HEY,

I was so happy to hear that you had a great Thanksgiving! So i have to start off and say sorry if my email is all off the key board I am using is French and i can't change it. But i think i am getting it, just a little bit slower. Well this has been such an amazing week i cant believe it! I will start and say i love my new comp Elder Tehaai. He is Tahitian but his English is really good. We do half the day in French and the other half in English, it is hard trying to get out of just a missionary vocabulary and just talking about life. But i am happy because it will help my French a lot. So the start of the week was all cleaning and saying bye to people in Cholet, then i left to Paris and got in Wed after noon. So basically i have just been running around everywhere and just loving life. The pace here is so fast but i love just running around and talking to everyone. We have two baptisms on Dec 11th it is really exciting. Also we found two people this week who we had a first lesson with and it went so well i cant wait to see them again. So all day long i walk by famous things and i am still a little star struck but my comp says it gets normal after two weeks hahaha. We had three Thanksgiving Dinners it was so great, because there are a lot of Americans in the Paris Ward. Church is crazy because everything is being translated into English, Chinese and Spanish and there are so many tourist visitors that we are running around talking to everyone trying not to miss if a non member comes. Also i spoke my first week to introduce myself and bare my testimony, it was good. My apartment is fun because four languages are being spoken all day (English, French, Tahitian, and Chinese) it is so much fun but some one is always confused and translating what others are saying hahahaha. So all the missionaries from the Paris area met today and we had a Turkey Bowl, it was so much fun. We did in on the grass right outside of the Tomb of Napoleon. We could see the Eiffel Tower and everything, it was so great. Right after this we are going to go up the Eiffel Tower to see Paris from above at night. I just feel like i have so much to say. I guess i just want to say the work here is going great i am loving everything about the mission and am surprised how much i have learned this week. It really is a life changing experience. Well i hope that you are all doing great. JE T'AIME!!!! Make it a great week!!

Elder Davis

PARIS!!!!!!!!!! OOOOLALA!!

Hey,

How is everyone doing? So this week was a crazy week. We were just all over the place with my comp going home. He just left a few hours ago, it is so crazy. Well we found out about this new transfer and i am going into the heart of Paris hahah, it is unreal. I am really sad to leave the members and people here in Cholet because they are just so amazing. I will be saying good bye today and tomorrow. Then on Wed i will head into Paris. Then i will meet my new companion, all i know is he is Tahitian and i have heard a lot of good things about him,.so i can't wait. Well i can't believe that Thanksgiving is this next week. I hope that you all love it, i will tell you how mine goes. The only thing i do know is that president has ok a Turkey Bowl so i am really excited for that. Sorry it is so short this week but i just want to say that i hope that you are all doing amazing and i am so grateful for all your prayers and support. Keep being examples. JE T'AIME!!!!!!!!!

Elder Davis

next week i will let you know how Paris is :)

New address:

Elder Jerry Dee Davis
11, rue des Roses
75018 Paris, France

HEY EVERYONE,

So I am glad to hear that everything is going great back home. Bay good job in CIF that is so cool that you went to second round. It was so good to hear all about your season, Write me and let me know more hahahah love you. Bryce I am excited for you to start wrestling I don't know if i said but my comp right now was a huge wrestler and he was all excited to hear that your season is starting. He kept asking me questions about your team and your wrestling, It all just came down to he is really good hahah that's about all i know, so you too i would love to hear from you and how wrestling is coming. Well to answer your question no one really celebrates Halloween like we do, it is almost non existent here. But because we are Americans we kind of made it happen hahaha. It is so good to hear how well the missionary work is going back home. Dad have fun in Mexico this week. Thanks so much for your letters i love them and it was so great to hear a little more about your mission. Well so i find out what is going to happen for this next transfer on Saturday so i will let you know. I think i will stay in Cholet because my Comp is finishing his mission, but you never know what God has in store for you. Ok so this last week was well ridiculous. First to sum it up we got stuck in Paris until late Fri night. But then again is it really that bad to be stuck in Paris. Hahahah. No we had a lot of fun it was just sad because we had to cancel some RDVs. Well so to start off we got to Paris Tuesday Morning and when we went to buy the tickets back we found out that it was all full for the next day and that Fri was a holiday so the only way home was a late train Fri going 1st class. So we ended up having a lot of time looking around Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower at night, the Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, and only the outside of the Louve because we did not have time to go in. Also the catacombs were closed for the holiday so that was to bad also. (my camera ran out of batteries so i am going to get all the photos from another Elder and i will send them next week). It was really good though because my comp only has one more week and he had never been to Paris because he came from the other mission when they merged. So it was so good that he was able to have that extra time there. Well now on to Zone conference, It was so amazing. Elder Kapischke (the president of the European missions) Came and spoke to us. It really was life changing. It is hard to say all that i learned, but i think the best lesson was just how to really listen to the spirit and receive and follow personal revelation. We started the meeting at 10 and did not finish until 5 that afternoon but it was just so good it did not even feel that long. Well after we got back from Paris we started saying the goodbyes for Elder Porter. This next week will be interesting, because we have stake conference up in Angers and an exchange in Nantes and Elder Porter needs to pack to go home and finish saying goodbye to everyone. So i hope it does not get to crazy. Well I am excited to see what is going to happen next and i hope that you all have an amazing week. Je t'aime!!

Elder Davis

Family,

        This was a great week. I feel like i say this way to much but time really does fly by. I feel that it will get even faster over the next two weeks as my comp gets ready to go home. Well Halloween ended up being so much fun for me and Elder Porter. We went to a members house and had a huge buffet dinner. Then we played tons of Games. After they usually watch a Halloween movie but because we were they we watched a church one hahahah. I am so excited for Grandma and Grandpa that is so cool. The Riverside Mission, I think that you all might be seeing them more often now. hahaha So we have two Elderly sisters in our District and they are so awesome and they make our district that much better. They make me think how i am excited for that mission to have Grandma and Grandpa. So great! So this week i would have to say i have not really eaten anything interesting, but one lady tried to make a home made microwave pizza and i have to say that was well lets just say interesting, hahaha. It is the thought that counts. Good luck bay against Long Beach Poly! Mom I love you so much and am praying for you. I hope that this week goes well and that the pain greats better. You are amazing. Know that someone over in France is thinking about you and loves you. Well for the rest of this week we did countless hours of walking and porting (knocking doors)because every first week of the month the Car goes to the sisters up in Angers. So we can't see a lot of people who live outside of Cholet. But it was really cool to see the difference in attitude of the people we ported into. Also one really cool experience was when we had been porting a whole neighborhood and no one was home and we had been at it for over an hour. But we kept going and had a good attitude and on the last house a man answered and his wife invited us in and we were able to teach the Plan of Salvation to them. It is interesting to see that sometimes we have to wait until the end to find someone. (a quote from Elder Utchdorf) Some blessings come now, some come later, and some may not come until after this life. But they do come. I Love this church. One last experience i had was we visited this less active that we had seen a few times and we felt that things were going no where but in passing we invited him to the stake priesthood meeting. And to our surprise he showed up and enjoyed it a lot. I guess we just need to have hope and do our best. You never know what is going on inside someone and how God is working with them. Well this next week is full of meetings and for two days we are going up to Paris for a conference so we are so excited. I love you all and Thank you for the prayers. I hope that you all enjoy this next week. JE T'AIME!!!!!!

Elder Davis

Happy Halloween from France!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN,

It was a good week here in Cholet. Thanks so much for the candy and watches. I will try to get them fitted and if not then i will just find one to buy at a market. It sounds like things are going well for everyone. It is good to hear that Mom is doing better. I LOVE YOU!! That Halloween pole vaulting sounds so fun. Good Luck Bay against Murrieta Valley. It sounds like the Ward Halloween party went really well i am glad. So the Halloween party thing did not work out, so me and Elder Porter made treats and gave everyone one in the Branch treats and candy and these little Halloween toys we found at a store. It was really good. We also put a little commitment with it to pass on the love of Christ as the Holiday season is coming up. It was really fun and as we dropped them off people kept inviting us in, so it was a really good way to do visits and get to know people also. Today a member invited us over to spend Halloween with them so we are really excited for that. This week was a really good week here in Cholet we found a new amis named Valerie and also a couple others potentials. We are just starting to see all the finding coming through and it is really exciting. We don't have the car this week so we can't see our new amis this week, but it will be a good time to find people that live here in Cholet. The weather here has been all over the place, but the cold is slowly coming hahaha. Church is really good. This last week we taught a lesson to the young men about having the faith in missionary work and how they are all missionaries right now. It went really good and I really had my testimony strengthen that when you are doing Gods work with faith there is no room to fear or doubt. You will be able to do what the lord wants and make miracles happen. To answer your question on new things i learn in France, well i learn random stuff all the time but this last week one big thing that i thought was cool was how every person that we stopped by to just drop off the Halloween treats invited us in for a drink and a to just visit. It was funny because it happened exactly the same at every place we stopped by. But it was cool to see how their culture is not always so rushed and if you just stop by you stay a little while and visit. One last thing that was really cool this last week was we went to play basketball for samedi (Saturday) sports and met a huge group of people that normally play on Fri but the did it on Saturday that day. They were really interested in what we did and wanted to start coming to our English class that we do each week. So we are excited to have more people come to English class and to see how things happen from there. This is such a great work, i have learned to see all the little ways that God is working with each of us and how to find joy in doing his work. I love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week and Happy Halloween today. JE T'AIME!!!!!

Elder Davis

Family,

        

       I hope that this week went well. It is good to hear about everyone. I can't wait to hear where Grandma and Grandpa Davis get their call. That is so exciting. Mom I love you and i am glad to hear that all is good. Bryce congrats on the Eagle it sounds like it was a little rough but great job. Dad it sounds like you have been traveling a lot hahah well keep doing work and loving it. Well this week was a really good one. We had the traveling APs with us for a day so that was really good. We had two cars so we were able to drive out to two near by villes and do a lot of finding. We ended up finding three people who said that we could come by another time to talk about the Book of Mormon so we are so excited about that. The rest of our week was the basic life of a missionary. We were able to visit some less actives and do a lot of service. Also we had a really good lesson with an amis named Paulette. We are really praying that she starts to read the Book of Mormon and see the importance of it. Everything with the Branch is going great, they are so awesome. They are going to the temple this week in Switzerland, so it was cool to see the excitement at church with everyone preparing to go. Also we have been planning an activity for our Branch to get them excited about missionary work so we hope that is all goes well and they catch the spirit of God's work. It is amazing to hear how well everyone is doing back home in sharing the gospel. Keep it up. Your examples and the simple act of opening your mouth to share little truths with others are amazing. Some other things that i learned this week. Well to start my companion has been have a lot of fun trying new things to eat for dinner so far i am really impressed but i am still a little scared for what might come next hahaha. Ok so another huge thing that has hit me this week is the power of studies in the morning. I read a article in an old Ensign and it talked about taking that time in the morning to not just study but really ponder and let the spirit talk to you. It has really helped change my mornings from just getting up and going through the motions of the morning and getting ready. It you stop to think a little more about what you have that day, something you studied, a question that has been on your mind, or even if you just need comfort. The spirit speaks to you in the quit hours of the morning and it sets the mood for the whole day. One other thing that I have learned is that it is important to enjoy life. Yes not everything you do is going to be so much fun but as I have learned to not let one little thing set back everything else I have just enjoyed each day more and more. Also they just keep going by way to fast. Well that was the summary or my week. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week. Thanks for the prays!  Have a Happy Halloween. I love you and miss you all. Je t'aime!!

Elder Davis

Elder Davis

Hey,

I hope everyone is doing great! It was so great to hear from everyone thing week. It sounded like everyone had a good time having Kira up for the weekend and with Bay's waterpolo game. It was one of those roller coaster weeks. We had a strike going on for SNCF (the train station) and so we had no trains coming or going from Cholet. So we ended up taking a bus up to Nantes to have district meeting and after we went to Angers to pick up the car. When we got to Angers we found out we would be there for the next two days because they needed the car to help everyone going through Angers for transfers. Sense the trains were down we ended up staying there and helping all the other missionaries travel, pack, carry bags and stuff. It was cool because we also went with the Chinese Elders to see and go out to eat with some of their Amis. It was so crazy with the mixture of Chinese, French and English. Hahaah but it was really fun. When we finally got back to Cholet we were able to plan for the next transfer and get things going. We have done a lot of finding and i really do feel all the blessing. Thank you so much for all your prayers! I really feel like this was a huge growing week for me in all areas of missionary work. I feel that French is coming and am starting to have a lot more confidence in speaking it, thanks for all of you that are praying for me i really am feeling the difference. I feel that i really am understanding more about this gospel each day and love seeing how it changes others. I really had to learn to put my trust in God and just work hard and have faith. It is so important to make sure that you have and are listening to the spirit at all times. It is such an amazing gift that we have been given and we need to make sure we are not only worthy of it but that we are making an effort to use it. I can't say it enough we are blessed and we need to see the light that we have been given. God has given us so much and as we slow down and appreciate all that we have, we really start to understand how much God loves us and we feel the Joy and want to share it with others. We are blessed! Again thank you so much to all of you. It is a blessing to know that you are all there supporting me. I love you all. JE T'AIME!!!!!! Have the best week and keep being so great!

Elder Davis

Last week in Cholet!!

Bonjour!

How is everyone doing? It was good to hear that is was a good week back in Tememcula. It is so exciting to hear how the missionary work back home is doing so well. That is so great to hear about Bay's water polo I am so happy to hear how much they are improving. Next year Murrieta is going to have to watch out. That is cool that Ralphy is going to do wrestling. Good luck to him and Bryce they will do great. I am glad that Eric found a job and that would be so great if they found a house near or in Temecula. Mom i am glad that the operation went well and i will be praying for you. I love you!!! That so cool that you are going to fly Kira over for next weekend for her Birthday. I hope you guys have a blast. So the transfer ends this Wed and i am stay for another one her in Cholet with Elder Porter. I am excited about it and we are going to do good work. It is crazy because it is his last transfer, wow. This week was a long week haha. We had another day of service (that was actually really fun) and then the rest of the week was all focused on finding new people to teach. It is sad because we worked at it all week and we don't have anyone new. But i guess you just have to keep up the faith and just keep work hard. You always go through the hard times to recieve the greater blessing hahah. This next week i am really going to focus on going back over conference and seeing how i can apply it to the work. We just got them so we can listen to them in the apartment so i am excited for that. One thing that really hit me this week was the simplicity of just doing what you need to do but not because it is what you are (supposed) to do, but doing all that you need to do out of the love you have for others. When you do things out of love, not only will you naturally do more but it is also so much more effective. Also thanks Dad for your thoughts on how the small things are what really touch people. I am excited to try to just do all i can to make a difference in peoples lifes by the small acts of kindness. I hope that we all have a great week full of Christ like love and the joy it brings. Thanks for the prayers! Je t'aime!!!!! 

Elder Davis 

Temple in France!! Dee gets mugged!!

HEY,

Yep a Temple is coming to France!!!!! We are all so excited. All I really know about it is that they are in the process of getting the land. I will let you know when we hear more. We are excited to see the huge effect that it will have on the work because we know the blessings that come when you get a temple. The member are so excited it is the First Temple in France. I am glad that Bryce enjoyed his Birthday. Also Happy Birthday to Kira this upcoming Sunday. Dad it sounds like work is going great haha. Mom thanks for the letter this week along with all the letters from Easter that i never got, it was so great getting it and seeing that you are really feeling better and to hear about you amazing experience. Well this was such a great week. First it started out with a lot of finding and then we went over to the house of this family we found that has friends that live in UT and know a lot about the church. When we were over there they fed us and i had ESCARGOT for my first time. It actually was good haha it has a strange texture but the taste was good. Then we had interviews with President and his wife, along with a training. It was really good and all based on the Book of Mormon and enduring to find the people who are ready. Also when i was in my interview i was told that President was at a conference for all mission presidents with Elder Bednar and he asked the Question how can the missionaries get over the challenge of the languages in the work? Elder Bednar's answer was three things. 1 pray each morning, afternoon and night for the gift of tongues to speak the french language 2 Ask your family to pray each Morning, Afternoon, and night for you to have that gift. 3 Then make sure you are asking with the purpose to Preach the Gospel and better communicate with the people who you have been called to serve. So I would like to ask you all if you could pray for me each morning afternoon and night to have the gift to tongues to speak the French Language to preach the gospel and bring people closer to Christ. I know that mine and your prays will help my French get even better and it will help the work here so much. Thank you so much. I LOVE YOU ALL! Well before we left up to conference in Angers we stopped by an amis house and caught her just getting home and we could tell that she had a really hard day. We were able to help her and then share again that she has a father in heaven who loves her and she can always turn to him at any time. It was cool to see how powerful that simple message can be to someone who really is in need of the comfort that comes from pray. Well another cool thing that happen this week was seeing the power of service. We were planning in this park outside of this old little castle and after we were done we were walking to the car and saw that the door over the mot was open so we looked in and saw an older man moving all these tables by himself so we went and helped him. After he was so thankful he gave us a personal tour of the whole castle. During the tour he started to ask about the church and we were able to teach him who we were. It was funny because all day we had no luck, but after we just lent a hand we saw how service could open someones heart through gratitude and love. Ok now to conference we watch the first session in French and then the rest in English. It was so amazing i learned so much and loved that a lot of it was directed towards missionary work. haha. Also i loved the talk about how "it's better to look up." Some other big messages were the importance of Pray and the relationship you have with God, Book of Mormon, and being bold in sharing the gospel. There was just so many great thing said i can't wait to get the Ensign and read through them again. Well this was a great week. I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as i did. Stay positive and be the examples to everyone you meet. Je t'aime!! 

Elder Davis

oh and i am excited about Grandma and Grandpa getting their call soon 

Also i forgot to tell you right before conference some one got into our car and took our GPS and my watch. hahaha It was sad but we were just glad that it can all be replaced and that they did not do any damage to the car.

Bonjour!!

Bonjour,

Wow, it sound like you are all having a really good time. I am glad! That is really cool how you got reconnected with your old companion. After over ten years, hahaha time goes way to fast. Congrate to Eric on passing his boards for nursing. That is so exciting. BRYCE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I can not believe that you are 18 hahah. It is funny when i picture everyone in the family i picture you all when we were all little hahah and then i look at pictures and have to remember how old everyone is hahaha. Well Bryce i hope that you have a great Birthday. I will go get a pastrie for your birthday, so i have an excuse to get one hahah. It is so crazy to hear how many people are going on missions in the stake it makes me excited to know that i am part of it and to hear about all my friends going all over the world sharing the gospel. Well this week was a strange week because i feel like it went so well but then we we looked at everything the end of out week we did not achieve all out goals. So i guess we just need to try harder this week. Oh and i am so excited for conference. We are going up to either Anger or Nantes to watch it. It is going to be so good. It is funny that i am getting so pumped for it but it really is so exciting. I can't believe that it has already been 6 months from the last conference, when i was in Tours and i had no idea what was going on. This time they have everything ready to play it in both English and French so i am glad about that. We did a lot of service this week because an Ami needed help in her garden and then we had a Branch service project and everyone left early so it was just the missionaries and a few of the older members to finish it all up and it was so hot, but it was nice to get out there and help. Things are really looking up for Cholet, it makes me so excited. It is going to be a really busy week this next week because along with conference we have Interviews with the Mission President. So we are going to have to do all we can with the few days we have in our ville this week. But it will be good. It is so amazing how time just flys by when you are just out enjoying the lords work. I have really found how to see the good in what ever comes your way. I feel bad for all the times in the past where a was just getting mad and down and now i see that doing that helps nobody it just makes you mad. It is your choice how you see things and act, so do it the way that will make you happy. I know it is so much simpler with you write it out but i just love finding how easy it is to change your attitude and watch how that in return changes the effectiveness of your work and the spirit though you. I love you all so much. Bryce have an amazing Birthday don't go to crazy now that you are an adult hahah. Enjoy conference! JE T'AIME!!!!!

Elder Davis

Hey,

How are you all doing? I miss you all so much!!!!  I love hearing the updates on everyone's lives. Have fun at homecoming Bryce, that is cool that you get to go up to UT for it. Also congrats on finishing your eagle project And Bay keep up Waterpolo it is the best hahah. Nicole and Eric sound like they are just loving life. It is good to hear that Mom is doing better I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!  Well to answer your questions Peniel and his dad are doing great but the rest of his family are having a hard time and they were not at church this Sunday so that is sad, but the branch has really welcomed them and are working with and loving them so i feel like things will be good. The Branch is doing amazing they really have a strong spirit to reach the goal of becoming a ward and they are working hard to increase the missionary work in the Branch, such a blessing to be in the Branch. It has been a really good week for me. I had exchanges with my district leader Elder Bishop he is really cool and i learned a lot from spending the day with him. We got the car finally and my comp is to old to drive so i am the assigned driver again, the only difference here is that the whole city is a bunch of hills so it was rough the first two days with the car and relearning stick but now it is all good. Well we had a really cool experience this week. We were on our way to pass by a less actives house when we saw some event going on in centre ville and decided to go look at it. Well after we had been looking for about five min (it was just a huge farmers market thing) a man called to us in English and after going over and talking to him for a bit we found out that he has a really good family friend from UT and that they do foreign exchanges with their kids all the time. Well he said that he has been to church in UT a few times and then gave us his address and number and told us to come by for dinner some time. Wow and we did not even really do anything. It is cool to see that the lord just puts people in your path, just keep the spirit with you and get out and work and everything else kind of just falls into place. This week i have also seen the blessings of being a more effective planner. It is hard and you have to stay on top of it but by doing the little extra things it works out better. It is cool to see that you can't be down, angry, fearful, or without hope when you just take the time to pray study and just turn to the lord. I love you all so much and hope that you know that i am praying for all of you each day. Keep being the great examples you are to others and to me. JE T'AIME!!!!!

Elder Davis

HEY EVERYONE,

I am glad that you enjoy hearing everything each week. I love hearing about everything that is going on for all of you. Bay good job on the Water Polo tournament keep it up. Bryce i am glad that you are getting everything done to get your eagle. I would love too hear from you two hahaha. It is crazy to think that it was five years ago from the first Ward FHE. I love the Pauba ward send them my love. Mom I hope that everything goes well and i will be praying for you. That is cool that Nicole was able to send the day with mom.  I hope that the Ward Beach Party went awesome. I miss it so you all better be enjoying it hahah. Well for me this week was a good one. We were able to stop by a lot of less actives and also teach this Lady named Paulette, she is very nice and has been taught before, but still does not really understand it all. We are excited to start teaching her. Also we found two ladies this week that are interested in learning more about our church. Both of them have two young kids and we can't wait to start teaching them. To help them move towards the blessing of having an eternal family. It was a hard week because it was raining a lot so no one was outside and when we went out to knock doors we were all wet so no one would want to let us in. So we did a lot of walking all over town trying to get a hold of old amis or less actives and we were just tired and all wet. But one day when we got home we started a talk by President Hinckley and he was talking about how lucky we all are. After i just could not even think about being sorry for my self because i am in France and i am having an amazing opportunity to learn and grow and each day. I have a bed and food which is a lot more then what most people can look forward to at the end of the day. So ya the mission has a lot of downs and hard days, but how can i be sad when i know that i am blessed. I have all of you cheering me on (i hope hahah) and i know the simple truth of this gospel. So life it good. Oh the other parts of this week i met my new district in Nantes. They changed our area so we now are part of a new district. Also we have to Elderly sisters in out district and they said that they would cook for us so that is way exciting. They are all really nice. It was a hard week but when in the lords work it would not be worth it if it was easy. I love you all. JE T'AIME!!! Make it a great week and keep being amazing.

Elder Davis

HEY,

I am glad to hear that everyone is doing great. It was good to hear about the water polo beach day, that is awesome good job. Well i did not even know it was labor day until i got on my emails. Have fun at Nicole and Eric's place for that BBQ. School starts today for the french so that is cool to have people back from vacation and stuff. It has been a crazy week with transfers. I had to meet my comp in Orleans because i had legality. It is all my stuff to make myself legal in France. Because of it we got to Cholet a day later and with him settling in it was an interesting week. Also while doing legality i meet a girl from Japan who was living in Tours so i talked to her about that and gave her the stuff to contact the missionaries. You never know when you will have the chance to share the Gospel so always be ready haha. Well Elder Porter is awesome. We get along very well so that is good. He is finishing in 3 months so it is cool to have a missionary who is really experienced and knows what he is doing. Cholet is doing great i really am so excited to see all that will happen this transfer it will be great. Yesterday the branch had a fireside talking about the future if the branch and their plans to become a ward and buy a new building. It was exciting to see a little bit of the future of the church here in Cholet. We had a cool experience where we were fasting to find someone to teach and right after Church when we were going home we passed a lady and her kids and we talked to her. She was really interested in the message and the fact that families could be together forever. It was cool to see how powerful fasting and prayer really is. I am doing amazing it is funny to see how being with a different companion changes everything. I am in the same ville but i feel like everything is so different now. We started this thing were we want to read the whole Book of Mormon in French in a couple weeks by reading 20 pages a day out loud. It is hard to have the patients to just stop everything in the mornings to just spend the time to read, but already i feel that this little goal is teaching me so much and helping me a lot. I want you all to know how much i love you all. I have to give a special thanks to the Hjelmstads and the Jim Davis family. Thanks for the letters that really brightened my day. Je t'aime! I pray for you all, have a great week!

Elder Davis

Dee dressed for War!!

Family,

How is everyone doing? Well it is good to hear that everyone had a good summer and that all is good with school and everything starting back up. That really is so cool how great the missionary work is back home. Keep it up, it is so true that the best way to do the work is with and through the members. Good Luck with your eagle project Bryce, that is really good that you are doing it. Hey i did not know that MeKenzie left on his mission, do you know where he went? It is exciting that the number of missionaries have gone up 8%. Woot Woot. Oh well this week was the end of the transfer and i am staying in Cholet for another transfer but Elder Garcia is leaving and my new companions name is Elder Porter, i will meet him on Wen. It is crazy that this last transfer just flew by. I will miss Elder Garcia, but i am excited to for the future of Cholet. I have heard a lot of good things about my new companion. Well it was a crazy week because Elder Garcia started to get bad migraines at the start of this week. We gave him a blessing and he got better quick and has been fine sense. It is such a blessing to have the priesthood and to see Gods hand in helping and blessing us. It was really cool because there is this family in our Branch from Spain and they got back from vacation this week and they were so excited to have a Spanish speaking missionary. Because the Mom does not really speak French so she was so excited to be able to talk to the missionaries, she said it is the first Spanish speaking missionary to ever come to Choet. Well then she asked if we could help move some furniture for them so we agreed to help. When we got to there house we found out that they live in a Castle. It was so cool. Also i was laughing because everyone was only speaking in Spanish and i was so lost. I felt like a had just started over my mission when i could not understand a word anyone was saying, hahahah. But it was really fun. They have three boys under the age of 13 and 2 play the violin and 1 plays the cello and they are all really good they travel around and play for competitions, they played for us and that was really cool. Also this week the Chinese Elders in Angers had a baptism so we were able to go and help out. It was really cool to see. It was funny because most of the baptismal service was done in Chinese, so i think that i learned and heard more Spanish and Chinese this week then French. hahah No we have had a lot of time this week to visit with members and less actives because Elder Garcia is leaving and he wants to say all his goodbyes. Well life is good here in France and i am so excited to start a new transfer and see all the miracles that are yet to happen. I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week. JE T'AIME!!!!!!

Elder Davis

PS here are some pictures of me in the castle with a suit of armor

Dee's First Baptism

Family,

How is everyone doing? That 40 day fast sounds so great. Really that is so cool and such a blessing to increase the missionary work in the ward. Wow keep it up. I am so excited about Kellie getting baptized. That is so great. It is so cool to see the effect of the example that all her friends showed her and the blessing of her finding the truth for herself. SO AMAZING!! Wow Matt is home? That is crazy time really does fly. Give him my best. I can't believe that Max has a tower now that is so sweet. When you go out next just take a moment to remember who is the best one, me. hahah just kidding. But that is really cool. Well it is good to hear that everyone is doing great.  I am doing good. This was a crazy week. It was so hot we were dieing everyday this week and could not find any way to cool off. We live on the second floor of the apartment bld and there is new AC so we just were sweating not matter what we did. But we were really excited because all today it has been raining really hard and that really cooled things down. Well this week was a really fun. To start off the relationship with the branch has grown a lot. We were invited to play sports with the branch this week and sense that day all the members have been calling us, talking to us and inviting us over to eat and to hear a message. It is cool to see the excitement of the branch grow for missionary work. It is true that the best way to do missionary work is with the members that live there and are examples each day for all the people around them. Well also this week we had zone conference and i was able to see some of the people from the MTC that i have not seen sense i came to France. It was good to see them and talk about all that has already happened on our mission. It is really just flying by, crazy. The training by president was really good he talked about how to be happy and the things that we need to do to be happy. Also he talked a lot about walls in our lives. How we need to tear them all down. The walls between the members and the missionaries and any personal walls that keep you from giving 100%. After training i was able to talk to Elder Hall and tell him how Ralph and Dad know his Dad and Grandpa. It was really cool and he just found out that his little brother got a mission call to this mission, that was really exciting. Well this week we were visiting less actives and doing Family finding. We have been working hard to find a family to teach. We had a cool experience were we contacted this lady and her kids and she was like thanks for stopping us the other day my daughter asked me who God was and i could not answer her, so can you tell her. It was so cute so we taught this little girl who God was. Then we gave them our info and a pamphlet on the family and we hope that they give a call soon. It is just sad to see how a little girl wanted to know who God was and her parents could not tell her. It makes me happy to know that i am out here to share the truth with everyone. To let them know who God is and that he loves us and has a plan for us.  I say it a lot but wow we are so blessed. I hope that everyone has an awesome week. Je t'aime!!!

Elder Davis

Hello everyone,

Wow a lot did happen this week back home. I can't believe Richard is home already. Tell him that i would love to hear from him or send me an email/address so i can write him. Yes, i do know Elder Hall, really well, he was my zone leader from my last two transfers. I will see him this Friday at Zone Conference, i will have to let him know that Ralph and his dad are friends and that you know is Grandpa. Wow small world.  That is so cool that Bryce and Paul saw Sean White, what a great way to finish off the summer. I am really excited for Grandma and Grandpa and can't wait to hear their call. Well this week went by so fast it is hard to even think back on what i did this week. Well it was a little sad because we were not able to see any of our amis this week because of vacations, being sick, and other random stuff. But we were able to do a lot of less active visits and now that we have the car we have made it a goal to try to stop by and see every less active. Sunday was great. Peniel received that priesthood and it was amazing to see just the start of the blessed life he will live. I mean it is incredible to see him go through the whole process of being baptised and becoming a priesthood holder. I am really happy that i was able to be a part of it. I don't know if i said this already, but everyday at lunch time we have been listen to the lives of the prophets and we just finished yesterday. It is amazing to hear about their lives and to see all that we can learn from them. It is such a blessing to have a prophet today. To be guided and directed in our days and have the assurance that it is of God. Also while listening to the lives of the prophets it was also cool to see that they went through just as many if not more trials then us and they overcame them and always looked to the lord. They learned and became even stronger. It gave me a little bit of a boast to just see that they were not perfect and they all had faults, but they all lived their lives striving to be a better person and follow Christ each day and that is what really made them so great. Well i am really enjoying Cholet. Life is great and we are so blessed. I am praying for all of you each day. Keep being such amazing peopel. JE T'AIME!!!!

Elder Davis

Family,

So sorry that you did not get the e mail yesterday. To sum it up we had a member who was driving us to a RDV and we got lost for three hours hahah. So I am writing you today. We are actually eating lunch and doing emails to make it work. I am eating an eclair right now. woot woot haha. It is so good to hear that everyone is doing so well. Also Mom I am praying for you and i hope that things continue to improve. Well this was such a good week. I had an exchange with Elder Saguibo, he was in the MTC with me. It was so good to have a day with him. It is cool to see how much we have both grown and was nice to teach a lesson with someone my age in the mission. A lot of this week was preparing for the baptism. It was so exciting getting everything ready and seeing how excited Peniel was to get baptised. The baptism went really well. I am sorry i can't send pictures yet, we are waiting for the place we normally go to open back up. I was so happy at the baptism. It was cool to see how already you could see how much him and his family could feel the spirit and blessings form him being baptised. Then on mon morning we as a district played football (soccer) and it was really fun. Except that our district leader is a pro soccer player so he just owns us. Oh and on Saturday morning President Poznanski (our mission president) came and did studies with me and Elder Garcia. He just called earlier in the week and asked if he could come. It was really good and he was really happy with me and Elder Garcia. Also he gave us a little lesson or training after studies and it was really good and is helping me and Elder Garcia become even better missionaries. Oh also it would make mom happy to know that they said that our apartment is one of the cleanest ones they have seen and were really impressed by it hahaha. Well it has been a crazy week. We did a lot of traveling on the train going to random different things and i felt like we did not get a whole lot of time in our ville this week so that was a little sad. But tomorrow we get the car and that will make life so much easier so that is way exciting. Well i just want to say that i love you all and hope that you have a great last week of summer. Je t'aime!!!

Elder Davis

P.S. I got a new journal and a little book to write down quotes, scriptures and random thoughts from the day. Thanks Dad

HEY EVERYONE,

So to start off i was so happy to here about you all going to Huntington Beach for the night. I don't know why but i was just way overly happy to hear it. I guess it is just good to imagine and picture you all together and enjoying life. I love you all so much. It is so cool that Grandma and Grandpa are serving another mission, i am really excited for them. Well what to tell you about this week. It is funny when i sit down to write my e-mails i just forget everything. Well i guess to start off i can tell you about my exchange this week. It was with my District leader Elder Gilmour, he is from Scotland and is one if the most amazing missionaries i have met. I learned a lot from the exchange. He only has two more transfers left. He really showed me that i need to stop over thinking the future and really just love the people and event happening right now. It is funny i have learned that i always am just looking towards the future. Although it is good to always be looking forward and striving to be better each day, i also need to just stop and love the day and the moment. I mean i am in France and doing the greatest work why not just love it. Also on the exchange there was three of us, so i was with Elder Liao also, because in a week his new companion is coming and until then the Elders in Angers have a three companionship. Well a little bit on Elder Liao he is a Chinese speaking Elder and has been learning English and French on his mission and is one group ahead of me. He is so funny and he is learning English from Elder Gilmour so he has broken English with a mix between Chinese and Scottish accent, it is just awesome and so funny. So it was nice to have him there and we had a rendez-vous with a Chinese person and i was just so lost because it was all in Chinese hahah crazy. It makes me thankful i am learning French. And also really cool that even though i did not understand what they were saying i could feel the spirit, good experience. Well after the exchange i was back in Cholet with my companion. It has been so great. We work very well together and we get a long super well. It is nice because he is easy to talk to and reminds me a lot of some friends back home. This week we had a first rendez-vous with the two people we found and it went really well. I was really happy because there were no french confusions on my part. Also they came to church this Sunday. I think it was really long for them, but they said they enjoyed it and learned a lot. Also the boy who is getting baptised this Sunday got back from vacation so we get to see him this week and plan the whole baptism, i am excited. Well i am really enjoying my time in Cholet it is a great place. It my be tiring but it really is worth it. Well i love you all so much and can't wait to keep hearing how everyone is doing. Je t'aime!

Elder Davis

FAMILY,

Well i have to start off and say I LOVE YOU, and that you are all the best. Well i have had a crazy week. Ok to start off after i wrote my e-mails last week we went castle hopping and saw all the really cool castles before i left Tours. They were all really cool and there was one that is know for its crazy gardens and we spend so much time walking through all these amazing gardens and going through a maze. It was really impressive I will have to send pictures next week because i forgot my cord today so i can't up load the photos. Well after Monday we spend Tues cleaning, packing, going to RDVs so i could say bye to all the people that i had grown so close to. It was sad leaving Tours but it also was exciting to go somewhere new. Also a missionary from my group replaced me in Tours so i got everything ready for him, the apartment had never been so clean and we made him brownies, bought him candy, and left him a note. I hope he enjoys coming to into the apartment, that way he won't have any worries and he can get strait to work haha. I am excited to hear all the amazing things that will happen in Tours in the future. Well early wed morning I took a train to Angers and meet my district leader and my new companion. We all went and ate and then I caught another train to Cholet. To describe Cholet i can only say it is a small but really beautiful ville. Also the spirit and feel here is so great. When i got into the apartment it was kind of a mess hahah. Half of it had been cleaned because they had a lot to do that week so they never got around to it but that was ok. So i unpacked and clean up the apartment. I do have to say the apartment is really nice i think it is one of the newer ones in the mission. Also it has a really good shower that is always a plus. Well now to my new companion Elder Garcia, he is so great. He is from Texas and actually was called to this mission Spanish speaking. So this is his first area where he is only doing French, but he is a master at languages and it is going to help me a lot this transfer. Also we get along so well i feel like i have known him forever so that is really good we will have a great time together. Well then we started to get to work on Thursday and i was told that the work was really slow here, but we decided right then and there that it is going to change. And already we are seeing things turn around. We do have someone with a baptismal date, but he is on vacation so we have to wait for him to get back to keep teaching him. Well besides that there were no one so we have been working really hard and have already found some old amis who are great and gave out two Books of Mormon and they want to start learning about the church. So things are about to just boom here it is so exciting. Ok now to Sunday, it was so great. We have a really strong branch here. I was so happy to see how many members there were and how strong they all are. Also we have a good youth group and there is this big family who is English and Scottish and they teach a English Sunday school (Dad they wanted me to ask you if you ever served in a town called Bournenouth). It was nice to go to an English class during church haha. Oh and some members had made us a small cake. It is a great branch. They all leave far apart but we get a car in two weeks and we will be able to start visiting them. Also there is this great guy named Simon and he is leaving on his mission to the Lyon, France mission in September and he is so great and went with us to teach people on Sunday and just wants to go with us when ever he can. Also there is another kid in the branch who leaves to Madagascar in two weeks on his mission. It is exciting to see that missionary work is really good in the branch. Well that was my week in my new area. I am excited to see the miracles that are going to happen in the future. Well I love you all and hope that you are loving life because it really is the best when you stop and look at all that you have been given. So try to slow down this week and look at all that you are thankful for you will be glad you did. Well Je t'aime!!

ELder Davis 

New Area & Companion!!!!!

HEY EVERYONE,

Wow it is sad to hear about Grandma McDowell, but also really cool to think that she is so happy and she is with her husband again. It is so amazing to understand and have the blessing of knowing this truth. Well i hope that family is doing ok. Bryce and Paul, I hope that you start to feel better soon. Mom i am praying for you, let me know how things are going.

So we got transfer emails this week and my new area is CHOLET (pronounced sh-o-lay) is is a different zone and area and my new companions name is Elder Garcia. I meet him on Wed. I am excited to go to my second ville. It is crazy how time is flying and i am sad to leave Tours but i know that the Elders coming here will keep things going and bring everything they have. This was a crazy week on Tuesday we have interviews with our new mission president. President and Sister Poznonski are so great. I am really excited to see how things move along with them. Also they are French and now everything is in french, so it was crazy to have interviews and all of the training in French. OH and i got the package they brought it from the mission home during interviews. It was so awesome i loved it. I felt like it was Christmas. Also thanks for the pictures of campout that was really cool to see everyone. To everyone that wrote me letters you are all the best. We have such a great family, keep being so amazing. Thanks so much! Well the rest of this week was packed with rendez-vous and saying goodbye to everyone. We had a really good week. Also we had an exchange and i was with Elder Coleman who is closer to my age in the mission. It was really cool to teach with him because we taught really well together and had a really fun time. Right now we are in the process of me packing and doing a deep clean of the apartment for the next set of missionaries so everything in the apartment is everywhere. Looking back on this transfer I have really grown a lot and Elder McQuay is so great. It is cool to see how much someone can teach you even when you are not trying to be taught. It also showed me that as long as we are always striving to improve and grow along with really loving everyone one we start to become the kind of person who can truly bring the light of Christ to others. I feel blessed to be here in France and to watch the lord guild us each day. Well I am loving the mission and hope you are all enjoying life. I will tell you about my new area and companion next week. I love you all! Je t'aime!!!!

Elder Davis

also here is my new address

3, rue des Bons Enfants
49300, CHOLET
France

OH here is a picture of me in my new suit at chateau d'Angers

New

6 Months!!!!!!!!!!

Hey,

So to start off WOW that is cool that we are not moving. I love Temecula! Well it is crazy tomorrow is my six month mark and the 14th (for the french the 14th of July is equal to our 4th of July) will be my four month mark in France. I really is just amazed how fast time is flying. Also this Saturday we have transfers so i will let you know if i stay or go to a different ville. It is exciting because i meet the new mission president tomorrow, and because we all have to go to Anger
(french city just northwest of Tours) to see him we have some Elders staying at our apartment so they don't have to do the whole trip in one day. We are going to take them to see a cool Castle so i will let you know what one we go see. Well it sounds like everyone is doing great and really enjoying the summer. I had a really good week this week. I went to Bourges for a day with the zone leaders for an exchange and that was really good. I was able help teach an investigator from there and we committed her to a baptismal date so that was really cool. Another highlight from the week was we had a visitor at church and before sacrament we were able to talk to him and he said that he was a really old amis but all these years he just could not forget the teachings of the church. So he came to church while he was passing through Tours because he said that he just felt like the spirit was drawing him back and now he wants to start learning again and get baptized. It was amazing to see that an Elders work for years ago had stayed with this man and God had been working with him to bring him back. It is true that we as missionaries can do the best we can but in the end God and the spirit is the one who really works in their heart. We did a lot of finding this week and it was really tiring but it is cool that by just sharing the message and handing out anything to bring people one step closer to Christ makes a big difference just by doing all the small things. Also a little girl in the branch had a baptism and a lot of non members came and we were able to share a quick message about the church and the baptism went really well. It was cool the little girls extended family are not members but they really felt the spirit and were really happy to see her choose to follow Christ. Another exciting thing about this week is we have an American in the branch who married a French man and they randomly invited us over for burritos after a huge service project (to build dog house for the lady with 40 dogs hahah), because she is also from California and she said that we needed some Mexican food hahah, it was really nice. The last really exciting thing from the week was we had an Amis who has not been progressing in a while and when we visited and she told us that she felt bad that she had not been reading the Book of Mormon because she was always tired and at work so she started to throw it in her bag and read it while on the bus. And now she said she loves it and she has been making notes on the pages and highlighting her favorite Scriptures, it was really cool to see the huge change because she started to really feast upon the words. And when we left she prayed for the first time out loud and you could tell that she really felt the spirit, it was a really cool experience. Well I have to say that i am loving everyday. It is funny because i get home each night tired and ready to just go to bed but when we plan for the next day, before we go to bed, i just can't wait for the next day to come. It is work but i love it. Well i hope everyone is having a great summer vacation. Je t'aime! Remember if you love others as Christ did you will always be happy.

Elder Davis

Week 25

HEY EVERYONE,

It was so good to hear from all of you this week. It is funny because i had completely forgotten what today was until i started to read emails. IT IS THE 4th OF JULY. hahaha I am now really excited about it and me and my companion are trying to think about what to do to celebrate it. Wow it is crazy thinking about you moving out of the house and all the random stuff you will find from the last 8 or so years, good luck with everything. Oh and to answer your question i have not met the new mission president yet i meet him on the 12th because that is when he is doing interviews with my zone, so that should be exciting. Well i have had a really exciting week. It was funny because i had forgotten everything and i had ask my companion what we did to remember everything. We found two new amis this week and we are really excited to continue teaching them. One of them was this man that was sitting on a bench and we were trying to go fast to catch a bus, but we decided we needed to contact him. We are so glad we did. He told us how he is working on stopping drinking and smoking and he really is looking for something more to life. We left him with a Book of Mormon and we are going to see him this week. I love how people who are ready for this Gospel seem to just find there way to missionaries, there is no way that is by chance. Well i have to quickly tell you about my Sunday yesterday. It was fast Sunday so this English lady who does not speak any french went up to bear her testimony but ended up just taking half the time telling us about her week and the man translating for her was messing it up so everyone was just confused. Her week included having her dog sit on cold water bottles so it did not over heat, chasing horses around because she was late for something, and the part where i had to do everything i could to not start laughing she found a hurt badger and took it to the vet and because she did not have a box for it she had it sit on her lap for an hour and she was really happy because it did not bit her. It was really funny hearing her say all this and then the translator trying to translate it and watching all the french peoples faces try to figure out what she was getting at. But in then end you have to love how big of a heart this lady has to save a hurt badger and let it sit on her lap. Anyways also this week all the buses in town changed schedules and stopped running for a day because of the construction. We did not no about this so we kept missing buses and ended up walking everywhere and running to make it to some randez-vous. On Wed this lady called us who was found about a year ago but she said she would call when she could see missionaries randomly gave us a call. We were able to see her and teach her the first lesson she was very receptive and i hope that things continue. I was really grateful this week because at church i was able to just talk to all the members with out any confusion in my french and understanding them. It may seem like a small thing but it was so good to see that the lord is blessing me and as i keep trying by best he is there feeling in where it is needed. I am really grateful for this church and the truths it brings. Thank for all the emails and letters. It is such a blessing to know i have all of you there supporting me. Je t'aime! Have a great 4th of July!

Elder Davis

week 24

Family,

Well it is so good to hear about everything that it going on. I have to say that this week just flew by. Well I will start with the big news, well at least for me. Well we started sharing a car with another set of Elders and then I got a call telling me that i am the designated driver. So only i can drive the car in Tours. Also it is a stick shift. So basically i learned to drive stick this week in crazy french streets. Don't be too worried, hahah i am doing pretty good. It was cool though because while i was learning we were out in the country side to go teach a less active and we passed 5 different castles. So i can say i learned to drive stick in the Loire Valley. Well this week was a lot of less active work. Because we had the car we could finally see a lot of less actives that live to far to get to by bus. It was really good being able to see a lot of people who have not hear from anyone in the church for a long time. It was cool to see how much some really needed the church, but also hard because we see that everyone has their free agency and sometimes all we can do it try our best to help them regain their testimony. Also this week we have found a few more people to teach. We did not get to see everyone we wanted to because Elder McQuay woke up one morning when we had three rendez-vous (appointments) and had a fever so I spent half that day taking care of him. It was cool because he had a quick recovery and that afternoon we were doing service for an elderly lady. It is amazing to see how much you are blessed each day. Well I don't know how it has been for you guys, but the last few days here have been so hot. We are glad we had the car this week because it is the only time we are not dieing of heat. This week i learn a really good lesson that i think i just lost sight of. I started this week really wanting to pick up my game in the french and half way through the week i just got discouraged because i could not always say exactly what i wanted to. But after a lot of pray and scripture study i had this comfort of all i need to do is serve with all my heart, mind and strength and God will take care of the rest. It really showed me that even when we are having a hard time in life it is only for our benefit if we look to Christ and serve others. Well I love you all and can't wait to hear what other fun things you are doing this summer. Keep it up, you are all such great examples to me and so many others. Also tell my Brothers and my Friends that i would love to hear for them. Je t'aime!!!!!

Elder Davis