With biking, yes. But Sister Woodbury and I tried running the other day for exercise... that didn't go too well. But put me on a bike and I'm happy!

5. How is your Spanish and Papiamento?

I'm super excited about this, so I'm going to cut to the chase...Melissa got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! I am so happy for her! Her baptism was so beautiful. She shared that day with John, an investigator of the other sisters on Aruba. It was really special because both of them are Arubians, and it's pretty rare for Arubians to accept the Gospel. They are usually more closed off than Latinos. So the Arubian members of the branch were beyond excited! I didn't get as many pictures of her after her baptism as I would've liked, but I'll send a couple. She is already a missionary! She was telling us that after the baptismal service, she was talking to John's mom who's not a member, and invited her to church! She told her she would be there and would sit by her and everything! She is the best. And we are so excited for David's baptism this Saturday! I told President Egbert a little about Melissa's baptism as well:

My spiritual experience this week was definitely Melissa's baptism. It was the first time an investigator that I had been teaching has been baptized, which was really exciting. Melissa was so happy when she came out of the font. A few weeks ago, we asked her how she was feeling and she said choked because of some marriage problems that she and David are having. We asked her the same question after her baptism and she said, "I feel new. I feel like I can breathe." It was so amazing to see how her baptism affected her. She received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday and the blessing she received after was so beautiful. I felt the Spirit so strong both when she got baptized and when she received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The experience I've had with David and Melissa, being able to find them and teach them and now watch them be baptized, has given me a sure knowledge of why I am on a mission. It is to help these people who have been prepared by Heavenly Father to receive the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that I am able to do this work and that I have the privilege to work with the people of Aruba!

Other than that, this week has been a little stressful because we were doing last minute things for Melissa's baptism as well as starting to work on David's baptism. But it was a good week! We had some great lessons.

Something really random that happened this week: we were at the church to meet David for his baptismal interview, and the branch president was there so we started talking to him. We found out he was there for a funeral...a woman in the ward's sister had died so they were holding the funeral at the church. We didn't know anything about this, but we walked into the chapel and saw everyone sitting there waiting for it to start, as well as the casket. We weren't going to participate because we hadn't been invited, but then the branch president asked us if we could do a special musical number for it! So we sang "How Great Thou Art" with about a 10 minute's notice at a funeral that we didn't even know was going on! It was a really beautiful service, but it made for quite the strange day...

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week leading up to Christmas! I can't wait to talk to you all in a week! I miss you so much and love you tons!

Love,

Sister Davidson

​First time eating fast food on my mission...Taco Bell!

​One of our investigators, Jesus Antonio, got a guitar for Christmas and was really excited to show us and play a little for us!

​Thanks for the Christmas cards/decorations! The card at the very top is from the First Presidency, so cool!

​Hot chocolate smiley face! (all our cups were dirty, so we drank it like soup....are you proud, mom?)

This week in Aruba was really good! Here's some news about our investigators:

We were able to see David almost every day this week! He was so happy to have us come back and told us how much he has been trying to change. He went a full day on Saturday without smoking and said he really noticed a difference and that his day went a lot better. His goal for completely giving up smoking is today, so we are really praying that he will have the strength and faith to fulfill his goal and quit. He has been making a lot of progress. We invited him to pray about a baptismal date and he told us a few days later that he wants to be baptized on December 23rd! We were so happy to hear that! His wife Melissa was interviewed on Saturday and is so excited for her baptism on the 16th. She is so prepared and is being a great example for David. Another investigator we have, Leasbeth, made a big step this week. She prayed about Joseph Smith and got her answer almost immediately. It was a beautiful experience that she shared with us. We taught her the Book of Mormon and she prayed about that as well and said she got the same answer. She loves this Gospel and already knows without a doubt that it is true. She is amazing and we are excited to keep working with her! The same thing happened with Steven, a young man from Colombia that we have been teaching. Last week we talked to him about prayer and the Holy Ghost and how he can receive his answer that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He asked how we received our answers and seemed very willing to pray and ask. When we met with him yesterday, he said he had prayed and that Heavenly Father answered him and he knows Joseph Smith was His prophet. He said he felt it in his heart, and he couldn't exactly describe the feeling, but he knows it's true. He even watched the Restoration movie and one of President Monson's conference talks all on his own! We taught him about the Book of Mormon as well and he seemed very interested in reading it.

I feel like the highlight of my week every week is David and Melissa, but I can't help it! Their testimonies are so strong and they are truly amazing and prepared. Yesterday, we were teaching David about the Sabbath Day and told him that a great thing  to do on Sundays is to come out with us and help us teach. When we told him that, he got so excited and said, "Really? I can do that? I would love to! I love helping people and I want to share my testimony with them!" He is super eager to help so we are going to bring him to some appointments this week. It was so amazing to see him have such a strong desire to tell others about the Gospel and share his testimony. 

David and Melissa's daughter Angelica turned 7 yesterday and they were telling us that she is so impatient to turn 8 because she wants to be baptized! She was excited for her party, but David said that every day leading up to her birthday, Angelica would wake up and say, "I just want to be 8 so I can be baptized!" She is so cute! She loves coming to church and her mom said that she lays out her dress for church every Saturday night so she's ready to go in the morning. We are so excited that they are all preparing to be baptized! They are an amazing family.

Sorry this email is kind of short this week, but I don't have too much time! I love you all so much and hope you have wonderful weeks! Continue to enjoy the Christmas season and focusing on Christ's birth and life. It's a beautiful time of year! I love you all beyond words!

Love,

Sister Davidson

Pictures: 

We befriended a stray dog! He is the cutest puppy ever and he was really hungry so we gave him some ham leftovers...and named him Scout! Now we're good friends and he visits us every so often​ :)

​Beautiful morning sky (featuring Scout!)

Yesterday we had zone conference, so our P-day was moved to today. We talked about member missionary work in ZC and it was amazing! One of my favorite ZC's so far. I hope you are all doing your best to share the Gospel and help the full-time missionaries in your wards :)

This week was a little difficult...a lot of our appointments cancelled, we tried contacting many times without success, we weren't able to find any new investigators, etc. For that, this week felt really long. But Sister Woodbury and I kept praying that our week would improve and that we could do all we can to make it happen. And the Lord answered our prayers! On Saturday, we didn't have many appointments so we decided that as we rode our bikes to our appointments and everything else we had to do, we would stop and talk to everyone we saw. So we did and it was successful! We had a lot of amazing contacts and found some new people to teach! This lifted our spirits and remotivated us to keep working hard and talking and sharing the Gospel with everyone. We were also blessed on Sunday to have 5 investigators at church! I wrote President Egbert about it:

 Church this week was great because we had 5 investigators there! Melissa and Juan David (Melissa's son) were there, as well as Christina--she is fairly new and this was her first time at church. She loved it and said she can't wait to come back next week and stay for all three hours (she could only stay for the first one yesterday). We also two contacts show up for the last two hours. We were surprised because we didn't think they would actually come, but it was a great surprise! We contacted them on Saturday and invited them church. After church, we set up an appointment with them for Thursday and they told us they also planned on coming to the Christmas dinner on Friday! They are brothers from Venezuela and they are super nice and have potential.

Yesterday, we had family home evening with a family in the branch and Melissa and her son:

We had a family home evening with her and her 11 year son, Juan David, last night. The Terrones family from the branch hosted it. It was great! We gave the lesson and talked about God's love for us. We had really great discussion and everyone bore beautiful testimonies of how they have felt God's love in their lives. I loved hearing Melissa because I could really tell how much she has grown since we first started teaching her. One thing she said is that before, when she heard bad words from other people or herself, it wouldn't really bother her. But now since she has the Gospel in her life, when she hears people talking about bad things or when she has a bad thought, she notices a difference. And she said when this happens, she starts praying that God will help her to have better thoughts. She is so amazing and excited for her baptism (and so are we!). She is being a great example for David as he is going through this difficult time. Being able to have taught this family from the start has really been a blessing to me because I have been able to see how the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how His Gospel can bring a family closer together and closer to God. I am so thankful for this Gospel and that I can share it with others.

I know we all have difficult times, days, weeks, or months, but if we keep our faith and continue to pray for Heavenly Father's help, He will give it to us and strengthen us! I have found a lot of comfort in the scriptures recently. They can be applied to our lives so perfectly, and when I read them, I feel so much closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I feel the influence of the Spirit more strongly in my life. So continue to read your scriptures! They can help all of us. 

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Davidson

Pictures:

​Wall above my desk where I study...it makes me happy!

We made a little Plan of Salvation outline for a recent convert...it has flaps for each part with the description underneath! We were very proud of it

​Charcoal face masks and our little paper nativity! (I look mad, but it's just because I couldn't move my face because of the mask)

​Contacting!

​Sister Woodbury got a package with Christmas decorations! We've been having a lot of fun...

This week was a really good one, because we had some amazing lessons filled with the Spirit with our investigators. It was also a lot of fun because the rainy season has started and we have had some crazy storms!...I mean crazy. One night, we were trying to sleep but couldn't because of the lightning and thunder. I could see the flashes of lightning through my eyelids and the thunder was so loud that I could feel it in my chest. It even shook the apartment a couple times! The rain flooded most of the streets, and there are now even more potholes than usual because the roads aren't built for the rain and just sink when the water washes away the dirt underneath. Also, there was a little tornado that touched down in the ocean not very far from the beach! Sister Hardy and I could see it forming when we were riding our bikes, and then a member showed us a picture of it actually touching the water a couple days later. Crazy! But it's been really fun :) By some miracle, we have only been caught in the rain once, when we were riding our bikes home from an appointment one night. But we got absolutely soaked! We were freezing when we got in the house, which was a weird feeling. We don't get cold here much in the Caribbean. 

Other exciting/ really sad news from this week: We got transfer calls! Good news first: I'm staying in Aruba! I'm so happy, I love the area and our investigators and the members. Bad news: Sister Hardy is going to Bonaire :( And she will be training a new missionary, so she has to go to Bonaire early to learn how navigate it before her companion arrives, so she is leaving on Tuesday (tomorrow). My new companion will be Sister Woodbury! I've heard really great things about her, so I'm excited to work with her. 

David and Melissa have been progressing really well, and we are still preparing them for Dec. 2. Only Melissa was able to come to church this week, but she brought their 2 daughters who are 6 and 2. The older daughter, Angelika, was so excited to come and absolutely loved it! This week was the Primary Program (cutest thing ever) and when she saw them all sitting up on the stand, she told her Mom, "Are they going to make me go up there? I'm not ready for that yet." She's so cute!

There's another great family that we are teaching right now who are progressing really well. They are Ingrid and Segundo, and Ingrid's son Steven (they are probably in their 50s and Steven in his early 20s). We taught them the Restoration yesterday and we started by asking what they remember about the last time. Segundo totally remembered about prophets and the Priesthood and why they have to have the Priesthood (this is amazing...people don't usually remember all that). And Ingrid talked about apostasy and how we need a prophet so that we don't go astray. It was amazing! When we shared the First Vision the Spirit was really strong, and we committed them to praying about Joseph Smith. They had some really thoughtful questions and they seem really genuine. At the end of the lesson they thanked us for coming and said they always learn something new when we come. I'm really excited to meet with them again next week!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving week! We will be celebrating here as a district :) I'm so thankful for all of you and your testimonies! Mi ta stima boso!

Love,

Sister Davidson

1. Do you come across a lot of people from the US/Canada?
Not too much, only if we're down in Playa where all the tourists are. But even then, they don't usually want to talk to us because they can tell we're missionaries. But we've seen some LDS people who are here on a cruise before and they always yell out to us and come over to talk to us, so that's fun!
2. Have you done sightseeing things on Aruba?
Most of the sightseeing things are the beaches, so kind of yes. We had our district activity today and we biked the whole island! It's 31 km long, so it wasn't too long and it was beautiful! There's a lighthouse at the top where we took some pictures, I'll send them. It was beautiful! And now I can say I've biked across a country...that sounds pretty cool.
3. Do you eat out much? If so, where? Fast food?
When we eat out, it's only on P-Day, and it hasn't been fast food so far. We usually go to sit down restaurants (not super fancy, just not fast food). There's some really good restaurants with food from all over!
4. How is your island split up with languages/Elders & Sisters?
There are 4 areas and every missionary here is a Spanish missionary. 2 areas are elders and 2 are sisters.
 (I won't include these in the big email to everyone on your list):

5. Do you sleep well? How has your health been?
I sleep like a rock! I'm so tired every night, I haven't had a problem with it yet. My health has been good. I've been kind of sick once, but I got a Priesthood blessing and it never got bad enough to where I couldn't work. It was just my throat and my head.
6. How do your crocs fit?
So well! They're super comfortable and I love them! Thank you!
7. Do you have a microwave?
Yes, thank goodness :)
8. Why did you ask for no bake cookie recipe...too hot to use oven?

I just love no bake cookies. We don't have an oven though...we have a microwave oven, and I don't really know how to work it, so that's also why no bakes are a must.

​Cruise ship! I can't wait to take one of these here with all of you :)

​We ordered Domino's on weekly planning day! Sister Hardy gives it a thumbs up

​Thanks for the nail polish Mom! It really brings out my tan lines...