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.