Cory! I know you wont get this till you read your blog upon your return, but hello??!!! Wheres MY personal mail?? Afterall I am taking chunks of my life to post your letters on the blog and all I get is a shout out from the letter?! Lame.
Love you!
A
Monday, October 6, 2008
Oct 1 2008
Mom and Family,
Thank you so much for the letters you been sending! Jess, Amber, Dad you are all so Great! I really apreeciate it. Mail is what we look forward to, besides gym time of course. haha. Weve been playing a bit of volleyball during gym, and its awesome. I wont lie though its pretty difficult to play when half of the kids here seem like theyve never played before. No joke. Its pretty sad but still fun.
So yesterday we had tuesday deveotional and had elder Garn of the quorem of the seventy and his wife talk, it was good from what I remember. you dont get a lot of sleep here especially when your companion snores way loud and talks in his sleep! we bought him some of those snore things that cover your nose or whatever...help spread the nostrils to help not snore...it hlpes some. but hes good. Its just the other 3 of us that have to suffer.
So along the lines of what elder garn was talking about was aot of D&C section 4..."the field is white already to harvest" we as missionaries need to be unified in what we do. there are people ready to hear our message(especially in SA) but yeah lots of other good info goo...
So my companion and I taught lesson #1 to an investigator today( pretend) she was a sweet old lady that acted as if she was of the baptist faith and wanted to learn about the church. Me and Elder Ledek did way good we thought. Bettern than expected for sure. It was a little sketchy at first but by the end we really got things moving and taught by the spirit the best we could. The more practice and times we teach the more comfortable well be at it. But yeah..it was a cool experience for sure.
So lets see what else? I cant really remember what i said the other day. Ive been here for a week- yay! Its weird wondering what everyone else is doing because im so busy all the time. sometimes forget there is life outside the MTC.
Oh Yeah! I saw Nicole like on my third day here. Im sure youve seen the pic on her phone. It was so random and kinda funny. But still cool that I saw her.
Well the church is great! ha! MTC is doing good! haha, Elder Devenney wouldnt mind some packages of goodies while he is here...just so you know. Trevors mom already sent me some treats so hurry and catch up mom and dad!!
Ill write again soon...
Hello All...
Elder Devenney
Thank you so much for the letters you been sending! Jess, Amber, Dad you are all so Great! I really apreeciate it. Mail is what we look forward to, besides gym time of course. haha. Weve been playing a bit of volleyball during gym, and its awesome. I wont lie though its pretty difficult to play when half of the kids here seem like theyve never played before. No joke. Its pretty sad but still fun.
So yesterday we had tuesday deveotional and had elder Garn of the quorem of the seventy and his wife talk, it was good from what I remember. you dont get a lot of sleep here especially when your companion snores way loud and talks in his sleep! we bought him some of those snore things that cover your nose or whatever...help spread the nostrils to help not snore...it hlpes some. but hes good. Its just the other 3 of us that have to suffer.
So along the lines of what elder garn was talking about was aot of D&C section 4..."the field is white already to harvest" we as missionaries need to be unified in what we do. there are people ready to hear our message(especially in SA) but yeah lots of other good info goo...
So my companion and I taught lesson #1 to an investigator today( pretend) she was a sweet old lady that acted as if she was of the baptist faith and wanted to learn about the church. Me and Elder Ledek did way good we thought. Bettern than expected for sure. It was a little sketchy at first but by the end we really got things moving and taught by the spirit the best we could. The more practice and times we teach the more comfortable well be at it. But yeah..it was a cool experience for sure.
So lets see what else? I cant really remember what i said the other day. Ive been here for a week- yay! Its weird wondering what everyone else is doing because im so busy all the time. sometimes forget there is life outside the MTC.
Oh Yeah! I saw Nicole like on my third day here. Im sure youve seen the pic on her phone. It was so random and kinda funny. But still cool that I saw her.
Well the church is great! ha! MTC is doing good! haha, Elder Devenney wouldnt mind some packages of goodies while he is here...just so you know. Trevors mom already sent me some treats so hurry and catch up mom and dad!!
Ill write again soon...
Hello All...
Elder Devenney
Sept 29th
I guess I havent really written you guys back for a few days now, so I Figured I would now. I have some extra down time because we just finished a service project.
Well as i sit here listening to music with my other 3 roommates, I just wanted to reassure you guys that im good. things arent the easiest, and I havent even been here a week. Im excited to no longer be the new elders cuz that sucks to be honest. Being newbs is pretty lame and it takes a while to figure everything out. My district is very cool. there are 8 of us all together. We take things serious at times but laugh so much. We have to have a little bit of fun while being here ya know? Yesterday was fast sunday and we had good meeting s and devotionals. They all had really good speakers and talked about a lot of good stuff. the main focus yesterday was about our companions and how necessary it is that we never lose eachother. Its been good that me and Elder Ledek have gotten along. hes pretty chill and we have a lot in common. Everyday for the most part we have large group meetings and class. We usually have 3 classes throughout the day that are around 2-3 hours long. then we have personal and companion study in between. WEll get like 45 minutes of gym time each day except saturday, that will be nice. on friday we played some sand volleyball. Some of the kids in our district arent very good...but its still fun. On saturday we have class for like 12 hours - no joke, its crazy. for extra time we try to walk around and teach other elders about the first discussion. This includes our heavenly fathers families, apostasy, the restoration, Christs ministry, Bof Mormon, prayer, etc. Its going good, and Elder Ledek and I are getting it down the more we teach. Tomorrow, is our first TRC where we have to teach an investigator lesson #1. Its not a real investigator, but yeah hsould be intense, but good practice. Well get to watch oursleves after and see where we didnt do very well and what areas we can improve on.
The food is actually pretty good I think...although some might say otherwise.
So I think prayer is becoming a big part of my life as Im in the MTC. I think Im having the most sincere prayers Ive ever had and its been great. I really need my heavenly fathers help while being here. I need help to learn, apply, and teach these different principals. We seriously pray so often and I can really feel the difference.
I just finished the Book of Mormon again and I started into the PGP. I have to say that Moroni has to be my favorite section of the BOM. It gives so much and is straight forward. Im pretty sure I marked up like half his book. haha.
Its way good...well Ill probably write you again here soon...Please send some letters, and tell others to do the same....Thanks!
Love you!
Elder Devenney
Well as i sit here listening to music with my other 3 roommates, I just wanted to reassure you guys that im good. things arent the easiest, and I havent even been here a week. Im excited to no longer be the new elders cuz that sucks to be honest. Being newbs is pretty lame and it takes a while to figure everything out. My district is very cool. there are 8 of us all together. We take things serious at times but laugh so much. We have to have a little bit of fun while being here ya know? Yesterday was fast sunday and we had good meeting s and devotionals. They all had really good speakers and talked about a lot of good stuff. the main focus yesterday was about our companions and how necessary it is that we never lose eachother. Its been good that me and Elder Ledek have gotten along. hes pretty chill and we have a lot in common. Everyday for the most part we have large group meetings and class. We usually have 3 classes throughout the day that are around 2-3 hours long. then we have personal and companion study in between. WEll get like 45 minutes of gym time each day except saturday, that will be nice. on friday we played some sand volleyball. Some of the kids in our district arent very good...but its still fun. On saturday we have class for like 12 hours - no joke, its crazy. for extra time we try to walk around and teach other elders about the first discussion. This includes our heavenly fathers families, apostasy, the restoration, Christs ministry, Bof Mormon, prayer, etc. Its going good, and Elder Ledek and I are getting it down the more we teach. Tomorrow, is our first TRC where we have to teach an investigator lesson #1. Its not a real investigator, but yeah hsould be intense, but good practice. Well get to watch oursleves after and see where we didnt do very well and what areas we can improve on.
The food is actually pretty good I think...although some might say otherwise.
So I think prayer is becoming a big part of my life as Im in the MTC. I think Im having the most sincere prayers Ive ever had and its been great. I really need my heavenly fathers help while being here. I need help to learn, apply, and teach these different principals. We seriously pray so often and I can really feel the difference.
I just finished the Book of Mormon again and I started into the PGP. I have to say that Moroni has to be my favorite section of the BOM. It gives so much and is straight forward. Im pretty sure I marked up like half his book. haha.
Its way good...well Ill probably write you again here soon...Please send some letters, and tell others to do the same....Thanks!
Love you!
Elder Devenney
Friday, October 3, 2008
First emailed letter
Date: Thursday, October 2, 2008, 2:08 PM
Hey i hope this works...i kinda forgot the letter that has everyone's emailin it so...yeah i have whitney's right next to me...and i guessed mom's,hope it works. Well whit i know you'll get this at least so if you couldforward this to everyone that would be great!I'm sitting here with a large crowd around me while doing some laundry.I'm happy to say that it was a success...from what i can
tell. i didnt messup any of my shirts...although i will have to use my lint roller on my pantsbecuase of a certain towel i put in with it...yeah bad idea. The MTC has been pretty good so far. I'm assuming you've all been ableto look at my letters that i send home, or on the blog that i hope amber iskeeping up with. I havent looked at it, and idunno if i'll be able to, but isure hope it looks good. I've been here for more than a week now and i haveto say the first week is a little rough. There's a lot to do and a lot tolearn, but if i just go with the flow like i did, then it's thursday alreadyand that seems crazy. every day since sunday went by so fast. which is great.when we first got here everyone would be like "just make it to sunday andyou'll be ok" haha. It was the truth tho. Now i get to say that to allthe new kids that came in yesterday...haha. Those poor souls...So my companion and i
(Elder Ledek) have been really hittin it off well.He's from orem and played soccer at UVU for those of you that dont knowalready. I'll send some pics of us hopefully soon...I just gotta starttaking more. Went to the Temple this morning...had to get up at like 545 for it..but it wasworth it. Temple food is much better than MTC food. That's all i have tosay about that. My roommates like to keep our room nice and cool all the time,like as low as the the therm will let us. So i stole my comps blanket for thepast week to keep warm. and last night i had to sleep with a hoodie on. Andsometimes i even have to sleep completely under my covers. but we turned it upbecuase i've felt like i'm getting sick and it sucks...my throat hurts.ya know when you can feel it coming??? yeah that's how it is. So i'vejust been eating those throat things all day. I just hope it doesnt get worse. Idont wanna get sick
here...As for teachings and things like that...We have the RC and the TRC. The TRC iswhere we actually get to teach investigators lessons. it's pretty intense.and we had our first one on tuesday. it went really good we thought...alwaysroom for improvement. Bringing in scriptures and things to make the messagebetter. The key is always bearing testimony, teaching by the spirit, and makingcommitments, then following up. And obviously just knowing the informationi'm going to teach. Study study study a lot. then teach later on in theafternoon. That's what all our classes are on. We usually have class 3 hourstwice a day. then eating in between and study time, personal and companionstudy. then little sleep...haha. Nah it's not too bad. it may sound brutalbut right now it's getting better. It's not bad, i just cant wait to getoutta here. South Africa will be awesome.Next week we'll be learning and
teaching Lesson 2 which is the plan ofsalvation. So i'll keep ya posted on what that's all about and how itgoes. Sorry if this doesnt make a lot of sense...i'm being timed here and idont want it to stop before i send it. Thanks for everything! I'll keepwriting letters and keep on sending them please! Email just once a week and idont have a lot of time to reply! just wanted to let you know how i'm doing again. Love you all!
Elder Devenney
Hey i hope this works...i kinda forgot the letter that has everyone's emailin it so...yeah i have whitney's right next to me...and i guessed mom's,hope it works. Well whit i know you'll get this at least so if you couldforward this to everyone that would be great!I'm sitting here with a large crowd around me while doing some laundry.I'm happy to say that it was a success...from what i can
tell. i didnt messup any of my shirts...although i will have to use my lint roller on my pantsbecuase of a certain towel i put in with it...yeah bad idea. The MTC has been pretty good so far. I'm assuming you've all been ableto look at my letters that i send home, or on the blog that i hope amber iskeeping up with. I havent looked at it, and idunno if i'll be able to, but isure hope it looks good. I've been here for more than a week now and i haveto say the first week is a little rough. There's a lot to do and a lot tolearn, but if i just go with the flow like i did, then it's thursday alreadyand that seems crazy. every day since sunday went by so fast. which is great.when we first got here everyone would be like "just make it to sunday andyou'll be ok" haha. It was the truth tho. Now i get to say that to allthe new kids that came in yesterday...haha. Those poor souls...So my companion and i
(Elder Ledek) have been really hittin it off well.He's from orem and played soccer at UVU for those of you that dont knowalready. I'll send some pics of us hopefully soon...I just gotta starttaking more. Went to the Temple this morning...had to get up at like 545 for it..but it wasworth it. Temple food is much better than MTC food. That's all i have tosay about that. My roommates like to keep our room nice and cool all the time,like as low as the the therm will let us. So i stole my comps blanket for thepast week to keep warm. and last night i had to sleep with a hoodie on. Andsometimes i even have to sleep completely under my covers. but we turned it upbecuase i've felt like i'm getting sick and it sucks...my throat hurts.ya know when you can feel it coming??? yeah that's how it is. So i'vejust been eating those throat things all day. I just hope it doesnt get worse. Idont wanna get sick
here...As for teachings and things like that...We have the RC and the TRC. The TRC iswhere we actually get to teach investigators lessons. it's pretty intense.and we had our first one on tuesday. it went really good we thought...alwaysroom for improvement. Bringing in scriptures and things to make the messagebetter. The key is always bearing testimony, teaching by the spirit, and makingcommitments, then following up. And obviously just knowing the informationi'm going to teach. Study study study a lot. then teach later on in theafternoon. That's what all our classes are on. We usually have class 3 hourstwice a day. then eating in between and study time, personal and companionstudy. then little sleep...haha. Nah it's not too bad. it may sound brutalbut right now it's getting better. It's not bad, i just cant wait to getoutta here. South Africa will be awesome.Next week we'll be learning and
teaching Lesson 2 which is the plan ofsalvation. So i'll keep ya posted on what that's all about and how itgoes. Sorry if this doesnt make a lot of sense...i'm being timed here and idont want it to stop before i send it. Thanks for everything! I'll keepwriting letters and keep on sending them please! Email just once a week and idont have a lot of time to reply! just wanted to let you know how i'm doing again. Love you all!
Elder Devenney
Thursday, October 2, 2008
MTC Address if you want to write...
What you need to do to write Cory is go to dearelder.com This is the rest of the info:
Elder Cory Clancy Devenney
MTC Mailbox #242
SOAF-CPT 1020 (South Africa-Cape Town)
2005 N 900 E
Provo, utah 84604-1793
Elder Cory Clancy Devenney
MTC Mailbox #242
SOAF-CPT 1020 (South Africa-Cape Town)
2005 N 900 E
Provo, utah 84604-1793
Corys First Letter Home
Family,
Today we completed our first day here at the MTC. I wont lie to you, it’s a bit overwhelming. But its been good. I got through the first day so that is a good sign. My companion is a pretty chill guy and I don’t see why we wouldn’t get along. Hes a big guy, taller and bigger than me, but way chill. Hes from Orem and played as a soccer goalie at UVU. Ive seen some friends here already, and ate luch with Elder Stagg. Oh Yeah, my companions name is Elder Ledek. Ive also seen Elders Hoxer and Halveson( kids that I know).
Weve been given some extra time tonight to write a letter home, so that’s nice. My schedule for the week basically looks like- eat, class, eat, class, bed. It’s a lot of study time and Im hoping these 3 weeks go by pretty quick.
My prep day is Thursday. We don’t have one tomorrow because we just got here, but next Thursday you will hear from me again. I need your emails because we can email a little while we are here, so that’s nice. I cant remember what they are so remind me ok? Tomorrow wont be as bad because we are able to just were slacks and a shirt, not our suits. I really just need to forget about all the worldly things and try to take as much in as I can while Im here. Its so crazy to think about not being able to see you guys, my friends, skate, play sports or talk on the phone etc. for two years. Now that Im finally out here and know that I cant come home, its been a little hard. I do miss you all, but im not homesick. I think ill be alright in that area. I wanna hear about anything new that’s happening at home….I know I just left but Im curious because Im not there. I hope your doing alright mom, just be happy for me( which I know you are).
I just ate a dang good brownie, so Im happy now. Haha. Well I love you all. Ill write again in about a week and tell you if Im still alive!
Thank you!
Love,
Elder Devenney
Today we completed our first day here at the MTC. I wont lie to you, it’s a bit overwhelming. But its been good. I got through the first day so that is a good sign. My companion is a pretty chill guy and I don’t see why we wouldn’t get along. Hes a big guy, taller and bigger than me, but way chill. Hes from Orem and played as a soccer goalie at UVU. Ive seen some friends here already, and ate luch with Elder Stagg. Oh Yeah, my companions name is Elder Ledek. Ive also seen Elders Hoxer and Halveson( kids that I know).
Weve been given some extra time tonight to write a letter home, so that’s nice. My schedule for the week basically looks like- eat, class, eat, class, bed. It’s a lot of study time and Im hoping these 3 weeks go by pretty quick.
My prep day is Thursday. We don’t have one tomorrow because we just got here, but next Thursday you will hear from me again. I need your emails because we can email a little while we are here, so that’s nice. I cant remember what they are so remind me ok? Tomorrow wont be as bad because we are able to just were slacks and a shirt, not our suits. I really just need to forget about all the worldly things and try to take as much in as I can while Im here. Its so crazy to think about not being able to see you guys, my friends, skate, play sports or talk on the phone etc. for two years. Now that Im finally out here and know that I cant come home, its been a little hard. I do miss you all, but im not homesick. I think ill be alright in that area. I wanna hear about anything new that’s happening at home….I know I just left but Im curious because Im not there. I hope your doing alright mom, just be happy for me( which I know you are).
I just ate a dang good brownie, so Im happy now. Haha. Well I love you all. Ill write again in about a week and tell you if Im still alive!
Thank you!
Love,
Elder Devenney
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