May 24th, 2010

Well this week has been really good....with the baptism and everything it went great! i'll get to that just now...The week started off really good... Tuesday we had a great day. We saw almost everyone that we wanted to see. The best part was that at the end of the day we had seen Mark (the skater) and his family. We had originally just planned to watched and explain more about the Restoration but instead we spoke about Prayer and the BOM. The lesson went great. This time we had mark, his gma, his sister mandy (25 yr) and his younger brother (15). So it was nice. At the end of the lesson everything made perfect sense and they better understood prayer right...but then just before we were leaving...mark wanted to know more about the after life. He expressed more about his mother passing away last year...and wanting to know more. This was becoming an emotional subject for the whole family. Mark told us about how he used to have this other kid that he used to skate with who's mother had committed suicide. Mark could never understand why this kid always looked depressed and pale and everything...until mark himself lost his mother. So this opened a perfect discussion about the rest of the plan of salvation. We emphasized the importance of the BOM and how it has so many truths that are in there that help us better understand the after life. We left Alma 40 for him to read and we'd explain it more in depth when we come back again. Even Mandy the sister, it was her first time seeing the BOM and she just sat with it on her lap stroking it and looking very curious through it. But it was funny, we read the first verse of Alma 40 with him...and it states something along the lines of "And now my son, i perceive that ye are still questioned concerning the resurrection of the dead."...something like...we read him that verse and left him to read the chapter which would help him better understand the after life. We bore testimony that he would see his mother again...and we can be with our loved ones again...everyone was very emotional. ...But we went back there just yesterday and started the POS with the family...unfortunately mark was out and so we just stopped after our earth life...we'll finish it when mark gets there tomorrow. But they really liked what we had spoken about and it made perfect sense. Wonderful family... Yesterday was the baptism of Gine and Tiffany Marias. Great people! They had asked me to perform the baptism which was an honor and even the whole baptism service was so spiritual. My companion gave an excellent talk on Baptism...many members were there for support...it was a great day for a baptism...just really hot outside. But the water was freezing...haha. But yeah...it was a great service and they'll be a great addition to the branch. They're the best! I think they're worried that i might leave...but i told them to start praying for understanding if i do leave this transfer...but they have a strong testimony already. We're still teaching great families...and we dunno exactly who will be next to be baptized. But we're hoping that this next transfer we should get at least a family...and even a part membe family also..another mother and daughter. So yeah we feel very good about the work and are always trying to improve ourselves. It'll be interesting to see what'lll happen for this week...maybe i'll stay...maybe i'll go. But i'll keep ya posted on what happens if anything...Thanks to everyone! Each day is something different and if i leave...i've very much enjoyed my time here in Cleary. Thanks for everyone for the prayers! The mission needs them! O and i cracked my skateboard unfortunately this past week which ruined my day...haha. It's still in one piece..but could break completely if i'm not careful...i do have an old extra one...so i'll throw that one on...i dont wanna buy another...but it's sad. But i'll be alright... Elder Devenney

May 16, 2010

There has been a lot that has happened this past week...some great things...and some not so great. But i'll save the bad news for the end...as hopefully it'll set a proper tone for everyone as they read the good things happening first...

The week really has been great when it's come to the work here in Cleary. We've honestly seen so many miracles this week of how the Lord truly is preparing more and more people for this gospel. I'll start by the beginning of the week tho...Monday evening it was Gine's bday so we were invited to hang out with the family and eat and play a game and what not. She made some great samoosas (triangle shaped breaded baked things with meat inside) also some home made pizzas (mini) and some egg roll stuff sorta, with pies and cakes etc. Way good. Then we just played some game...than we had to leave there and go to another bday thingy...of which we got fed more food. This was at the Deklerk family...a part member family...good food...sorta over done...and we couldnt really finish it but did the best we could...that finished our night.

Let me give you an update on some of the investigators that we're teaching. I feel the Lord is preparing a lot of Mothers and daughters to come into Cleary...haha. As there was a baptism last week of a mother and daughter...Gine and Tiffany will be baptized next sunday...and also another Mother and daughter...part member family are progressing and i could see how they will also be baptized probably next transfer. As for Gine and them...That whole household is doing great. There is another girl Roxanne who is wanting to be taught also now...although she's been sitting in on the lessons for probably the past month...i think it's finally struck her that this is right. So there were 4 of them that came to church from that family just yesterday. Gine and Tiffany are great tho...we went through some of the baptismal questions and talked also of missionary work one night with a great video clip. Gine had then told us that just the day before she had sent a BOM to Cape Town to her brother...we were stoked cuz without us even speaking about it she's already doing missionary work before she's a member. But yeah...next sunday will be their baptism and we're almost out of things to teach them cuz we've done so much with them. We'll see them again tonight for a FHE. They almost want us to come everyday if we can...haha. It's funny. And Gine told me last night that she and tiffany would like me to do the baptism next sunday...which i told her i'd be honored to do. So that was sure nice of them.

Remember Mark the skater and i told you how we're teaching his fam? yeah we had a great Restoration lesson with an object lesson. It was great....then later that week i saw him and this other guy skating and i couldnt help but stop and skate a bit with them. This time when i played a game of s.k.a.t.e with mark i beat him. haha. Idunno if he was too happy about it..but then we played another anyway. He's definitely the best skater i've seen in SA. But yeah we'll continue to teach them and the family. They invited me to skate their rail on sunday...but instead i invited them to church...

Basically what i can say instead of naming names...is just show how great our teaching has been this past week. When we teach the Restoration we use an object of cups which helps people understand better the Apostasy and all the churches in time forming, and the need for the truth to be restored. Everytime we teach it like that, the spirit tells everyone, hey this makes sense. That simple lesson, as we've taught it tons this week...has been a great eye opener for so many people (as it always has in the past) but for some reason this week it's just been so great to teach that lesson. It's the truth! i know it!

Church yesterday was great as we had some good people show up. Remember the Lebrons? Well they had said they'd come to church so i sms'd Lenica Pyne to make sure they're ready on sunday, as she lives across the street. Well unfortunately the whole fam didnt come but it was just the mother and her little cute daughter (3 years old) And she ended up staying all three hours. It was a good thing it was a decent sacrament meeting and everything else also. So we hope to get the whole family next sunday, it'd be great. But yeah...as for Cleary and the work and all that we're doing...it's on a high for sure. I kinda dont wanna leave and i'm afraid that in a week and a half when the transfer news comes in that i'll be leaving...but i guess i'll just wait and see..ya never know.

Now i guess i can tell you a bit of the bad news that happened this week...
Wednesday night we got a call informing us that President and Sister Probst wanted to meet with the whole zone at 1:30 pm the following day. The two of them were supposed to be in Jo-burg at a Misson Presidents Seminar all week. So we were all pretty confused about why he was back in the mission. We all were thinking about what it could be and just figured maybe it was something about the World Cup coming up and some things he needed to tell us. Non the less, we went to Walmer Chapel here in PE and waited for them to arrive. It was us missionaries and also the senior couples. Of which all of us had no idea what to expect. Pres. and Sister Probst were personally going around the mission to inform each zone of the news, and had met with the Kwanobuhle Zone that morning. We all filed into the Relief Society room and he unvailed the news. He told us there had been a death in the mission. His name was Elder Zulu. He was serving out in Mtata about a 4 hour drive from PE. Maybe more. And that it had happened on monday. They (the 4 elders serving in mtata) had decided to go to the ocean to take some pics...(which is quite a drive and might have been outside their boundaries) Well as they got to the spots they were messing around on the rocks and taking pics and everything...the winds and the waves were quite harsh that day. And so, unfortunately at one moment while taking pics a large wave with a gust of wind knocked Elder Zulu into the water... if the others also fell in he didnt tell us. Pres Probst then told us that as the waves were large they ended up carrying him farther and farther out to sea. He might have hit his head as he fell in also...There were lifeguards on duty which quickly responded...They did get his body back to short and started CPR on Elder Zulu, as the other 3 elders had to watch. After some time, they could not revive him. He had taken too much water in. This was now 3 days after the incident as president was telling us the story. No one in the room had a dry eye. To think that we had lost a fellow brother in the mission was horrifying to us all. President and Sister Probst continued to tell us, and to encourage us not to ask why did this happen, as so many would...but to always remember that there is a purpose to God's ways. And that we dont always understand them. He reminded us of the revelation given the Joseph Smith that of those missionaries who lose their life in this great work, will continue it on in the Spirit World. They talked for quite a while...We then spoke for a while of those who did know Elder Zulu and could retell what they remembered about him and good times they had with him. I had only met him a couple of times, but he had served here in Cleary about 6 months ago. We then all wrote notes to his family telling them what a wonderful missionary he was. The sad part is, that he is just about the only member in his family, and we must remember that his family probably doesn't fully understand the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement like we do. Pres Probst encouraged us to always remember his family in our prayers, as well as the other Elders in Mtata for what they must be feeling. Who knows, maybe this might open a door for the family to accept the gospel...God's ways are higher and knows more than we do...Further more, the service was held back in Zim as his body was transfered back up there. They had a Area General Authority speak at the funeral with hopes of reading some of the missionaries notes they had written to the family for encouragement. I'm sure it was a wonderful service...
Elder Turner (one of my comps in EL) was Elder Zulu's companion at the time. And he had called me monday morning before the incident...it's amazing how something like that can happen...even to a missionary in the field. Please keep the Zulu family in your prayers...as we have all week and will continue. They need to have feelings of understanding and not anything against the church...we hope everything will be alright. Also keep Pres and Sister Probst in your prayers as well...as it's a horrible feeling for them at this time. . Thank you so much,

Elder Devenney

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