June 30th 2013..... Out with the Old

President/Sister Bleisner

I smell a RAT!

Chicken poo!

Well, Howdy! We are still alive here in the Naga Mission! Our mission is now officially split into the Legaszpi and the Naga Missions and both missions have there new mission presidents! This week has been pretty busy and this week will even be busier! But I am loving it. I am so excited to serve with President and Sister Reeder, even though it is sad to see President and Sister Bliesner leave! Yesterday we met the Reeders at the airport. We were told the second that President Reeder's foot is on the ground, the keys of the mission would be transferred to him from President Bliesner. I could see the change, because all the sudden all my fear went from President Bliesner to President Reeder haha just kidding. The Reeders are amazing! I can't wait to get to know them more and serve with them. We'll have a long time to spend together! They are so excited to serve, and so am I. So after we picked them off we went to church and President Bliesner gave them a quick tour and orientation and then after that Elder Datu and myself drove them to Legazpi to orientate the new Legaspi mission president and then to leave. It was fun to spend time with them in there last few hours here. I think they have been working the last few weeks on about 4 hours of sleep each night, and President Bliesner didn't sleep at all his last night here, they were busy beyond all belief! I can't say I have ever seen anyone be so masipag and "return with honor" like they did. What a great example, they are inspiring to me. This week we will have to Multi Zone Conferences of "Meet the President" and what not, and we have a Mission Leadership Council tomorrow. We are busy and happy and the Reeders are up to the challenge. So first off, Pa Tenney is a new Bishop back home? Tell him to send me an email! I love the Tenneys! Also Brother Smith is now also, Bishop Smith? That is great, those are two men that had a great influence on me before I left on my mission. They are awesome, we have good people back in ol' Eagar. Also your trip to Washington DC looked like a blast. Race and Julie look great! It will be so weird to go home and be THE ONLY ONE NOT MARRIED hahaha. But I will just hang out with all the pumunkins (nieces and nephews) and leave you old folks to your boringness. So funny story. We were in a lesson the other night and we had a member working with us. We were teaching and then our member present, kuya Richard, pointed out that there was a chicken sleeping above me in the roof. Now, I am more uncomfortable in a lesson when there is NO chickens running through my feet and what not than I am when there ARE chickens. It just seems like there should be chickens, because they are always there. SO anyway, the chicken was there sleeping above me and I didn't even think twice about it. The lesson when fine, but at one point, I feel a thud on my leg, the chicken had pooed on me. The people we were teaching laughed pretty hard and so did Elder Datu and kuya Richard, and I laughed myself. We took a picture of the white mess on my pants! I also have a picture that Elder Klassen took on his camera. They were on their way to come to our trainers training and they found a massive, stinky, dead rat under their seat on the bus! Classic, so I'll be sending that home for your enjoyment! I love this place! I hope this next year goes by slow but time is going sooooo fast here in the office SOO FAST! "Heaven is a continuation of the ideal home." -Preach my Gospel page 85. That is a really cool quote. I am so thankful for my family, I think it would be hard to get more "ideal" than our home and our family. It truly is heaven, or I feel like heaven with all of the fam damily! We're not perfect but we are happy. Heaven will be a happy place. I really like that quote. We are teaching a less active family and focusing on getting one of their children baptized. When we started teaching them the kid, sixtu, was pretty dull. He couldn't read all that well and wasn't all that happy, or didn't seem to be. You should see this kid now. He can tell you all about the Plan of Salvation and the story of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. His parents are impressed at how happy and smart he has gotten in these lessons. He knows so much! More importantly the truth of our message has touched his soul. It is great to see that family, once less active, come to church as a family and be so happy. Brother has a tie now and sixtu will be baptized soon. I love my mission. I want to be a missionary for the rest of my life. Speaking of which we have SO MUCH TO DO! I need to go and get to work. I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers I feel your prayers everyday and pray for you everyday as well. Sorry this is so short. We are busy and time flies here. Be good. Share the gospel, and do it with "Power and Authority", "be not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" and maybe my favorite, "Declare my word like unto angels of God." Elder Davis P.S. I almost forgot it is the 4th of July soon. That's like my favorite holiday ever and I don't even miss it, I am lost in this work at the moment! I love being a missionary!