July 13, 2014 - Shelley

July 13, 2014

It has been wonderful to hear from so many of you!  We hope you all have had a good week.  Our week has been mostly up – but we did have one disappointment.  The humanitarian project we submitted (latrines at a school) was put on hold because it was deemed a “water project” and all water projects are on hold.  Bummer!

On the bright side, however, we started teaching an English class to part of the missionaries.  Two other couples are also teaching, so we divided them into three groups – and we have twelve Elders.  It was so fun because they are really trying.  It brought out the old (not “old” – “FORMER”) teacher in me – and Clark is a natural with the Elders.  But their English is about like our French – so you can see that they have a long way to go!  Haha

And we had a totally fun “road trip”!  In order to validate our exit visas, we had to make a trip to Zambia.  I don’t really understand how it all works, but we needed to leave the country and then re-enter.  Zambia is about two hours away – and the road is actually very good.  One of the office employees, Emmanuel, volunteered to take us, so we left early on Thursday morning.  While we were there, Emmanuel needed to do some food shopping for his wife because prices there are so much cheaper.  Well . . . this is where the adventure began!  If you can remember Indiana Jones wandering through the market in Cairo, it might give you a mental picture of how we felt.  Of course, we naturally stand out because of our color, so we had some “followers”.  The market would remind you of a giant Peach Days in Pioneer Park, with booths everywhere.

These show the dried fish market.

We couldn’t take careful pictures because we were warned about losing our cameras in the crowd.

Then Emmanuel said he was going to take five live chickens home.  I thought he must be kidding – but, no!  A boy with a bike followed us around while Emmanuel bought things and added them to the pile on the bike.  The picture below shows bags of fish, beans and five LIVE chickens tied to the handbars.  He also added a hundred pounds of fou fou flour in two huge bags, and this boy pushed his bike about a mile to the car. (The bagger boys at Kent’s and Smith’s can feel very grateful!)  And yes, the live chickens rode home in the covered back of the truck!  Emmanuel said his wife would be so happy – but I told Clark never to try it!!!!

We get to see another shopping phenomenon on our way home from church on Sundays.  Large bundles of clothing are laid out in a market area.  I think it must be used clothing from different countries and agencies like Deseret Industries and Goodwill.  Anyway, then people come to shop for clothes by looking through the piles.  It is quite the social event with crowds that last into the evening.

We had a very tender mercy last Sunday.  For the first time, we were able to view “Music and the Spoken Word” as a live stream.  The last song was “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” from one of my very favorite movies – “White Christmas”.  And just as the song was ending, there was a close-up of our daughter Emily singing!  We knew that the Lord was watching out for us – it has lifted our spirits all week!

We recognize more each day that the most important way to help the people of Africa (and anywhere) is to share the message of the Gospel.  It is true and my testimony grows stronger each day.

Much love to all,  Sister Davis/Mom