Family,

It sounds like the wedding went really great. I am glad to hear that everyone enjoyed it and to hear how happy Aubri is. That is cool to hear about your goal to go to the templemore, that is so great. I am excited to go to the temple again when i get back. Oh were you able to look at the website on the temple being built here? That sounds like a cool video that you were watching about two brothers growing up together and going on missions. It made me think about when we were all little and the games we used to play. They always ended and someone getting hurt, usually Bay hahah. I love you Bryce and Paul! Hope that everything is going great. Well this week was a great week. I had an exchange where i went up to Paris for a day. It was really nice, but it was the outer part of Paris not the area i served in. We did a service this week serving food to people in need. That was really fun and it was cool how you could really see that the people who were truly thankful and kept saying thank you were the ones who were happier. It showed me that if i will be more grateful and express it to God, companions, and amis, it will not only let them know that i care but i will also be more happy. We found two new small families this week. One we stopped by this ladies house because we ran into her on the street and she gave us her address, but did not really seem interested. Well when we stopped by she agreed to listen and then ended up coming to church on Sunday and we have another lesson planed. Her name is Stela. The other lady is Mairie Brigette, she is a lady that had heard the missionaries years ago but did not believe in God. They left her with a Bible and a few years after she found faith in Christ and then she ran into us and wanted to hear our message again. Also Marie Blanche the lady we have been teaching came to church and really enjoyed it and now said she is going to be praying for when she should be baptised. Things are just really moving forward here. Also the other team here is doing really well. And lets not forget that there are still a lot of people out there waiting to hear the good news. I am just excited for this work. Thanks for all the prays i know that they are being answered and i fell your love from back home everyday. Oh another thing from this week that i thought you would like to hear is we were at a members house and i showed some pictures of our family and some of cousins and they were all talking about how great you all look hahah. All is good here. Well except for i have spent my whole day trying to fix a leak in the bathroom. In the end we don't have water until tomorrow afternoon and we have to catch a train to Paris in the morning, so i think we are going to have to figure something out, hahaha. But despite that dilemma, I am still enjoying everything. My companion is great and Reims is awesome. Je t'aime!!! Have a great week!

Elder Davis

Hey Everyone,

To start of i have to say CONGRATS to Tanner for his mission call. That is so exciting, it is crazy how close he will be. I also just hear that there is one area that if i was to serve there once a month you go over to Germany and stay with the Elders there to go to a small branch on that sunday, that would be crazy if we some how both ended up in those two areas. Also I can't believe that Aubry is getting married this week. give her a big hug from me and send my love to her. Also Nicole good luck on your tests this week, you will be in my prayers. It was cool to hear about your Stake Confernce, it always amazes me how inspired the leaders really are. Also that was cool to hear at the 100 years of seminary they had some french speakers on the video, i wonder if i know any of them, haha. Well things here are going great! Our week started off with us having to drop our first amis because he told us he would not pray or read and that was really hard, because he was so close but would not just do the simple acts. We left him with the Book of Mormon and i hope one day he reads it and finds the missionaries again. Then we had president interviews. They were really good and the training was so great. It was for starting the new year and we talked alot about goals. Last training we talked about breaking down the walls that our holding us back and this time it was about now that we have broken everything down we need to build it up with righteous goals and desires. My interview with presdient was really good. President Poznanski is so amazing and truly inspired. So as the week went on we had a huge line of RDVs that just did not happen because of a bunch of different reasons and we had to go back to square one and keep looking. But as the weekend rolled around we saw the blessings of all our hard work. First we had a RDV with a lady named Marie-Blanche and she is so great. She has 4 kids and said that she is done with the catholic church and is just looking for truth and something more that she feels is missing. We had a strong first lesson with her and we will see her again tonight. The other miracle is a young guy named David he was interested in the fact that we have a living prophet today. Also we just got a hold of some more people whos we are really looking forward to. It is just the start, but it is so exciting to see the effect and power of the Gospel in peoples life. Well Church was so amazing yesterday. At first I was really tired and felt a little stressed out over eveything and i had a lesson that day. But then i started to think about why i was at church and i thought about a question i had and how if i really listen and pray my question will get answers at church. Well to sum it up i recieved my answer and the comfort that God is there and we need to sometimes take a step back and really look at life how he would want us too. Not get stuck in the actions of each day but make sure that you are really working with your best. That is actually mine and my companions goal this week to work to our best ability and then continuously make such it really is our best. Also we have a goal starting tomarrow to go a whole week with only speaking french, not just when we are out of the apartment, but all the time, it will be fun hahah. Well all is going good over here. I hope that you are all enjoying life and have a great week. JE T'AIME!!

Elder Davis

PS Dad my companion is from a city called Antelope

Family,

How is everyone doing? It is good to hear about the Bryce's and Paul's sports. I am also so happy to hear that Mom is doing good. I love you! Well to start i will answer your questions by opening a new area i mean we came to the city and started a team that was not here before. So we started with nothing and have been able to go out and just start finding new people. My Companion Elder William is great! We get along really well and have already started to see a lot of success. He is from Northern California and did track and field. He is the opposite of me in the sense that he has two older brothers and two younger sisters. He is a really hard worker and really has the language down. He also came from the other mission when we merged so i don't know any of the places or people he served with before hahah. The city itself is also really great. It is one of the cleanest cities that i have been in. Also it has a lot of things to see and makes me think of Temecula because there is a lot of wineries. The ward is so great. The are really good at working with the missionaries and one even helps us with french once a week. Oh another thing is the apartment here is the nicest one that i have seen so far. The other set of Elders are so great. We have a lot of fun living together. Well this week we had to go up to Rouen,a city in Normandie, for Elder William's legality. It was a really cool city. To sum of the whole thing we ended up waiting in lines for a total of 6 hours waiting for his legality. That and the train rides back plus getting through Paris with a box of Book of Mormon ( les Livre de Mormon), lets just say it was a long day. I have to do mine soon so hope that here in Reims it is less crazy. We found three new people to teach this week and a lot of potentials. I am getting really excited about the work here things are just moving forward. One amis we saw this week was so cool. He had so many questions we could hardly keep up and even had to write a bunch down because we just were not sure. But he is really looking for the truth and wants to know why he is here. I can't wait to see him again. One thing that i really learned this week is how important it is to work hard but not lose track of what is most important. We were out everyday just talking to anyone and everyone, but not until we really started to show interest in the people, more then just we are looking for people to teach, did we start to find the ones who are prepared for the Gospel. It really showed me how showing your love and care for others is so powerful and so much more important then all the tasks we feel so pressed to accomplish each day. If we don't focus on the ones we love and people we see each day, it seems to me that all the other things we do could have just gone undone because where things really count nothing happened. The Pure Love of Christ. Moroni 7:45!! Well i am so happy to be out here and feel so blessed that i have such amazing family and friends. JE T'AIME!!! Thanks for everything! I will be praying for you all! Hope you have a great week.
Elder Davis

http://www.templemormonparis.org/

PS here is the sit that just came out on the temple here in France!

First week in Reims

Family,

How is everyone doing? It is good to hear about the Bryce's and Paul's sports. I am also so happy to hear that Mom is doing good. I love you! Well to start i will answer your questions by opening a new area i mean we came to the city and started a team that was not here before. So we started with nothing and have been able to go out and just start finding new people. My Companion Elder William is great! We get along really well and have already started to see a lot of success. He is from Northern California and did track and field. He is the opposite of me in the sense that he has two older brothers and two younger sisters. He is a really hard worker and really has the language down. He also came from the other mission when we merged so i don't know any of the places or people he served with before hahah. The city itself is also really great. It is one of the cleanest cities that i have been in. Also it has a lot of things to see and makes me think of Temecula because there is a lot of wineries. The ward is so great. The are really good at working with the missionaries and one even helps us with french once a week. Oh another thing is the apartment here is the nicest one that i have seen so far. The other set of Elders are so great. We have a lot of fun living together. Well this week we had to go up to Rouen,a city in Normandie, for Elder William's legality. It was a really cool city. To sum of the whole thing we ended up waiting in lines for a total of 6 hours waiting for his legality. That and the train rides back plus getting through Paris with a box of Book of Mormon ( les Livre de Mormon), lets just say it was a long day. I have to do mine soon so hope that here in Reims it is less crazy. We found three new people to teach this week and a lot of potentials. I am getting really excited about the work here things are just moving forward. One amis we saw this week was so cool. He had so many questions we could hardly keep up and even had to write a bunch down because we just were not sure. But he is really looking for the truth and wants to know why he is here. I can't wait to see him again. One thing that i really learned this week is how important it is to work hard but not lose track of what is most important. We were out everyday just talking to anyone and everyone, but not until we really started to show interest in the people, more then just we are looking for people to teach, did we start to find the ones who are prepared for the Gospel. It really showed me how showing your love and care for others is so powerful and so much more important then all the tasks we feel so pressed to accomplish each day. If we don't focus on the ones we love and people we see each day, it seems to me that all the other things we do could have just gone undone because where things really count nothing happened. The Pure Love of Christ. Moroni 7:45!! Well i am so happy to be out here and feel so blessed that i have such amazing family and friends. JE T'AIME!!! Thanks for everything! I will be praying for you all! Hope you have a great week.
Elder Davis

New Area & Companion!!!!!

Les Missionnaires
Elder Davis
135 Boulevard Pommery
51100 REIMS
FRANCE


Hey,

So that is my new address. So It is was really sad to leave Paris this week. Before i left i was able to do a lot of work and see everyone. I just got a call and three of our amis have set baptismal dates, it was exciting to hear things are still going well in Paris. Ok well Reims is a really cool city. It is funny because it is actual french people again hahah. Paris was just a huge mix of everyone from everywhere. Well so opening a new team means that we come here and we don't know anyone or have anything to start off of hahah. We are lucky though, because there is another set of missionaries that are here already and we all live together so they updated us on transportation and stuff. Well this week has been going around getting to know the ville and members and every other sec is out looking for people who are ready for the Gospel. I really do love the city. It has a good feel to it and people are a little more open here so that is a really good thing. The ward is really strong and they are working on a mission plan for this year. I think that they will really get excited about the work as we start to get things going. Also this city has the Cathedral where every French King has been crowned. So that is a random cool thing hahah we are going to see it today hahah i heard it is way better then Notre Dame so i will let you know. So my new companion is Elder Williams. We get along really well. He is a really good worker and a just an over all great missionary. I am excited to be working with him. He is from Sacramento, Ca (Antelope to be exact). He is a track athlete. He ran distance, middle distance and did high jump. The other two missionaries that we live with are Elders Hartley and Newells they are really fun and good missionaries. This will be a good transfer. Well it was good to hear that everyone is doing great. I can't wait to hear where Tanner gets his mission call. I am hoping France or at least french speaking hahaha. It is exciting to hear about all the missionaries in our family. Well i am doing good and can't wait to see what is going to happen next. Thanks for all the letters and emails! Keep being awesome. JE T'AIME!!!
Elder Davis

BONJOUR!!! Ca va?

I hope that everyone is doing great. It is good to hear that you all enjoyed the rest of your break. I am glad that Mom has been ale to share the pictures and key chains with everyone.
Oh Wow that is such great news that Kylie is expecting a baby. I am so excited for her. I need to write her that is so cool. I can't believe it GRANT IS GOING TO THE SCOTLAND/IRELAND MISSION. That is so awesome! I am so excited for him. He is going to love it. Tell him that he needs to email me i want to talk to him. So ok there was a big shock for me this week, I am leaving Paris : ( When i found out i was so surprised i thought i would stay for at least another six weeks. I am going to Reims (haha good look with saying this one hahah my comp laugh at me when i first said it). It is just east of Paris and i am going to be opening a new team there so that will be crazy. I will let you know how it goes. I leave on Wed. After i found out i have just been all over Paris and last night i was able to go see the Eiffel Tower light up at night. I hope that i get to serve around this area again. But i know that this is what God wants haha. Elder Liao, the Chinese speaker i live with, was telling me that i was just loving live to much so God needs me to go open a new team and start having some trials so i can grow some more. hahah I guess he is right. I know that there is a reason i am going there and am excited to see what amazing things are in store. Oh and my new companions name is Elder Williams and that is all i know about him right now so i will let you know more about him next week. Ok well a little on this week, we worked really hard but because everyone was gone for holidays most of our time was finding and contacting. But we did have an amazing experience where a women (Isabell) that we had given a Christmas DVD called us and said that she loved it and wanted to know if she could have a Book of Mormon. We had a RDV with her and it was just perfect. She is so prepared and in the end she was crying and just kept thanking us and called us after and then sent a text with how happy and grateful she was. It was a really cool experience. We have found over 40 people and have 4 amis really working towards baptism, i am excited to hear how things go here next transfer and just feel blessed to be a part of it and have a bright future, full of so many amazing experiences to come. I love you all and hope that as the vacation is finishing up and you get back to you normal everyday life that you remember all the joys and blessing that you have been given. JE T'AIME!!!!

Elder Davis

Happy Christmas!!

Family,

It was so good to speak with you all yesterday!! I hope that the rest of your Christmas went well and that you all enjoyed the time together. I guess a little bit on my Christmas day hahah. The highlight of course was talking with the family even thought I was just so excited to see them on skype i don't know if I said really anything I wanted to. I love you all!!! Well church was really good and they had a music program that was amazing. Also one of my old companions was there with his family visiting the mission so that was cool to be able to talk to him. It made me think back and see that even though I feel like I have not been out that long, it is amazing to see how much I have learned and grown and I am almost to my year mark crazy. We then went over to the Chinese's amis house and ate lunch with them. After me and my companion had time to go look at the Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower before going to eat dinner. That was cool to see but it was so packed with people for Christmas day. The dinner was funny because it was the most diverse group I think I have ever been in. The only common language for everyone was French but there was only one person there who was actually french. It was a really fun night. Then I talked to you all until I had to head back to our flat. This week of Christmas was just a really exciting. We were not able to see everyone we wanted to because they all had Christmas plans and left for the holidays, but that just gave us a lot of time to find more people who are ready for the Gospel. We did contacting where one missionary would play Christmas songs on his violin and the rest of us would stop people coming by. It was a cool experience and we all found a lot of people so I hope that that really gets the work moving forward as the holidays come to an end. Christmas time really is such a great time of the year that we need to hold with us for the rest of the year. I don't have much more to say, hope you had an amazing Christmas and that you were all able to feel the spirit of Christ during this special season. I love you all so much!! JE T'AIME!!! Keep being the great people that I love.

Elder Davis

Family,

How is everyone doing? I am so excited to talk to you all this week. It sounds like you are all getting ready for Christmas and are excited for the break. This week was a really good week. It went by so fast i really have to think about what we did. Haha the start of the week i guess was kind of slow, but as the week went on things really started to pick up. So i am so happy that you got the stuff i sent. I have not got the package yet but i am sure it will come soon. That Russian lady was so nice, thats funny she told you about our little Manger thing hahah. Well it was so cold this week. I think i have never been this cold in my life hahah i felt kind of lame because i was just so cold. It is funny because I finally dressed really warm one day and i was all happy because i was so warm and then we got on the metro and it was really crowded and i was dieing. I got so hot and i was stuck on the metro. I fell like there is just no winning some times hahah. But it has been cool the city is starting to really get Christmasy. They opened an ice skating in front of the Eiffel Tower and Hotel de Ville. Hopefully we will find time to go. Well the work is still just going really well. We set a baptismal date with one of our amis and he is a little scared to make such a huge commitment but he really has the desire to do good. Also i have really learned how much God helps people in need. This week i felt that a lot of our Amis were having problems and by showing them how much God will help them through pray scriptures and church seemed to solve everything. It showed me that i need to trust a little bit more and God and stop thinking i have to solve everything on my own. Turn to the lord and he will help you through anything. Also I was really touched when we met with Alejandro the man who was just baptized. We were talking and he started to tell us that when he started taking the lessons he felt that he needed to fix all the unsolved things in his life so he called up an old friend who he had not talked to in years because of a fight they had. After he said sorry and told them that he wanted to have that friendship they once had again, his friend was surprised and said this is not you. I have known you for years and this is not you, who is making you do this. Well to make a long story short he started sharing with her the joy he had found and now her and her family are interested because they feel that they have a lot of problems in their life and that God is the only way to solve them. It is amazing how when someone comes to know Jesus Christ they feel the need to change and share his love. I feel that is the sign of what the gospel has really done for him. It is just too amazing!! Well life is good and i am excited to talk to you all in six days and i just have to say now hahaha i hope you enjoy the presents because i am not very good at shopping hahaha. I love you all JE T'AMIE!!!!!

Elder Davis

Bonjour,

It was so good to hear from you all this week. It sounds like things are a little crazy right now for everyone, but Christmas is just around the corner so don't worry. Also i will be praying for all of you. It missed the Nativity Festival this year. hahaha Well this week was so amazing. We saw a lot of people this week and found tons of new potential people so that was really exciting the work here in Paris never stops hahah. Well we had our Christmas mission conference this week. It was such a blessing when i got the letters from home. That was exactly what i needed! It was so great to get the letters and we had a little bit of time to read them and just think. It was so cool as all the missionaries were reading their letters from home, you could just feel the love and spirit in the room. I feel so blessed that you are all there for me and i feel your prays each day. Thank you!!! The rest of the conference was games, the video of the last year, and a message from the president. It all was just so good. Then later in the week we had our ward Christmas party. It was good! The missionaries had to do something so we acted out the Birth of Christ, it was kind of funny because we were all really bad at it, but in the end it went really well. The whole party was so good. It made me feel a little bit at home just talking with all the members and watching the Primary program, hahaha they are always the best. Also we had 4 amis come to it and really got along with the members so that is so great. Ok so the highlight of the week. THE BAPTISM, It was so good. Everything went perfect. I will send you pictures soon. Four people were baptized, it was just such a happy day. Also after they all bore their testimonies and it was all based on how they feel they have joined a family and they want their actually family to be part of it. It was cool to see how much love there was and how the Family really is at the center of God's plan for us. We are so blessed! Well this week really has just been perfect. Oh and it was really cool because last night we were out contacting and we ended up over by the Louvre, but there were to many people and tourist to talk to anyone so we went down by the river and started walking towards Notre Dame. At first no one was down there so we thought it was not a good place to be, but then we saw a young guy who was just walking and we started to talk to him. It ended up turning into a huge conversation and we sat down and talk for a while. It was cool to see how he just was so interested, but he did not know why. He just felt something, but then would keep saying that he just did not believe in a God. Well after we finished talking he just thanked us and we had made his day haha he walked away so happy. It is strange because i feel like nothing was really special about it. We just talked, got to know each other and told him things that i know are true and what has helped me. But behind it all the spirit was really guilding and working with him and us. I guess the experience just showed me that you never really know what is going on in someones heart and how God is working with or helping someone. So we just do our best, be kind, help out, and love unconditionally and we will be bless to see God work the small miracles of each day. Well i feel that i am just rambling on. I just feel so blessed to be here and to have family and friends like all of you. Life is good! I miss you all but the joy that i found shows me that i am doing what God wants me to do. Plus today i went to see Mona Lisa hahah. So i guess we just have to count our blessings. Thanks for all you do. I LOVE YOU!!!! JE T'AIME!!!! Make it an amazing week!
Elder Davis

Happy Birthday Dee!!!

Bonjour!

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! It was so nice to hear from all of you. I think that this year it will be an easy answer to Mom and Dads birthday question. Favorite thing of my 19th year Well ummmm GOING ON A MISSION!!!!!! It is just so good! I hear that i got a package in Cholet from the Hjelmstads and they are bringing it up to me this weekend. Tell them thanks so much and they are amazing. oh and Dad thanks for renewing my license. That is exciting that you got all the Christmas decorations up. I found a box of some Christmas stuff in our apartment storage and we did a little decorating. It is kind of sad but it still made me happy to have something. Also in China Christmas is not that big of a deal so Elder Liao keeps laughing because i get so excited about Christmas, but hey what is there not to get excited about. It is great to hear that Bryce and Ralphy are enjoying Wrestling. And good Job Bay and Ralphy on working towards eagles. It is cool that Grandma and Grandpa go to the MTC today, they are so great. When you see them give them a big hug and kiss for me hahaha. I have not seen the Christmas devotional yet but i hope i will be able to. Well this week started off just crazy and i was so tired from running around everywhere. But once when i got used to it, now i love it so much. Also this last week we have been able to teach so many people and i have just been loving everything. One day we went contacting for a long time and right when i was feeling kind of done we turned the corner and there was the Eiffel Tower and that gave me exactly what i needed. I am so happy to be here and i am going to just keep giving it everything i have because this Gospel is just to amazing. Well Juan and Alejandro and still on track for getting baptized this week. I am so excited! Also we have just started to teach Lauren and Audrey, and they are just the perfect amis. We are also working with François and Gracila. And it is so true i feel like i have been teaching people from all over the world. All over Africa, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Philippines, Elsalvador, and even an american amis. It is so great. Well today i went to Hard Rock for a birthday lunch and have been going all over Paris to just see things. It was a good day s far, I do miss all of you but i am glad to be here. So Christmas here is cool each day the city just gets more decked out. Also there is a lot of Christmas music and concerts coming. We have a Christmas party this week and the Christmas mission conference. So it is going to be a busy week along with the Baptisms. Well i hope that everyone is enjoying the Holiday Spirit and sharing it with others. Life is going great here. JE T'AIME!!!!!!

Elder Davis