April 21, 2009

I'm glad my package was like Christmas. I am very glad to hear that you so enjoyed my letters and journal entries. I have heard from all three of you that reading them was a lot of fun. I did get your letter finally so hopefully you will have gotten my response. I got this package really fast. Just remember that transfers are on May 12.

Letters are simple but they are definitely so rewarding and powerful sometimes. Simple things definitely mean the most. The message we are sharing is DEFINITELY simple and profound.

The things in my package were AWESOME! I was so very excited when I opened it. The music you sent is awesome. I am very happy to have opportunities to play the piano. I haven't had any opportunity thus far to sing, but one of the ladies in the branch mentioned that she is putting together a choir program of some sort and could use a baritone voice.

We are short of investigators in a relative sense but we have way more than you ever did I'm sure so I can't complain. (This is in reference to Evan's mission in Switzerland and Germany.) I'm just glad we have people to teach and AWESOME members who enjoy getting lessons from us as well.

It is such a weird feeling recognizing people so strongly that I truly wonder if I have met them in this life before. I have come to the realization that I really wish ALL of them would just accept the message! I am doing my best to come up with new and creative ways of presenting the message. It keeps me entertained.

I'm glad you liked the story about the Jehovah's Witness. I'm also happy that I can share the feeling of the Spirit in places other than just California. It's hard for me to fathom that people wouldn't celebrate holidays but whatever floats your boat I guess. ;) Hopefully that bread crumb will lead her to where she needs to go. Just one minor correction, they weren't my words of wisdom, they were God's through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

I'm very happy to hear that things are good at home. 4" of snow sounds absolutely miserable and fabulous at the same time. It's been near 90 here the past few days and it's not much fun, but it is very beautiful.

Sounded in your email like things with your sustaining went very well. I'm excited for you more than you know. You will NOT come up short. Just rely on the Lord and you will do EXACTLY what he needs.

I'm glad my journal was so loved by all of you. I will have to do that more often. Then slingshot experience was SO much fun. I know it's totally not like me but I loved it. In fact, despite how much it hurt, I had so much fun I'd consider doing it again. Dumb teenage missionaries. ;) (In case you'd like to read this story, I have included it below.)

Love,

Elder Jay Davis

(Here is the entry from Jay's journal where he tells about the slingshot.)
Well, that night Elder Powell really wanted to shoot Elder Neeley with his slingshot. Elder Neeley obviously wasn't to excited about that but he agreed with a soft little ball. Well after Elder Powell shot it at him Elder Neeley was disappointed cuz he'd barely felt it. So he was like okay, let's find something we can actually feel. So we found these gummy candy things but they were pretty hard AND had a rough sugar coating. Well Elder Powell shot Elder Neeley's bare back. Oh boy did it hit hard. You should have heard the noise Elder Neeley made. It was SO funny. I have it recorded on video so that'll be good. Then it was payback time so Elder Neeley was given the slingshot and candy and Elder Powell stood with his shirt raised. Elder Neeley showed no mercy and pulled back hard on the slingshot and pelted Elder Powell hard. Well next...it was my turn. I usually don't do stupid pointless things like this but I decided what the heck. It's not like it was doing any permanent damage. So I stood in position, shirt raised, and Elder Powell shot me. It didn't hurt nearly as badly as I was expecting it to. So I didn't react as crazily as the other two. They were all surprised that I made it seem like it didn't hurt, especially since mine looked the worst! Then it was time for round two. So I stood there again, (I was the one that the bottle pointed to in spin the bottle) and Elder Neeley (feeling really bad he was shooting me) shot me with the candy making sure he didn't hit the same spot. The second one hurt more initially but the first one lingered longer. Then it was my turn to shoot Neeley and Powell. I didn't have any intention of showing any mercy. I mean where's the fun in that. So I aimed dead center on each of their backs and pulled back as far as I could and let it rip. I left some SERIOUS marks on them Anyway, we all had lots of fun and told lots of stories of home and then went to bed.