7/23/2012

Just wanted to send you a cool Phrase in Zulu
ixoxo le xoxo liyazi gxumela wena ufuna uku gexunyelwa ngu bani quma uqethu gethu qethu ucebo uceba icebo ikuciba ucetywayo ngomcibilisholo
Every time that you see an x, c, or q it makes a click sound!!  I thought it would be fun to see if people can figure it out.
 Well, I am doing great things are going pretty well here in Malawi. They are painting our apartment and right now I feel like I live at a construction site.
We will have 5 baptisms on 25 August!!! I am very excited about that and how the work is going here.  I love the letters that I get from my family and I am so grateful for the support they give me on my mission!! 
Love Devin

7/16/2012

Everything is going good here in Malawi! I still have the same companion his name is Elder Ariho, he is from Uganda.  We get along great and I feel blessed to have such a great companion’s.   The weather here is mild right now however, sometimes cools down in the evenings or when it rains and it can get a bit chilly.
We had a baptism on Sunday!!! We baptized Kalinda Zione Banda.  It went good and I was very excited about it and to have that opportunity.   The work here is going well.  We have another baptism on the 26 of July.
 We now have our own mission website.  You can look at that has photos of the mission, updates of what is going on here, a calendar of events, and things like that.  It is: www.zambialusakamission.org In addition, you can register for it on the website by going to the missionary page and fill out the online form.
As for the upcoming events; on August 22, 2012 Elder Ullisses Soares of the seventywill be touring the mission, and for our next activity we are planning on climbing Mulanje Mountain you it is pretty cool and I am excited about that. Although, there are a few tribes that live on the mountain that are cannibals!!  So, that should make it even more exciting and fun!!

Here at home sometimes you can hear the hyenas at night just outside our flat!!  It’s kind of cool. Today we don’t have a whole lot planned just go shopping.  I have to give a presentation in district meeting tomorrow. So, I need to prepare for that. 
 I will talk to you next week Love you and miss you guys
Love Devin.

Photo's

7/9/2012

Everything is going well here.  However, the internet is pretty slow today and I was lucky to get on. It is starting to heat up here and so are the food prices.  Having the food prices going up makes it hard to shop for things. We always have enough to eat but not everything that we would like to have to make some nice meals.  The couple missionaries cook dinner for us on Tuesday. We had baked potatoes, but what really got me was that they magically found sour cream. I don’t know where they found it but, I was pretty excited about it!
The missionary work continues to go well.  We have quite a few investigators. We will have a baptism on Sunday. 
 Till next week Love you guys
Devin.

7/2/2012

Things are going well here the work is good.  I’m losing even more weight now. I’m sure I’ll keep losing as it starts to get hotter and hotter.  However, I still wake up early everyday and go to the gym across the street to work out so I won’t come home a complete wimp (lol). 
It seems like time goes by fast and it doesn’t seem like I have been here for nine months. I was thinking the other day I got my call over a year ago crazy! I don’t really have too much to write about this week.

The day I opened my mission call!!

Love you guys

6/25/2012

Things are going really good. Today we went to Liwonde National park It was cool. We took guides with us, but drove our own cars. It took two hours to drive to Liwonde. Then we drove two hours into the park and saw all sorts of cool animals. We saw Hippos, Crocodiles, Elephants, Antelope, Wart hogs, Baboons. However, we weren’t able to see any Lions.  The park only has a few and they were not out and about today.  There was a huge river; in the park it is called the Shire River. It looked inviting and calm on the surface like you could jump in and go and swim, but then a Hippo would pop up or a crocodile.  In the park there were large herds of elephants.  We were able to get pretty close to the elephants and the hippos. I got some really good pictures.  We got back pretty late Its seven thirty here. We stopped about half way through and had some ham sandwiches. I super tired though we had to wake up at four thirty because we left at six in the morning.
 The missionary work is going good.  We will have a baptism this week on Saturday.  I am excited about that!!  In addition, we have a few investigators that may be baptized on the 24th, but we will see how it goes.
This week went well.  We had our District Conference and I got met Elder Bicknell from the seventies. He was a cool guy came up to me and started talking to me about rugby which was funny because this week  some with a guy in the ShopRite came up to me and started talking to me about rugby. I must still look like a rugby player. 
This week looks like it is going to be very busy.  It can be a bit overwhelming at times but it’s still good and things are going well.  
 Till next time Love you guys
 Love Devin.

6/18/2012

Malawi is great.  I will see President on Saturday we have District Conference Saturday Sunday one of the seventies will be there. This coming Monday we will have our Zone-activity we will be going to Liwonde national park.  It is a game park here in Malawi. We will be going on a safari!!  On Tuesday we will have our zone conference.  This week should be busy. 
It is great to hear from my family every week.  Happy father’s day to dad even though, it’s a day late.  I am thankful for the support of my family during my mission. A family is a gift from god.  I am so thankful for my family and my blessings. I am thankful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and that it has given me the gift of an eternal family. I know that families are the most important thing and are a part of heavenly fathers plan for us to have a fullness of joy in this life and in the next life.  However, the adversary knows that as well and will do everything he can to disrupt the family unit and create divisions. But, if the family is built upon Jesus Christ and his teachings when the devil send forth his storms that house cannot fall.
Helaman 5:12:  And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.  

Until next time love you miss you guys
Love Devin.

6/11/2012 From Elder Santana

SO TOUCHING – WISH WE COULD EMULATE”
GLASS OF MILK
 One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door.  Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water!  She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it so slowly, and then asked, How much do I owe you?"You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness."He said ... "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit. Many years’ later that same young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to her case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, and then wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words ..."Paid in full with one glass of milk"(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly. Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You, God, that your love has spread broad through human hearts and hands.
"There's a saying which goes something like this: Bread cast on the water comes back to you. The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected time. If you never see the deed again at least you will have made the world a better place - And, after all, isn't that what life is all about? Have a blessed week .......with love from elder Santana......

6/11/2012

Things are going great here in Malawi.  I eat the same types of foods.  There is not a lot of difference between here and Zambia other than they sell rats on the streets.  Just a side note: I will not be eating any rats or buying any rats on the streets.  I am just not that adventurous (yet).  I am eating lots of food, but I am still losing weight.  I think I am skinny now (lol). We walk a lot and we are walking up the mountain 2x per day I think that helps and the fact that there is NO fast food here!!  Lots of walking and no fast food is a bit of a culture shock for most Americans here (lol).  But, it’s good.  It’s good to be healthy.
The housing here is okay but, not the greatest. They are going to paint the flat soon that should help improve it. 
I enjoy working with my new companion.  Elder Ariho.  I don’t know how long I will be his companion.  He has been in this area for 9 months and they are making more changes to the mission.
 There is not a lot to do here on P-day.   However, we planned a zone activity we are going to go to a game park.  We are going on a safari activity next week or the week after not quite sure yet.  It should an adventure. I hear they have lions, elephants, and hippos.  and stuff like that so that will be cool. I will send Pictures of those ones.
Well, that sums up the adventures for the week. 
 That’s all for now Love you guys.
Love Devin.

6/4/2012

Everything is going great over here in Malawi!  The weather here is nice!!  Right now it is about 75 degrees.  I am going to enjoy it as much as I can because; it will be heating up soon. The culture and the food here is very similar to Zambia. One thing that I have taken note of and find some humor in is that here in Africa if people like the name of a product they will name their children after it.  For example, there are some people here who are named Samsung.  
The work here is going great.  This week I baptized Bring tenfold his wife Margret tenfold and Innocent.  It was a great experience and a great day for everyone.  Here in Malawi we have our own chapel.  It is nice to meet in a chapel instead of a house.
The members here are great. They are friendly and it is a privilege to serve them.  In our area we have a member Named Fernando from Sri Lanka, he is cool guy. This week he made us an avocado drink.  I thought it was going to be terrible, but it was actually one of the best things I have ever tasted.  It was almost like the brazilin lemonade but with avocados.  Speaking of food, last night was fun and delicious. I, Elder Perkins, and Elder Ariho made homemade tortillas and scrambled some eggs.  We made breakfast burritos!!!  They were yummy.  I have become quite skilled in making tortillas during my stay in Africa, which is kind of funny if you think about it.  I will have to make homemade tortillas when I get home.
So, this week we helped the couple missionaries move into their new house. We found a rope and of course we had to have some fun and competition.  So, we had one on one tug of war competitions! Not to brag or anything but, I beat everyone.  Accepting defeat is not easy for people so, I was then challenged to a wrestling competition with Elder Dowse.  Everyone thought that I was going to lose because, he at home he participated UFC at home.  However, I ended up kicking his butt!!  I must say Never, Never, Never; underestimate the power of SAMOAN strength!!  I am the champion in everything here!!
Well I think that is mostly everything so till Next week Love Devin.

Photos from Africa

5/28/2012

I am doing well.  Malawi is great!!  It is a lot different than Zambia.  I am serving in Sunnyside.  Sunnyside is a suburb of Blantyre.   We left for Blantyre Malawi on Monday. It was an eight hour drive to Lilongwe from Zambia.  The sun sets around five and rises at around five.  So, we spent the night in Lilongwe.  While I was in Lilongwe I worked with Elder Shultz. We left from Lilongwe and headed to Blantyre on Thursday.  President Padovich went back to Zambia on Thursday, so we rode to Blantyre with the Bullocks.  We had to drive two cars to Blantyre. I found out that I was driving one of them to Blantyre.   I can now drive a standard shift.  It was a quick lesson and a five hour drive to Blantyre.  I was proud of myself because I never killed the engine once!
The geography is different here, for example, everything is built on mountain side.  As a result, I find myself climbing up three mountains, twice over in one day.  It can be a bit tiring at time, however I am get a pretty good work our doing it.
The climate here cooler than Zambia, and it feels more like the fall weather back home in Utah.  For example, is warm during the day and gets cool during the nights.  Right now the rainy season just ended and it is now as the Chiperoni.  Chiperoni is a Malawian term for a kind of drizzle rain.
Thing are expensive here.  I was a bit surprised.   The economy here is unstable and prices fluctuate daily. 
I am working more in the villages.  It is so amazing here.  I am now learning to speak Chichewa.  It is similar to Nyanja but different at the same time.  However, I am picking it up pretty quickly.

My new address is:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Private bag 277
Blantyre Malawi

That is all for now,
Love Devin

5/21/2012

I am doing well. I have some news!! I am being transferred to Malawi!!  The mission president called me Saturday morning I will be in Blantyre serving in sunny-side. My companion will be Elder Ahrio from Uganda.  I will be driving with president to Malawi tomorrow morning. It’s a six hour drive to Malawi to get to Lilongwe and then another five hours to get to Blantyre. So it will be a bit of a car ride.  So, I have been busy packing!!  Today I will make some last preparations for leaving for Malawi.  I am excited to go to a new area/country!  It will be a great experience for me.  I am excited to meet the people in Malawi and learn about the culture there.  There is only one thing that I am not excited about and that is the heat.  Malawi is even hotter than Zambia!! I think I could melt (lol).  Seriously, I am excited and I love serving the Lord.

We had our district conference on Saturday and Sunday.  It was great to go Elder Carl B. Cook of the seventies was there and we got to talk with him.  In addition, it was fun because; I was taking lots of pictures with missionaries that I will most likely not see again, because they are finishing their missions here. I took a picture with all of the Chinama Elders that have served with me in Chinama. I did not get a picture of Elder Horne and Mahachi because they were not at the conference. Elder Horn wasn’t there and Elder Mahachi is in Copperbelt.

Till next time love Devin.

5/7/2012

In a few days it will be my birthday, my mom’s birthday, and mother’s day!  I am excited to talk to my family and my mom on mother’s day!   It’s hard for me to believe that I got my mission call about 1 year ago.  Wow, time goes by fast when you are working and doing what you are supposed to be doing.
I’m not too sure what we are going to do this week. We have district conference on Saturday and Sunday, so we will be doing that which will take up most of our day.  I think we might go get some Shawama’s for lunch today. They serve some food that is similar to a burrito.  It’s chicken with lettuce and some other things inside a tortilla.
Things are going pretty well here we have some new missionaries coming at the end of May to replace those who have gone home or finished their missions.   Due to the changes there will be a bit of moving around in the mission.
I would really LOVE some LETTERS.  EVERYONE, please Write when you can I appreciate it.

 Anyways, that is all I have for now till next time love Devin.

4/30/2012

I’m doing great.  I know I am not the best pen pal but, I sure like getting letters from family and friends!  They really help me and keep me going!! Please forgive me for not being a great pen pal.  I know it is not a good excuse but, I get extremely busy, my time is limited, and some days I am so exhausted I feel too tired to write anything.  So I guess what I am saying is…..Even though, I am slacker when it comes to letter writing I really want your letters!!  So, keep them coming!!!  I may not write back as much as you want but, I will bring you back something fun from Africa!!!
Right now, we try to visit less activity members.  Currently, there are about 150 inactive members. If more members start to come to church we will be able to build a chapel here.  Building a chapel here would be a great blessing. 
This week have an activity planned for the branch on Saturday.  We are going to have a talent show and play some games. It should be a fun activity. I will be sure to take lots of pictures.
It’s hard to believe that I have been here for almost 7 months now.  Time is going by so fast!!  I have gotten to meet so many wonderful people here.  Yesterday, I met a member from Congo.  He is very intelligent and a great baseball player.  He said baseball is his favorite sport.  Which is out of the norm for here, most of the people here prefer criquet over baseball. He was telling about the diamonds in Congo.  Right now there is a lot of fighting going on in that area of Africa and in Sudan Uganda, Nigeria, and Congo it’s quite interesting and I sometimes here about the unrest in those areas through the media here.  I must say how much I enjoy meeting new people, learning about them, teaching them and having them teach me.
Anyways,  till next time love Devin

4/23/2012

My week has been good!   It is still hot here in Zambia.  I have accepted the inevitable and decided that it will never cool down. 
This week we have been progressing with our investigators, we have four investigators that are progressing.  We watched general conference on Saturday and Sunday.  I enjoyed the messages very much.  In addition, I am learning a lot through my scripture study especially the Book of Mormon. I would encourage everyone to read it and prayerfully study it and to find the hidden treasures of life.
I am doing great. I think we are going to play some rugby today, go and get some ice cream at mikes kitchen, and then do some light shopping for the week.
Anyways till next time love Devin.

4/16/2012

I’m doing well.  We had two baptisms on Sunday.  We are baptizing the Boneface family and Sunday Ngandu on Sunday. In addition, we have some more at the beginning of May and one more on mother’s day!!   In addition, this week we are planning on watching general conference. I am excited to watch it this week.  We don’t get to watch it live.  We have to wait for them to put it on DVD and send it to the mission.  I am excited to hear all the messages given by the leaders of the church.
 In about July the mission will be a year old and soon there will be a few changes to the mission. The changes will most likely take place in May.  A lot of missionaries are going home and other missionaries are finishing their missions.  This mission is a difficult mission and it is hard for a lot of missionaries to stay and finish their mission here.  The poverty in Zambia is high, people live simple and it can be difficult to adjust when you come here from a developed country and you never need to worry about getting your basic needs met.   However, being here has humbled me and I understand just how blessed I truly am.
I am anticipating that I will be leaving this area soon with all the changes that are coming to the mission.  It will be a new challenge to get to know a new area.   I know my way around this area well.  Newer missionaries and some not so new missionaries get lost in this area.  It can be difficult to find your way around in the compounds.  There are no addresses or street names in the compounds, as a result you could wander around for days and never find your way home.  I am happy to report that that has not happened to me (yet)!   We do lots and lots of walking here.  In fact, we walk so much that I think I am going to walk right through my shoes.  The terrain here is rugged and wears out your shoes fast.  In addition, the rainy season is over and it is very muddy. 
 I’m continuing to learn the languages here and I am getting to speak the languages pretty well.  It has been fun to learn so many different dialects.  However, they may be difficult to retain when I return home.  Not a lot of people in the US speak them and I want have any one to practice with. 
Today we were going to go shopping but, none of the cards are working.  When you try to purchase anything it comes back as insufficient funds.  That is a little frustrating.  So, I think that my companion and I are going to a place called Mikes and buy some pizza.
Anyways, that’s all for now till next time
Love Devin

4/9/2012

This week we went to a place called Eureka Park it was like a campground with a game park inside. The animals just roam wild and you just walk around and look for them.  I saw some zebras, impalas, antelope, Giraffes, and monkeys, it was pretty cool. 
Our most progressing investigators are Boneface’s and Sunday’s. They are going to be baptized next week. In addition, Linda, Bwalya will be baptized on the 29! In addition, we have some more investigators and if it goes good we may have some more baptisms on the 5th of May.
Kathy wrote to me and told me about going to Oregon over spring break.  That will be so much fun for them.  It is hard to believe that a year ago we were in Oregon touring the coast! It seems like time goes by so fast.  We stay very busy here and I think that is good for all of us.  I don’t have time to get home sick and time seems to go by very fast.  I cannot believe that I have lived in Zambia for 6 months!  The funny thing about living here for an extended period of time you start to feel like a native.  I am starting to feel more African than American (LOL).  For example, I don’t speak English on a daily basis and when I do I have learned to speak slow, loud, and simple; I prefer to eat nshima or ugali; I use a fork instead of a spatula to cook with, I eat with a spoon instead of a fork, and now when I see America they seem strange and talk fast.  I wonder what is going to be like when I get back home.  I think I am going to have a big adjustment.
 It is pretty hot here today I’m surprised because this whole week it has been pretty cool. I have been enjoying the cooler weather lately.  It is suppose to be winter and the temperature is an average of 80 degrees.  As you know it is the Easter holiday.  The people here take the holidays seriously.  They started the holiday on Thursday and it ended on Monday.  All the stores are closed or close early.  It is pretty interesting.  I am getting along well with my companion and the other missionaries in the house.  However, our food goes quickly.  Elder Ngira is from Kenya and he can eat like nobody’s business.  He ate 3 loafs of bread in one day!  However, it is pretty fun at our house! 
Till next week. 
Love Devin

4/2/2012

I'm doing well. However, I am still a bit under the weather.  I went to the doctor on Tuesday. He said I had bronchitis and put me on antibiotic and gave me some cough syrup.  As a result, I stayed home on Wednesday to get better. I didn’t want to be breathing in dust causing the bronchitis to get worse; however I feel lots better now. 
 I am getting more and more accustomed to the food here.  However, I’m still losing weight, but I grew a half inch! On our p-day I like to eat at this place called Nandos.  They have flamed grilled chicken with Piri Piri sauce on it. Piri-Piri sauce (used as a seasoning or marinade) is Portuguese in origin and especially prevalent in Angola, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa. It is made from crushed chillies, citrus peel, onion, garlic, pepper, salt, lemon juice, bay leaves, paprika, pimiento, basil, oregano, and tarragon. The food is nice and it’s fresh, unlike some places.  In addition, this week I ate Ugali this week. Ugali is an East African dish (also sometimes called sima, sembe, or posho) of maize flour (cornmeal) cooked with water to a porridge- or dough-like consistency.  I like it a lot better than nshema.
This week we have our zone activity today it’s going to be at a game park just outside of Lusaka.  I am going to bring my rugby ball. I hope the other missionaries from South Africa will want to play some rugby as part of the activity.  All the other missionaries always want to play soccer and I am just ready for a change up.
Today we will probably shop today and eat at Nandos. I feel like i could eat a whole chicken! I ate half of one last time I went there.  We haven’t had much in the way of food last week, so I’m pretty hungry. Our allotment is supposed to be every two weeks, however sometimes it’s every 18 or 19 days.  However, today we did get our allotment and we are going shopping for food!!
 Till next week love Devin.

3/19/2012

I’m doing well. However, I’ve been feeling sick.  I was very sick  yesterday.   I feel a little bit better today, enough that I was able to come and email, but I think I will just go home after am I finished.  Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.  Its zone conference tomorrow and it will be all day. So, hopefully I will feel up to walking.  I just a got new camera and I’ve already taken a lot of pictures.  I will send some in my letters today. I did get those shirts tailored only three but they look much better.  I’ve lost more weight from being sick. I haven’t really eaten anything.

 We are going to have two baptisms on Sunday; brother Sunday and Nguni.

The weather here is hot.  I don’t think it ever gets cool here it was 39 degrees Celsius yesterday which is 102.1 degrees Fahrenheit.  I guess I’m just use to it now and for me anything lower than eighty degrees is cold. This week has been normal really nothing too crazy.  I am going to keep this short today because, I am sick and need to go home and go to bed.

 I will talk to you next week

love Devin

3/12/2012

Today we went out proselytizing from 10-12, we got home around 1, changed and came to arcades. We don’t have much planned for today.  I think we are just going to shop and then come back home and relax for the day.  Which is good because, I’ve been tired lately I think it’s because I have a little bit of a cold.  

Some funny things have been happening at the house lately. For example, on Saturday night around midnight my companion couldn’t shut off the tap in the kitchen.  As a result, he said to me:  “companion come here close this”.  So, I go over  to the tap, try to shut it off, but the tap won’t budge,   I try it again one last time, and this time  I break the tap off (ha ha)!  We were left asking ourselves:  What now!!  I seem to have a talent for breaking things.  We start looking for the shut off to the water, only to find out there isn’t one!  The water comes straight from the ground. I have no idea why they wouldn’t put a shut off valve for the water. We went outside and found the meter but there was nothing. No SHUT OFF!!  I found another faucet type thing in the garage and a crescent wrench.  I took it apart and put the new one on.  Now it works fine.  I don’t know what these other Elder’s would do without me.
Our missionary work is going good.  We have some few progressing investigators and brother Sunday will be baptized on the 24^th. In addition, we have two more baptisms on the 14th of April.

Anyways, till next week love Devin

3/5/2012

Things are starting to slow down a bit, and returning to a normal pace. I am glad.  I’m getting along very well with my companion.  It is a pretty chill house and we have a lot of fun together. My companion is trying to teach me Xhosa.  It’s an extremely difficult language.  I’m just practicing the clicking for now.  I can click pretty loud now; however I still need a lot of work.   On the other hand, I feel that my English is getting poor.  Here in Zambia I use the most simple words and phrases to explain things to people.  As a result, I am starting to forget some words in English!  It’s weird to say that I need to practice my own native language.

Today, we are probably just going to go to the main chapel, play soccer, and then we will go get ice cream or something at Mandah Hill. I’m not sure yet but something like that.

 I’m losing more weight these days.  I don’t know why, I eat and in an hour later I’m starving.  I’m basically eating all the food in the house, but still losing weight.   I ate okra or delle. That was interesting!  To sum it up, it’s just like eating snot.  Literally it is just like snot; all gooey and gross. However, I prevailed.   Any ways, because I have lost so much weight I’m going to get my pants and shirts tailored.  I just look funny because my clothes are too big.  I look like I’m homeless.  So, hopefully getting my clothes tailored gives me a better appearance.

Till next time: Tasha Azana tizabada futi

Love Devin

2/27/2012

Everything with the transfers went well and I am doing great.  Transfers are every six weeks you have 17 in your entire mission after, this week I will be in my 4 transfer.  The latest transfers came out of necessity, because so many Elder’s are leaving. We won’t have any more new missionaries come to Zambia until July.  

Elder Santana moved on Friday.  I am with Elder Mangunta, he is a good Elder and fun to be around.  As I mentioned before, he is from South Africa, he speaks Xhosa and is teaching me some of the language.  At the house that we stay at there is Chinama 1, and Chinama 2,( I am in Chinama 2).  In Chinama 1 instead of Elder Horne and Mahaci there is Elder Harper from Sandy Utah, Elder Ngira from Kenya. They are all cool, fun, and good missionaries.  

I have been extremely busy this week.  I have been showing Chinama 1 and my companion our area which, makes for long days.  As a result, this week has been pretty rough.  I am just exhausted by the time I get home, no extra activities, I just plan for the next day and go to bed.  Even though I just go to bed I still feel super tired when I wake up.  This week will be similar, but after that they will know enough about the area and I can take it easy for a bit.  I have been so busy that it has been hard for me to write letters.  I am sorry about my lack of letters; however I do enjoy the letters from my family and friends! 

Today we Helped sister Boma move in the morning then we were going to have a zone-activity at adventure city, However when we arrived we found that it’s closed on Monday’s.  As a result, we just went back to the chapel and had a bri, played some soccer. It was fun. Now, we are just emailing, going to shop and make Chipati for dinner.  Chipati is a dish from Kenya. I will make for everyone when I get home.

It is extremely hot here.  It is suppose to be going into the winter season; however it is about 102 here!

I love you all and I will be back soon don’t worry.  “My son, a peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” D&C 121:7-8

Devin

2/20/2012

Zambia is great!  It seems like my time here is going by so fast.   However, everyone in the mission has gotten a transfer to a new area except me.  So, I guess that I will be staying in my area for a while.  My companion Elder Santana is going to Matero.  My new companion is going to be Elder Mangunta.  My new companion is the one who ate the cat!  He is from South Africa he is Xhosa, and speaks the Xhosa language.  Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said with a rising or falling or high or low intonation. One of the most distinctive features of the language is the prominence of click consonants; the word "Xhosa" begins with a click.

Staying in this area for a while is going to keep me busy.  I will need to show all the new Elders who are transferring to Chinama the area, as well as my companion. I will need to show them where members and investigators live.  Chinama is 33 square miles which will mean lots, and lots of walking.  However, this gives us the opportunity to contact as many people as possible each day.

We had a baptism yesterday for sister Bwalya and for the month of March we are planning on about 6 baptisms!  We are excited!  There is no greater blessing than to be called to serve the Lord as one of his missionaries.

2/13/2011 From Elder Santana

How are you doing with your family that side of the world?  We are doing
great here on this side of the world.  I just thought of writing to you and find out how you are doing.                 
My companion Elder Jasper and I are having fun together here in
Zambia. I hope that next Sunday we will have our second baptism
together.   We are planning to baptize the wife of our recent
convert.   Here is the photo of the recent convert we baptize last
month, the work is fine and many things I am learning from Elder
Jasper. May the great good Lord continue to bless you.  Enjoy the
rest of your day.

2/13/2012

This week as been great, however, it has not exactly the best week ever.  We ate dinner with Mildred and Daniel (some of the members here) and that was nice.  I am glad that you got the 50 billion dollars that I sent to you.  I thought it was cool. It’s actually Zimbabwean money.  They are taking it out of circulation. They use U.S currency now.  I have a trillion dollar note! It is pretty cool. I guess the money/notes even got up into the quintillions! The inflation in Zimbabwe was crazy. For example, you might get paid on Friday 10 trillion and it may be worth 80 US dollars the next day it would be worth 5 US dollars.  

It’s good to hear from people from home. Rachel wrote to me was telling about her book project.  I enjoy her letters and sounds like she is busy these days. In addition, she sent me a lot of pictures the pictures were fun and I enjoyed them. In addition, I enjoy Kathy’s letters.  She is fun. I know that mom worries about me and about me eating. I’m eating but I’m still losing weight because we work a lot and we only really eat one big meal which is dinner.  We usually just eat a light breakfast and lunch, because it’s all we can really afford. 

Zambia is great.  Zambia just won the Africa soccer cup! Zambia won the Ivory Coast 8-7. They won last night. I got in to the sprit and bought a Zambian soccer jersey last week.  It’s really nice.  I am feeling good about my bartering skills. For example, talked the guy down to 50 pin (about 10 dollars) he tried to cheat me because I’m not a native.  However, I’m really good at talking to people and at speaking Nyanja.  Now, I can talk to anyone at anytime even if it’s a stranger.  Well, today is a crazy day because; everyone is celebrating Zambia’s victory. We are trying to stay off the streets because it’s not safe. Everyone is partying.  There were 46 fatalities last night, so were taking back roads and short cuts today. In addition, we didn’t take transport today because people are just wild and drunk. We decided we better walk to be safe. I am thinking that it’s a good choice.

I sent some letters today.  I sent one to my family, Kathy, Rachel, and Brother Smith, so hopefully they will get there soon.

Till next week love Devin.

Tell everyone to say hi and encourage people to write letters. Make sure to tell everyone that there WILL be GIFTS to everyone who writes :)

2/3/2012

Moni (Hello)

I’m doing well these days.  The weeks seem like they are going by fast and I’m already in week three of my third transfer. It seems like I just got to the MTC yesterday. Yesterday, we had a dinner appointment with some members. It was fun to go to their home and they made us a very nice dinner. Today, we went into town. I had to get my camera fixed.  I am just not having very good luck with cameras.  We are going to shop at the black market.  The black market is very cool and looks like it could be off the scene of a movie.  

There is not too much excitement here this week.  However, they are slashing three zero’s from the notes here.  I am going to save some for souvenirs because they look cool and how often do you get to spend a fifty billion dollar note?

I am getting better a cooking.  The other day I made a casserole with macaroni (no cat included)!  Even though, I did not know what I was doing, I was just grabbing stuff from the fridge, now everyone wants me to make casserole; it’s my most requested dish, although it’s never the same thing twice.

Take care

Love always, Devin

1/30/2012

Moni (Hello)

Missionaries walk a lot! My shoes that the salesman reported would: “these shoes will last your whole mission” need to be repaired.  I had to fix the sole of my shoe the one is getting weathered on the inside and the stitching was coming undone. However, my area has rough terrain and we do walk a lot. I know that you (my parents) have helped me so much and they are supporting me on my mission and I am so grateful for their support of my family.  So, I sent you five billion dollars in a letter (ha ha)! Seriously, I did send you five billion dollars however, the exchange rate to in the US would be about 2 dollars but it still looks cool.  

I do have a funny story about food here, opinions on American food, and dinner for a missionary! Someone here expressed their opinion that America food is tasteless and they did not understand why American’s would ever want to eat turkeys.  Well, a few weeks ago Elder Manguta a native missionary found a cat outside, killed it, and ate it for dinner! All I can say is that I will eat turkey over cat any day of the week!  I know it’s a matter of opinion but tasteless turkey sounds pretty good right now.

 This week we worked the “ap's” on Wednesday. There are a lot of addiction problems in this area. A lot of people drink, drink and drive, drink and walk, etc… The other day I watched a car drive into a six foot drainage ditch. The man was drunk, just turned the corner, and drove into the ditch.  We were out tracking and I had one guy tell me he lived in the stars, that he was God, and that if he stayed with us he would be safe. Well, he followed us the whole day and it was slightly annoying. He followed us until he fell down the hill.  He was just doing flips the whole way down and then he hit a tree.  I felt bad for him. We saw another man who had been drinking, it had just rained, the drainage ditches were almost full, and he walked right into it, and had to swim out! Wow! Some people just make poor choices and the consequences are not so great sometimes. However, it is somewhat entertaining at times.

 On our p-day, we bought some fireworks and had our own stadium a fire.  Today, I’m going to eat lunch with Elder Horne.  Elder Horne is fun to hang out with. He is from Napa California, lives close to Robin Williams; he told me that Robin Williams is a cool guy and a bit crazy at the same time. Elder Horne and his dad have a car restoration business.  They have a website: lowspeedresto.com it’s pretty cool.

Tell everybody I said hello.

I love you all

Devin.

1/23/2012

Muli bwanji? (How are you?)

I’m starting to get letters again and it’s nice to hear from everyone, how they are doing, and what’s going happening. I sent off letters for everyone today!! I am glad that I had some time to write to everyone. I’ve been extremely busy lately; as a result I don’t really have a lot of time to myself or to write letters. However, I do think about home, my family and my friends and hope that they are doing well. 

As far as the mission goes, these past few weeks have been a bit of a rough.  We not are seeing progress in my current area.  However, there is some hope! We have one baptism scheduled for the 11 of February. I am excited about that! The next few weeks are going to be interesting. For example, In March 15 missionaries are going home, the missionaries who are leaving are the leaders; zone leaders, assistances to the president district leaders, and the president district leaders.  In addition, no missionaries are coming to replace the ones leaving, and as a result there is going to be a lot of transfers and some closures in some areas.  

Tsalani bwino (Stay Well) I love all you guys. Love Devin

January 16, 2012

Moni onse (Hello to all of you)
Muli bwanji (How are you (all)?
Today I got a letter from Kathy!! It was sent on the 13th of November.  I think the mail here has a bit of a backed up!! Kathy is so funny! She reported that she threaten to send Ryan to Africa to me!  She may need my help in getting him on the right path!! (ha ha).  However, Elder Hewlet reported that he saw some letters for me at the office, so I will see what they are today.

Today is our zone activity we are going to Kalimba farm.  Kalimba Farm is a reptile park. The park has a large variety of indigenous snakes, tortoises and other reptiles. It is also one of the few places left in the world where you can see the rare and shy slender-nosed crocodile. They have black mambas! It is feeding day and we are going to watch them feed the black mamba chicken! It’s going to be sweet!!

We only baptized one person on Saturday; Prince Bwalaya.  However, it was a great experience! We are going to baptize his wife on the 11 of February and I am excited about that. We were suppose to baptize the Mwaywa family on Saturday, however I don’t if we those baptisms are going to take place. The father of the family put us in a strange situation. He told us that he wants to get baptized but, not go to church.  We told him he can’t get baptized if he doesn’t come to church. He reports continues to report he doesn’t want to come to church, but wants to be baptized. We want to try and baptize people that will stay in the church. We do not want to baptize people who we will never see again.  

I get along well with my companion. Elder Santana is a cool guy and we have a lot fun.  For our p-days we usually start out the day by going to arcades to email, eat lunch somewhere nice, we go to the main chapel to play soccer and have a BBQ, go shopping for the week, and watch a movie at home.  It is cool how they sell movies here.  For example, on one DVD you get about twenty movies and I can get it for about ten pin, which is like five US dollars.  The movies new released come out fast. For example, I can already get the new Mission Impossible movie here on DVD for ten dollars.  In addition, p-days are the days we get haircuts; however here is Zambia they have no clue how to cut a “white man’s” hair!  They don’t understand that when you cut my hair you have to cut against the grain not with the grain of my hair.  I have just started to cut my own hair because having someone here cut it is a waste of money.  It is somewhat funny though because I grew up in Utah and I am sure that most people there have not clue how to cut a “black man’s” hair.  Anyways, the first self haircut did not go as well I hoped but the second one went a little better.  I’ll be a pro by the time I get home.

I have only been on my mission for a short time; however I have a lot of fun/crazy stories.  I write them down in my journal.  So, even if I don’t email them, you can be able to read everything I did every day (If you really want to).  In addition, I’m keeping my planners. I have two so far.  They last for six weeks and they contain a record of all the people I taught.  So, it will be fun to go back over that when I’m finished with my mission. In addition, I bought a journal to keep a record of the people I meet in all my areas.  I am planning on having the following people sign it and I am going to put their pictures next to their names: the members, the people I baptized, and other missionaries. So, that will be cool to look through when I get back home.

Its week six in my second transfer, and I’m going to be staying here in Chinama. However, this transfer will end March 3. We will have to see where I go after March 3.  Sister Seiben is going to Malawi. I was sick the other day; however I am feeling much better today.

I miss my family, my brothers, and my mom’s cooking!  I can’t wait to come home and eat some of my mom’s food! When I do come home and eat some real food I will be in seventh heaven!!

 hope all is well! I miss everyone!
Tsalani bwino (stay well)
Devin

We just got back from the Kalimba farm.  It was extremely cool!! I got the chance to come email again so I did.  The crocodiles were huge! One was about 2 tons and 25 feet long! It was crazy. In addition, there were lots of snakes, such as pythons, spitting cobras, and the black mambas. The black mambas did not look scary until they fed them. Wow! They are fast! One bite and the chickens were dead! After all that we played some soccer and volleyball and just had a good time. Now we are going to go do our shopping and get something for dinner. Anyways, I just thought that you would like to hear about that. It was awesome!

January 9, 2012

Moni (Hello)

I am still waiting for letters.  The mail is really unreliable here and it has been really backed up since Christmas.  However, you can try sending letters through Dear Elder.com (they seem to always find the way here if you use them to send letters).

I have been very busy this week.  We moved in to a new flat with the Chinama with Elder Mahchi and Elder Horne. It’s very nice and seems more like a home. We stay in doctor’s compound in milestone. It feels really nice to come home to a nice house.  The apartment has a nice kitchen with a walk in pantry, a dining room, a family room with nice couches, three bedrooms, and two baths. However, it is a little far from our area and we have to walk quite a bit.  We can’t take transport, because the transport is too far away.  However, we have found a way to take a short cut.  

 The weather is a little crazy here. For example, during this time of the year the average temperature is about 60 degrees.  However, it has been super hot. It is like summer. As a result, the farmers are struggling and their crops are dying. The extreme temperatures are interesting to me, because as I have studied the scriptures more intensely I have taken note as to how the scriptures refer to a change in seasons in the last days.  Reading about it in the bible is interesting.

 My Mission is going well.  I baptized two people on Saturday; Emilda Njovu and Prince Bwalya.  I am extremely excited about the upcoming baptisms.  On the other hand, we had to push the Mwaywa’s family baptisms.  We change the date to the 21st of January.  We wanted to make sure that they were ready to be baptized.  Some of people here think we have lots of money, because we were nice cloths. Some people think that our scripture bags are full of money and we will give them money if they join our church.  Some of the people think that if they are baptized they will get money.

We hear some pretty crazy stories here from the people that we meet.  The other day we meet a guy who claimed that was Satanist.  He was telling us a crazy story about the “killings” that they do in his church that only the leaders know about them. He said the “regular” people don’t know about it. I think he was a little bit ‘crazy’ himself.  It is a little funny at times because when we are walking down the streets some people call us Satanist and that is just so far from the truth. For example, the other day we were walking down the street and there was a child crying, when his mother saw us she started speaking in Nyanja, and she said to her son: “you see those two Satanists, if you don’t be quiet their going to come over here and eat you” (Scary).  The child just went silent and he looked so scared.  I felt kind of bad for him.  So, we went over and said: “Muli bwanji” (a greeting for hello/how are you).  It was funny, because then his mother knew that we could speak Nyanja and her face just turned bright red. She was now aware that knew that we understood what she had said to her little one.  It was an interesting experience. In the end I hope they both knew that we NOT Satanist and we would NEVER eat anyone (especially a small child).

All and all, everything is fine.  I’m having fun here and enjoying my mission. I love Zambia and the people here.  

 Devin

Zambia

The People:

Missionaries:

Food:

2012

I need some LETTERS!! I have not gotten any letters for about 4 weeks!! However, it may be that in Zambia most of the people take the WHOLE month off, including the mail services (a little different than the US).   However, I do appreciate all the letters I get and my family and friends who take the time to write to me.  It really means a lot!  However, I have been really busy and I have not written as much as I should.  I am going to write to everyone this week.  To my family and friends; letters are coming, just be patient.

Anyways, the New Year’s holiday was good.  On Saturday, we had our zone activity.  We went to Kafue. Kafue is a long way out in the bush; we got to see the villages. The villages are really cool to see.  In Kafue there were lots of grass huts, a big lake, and just some awesome scenery.  Zambia is green and mountainous.  However, the mountains here are nothing like the mountains in Utah.  They are more like hills compared to the Utah mountains.  We played some volleyball and soccer.  In addition, we had a bri, we cooked some steak and chicken, we had rolls and salad, it was really nice.  It cool because, we plan all of our zone activities ourselves, we just have to let the mission president know what we are doing, and when we would be back. After, our activity we went back to the mission office. President Padovich didn’t want people to be out after 5. At the mission office we watched national treasure (it was nice to watch a movie for once).  At the mission office Elder Cecil and I were talking with President Padovich.  We were asking him about his career at Warner Brothers.    He helped out a lot with Harry Potter! In addition, he is good friends with Jeff Bridges.  He wanted President Padovich to work for his company.  President Padovich was on the set when they filmed Tron and True Grit.  He said that Jeff Bridges is a pretty cool guy.

Yesterday we went to the Chanza’s house for dinner.  Th Chanza’s is on the far end of our area. They fed us tons of food; rice, nshema,   chicken casserole, potato salad, and ice cream cake. It was nice and the food was really good.  In addition, we watched the best two years with them, we played bop-it, and a game which it gives you a word and you have to explain to your team what it is without saying the word before the time goes out.  It was really fun.   After all that we watched some soccer.  Its actually an okay sport to watch (not a fun as other sports), but after the soccer game he turned it to ESPN because, he thought Elder Murdoch and I would like that. It was cool because, we saw some basketball highlights of the Bulls beating the Lakers!  I miss watching sports.

Even more exciting than sport, we will have eight baptisms on Saturday!!  I am really excited!!  Hopefully, all goes well. However, filling out the paper work for eight baptisms is a little time consuming.  One is okay, but when you have a lot its a little time consuming.

 On Tuesday we are going to have a zone conference.  Elder Cook from the Seventies is coming and the missionaries from Copper belt are coming down. It should be a great zone conference.  My mission is going by fast! I can’t believe that it is already the 4 week of my 2^nd transfer.  My mission is going well, I love it here, I love the people here, and it is just so incredible.  

I love you all. God Bless.

Elder Jasper!