Sept 13, 2010

Well as exciting and successful as last week was...this week wasn't quite up to par. It was still a good week...or maybe i just say it was good to try to seem positive, but yeah, definitely not what it was like last week. It really was a rollercoaster week again. Up and down and hard to keep solid things happening. I can recount a couple of good times tho...We did see the Williams family again..and remember this is a mother led family and we're working with them to progress toward baptism as they've already accepted. Unfortunately she's going through a rough divorce right now, which is causing a lot of stress on the family and particularly to her. So we had a decent appointment with her and her daughter with this guy Ofentse, who will be playing for the sharks (durban rugby team) who's a member of the church. He's going to play next year. He's a big kid but way cool. Anyway, so we took him with us over there and had a good appointment with the mother and daughter. Truly just listening and adapting our teaching to meet their needs. Personal experiences were shared that were exactly what they needed to hear. And Sis Williams, before we had got there, tried to send an sms to cancel on us, but fortuantely the sms never came so we showed up to her house anyway, and in the end it was defintely a discussion she and her daughter needed to hear. We read from the BOM and shared some of our favorite scriptures during times of trial that really help us. By the end, it was exactly what they needed to hear and really helped sis Williams find that comfort... Alright anyway, so i got this new shoulder bag, it's even in one of the pics that i sent, it's pretty rad and people are definitely jealous of it. So i'm going to recount a story of what happened to me when i got that new bag...keep in mind it was only R50 and really cheap. But looks way cool! So i get it on saturday and i go out with Elder Naylor (blond in pics) and we're out and i'm feeling way good about my bag, and he's way jealous of it and all this stuff..and i start talking to this guy through the fence, well just over a fence i guess...it was only up to my chest i'd say. And it's a gate that has bars and it can slide so the car can come in and out. Anyway, so he's got these dogs, 2 of which are pretty mean and one little guy. So as we were following up with this guy and inviting him to church, one of the big dogs jumps through the fence up to his shoulders, so he gets his head through, and bites hold of my new bag! He tore my bag in half! Pamphlets go flying as it's really windy outside. As i fight this dog off he eventually lets go...i'm sure my facial expressing was one of amazement and shock as i looked at my companion. I then turn to the guy we were talking to and all he says is, "sorry about your bag man" i quickly reply, "o no worries, i've had it for a long time" as if to not make the guy realize it meant everything to me...haha. As my companion and i walk back to our car around the corner i really couldnt believe that just happened. I got in the car and said, "that's it, i'm done." Luckily we had a Less active family to see which made my desire to work a little greater. O! And on Sept. 11, still that day, we Americans got together and had a nice Braai, bought some meat and then cooked it, very nice! That was our celebration of the day. Except one English guy had to be there...but it's ok. O then, even that night, which actually cheered me up, my companion and i were invited to a dinner at the Flowerdays from 1st ward. (since i used to be in that ward) So Elder Schamel, Legge (his comp) and us two went there and had a nice dinner. We ate Warthog. It was pretty good. It was really good just to catch up on the family and see how they've been. Their son has now been on mission in London England for about 5 months so it was good to hear how he's been. But yeah, it was a really good evening. Other than that, the week was exactly what i said. Really up and down. Dang, nvm. I remember what else. On friday evening the ward had an activity night in which it was a Talent Show. So all 4 of us in the ward of course went and supported. Last minute we decided to throw down a talent all 4 of us. It was a skit. "A day in the life of a missionary" but we made it pretty funny. We had Elder Fozard (from england, white guy, dark hair in pics) do the commentating, then elder Naylor and myself did the acting out, and we had elder Aires be a couple investigators. It was really funny tho. We had lots of people commment on it after. We just picked random places throughtout the day and acted them out...like for service we swept the stage, and then Elder Naylor and i bumped into eachother and had a sword fight with our broom sticks to show what missionaries really do during service...just random stuff ya know...anyway. It was pretty good and i have it all recorded on my camera. But yeah, that was really a good night for us. Except this older lady in the ward hurt her leg in her talent and we had to help her get home and she fell on me when we laid her back into her bed..it was really funny. But other talents were singing, dancing, art, cooking, etc. There were probably almost 100 people there..so it was a good turn out. Every other day was just usual so nothin to report on. Just finding and teaching. Elder Naylor and i are getting along fine, i hope this email is interesting enough. Count down! 2 more emails then that's it! Yeah!

August 30, 2010

Hey, another week has gone. What i can say is that it's been pretty decent...We moved out of our old place where we were living with two elders..awaiting our new flat that we'd move into...as we got there...we found it a bit different than expected. Small. Definitely. Lacking in mirrors, cupboards, and odd and end things...plus the hot water runs out super quick. But hey, now a week living there...it's not too bad. There are two mdantsane (zone near by) elders who are also living next door to us that just moved in...their place is super small! haha. But for my last month or so...it'll be fine to stay it. It's still getting worked on, and there's lots of construction going on around the house, but we'll deal with it. The week had it's ups and downs. We focused on a lot of finding. As our teaching pool is basically zerooo. We have maybe one progressing investigator who we might give a baptismal date to this week...but other than that...the other elders really didnt work our area much...and so we're starting from ground up. We've found some good people, and do have a lot of appointments set up for this week. So hopefully things will be ok...We've definitely already started sifting through those that are most exciting and we see could have potential..and kinda dropping those who dont. It's what we gotta do. This last month of mine is too short to waste it with jokers. We're struggling to find solid families to teach..so we hope that will change when we follow up on these appointments through the week. The only good thing is we found a guy, saw him 3 times during the week, and he came to church yesterday...so that was nice. His name is Kaya. He's 23 i think. A good guy. We always had to teach him outside on the grass for the first 2 times...but then the last time we saw him a storm was coming so he thankfully let us come into his house...and we had a good chat about the BOM and prayer...And i think he enjoyed church so that was good. Church was nice because it was ward conference so we were able to see the stake presidency talk...and it was focused on 1 nephi 8 and the tree of life. Mostly about the families as well. Good talks...and overall just a good attendance at church. It was fully packed in the room and so they had to open up the back for more seats..which hasn't happened in a long time. So as we've been knocking around on doors all week...well not all week...but at least an hour a day...my comp has been getting more comfortable i think. Even in his teaching. I still do a lot of the talking...which is what i'd rather do anyway...i seem to put things a bit better...but of course he's improving it just takes the time. The two of us are getting along just fine. Anyway, i for some reason have lost my desire to write this email because i'm being distracted. But yeah, things are fine, totally crazy people we're finding, but we're enjoying it. Thanks! Enjoy the week!
Elder Devenney

August 23, 2010

Well, there has been a bit of a change again in my location of the mission, as well as my assignment of responsibilities. No big deal tho. What has happened is that I'm no longer a Zl, but training instead. Which is exactly what i wanted to do before i left this mission. I'm no longer in Port Elizabeth, but headed back to East London, just a different area and different ward. So i used to be in EL 1st ward, but now i'm in EL 3rd ward...which is just a bit different. What's nice about it tho is that since i was here 6 months ago, i already know some of the members in this ward, and i basically know my way around the city, so that's a huge blessing in itself. I'll tell you more about it just now... Elder Moorcroft and i were definitely bummed to say goodbye to eachother, but it had to happen i guess. Yo we had a blast together..probably one of my top favorite companions for sure! I've been so blessed in that area of my mission. I just hope my comps feel the same about me...Anyway, we got a call wednesday morning that i'd be transfered and that i'd be training. I said some good byes to a few peeps and then hopped on a bus that next morning at 6:30 AM! where we travelled to EL. It's about a 4 hour trip. We were thankfully on a nice bus over, they had tv screens and they played some funny jet li movie and then some movie with John Cena in it. We got to EL about mid afternoon, then i got my companion soon after that. His name is Elder Naylor. He's from Centerville, and looks like any greenie would look. A bit awkward, out of place, all that good stuff. I've been trying to make him feel as welcomed as possible so he's not homesick or anything. He's a pretty chill guy tho for sure. He graduated in 2009 and yeah, seems like we'll get a long just fine together. The ward used to have 4 elders in it, then about 6 months ago, because of the shortage of missionaries, they had to take two out. So the ward has only had 2 missionaries in it for that last 6 months. So with my comp and i, we were put back in, and now the ward again has 4 elders. We're basically working an area that has had hardly any work done to it in 6 months. I really dont think we have too many progressing investigators, just a couple Recent Converts, but that's about it. So my comp and i have our hands full to get this area back on it's feet. From our first couple of days in the area tho, we've found that it has a lot of potential. It's a bit of a distance from the chapel tho so that's a bit of a bummer. Well really not too bad, only like a 10 min drive i'd say. But not everyone has cars...It's a bit of a lower class area for the most part. Well not all of it, we have variety to work with so it should be alright. On saturday, it was the Mormon Helping Hands, and there were over 100 peeps that showed up from the ward to go to these two different childrens homes and fix them up, we made a garden, that sort of stuff. It was really nice. And Elder Schamel is now back in EL1st ward, (where i used to be) and so we were together again for this Helping Hands. We were companions during last years helping hands in Namibia so that was pretty sweet to see him again. It's been about 7 1/2 months since i've seen him. Shortly after that, which took most of the morning, we started just knockin around in our area doing some finding. Surprisingly enough, we had tons of success. We taught 2 lessons and got a few good solid return appointments. During this time Elder Naylor turns to me and is like, "do people always want us back this easy" i told him no, so don't get used to it. But truly we've already found some good success and prospective people to work with. We're very grateful about that. Also, this area feeds missionaries a ton! My last area we hardly ever got fed but guess what, the ward has it set up that we have 1 DA every day! that's so sweet! I might just get fat in this area before i come home! haha. K maybe not, but we'll see what happens. On sunday, the church is very nice. It's a different style building. The sacrament room was packed, so that was nice to see. We have an awesome bishop, who i've met before when i used to be here...we actually are living in the back of his house. He's bishop Van Heerden, he's like 28 or something. Very cool guy. After church we took this guy, Andisiwe, who was a little strange, but got to show us around for a little bit. We taught 3 powerful lessons, of which were basically my comps first real lessons being taught. One of which we gave out the BOM and he's like, "technically that was my first BOM placed." He's a goon. He's still learning a lot and has definite room to improve...at one point in the lesson he was teaching about the Apostasy, then stopped, looked at me with a horrid look and had to ask what was next. I kinda just smiled and told him what to say. He's doing really well tho. I'm proud of my boy! And i think he really enjoyed the tracting...probably because we actually found success. O and he even had his first door slammed in his face by this Afrikaaner who i started talking to about Cape Town, specifically Bellville, and i said it was a nice place, and he said "you obviously dont know sh*t" and slammed the door. I told him that one was worth a journal entry! haha. Overall, we have a lot of work to do this coming 6 weeks. I'm excited for the new challenge of training and i think Elder Naylor and i will definitely be doing some good work here. I hope you enjoy the week and i hope this gives a good idea of where i'm at! O yeah, and on last monday we went to Kragga Kamma game park, you'll see a pic or so, and then also we checked out the nelson Mandela Bay soccer stadium in PE. We toured it and it was cool! The pics are me and moorcroft. I'll send others next time.

Post update

Good morning! The week was a bit up and down. We were hardly here in PE at all...since we went and took a road trip down to George and Knysna for exchanges. We left, took some sweet pics along the way...and got down to Knysna. We were in Knysna with the 2 elders there, Elder Randriamalala from Madagascar, and Elder Leach from Washington. It was a good day down there and we for sure enjoyed our exchanges. Our very last appointment we were sitting (elder rand and i) with these 3 dudes around in a little shack and i could fell i'm giong to get sick...i just knew it was going to happen. So as we left Knysna that night, (thursday night) to drive an hour or so to George, yup, i was sick and it all started there. We got to George, and that next morning i woke up with runny nose and the works. I almost didnt feel well enough to go out that day with Elder Frost but i felt that i had better go since it would suck way bad for him not to go on an exchange with me for that day. We just followed up on a bunch of people...then just had one real appointment where i was constantly leaning my head back so snot wouldnt drip out of my nose. But yeah, we spent one more night there, then drove back on Saturday morning, always stopping at sweet places and taking some pics. It's about a 4 hour or a bit more of a drive there, so it's quite a hefty road trip. Elder Moorcroft and I really enjoyed ourselves tho. It was way fun. We got some good instruction given to the Elders and everything, but just the time in the car is the best. We went to tsitsikamma the largest bungy jump in the world, stopped there took some pics and watched some people jump. Eventually we got back to our area, tried to see a couple of people, we saw Deng, made sure he was ready for sunday and the confirmation. Yeah, that was about it on saturday. Sunday i woke up and was still not feeling too great...went to church and all that, it was good. Then we had a way nice meal...o of which i could hardly taste anything that i was eating. That was the biggest bummer. We tried to see some people...but a lot just wasn't working out. Then we went to Bishops house and he gave us a bit of food, at the end of the night, and we just chatted for a little while. We got back and i hit the sack. I'm feeling a bit better today...i've been taking some med and it's been helping. But yeah, that's really all that's going on. I'll just try to send a couple of pics, i think that would make this email so much better. Thanks for everything! Sorry this is short and sucky! Enjoy the week!
Elder Devenney no pics...i suck...they wouldnt get smaller

august 9th
Alright well this week has been pretty good. I'll probably be brief as i've got a few things to do here as well as write this email to you. Um...Really there's not too much to tell. haha. The focus for the week throughout the mission was to improve our Personal and Companionship studies...and Elder Moorcroft and i did decent at it...idunno why but we sometimes get distracted with other things during our studies which cause us just to forget time. There are many great things tho that we talked about throughout the week...actually. One day we had a good deep conversation about some stuff, others we actually felt it better to just do some intense updating in the area book...things like that. But it was a good thing for us to work on, and there's definitely some room for improvement. There's some great things happening, or about to happen with us. Deng, our Sudanese dude who's studying here at the University, should be good to be baptized this coming sunday. So we're pretty stoked about him. He got up and bore his testimony yesterday at church and all i can say is he's awesome. Such a good guy, so yeah that'll be happening this coming sunday. Also at church, we've been teaching this family, the Canterbury's, a white father led family, with kids and everything. Yesterday, one of the sons mark and his gf candice came to church. They're probably like 20 or so...mark is a little strange...i think he might have some funny thing going on in his head. We're teaching about the POS to his family on Saturday and he'll just randomly say, "why do the dogs always bark when the birds are out, does that mean that they know eachother are there?" or he commented on this spray mist that cleans out your eye and takes away all the bad air particles...random stuff! We'll ask him a question, and the response will be just like, "have you guys read that book?" Or something crazy...we kinda just laugh it off or try to relate whatever his answer is to some gospel principle like, "yes mark, that's right, opposition in all things!" haha. K it's hard to describe the situation, he's not mental or anything, just alittle out there i guess...haha. But anyway, him and his gf showed up to church yesterday, his gf is a normal person, but not attractive (thought i could mention that) and it was so funny, as the water was coming around for sacrament, mark was like "i think i'll have two" and took one in each hand, took them like a shot, and put em back in the cup holder. My comp was passing, and i looked up at him and we both couldnt restrain ourselves...luckily we saved a good laugh about it later on. I guess it's just you gotta be there...But anyway...yeah church was good...just a little dry during testimonies... The week has been up and down. A lot of things fell through throughout the week. BUt we still managed to see our usuals. We saw the Rodericks after a few week break from them. It was mostly a just resolving concerns appointment. Kinda about "why does God allow bad things to happen to good people" things like that..they were satisfied with the answers tho. We did quite a bit of Less active work as well. Probably spent a good sufficent time with LA's each day and more in total this week than i've spent since i've been here in this area. Overall things are fine. We're planning some good things today and have a pretty busy day as it is. We have 3 solid appointments later on tonight, so our pday might be a bit shortened. But hopefully we'll be playing some tennis and bball before that. K anyway, really, not too much to tell ya. There's really lots of good stuff happening...so just know we're busy lots of the day...haven't had to do much finding this week since we do have a pretty decent size teaching pool. O and there were these 2 girls from Holland here...and at our Dinner Appointment we got to know them a little bit more. They're here for a service for 8 weeks or something. But yeah, good from far, but far from good. We went to the Fourie family, totally a crazy family. Reminds me of home just a tad. But yeah, tons of food, so good, loved it! it was the best meal for sure of the week. Bro Fourie is nuts tho, it was his bday and he makes the craziest comments ever. I cant explain cuz you'd just have to be there... That's all i have i suppose...Thanks! Elder Devenney Pics this week! One pic is My comp and I and the Cleary District. Elder Malobola on left, Rogers, Tanner, Bagenzi, Me and Moorcroft. Another is from Cleary with the branch pres and 1st coun. Pres Barendse and Bro Pullun. Pres on my left. The other is i think just the soccer stadium at night.

August 2
So i hope this email will be decent. Really i'll just update you overall on how the week went probably. Time is limited as it always seems to be unfortunately. We're pushing to go bowling and we've been writing reports for the past hour + and it's been pretty hectic. But hey, i dont wanna leave this email out so i'll at least write a little bit. The week ended a lot better than last week. We had like no one at church last week, but yesterday we had a bunch of investigators come. It was great. Obviously we planned to have more come than those that actually did, but it's still alright. We had a family of 5 come to church. It was pretty dope! They were friend shipped quite well and got a warm welcome from everyone, and even stayed all 3 hours. it's a family from Rwanda. Father is named Celestin, etc etc. I dunno their surname. But yeah, very nice! Others also showed up, including mama mudapakati, the ma that should be getting baptized soon but yeah, still not ready. Also had Deng! Idunno if you'll remember me saying anything about Deng, but before the world cup he was progressing great. For holiday he went back to Sudan and visited family, and just got back this last week for school starting. He's going into Civil Engineering and is way cool. We saw him friday for the first time back and he's just so ready to be baptized. We gave him a baptismal date for the 8th of august, and of course he said yes. He's so humble, but very wise. One day i'll show pics of all these people...But yeah then we saw him saturday, and he of course came to church...he's sweet. So yeah, he's really our only baptism coming up now...Also had some others come to church...but yeah... Elder Moorcroft and i are doing just fine. I think we laugh too much...every situation we find something to laugh about after. People are just crazy...whether it's the people themselves, the fellowshipper, whatever whatever. That's what's making a good companionship for the two of us. We just get along fine and it makes the work a lot more fun. We're finding a lot of success as well as we're finding and stuff. I went on two exchanges this week...one going back to Cleary with Elder Tanner in his area. I got to see some familiar faces of those that i was teaching when i was there, as well as some members. Including Gine and Tiffany...the recent converts...they're sweet. At least they wont forget about me when i'm home...haha. I built a good friendship i suppose when i was there so it's always great to see them again. I also had Elder Masika, just here in the district in the Lorraine ward, anyway we went on exchanges and it was kinda interesting. He's a good man from Kenya. Yeah he's good just kina young on mission and pretty quiet. Nice guy tho. Oh we also had Zone Conference on Thursday and it was fine. The focus is on "working to strengthen relationships with stake and ward leaders". And we did a workshop about how to make a more effective progress record...which went just fine. It's a long day as usual...and got pretty tiring but it was still nice to see some people. It was a combined zone conference with P.E. and Kwanobuhle zones together. There were lots of things discussed so i wont bore you with that stuff... Our days are getting more and more full and we've just been teaching like crazy it seems. Already our week right now is full til Thursday...almost every hour of the day is packed with appointments...which is a good thing but it can get tiring as well. But we're doing fine. I'll just look at it like a good thing no worries. K idunno what else to say...i'm drawing a blank. I'm enjoying myself....my comp is chill and we get along as i said. No problems nor anything out of the ordinary except random people not wanting to see us for various reasons, rejection, slammed doors, dog chases, sickness from eating greasy egggs that my comp made for me and now i feel a bit weird, yup yup all the usual. I'm good and that's all for the week. Sorry it's a lame one...but Bowling is what we're going to go do and i've been here for wayyy too long already. Peace Elder Devenney

July 26th, 2010

So i hope this email will be decent. Really i'll just update you overall on how the week went probably. Time is limited as it always seems to be unfortunately. We're pushing to go bowling and we've been writing reports for the past hour + and it's been pretty hectic. But hey, i dont wanna leave this email out so i'll at least write a little bit. The week ended a lot better than last week. We had like no one at church last week, but yesterday we had a bunch of investigators come. It was great. Obviously we planned to have more come than those that actually did, but it's still alright. We had a family of 5 come to church. It was pretty dope! They were friend shipped quite well and got a warm welcome from everyone, and even stayed all 3 hours. it's a family from Rwanda. Father is named Celestin, etc etc. I dunno their surname. But yeah, very nice! Others also showed up, including mama mudapakati, the ma that should be getting baptized soon but yeah, still not ready. Also had Deng! Idunno if you'll remember me saying anything about Deng, but before the world cup he was progressing great. For holiday he went back to Sudan and visited family, and just got back this last week for school starting. He's going into Civil Engineering and is way cool. We saw him friday for the first time back and he's just so ready to be baptized. We gave him a baptismal date for the 8th of august, and of course he said yes. He's so humble, but very wise. One day i'll show pics of all these people...But yeah then we saw him saturday, and he of course came to church...he's sweet. So yeah, he's really our only baptism coming up now...Also had some others come to church...but yeah... Elder Moorcroft and i are doing just fine. I think we laugh too much...every situation we find something to laugh about after. People are just crazy...whether it's the people themselves, the fellowshipper, whatever whatever. That's what's making a good companionship for the two of us. We just get along fine and it makes the work a lot more fun. We're finding a lot of success as well as we're finding and stuff. I went on two exchanges this week...one going back to Cleary with Elder Tanner in his area. I got to see some familiar faces of those that i was teaching when i was there, as well as some members. Including Gine and Tiffany...the recent converts...they're sweet. At least they wont forget about me when i'm home...haha. I built a good friendship i suppose when i was there so it's always great to see them again. I also had Elder Masika, just here in the district in the Lorraine ward, anyway we went on exchanges and it was kinda interesting. He's a good man from Kenya. Yeah he's good just kina young on mission and pretty quiet. Nice guy tho. Oh we also had Zone Conference on Thursday and it was fine. The focus is on "working to strengthen relationships with stake and ward leaders". And we did a workshop about how to make a more effective progress record...which went just fine. It's a long day as usual...and got pretty tiring but it was still nice to see some people. It was a combined zone conference with P.E. and Kwanobuhle zones together. There were lots of things discussed so i wont bore you with that stuff... Our days are getting more and more full and we've just been teaching like crazy it seems. Already our week right now is full til Thursday...almost every hour of the day is packed with appointments...which is a good thing but it can get tiring as well. But we're doing fine. I'll just look at it like a good thing no worries. K idunno what else to say...i'm drawing a blank. I'm enjoying myself....my comp is chill and we get along as i said. No problems nor anything out of the ordinary except random people not wanting to see us for various reasons, rejection, slammed doors, dog chases, sickness from eating greasy egggs that my comp made for me and now i feel a bit weird, yup yup all the usual. I'm good and that's all for the week. Sorry it's a lame one...but Bowling is what we're going to go do and i've been here for wayyy too long already. Peace Elder Devenney

July 19, 2010

Well here it is...Another week is starting and i have to now think about some of the interesting things that have happened in this past week...hmmm It was actually a pretty decent week for the most part. Monday started off so great with another great FHE at the Mendu's and we had the Moyo's there again. Yo it was so funny, my comp and i were rolling on the ground when we played 30 seconds. (idunno if you've played that game, but it's great!) Tuesday we were pretty booked up in the evening time but found it difficult to find effective things to do in the early afternoon. The assistants came and at about 6 o clock started our exchange with them. I went with Elder Msimango, he's from Durban, and it went pretty good. Saw some good people...although had to resolve some major concerns with our baptismal canidate...who is basically being a joker and not doing what she's promised to do...She accused us of just moving her bdate back just because we wanted her to wait longer...i dont think she really understands what baptism is fully about so i wont be surprised if we dont move it even farther back becuase she didnt even come to church this sunday. On exchanges on wednesday we had a good time. We did some early afternoon finding and ran into some crazy guy that spoke about how this guy from zambia was a "new Christ" and that he just came out and was getting some followers. Now this is like a pretty well off white guy, who is following this "father Christ" guy from Zambia what what. Apparently this zambian guy is soooo humble, has been writing some books to clarify the Bible, and there's only about 10 people in the whole world that know about him. But he did say something that was interesting, that he doesnt go around to tell people about this zambian guy, but people come to him that want to know, and it's their choice if they want to believe it or not...kinda an interesting take on that. but over all we laughed pretty hard...talk about false junk that's out there. There was more to our conversation but yeah, you get the point. He wasnt too interested in wanting to hear our message...but we were invited back. The rest of the exchange was fine, Elder Msimango and i got along fine, he's in my transfer group but we've hardly ever served around eachother. So it was good bonding time for sure... Thursday we saw some lady in the hospital...saw the Rodericks later that night, and had a way good lesson on obedience and scripture study. We planned to give them a baptismal date if they came to church on sunday...but they didnt show...lame. But yeah, they're a freakin awesome family that we hope will come into the church soon. We saw some members later on and did that stuff...but nothing too much to tell ya... We did find this cool family last saturday who we went to again on saturday this week, and right when we got there the father was all "Oh hey elders..." lets go inside. My comp and i were like...hmmm...no one calls us elders on the 2nd visit...this guy must be a member or something...or been taught before...but yeah we taught his son, and his sons gf, and him, about the plan of salvation. The father was like...yeah this book talks about a lot of good things...i even read about the gifts and stuff. Basically made it even more like...hey this guy knows more than he's telling us. I think we'll try to get more info out of him when we go back next saturday...but we totally think he could be less active or something. but anyway, his family has tons of potential and are pretty smart as well. They're named the Canturbury's. I totally wanted to send a pic but i dont think he's going to happen because i dont have a attachy thingy to yeah...send. So, again...no pics...but we'll see if i find one before i 'm done. I dont think you've seen any pics for about 4 months. Cuz my card is full but ive been way lazy to send it home and it's got pics from when i first got to Cleary like over 4 months ago. As for my comp, Elder Moorcroft. We bonded quite quickly. He's hilarious and we always get to our boarding laughin our heads off about the day...we have fun...we knw when to be serious...but laugh tons and make jokes. It kinda sucks cuz we're both pretty sarcastic...especially around other missionaries...and idunno if they all understand our sarcasm. But whatever i guess...We're doing just fine. It's been pretty nice weather this past week. And uh...i heard that the Springboks have been getting their trash kicked out of them in New Zealand by the All Blacks. Idunno if anyone really cares about rugby...but yup. No other real big news happening right now...things are fine. Just doing really good. We've found lots of new investigators this week again so i just hope we'll hold on to them and keep them progressing. That's it. O and the Billabong surf pro was in Jeffery's Bay and Bishops wife, who is awesome, went down with her fam, kids and all, saturday and got a bunch of posters signed and stuff by the pros...and totally might give me one. She's so cool. She phoned us this morning and let us know that the comp was over and that we shouldn't go to Jay Bay because it would be a waste...it's just outside of PE and i think we wouldnt have been able to go anyway...but it still would have been freakin awesome! Kelly Slater and all them were there apparently. Thanks for everything! That's all i have to say! Enjoy the week! Elder Devenney

July 12, 2010

Alrighty, so this week has been a bit hectic at times but it's going much better now. We had an awesome combined Family Home Evening at the Mendu's (a sweet married couple who are members, mother from zim, husband from sa, they have a cute little baby named luthando) with the Moyo family and we played a cool game and they really enjoyed it for sure. So that was a good start to the week. We saw them also later on in the week and it was a good lesson as we finished the Gospel of Jesus Christ....we would have totally given them a baptismal date but didnt because sis Moyo is going back to the UK at the end of the month..total bummer. So yeah, lame, but it'll be ok. Transfer news came on wednesday morning and found out elder Wall would be leaving me to go to Mdantsane just back in East London. He had been there before, but not to that particular area. He'll also be training a greenie so yeah, pretty good news i guess for him although we were killin this place and getting along so great. But whatev, i'll see him again in a few months so no worries. So wednesday we saw a couple of people and then thursday we took him to the bus station at 6:45 in the morning. Hectic! So i was basically organizing all the transfers by myself for the elders incoming and going. Had to make sure elders were getting on planes and arriving and going to the right places...it ended up alright although at one point, Elder Msilayse took a car key with him from here in PE to East London on a bus, and we were stressing of how we were going to get it back in time and what what. I took an elder and we headed to Gramstown quick quick to catch the bus, got about 30 kms out of PE and then realized that there was no way we'd be able to catch it. We had to get a lock smith to unlock the car, which he made tons of money in about 10 seconds unlocking the car (not that i'd have to pay for of course) just so we could get an elders' luggage out of the car and get him to the airport to head to namibia. So that was the only little upset that we ran into...luckily elders coming to PE from East London which is about a 3 hour bus ride grabbed the key from the elder that took it and we were able to get it back the same day. Anyway, everybody ended up going where they were supposed to and it all worked out fine. My companion is named Elder Moorcroft and he's from Edenvale, Jo-burg. A pretty cool guy. He's been in Paarl (my greenie area) for the past 7 1/2 months. So we had a few things to talk about right off the bat. He's very afrikaans but it's cool...maybe he'll teach me more since i've forgot so much. We've already been working hard lately and the future looks bright for us! haha. It rained hard core yesterday and so there was hardly anyone at church. Our baptism didnt happen because we realized the lady needs probably another month to prepare...her testimony just isnt fully there yet so we'll continue to work with her. We only saw the Rodericks on tuesday and Bro Roderick said a prayer right at the end and it was awesome. That's what we spoke about, and even tho he expressed not being comfortable praying in front of everyone, he did it anyway and it was so cool to hear. that's something that i love, is hearing an investigators first prayer in front of us, and doing it correctly. So sweet! Other than that we've been doing a bit of finding and being kinda successful so far. Having a good time knockin on some new doors in different parts of our area that we havent worked before. Although we've found some crazy people who have their views about the "mormons" we usually just laugh it off. Things should be alright tho this transfer. So yeah, i'll keep ya posted as you know. Thanks for everything! Elder Devenney

June 28, 2010

Our week was really good. We had exchanges with George and Knysna, which went so well! It's about a 4 hour drive to Knysna...a very much tourist place but small town feel. Very pretty. We drove wednesday evening and got there about 8 pm or so. Did some training with the missionaries down there, which went well. Then worked the area for thursday. There are just two missionaries down there, so we did splits and things went really well. I worked with this new elder, elder Leach who i was very impressed with him. He's a great teacher and really good missionary overall. From there, we left that night to drive another hour to George, where we met up with the missionaries and did a similar thing. There are 4 elders that are in George. A very pretty place close to the ocean, and surrounded by beautiful mountains. I could definitely live there. It's bigger than Knysna, but still not a very big city. We worked with elders there, then again slept over friday night, and woke up saturday and got ready to head back to PE. But...let me tell you in brief what happened...

Well i had called Mike Smith and told him that i'd love to meet as I'd be in George, and the best day would be saturday. We arranged to meet before we left back for PE from George. They drove up from Still Bay and we met for lunch. I had never met them before, nor knew what they looked like. We planned to meet about 11am to have lunch at the new George mall. We were walking when a man said “Cory!” with his hand stuck out right in front of me. That was him! That was my first contact with Mike and Margie. Both retired teachers. Mike had taught English, and Margie had taught art. So Margie and I had a lot to talk about with my past work in the art gallery and passion for the arts. She even gave me one of her oil paintings which was very nice of her. We were able to talk about the family. He pulled out some pictures and had one of mom when she was probably only about 16 years old. We had a wonderful discussion getting to know one another and better being able to explain whey Elder Wall and I were in South Africa. Mike and I are second cousins, as my grandfather and his mother were brother and sister. But it was great to visit with them. They didn’t know it was my birthday until Elder Wall spoke to the waitress and they brought me ice cream with the whole work crew singing to me. So I’m sure if they would have known they might have wanted to do something different. We just spent that lunch time talking to one another and sharing stories and updating them about my family. It was a wonderful blessing to see that actually happen as we’ve been talking about it happening, and wondering if it would. I didn’t know what to give them before we left, but I had written my testimony in a Book of Mormon and gave it to them just before they left. We said our goodbyes, and hoped that within 6 weeks or so I’d be able to see them again. Who knows the little difference it could make. I know it really made my day, and really felt like there was a bit more of a purpose to my coming to South Africa. So yeah, that was in summary, what happened. They were so nice! Some of the nicest people i met for sure. And it wasnt awkward at all or anything. We just talked for the couple hours over lunch, then we went our ways and we drove back to PE which was about 5 hour drive along the Garden Route. The Garden Route is probably the most beautiful part of the whole continent of Africa and is pretty famous. Just way green and right along the ocean. Trees are massive. Huge gullies and bridges that are awesome. We stopped to watch a person jump off the worlds tallest bungie jump at tsitsikamma...it's off a bridge and it's insane. It was way cool. Lots of tourists there. But yeah...you gotta go look up property on the Garden Route...like in Wilderness or somewhere, it's AMAZING!!! But yeah, we got back pretty late...and we were so tired. But we went to Bishop Parkers house and they prepared a cake for me and so we just chilled there for a little while until we were way tired and wanted to go to bed. That was basically my bday...nothing way way exciting, but it was a good day. Got a few phone calls from elders and of course Pres and Sis Probst. Even Gine and Tiffany from Cleary gave me a call and wished me happy bday. So that was nice of them. That's about it for me i'd say. Church was good and we just finished off the week...had a late night last night updating records and doing stats and what not for the zone...but we're excited for the pday today. Should be alright. Hoping to play tennis! Yay! Alright i gotta go and keep this one short. That's my update. Mike can prob tell you more if you email him...i'm low on time. Thanks! love you!
Elder Devenney

June 13, 2010

My fingers are freezing so idunno how well i'll type, or even how much. Idunno why but it's super cold outside today. The sun is out, a slight breeze, but it's cold. And i dont have proper clothing with me today...but no worries i'll try my best... The world cup started! For all who dont really care about soccer and didnt realize, it's here! 2010 is here! You feeling it! So yeah, it's a bit crazy, but i dont think it's what it was made out to be. I actually think the country expected so many more people to come and now they're kinda worried. Hotels had been built for this time, and apparently they're just not being booked as expected. Even not all the tickets at games are being sold. It's a shame. Friday, opening night, was a bit hectic tho. Tons of noise and people in the streets. It was pretty cool. But we still found people to teach even during the games, some of which they don't really care about the games...so it's a bonus for us since we cant watch it anyway. Greece and Korea played here in Port Elizabeth on Saturday and honestly, it didnt seem to hectic. Traffic was a bit worse, but that's about it. We still found things to keep ourselves busy even during that time. The week started out with some training meetings for the new District Leaders and Trainers. That was all monday evening. Then we had 7 missionaries sleep over at our flat, (as they were in for Zone conference for tues and had no where else to stay) They're all part of our zone. It wasnt exactly planned but we did it anyway, and luckily we had a bunch of spare mattresses. We got up early on tuesday and headed to the chapel for a pre meeting with pres and sister probst. Then most of the day tuesday we had our Zone Conference. The focus was on the BOM and using it to confirm the message of the Restoration. That specifically was what our 60 min workshop was on. During that time, we did some role plays, discussed, evaluated our teaching, etc, and committed them to practice more using the BOM in studies and role play with eachother. The whole zone conference was great. Talked about great things...Pres and Sis probst are just awesome! That was from about 9 am to 4:30 pm. It always takes that long for everyting to be discussed...but yeah. Things were good. We had some final lessons with J.P. and Deng before they left for home. We'll miss them but they'll be back when school opens up probably the second week in july. On wednesday we had a good day. We took this guy Luthando who comes out with us always to fellowship, well we took him to Spur to thank him. A nice place to eat. He's going to Queenstown for the holiday and will be back when school starts again.But yeah basically up until friday we just kept seeing more of the investigators that would be leaving, making sure they'll be alright during the next month, and committed them to give out BOM's and stuff to family and friends when they go back home. It was good.
Then on friday we had a great district meeting. We focused on the BOM and using it on our door approaches. And how we could improve our skills in that. It was such a good district meeting. Elder Curtis (our DL or the one conducting it) prepared perfectly and we implemented it and used the things we learned in the meeting that very day. And it worked! Elder Wall and i had set about 2 hours of solid finding time, and all we did was knock on doors and use the BOM as our approach, and we found success! Even a white father led family who we're now teaching and even saw again last night. Plus tons of other good potential people! So we were pretty stoked on that. About two weeks ago we were doing some street contacting down in Summerstrand out by the ocean, (very nice place) and talked to a bunch of people, but one was this family from Zim. I might have mentioned them already...the Muyo family. Anyway, we've seen them a few times during the past weeks and what not, and they committed to come to church. Well they cam yesterday! It was awesome. I always felt that street contacting was pretty worthless and never produces anything good, but within 2 weeks from our first contact, and meeting them, they've come to church. It was great to see them and we think they enjoyed it for the most part. Church was really good...except the people are kinda lame at going out of their way to talk to new people, or our investigators that we bring...besides some of the fellowshippers that we've taken to them...so that's a struggle. But yeah, that was pretty cool. We still had other investigators at church too, but it was just cool that the Muyo's came so quickly and kept their promise. So many people promise...but so few actually keep it. Anyway, overall we're doing fine. We got some exchanges this week, and next week will be going down to George and Knysna. So that will be about 3 full days outside of our area...our area will suffer for stats, but it's things we gotta do. But we're just happy zone conference is out of the way til next transfer...Elder Wall and i are getting along great. We have a "Do a good thing jar" where each time we do a good thing we put something in the jar and when it's full, we buy clothes. haha. We like to reward ourselves quite easily. It's funny. But yeah, we're definitely working hard and trying to lead the zone the best we can. We're worried that during the world cup the elders just wont be focused on the work at all and will rather be disobedient and just watch the games with members or whoever...and if they do that they'll truly lose blessings that the Lord has for them. It's just how it works. So yeah, we're trying to be the best we can and work hard. Good things are happening for sure. Despite losing half our teaching pool with school closing, we're being led to families now which is something that we've been praying would happen. Things are just much better than where they have been in this area for the past 3 months. Even Elder Wall says that and he's been here for a while. We're making a difference. That's it tho! Thanks for everything! Elder Devenney

Jun 1 , 2010

So...let me update you and tell you why i'm emailing you on thursday instead of the usual monday... Last week was good. As you know it was transfer week...An expected phone call came from president on tuesday night just before i fell asleep asking me if i'd like a bit more responsibility yadda yadda and be Zone Leader here in PE. "Sure thing" i said. No worries...so wednesday was full of a couple of tears...(from some investigators like Gine and Tiff and the fam and others) but for the most part my goodbyes to those in Cleary weren't that bad. I told them that i'd see them again since being a ZL i still will go on exchanges with the DL in Cleary...so it's not too far away. But yeah, that was wednesday. Now thursday, being the actual transfer day...was a bit more hectic. I got all my stuff together and that morning, early, got with Elder Wall my new comp. Elder Wall is a good buddy of mine. We were in the mtc together and flew over together...so we're already bff's anyway...which is always good news to get. So yeah, we hoooked up, i got my stuff in the car and quickly dropped it off at my new boarding...then we needed to make sure that flights of incoming elders and outgoing elders from our zone was ok...so that basically took all day organizing and making sure everything is going to work out and go smooth...that all the elders get to where they need to go. We had a bit of proselyting time...maybe like 2 hours in between, then we had to wait at the bus stop for like 2 hours til these correct buses came in from throughout the country. Yeah that kinda sucked...but everything was fine and there really weren't any problems...That was wednesday... Thursday i got to check out more of the area a bit, talked to Wall about the work that needs to be done...(which is a lot). My new area is actually PE main. Like the main city, called Central, then Summerstrand which is a very nice area out by the ocean..also have some township lowerclass that we can work which is very close to the chapel. So in this area we have a little bit of everything...we can work rich white area, colored, or black areas...we got it all. Which has its advantages for sure. We also have NMMU (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Univ) in our area so we teach a lot of the students as well. There are advantages and disadvantages to that also.... So as for our teaching pool...it's consisted of a lot of students like i said...some part member and less active families...but honestly this area needs a lot of help. Idunno what's been going on before i got here...but it needs some help...Walmer (which is where the chapel is and really what my area is called for the most part) is a semi difficult area but of course, that's if i say it's difficult. Any area can be anything you make of it depending upon your attitude right? But yeah, it's large, but has great potential i hope. Friday we had some more teaching appointments, also saturday. Friday it rained most of the day which was really nice to have a change in the weather...it was cold last week but has since warmed up. We gave some District Leader training to the DL in Cleary (my old area) and had to drive out there after our meeting on friday morning. It was all good and yeah...i just hope Cleary will be able to continue to be successful as it was when i was there...i just hope they keep working hard. So what we found out was that there was going to be a zone leader council on monday...and we needed to be ready for it. Which we really didnt have much time for. Sunday we had church...it's a ward...the ward has been here forever it seems like and another ward shares the building (it's the stake center) so it's nice and what not. I've met the bishop and some other members...the bishop is cool. He's like 35 and totally talks like a surfer. You can say dude and things and that's just the way he talks...it's awesome. So yeah...His name is bishop Parker. cool guy. Anyway, so we left PE for Cape Town monday morning early and arrived just before lunch (obviously plane ride) and had a great lunch. For the next two days...til tuesday we had this Zone Leader Council. All the Zone leaders flew in and at the mission home we all counciled on a lot of different things. There were 16 ZLs, we also had the office elders, and the AP's and of course Pres and Sister Probst. We had short reports on strengths and weaknesses in our zones and what could be improved and things we wanted to discuss. President addressed us for a long time on the responsibility and things of a ZL and the weight that is on our shoulders...but anway, we talked. Our discussion was ranging from Accountability, Goals. The World Cup, Member and ward work, Teaching skills, etc etc. So all of that was shortly after lunch through til dinner. About 4 hours straight. We had dinner, then went right back into things. We counseled on what might help each area, the needs and concerns of elders, and what solutions there might be to those different subjects. Did that til about the end of the night. We also talked about some of the "unwritten rules" of things to do when conducting a meeting...a lot of really good stuff basically. That went til about the end of the night...The next morning we had a combined study with everyone which was great...basically we all just asked some deep doctrine questions to pres Probst and got some sweet info out of him...then talked more about a few things we couldnt cover on monday, finalized the next 4 months of Zone Conferences...ate lunch, then basically packed up and got out of there..hopped on a plane and came back to PE. Well as soon as we flew in, about 5 pm yesterday, we immediately started our companion exchange with the AP's. Elder Tanner was with me, and luckily he had served here in PE previous so he was helping me around where to go since i had only worked it for about 2 full days. It was a way good exchange. Elder Tanner is in my transfer but we've never really been around eachother because he was here at the Jo-burg mtc while ya know...i was in provo...and since we never served around eachother we just knew eachother in passing. But now we got a full day with eachother it was nice to get to know him better. We wouldnt mind being eachother's comps...he's from like logan or something... anyway, we taught some guy from Sudan who should be getting baptized asap...but will be coming back from school break in about a month..so we'll wait til then. Also taught and found some others...but anyway...Things are decent here. That's the problem with a lot of our teaching pool is since all the schools will close during the world cup, everyone will be going back home for over a month and then coming back...so that's going to be a struggle for us because so many progressing investigators are students that are leaving...and we'll have to change our focus a little bit. The exchange ended today at 5 pm and are now just finding time enough to email you and tell you this...we still need to do our shopping for the week...unfortunately that thing in Cape Town took up our pday so we wont get much play this week...but hopefully on monday we'll find something fun to do. So uh...i hope that gives you a better understanding of where i am...things are good. I'm enjoying myself. Sad to leave Cleary but excited for some other great things that will be in the next few months. Since i'm a ZL in PE i'll have the opportunity to travel to George and Knysna which is part of our zone and about 5 hours away. That area is supposed to be some of the most beautiful parts of all of Africa, and it's part of our zone...pretty stoked for that. And i'm glad that i'm here because this was going to make meeting the smiths (fam here) so much easier because near that part of the zone is closer to where they live. Even on our plane ride to CT the pilot announced that at one point we were passing over Still Bay and i was shocked but excited because i never really knew where it was...so yeah...hopefully this'll give us a better chance to meet before i leave. That's all i got...Love, Elder Devenney

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

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