiatorio de Cristo todo esto es posible! Halelluja! -Elder Davis

The Beach!

Hey Guys! 

I am excited to tell you that I have now seen the Pacific Ocean from Guatemalan shores! For p'day today we hit a coastal town called Champerico, had some fun on the beach and ate amazing sea food... Man I love seafood...wow...I just cant get over how good it was... While I was there I met some incredibly humble fishermen and had a good experience talking to them about the church. I was humbled as they described to me the sad state of western Guatemala's habitats and the affect it has had on the general welfare of the people economically and otherwise. All in all it was a good bit of salty fun.

This week was rough due to the fact that we had to drop several investigators that aren't keeping their commitments. Their names will be waiting in the area book. Leaving investigators is one of the most difficult parts of the mission for me but it is completely necessary in order to progress. On a happier note we have found several very positive new contacts by simply talking with everyone that we can.

Also, I now have a big-juicy resume builder... I have built a house out of currugated metal... My latest convert Esther and her family wanted to build a new house since the original was very small. So we organized the project with the men of the branch and got to work. It all turned out well, the sad part is that only two of the 6 capable members showed up... so it took longer than it should of but we had a good time and the sister was happy.

Well that's the tidbit for this week. I would like to write a bit more but I am out of time unfortunately. The church is true and in Christ we are all made alive. #hallelujah 

-Elder Davis