February 8, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, February 08, 2015

Eighty degrees and the air conditioning is on high while we’re sitting in our living room writing our weekly letters.  It is a good routine and we’re happy to be back home in Lubumbashi for our regular schedule.  There are a few noteworthy events from this past week.

President Thomas asked if I would assist in “steering the ship” for accounting and finance in the mission office during an upcoming transition period.  Sister Anthony is going home in May and President wants to complete that transition while she is still here.  There were two other couples who were planning on coming but could not pass the physical, so we have to make do with the personnel we have.  When you work in humanitarian, you have specific guidance on what mission responsibilities you can take on.  I’ve kept Johannesburg in the loop but it looks like I’ll be sitting in on the area auditor’s visit in two weeks and having other sisters (Mikesell, Vance and Cook) trained with me.  My plan is to become familiar with the duties of the office, segregate those duties among the sisters and act as a sounding board but to have no day to day responsibilities.  I hope to provide oversight and supervision without becoming the office accountant.

David Frischknecht, our Director of Temporal Affairs (DTA) is coming at the end of that same week and has asked to have us show him our humanitarian projects.  We hope to be able to promote our future projects while he is here.  He is the brother of Roger Frischknecht of Brigham City and Shelley had many of his nieces and nephews in her school classes.  He is also a close friend of Jeff Johnson, one of my high school buddies who worked for the Church.  We plan on taking him to a couple of churches on Sunday morning that are in need of an upgrade in buildings.  Wish us luck and we’ll report back.

We spent our visits this week with projects that are still in the development stages.  We were required to revise our orphanage proposal and separate it into three separate proposals, one for each orphanage rather than a combined project.  We visited two of those orphanages to determine what their contribution could be.  It’s difficult to require orphans or orphanages to make any type of financial contribution, but we were able to extract some commitments.  The Muslim orphanage is going to comply with the sanitation standards imposed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and complete all the cleaning and painting before new beds are delivered.  Tumaini was required to go to Ruashi Mining to request their completion of a pledge they made two years ago to finish the interior of 4 new class rooms.  They made the visit and a miracle occurred, Ruashi Mining is going to complete the classrooms within the next two weeks before we deliver 100 new desks to Tumaini.

We also presented our draft copy of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to both Enoch at the Ministry of Health for 3 new wells to be drilled and to Dr. Hugue regarding the Kafuba health zone covering 23 villages.  Our attempt is to try to make these programs theirs with us providing financial seed money.  The goal is to transfer ownership and future maintenance to the beneficiary organization.  This is the test of sustainability if they view the investment as their own.  Otherwise when something goes wrong or a repair is required, in the past they have looked back to the contributing party to make the repair.  They don’t view gifts as their own but that they belong to the gifting party.

This past Friday we went to Mbidi’s  farm.  He is a local  Bishop and the director of the self-reliance center here in Lubumbashi.  His ward developed a home gardening project.  Their ward membership has about 90% of the heads of households who do not have stable employment.  Mbidi’s family owns 70 hectors (2.54 acres per hector I believe).  This property is located 14.3 kilometers from where the members live.  They have to take a bus or transport each way and pay the faire with their own money.  Each family is given the usage of a plot of ground 50 meters by 50 meters square.  They plant corn, beans, potatoes, etc.  Working together we wrote up a request for a humanitarian project referred to as a priesthood driven self-reliance program.  We had to obtain consent and support from Phillip in Johannesburg, who in turn had to write a letter of request for a short-term specialist.  We have been assigned Lee Kimball and his wife who will visit at the end of March.  

Our hope is that Elder Kimball will primarily conduct training and in essence train the trainer in Mbidi.  Mbidi in his role as director of the self-reliance center will then take his show on the road.  He visits every stake or district at least every 2-3 months.  Brother Kimball is a contact from Phil Squires, a dental patient of David’s who also serves as a short-term specialist for the humanitarian department.  They are coming to stay for 3 weeks beginning March 27th.  

Yesterday was the coordinating council meeting with our Area Seventy, Elder Keungu presiding.  Mom and I were asked to attend and report on humanitarian projects.  Mom talked about conducting training for teachers of the “Strengthening Marriage” in all of the stakes and districts.  I talked about Brother Kimball’s assignment to come and conduct training in self-reliance home gardening projects.  

Although we have been able to send our letters, this past month’s connectivity has been horrible.  We talked a little about the political turmoil in Kinshasa that set things in a tail spin.  We have very little news coverage but from what we understand, the current President, Joseph Kabila, wants to stay in power beyond his two term limit that expires in 2016.  He proposed legislation requiring a complete census be conducted before an election could be held.  They estimated the census would take 3-4 years.  He bought influence in Parliament who passed the proposal and referred it to the full senate.  After the Parliament approval, there were demonstrations in the streets and several people were killed (45 initially reported)  The Senate then killed the bill and things have settled down, but the President didn’t want the world to have news access, so he shut down the internet and texting except for businesses.  It is rumored that these services will be restored this weekend and we hope so.  This doesn’t excuse those of you who have not written, because we can still receive emails at the mission office.  Our main problems have been with our at home service and the fact that we haven’t been able to face time.  Our connectivity is poor at its best without political interference.  Here’s hoping this next week is better.

We love you and have a good week.

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

February 1, 2015 - Shelley

February 1, 2015

My family knows that one of my favorite pieces of music begins, “In the quiet, misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed. . .”  It is exactly what I thought of when I looked out at this scene on our trip to “the bush” this week.  There was a haze over the valley and villages as we drove through in early morning.  The view was stunning and I felt like I was a part of a National Geographic moment.

On Tuesday, we flew with President and Sister Thomas, Elder and Sister Draper, and Emmanuel to visit three places outside of Lubumbashi.  The purpose of our trip for the President was to conduct zone conferences in Luputa, Mwene Ditu, and Mbuji-Mayi.  The Drapers and Emmanuel went to help with everything involved in those.  We went for two reasons.

One of our projects was to provide an ultra sound machine to a hospital in Luputa.  After waiting to no avail for six months to get the correct documents to bring the machine into the country, we just carried it in as a part of our luggage when we left our conference in Johannesburg.  (This was the area’s idea.)  It looks like a personal computer, and no one even questioned us.  I did feel a little bit like I was in a James Bond movie, though!

Here we are at the presentation ceremony.  

Going to Luputa is like stepping back into the 1800’s.  It’s a community that has mushroomed to 300,000 since the church built a $4 million water system there.  There are 104 water points, or faucets, in various neighborhoods where villagers can take their containers and get water.  Before 2012, the walk each day to get water consumed much of the day and was extremely difficult and dangerous.

Once you get used to the fact that there are no paved roads, no stores other than little roadside shops, no electricity except with a generator that runs a couple of hours a day, no water except from the outside tap – then you’re fine!  This wasn’t my first rodeo, so I was much more relaxed than when we came in June.  There is something even

appealing about meeting the neighbor gals at the well each morning to get water and share stories.

Children are EVERYWHERE – most of them just playing and having fun.  The lucky ones get to go to school.

We were able to meet with the president of the new water committee and will hopefully be able to help them get training so that the troubled water system can be preserved.

Clark loves to charm the crowds of children that flock to him!

Not everyone wants a picture taken, so I was glad that this cute gal did.

We ate food that was prepared by the Relief Society in the evenings.  I tried to be brave, but ended up eating a lot of rice and plantain.  But the missionaries

ate like growing boys anywhere!

Our second reason for going was to arrange for contractors to make bids on drilling a well in Tshitenge.  If ever there was an “idyllic” setting – it’s Tshitenge!  The branch used to meet in a bamboo grove, but have recently built a bowery where they can hold church even in the rain.  More photos to come.   Anyway, the nearest water is a lake that is roughly 1½ miles from the community and involves hiking down to the lake and carrying the water up – not easy!  We pray that this long-awaited well can come to pass while we are still here.  We met with 3 contractors and now await their bids.

This cute new sister missionary is standing between Sister Draper and me.  Her mother died while giving birth to her, and she was raised by her aunt.  She is the only church member in her family.  We brought her to Mwene Ditu to serve, and she was so adorable!  What a strong, courageous person lives inside that petite young lady!

We’ve been out of contact with our family for a few days, but they are never far from our thoughts!  Happy 14th Birthday, Hannah!  Happy 14th Birthday, Jack!  These cute cousins were born only six days apart.  We love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Much love,  Mom/Soeur Davis

January 31, 2015 - Clark

Saturday, January 31, 2015

We have spent the week in the Kasai Province visiting Mbuji-Mayi, Mwene Ditu and Luputa.  The Thomases, Drapers, and Emmanuel have been traveling with us.  Mbidi Ilunga has kept the same schedule traveling separately in his assignment over the self-reliance center and he is in charge of public affairs.  The distances between the towns are 3.5 hours from Mbuji-Mayi to Mwene Ditu and another 1.5 hours to Luputa.  

Emmanuel has been visiting all of the missionary apartments and when I have been available, I have accompanied him.  Most of the apartments are homes and there are 2-4 missionaries in the homes.  Just as you would expect, there is a dramatic difference in the care they take of their apartments, often the sisters being the worst.  He made all of his visits unannounced while they were attending zone conferences with President Thomas.

We have had some meaningful contacts during the trip.  We delivered he ultrasound machine to the Luputa Hospital and met with the Territorial Administrator about the Luputa water system.  They have had an audit since our last visit and two of the previous water committee members are now in jail and they have a new chairman who is a member of the Church.  His name is Andre Mbuyi and he seems to be doing a much better job.  He inherited a bank account that had been drained dry by the previous chairman (now in prison) and has built the balance to $4,000 while adding ten new water stations.  

Their biggest problem is they only charge 100 Fc for 20 bidons of water.  A single bidon is 20 liters and 100 Fc I s 10 cents.  I told him he needed to change the pricing structure or it would bankrupt the system.  In Mwene Ditu water costs 50 Fc for one bidon and in Mbuji-Mayi a single bidon costs as much as 400 fc.

We also had meetings in Tshitenge, a small village about 10 kilometers outside of Mbuji-Mayi.  We met with 3 contractors to discuss the scope of a water project where we will drill a borehole 70-100 meters in depth and place five water tapes for distribution.  Mbidi also arranged for us to talk to the public affairs person in Mbuji-Mayi to review his proposals for a wheelchair project for Kasai Province.  All in all a fruitful trip and we have enjoyed the travel companions.  Our driver is Godefroid.  He is not a member of the church but his family belongs.  He has two wives according to Emmanuel.  His first wife was barren and she gave permission for him to take a second wife to give him children.  Polygamy is a fairly common problem and prevents people from joining the church.

I wanted to contrast this trip and our first trip to Kasai in June of 2014.  We were brand new then and everyone had a humanitarian project for us to consider.  We actually accomplished much more than I had assumed because the only reason for our return is that our previous work bore fruit.  I would never have supposed that we could have been effective the first month of our mission with no language and no knowledge of projects.  I keep recording that this is not our work but when you say here I am, send me, you are led by Heavenly Father in ways you never thought possible.

Our first time, we were in awe and overwhelmed due to our newness.  This time it almost seems routine because the African lifestyle has become more second nature.  If you say you have a 9:00 meeting, as long as you show up by 12:00, you’re considered on time.  We’ve learned to schedule both morning and afternoon.  One great thing is that people always seem to be available.  It may be an indirect benefit of 90% unemployment.  You can call a meeting or drop in and almost always be able to make contact.  

Traveling in the back of a Toyota Land Cruiser for 10 hours plus on African roads can be both exhausting and exhilarating.  You are bouncing the entire time but watching the countryside and especially the people can be intoxicating.  I marvel at their resilience, their optimism and friendliness.  When we first arrived, Shelley said she saw humanitarian projects everywhere and Sister Clawson said I can’t see a single one.  These people are happy and life is hard but good.  The absence of potable water and electrical power doesn’t seem to dampen their spirits.  

I am usually stationed at the back of the Land Cruiser so I can straighten out my right knee for comfort.  I have taken hundreds of pictures out the back window.  People almost always wave back and greet you with a smile.  (They also often greet you with a hand gesture meaning “money please”)  I was frightened of the unknown last time but this time I can’t seem to get enough of seeing the people, their living conditions, their clothing, their hair do’s, their tools, their transportation, their faces.  Jewelry is so distinctive against black skin, a white smile lights up a dark face like no other, vibrant fabrics look so good contrasted against black skin.  I think for the first couple of months I just saw them all as black without really seeing them.  It is a joy to see them differently this time round.

This trip does make us miss our Lubumbashi home.  Here we generally have no electrical power except from the generator for a couple of hours in the evening.  We have no running water and the luxury is having two buckets instead of one in the hotels that have all porcelain fixtures that are non-operational because of the lack of water.  Because of political problems in Kinshasa, the government has also shut down texting and any wireless internet including our hot spots on our telephones.  It feels like a hundred year time warp.  Being in the country with clean breathable air and open spaces does have its drawbacks.

We also have to change our eating and bathroom habits, both of which are difficult.  We usually have a continental type breakfast with bread, maybe a small omelet, and hot water with powdered milk and sugar.  We usually skip lunch and make sure we have water to stay hydrated and then for dinner we are fed by the relief society sisters who have been hired to feed the missionaries.   Bathroom breaks have to be early or late or not at all.  Dinner includes rice, spaghetti, beans, fo-fo, sombee sauce, chicken that has been overcooked to the max and really tough goat meat.   Nate lived on rice and beans for two years in Brazil, so we’re pretty much doing the same for a much shorter period.  Don’t feel too sorry for us, we manage to slip in a coke and cookies on occasion.  It would remind you a Camp Cloud Rim, or diet camp.

Contrasting our June, 2014 and our January, 2015 trips to Kasai, I’d say we still know next to nothing but we’re able to observe so much more.  It feels like we have accomplished precious little, but we’re appreciated so much.  There are still needs everywhere we look but we realize the problems in Africa will be solved by the African people and not their short-term guests.  We’re being changed by these experiences and hope to leave a legacy, not only to the Congolese people but to our own family.  We see the creator’s hand all around us and in the work in which we are engaged.  We love you and prayer for you daily.  No empty chairs.

Love, Dad

January 26, 2015 - Bush Trip

Hey, everybody - I just thought I'd better confirm that Dad and I will be leaving in the morning for Mbuji-Mayi, Luputa, and Mwene Ditu.  I'm trying not to whine too much.  One good thing is that we don't have to stay in the Turkish Prison, so maybe everything will be okay.  We will be traveling with President and Sister Thomas, Emmanuel, and Elder and Sister Draper.  We'll be gone from Tuesday to Sunday.  In case of emergency, I just thought I'd better leave a couple of numbers.

Justin Mukuna (office manager at mission office) - 081 815 4746 - you will have to add a country code, but I'm not sure what it is.  Maybe +243 81 815 4746.  Also, the Area Welfare managers in Johannesburg, the Kinghorns are: +27 83 276 5669.  I don't anticipate anything and our own phone numbers may work.  Last time when we went, we could text.  However, the texting ban is still in effect as of now.  We love you all and hope you have a great week!   Love,  Mom

January 25, 2015 - Shelley

January 25, 2015

We’re back in the saddle!  It was very nice to have that week in the lap of luxury in Johannesburg, but we’ve spent this week trying to get our ducks in a row for new projects.  I had never noticed how many idioms we Americans use until trying to explain them to a translator!  Steve, our translator, is wonderful and has a great sense of humor.  We celebrated his

25th birthday this week by going out for pizza with his fiancé, Matild.  They are such a cute couple and are trying to work out a way to get married soon.  Steve is required by tradition to pay his in-law family a “dote”, or bride price.  Much has been said against this tradition lately by our church leaders, but Matild’s parents belong to a different church and Steve feels obligated to follow tradition.  I’m not sure everything they have asked for other than a new suit and shoes for her father, fabric for two dresses for her mother, animals (like chickens, goats, etc.), and $1,000.  Matild is the 12th of her father’s 13 daughters, so he has gone through this before quite a few times – but Matild appears to be special to him.  Her father is trying to postpone the marriage by convincing Matild that she needs to serve a mission first.  She’s 22 years old and is a university graduate.  Steve says, “I need to prevent my heart from that pain!”  haha  She’s pretty independent and wants to get married, so we’re hoping it happens before we go home.

For those of you who have lived in Lubumbashi before, you’ll never believe what opened this week.  It’s a huge

Western-style grocery store!  Hyper Psaro has many locations around town, but this one is in a new “mall” area with a couple of little restaurants.  It has good lighting inside, a big parking lot, and is almost like a normal grocery store!  This is almost too much to mention, but we actually bought a teeny container of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream – only $4.00!!!!  Very exciting!

Our two AP’s have been sick this week.  They went to the hospital and were diagnosed with typhoid, but our mission doctor thinks it’s cholera.  Anyway, it was quite an “eye-opening” experience for all of us to have them in the hospital.  It’s one of the better hospitals in town, but these poor missionaries weren’t provided anything except a room.  No food.  No soap or towels.  No water.  No hospital gowns.  Only a sheet and a pillow.  Fortunately, they have rebounded and are out now, but it was a pretty grim experience.  One very heart-warming part of the ordeal was that two other sweet missionaries stayed with them the whole time and took care of them for four days!

I just thought I’d show a little picture of a local traffic solution.  This guy is known

as Robo Cop.  He acts as a traffic light.

He turns around every few minutes so that the drivers either see the red light on his chest or the green lights on the ends of his arms.  There are a few of them around town.  Pretty clever!

The Congo is in a bit of a conflict right now.  There are national elections coming next year, and the current president is already trying to make changes to the constitution so that he can run for a third term.  There has been some rioting and deaths in the capital city of Kinshasa, and the president blocked all internet services and media so that it doesn’t get out to the rest of the world.  (Good luck with that!)  So our internet has been worse than usual – only on for an hour or so here and there.  

We had planned on returning this next week to “the bush”.  It’s the same trip that we took last June.  Actually, it’s pretty exciting because we plan to present an ultrasound machine to the hospital in Luputa.  That project has been a long time coming and we’re glad it’s finally finished.  Also, we have encouragement from the Area Office to go ahead with plans for a well in Tshitenge – so we need to meet with contractors to get bids.  However, the current political climate may cancel our trip for now.  Monday – tomorrow - has been designated as a protest day and that will determine if we go or not.  No worries about us here – we’re a LONG way from Kinshasa and there are no connecting roads!

We’ve gotten used to seeing goats around, especially out in the villages where they run wild.  Here is a photo

of a few that were grazing near the railroad tracks here in town.  The meat is a staple for local people.  

Yesterday all of the senior missionaries and the Mission President and his wife

took a little field trip to Futuka.  We’ve been there once before.  It’s like a mini game preserve about a half an hour away that is owned by the governor.

Afterward, we ate at the little restaurant there, and Sister Vance ordered goat BBQ.  In the photo, the meat is mixed with onions, so it’s a little hard to see.  It doesn’t taste too bad – kind of like beef – but it’s SUPER tough!

We had kind of an adventure while at Futuka.  I’ve told about this place before, but it’s where you ride in an open-sided Hummer around the preserve where the animals are.  It takes about an hour and a half.  Well, we saw some water buffaloes back in the brush and the driver of the Hummer left the road and drove into this dense jungle-like brush so that we could get a closer

view.  It was pretty fun until he ran over something sharp.  It popped a rear tire and we were stranded for a little while.

No worries, though.  I got a really good shot of a water buffalo!  They are not

attractive!

The man who owns the compound where we live has been gone for three months.  Actually, we live in his home and he has been staying in a small apartment attached to the house.  His wife has been in the US and Canada for ten months.  We hadn’t even met her

until last Friday when they returned.  Michele and Kieu (pronounded”Q”) are lovely people!  I feel a little awkward to be living in her home while she is crowded into a teeny apartment, but I think they are using the income from the house for their retirement.

Kieu is LDS, as are their three daughters.  The daughters live in the US, Canada, and France.

Well, I’ve rattled on too long!  Don’t worry about us – we’re safe.  Take good care of each other!  God bless America . . . and the DR Congo!  --Mom/Soeur Davis

January 24, 2015 - Clark

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Reflecting back on this week, I’m reminded of Joshua Chamberlain’s statement that the days seem like weeks and the weeks seem like days.  We were especially happy to be reunited with Steve Mutumbo, our translator.  We brought him some English scriptures and the Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson to assist him in his English studies.  Sister Emma Anthony had computer problems where her old IBM Thinkpad could never get past the boot-up stage and so she ordered a new computer that was delivered by Sister Cook when she came three weeks ago.  I told her that Steve repairs computers and she should have him take a look at it.  She did one better by giving Steve her old computer.  She removed the hard drive and it was pretty much left for dead, but Steve took it home and had it operational by the next day.

That day was his birthday and he considered it his best gift ever.  He majored in computer science in his educational program and when he took it apart, he found the problem in a circuit board when two contacts were touching.  He simply separated the unintended contact and voila, a new computer (8 years old, but new to Steve).   Shelley and I offered to take Steve and Matilda out for ice cream , but he chose pizza instead.  We went to Pizza Inn at the new Hyper Psaro Mall on the road to the airport.  We had two large, ate one and sent the extra one home with Matilda.  

Probably the most notable thing happening in the country this week is the political unrest in Kinshasa.  Apparently, on Monday there were some demonstrations in Kinshasa and 45 protestors were killed.  We don’t understand the whole political situation but the current president, Joseph Kabila, has served two terms as allowed by the constitution and is scheduled to be replaced in the 2016 election.  He would like to continue in office and there is legislation proposed to either change the constitution or to require a complete national census be taken that would allow the current president to continue to serve.  It is estimated that it would take 3-4 years to take a complete census.  You can probably read more on BBC News or Reuters.  

The impact on us is that all internet service has been cutoff throughout the country.  We have had a window or two of opportunity during the past 5-6 days, but we’re very unsure if anything is getting through.  We already felt like we had the worst internet connectivity in the entire church, but this was definitely a step down from that.  Can you believe that 10 years ago or so all of us lived without internet and without smart phones?  We become so attached to those conveniences that they serve as our lifeline to the outside world.  No lifeline this past two weeks because of being in South Africa the week before and none this week.  To add insult to injury, we are leaving this Tuesday through Sunday to visit Kasai Oriental Province.  

Brother David Frischknecht, our Area Director of Temporal Affairs, was scheduled to come and visit Lubumbashi this past week, but due to the political turmoil, he cancelled his trip.  We were disappointed because he was scheduled to visit several of our contacts and review our projects.  Also, Kenneth Mofokeng, the technical specialist in water was scheduled to visit February 6th through the 10th and now his plans have changed.  These visits are critical for our projects that need outside approval before we can proceed.  It reminds me of the story Spencer told at his homecoming about a man who was asked to push against the rock.  The rock didn’t move and the man couldn’t understand why he had been asked to exert all his effort in pushing if the rock was not to be moved.  He discovered that he became stronger in the process and although the rock didn’t change, he did.  Well, sometimes working with church bureaucracy reminds me of this story.  I’m confident we’re becoming stronger, but the pushing is very frustrating, with no movement.  

One of the reasons we decided to accept an invitation to travel to Luputa to deliver the ultrasound machine was because we are feeling at loss in the development of our water projects.  President and Sister Thomas, the Drapers, the AP’s, Emmanuel are going with us to Mbuji-Mayi on Tuesday.  We have been in touch with Serge Kalala from  FM in Mbuji-Mayi regarding Tshitenge water development.  They are now going to allow us to use FM personnel to assist with humanitarian projects.  We hope to visit Tshitenge and obtain 3 proposals for drilling a borehole.  The village chief and branch president has pledged the needed 10% local investment along with providing sand for drilling the well.  This may happen yet.  (Thanks President McMullin)  Emmanuel is going for the first time and will check on all apartments and also serve as our translator.  We’re excited (at least I am and Shelley is supportive).  

I shouldn’t whine too much about projects.  We met with the chief at Regideso this week and secured a commitment from him that they would obtain 3 competitive bids for our proposed water line extensions in five neighborhoods.  This is a concession because they operate as a monopoly and usually perform all the work themselves.  We also received 2 of the 3 contractor’s bids for drilling new wells in the Tabucongo quartier (sector) of the community.  The Indian contractor is the only one who has not responded.  We met with Dr.  Kitopi, chief deputy at the Ministry of Health, this Thursday and he treated us like his long lost brother.  In prior visits, he has brushed us off and spent no longer than 10-15 minutes with us.  This time was different; he included two other chief deputies and we conducted a two hour correlation meeting regarding all programs current and future requiring MOH coordination.  He could not have been better and suggested we should do this on a monthly basis.

Relationships are so important in any operation and we have found this especially true of our humanitarian assignment.  I know we don’t understand all the nuances of the culture but we have some excellent contacts.  My greatest fear is that there may not be another couple to replace us.  Our work would not continue and it should.  I realize it is not our work, but there is so much that can be done here in Lubumbashi and we have the priesthood support, the mission president support and the community buy-in.  I hate to think that all of these contacts would be lost if no one comes.  There is a desperate need for senior couples.   President Ferry if you have some recommendations, send their referral information to us so we can do some proselyting.  We’re finally to the point where we can genuinely recruit others.  We had to recruit ourselves for the first half of our mission.   There are 11 senior missionaries in our office and 9 of them were recruited.  We are the only two who were not.  If any of you know of seniors who have always wanted to come to Africa, send us their contact information.  Last Sunday in church we met the Claytons from North Carolina.  Mom invited them for dinner and FHE on Monday.  They are serving as auditors and are stationed in Johannesburg.  They had both served in the Paris France Mission and they perform all of the audits for the French speaking countries in Southeast Africa.  They chose their assignment by watching the want ads for senior missionaries.  They have also taught English in China for three years.  There is a program through the BYU Kennedy Center where people sign up for a year at a time to live in China and teach English.  They said it was like a missionary experience but they had to sign a commitment letter that there would be no proselyting.  

Mom and I have enjoyed reading our new books purchased in Johannesburg: “Congo” and “The Challenge for Africa.  Thus far we have enjoyed the rainy season. It never seems to linger, it either rains hard or not at all.  You have to choose mud and more moderate temperatures or dust and dirt and hotter weather.  We have grown really appreciate our Toyota Hilux diesel pickup.  It doesn’t have great acceleration but with 4-wheel drive, it can go about anywhere.  I can’t imagine why drivers here would have anything but a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  Off road is only a half block away in almost any direction.  

We celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary this past Thursday.  I can’t remember ever being closer and we’ve discovered we can survive with a 24/7 schedule of togetherness.  We marvel at how the Spirit guides our lives.   We’re certainly glad those physical attributes were there to bring us together originally, but as we have spent those years together, there is so much more that binds us together and makes life sweet.  In the words of Jacob 7:26, “the time passed away with us and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream”.  Unlike Jacob, we are not mourning out our days.  Life is good, the gospel is true and we are happy together. (Turtles)

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

January 18, 2015 - Shelley

January 18, 2015

Well, believe it or not, today is HUMP DAY for us!  Our release date is October 18.  In most ways, it seems impossible!

It’s a big week of events for our family.  We have a granddaughter, Gretchen, who is celebrating her birthday on the 20th.  Happy Birthday, Gretty!! And it’s our 44th wedding anniversary on the 22nd!!  Forty-four years ago we were

standing together outside the Salt Lake Temple – and here we are, a life-time later, standing outside the Johannesburg Temple.  Great places to be – both of them!

This week was our welfare training in Johannesburg, South Africa.  It’s about a two and a half hour plane trip from here.  There were 11 other couples, each representing countries in South-eastern Africa.  We knew about half of the couples from our first training in May – the others have since finished their missions and have returned home.  This is a plug for any couple who could serve:  you are desperately needed!  Africa is a place where you can make a difference and there are so many ways that you can serve.   There are 5 couples who will be returning home this fall – including us – and no replacements have been found.  Think about it!  ☺

Anyway, we stayed at a beautiful hotel.  It was called the Courtyard and we thought it was connected to the Marriott Hotels, but it wasn’t.  From its looks, it could have been.  We felt very pampered!  I saw the first vacuum cleaner I’ve seen in nine months!

Here are a couple of the missionaries talking around the pool.  AND across the street was the Rosebank Mall!  I hate to sound so caught-up in worldly pleasures, but it was pretty great to see the different shops and eat good food!  The shopping was almost too much because I haven’t been in a place like that for almost a year – and I could hardly take it all in.  But I’ve learned that I can do hard things, and I managed to persevere!!! Haha

I want to mention one of the very special couples from the Area Welfare Office who were in charge of the conference.  Brent and Charlene Lee

have served six welfare missions.  Only developing and third-world countries have welfare (also called humanitarian) missionaries – so you know that they have served in some very difficult places.  One amazing thing is that Charlene is profoundly deaf.  A few years ago, an illness left her without hearing.  She has a cochlear implant and that’s why she wears her hair in such a poofy style – it’s to hide the implant.  Brent is great, but Charlene is definitely the expert on almost anything having to do with welfare.  She conducts the meetings, even though she can only “hear” if she is looking directly at the person speaking.  Anyway, their mission will be finished in two weeks.  They are both very wonderful!

There is a philosophy in humanitarian or welfare work that is sometimes hard to understand.  When I look around the town where I live, I see nothing but people with needs. But I’m judging those needs by my own Western standards.  Too many well-meaning people have come to Africa trying to “save” the people.  They see people in a poor situation and say, “This doesn’t look anything like my situation at home.  I’m going to fix this so that you can live like I do – and then you’ll be happy like I am.”  Well, it doesn’t work, even though they are only trying to help.

Billions of dollars have been poured into Africa from other countries around the world – not just the US.  And the people are no better off than before – maybe even worse.  They have come to rely on others rather than to look for solutions to their problems themselves.  

This is very hard to understand when we think of the Savior’s words that tell us to help the needy.  In our conference, the point was emphasized over and over again that we need to help the needy to help themselves.  It’s like the old story of teaching someone to fish rather than to give them fish.  We’ve actually submitted our proposals for this new year – trying to use those same principles of teaching self-reliance.  Many of them are regarding safe drinking water – definitely the biggest need everywhere.  Our plan is to have the beneficiaries dig the trenches for the water pipes so that they have sweat-equity in the project.  Then they will have ownership and feel like this belongs to them – and they will hopefully take care of it and repair it when it’s broken.  Wish us luck!

Here’s a cute mother and her children that we saw after church today.

When we landed in Johannesburg last Sunday, I was overwhelmed with how clean and modern everything was.  My thought was, “I have finally returned to my former life!!!!  It will take a crowbar to get me out of here again!”  Well, after a week of being there, I found out for myself that I have changed in the last nine months– and I hadn’t even realized it.  I’m not saying that I don’t miss all of those things, but they became increasingly less important to me as the week wore on.  My heart has been softened and I feel a distinct sense of purpose in what we’re doing.  The projects we do will fade with time, but hopefully the relationships we establish and the lessons we are able to teach will live on.  I know that we are receiving the Lord’s help, and we feel your love and support.  Thank you!   Much love to all of you,  Mom/Soeur Davis