Monday June 9th, 2014

This little piggy....

Top view of balut:)

Loves the balut!

Last ride:)

Elder Davis and Branch president.

Coolest branch president EVER!

Sucking out the egg "juice"

District P day hike!

Howdy!

    Well, they say pictures are worth 1000 words so if that is the case this will be a long email because their are tons of pictures, but really I think this will be pretty short! Some of you who may read this or see these pictures will think that I am so sad to go home because of the beauty and pure awesomeness of the Philippines. That has some truth, but of all the things I will miss that is pretty far down on the list. I will miss the people, Being a missionary and teaching them. OH AND I WILL MISS BALUT(the egg thing)! Because that is just delicious, it really is! 

    I spoke this last week in Baao since we have District Conference this week in Iriga and it was pretty hard for me to speak and sorta say my goodbyes to all of them. It is weird, it feels like I was at my home ward about to leave for a mission in a foreign land in Eagar Arizona haha. I feel like I am  from Baao now haha BUT I am excited to come home! I miss you all! I just can't believe it is over.... but really it won't ever be over. I didn't just serve a mission.. I became a missionary and there is a big difference! 

     So I have officially passed my two year mark... WORKING OVERTIME AND LOVING IT! It feels like there is double the pay haha. This last part of my mission has been great. An awesome companion to "kill me" in THE BEST area and with the best members and missionaries ever! 

      So I hope you enjoyed the pictures. We had a great District Activity this morning and I forgot all the other pictures but I hope you enjoy them because I don't have too much to write or rather, I don't have too much time to write! Man time flies! I swear I am 19 years old and in Pasacao with Elder Vogelsberg still! CRAZY! But I am so thankful for this mission. They say that "you have 2 years to serve and then your whole life to think about it" I will be having good thoughts, in that case, for the rest of my life!  Truly words can't express how grateful I am that I served a full time mission. I hope I don't just cry the whole time I speak at church... it is possible. I get that from Dad I guess! 

     This past week we had the opportunity to give a Priesthood blessing to a very sick member of our Branch. I could talk quite a bit about the experience, about charity, about Priesthood, about leaderships, jsut great things and lessons that I learned from the experience but for times sake I will just touch on this one lesson that I seem to have learned OVER AND OVER AGAIN on my mission. The lesson is that we are to be THANKFUL! We are to be thankful for all our physical and spiritual blessings that the Lord has given to us! I have had the blessing of living in a place that has encouraged me DAILY to be thankful for the things we don't even notice on a daily basis. It is a heavy thing to have the person you are teaching say that they don't know where the food for their children will come from for TONIGHT'S Dinner! Oh we are to be thankful. Or to hear someone say, "Our father needs to go to the hospital but there is NO WAY we can afford it... so we will just pray and ask for a priesthood blessing and know that that is better than any doctor on earth. That is FAITH! Or to see people go to church so far away and so expensive but they do it EVERY WEEK! We are to be thankful for our physical and spiritual blessing without exception. I love you all. I will see you next week. That is the weirdest thing to type ever, I will see you next week. But I can honestly say that IF I was asked to serve another two years, I would. It would be hard, for I do want to go home, BUT I am thankful for the physical and spiritual blessings enough in my life that IF I were called to serve another 2 years I would do it. 

      I am so excited, and a bit nervous, for the future. But we just have faith and go for it knowing that we will always prosper if we are obedient. I miss you all. I am SOOOO  THANKFUL for your prayers on my behalf over these two years they have helped in truly miraculous ways. My mission has been anything but easy- I am grateful for that. It is the uphills that allow are destination to be much higher and the view much grander than if we were on level or downhill grounds. ESPECIALLY in this last area of mine I have asked for blessings, of course, and God has given me UPHILL challenges that really build us the most and bring us to higher planes! So I guess we should even be thankful for our trials because they are given for reasons! I love you all. Leaving my mission is HARD but if it were easy then I would be worried! LOVE YOU ALL A BUSHEL! 

Elder Davis