Welcome back!! I hope you are ready for June. We had a very busy June.
We spent the better part of June trying to get someone from the rental company to come over and figure out what the smell was and where it was coming from. They sent someone over who did a quick look around and suggested that we had a squirrel problem. So, we bought a squirrel trap. We did not trap any squirrels, and I never saw any squirrels, anywhere. We still couldn't turn on the air conditioner in the Sunroom. We had to keep the windows open in there because if we didn't, by the time high afternoon came around, the smell started to build. We could happily work in there in the morning, but by the afternoon, it would start getting too warm (for Nathan at least. It would be well into July before it became too warm even for me). The problem is that Nathan works from home and kind of needed to have use of our office space. Meanwhile, not only was there the smell, but up in the corner of my side of the office, I started to notice that there was a TON of little flies congregating up there. Then, one morning, Jaina said that she had come upstairs late in the evening and heard noises coming from the fireplace. Then the next night, Jacen said that he had taken some trash out late in the evening, and as he was coming back inside, he could hear some noise, and recorded it. We sent that to the rental company and they sent someone out to check it out because now we thought it might be raccoons in the chimney. The guy they sent out checked out the attic, and by check out the attic I mean he popped his head into the hole and looked around with his flashlight. He did look down the chimney, but couldn't find anything. He even pulled out the gas fireplace and looked up the chimney, but couldn't find anything, so he left. Nathan and I stayed up late to hear the noise, and it sounded like there was a whole colony of mice in the walls. The next day we did some wandering around outside the house and that is when we found what we thought was mouse poop all over the wall surrounding the chimney. The next guy they sent out did a much better job of looking around and that's when we found....
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| Bats |
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| Yes, BATS!! That is a bat you are looking at in this photo. The guy then did a meticulous search around the roof and found several gaps where the bats could be getting in. He said he would come back the next day and deal with them. Which he did, he came back the next day with foam sealant and sealed the bats in. Then we waited.... |
Meow-meow turned 12!! He invited some friends over for a birthday party.
This is how we celebrate June at our house.
Jacen was working hard at exercising and getting into shape.
Kitties hanging out around the house.
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| Just look at them guns!! |
Kitties hanging out around the house.
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| This is the last picture I have of my Whitley boy. He got out of the house one evening, and we never saw him again. I looked and looked everywhere. I asked around. I drove neighborhoods. I made phone calls. I asked people to keep an eye out for him. I posted on social media. We didn't move that far from our old house and a cat can find his way home from that distance, so I regularly drove back to the old house and would wander around calling his name. I did all the things. I just hope that some family found him and took him in and that he's having the best life. Should they ever take him to a vet, and should the vet check him for a chip, they'll be in for a surprise to find out he wasn't a stray. He's chipped, but no one took him to the vet or called animal control. He was such a good boy, and the best mouser I've ever had. I miss him so much!! |
My little brother and his kids came into town. Aaron bought a portable cold plunge, so naturally Meow-meow and Jacen had to try it out. I DID NOT try it out. Weirdly I got a video of Jacen trying the cold plunge but no pictures. Here's Meow-meow giving it a try. He didn't stay in there for very long.
I saved the best for last. We had something VERY exciting happen at the end of June. Richard and Olivia got married!! Prepare yourselves for a BIG photo dump!!
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| Jimmy, being on his mission, couldn't be there for the wedding. So, we did the next best thing. We had him send us this picture and we blew it up into a giant head. We did not let Richard and Olivia know about it. Keep scrolling to find out what we did with it. |
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| Beautiful Jaina |
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| Dang gurl, you got muscles. Eliza is a very talented wrestler. |
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| My three girls. |
Getting ready for the big day!!
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| We all love Oliva. She's amazing. So happy that she's a part of the family. |
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| Jimmy's mission president was so awesome and let him participate in the wedding via video chat. |
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| All the guests |
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| Everyone |
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| Grandparents |
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| Parents |
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| The family |
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| The immediate family |
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| I love how awkward and uncomfortable Richard looks in this photo |
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| Grandparents |
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| Grandparents |
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| All the parents |
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| Bridesmaids and Groomsmen |
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| This is one of my favorite pictures. |
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| This one just cracks me up. |
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| Olivia's mom and dad, Nathan, me, Richard's mom, Grandpa Richard, and Jimmy all gave speeches. |
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| Again, Jimmy's mission president allowed Jimmy to be a part of the reception via video chat. |
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| Jimmy even gave a speech. |
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| Jimmy's speech was amazing, powerful, hilarious, and just wonderful, but the best part of it was when he was wrapping it up. In true missionary fashion he began to say, "In the name of..." but then he caught himself and quickly thinking on his feet said, "Peace and love." Everyone burst out laughing. We love our Elder Davis. |
Party time.
Are you ready to find out what we did with Jimmy's giant head?
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| We stuck it on the steering wheel of the car, of course. |
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| We kept it a complete and total secret from them |
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| I got a video of Richard's reaction, but this is the best photo reaction of it I have. Needless to say he was very surprised and thought it was hilarious!! |
Last but not least, news from Elder Davis.
Well. It's been a while. It's been another great transfer. Yet again I make it back to Las vegas and my weekly emails don't become weekly. Oops. It's hard sometimes but I have every opportunity to change that, so really it's on me. So what has happened? To answer that, A lot. First of all the work that has been going on. This work is the best. It is the number one thing that is going. Something I have noticed is that I don't put too much emphasis on the work that gets done. I usually don't go into detail unless it's someone that gets baptized. However I do need help this time. I need humble hearts and humble minds to join me in prayer. I am going to start to talk about the people we meet, the miracles we see and the wonderful hand of the lord. Now ofcourse if I were to write every single detail about this work and the Lords hand in it, it would be a bit much for me to write. Infact I don't think I can type fast enough to even catch up to the amount of blessings I have, the lord sends them too quick. Since I have been in this work the words of John 21:25 "25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." Have become reality to me.
Here's some of the work from my previous area:
Ken - He is a miracle man. He was the first person I talked to last transfer. And he ended up coming to church and humbling himself completely. We quickly made friends with him. We connected on music and other things. He's going through challenges in his family. But he is truly an incredible friend
Andrew - Andrew is a young man that quickly accepted the message. He came to church 3 days after we met him. He told us he was reading the book of mormon late in the night trying to understand what the words mean. The adversary works harder and hard everyday because after he came to church he stress fractured his ankle and had some challenges arise with his family which put him in a hard spot. Andrew is fantastic
Jordan - Jordan bashed us the first time we met him. He claimed the book of mormon was racist. 2 nephi 26:33 help comfort him. We didn't set a return appointment with him. The second time we saw him on the street again, him he bashed us on Joseph smith. We understood him and answered questions as best we can. Ultimately the question he needed answered was not "why does the world say bad these about Joseph Smith" but rather "how can I know Joseph Smith is a prohpet of God" we set a return appointment with him that time. When we came to the set up lesson he was changed. He listened and he said "I've asked my questions, I am here to listen and learn." His friend walked in on us, and his friend is not humble. He was messing around with us. When this happened Jordan casted him out and accepted a book of mormon to read and pray about. We came by a 4th time and we put him on baptismal date after he read the chapter. Everything he read he said was doctrine and doesn't contradict the his beliefs. We continued to teach him. Ultimately he even started calling us his Elders.
Those are few name from my last area. Please pray for them. Keep them in mind. They will benefit from your prayers.
As for this Area:
The Scott family - they are a part member family. They are both youth age and and incredible. They are preparing for baptism on the 28th. Their father is also a non member his name is edward.
Damion - we put him on date last night. He has some big mountEdward. Climb before he makes it into baptism. But he can over come them through Christ. He's been to church a handful of times.
Logan - logan was a miracle find. We had 10 minutes left before 9 pm and we didn't want to call it a night yet. We biked into a small neighborhood and we prayed. When we did we felt inspired to knock a door with no lights on and no car in the drive way. The drive way had grease stains, so you clearly can tell they usually park outside of the garage. In any missionaries eyes you would say the house is empty and it would be more efficient to tract a house with lights on or at least a car in the drive way. But as we knocked the Lord knew. Logan answered immediately and we told him we felt inspired to knock he was excited and except a book of mormon.
Please pray for these people aswell. Pray that they will overcome sin and pain and recieve an answer that this is the restored church of Christ.
A Tender mercy from the lord: We pulled up to a man who was intoxicated and had hit his head. There where people helping him already but I had an extra bottle of water he needed water since all he has drunk was, well, a beer. Plus it's 114 degrees out here so we gave him our water. Just a little tender mercy.
Missionary moment: it was my last full day in my previous area. And we were biking to our last contacts. As we were biking we saw a car on the side of the road. As we waved them down they unrolled the window and turns out they were both inactive members that want to come back. Amazingly they lived in our area and we identified that they are a part member family. So we said a prayer with them and got talking with them about their relationship with the Church. After our conversation we started to get to know them and it turns out one of them and I have almost the same birth day. We also found out that we both have been adopted by our step fathers and got our names changed. I truly was ment to be that we talked to them!
As for these last 7 weeks, it's been good. I got transfered out from out of valley 7 weeks ago and then last week I got transfered again. I am back to the central stake which is on the east side. I was in this stake 1 year ago exactly. It's great I love it. It's hot now, around 114 and up. The members are great aswell. As for the past 7 weeks, I got to hold a lot of weird animals includinga tarantula. I ate at road kill grills (famous grill house). Did service for people. Biked a ton. Had a great time with elder Appleton. I am now with elder young. It's going to be great. Not much to add other than that. I will try and make my emails more frequent so you can see the work progressing. I love you all. You all are truly great in the sight of God. Luv ya bye!
God is Love. Repentance is love. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Even the two great commandments include love:
Matthew 22:36-39
"36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
It was ultimately the Love that God has for us that he sent his Son
John 3:16
"16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Even the reason Jesus Christ died for us was out of love.
John 15:13
"13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Love is pure. Love is difficult to have sometimes, but yet it is so simple. Love is something that satan has strived to have twist on. As we know satan likes to twist the righteous ways of the Lord.
In Isaiah 59 the people of Israel fall into transgressions and here's what it says:
"8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace."
It doesn't say that they stopped going on the path, or that they went backwards completely, but their paths became Crooked. Satan takes something they already know and he twists it. Instead of an exactly straight and narrow path he makes it a "I guess that's a straight enough path" or a " it has some lumps and bumps in it but it's still a path, we can still walk on it"
It has been the same way with love. Love has been twisted and turned in the world. It has been made Crooked.
What is Love? God is Love. He has the greatest capacity to love. Love is shown in all the lessons we teach. God is our loving heavenly father. Because of that he has given us prohpets to point us to Christ, ultimatelyhe gave us His Son out of love. He has revealed His plan of Love! The gospel of Jesus Christ is how we can love God by keeping His commandments
John
14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments"
Repentance is love. Repentance is change. Repentance is correction.
Proverbs 3:12
"12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth"
The lord corrects us when we are on Crooked paths. He does this out of love. Think of it like a coach. The Coach corrects the players he/she loves. If you are not getting corrected by the coach it means the coach doesn't see potential in you. Now the Lord knows the potential of all His children. So he is willing to correct them all.
We show love back to God when we repent.
Take Luke 7
"37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."
A sinner who knew of the Savior decided to serve him in humility. Now think about what she did in humility. They had no paved roads. Their roads were most likely the most nasty of places. They had animals caring wagons all the time on those roads. They had hundreds of people walking on them. The amount of yuck that your feet can pick up back then. And this sinner. Washes them with her tears and her HAIR! image that. Imagine washing anything with you hair. Let alone someones feet in a day where there where animals everywhere and no pavement. What humility is that.
The Savior then tells Peter this
"41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?"
Peter answered the one which was forgiven more. The Savior replies by saying this:
"44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little"
Repentance is love. She loved much, she repented much. When our prophet invites us to repent daily. He is inviting us to love daily.
Love changes things. It really does. When I go out to do missionary work just to do the work and get numbers up, I don't find Joy. Its difficult. I get caught up in other things and I miss the mark. But when I go out to share this message with others because I love them. Something changes. When I see others as children of God and that they need more love. That's when I find Joy. A success missionary is not determined by numbers. But rather it is determined on your Joy in the work, it is determined by your desire and commitment.
Jesus Christ lives. He loves us. Ponder on that. Pray about that. Live by that.
I am grateful to say "I love you" to others. I love you all. I truly do. Please know my love towards you is not perfect like that of the Saviors, but know that it is there. It is there from me to you all. I love you!
Every time I see a sunset it reminds me of His Love. Everytime I see great big clouds in the sky it reminds me of His love. When the birds sing and the trees provided shade as they blossom. When I see the majestic mountains overshadow a valley. When I see children find Joy in their creation. When I see someone recieve and answer to their prayer. When I see the change in someone when their testimony sparks. When all these things an many more happen I know God Loves us.
Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world. Light for me is love, life for me is love. Jesus Christ is the Love of the world, he is the Love to the world, the love for the world. And I say these things in the lovely name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
And that is a wrap for June.
