May 31, 2015 - Shelley

May 31, 2015

It’s been another week of change.  Our mission lost 5 of its 15 senior missionaries!  Including President and Sister Thomas, there were 11 of us serving here in Lubumbashi, and there were two senior couples serving in Burundi.  Burundi is a small country bordering the DR Congo and is a part of our mission.  Sister Emma

Anthony finished her 18-month mission and left for home this week.   

Left to right:  Dr. Mikesell, Sister Mikesell, Clark, me, Sister Vance, Sister Thomas (peeking from behind), Sister Anthony, Sister Cook, President Thomas, Sister Draper, and Elder Draper.

In a previous letter, I think I mentioned about the political unrest in Burundi and that the young missionaries had been pulled out.  Well, the two senior couples wanted to stay, but as the violence increased, it was determined that they should leave.  By that time, the airport was closed.  After making a trial run to see if it was safe, a local church member drove the two senior couples for seven hours into Rwanda – then they flew to Johannesburg.  One couple decided to return home to the US and the other was reassigned to a different African mission.  So we’re down to ten senior missionaries, with no prospects on the horizon for replacements!  Anyone up for a tremendous adventure?!  I am 100% serious when I say that you would love it!

Our last week was spent getting Marcel, our new translator, oriented to our projects.  Steve has been wonderful to help him, but he starts his new job on June 1st.  Below is my able companion

with all three of our translators – Flavien, Steve, and Marcel.

The photo below shows a meeting of disgruntled villagers in the Kafubu Health Zone.  This is the place where we

trained 14 technicians to repair wells a few weeks ago.  The next step is for the villages to collect $300 to be put in a bank account for future repairs.  The church will pay 100% of the first repair.  It seems to be a hard concept for people to grasp.  This group of villagers have raised part of their money but won’t give it to the health zone to be put in the bank.  They don’t trust the health zone doctor or the bank!  Arghh!!!!

Another meeting for a different project was with a neighborhood chief and his family to tell them that their water project has been approved.  Their job now will be to dig the trenches for the water pipes.  Clark asked the chief’s wife if he could take her picture and she ran into her house and got gussied up in about two minutes!  She was a

really cute, talkative gal!

Clark charmed some other ladies in the village who were preparing food.  They were more reluctant to have a picture taken.

The dry season has arrived.  It seems like it rained nearly everyday during the rainy season – and then it just stopped.  We hear that it won’t rain again for about six months.  That means that it’s time for roof repair, among other things.

All along the village roads there are vendors selling grass to make new roofs on the huts.

We met with a lawyer this week to iron

out the final details on the Regideso water project.  

Another activity that is occurring during the dry season is roadwork – just like in the US!  The road in front of our old house was recently paved for the first time.  Stripes have been added to a few streets downtown.  This street below

still has tires to separate the lanes, but more and more streets are getting stripes.  Not that stripes really make a difference because driving is what you could call a “free-for-all” – kind of like the bumper cars at Lagoon.  Amazingly enough, we haven’t seen that many accidents.  Cars get in a jam quite often, but the speeds are slow and people just wangle their way around.  The rule seems to be that you can drive anywhere there’s a space – no matter what side of the road that space is on.  Everyone has to be a defensive driver, and it makes for quite a few “white-knuckle rides”!

We delivered our final batch of backpacks to an orphanage.  We have been to this all-girl home many times.  It’s run by nuns and is always very clean.  There are 30 girls ranging in age from 4 to 20 in this home.  This little cutie has her backpack and blue sucker and is

ready to rumble!

Undoubtedly our biggest news of the week was the arrival of Goldie Valentine Davis!!!  She is the daughter of our son Nate and his wife Laci.  We complain quite a bit about our lack of connectivity – but this week a real miracle occurred.  Almost as it happened, we were able to hear Goldie’s first cry through an audio transmission!  It was like being there!

I recently listened again to the talk given by Linda K. Burton on the Proclamation on the Family.  It made me realize once more how blessed I am to be a member of a church that values the family unit.  I’m grateful to have the privilege of being a mother and grandmother.   I can’t wait to give

some hugs and kisses to this little doll when we get home!

And Happy 8th Birthday this week to our grandson, Luke Muhlestein!!!!

Have a great week!  Love,  Mom/

G-ma/Soeur Davis

May 30, 2015 - Clark

Saturday, May 30, 2015

It has been a busy week as we have tried to get the most out of Steve’s last week with us as a translator.  We have pushed hard and have been tired to the bone.  Marcel is developing nicely and has a good sense of humor.  We had a major breakthrough yesterday on Kamweneja where we are repairing the roofing on an old school.  The installer hasn’t been paid and we have tried to negotiate a written contract signed by the Archbishop of the Diocese, Pere Gideon.  He not only signed the contract but gave us a bolt of Catholic fabric from their teachers’ celebration.  There were several coincidences that occurred with the exact timing and I want to remember those events.  The bottom line is our intervention saved the project and resolved an impasse that seemed non-negotiable.  We also were able to negotiate a reduced price for the school from the installer and managed to retain him as an ally. We’re going shopping on Monday for materials for the second phase and all parties seem content.

I don’t know why everything is so hard to complete but it is.  It is probably because of the corruption that exists at every level.  We are still struggling to get the contract signed by Regideso and the attorney has been reviewing and revising it all week with no end in sight.  The provider of repair tools for Kafubu Health Zone, Africa Business has had us return  nearly a dozen time looking for the same pieces of equipment he shorted us in  the original order.  Katimel orphanage received 5 sewing machines two months ago that are still in their boxes because Fifi, the director hasn’t made contact with Therese Ndaya, the teacher from Notre Dame School for Girls.  It’s starting to feel like tax season; it’s not the stress of a single week or a single major project, it is the cumulative effect that eventually catches up with you.  

This has been our first full week in our new home.  The location change has been enjoyable because we are in the same compound as the other senior missionaries.  It is also more convenient to the office where most of our humanitarian paperwork is completed.  The new surroundings have pluses and minuses but overall we have liked the change.  

We welcomed a new grandchild into the family this last week, Goldie Valentine Davis, daughter of Laci and Nate.  She was born on the 27th and we have already received several cute pictures.  Mom is so excited to hold Charlie and Goldie who have been born in our absence.  Times like these make it difficult to be separated from family but even with the connectivity problems we have, isn’t technology great.  We were able to hear her first cry and see mother and child in the birthing room just minutes after her arrival.  For me childbirth is such a magical time and one of life’s great miracles in which we are privileged to participate.  

Sunday, May 31, 2015

We just returned from bringing Euphrasie home from her first church meeting.  The sister missionaries are assigned to this sector and we thought they had taught her a lesson, but they had only called her and invited her to attend.  That doesn’t sound so difficult but she has no car and the church is 10-15 minutes away by car and requires a taxi and a couple of bus transfers to get there.  We were so excited to see her walk into the meeting.  

Lily is the Bishop’s wife and we had Euphrasie sit next to her during a 5th Sunday lesson conducted by the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric.  We were reviewing a conference message from Elder Perry on families.  The next meeting was the investigator’s class and there must have been 15-20 investigators.  The missionaries are 2 sets of sisters and they were constantly in and out of the class, trying to coordinate the arrangements for teaching and contacting.  We were impressed with the missionaries’ efforts, but the members didn’t really go out of their way to introduce themselves to this new sister who had joined them for the first time.  

Sacrament meeting was last and at the conclusion of the meeting a single relief society sister introduced herself.  I guess they have too many people come and go to the point that no one notices.  Euphrasie seemed unphased by it all and was just as pleased as could be.  Dr. Mikesell was driving and we volunteered to take her home.  She lives within walking distance of the mission home.  She had us wait when she returned home and she introduced us to her mother and her granddaughter.  She was genuinely happy to have us meet them.  The sister missionaries made an appointment to teach her a lesson next Saturday and asked us to attend.  We’ll keep you informed.

Elder and Sister Draper also had a missionary experience today.  They had invited Tommy to sacrament meeting in Luano.  Tommy is the fellow who serves as an accommodator at the airport for any visitors coming and going.  He lives in the Luano area by the airport and Drapers have been assigned to that ward.  Tommy did come for sacrament meeting and said he would bring his family next week.  

It is exciting to see how people’s lives can be changed by the gospel.  We have enjoyed humanitarian work but have missed out on not being able to proselyte.  It seems odd that a referral here is not treasured; I suppose it is because there are so many people prepared to hear the gospel message.  I remember as a young missionary that a referral was gold because it was someone who already was familiar with the church or a church member.  We originally gave the Euphrasie referral to the AP’s who failed to contact her or pass it on to the sisters.  I had to intervene last Tuesday at Zone conference luncheon and take the AP to Sister Wamalwa’s table and extract a promise she would contact Euphrasie.  We texted yesterday to remind her and she had done nothing.  In her defense she did call and extend the invitation and Euphrasie made the effort to attend.  

Shelley is in the kitchen working on muffins for the 6 sister missionaries who live at our old apartment complex.  She had promised to teach them how to make muffins and is making good on the promise this afternoon.  It makes it difficult when they don’t have measuring spoons, no muffin tin and they do all of their cooking outside on an open flame.  The sisters do have an oven in their apartment that is never used.  Mom is always looking for ways to help and teach others.  It reminds me of the projects organized with the granddaughters.  She has plenty of ideas for the future.  

Her next project is preparing dinner for 20 people on Tuesday.  Elder Hamilton and his wife will be here from the Area Presidency as well as David Frischknecht who is the Director of Temporal Affairs (DTA).  I believe we continue to receive visitors because we are recognized as the poorest mission in the church and they want a first-hand adventure.  Don’t get me wrong, the senior couples are really spoiled and we enjoy the people.  This is not a sight-seeing destination but there is plenty to remember.  Sister Anthony, who just left on Monday, said it all seems like a dream in no time at all and it’s far too easy to slip back into your old lifestyle.  We’ve often said we don’t know if we’re changing Africa, but Arica is definitely changing us.  

Have a great week,

Love Dad (Elder Davis)

May 24, 2015 - Shelley

May 24, 2015

As I sat down to write today, my computer had little reminder that tomorrow is Memorial Day.   I must give credit to my in-law’s, Bill and Jean Davis, who made Memorial Day such

a special holiday for our family.  They carried on the tradition from their parents of decorating graves in the Brigham City Cemetery to honor their loved ones there.  Our whole family now meets at THEIR headstone at 11:00 on Memorial Day, carrying flowers and stories to remember our family members – and them!  A picnic always follows.  In my mind, it’s such a special and important righteous tradition!

As I mentioned in my letter last week, this was going to be a week of changes for us.  For one thing:  we moved!  After living at Avenue Madingusha #18, Quartier Makomeno for one year – we moved to the mission home complex at 1299 Boulevard Kilwa, Quartier Golf.  I will never complain about the housing we have had here – both places are lovely.  One nice thing about our new house is that now all of the senior missionaries and the mission president live together in the same complex.  Below is a picture of my companion with Papi, one of the guards in our old

house.  After Kieu died and her husband Michel left, it never felt the same.  Michel will be staying for an undetermined amount of time with his daughters in the US and Canada.  Below is the front of our “new” home.

We’re settling in and feeling happy to be so blessed.  Our office is only a few feet away – so no excuses for being late to work!

Our other big change is that we needed to find a new translator.  It’s pretty hard to find a person who is:  1.  available, and 2. can speak English, French, and Swahili fluently.  Flavien and Steve have both been wonderful and have set the bar pretty high.  They will actually both be working in the same office now – and we’re happy that they both have a full-time job with benefits.  It’s a rarity around here.

We interviewed four candidates and chose Marcel Buzangu as our new translator.  He and Steve worked together with us last week, as Steve showed him the ropes, so to speak.  Marcel is a returned missionary who will be getting married on June 27th.

We were invited to attend what I call a “Catholic UEA” last week.  The Catholic Church owns over 200 schools in Lubumbashi.  Each year they have a day of meetings and classes – pretty much like UEA, I think.  Anyway, one interesting tradition they have (which Utah may want to adopt!) is that every teacher is given matching fabric to make a dress or shirt for this occasion.

Above is a candid shot of both dresses and shirts – but just imagine THOUSANDS of people wearing them!!!!  Quite the sight!  I’m not sure how it would go over in Utah, but it’s a thought . . . haha

And speaking of schools, we took a picture of a very common scene at every school.  Just imagine some place like the Pie Dump on a smaller scale.

Big schools have a dozen of these ladies sitting outside the fence selling treats to the school kids.  This lady was selling fried bananas, peanuts, and little donut things called beignets (I’m fuzzy on the spelling but it’s pronounced BEN – YAY).  Suckers, hard boiled eggs, and cookies are also big items.  They are popular gals!

We continue to try to get our big water project going with the water company Regideso.  As it stands, Regideso has sent the project details to Kinshasa for final approval on their side.  My able

companion was at his finest as he explained how it all should work to Regideso’s local boss, who is sitting on his left.  I am so proud of Clark’s ability to speak comfortably with government and business leaders.  

One thing that we’re facing on projects is that we have already “spent”  (really just “designated”) our money for the year.  Every week we are approached

by people with very worthy causes – all asking for our help.  The photo above was taken at an orphanage that has 31 children.  The owner and her husband started it in 1997 – but her husband died suddenly this year.  Now she is trying to run it alone and needs help desperately.

Another plea this week was from a school that includes life skills training as a part of their curriculum.  The students

put on a play for us in which a father is making his 12-year old daughter get married so that he can collect the dote.  The message is that girls need to stay in school and not get married until they are older.  This school is also asking for financial help.

It’s heartbreaking not to be able to help everyone.  Actually, our mission is to help people help themselves and to teach self-reliance, but there are, none-the-less, many worthy causes.

Well, on this Memorial Day Eve, I must pay tribute to the men and women who have in the past and who continue to keep our country free.  After seeing firsthand what an ineffective, corrupt government can do to oppress its people -  even though we all at times complain about this or that -  I will ever be grateful for my American citizenship.   I will never again be able to sing the national anthem or say the Pledge of Allegiance again without feeling a lump in my throat.  I’m proud of our son Matt and his wife Ashley as he serves in the Air Force.  And on this Memorial Day,

I will remember the sacrifices that our families made as our fathers served in World War II.  God bless America!  And God help Africa!

Love,  Mom/G-ma/Soeur Davis

p.s.  Happy Birthday to my mother who is turning 88 this week.  And to our lovely daughter-in-law Jacey, who is still a young chick!

May 24, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, May 24, 2015

The week has passed rapidly and I attribute it to being extremely busy.  We hired a new translator, Marcel Buzangu, from four potential candidates we interviewed Tuesday afternoon.  It’s remarkable that we started Monday afternoon making phone calls for interview times and by 5:00 Tuesday afternoon we had already signed the new translator contract.  It was a faith promoting experience in choosing Marcel from the four interviewed.  He is engaged to be married June 27th to Gracia.  She has training as a tailor and Marcel met her while he was serving as a missionary in Likasi.  After his mission he returned to Likasi to start a romance that has lasted three years.  He allowed her to finish her schooling fist and has completed paying the dote or bride price to her family.  He was previously working selling talk time at a small roadside stand.  They are prolific in Lubumbashi and it is hard to imagine how they make much profit while selling phone cards.  He has a cousin who is minding the phone business while he serves as our translator.

Since Wednesday Marcel has accompanied us everywhere trying to become acquainted with our projects and the contact list of people we are working with.  He is very capable but quite a bit more reserved than Steve; I’m sure we will get along great.  We have been working both of them harder than usual because we are no longer limited by the 20-hours per week with Steve and with Marcel we will not exceed the 1,000 hour limit by our departure date.  The church worries a great deal about the employee versus independent contractor status because they don’t want to become liable for any fringe benefits or long-term employment commitments. We have one more week with Steve and we will continue to try to get everything done that is possible because he is so familiar with what’s happening and we’re afraid of a drop off when Marcel starts full-time.

In addition to the translator transition, we moved this past week.  Thursday was the official move-in day.  It felt awkward leaving Makomeno, especially the guards, Papi and Samuel.  They have watched over us while we’ve slept for the past year.  They have sensed that we would be moving and have washed our car almost every day for the last month.  I’ll try not to whine too much in this letter because of any small inconveniences.   No mirrors, no bookcase or storage shelves, leaking showers, ant infestation, no furniture frills, no tables;   did I say it was bare bones?  I was ashamed as I read again online with a Google search that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the poorest country in the entire world.  The annual GDP per capita is $394 compared to the U.S. GDP per capita of $53,001. The third poorest country in the world is also in our mission, Burundi at $648 GDP per capita.  

There are several advantages to being located in the mission compound: no drive to and from work, office accessibility, association with other senior couples and yes we do have a wonderful home.  Shelley is decorating the walls with some of our favorite photos taken of African people during our projects or travels.  She has a knack for making it seem homier wherever we live.  The guards helped us move out and move in.  Our new home has been painted, cleaned and equipped with new washing machine, stove, refrigerator, so we’re set to make another set of memories in our new location.  

I mentioned Burndi last week.  They are having political unrest there because their current president wants to stay for an illegal 3rd term and become a dictator.  This is a common problem in Africa and the story will probably repeat itself next year in the DRCongo.   Unfortunately there were 8 young missionaries and 4 senior missionaries that had to be evacuated during the past week to ten days.  The members of the church in Burundi feel abandoned and it’s difficult to imagine it will be the same for quite some time.  The election is scheduled for June 26th and yet it may delayed.  There have been people murdered on both sides and yet the coup d’état attempt failed and two of the three generals who participated have been arrested and the third is still at large.  

The 4 senior missionaries were able to flee to Rwanda by vehicle and then fly to Johannesburg.  One couple, the Neeleys were an MLS couple who basically operated like the mission president because Burundi is remote and not easily accessible.   They only had three months remaining and decided to return to the United States rather than be reassigned for 3 months to a brand new location.  The Van Wagoners are the humanitarian couple who have 4 months remaining and they decided to stay but were reassigned to another mission, Kinshasa, DRC.  The current humanitarian couple in Kinshasa, the Johnsons, are going home in less than a month and the Van Wagoners will assist in completing their projects.  President Thomas is unhappy that not only have we now closed Burundi to missionary work but he has lost both senior couples with no replacements in sight.  

Governments make such a big difference in the quality of life afforded their citizens.  We complain regularly about government in the United States, but a free press and accountability to the electorate are not common in the rest of the world.  I believe, here in the DRCongo, we are also dealing with a very corrupt government yet many of the people we deal with in local government have become friends and advocates.   One example of the corruption is the fact that soldiers and police personnel are dramatically underpaid but have been told that if they don’t have money and they do have guns and power, they have the ability to collect their own wages.  Everyone seems to be on the take and you have to be guarded continually to determine how you could be swindled.  We are stopped regularly by police to extort money and we have a million stories to tell, too long for this letter.

We did have a very sweet missionary experience this past week that I’ll share with you in a separate attachment.  He name is Euphrasie and she is a potential “golden contact”.  I hope the rest of the story has a fairytale ending.  

I received this quote last week from Bonnie McCauley who is a senior missionary in Kiev.  I thought it worth sharing. "To improve the golden moment of opportunity and catch the good that is within our reach is the great art of life."  (Samuel Johnson).  We continue to have golden moments of opportunity here in Lubumbashi.

Have a great week,

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

May 23, 2015 - Euphrasia

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Kafula-Lalia Euphrasie, Av. Kabulamenchee, No. 41, 0998885078, 0813169774

This is the identification information of a special woman we met on the street.  On Thursday, while walking across the street to the main office of Regideso, the local water utility company, I noticed a lady in a very attractive dress.  I pointed her out to Shelley so she could see the dress.  Shell loves fabric and has had 3 Congolese dresses, but is still looking for that elusive perfect fit.  

In the downtown area, there are floods of people and everyone is walking.  It was unusual because this woman noticed that I had pointed her out to Shelley.  She was last least 20-30 yards away at the time, but she turned and walked back towards us.  I spoke to her with our translator, Steve Mutombo.  I told her how pretty we thought her dress was and asked if I could take a picture of her with Sister Davis.  She was very pleasant and agreeable and asked if she could have a copy of the picture.  I told her if she could provide me an email address, I would send her a copy.  She had no personal email and so I gave her a business card so she could contact me with an email address in the future.  We both went on our way and thought nothing more of this chance encounter.

Friday was an extremely busy day with both Steve and Marcel.  We started at 8:30 in the morning and finished about 4:00 in the afternoon.   We drove nearly a hundred miles and visited several projects and potential beneficiaries before returning to the office.  No sooner had we returned than Ilunga, one of the guards came to our office saying someone was at the front gate to see us.  We had not been back for more than 5 minutes.   I welcomed Euphrasie and her male companion into the compound and asked Justin Mukuna, the office manager to translate for us.  Justin related to us the following story as we visited.

Euphrasie said she had met us the previous day in front of Regideso.  She said that with hundreds of people streaming by she saw me point to her and she said it was if the finger of God was pointing to her.  She felt it was a sign that God had singled her out and when she saw that we were missionaries, she wanted to know more about our church.  She said she had felt impressed to use our business card to find us and wanted us to tell her about the church.  

Shelley printed her picture and gave her a copy of the Liahona General Conference addition and a copy of the Book of Mormon.  I told her that we would have 2 Elders contact her before the weekend was out.  She provided us her contact information and we gave her referral information to the AP’s.  I told them they were welcome to teach her in our home if that was what she wished.  I also told them we wanted to be invited to her baptism.

Another interesting thing is that she lives within walking distance of the mission home, although we met her some 5 miles from here.  She is a widow with only one daughter and three grandchildren.  Her male companion was her uncle.  They pointed out the roof of their home from the front gate of the mission compound.  

As humanitarian missionaries we are instructed not to proselyte.  The fear is that others will feel our only motivation for providing humanitarian assistance is to solicit proselyting opportunities to gather converts.  We have missed not being able to share the gospel openly.  We have given away several copies of the Book of Mormon in our interaction with local merchants who are not our humanitarian partners and provided perhaps 5-10 missionary referrals but never one who sought us out.  

I was struck by the sensitivity of Euphrasie.  She was more in tune with the spirit than I was.  I was simply looking for a dress photo.  We have so many experiences that reinforce that the Lord is hastening His work.  It is not us who are hastening the Lord’s work, but merely participating in His plan.  We are grateful to be missionaries and be witness to the hand of the Lord in our lives and in the lives of others.  He is mindful of us individually.   We’ll keep track of Euphrasie’s progress but I wanted to record and share a simple experience from our missionary life.  

May 17, 2015 - Shelley

May 17, 2015

Well, today I decided to bite the bullet and wear the Congolese dress that Therese made for me as a gift.  It was such a sweet thought, but it put me way out of my comfort zone to actually wear it to church.  My fellow sister

missionaries made me feel okay about it (left to right:  Sisters Mikesell, Draper, me, Vance, and Cook).  For a person who loves plain fabric with little polka dots, it’s really a stretch to wear something that is covered with brown chickens, but the dress itself was actually very comfortable.  Don’t expect to see me in it at home.  Well, maybe on October 31st, if you know what I mean!  Haha

We received a real treat this week.  As I have mentioned, Lubumbashi has no mail service.  However, my daughter Emily knew a short-term water specialist who was coming to Burundi to work on a project there.  So she put together a wonderful CARE package and sent it with him (filled with nothing but essentials! wink wink).  Burundi is part of our mission and there were sister missionaries coming here on transfers this week.  So Sister Randrianarina (who is from Madagascar) brought my package with her!  I told Emily that I felt like it was Christmas!

It’s fall here.  The papayas on the trees

are getting ripe.  They are such a delicious treat!

We saw another indicator of fall while driving.  Some weeds along a river have dried out and turned white and looked so majestic as they caught the evening sun.

We are working hard at getting our major water project all lined up and ready to go.  Meanwhile, our local projects are winding down – but not without a few difficulties.  These two

gentlemen have been working hard to install the roof at Kamweneja School.  The agreement was that we would provide the materials and the school would provide the labor.  Well, the school director told us this week that they have run out of money and wondered if we could just pay the workers, too.  Not good.  We’ve met with the Catholic Diocese (they own the school) to see if they have something in their emergency fund, but I’m not quite sure how it will all work out other than the fact that we cannot pay the workers.  More to come.

I just love this wall that’s on a compound near the mission home.  

There are several of these giraffe posts along the wall surrounding the compound.  It’s just made of rocks with  cement painted white.  Isn’t that clever?

We have had a fun time this weekend following our son Matt and his wife Ashley as they competed in an Ironman competition in Texas.  Even though our internet leaves much to be desired, it was possible to track their progress through the swimming, biking, and running phases of the competition.  They have both trained for this for nearly a year, so it has been a huge deal for them.  Because of the time difference,

we stayed up until midnight waiting for results, but didn’t really find out the finals until this morning.  Here’s my companion looking at their progress. In the race, each person has to swim for 2.4 miles, bike for 112 miles, and then run for 26.2 miles.  We feel so proud of both of them for finishing with very respectable times, especially considering Matt’s bike accident six weeks ago.  There were 2588 participants.  Matt finished in 10 hours, 35 minutes and was 169th overall.  Ashley finished in 12 hours, 54 minutes and was 18th in her age division.  Anyway, kudos to both of them!!!!  It was pretty amazing for us to be able to follow their times from 10,000 miles away!

We have couple of big changes coming.  One is that we are moving!  The church has purchased the mission home compound after several years of negotiations, and we will move into one of the homes on that property this week.

Another change is that we are losing our translator, Steve Mutombo!  He has been hired as a full-time church employee to replace Felly Bukasa as the purchasing agent here.  We just couldn’t be happier for him!!!  But sad for us!!!  We still study French every night, but it will be quite a long time before we are able to do much more than stumble through the most basic of conversations.  So we’re in the process of finding another translator.

One year ago today, my companion and I landed in Lubumbashi!  We had spent the first month of our mission in training – both at the MTC in Provo and in Johannesburg at the Area Office.

Time is a funny thing.  Sometimes it slips away so quickly.  A friend mentioned in an email recently that she couldn’t believe a whole year has gone by since we left home – it seems like only a few months.  I remember saying things like that to other people, too.  Maybe it’s because at home we have such a routine that the days/months run together.  To me, it definitely feels like it’s been a year – maybe more.  However, it’s a year that neither of us would ever trade!

We’ve learned about a culture that was very foreign to us before.  We’ve learned so much about ourselves – both as a couple and individually.  Most importantly, we’ve recognized our Heavenly Father’s love for us every single day.  We have never felt truly alone.  We have experienced too many undeniable promptings and tender mercies to mention.    Much love to all of you,

Mom/G-ma/Soeur Davis