March 15, 2015 - Shelley

March 15, 2015

We just returned from the Katuba Stake Conference.  I’m always amazed at the faithfulness of the local people!  Below

is a photo of the stake choir in their matching outfits – same fabric for all of the ladies but made up in individual ways.  The format for the conference was the same as at home with only a few differences.  (1) The power (lights, fans, microphone) went off and on many times. (2) A revival-type church located across the street blasted away all through the meeting – it sounded like a total party!  Other than that, it was great and the building was packed!

I had a cooking lesson this week from Kieu, our landlady.  She’s such a sweet

gal!  One day one of our guards was picking the leaves off of some vegetables that Kieu had bought.  The photo shows that.  He was helping Kieu prepare sombe – pronounced SOAM – BAY.  She took the leaves, which are from the cassava plant, and cooked them along with onions, dried fish, garlic, and her secret ingredient:  peanut butter!  I’m sure that it’s very nutritious, but I just couldn’t quite choke

it down.  The sombe is on the right in the photo below.  It is served with rice or foo foo and has been a staple in the Congolese diet for centuries.  Don’t worry – she didn’t see us try to eat it and I thanked her for helping us to understand the culture.  But I gave the

food to Emmanuel in the office.  Steve

told us that he likes to eat other things, but until he has eaten foo foo and sombe each day, he hasn’t had a real meal.  It’s apparently very filling.

It’s nearing the end of rainy season and the foliage everywhere seems to grow a foot everyday!  Below are some

flowers in our yard, and the corn in our neighbor’s yard has reached the edge of his roof.  I can understand now how the jungle gets thick so quickly.

Our humanitarian water projects couldn’t get any slower at being approved, so the week has been a bit frustrating.  Fortunately, Operation Smile has returned and contacted us to provide volunteers.  This OS campaign is different than the last one here where they repaired cleft lips and palates.  We are a part of a pilot program to branch out into other surgeries.

The surgery that they will be doing is to repair obstetric fistulas.  It was explained to me that when a mother giving birth should have a Caesarian section but can’t – it can result in severe internal damages and tears – or “fistulas”.  If the mother lives, it can leave her incontinent and she becomes shunned by those around her because of her “unclean” smell.  Here these most often occur in remote villages.  It’s such a tragic situation, especially if the baby dies and/or her husband leaves her.  OS said there are approximately 6,000 women in the Congo who are living with this condition.

OS went to village a few weeks ago and did preliminary screenings.  There were more than 100 ladies who had gathered at the health center there in hopes of being chosen.  Some walked for days to get there – several had been there for six months waiting outside with only a pot for cooking and a mat to sleep on.  Out of those, 40 were chosen.

We have already grown to love the director of this campaign.  His name is Tim Lu.  He’s young, grew up in Ohio, and is engaged to be married soon.  He’s very kind and well-organized.  He asked our translator, Steve, to recruit volunteers and to set up a schedule.  This is quite different than our first experience because we are only dealing with adults and most of them have come alone.  A private plane has flown the patients here from the village.  They will be here for a week before surgery in order to get nourishment and build up their strength – then for a month more to recover.   The doctors will arrive on the 21st.

Steve, back right, asked two people from each of the three LDS stakes to be in charge of four days each – to find and train the volunteers from their stake.  Mainly the tasks will be to bring meals up from the kitchen and to transport patients to and from surgery.  Tim is in the green shirt.

This is the first group of patients to arrive.  They’ve each been given a bed and some basics to care for themselves.  Tim even bought fake flowers to brighten up the hospital room.  This hospital is a total relic – except for a brand new operation room – which is why the surgeries are being done here.  Other than that, it’s a four-story building with no working elevator and no running water!  Below is an example of one of

the rooms.  The sticks are to hold up their mosquito nets at night.  There are two rooms with 20 patients per room.

Sendwe Hospital, where the surgeries are being done, apparently used to be state-of-the-art when Belgium had control of the country.  Patients  were brought here from all parts of the country.  It’s really huge and spread-out, but now it’s practically empty.  There are a few patients here and there, except for the maternity wing, which is very busy.  One of the local Stake Presidents is the hospital administrator.  There is a morgue next door, which can be quite disconcerting when there is weeping and wailing going on!  Anyway, it’s a perfect place for OS because there is plenty of room.  The patient below has just received her dinner meal.

I just have to say how wonderful I think these volunteers are, too.  Transportation is a huge issue because almost no one has a car.  It takes several transfers on local transports (vans) to get anywhere – and most of these volunteers are unemployed.  No one is giving them money to get there or food to eat themselves while they are there.  It’s not like they can just stop at Wendy’s on the way.  Outside of the hospital gate are ladies under umbrellas selling bananas, peanuts, and other local food items – but the volunteers have to buy this for themselves.  That’s one reason we have grown to love Tim.  On both of the training days, he brought the training team food for lunch – even pizza!  That’s very unusual for here.

As I mentioned, there are a few other patients in the hospital – mostly broken bones, etc.  These little gals were just

too cute to pass up!

This week we wish a Happy Birthday to Annsli Claire Davis who is turning six on St. Patrick’s Day!  Clark is having March Madness symptoms.  He and Dr. Mikesell check the news sources everyday to try to live vicariously through the experiences of others.  He’ll probably make it, but any bones you could toss his way would be greatly appreciated!  Have a great week and thank your family doctor for anything and everything he/she has done for you!  Thank you, Dr. Keller!!!  Love,  Mom/Soeur Davis

March 15, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Selection Sunday and am I psyched, oh that was another life.  Let me share some of our disappointments and then some of the highlights of the week.  To understand the context of both you have to understand that the church humanitarian efforts excluding clean drinking water are focused on 5 major initiatives:

1. Vision
2. Wheelchairs
3. Neo-natal resuscitation (NRT)
4. Immunizations
5. Priesthood-led self-reliance projects (gardening and small animals)

The previous week we had received notice that our approved self-reliance gardening project had been cancelled and this week we received a message from Jamie Glenn over immunizations that our immunization project for 2015 has been cancelled and 2016 may not include Lubumbashi.   That news came on Wednesday and on Friday we heard that our water projects have been put on hold until a newly assigned short-term specialist can visit and start the process all over again in April.  

These water projects have been visited by the three top dogs from Johannesburg: David Frischknecht-Director of Temporal Affairs, Phillip Moatlhodi-Area Welfare Manager and Kenneth Mofokeng-Water short-term specialist for all of Southeast Africa.  We received word that church headquarters is reorganizing water and have assigned Brother Bailey as our new short-term specialist.  When Kenneth left Lubumbashi on February 26th, he said we should receive approval of 2 of our 3 projects within a week.  Then no news for 2 weeks so we called and he told us of the program change and on Saturday we received notice of Brother Bailey’s visit and that our projects had not and would not be submitted until after his visit.  Now half of our scheduled 2015 program budget has been cancelled or placed on hold.  Grrrr

Good news of the week was we have been assigned Jesse Hunsaker as our short-term specialist for our vision project.  He is Hedy Eyre’s younger brother and a really with-it guy.  The scope of the project is to supply 3 ophthalmology clinics with operating room and examination room equipment and some surgical supplies.  He was here 5 years ago and worked with 2 of the 3 clinics previously.  They are St. Yvonne, University of Lubumbashi and Sendwe Hospital.  We have visited all three and are in the process of gathering their prioritized listing of equipment.  Generally the ophthalmologists here are well trained but lack proper equipment and supplies.  There may also be some requested specialized training that may be requested.  Dr. H as he refers to himself has written us day and night from home and as far away as Jamaica. He is really on the ball and a fun guy to work with.

We also had an opportunity this week to start on another Operation Smile project.  My respect and admiration for their humanitarian efforts has really grown by working with them.  This project which they call a mission is a pilot program.  It is to perform surgeries for women with obstetric fistulas.  This is a condition that develops when an expecting mother requires a caesarian section but no medical help is available. During protracted labor the mother most often loses the baby and create a medical problem where there is a hole in the bladder and or colon and the discharge drains continually.  They are often abandoned by their husband and ostracized from the village.   

Operation Smile has visited 3 villages in Katanga Province and screened over 100 potential patients and selected 40 with the greatest probability of success.  The surgery can repair the physical damage but the emotional trauma and village acceptance may take years to alleviate.  The last time Operation Smile came, they were ill prepared as far as logistics.  This time Timothy Lu is in charge and is doing a marvelous job.  His parents are Filipino and Chinese.   He treats our volunteers as equals and feeds and cares for them as well as the patients.  

Our volunteer team is made up of Steve Mutombo, our translator and 2 representatives from each of the 3 stakes here. They call others within their stakes to staff the needed shifts.   We will not need nearly as many volunteers as the previous October Operation Smile mission where they performed 150 surgeries.  These volunteers dedicate their entire day to being on call for moving in supplies, transporting patients and their guardians from the airport, providing them personal hygiene supplies and feeding them 3 meals a day.  They practically move in with them and become like family.  The patients are so appreciative and grateful.  Most of the volunteers are returned missionaries and meet and greet people well.  It is amazing the difference a mission can make in any culture.

Did I mention these volunteers do this day after day with no pay, no reimbursement for their personal transportation costs, often no food or drink, nothing.  Tim has at least provided pizza and water and the volunteers think they have died and gone to heaven.  Service and sacrifice become addicting.  Several of the same volunteers are returning from the previous Operation Smile experience. For someone who found it difficult to set aside 2 hours to serve at the cannery, it’s amazing to see their spirit of volunteerism.  They dedicate entire days and in some cases weeks to such an effort.

We also had an enjoyable experience with Stake Conference today.  The music is always noteworthy but today there were about 50-60 investigators who attended the Katuba Stake Conference.  Our mission office manager, Justin Mukuna, is the stake president.  He invited all investigators to stay following a 2-hour conference session.  They did and so did about 20 missionaries.  The stake president, the mission president and the area seventy all invited these investigators to “Come Unto Christ” in their own way and welcomed them and invited them to stay and visit with the missionaries.  There were several discussions that followed this short meeting, but it was impressive to have such an investigator meeting.   

As you can see, the good far outweighs the bad.  I’ve noted a few things I want to remember:

1. Other than housing, it is much less expensive to be on a mission than to remain at home.  You would think the Congo may be one of the cheapest mission, but it’s not.  It is true that there is precious little that you want to spend your money on other than food.  Dave Ramsay would love this place because it is a total cash society and one manages money better without plastic.
2. I believe Shelley has exercised more mother’s   intuition 10,000 miles from home than if our children and grandchildren all lived with us.  We continue to have influence in the lives of our children and grandchildren although we are separated, which thing I had not supposed.  If you serve a mission, you may be separated from your family as we are but your influence can actually be increased.  Boyd K. Packer said, “while serving a mission, if you will take care of Heavenly Father’s children, He will take care of yours.”  We’ve found that to be true.
3. Each of us is known to our Heavenly Father.  We have weekly and sometimes daily tender mercies extended to us; a  timely phone call, an unexpected email, a chance meeting, a flood of previously unthought-of ideas, a personal visit, you get the idea.  He knows us better as missionaries and we know Him better as well.  

We love you.  Mom will finally be as old as me this Thursday.  People still don’t believe her age even when we tell them.  She still turns heads but none more than mine.  

Love Dad (Elder Davis)

March 14, 2015 - Lubumbashi Water PDW's

Clark Davis <clarkdavis@davisbott.com>	3/15/15
to monica.d.chamb., sbroche, spence.davis, ndavis45, me, matthew.davis.., andy

More whining emails for track for posterity,

Dad

From: LumbumHum [mailto:LumbumHum@ldschurch.org]
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2015 8:39 AM
To: Clark Davis Forward; Clark Davis
Subject: FW: LUBUMBASHI Water PDW's

From: LumbumHum
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2015 5:30 PM
To: 'Steven Bailey'
Cc: Kenneth Lefa Mofokeng (kmofokeng@ldschurch.org); Phillip Moatlhodi (MoatlhodiTP@ldschurch.org); AwsHumNorth (AwsHumNorth@ldschurch.org)
Subject: RE: LUBUMBASHI Water PDW's

Dear E/S Bailey,

Certainly we would welcome your visit.  Just let us know your timing; the sooner the better.  March 19^th is my wife’s birthday, so we can think of million things for you to bring.  Where do you live and what is your address?  You may wish you had never offered.  We have children who can deliver or send you things in time for your departure.  Let us know what we need to do to prepare for your visit.

 We’re almost embarrassed to request our project partners show one more “decision maker” the project sites and proposal.  We have already used the line that this is the final step in the assessment process, because we thought it was.  It appears we don’t know what we are doing.   We hope this is the final review otherwise we may schedule a return trip with you. 

Elder Davis

From: Steven Bailey [mailto:stsbailey@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2015 3:58 PM
To: LumbumHum
Subject: Re: LUBUMBASHI Water PDW's

Dear E/S Davis

Your project has been caught in the middle of some big changes in clean water project procedure coming from headquarters thus the delays.  We will be coming to Rwanda next week.  We would like to come and see you the first week of April.  While with you we will submit the project to headquarters for approval.  We have received information about your project we will read and then I am sure we will have some questions. Thank you for your patience.   Please say yes to our coming. Can we bring you anything?  We leave for Rwanda Thursday March 19.  

Warmly

E/S Bailey.    Steve and Sheryl

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 14, 2015, at 5:48 AM, LumbumHum <LumbumHum@ldschurch.org> wrote:

Dear Elder Bailey,

We are Clark and Shelley Davis serving as humanitarian missionaries here in Lubumbashi, DRCongo.  We have been working on the development of three water proposals for several months now. We believe they represent potential model programs that can be part of the long-term water development planning for the Lubumbashi and Katanga Province area.  We have been informed you and your wife have been assigned as STS to help us.   I’m not sure what Kenneth Mofokeng has shared with you, but we stand ready to provide you any requested background or materials.

 Unfortunately we were of the understanding that once Kenneth had visited us in Lubumbashi to review these projects, they could be submitted for approval and we could expect to get started shortly.  Now we are unsure of where we stand in the process.  We have had Phillip Moatlhodi, the Area Welfare Manager, David Frischknecht, the DTA, and Kenneth Mofokeng, the STS for water, visit Lubumbashi since December.  All have been informed of these three proposed projects and I believe are supportive of them.  I believe you could visit with any of them for additional input regarding our proposals.  Our feeling is we are losing credibility with contractors, beneficiaries and partners the longer we delay the approval process. 

None of this is of your making, but I wanted you to understand we have spent months in the development stage that never seems to have a conclusion.  We appreciate anything you can do to expedite the PDW approval process.  I’ve attached two memos I prepared last December to summarize ideas at the time.  They have been improved since then, but they do serve the purpose of providing background.  I hope Kenneth has provided you the PDW materials we developed together.  Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Elder and Sister Davis

Lubumbashi, DRC

March 13, 2015 - Budget for Lubumbashi

Clark Davis <clarkdavis@davisbott.com>	3/15/15
to monica.d.chamb., sbroche, spence.davis, ndavis45, me, matthew.davis.., andy

Kids,

Just a whiner letter I sent to the Area President this past week.  I wanted to keep track of both the ups and downs of a mission. 

Dad

From: LumbumHum [mailto:LumbumHum@ldschurch.org]
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2015 8:48 AM
To: Clark Davis Forward; Clark Davis
Subject: FW: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

From: LumbumHum
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2015 3:23 PM
To: Carl B. Cook
Subject: FW: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

Dear Elder Cook,

Thanks for being a listening ear.  We have yet to have a water project approved and 2 of our 4 major initiatives that were approved for 2015 have now been cancelled.  We feel underutilized and want to do the humanitarian work we were called to do.  Can you give us some hope or direction we should seek?

E/S Davis

Lubumbashi, DRC

From: LumbumHum
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2015 3:16 PM
To: Phillip Moatlhodi (MoatlhodiTP@ldschurch.org)
Cc: AwsHumNorth (AwsHumNorth@ldschurch.org)
Subject: FW: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

Dear Phillip,

I see you were already copied on this disappointing news from Jamie Glenn.  I think I already know the answer to my next question.  Is there any way of using the money budgeted for this major initiative immunization project to fund a local immunization project?  Of the five major initiatives outlined at our conference excluding water this is the status for Lubumbashi:

1.       NRT       Not approved, no budget originally included for 2015

2.      Vision    In process, hope to coordinate timing for Sept.

3.      Wheelchairs       Shipment delayed to 5/15, 50+ days for delivery, August-September training start timing

4.      Immunization    2015 approval CANCELLED

5.      Self-Reliance      2015 approval CANCELLED

For local projects our allowable budget is less than $50,000 and we have already committed 80% of our funding.  We are happy to have these small projects to work on despite the lack of significant funding.

Water projects have been in the development stage for nearly 4 months.  We were originally told by Kenneth to wait until the January conference and then we were told to wait until he came to visit so he could approve our projects.  Now we have been informed Brother Bailey has been assigned as our water STS and we need to go through the process all over again. 

We continue to seek non-monetary ways to help such as teaching English, helping with Operation Smile, working with the coordinating council and offering to teach “Strengthening Marriage”. 

However, we feel underutilized or underemployed in this work of salvation.  We want to do humanitarian work but feel restricted on almost every front. 

Kenneth was great when he came but I’m asking for your insight and help in the following areas:

1.       If there is anything that you can do to support our water initiatives, it would be greatly appreciated.  They show great promise, have reliable partners and yet we are losing credibility with the time delays.

2.      If there is any additional money available for local area initiatives, I feel we would be worthy stewards over that money in identifying new projects.

3.      If there are additional major initiatives we would qualify for such as NRT, we are available and have excellent support from the Ministry of Health for the Katanga Province

We’re looking for work and feel you have trained us in being prepared to accept it. 

HELP,

E/S Davis

Lubumbashi, DRC

From: Jamie Glenn
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2015 12:38 AM
To: LumbumHum
Cc: Phillip Moatlhodi; AwsHumNorth; Kristi Haycock
Subject: RE: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

Elder Davis – We have now found out that the vaccine introduction in DR Congo that was going to happen in 2015 has been delayed and will not happen in 2015.  We will keep Phillip posted if it is rescheduled for 2016.  I do not know at this point if it will be in Lubumbashi, but more will be known on that if it is rescheduled for 2016.

Thank you so much!

Jamie

From: Jamie Glenn
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 11:31 AM
To: LumbumHum
Subject: RE: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

Elder Davis – Thank you for your inquiry!  I have just sent an email to our GAVI partner contact to see if they have any dates for their immunization efforts in DR Congo.  I have asked specifically about Lubumbashi.  I will get back with you when I hear back, hopefully very soon!

Thank you so much!

Jamie

From: LumbumHum
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 7:57 AM
To: Jamie Glenn
Subject: FW: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

Sister Glenn,

We’re Clark and Shelley Davis in Lubumbashi, DRCongo.  We’re just trying to schedule out our upcoming projects.  We have been scheduled for a 2015 immunization project and we’re inquiring about the scheduling from your end.  Sorry to bother you and we’re trying to work through the proper channels.  We want to act early because last year our budgeted immunization project money was spent in Kinshasa before we arrived. 

Elder Davis,

Lubumbashi, DRCongo

From: LumbumHum
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 5:52 PM
To: Phillip Moatlhodi (MoatlhodiTP@ldschurch.org)
Cc: AwsHumNorth (AwsHumNorth@ldschurch.org)
Subject: 2015 budget for Lubumbashi

Phillip,

I am not asking for the operations budget but the project budget for 2015.  You discussed this at the conference.  I don’t know when the short-term specialists will be contacting us.  I’m not even sure the budget has been finalized.  We’re just looking to stay engaged.  Do you know what the timing for major initiatives is for 2015 or do we just wait until we are contacted by Salt Lake?  I believe Lee Kimball has been copying you on correspondence regarding the member self-reliance project here in Lubumbashi.  They are coming at the end of March and it looks like the Dows will come around June.  Any word on timing for vision or immunizations? 

Thanks,

Lubumbashi

Elder Davis

March 8, 2015 - Shelley

March 8, 2015

I will begin by wishing John Clark Chamberlain, our grandson who bears the first name of both of this grand-

fathers, a Happy 8th Birthday on the 12th.  We hate to miss this special birthday!

A few weeks ago we studied the story of the woman at the well in Sunday School.  This week we were visiting the home of a welder who is making beds for one of our projects – and I was able to take pictures of an African woman (his wife) at her well.  This is a hand-dug

well, and the welder has devised a very clever cover for it so that the water won’t get polluted when it rains.  My admiration for this woman went sky-high after watching her almost effortlessly hoist TEN buckets of water out of the well.  I can tell you that these Grandma

arms ached after only lifting ONE bucket!  Her cute daughters were very encouraging!

Our working week was spent making visits while we still wait for approval on our water projects.  One such visit was to Immaculee.  She’s the gal who works

for the Ministry of Health and is over clean water projects for small villages.  Her husband is a physician and he had a stroke in December.  Since then, she has been caring for him at the hospital here – and then at a specialty hospital in Johannesburg.  So we haven’t seen much of her since then.  She invited us to their home so that we could tell her about our small village water proposal that we’ve put together with her boss.

Their home was one of the nicest homes we’ve seen here.  They are both just lovely people!  He has made good progress in his recovery, but still isn’t ready to go back to work.  He is only 57 years old.

Another visit was to see our friend Therese.  We went to tap into her wealth of knowledge about making school uniforms (it’s her school that

received a new cooking lab from us before Christmas).  We have approval for a sewing project at another school and needed to find out where to buy fabric, etc.  Anyway – a big surprise!  She had made me a Congolese dress!  The fabrics here are just beautiful – and I felt so pleased that she would do that for me!  

And Saturday was a whirlwind!!!!  It was the Worldwide Day of Women.  I’m not sure if this takes the place of Mothers Day or not – but it was a big celebration here, complete with a parade through the downtown of women wearing beautiful Congolese dresses.  We didn’t see the parade because we were invited to a special program honoring women at an elementary school where we have a proposed project.  The kids

and teachers had prepared dances, poems, and skits on the theme of motherhood.  The photo above shows some of the youngest students in a fashion show.  The mothers of some of the students were there and we took most of the senior missionaries with us.

We went not knowing at all what to expect, and we were well rewarded.  They treated us like honored guests and had set up a tarp for us to sit under so that we wouldn’t get sunburned.  Here

are some dancers.  These teachers had

made matching dresses and served as hostesses for the day.

The biggest shock came at the end of the program (3 hours later!) when they invited the senior missionaries into an empty classroom for a meal.  It’s important to bear in mind that this school is SO POOR!!!  They had tried so hard to please – and we felt very pleased indeed.  They served chicken, rice, fries, and fish.  (Just for the record, I slipped my fish into my napkin at took it home in my purse so as not to be rude.  I thought my kids might ask. ☺  )Below is a picture of a little student – so cute but couldn’t get her to smile!

We didn’t get home until 2:00 in the afternoon and had to be at a Relief Society Birthday celebration at 3:00 – so we just freshened up a bit and headed out again (just ladies this time).  Again, it was quite unlike any Stake Relief Society gathering I have ever attended!  Well, part of it was the same – talks on RS history, objectives, charity – all of it spoken in Swahili – but we could get the drift.  The ladies must have bought dozens of bolts of matching fabric because about 80% of them had different styles of dresses -- all of them were made out of the same fabric.  So clever!   Then the skits began!  

The atmosphere was joyous – with whistles and hoots after (and during) the performances.  Some of the wards sang or did poems, but a few had little plays.  In the picture below, the sister in

white is the Bishop and his “pregnant” wife is asking him to stay home and pamper her by getting her something to eat.  Instead, he is off to take care of someone else in the ward.  After he leaves, she hops up and gets herself some food.  But as soon as he returns, she is once again barely able to shuffle around and is demanding his attention.  It was totally hilarious in any language!!!!

The Stake President in this particular stake is the office manager in our mission office – Justin Mukuna.  He asked each of the senior missionaries to take a few minutes to share some thoughts about Relief Society while he acted as our interpreter.  Honestly, it is one of the first times I have spoken in any church meeting since we’ve been here.  It’s such a challenge when we don’t speak the language!  We’ve gotten to the point now that we can meet and greet and usually understand at least part of what is being said – but it’s another thing to be able to talk.  Especially in Swahili!!  Anyway, I have very strong feelings of love for Relief Society!  I’ve learned so much over the years and made such dear friends.  It’s amazing to think that this same celebration will be held all over the world in the next week or so.  And this is definitely one that I will hold near and dear to my heart.  Of course, I sure do miss my 18th Ward gals at home, too!!  ☺

Au revoir!  Je vous aime tous!  --Mom/Soeur Davis