Mothers day

Well Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers! It was a great week for us. We worked hard to find some new people to teach. Our efforts were not wasted. Throughout the mission we've seen hundreds of new investigators each week. It's been a big effort throughout the mission and focus to find new people...and we're doing it, but now lets just make sure we hold on to those investigators so they progress. Early this week i went on an exchange with Elder Msilasye in his area. He's in the walking area in Cleary, so i spent the day walking around and teaching his investigators. It was nice. We only ran into a couple of crazys...just some crazy lady telling us her dreams from years back and wanting us to interpret what they mean...and although we didnt have an answer, she told us that when we come back we better be ready to tell her the real meaning of that dream...how the heck are we supposed to know! haha. Other than that, we just walked around lots, saw some people and taught and what not, and then...yeah basically ended. As for our progressing investigators and people that are doing well. First off, Gine and Tiffany and the whole family are doing just fine. We taught one of the best Plan of Salvation lessons i think i've ever been in...all because we combined teaching about temples during our life on earth, and at the very end of the lesson we watched a short 8 min clip from a dvd i have about the revelation given to Joseph Smith about the Celestial Kingdom. It was a great ender and i think all that were there...which were about 7 or so people, learned a lot. It was very spiritual. So yeah, i had never taught it bringing in so many other points into the lesson before, but it really paid off in the end. The very next day we went back and taught them more about the temples and watched another dvd explaining about the purpose of them etc. So that was way awesome. I've ordered some temple pics and as soon as they come in i'll give it to the family. Their focus shouldn't just be on the baptism, but truly on the temple. So i think they've realized that now. As for...lets see...the Lebron family...doing great. They didnt come to church this sunday, but they better this next week. haha. They're good tho and we still feel really excited for them. The Tyler family...doing well. We saw them twice this past week and just read from the BOM and watched a conference talk from Pres. Monson the other time. They come to church, but just dont grasp some of the other commitments like reading and praying as a family. So we're just taking our time with them. But both him and his wife Rochelle came to church and brought their 10 year old boy also. So that was nice to see. It was Rochelle's 2nd time coming, so she must like it a bit more now if she's having a desire to come back. And Bro Tyler is funny as ever...quiet at church, but hilarious when we get to his house. On Friday we had interviews with Pres. Probst. All went well. And basically he just told me that he's definitely seeing the district and the area as a high. He says as far as he can think back he's never seen it better than it is right now, and can see our hard work paying off. So Cleary is on a rise! Who knows what'll happen to it soon. Just hopefully we'll be able to keep it up for however long i'm here. And after i leave of course...But other than that i just told him that with transfers (which is in about 2 or so weeks) that i'll be fine with whatever happens. If i stay that's ok, if i go that's ok. So yeah...til then... That night we got to see Mark. (that skater and his family) for the first time. It's about a family of 5. It took a little while for everyone to get home so it was just Mark and the two of us for a bit. That gave me and him a bit of time to do some catch up on the skate scene around the world. He updated me on the pros and whats what ya know...so that was what i needed...haha. I'm sure we'll skate sometime soon if i find the time. But as soon as the family got back, we taught about the first half of the P.O.S. and it went fine. But yeah, hopefully things will work out and we'll keep teaching them. Saturday toward the end i had to do a baptismal interview for this lady and her daughter who were getting baptized on sunday (yesterday). It ended up being over 2 hours by the time i was done, Carmen, the mother, liked to talk a bit. haha. But nontheless it went fine. Candice is 9, and had been coming to church for over a year and was being a great example to her mother. So what ended up happening is just because this little girl had been coming to church, the mother soon followed. Now, months later, they're baptized. All from the simple example of the little girl who had been waiting to be baptized but couldnt because she was so young and needed more support. So yesterday they were both baptized. It's just the two of them in their family. She's not married and doesnt have any other kids. But yeah, she's from the other elders area...not mine and elder malobola. But it was a great baptism service yesterday and everything went fine. So yeah...now in 2 weeks we'll have another mother and daughter getting baptized but this time it will be from our area. Should be pretty nice. Other than that, not too much is going on. Yesterday was great, and again i hope all the mothers had a great day! Thanks for everything!

April 26, 2010

Good morning. The week has been excellent. Especially as we've been able to view all the sessions of General Conference finally. Truly they were inspired talks that were so great to listen to. I especially liked all the talk about the families and the role of parents. There was one particular talk that made me a bit sad and made me miss mom, one that was spoken about single mothers. Idunno who it as by...but yeah. It was great...but not so great cuz it was too intense..if you catch my drift. haha. The week started out great...we had a very inspiring Zone Conference on tuesday. I had gone to zone conference with some things that were troubling me about transfers and just some things on my mind but by the end of conference, president had addressed all my concerns and questions without me having to ask them. It was so great. He's such an amazing mission president. During the conference tho...we were combined with the Kwanobuhle zone and the P.E. zone. So it was a large conference. But of course...out of all the people that could get chosen to give a spontaneous talk...it was i. Idunno why i always get chosen...but i guess i dont have the best luck. It turned out alright tho. I gave a talk on "what does it mean to find them that will receive you?" as the focus for this transfer will be on finding. I shared a quote by Alexander Graham Bell that kinda stuck through the whole conference and i think everyone liked. Speaking about how as one door closes, another opens...and that open door will come in many different ways. Honestly i cant remember the quote or exactly what i spoke about...but i just know it went alright. The conference was really good overall tho. Probably one of my favorites. Through the week we've been blessed actually when it came to finding and teaching new familes. We're teaching a great father led family new who we have taught just a couple of times who we're actually pretty excited about. They're the Labron family. Parents and 4 children. Elder Malobola, now being here for over a week, is pretty excited about the potential in the area and thinks that many baptisms could be coming. Optimism like that is what we need. I feel the same way tho...whoever comes after me will definitely see some good things happening. Gine and Tiffany are so ready for baptism. We're super stoked for them. They're doing so good but unfortunately there's always complications. Satan is out to break down those two. There is this lady, Jacintha, who actually introduced Gine to the missionaries first, is not spreading bad rumors and saying bad things about Gine and the family. So it's really stupid. Jacintha is not a member, but most of her family (children) are. Idunno what the deal is...but we're going to be speaking to her to make everything better. But we'll be having a FHE at Gine's place tonight with the family anyway, they're so cool. To give you an update on the Tyler family as well...i told you his wife came to the church last week and they enjoyed it. But yeah, we finished off the 10 commandments with them and Bro Tyler has had an interesting past. He's so funny. He'll tell these stories of stealing bags and bags from stores, walking out and wondering how he got away with it. He said he stole like 37 pairs of jeans all at the same time. He's nuts. It's tough to describe the lesson and his stories, but we laugh our heads off by what he tells us...i'll tell you one day. He's like this skinny 35 year old guy, you wouldnt realize it now, but his past is crazy. He's done a lot of wrong, but is doing much better since he first met the missionaries. He's learning a lot and loves the church. So we'll just keep working slow with that family... Other than that...life is pretty good for the most part. We're teaching lots. Looking for new ways of finding and getting new investigators to build our teaching pool. We have great familes. The District is working well as a whole. Not too much to complain about really...Thanks for everything! Hope you're all doing well! Love,Elder Devenney

April 19, 2010

Alright, well to be honest i never feel like i know what to write anymore in these emails. So i have a feeling my emails i just gonna get less descriptive and less descriptive til i get home...but i'll try my best. As for the week, it was a bit hectic at first with some stuff that happened. We did get transfer news but nothing happened to me surprisingly. I stayed, and Ochanda left. So i did get a new companion. His name is Elder Malobola, from Pretoria, SA. We kinda served around eachother in East London, so i did know him a bit, but yeah he's a good guy and i'm sure we'll get along fine. But this whole transfer some crazy stuff seemed to happen...i was really surprised that i'm actually still here. Idunno...President Probst just seemed to make a lot of surprising changes throughout the mission...but all i know is i'm here in PE one more transfer at least. I was a bit bummed at first, just how things happened, but now for the most part i'm fine with it. I just gotta do 6 more district meetings...which is always a lame task. but whatever i guess. One positive note is that i'll be able to see some fruit of our labors from last transfer...We gave 3 baptismal dates this past week. Shooting for the 23rd of May. So we're pretty excited about that. We gave Gine and her daughter Tiffany a date, and it was a really great lesson when we did it. Truly with the help of our Branch Mission Leader, Theo, the spirit was there and they accepted the challenge to be baptized. so yeah, that was pretty cool. One other great surprise was yesterday at church. We showed up and Bro Tyler was there, and he brought his wife and this other guy Mario. That's like 4 sundays in a row that he's come. He enjoys the church a lot. And we were even unable to see him this past week, but he did promise to come this sunday and he followed through with his word. That was the first time for his wife to come to the church, (she's catholic) so she said it was very different, but i think she like it a lot. Sacrament meeting was pretty packed, which was nice, and the hymns and speakers were really great yesterday which added to the good time. Truly throughout the week it was just a lot of saying goodbyes for Elder Onen and Ochanda, who both left. So 2 new elders came into the district. It was a lot of running around through the area, mostly on wednesday tho. Because that's when we found out. Thursday as it usually is was the day of transfers, so everyone was getting on a bus, going to the airport, etc. Always kinda a hectic day. Lets see what can i tell you about...Elder Malobola has been out for about 13 months. He's a pretty chill guy. He's pretty thick, used to body build a bit. But not too big...He's 25 and is actually the only member of his family. I always have a lot of repect for many of the african elders who are the only members of their family and come and serve a mission. That takes a lot of guts. Whether or not their family agrees with them coming, they still do. On a general note, the end of the week was filled with just introducing Elder Malobola to the members/investigators. We also found a couple new families to teach. And even the focus for this transfer is finding. So we'll be getting briefed about that stuff i'm sure over Zone Conference. Which is tomorrow i might add. Should be alright. Well lets see...i honestly dont know what to say. Just know i'm still where i was last transfer, still enjoying it for the most part. And i'll keep ya posted on life, maybe i'll have more to say next week. Thanks!
Elder Devenney

Mar 29, 2010

Hey there! Another good week as it's been. I can start by saying some of the best, that Mara was baptized yesterday and it was an excellent service. Very spiritual and many members were there to give her that love and support that she needs. She will continue to be here in SA til June, then she goes back to Switzerland. She lives right next to the Temple up there. It's crazy. But yeah that was definitely a highlight for the week and you'll see a pic... As for the rest of the week. It went great. Monday we were able to go exploring around downtown and checking out the ocean and the piers down that way. Beautiful. We also went on a search, because i had heard there was a skatepark down that way, so eventually we found it, i skated it, then we did some more errands and what not. I wasn't too impressed with it, and there were only bikers and a lot of ghetto white trash people. haha. We had an excellent FHE with the Pyne family...of which we played some games and enjoyed ourselves. Idunno if i told you or not, but there's a girl in the branch who is engaged to this kid who was a missionary here who finished right when i started. Well he's living in Ogden and going to Weber State. This girl that he's engaged to is one of the Pyne daughters. She went over there during Christmas time and spent about a month there. Anyway, it was pretty random but she's hoping to go and live there and be married by August. But yeah, that's where we had an FHE... We spent many of hours, the four of us, working on one of our investigators, Gine's, door. We replaced her door and it turned into a 2 day project for us. We had to cut it down to size, sand it, and the hardest thing about it was that we didnt have proper tools to do anything. We had a hammer and screwdriver, chipping away at this wood...it turned out alright but it was a lot of work. It was a good time tho. That was on tuesday and wednesday mornings that we did that service. I went on an exchange with Elder Msilayse in his area, we were very pressed with time, but it worked out. We saw some of his investigators and what what, and it went alright. Then that evening we taught a great Preach my gospel class and it went really well. The next day, thurs, we got our tires on our car fixed, as they were super sketchy, then did some weekly planning as usual, and then had a lot of appointments through the day. Friday we had interviews with President Probst and i kinda got the impression that i wont be staying here long, but he does see that things are going very well in Cleary, because the numbers sure show it. He just said that as a district we're doing great and was very happy with us. After that, again we had a busy day seeing people. And that evening i went on an exchange with Elder Giles who was going to work with me in my area for the day. It went fine. He's from Arizona and going home in about 3 weeks, at the end of the transfer. Saturday was full of appointments, correlation with our Branch mission leader, more service projects, and good stuff like that. Now sunday we had the baptism like i said, got a good meal from a family, then went out to work. We took our branch president out fellowshipping with us and our last appointment was with Gine and the family. i wanted her to understand the principle of the apostasy and the need for the restoration in depth. So we had a great lesson using an object of cups to help understand. I think it was even Pres. Barendse's first time seeing it. I was pretty bold with her and told her that even tho all other churches are great, they dont have all the truth and authority. At the end, the lesson went so great, and i asked her that when she finds it out to be true would she be baptized, and she agreed. It wasnt what we planned, but that family is so close, they need a date. And she understood completly. She even commented on how i explained the name of the church to her,and the importance of if it's Christ's church, it'll be after His name, and she said that she had never looked at it like that. That alone struck her hard she said. So...long story short, but it was a great lesson, and we hope to get at least her and her daughter a baptismal date this coming week. Other than the things i've shared. I'm doing fine. Life is good. I hope everyone enjoys Conference this weekend, as for us in Africa, it'll be shown 3 weeks from now...Thanks for everything! Elder Devenney

March 22, 2010

Good morning everybody! Hope you've had an enjoyable week. Things here are great. I've definitely seen the Lord at work during this week as well as the past. We've seen and been blessed with things we're trying to do in this area. Both myself and my companioin, and the other companionship, are working hard to be creative in our efforts, and seeing success while doing it. Cleary has not been this successful for a long time, even as i've been able to look through past weeks before i got here. Both companionships are working hard, using members, finding, and getting people to church more than ever before. And i'm assuming it'll stay that way in the coming weeks. As a district, we're having a good time while doing it also. We enjoy eachother, and know when to take things serious and know when to enjoy the work as well. So in a general sense, things are fine. I really cant say that anything way fantasitc has happened. We're finding more and more people that are interested. Even more families. Something that i have seen though is an increased desire for people to read the Book of Mormon. This really has been a blessing. One of the investigators, Mara, who will be getting baptized next week, is now in Helaman of her reading. She's cruisin. Another two investigators, Gine and her daughter Tiffany set a goal that they would finish 1 Nephi before we see them again, just in a couple of days. As well as others have said they cant wait to read it for themselves and find out what this "book" is talking about. I love it when that happens. Honestly, the BOM is one of the great conversion tools that we posses, and it's a shame when we have to force reading on to people that never really have that desire to just open it up for themselves and start reading. That's why, if they just start reading and praying about it without our bugging them to do it, their prayers will be answered so much faster. I love it! And am enjoying watching other people grow to love it as well...(not that i havent for the whole time i've been on mission, but here it sticks out). So just after studies on Saturday, i got a nice phone call from a family member. Can you guess who? Yup it was our family from here in SA. The Smiths. So it definitely came as a surprise, but it was great to talk to him. (i had passed on my phone # to him) As he might have been sending emails to you...those of you (mom) who know where he stays...but for those of you who dont...he lives down the coast in a small place called Still Bay. A good few hour drive from where i currently am. But basically we just briefly spoke about what i've been up to and if i get to sight see and what not...I probably dont live the lavish life like he would expect someone to live if they come to SA to visit...but i've definitely seen a lot since i've been here...and enjoyed it. We just said we need to stay in touch and we'll be meeting for sure. How awesome would that be! What a great opportunity it would be to get to see that side of the family...that makes the trip worth it eh?haha, well, a little more worth it i suppose. All i can say is that life is fine, there are no complaints. Unfortunately i havent been playing any games of skate with anybody this week...but that doesnt mean that my district isn't trying to learn. After a few falls they usually quit for the day, but Elder Onen has the spirit of wanting to learn so he usually gets back on even if he takes a tumble...it's pretty funny. He's the most committed. There's not much else to say...Cleary is going just fine. It's a big area...still learning but feeling much better about it. That's all to say! Elder Devenney Pics...Ochanda looks huge on the left, msilasye, onen, me. You can see the chapel just down below, and the lake behind us is called...you guessed it, Salt Lake. :)other is back in East London near the ocean...

March 15, 2010

Heeellooo.... Good morning. This week as you can guess...is going to be a bit better than last week. It's given me more days to figure out the area and feel more comfortable. I've been able to meet more and more of the members and build that relationship. And was even able to go to church for the first time yesterday since the previous week was stake conference. The branch is good for the most part. It's a functioning branch, more so than some of the other branches i've been in. As for the week, we've been able to see Mara, one who does have a baptismal date. She's the foreign exchange student living with a member family. She's doing excellent. She'll be ready on the 28th of March, which she as well as we, are excited for. She's progressing so fast. She's now in Helaman in her reading and just cruises through the BOM. We also have Marcel, the other guy with a baptismal date. When we met him on Saturday we spoke about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what what, he's doing alright just facing some Word of Wisdom issues that he's trying to overcome. He's doing alright tho. We expressed how we're going to have to move his date back a few weeks, probably for sometime in April, and it's for his best. When we first told him that he was a bit bummed, but by the time we explained everything he understood and agreed with it. He knows he wouldn't be ready for baptism on the 28th of this month, and if he did, then he might go back to his old ways which we definitely dont want. So we're setting a new goal that he can work toward which is fine with him. Other than that we have a pretty big teaching pool of a few different families. We might be giving two more baptismal dates this coming week to a mother and daughter. Gine and tiffany. But we'll see how things go... During and after lunches i've been teaching the elders in my district to ride my skateboard. haha. They love the challenge but Elder Onen, how's a kinda big guy, who probably is the best at riding it, fell two times right on his butt, got up, but later on realized he could hardly walk. It was way funny. We had to fetch him early last night because he's in the walking area..Anyway, it brings for some good laughs. They wanna be good at riding it before the transfer is over... But on that note, i did see two skaters at one point in my area when we had a few mintues before an appointment. The first ones i've seen. They were skating in the road so i couldnt help but stop the car and go talk to them. One of them was actually pretty good. There were just two, and the one that was better is sponsered by Element SA and also Billabong. So using the other kids' skate and his shoes, i challenged him to a game of SKATE for fun. (Like PIG) it went for a little while, and he actually ended up beating me. just barely tho. I put up a good fight for not having anything i was used to and being in my whites. But i got their names and stuff and who konws, maybe it'll turn into teaching opportunities right! ;) That's what i'll hope for. But next time i skate with them, i'll have my own stuff and i'll be able to skate better...haha. Nah it was just for fun. So things here in Cleary are good tho. Elder Ochanda is alright. I wont tell you things that bug me, but for the most part we're getting along. My district is chill and they're a load of fun. We enjoy ourselves. We're working hard and focusing on working with our ward and branch leaders especially our branch mission leader. That's a focus for the mission. Since we also had Zone Conference and had Elder Kaliker of the Seventy here with us, that's what he wants us to do. It's something we're already doing...but just a refocus. It was a good zone conference and talked as well a lot about prayer and why not more investigators are joining the church, it's because they truly do not pray even when they say they do....So we're going to try to work on that. But yeah, i've seen some great humility being shown throughout the district, and we're working for unity as well. There's great things ahead for Cleary. And even our stats were tons higher than it has been in this area for a long time. So that is showing that we're not only getting high numbers, but also working smart in doing so. Yeah...that's really about it i'd say. The week is just busy busy with teaching and testifying. Haha. That's all we do. Still learning the area but adapting quickly to the new situation as i always seem to do. There's really no issues...I hope your'e all safe, happy, and enjoying life. Thanks for everything! Much love, Elder Devenney pics are my district now, by the ocean with a dude in speedo in EL, and a chopped up whaleshark in EL

March 8th 2010

Hello.

There will be a bit to tell as some of you already know my news...Yes i've left the great city of East London and the great ward that was so kind to me and who i loved...to a new branch, new area, and new city. The city of Port Elizabeth is about 3 hours away from EL. Before i tell you what happened on the day i left, i can fill you in on earlier this week. Transfer news came on Wednesday morning and i would be leaving Thursday. We figured i wouldnt be going anywhere because the news could even come Tuesday night and we hadn't heard anything. It was a surprise as it came the next morning informing me that i'd be leaving. So i had wednesday to say my goodbyes to those i could. I stopped by quite a few of the members and some investigators and gave them my best and told them how much i had appreciated their help and friendship. My time there really was too short...and it was a bummer that i'd leave but hey, i guess i just gotta go.

So i packed and headed for the bus station the following morning on thursday. Public transport is disgusting. There were 5 of us traveling by bus to PE. I sat in the back left side of the bus, very last seat, crammed because no african is as tall as me and they make the seats super close to eachother...luckily i was by the window that would open up just an inch for some breathing air. The place smelled...was hot...and was not an enjoyable ride. I'm pretty sure i was the only one on the bus that was white...not that it realy matters. But hey, after 4 hours or so on the bus, we made it to PE and i got my companion. Elder Ochanda from Kenya. I knew him a bit when he first started when i was out in Queenstown. He's only been out for about 6 months...but is a good guy. He's tall like me...But yeah. I'm still just a District leader, and there's 4 in the district. We live in PE but work an area about 15 minutes away called Cleary Estate. It's larger than i expected. Kinda more lower class. Full of muslims and Christians. The church is luckily a building, but it's just a branch right now. It's slowly growing. I am in the driving area...and the other two are walking/biking. It's unfortunate how things worked out...because elder ochanda used to be in the walking area for 6 weeks, now came over to this new area...so he hardly knows anybody in our area. And as well, Elder Onen was working in my area, and now just went to the other walking area. So it's kinda like a double white wash where none of us have a great idea where we are going or who our investigators are etc. It's been tough. We've had Elder Onen show us around our area and where some members and investigators stay. It'll take about a week to get used to everything. Others in my district are Elder Msilayse from Tanzania, and Onen from Uganda, and Ochanda from Kenya. I'm sure everything will be alright...sometimes being with all africans can be a bit hard to adjust...but i think it'll be fine.

We have 2 that will be getting baptized on the 28th of March. One is an exchange student from Switzerland who has a strong testimony already. She's staying in a member home. Within 3 weeks she's read half the BOM and is way excited about everything. Her parents support her decision, and even back at home she lives very close to the Temple there. And she had no idea what it was before she was being taught. So yeah...then the other one is a guy named Marcel. Cool cool guy. He's pretty excited for things also. Idunno how old he is exactly...twentysomething. But yeah that's kinda it for those coming up. We might have a mother and daughter with a baptismal date here pretty soon as well.

Sunday we had a stake conference. That was really nice. Tons of people were there. It was great to see. Yeah...idunno what else to tell ya. The area that i'm working is mainly a colored area...meaning mostly colored people. Their ways of living are quite a bit different...they love the smoking and drinking and partying...it's a sad thing. It's kinda like being back in my greenie area in Paarl...i havent been in a mostly colored area since that time. Our living courters...as in our boarding is super small and i dont like it. We have bunk beds and if i lay flat my feet and my head can touch each end of the boards. It's way lame. haha. But i'll survive. Things other than that are pretty good. I dont have many complaints. Idunno how long i'll be here...i have a feeling it'll be a short time for me...we'll see tho. That's all i have time to say! Much love,

Elder Devenney