If You Like The Weather in MT ~ Wait 5 Minutes- Monday, May 10, 2010

Hey Everyone,

First off Happy Mothers Day to everyone especially Mom, Grandma D. and Grandma G. It was a lot of fun and nice to talk to the family, Brett, and Ricky. I can't believe how fast an hour goes by. So much to talk about. So for those who missed out on the call home I havn't forgot about you. This week was a pretty good week. It rained off and on all week. That's where the subject line of this email comes from. I swear it would be nice outside then these dark clouds would come rolling in and dump a bunch of rain for 10 min. and then it'd clear up and then 10 min. later it'd start to hail and then it'd clear up again. So truly if you wait 5 min., the weather will change here.

We went to Great Falls for Zone Conference this week. We left early Monday so we could participate in zone olympics on pday. That was a lot of fun. We played a bunch of games and they had a points system. It was sr.comps vs. jr. comps. The sr. comps won.

Tuesday was Zone Conference. It's amazing how every Zone Conference they seem to talk about the exact thing you need to hear. President also talked about how he went to Chicago for a mission pres. meeting and he went to Wrigley field and bought Sis. Gardner a cubs hat because that's her favorite team so it was fun to be able to talk a little bit about Chicago and how I lived there with them. Zone Conference in Great Falls was a little smaller than the previous ones I've been to because it wasn't a combined zones Zone Conference like the ones in Helena or Bozeman but I think I liked it more because it was a little bit smaller setting. This allowed you to get to know the other Elders in the zone more I thought so that was good.

I need to share a joke I heard at Zone Conference that I really liked. What does Satan look for under his bed when he goes to sleep at night? Jeffery R. Holland. HaHaHa I thought that was a good one. I also heard a story from Pres. that was told in his conference that was told by another mission pres. He said that he and two sister missionaries went to a catholic school and gave a presentation about our church. They bore testimony at the end and said if the kids would read the Book of Mormon they too would come to the knowledge that the sisters had that it was true and that the church was true. When they were done, the priest got up and said thank you it's good to see you like your religion as much as you do. And then he asked the class how many of the students felt the same way and knew without a doubt that the Catholic Church was the true church? And none of the students raised their hand. So he asked them again and again none of them raised their hands. So one sister got up and bore testimony again and said that they had copies of the Book of Mormon for whoever wanted one and everyone of the students came and got one. So they handed out 50 Books of Mormon to a Catholic school class. What an awesome feeling that must have been for those sis. missionaries to see that the students had a desire to feel the same way they did and to place 50 Bookds of Mormon! Wow! That would be cool. I bet that priest was ticked!

This week on Wed. It was Cinco De Mayo so we thought, oh let's go get some mexican for lunch. Let's just say that mexican food here is no bueno compared to AZ. That's one thing I've noticed. You eat a lot of the same kind of things on a mission that you ate back home but the recipies are altered just enough that it's not as good as mom's cooking.

Ok we went this Sat. and helped our home owner Bro. J. brand his calves. He had about 30 of them and oh man was that an experience. You have to get the calves separated from the heffers and then you just take them and attempt to tackle them while someone else grabs their back legs and you take them down. I was normally on the back end holding the back legs. One leg you hold with your hand and the other you hold down with your feet. So you sit there on the ground holding this calf and then Bro. J. comes over with the brand and puts the brand on their side. Right when the hot iron hits their skin they go crazy and scream and you have to hold them tight and then next thing you know they've taken a poop. So literally you have scared the crap out of them (sorry Gma G). It's quite the experience. Then another guy comes over and gives them a shot and then castrates them a foot away from you. hahaha. It takes you back a little the first few but after a while you expect to see poop and blood and to be holding a screaming calf. I'll have to send a few of the pics I took while we were herding them. I better go though. If you want any more detail on the branding talk to my mom or dad. I love you all and I hope you have a good week.
-Elder Davis

PS Have fun in California G and Mom. Send me a post card or something.

Branding Calves

Bear Paw Mountains

Pictures and Greetings from Great Falls - Monday, May 3, 2010

Hey Everyone,

Greetings from Great Falls. We're here for Zone Conference tomorrow.   

How are you all doing? Sounds like everyone I've heard from has been pretty busy and is getting excited for summer. Only a month of school left that's exciting. First off I want to thank those who wrote me this past week. On Thurs. I got 5 letters! One from Mom (thanks for the pic and the coupons), 2 from Gma G, one from gpa D, and one from Aunt Carol. It was exciting to get that one! She even put Go Sugar Beeters on the back of it (Chinook High). haha

We started out in Havre and we had a pretty good week. We saw a lot of less actives and we even helped a recent convert mow her lawn. Then on Wed. it rained from lunch on. We headed back to Chinook Wed. night and we mud bogged our way into the Johnsons. Bro. Johnsons Dad passed away on Sunday night so we helped out a lot on Thursday on the farm. We loaded up some wood, rouned up some loose cows, and fixed a fence. Elder Child knows so much about all of this farming stuff because of his grandpa's ranch that when I'm with him and Bro. J. I feel like dead weight but I'm slowly learning and they are good teachers. I have the feeling Bro.J. feels like he has to train these city boys up and sometimes you can tell it bugs him but other times he's more patient. It all works though because he really appreciates the help.

It rained most of Wed, all day Thursday, and a little on Friday. So our truck was a mess. We mud bogged all over Zurich (where the J's live) I'll have to send a picture of it. We had to wash it this morning for zone confrence. We also hit some big mud probably a good foot deep out at this families house. My shoes got so muddy. I had to clean them last night. So on Friday we went and helped out at the rest home. The RS does a birthday party out there once a year and they had us come serve cake and ice cream. There was this old guy who played the electric guitar while we were there. They said he has alshimers and that he cant remember the songs till the lady on the piano starts to play them and then it all comes back and he can join in and play with her. haha he did a pretty good job.

 Friday was also the day we went to visit G. the 350 lb indian. We showed up there and he had a friend there with him who was drinking. It turned out that his "friend" was his wife's ex husband that they pick up from the reservation once a month and take into town to pay his bills and buy him clothes. He was sitting there rambling on and G. kept telling him"You Be nice to these Boys. They're Holy Men! They're the closest to Heaven you'll ever get!" It was so funny. The old drunk guy kept telling us he was the captain and we needed to listen to him. He then ended up spilling his beer and Elder Child had to grab it before it spilled everywhere.

 I forgot to tell you this last week. We were trying this guy we had talked to while tracting and he wasn't home and as we turn we see this old lady starting to mow her lawn in a dress and high heels. So we go over there and ask her if we can help her and she said oh you guys are dressed up I'll just do it. Well we looked at her and then said umm you're all dressed up too. So Elder Child finally just grabbed the mower and we got started. It was a mower with a cord and at some point the cord got stuck on a tree. Well I went to untangle it and it swings back and takes me out. I fell flat on my behind! I just jumped up and laughed. It was pretty funny. 

So we were studying the other day and Elder Child looks out and sees this stray dog. So he goes and tells the J's. Sis. J. starts yelling at Bro. J saying Shoot it! Shoot it! and then she stops and said No wait don't shoot it just tie it up. It was so funny. The dog ended up escaping when Bro. J went out with his gun. hahaha 

Saturday was Bro. J's dad's funeral. We went to it. It was in Chinook at the church. There was a lot of people there. It was packed. That was my first Mormon funeral. Definitely better than B's weird funeral his daughter put on. 

Ok Sunday I'll be calling between 4:30 and 5 our time and I'll call the house phone. We will be with a member in Havre who's going to add us to their family plan. I was wondering if Ricky and Brett could come? If so could you call them or have L tell them? Maybe I'll send them a letter about it. I'm excited for this week. Zone Conference should be really good, we have some good appointments set, and then Mother's Day! I hope that time works for you. If not send me a quick letter this week. 

  
Well I'm going to send some pics now. I hope you all have a good week and I can't wait to talk to you this weekend. I love you all. Talk to you sooner then later.

-Elder Davis

PS. Good to hear the Jazz made it to the next round. Hopefully they can steal game 2 from L.A.    

Shearing Sheep

Our Truck

Seahawks Truck

A busy but good week... - Monday, April 26, 2010

Hey Everyone,

First off thanks to all who wrote me letters or emails this week. It was so nice to hear all the fun things that are going on in UT and AZ. I've slacked a little in my writing letters since the transfer but I've been able to catch up a bit today so hopefully I'll get them out soon.

Ok Monday we were in Lewistown. No I didn't get to see the N family yet. They live 30 miles out of town so because of limited miles I'm not sure if I ever will get to meet them but you never know. Maybe next time we are in Lewistown. That's funny that L's cousin asked her if I went to the prom with her.
Elder Heywood went out there with the Zone Leaders on Wed. and talked about me. Elder Eggbert who is a Zone Leader told them I look like Keanu Reeves. hahaha By the way Elder Heywood wants to know if you'd send a prom pic of me so I can get it to him so he can show them. haha I also wondered if you could send me some other pics. Dad or L could probably do this the easiest but get into my pics and send me the car pics from B. J. and the pics from Havasupai. Elder Child wants to see my car pics and Elder Heywood wants to see pretty much any pic from AZ because he is from AZ and we talk a lot about it together. Oh and L if you have your tennis individual and team pics send those too. Try putting them in a zip folder maybe if you know how to do that. If not just send them as attachments maybe and I can pull them off to my card.

Anyway Monday we sheered sheep. Well we didn't really sheer them. We just helped herd them into a pen and then get them in line and into a shoot. Then you just push them in the butts till them walk and go up the shoot to a trailer where the sheerers sheer them. I'ts really crazy how fast they sheer those sheep. I have some pics but I forgot my camera at home so I'll have to send them next week. And Yes Dad I am working outside. Crazy huh? I've found its a lot easier when you have a good pair of gloves and it's not so stinkin hot outside! haha Tuesday we were still in Lewistown. We had teamups with the DL. I went with Elder Heywood's companion, Elder Rice from Florida, and visited some people. He's been out 1 transfer so both of us kind of had to step things up but we did good teaching together.

The elders in Lewistown stay in this old fashon apartment building. Its kind of fun stay there. The thing that stinks though is they only have a tub with a little hose so you have to sit there and shower in the tub. You do it quick because you get kind of cold. I can't imagine having to do that in the winter. Wed. we drove back to Havre and then Chinook that night. We drove on this dirt road to save miles. It wasn't too bad. The drive was really pretty. Good thing we have a truck though. I'm not sure we could have traveled that fast in a car. On the way back Wed. we stopped at the Havre ward's bishop's house. He lives way out there by Big Sandy on a huge farm. Pretty much he farms organically this stuff called Kamoot? It's an ancient wheat that can be used to make breads and pastas. Anyone allergic to wheat can eat it. He had us get in this big tractor with him and we had a Correlation Meeting with him while he seeded one of his fields. I think that is the first and last time I'll ever have a correlation meeting in a tractor. hahaha. We also helped him plant some trees and he fed us Kamoot pasta. It was pretty good.Quick question: Did you get a chance to watch the Joseph Smith Movie I sent you?

I got some good news on Thurs. L got baptized Sat.! Not a lot of detail Elder Lanham just wrote a quick note on Grandma and Grandpa Davis's letter he forwarded.  I'll have to write him and get some more details but that was good to hear and I'm glad he finally got a baptism in Townsend.

We were tracting this week and we tracked into an old guy in his 80's who is building a one man plane in his living room. He invited us in and showed us all about it. It's pretty cool but really random to see in someones living room. haha

We taught 15 lessons this week which is good considering we were in Lewistown a good part of M-W. We are teaching this old indian named G. He's a really big guy and every time we go there he's only in his boxers so we have to wait for him to get dressed. What a crazy old indian. You run into a lot of indians around here. Some, like G, are really nice. Others not so much. We asked G. if he would be baptized and he said I already have. This really confused us but I guess the indians had a placement program through the church to go live with a family but you had to be a member. He claims his friend who was a missionary here baptized him. We asked him if there were any witnesses and he said no his companion was shopping. So we have to do some digging to find out if he really was baptized and his records are out there somewhere or if the missionary did that back in the day just to get him into the placement program. If that's the case there's a chance we could have a baptism in the next month or so.

We are working with a lady in Havre who had a date of May 1 but she has to quit smoking first. We went to teach her last night and start the Stop Smoking Program with her. She has reset a date for May 22. This will probably be my first baptism.

I can't believe its almost May already. By the way. Mother's Day we are planning to call late afternoon. Like 3ish maybe. Let me know what works for you and I'll give you more details next week.
Well I better go. I hope everything is going good. It sounds like you are all busy but having fun with the things you are doing. I love you all and I'll talk to you later.
    
Love,
           
Elder Davis

PS. Questions
How's Nani?
When does Giselle go to Cali? This week or next?
And any word on Nick's mission call?
Oh and we got 52 baptisms this month in the mish.!

On the drive to Lewistown - April 19, 2010

Judith Landing

Another view of Judith Landing

The Missouri River next to Judith Landing

A member's farm in Lewistown

Elder Davis dressed up and role playing an investigator in District Meeting - Havre, MT