week 55, August 22, 2016

Area:

Companion: Elder Christian

Date:  August 22, 2016

whats up everyone I have one transfer down in this area but, transfer went well. We got to go pick up the new Sister Missionaries coming in at the airport on Tuesday pretty weird to be back in an airport haha. Then on Wednesday we had the departing dinner for the missionaries who are all leaving that was pretty fun. Well update on our investigators Nathan kinda wanted space from the church cause things got a little rough with him (girlfriend broke up with him/ family stuff) but, to cope with it he read the Book of Mormon A LOT which is awesome he told us he knows its true and that it has brought him so much joy! So we will keep praying for him! Also Kealey is doing ok she needs a lot of prayers but we hope to answer a lot of her questions this week! This Sunday one of the Stake Presidents daughter brought her boy toy to church so we went and started talking to him super sick kid we have a teaching appointment with him on Wednesday super stoked for him he seems really promising! I mean come on if you're gonna date the Stake Presidents daughter it is bound to happen just sayin! Well also we have been preparing for Mission Tour I am super stoked for! We have Elder Ringwood of the 70 coming to our mission and we are picking him up and then like spending the rest of the night with him on Wednesday can't wait for that! Then we will go to MKE Stake Center (Milwaukee) with him and half the mission on Thursday to have like a conference and then Friday we will go up to Green Bay and do the same thing with the other half of the mission! Well ya that is pretty much all we did this week I will probably have a lot more to tell you next week with all this exciting stuff happening!

So on espiritual side of things we had a great Sacrament meeting! The First councilor in the Stake Presidency Spoke in the YSA and invited like 10 non members and they all came but most were female so the sisters took care of that but, his talk was soooo good! He spoke on a lot but this one thing he said was so profound! He said " A baby chick will grow up to be a chicken a colt will grow up to be a horse and just like a child of God will one day become Him!" Ah man that was so cool and so true it just makes sense if we are children of God we have that potential to become like him!! I know that is part of our Doctrine that people get so caught up with but if you think of it like that it only makes sense! I know we are all truly Children of God. I have felt His love so strong for me and he has answered my prayers I know I am truly a Child of God! How lucky am I to be able to preach that to others! I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Love Elder DeSantis

no pics this week sorry

Week 54, August 15, 2016

Area:

Companion:Elder Christian

Date:  August 15, 2016

Man this week was so stressful we had so many things to do and it just felt like things were not gonna get finished but they did we DID IT! My first transfer down in this area pretty crazy to think because it went by so fast definitely the fast one in the mission by far. It was really cool to see the Lords hand in doing transfer the Lord really puts his missionaries where they need to be and it is in different ways they get there it is pretty cool! We also had a going away dinner with one of the old AP's he is awesome it was a great night we closed with a testimony meeting and it was so cool Kealey (our investigator) came that and man was the spirit so strong it was so cool! Everyone bore powerful testimony even Kealey! I also finally got a picture with our Mission President so I will be sure to send that! Um ya pretty much the rest of the stuff has been office things this week. I am sorry this one is pretty lame I just have so many things to still finish haha and nothing really exciting happened! Just know though if you hear anything about Milwaukee and Riots I am safe and the whole mission is as well we are making sure of it!

A verse I really liked is in Mosiah 29: 20 "But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him"

Love you all

Elder DeSantis

Week 53, August 8, 2016

Area:

Companion:

Date:  August 8, 2016

Well everyone these days are all mixing together but, this week was really good! We had some amazing lessons with some of our investigators and Less Actives we are working with! We had one with Kealey and our Mission President and his wife. That was such an awesome lesson I love how the Spirit truly directs our lessons and things come into our minds that we would have never thought of before! I was able to have so many powerful lessons with people I love it! One sad thing that we found out is that Nathan wont be getting baptized this Saturday some complications came up but keep him in your prayers because we need miracles! Kealey one of our investigators has a Date for Sept. 10 and we are really hoping she will make it! Haha she is so funny I wish I could remember all the things she says but she cracks us up all the time! I feel like her and Katie would be such good friends they are like the same age as well! Funny thing happened yesterday when we were doing a Family Home Evening with a family form one of the wards. This little Kid Darren (he is 5) is so funny. We had a closing prayer and right when it ends he is like "Nathan had his eyes open during the prayer he is going to go to the Terrestrial kingdom!" ah man I couldn't stop laughing hahahaha I love it! Little kids are honestly the best! I just realized that I don't have a picture with President and Sister Williams well I will get one soon. Oh man we also saw this awesome church they have in Down Town Milwaukee it is so cool it is from 1402, it was shipped here from France I believe piece by piece so crazy! I took a picture from the inside (don't worry they said we are allowed to I asked) but I forgot to take one of the out side of it my bad. Well I think that is all that really happened this week.

So there was a verse that I read yesterday that I really liked it is in 2 Nephi 9:10 "O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit."

I love it because we all have different levels of the "awful monster" some are stronger then others but what is amazing is that God has prepared a way out for us from this "awful monster" He gave us His only begotten Son to prepare this way out for us! There is always Hope in Christ ALWAYS! I love you all His Atonement is real and is infinite use it daily!

Kealey and Jordan

Love Elder DeSantis  

Week 52, August 1, 2016

Area:  Brownfield

Companion:

Date:  August 1, 2016

Hey everyone good week this week man I honestly am having a hard time remembering on what we did this week they are just going by so fast and they all feel so combined but, we had some really good lessons with one of our investigators. Her name is Kealey and I have never met anyone who has such real-intent to know if it is true! She is so awesome super funny cracks me up so much! She has read the whole Book of Mormon cover to cover and she felt that she didn't get her answer if it was true but just felt super peaceful after finishing it. So when she said that we had her read D&C 6 22" Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried untome in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.

 23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?24 And now, behold, you have received a witness; for if I have told you things which no man knoweth have you not received a witness? "                                                                                                                  Man when she read that the spirit was so strong! She just has some doubts still but if you could keep her in your prayers that she will be able to be baptized that would be awesome! Well weird story we were about to go into a meeting with our mission president to discuss somethings and before we went in I looked at Elder Christian and had the strongest impression that our president was going to offer us some Sprechers Root Beer (super popular here) and so I told him and then we sit down and before we start he says "do you all want to some Root Beer?" Man that was so weird we look at each other just so confused I guess the Spirit just wanted to show me that he truly knows all things haha! Ya so right now things are good just have so much to do and feel overwhelmed some days but it has been really good so far! Well I am sorry I don't have much time to write but I love you all hope you have a great week! Hope to hear from you all next week! 

Love Elder DeSantis

Week 51, July 25, 2016

Area:  Brownfield

Companion:

Date:  July 25, 2016

Hey everyone so ya this week was cookin hot like 95 plus like I swear 100% humidity I am like cutting the air when I walk! But that hasn't stopped the work by any means! The missions numbers are killing it right now which is so awesome, we also had our baptismal date come to church again (Nathan) he is so awesome so that was sweet to have him there! This week we went on exchanges with some elders oh man the funniest thing happened and I guess sad but man so when I was on exchanges with elder Thatcher we were driving back to meet up with the other elders and we were in the super ghetto of Milwaukee and that is like super ghetto but anyway we were stopped in traffic at a red light and I was talking with elder Thatcher and all of a sudden he was like "oh geez look" and so I looked to my left and there is just this little kid staring right at me with like a most straight faced I have ever seen haha he scared me so bad but I roll down my window and just asked him what was up and what not haha so funny! Probably a lot more funny in the moment but I thought I would share. So ya I guess I will tell you a little more about the area I am in so we have two areas to cover one which is for the two colleges in Milwaukee (Marquette and UWM) we usually just walk around the campus and just talk to college kids it is pretty fun and actually the work in that area is doing really well! I really like Milwaukee a lot actually the downtown is so sweet and has awesome restaurants and what not so ya the city is super sweet! Then the other part is Brook-field and man this is probably one of the most wealthy areas in Wisconsin and most of the HUGE houses are people from India so that is cool none are really interested but they are usually really nice sometimes. But ya there house are just monsters... (like that one) but the work in that area is a little bit slower we are still trying to find people to teach so pray for us! We have been seeing a lot of cool tender mercies with people though coming up to us and like asking us awesome questions so it has been really good! I am starting to get more and more comfortable with this new area so that is nice. Elder Christian and I get a long great I don't think I have said anything about him so he is from Sacramento, Texas and he has been on his mission for like 22 months so he is headed home soon but, he is a great elder!

There is a quote that I love and I feel like it applies to me it says "God cares more about eternal progression then our comfort." it is so true because we all know that we can not grow in the comfort zone so God allows us to be put in situations so that we may grow even though it may seem too uncomfortable for us. I have never felt so uncomfortable like I have on my mission truly what I am doing is so weird haha but I have never grown so much and I know it is because God wants me to grow and gives me situations to grow and it just depends on us if we choose to work through or just take the easy way out and get back in the comfort zone! I encourage all of you to get out of your comfort zone and share this gospel with people this week! Thanks for all you do for me! Let me know if I can help with anything!

Davies Family

Week 50, July 18, 2016

Area:  Brownfield

Companion:

Date:  July 18, 2016

Well this week cooked by no joke we have been so busy with so much stuff again and we will pretty much have almost every week like this so ya. Hmm this week was good pretty crazy to say the least but a good one. We had a lot of people come to church well maybe not a lot but some which is always nice. One of our Investigators Nathan who is going to be baptized on August 13th came and he really liked it! We are so stoked for him he is awesome! We also had two of the less actives come that we visited and invited to church, I love seeing less actives come back because it truly is just as important as baptizing someone so ya I was super excited to see all of them at church! We also went on exchanges this week and guess who I went with Elder Whimpey haha oh man it was so crazy doing missionary work with him again and this time having our investigators be for real haha. I love that guy it was a lot of fun! Well now to describe why my subject is "The Lord Protects his servants." So on Wednesday we had an appointment with a less active (he came to church so it was all worth it) and on our way back some kid ran a red light like super red like mine had been green for a minute so ya I went through our green light and out of no where this truck comes cookin into the intersection and I was going like 45 (the speed limit was 45 as well just thought I would clarify so you didn't think I was speeding) so I had like no time to react and we just T-boned the crap out of him and destroyed our front left side of the car like destroyed you will see in the pictures. Well ya after that happened our car like turned like a 180 and finally came to stop and we were so confused like smoke everywhere so crazy. So the police and everyone get there and we get checked out and all is well only thing that happened between us is that the air bag burned my left arm haha it actually really hurt but hey I mean I will take that! The only reason I tell this story is because my mom got notified of like a prescription they gave me so ya she found out so I have to tell the story now but get this there is more so this burn that I get stops right where my garment begins pretty freaking sweet if you ask me! So I know that the Lord truly protects his servants!

So during church on Sunday someone said this quote during their talk and I never thought about this before but it is so true so it goes like this If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away. [Bruce C. Hafen, “The Atonement: All for All,” Ensign, May 2004, 97]"

I think this is so I never would have thought of it like that because so many times we think when we are doing what we are suppose to we think that all should be going great and sometimes it does but, other times he wants us to grow and we know that when we give God our weakness he will make them our strengths and I know that to be true many of my weakness have come out on my mission but it has been amazing to seem them become more of my strengths! I love this Gospel I know it is true and I know that it can bless anyone life as long as we live it! Thank you again for your prayers they truly are being heard and answered!

love Elder DeSantis

Elder Reina and Elder Whimpey

Week 49, July 11, 2016

Area:  Brownfield

Companion:

Date:  July 11, 2016

Hey everyone well this week was crazy busy I have had so many meetings with President Williams and other missionaries! My new area is pretty sweet I cover two wards one is Brownfield and man almost every house is this huge mansion so we don't really go door to door we try park contacting which is super awkward at first but then you just learn to not care haha. So ya that area is a little rough we are still trying to find people to teach in that ward. The other ward I serve in is a YSA which is so weird just having a bunch of guys who were in my shoes not too long ago. They are all super cool and pretty motivated to keep doing missionary work! We also are on Marquette Campus trying to just talk to college kids as they walk by and also we go to UWM college. For being in this type of area we actually have a decent amount of Baptisms which is crazy and super sweet! Ya a little bit about my week we have been helping President Williams kinda catch up on all the meetings he has to do and help him plan and then we had MLC (mission leadership council) so all the Zone Leaders,Sister training leaders APs and then the Mission President and his wife it was fun we gave a training on somethings to all of them so crazy cause all of these people I am "training" I use that term loosely cause I don't know how much I "train" them have soo much more experience then me! But ya the meeting went well set some good goals and what not as a mission! It is super funny to see how different our Mission President is compared to our old like pretty polar opposite but they are both just amazing. The rest of the week was really good nothing to crazy happened but, I ran into what people think as like my twin which was weird cause when I got there people were like you remind me Jordan. When I finally met the guy it was weird so we both had the same time pretty close to the same glasses and then we have the same bag and the same watch it was pretty freaky we just kept finding stuff pretty funny the guy is super cool though! So ya only really investigator we have is Nathan who is super awesome he has a date to be baptized of August 13th so if you could be praying that it happens that would be awesome! Thank you all for your prayers I truly felt them this week my nerves of being AP were going away I have started to feel more confidence each day and I know it is because of all the prayers! 

My Spiritual message comes from a talk I heard on Sunday. He spoke of the parable of the Goats and the Sheep that Jesus gives. So what the speaker did was pretend like he was having a conversation with Christ and asking him why he is on the left side and not on the right side because he lived his like well always being worthy of a temple recommend and what not. So Jesus goes on to tell him well when I was Hungry you didn't feed me. When I was naked you didn't clothe me. So he goes on to say if you don't have much money to give food to people or give clothes he speaks of it spiritually. When someone is hungry to hear the word and you didn't share with them anything of the Gospel or when they are naked you didn't share with them how they can one day put on the beautiful white garments to clothe them. I love the twist he put on it and I wish I could remember more of how he put it but I truly do know that one day we will look back and ask ourselves why didn't I say anything to them why didn't I give them this beautiful gift of the Gospel! Don't be afraid to share the Gospel when things come up because I know that the spirit we bring to people they will ask what that is and all we have to do is tell them and allow the Holy Ghost to tell them it is true! I love you all just know I am doing good and really enjoying my mission right now! Let me know if there is anything I can do! 

Love Elder DeSantis