Washington Tacoma Mission

Dear Parents,

Your missionary has arrived safely!

If you go to the Instagram page there should be pictures of their arrival. Instagram page is listed below. If you do not want Instagram you will miss out on some pictures.  I have attached a picture of them at the Sound.

Follow us on instagram: washingtontacomamission2020.

There is also a parent Facebook page Washington Tacoma Parents that you can request membership.

Please send all missionary mail to the Mission Office addressed to your missionary using their Elder/Sister First and Last Name:

1102 S. Pearl St.

Tacoma, WA 98465

We are so happy they are here, and love them already!

Sister Stevens
Washington Tacoma Mission

Instagram

So grateful for these wonderful missionaries that joined us today to teach repentance and baptize converts! We are so very blessed to serve together! ❤️

Last Day at the MTC!

Guys, I'm so excited!!

I'm leaving for Tacoma tomorrow! At 5 am... I'm super excited though! I'm sad to leave these people but I'm sooo exciting to get out into the field!

I'm in the middle of packing all my stuff, so hopefully this email actually makes sense.

This week went by sooo much faster than last week, and it was honestly a bit better too! I felt like there were less tears, less frustrations, and more opportunities to serve!

We got to help the new missionaries that came in this week move into their residence halls. They were all so cute and nervous and excited, and I can't believe that was me just last week haha. It was raining and snowing that day, so as we waited for them to arrive, we sang Christmas songs! We were probably a little annoying, but it was super fun! It was nice to spend time doing service rather than sit in class, so I had a blast! Even though I did catch a cold...

It's amazing how much service really makes me feel better. We got to help set up chairs for the devotional and that made such a difference! We all came out laughing and skipping and smiling, and it really just changed our attitudes!

We had that devotional on Tuesday night with Elder Mark D. Eddy from the general seventies, and his talk was sooo good! He encouraged us all to make our love for the Savior as the reason we're serving. I've been working on that, and I've felt my attitude and actions change even more as I've focused on my Savior!

Another thing that I've loved about the MTC is the classes! Every morning, we have class with our teacher named Brother G. He is amazing! I've loved learning about the gospel from him! He's also kinda really short so all the Elders in our district tease him for that. They've tried to trick him into telling them his height, and honestly, it's impressive how creative they are. It's sooo funny.

But in Brother G's class, we had the opportunity to teach this girl named Emmy. We had 7 minutes to get to know her and 5 minutes to plan a lesson. It actually went amazing! Me and my companions got to teach it, and it was so powerful! The Spirit definitely guided us on that one. She was so touched and inspired, and it was just an amazing experience. 

But probably my favorite thing about the MTC - definitely not the food - is the Go & Do experiences we get to have each Sunday. Basically, we get two hours to just study. They give us a topic we can study about and some resources, but we're supposed to be led by the Spirit so we can learn what our Father in Heaven wants us to learn. It was amazing!

I ended up studying about the premortal life and the plan of salvation. I'm not going to share too much of what I learned because it does feel a bit personal. However, I just wanted to ask you all a question and invite you to ponder over it:

During that last hug with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father before you left your heavenly home, what are some things They might've whispered to you? What did you say to Them?

I think about when I said goodbye to all my sweet little cousins who will be so big when I get back. I think about them promising to never forget me. I think about me doubting it since it'll be such a long time but still hoping that they'll remember me.

I know that's how our Savior and our Father feels. They want us to remember, to always retain in remembrance the goodness of our God.

He is good. 

He loves us, and He never wants us to forget that. I know this is true. I've felt it more strongly than I ever have before. 

I love you all! I'm excited to hear from you! 

Love,

Sister Davis <3

Pictures:

1) the snow

2) saying goodbye to my teachers (gang signs)

3) more snow

4) one of those poor souls that's never seen the snow

5) trying to figure out Brother G's height

6) district and our branch presidency

Heyy Guys!

Heyy guys!

So, I'm thinking about all the missionary email lists I've been on before, and they always have a cool topic or a cool subject line. Hopefully I'll start thinking of some haha

This week has been crazy, but I love it all! I met my companion - her name is Sister Christopherson and she's from Layton! - and I'm so grateful for her! She got in contact with me before we started last Monday and asked if I wanted to do companion study. I just assumed they'd give us more instruction for that later in the week, but we decided to do it anyway! It was a little awkward at first, but now we're really close, and I appreciate her example! It's best to take initiative! I'm so excited to meet her in person this week.

I spent about eight hours on zoom calls everyday, and for the most part, I'm able to enjoy it and stay engaged. However, the last hour of the day is a bit rough, and I have to do some jumping jacks to keep myself awake! 

I love my teachers and all my district - I'll attach a picture of them at the bottom! I'm soo excited to meet everyone at the MTC. i love them already. Plus, I feel like I've already learned so much, and I've already filled up a whole journal... it's a small journal in my defense, but I might be in trouble if I fill up one a week...

I've already taught some lessons! That's kind of surprising, but the first thing they at home MTC is have you set up appointments to teach members acting as non-members. I taught two lessons today, and the first one was a bit of a disaster, but the second one was amazing.

I think the reason the first one kinda flopped was because we were really nervous and also because we forgot to open with a prayer!

So this is kind of my theme, i guess. Prayer. Prayer is so powerful. I've never prayed as much as I do now, and I love it. I had the disruptive thought during the week that Heavenly Father might get sick of it, but like thirty seconds later, we were praying again and I was filled with love and peace and comfort, so I know that it's not true!

The Lord wants to hear from you! Always! He loves you, and I don't think I can say it enough! 

Prayer invites the Spirit into lessons, scripture study, the home, your heart, and the Spirit is a precious gift that I hope to always cherish.

I've really been thinking about how I hear Him. I've definitely heard Him and felt the Spirit more so than I ever have, but I want to identify the circumstances when I hear Him. I'm not very good at that.

One scripture that comes to mind is D&C 109:32-33. I think I want this to be my theme for my mission. It's a really good scripture, and I want to invite you all to read it and ponder on it. What are your yokes? What's holding you back from the Lord? What's keeping you from feeling the Spirit?

I've been working on some things that are my yokes, like fear and doubt. So, break it off, O Lord; break it off that thy servants may do thy work.

Love you guys! Please send some emails! I'd love to chat with you all!