No News is Good News

It's been several weeks since Devon has been able to send a group email so I thought I would share a couple things instead.  Devon's companion was transferred to another island recently and sent us an incredibly kind email.  I'll post that below.  Devon also sent a quick email to just the family a few weeks ago that he has given me permission to share.  He hasn't been able to send pictures for quite a while, but a senior missionary posted a couple pictures on Facebook of the group of missionaries on Christmas Island which I'll add to this post as well. (It was so nice to see that they have something as "normal" as a ping pong table...the things we take for granted)  Thank you for your continued love and support of Devon.  He feels bad that he can't connect with each person individually, but he has asked me to let you know that he loves every email and snail mail he receives.  It's what he looks forward to most.

From Elder Fifita:

Dear Bruce and Tiffany,

  I want to start this e-mailing by first thanking the both of you for raising an amazing son who is steadfast in the gospel and spiritually rooted to the Savior Jesus Christ.  My name is Elder Fifita and I was blessed with the opportunity to be your son's companion, trainer, and friend in these last four months.  I was transferred from Christmas Island last Wednesday back to Tarawa, and understanding the e-mail situation in Christmas I wanted to send the both of you an e-mail to let you guys know that your son is doing well in Christmas.  Your son is always, always, always optimistic and positive in everything that he does, although I was his trainer he taught me some amazing things one of them being the eternal truth that we can choose to be happy no matter what the circumstances are.  He has shared with me countless times the quote that you gave him, Brother Wardell, by Christ, "I didn't say it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it", and it was something we can turn to when we went through some rough experiences.  He speaks highly of you two with much gratitude and respect for all of the love you guys have for him as parents and your loving words of kindness.  Your son is a great example to me of losing oneself in the work; as a new elder in the mission it is not easy when you can't contact or don't even know if you will be able to contact your family on Monday, but he freely gives himself to the Lord and his work.  Not once did I ever hear him complain about the work.  He only spoke words of faith and courage which helped our district in Christmas.  He is a great missionary and is doing amazing things in Christmas.  In our first companionship inventory, he told me that friends are what make a good companionship great, and that's exactly what happened.  Your son, Devon Wardell, became a great friend of mine in Christmas. He is becoming everything, and more, you guys have expected of him as a son.  He loves you guys and knows that you guys are in the Lord's hands as he continues to lose himself in the work.  I hope this e-mail brings comfort to you guys until Elder Wardell is able to e-mail again. He is doing amazing and like the 2,000 stripling warriors he has the courage and the faith that what you guys have taught him is true.  

Sincerely, 

Elder Fifita

From Devon about 2 weeks ago: (Kiritimati is Christmas Island.  That's how you spell it in the Kiribati languge)

Wow.... It has been pretty crazy not having email, but it really forces you to turn into the missionary Heavenly Father wants you to be. It's crazy how much different this mission is from others... In most missions, you wake up and do your studies and then go work with the people in your area and then come home. You grow to love them as your family but here... They are your family. Every morning or night there is someone outside our house saying Elders Elders! We have to go outside and talk to them and sometimes they want us to help them with something or just talk. We literally are with the people all day and they say "ngaira bon am utu iaon Kiritimati" which means "we are your family on Christmas".  They feed me so much.... AND IM GETTING A RICE BELLY!!! It's not big, but there is definitely a little tummy coming along so I really have to work on the ab workouts. Every meal has rice and if you try to NOT take the rice they say "Wardell rice!" We did go shark fishing which consists of a roll of 100 lb line rolled around a styrofoam block which you hold in your hands. You throw on a giant slab of fish, swing the line above your head like a lasso, and send it flying into the water. The water is sooo clear you can see everything in the water. We saw these huge fish swimming around and out of nowhere WAM it hit and it is scary when you are just holding the line in your hand. Three of us work together to pull it in and once it gets close we see it's not a shark, but a giant fish! This thing was about 50 lb and it looks like a giant tuna. I was like ok it's just a fish so I'll grab it by the lip and hold it up and when I go to grab him I see he has teeth as big as mine and it freaked me out! It was so awesome! We caught 4 more that day.

The P day before that we went exploring in the little bays within the island. Timeon, a young man that lives here, took us and he took me exploring in the shallows (everyone was being lazy so they stayed back and talked). We saw a manta ray swim by and jellyfish alllll throughout the water. These jellyfish were really weird looking and looked like sea anemones. They weren't poisonous so I got to hold them. My absolute favourite thing was... Going puffer fish hunting with my bare hands!! You see them in the shallows and you have to chase them up to the beach and grab them and they puff up in your hands. They are probably the size of a volleyball and their spikes are rubbery.

You remember my investigator with the Bulls jersey? He is soooo awesome and he was one of the other first lessons I taught. He was really tough at first and you could tell he wanted nothing to do with us. His wife was less active so we were afraid he was just taking lessons for her. We finally sat him down and asked him "why are you taking lessons? Are you doing this for you?" He is surrounded by people in his village who aren't members so you could tell that he was never really too proud to let others know he was taking lessons from us. I bore my testimony to him and said that in my home in America I'm one of the only members. I told him how I've seen how the gospel has blessed my life and I've teimatoa n au onimaki (stood firm in my faith). I'm not ashamed because I know it is true and I know my heavenly father loves me.... You could see how much he changed. He started becoming excited for our lessons. We'd see him at work and he'd be the first one to say hi to us. This was not the Teeneta (his name) that I first met.... This last Saturday, I got to watch as Elder Fifita and him walked out into the ocean and he was baptized. My first baptism and a great new friend.

Things have been great. Still really hard and the language is still tough, but getting better. Transfers were just announced and Elder Fifita is leaving Kiritimati island.... That was crushing. When you don't have email or communication with anyone, your companion becomes your best friend and Elder Fifita really is one of the greatest guys I've ever met. I will be staying in Banana Kiritimati and my new companion will be coming in to be the new Zone Leader of Kiritimati (because Fifita was the ZL right now). This means I will have to be the companion who takes the lead because I'm the only one who knows the area and I have to help prep and show my new companion how to be the Zone Leader which I've been the Zone leaders companion my whole mission.... THIS IS CRAZY! I'm only on my third transfer. My companion has been on the mission for over a year so he will still be the Senior companion but I'll have to show him around Kiritimati and everything else. People like to joke and say that since my first trainer was the Zone leader and now my second trainer is a zone leader, I'm going to be assistant to the president haha. 

Things are great. I will admit I miss email, but these weeks have really humbled me and allowed me to find peace from him who is always with me. I'm emailing off Timeon's family's phone that has a mini wifi hot spot so I won't be able to email everyone. Let everyone know I love them and I'm ok. There is so much I wish I could tell you, but we have so little time.... I love you guys so much. I'll see you sooner than u know :)

Love, Devon