Hastening the work...

Wow sounds like the party just never stops with you guys! Keep living it up and good luck to all of you guys! Sometimes I really do miss how crazy our lives used to be(still are I know). But those days just bring back a lot of good memories with yall. But the world keeps turning, sometimes too fast. I dont really know where you guys got the idea that changes were coming up, Ive still got a month to go. Thanks for the support though:) Also, if you still have that birthday package open, fall and winter really are kicking in pretty soon and I need sweaters or the like. Black and grey por favor. That is how you live down here. The mornings are pretty brisk already, which I really enjoy, but it still gets humid enough to sweat your lunch off. And thank you for the shoe! It looks sweet! I cant wait to wear it when its companion gets here! They are probably the nicest shoes I have ever seen. Thanks!!

This week has been pretty crazy. Like usual I guess, but it still hits me every time. We had the opportunity to go to Nueva Helvecia to see the broadcast of the general priesthood area broadcast and it was awesome! We heard from the area seventies and Elder Rasband and Elder Ballard. It was awesome to be able to translate everything ahead of the translators and be more than 85% right. And it was nice to hear a talk in english too. But they talked about the how the Lord is hastening his work and how we need to do our part. It was crazy because I felt the spirit soo strong. I cant really describe it but when Elder Ballard testified that the Lord is hastening is work right now, it gave me the chills. I am a part of that work and we are all asked to help Him in His work. Really loved it. A nice spiritual boost I needed.

Also things are progressing very well with Cristina! We had some good lesssons with her and she came to church again and is reading the Book of Mormon with us explaining the things to her. She really likes it and we are going to extend her a date this week!!

We have also had more really good discussions with Dante and we are really trying to find out the best thing we can do to help him. Its interesting how different every situation is but that the gospel fits in with all of them. Its just a matter of acknowleging how He can help us.

I know that He can help us in every aspect of our live. It is just up to us to accept him!

Keep up the work you guys, I love you so much! Thank you for everything!

Love you all!

Elder Degn

So there is a member here with an artistic talent and he makes stuff for our chapel. We like the sword. A lot.

 

 

Yeah America!

Hey yall, Happy Presidents Day to you too!! Yeah America!

Glad to hear you guys are passing the week at home for the first time in how many years I dont know. Haha speaking of America, Rosario is pretty tranquilo, but at the same time there are some pretty rough people. Usually we don't get too much trouble from anyone, but this week a bunch went down. We have a guy that we are visiting that lived in America for awhile and we always end up talking about how perfect life is there for everyone. Uruguay is trying so hard to be like America and the people just have this idea that it is perfect there for everyone and that you have a huge house and super rich and don't have to work for anything. It's a pretty tough stereotype, and a lot of people don't really like us for that. This guy was letting us have it a bit, and when we were walking down the street the other day two kids yelled, ¨mucho plata, mucho plata¨. They were like twelve for crying out loud. But we get a lot of people that will walk by and say Hello, then we say hello back (in latino accent) and then they say, ¨Chao mormones!¨ And then we feel bad. But anyways, yeah America!

Also this week we had a crazy miracle! There is an investigator that I have been visiting since my first change with Dio named Cristina and have made absolutely no progress. I even thought she was very literally crazy. But this week we went and she is a completely different person than before. I have no idea what happened. Her mom is in really bad shape and she is looking for something to help her out. We have had two awesome lessons with her and she basically invited herself to church. I didn't know that was even possible. We went on Saturday to give her a lesson and invite her, but she couldn't let us in because she was super busy painting. She said we could come back Sunday, but we said we wanted to invite her to do something today. She said, ¨oh go to your church?¨ We said yes, then she said, ¨Alright, what time am I going?¨ I was kind of in shock. She came and really enjoyed it! We are going to visit her a lot this week and we have big hopes for her!

Also I got a new housemate this change named Elder White. We are from the same group and had a good time in the CCM together and I am pumped to have him here in Rosario! He is 18 like me but he turns nineteen on the nineteenth of March! Needless to say we are going to have a pretty sick party here in a few weeks!

You guys sound like you are having a pretty rocking time with everything and I love hearing about it all! Keep rocking it in soccer, lax, basketball, school, and all that jazzzz. You guys are awesome! Thanks for all your love and support! Have a super good week!!
Love you all,

Elder Degn

 

 

 Giving myself a haircut

My little friend

Buenas tardes de Rosario!

Buenas tardes de Rosario!

I'm sorry to hear that the Super Bowl was a bit of a bust. But I am also glad that I didn't miss too much back in the real world. Just one more needs to be lame then they can all start playing for real again once I get back. Also, the big wedding looked great! Thats awesome for them and I'm really glad that they were able to make that step together. Such a blessing for the whole family. Changes are next week and there is a pretty good chance I could leave, so this could have been my last pday in Colonia. We went early like always and walked around a bit in the rain and it was nice. For lunch we went as a zone to get all you can eat pizza in centro. It was fitting because it was where we went my first day in the mission after zone capacitation. We´ll see what happens I guess.

This week was pretty good though. We have been working to find the families of the kids we played with and we have made contact with a couple of them and one of them is actually very promising. I really hope we can continue teaching them and showing them how much our loving Heavenly Father really is involved in our lives. Many people think it, but a huge thing is really just helping them see that He really is there to help them and that he loves us personally. Its one of the most basic beliefs we have but really it is something powerful.

Also this week I went on divisions with Elder Teloma. We were roomates in the CCM and started here in Rosario together. He is in the other area. We worked together so Elder Lufi and Elder Sanchez could work together since they are going to work here longer together. It was a super cool experience because we have the same amount of time so we basically had to fend for ourselves without anyone fluent in Spanish to help us out. I have never prayed so hard for the gift of tongues in my life. It was in my area so I was basically senior comp and took the lead in everything since I was the one they knew. It was crazy. I was able to really have a solid conversation with everyone and on top of that teach a pretty good lesson. It really opened my eyes to what the Lord can do to help me, even when I think I am struggling. Teloma and I were able to talk with a bunch of people without problem and really had a great day together and learned a lot seeing what it was like by ourselves and that we are actually capable of handling ourselves out there.

Also we had a convert from Rivera visit our branch yesterday. He is 23 and has been a member of the church for 3 months! Less time than I have as a missionary! He was here to visit his dad in the other elders area, and his story is amazing. He is on fire with the spirit and his testimony is incredible! He shared his story in testimony meeting and really was something else. He helps the missionaries all the time up there in Rivera and just said how much the spirit has been helping him. It was really a spiritual boost to the branch that we needed. However, he said that he let the sister missionaries start talking to him because they were good looking. Really not fair in that regard, so I guess I will just continue contacting the older group of women we have here in Rosario;) Yeah, just a little frustrating. But yeah this week has been great and this might be my last week here so we are really going to be working hard to boost up Rosario this week! Thanks for your love and support and I hope everything continues to go well for you guys! Love you so much!

Con todo mi amor,

Elder Degn

 A statue of this guy in every city

 Doing service--Pretty fun...



 Lucky photo--I like it!

View from our church rooftop

Creepy clown at pizza place

 

Sauna Life...

Sounds like you guys are rocking it up like usual! Im glad to hear you guys had a good time with the sisters, even if it was a little slow on conversation. I was just thinking to myself how I have not done that once. Have a nice structured meal like that then have a great lesson teaching the kids. It doesn't really work like that down here with our ten members. But we do what we do right? That really sounds like a good time and I'm glad you did that because there are missionaries down here that basically live through the members. They are awesome! But this week has been a crazy combination of a lot of things. We had an awesome cold front with a couple days of rain followed by some of the hottest days of my life that really were just the most humid days of my life. It wasn't that hot really, there was just so much liquid in the air. We walked from our house to an investigator about six blocks away and she let us in to her garage to talk and closed the door and it turned into a sauna. I was really sweating from every pore. It was running down my arms and dripping off my fingers. She was a little alarmed but I just kept a huge smile on my face which made it even weirder for her I think but it was just funny.

I also did divisions this week with our ZL Elder Bulloch from St. George. He is a huge wrestler and a stud missionary. We went to a part of our area I didnt know very well to contact a bit and found a couple folks and at one house we were basically yelled at to leave and that they already have their religion. Elder Sanchez and I went back to this area two days later to visit someone else and asked if they knew anyone we could visit. They gave us this house that the woman screamed as out. So we went back and tried again. We were starting the same way with very short, smart, high-pitched answers until Elder Sanchez said he was from Paraguay. I have never seen anyone change so fast. She turned into our best friend in about three seconds. She has lived in Paraguay for thirty years and just loved chatting about it. It turns out she is a super-evangelical woman and was just giving us blessings the whole time which was pretty cool I guess. She also can speak in tongues (watch out) but was a super nice woman that we have an appointment to visit tonight. It was crazy how fast she changed.

Also this week was one of the coolest things that have happened to me. We were out in this nieghborhood outside of the main city looking for a prior contact. We were confronted by a group of 10-14 year old boys that wanted us to play soccer with them. So we did. It was the mormons with a 14 year old and an 18 year old Uruguayans verses about ten younger boys. We just played in this little field on the side of one of their houses and it was sweet. After we played and we said we had to go, they just swarmed around us asked tons of questions. Where we were from, which team we are from, here and in American (Peñarol and Real Salt Lake) and stuff like this. One of them asked to go to the shade to talk more so we moved to the shade to get out of the sun and they all just sat down in a perfect semi-circle and it felt like we were giving a sermon on the mount kind of thing. It was awesome and they all asked tons of questions about God and Christ and were super excited to just learn about it all. We have all of their names and almost all of their addresses to go back and teach their families like they asked. It was amazing. We are really going to work this week to find them and keep teaching them.

Well my dear friends, I hope that you guys have another great week and keep living it up back in ol South Jordan. Enjoy the snow and the time off! I love you guys, thank you so much for everything!!

Here comes the sun...

Goodbye to Elder Dio...Spending some time before Elder Dio moves on...He is an awesome missionary!  I learned so much from him.





                              



Colonia for P-day

Hey hermanos amados mios, como han pasado?

It looks like you guys had a killer weakend! Vegas and snowboarding in the same one? Not going to lie that theres a bit of jealousy on this end of that deal. Except the cold front got pushed out by an even hotter than ever blast of air, so I know you will be jealous of that. But there is supposed to be a couple big storms this week and then hopefully the heat mellows out after that. We have to go to Colonia every Pday because Elder Sanchez is DL and the meeting is there with the ZLs on monday mornings. So we go and walk around for a little bit with the other missionaries and eat at a Carrito and head home. Its super nice but I have been to Colonia quite a few times now and it hasnt changed, but I still really like walking around the old town.

But man this week was super crazy! I did divisions with one of the elders in our district because of my comp DL and it was sweet. It was my first time having divisions and I stayed in Rosario with Elder Ramos from Peru! (Lima north mission;) He is a stud and has about ten months in the mission and speaks no english. It was actually a blast because he is easy to understand and I just spoke spanish the whole time without the temptation to use english like sometimes with Elder Sanchez. But I learned so much from him it was crazy. He has been a member of the church for two years and has been out here for ten months! His testimony knocks people over and we contacted a lot and he is so good at testifying as soon as possible. And it makes a difference. The people can really feel the power of a pure testimony. It was a big example for me and Im excited to work on testifying more all the time.

Also this week was interviews with Presidente Smith. Before interviews we have a bit of a capacitation with him and the asistentes and that was awesome. I learn so much from him and the APs its crazy. He talked a lot about accountability and looking for solutions. It was really strong and all the ideas he gave us are things that I need to work on and Im really going to try to develop more. My interview was also the craziest experience ever. It was five minutes long but the spirit was so strong with us. He basically prophesied to me about me and Rosario. It was absolutely crazy. We both had tears in our eyes at the end just because of how strongly we felt the spirit. Really a huge blessing at this time. One of the things he told me is that Rosario can double through baptisms. He also told Sanchez that, so that has become our new focus. We are going to work really hard at talking to everyone and just finding more people and those people that are ready. Cant wait to see what happens!

You guys are awesome and I love you SO MUCH! I cant even tell you how much you mean to me and how much I love hearing from all of you and what you are doing. keep praying, the Lord will ALWAYS come through. Thank you for all of your love and support!

All my love, Elder Degn

 

 

Thunder Attack!

Hey there family, are you still alive, or snowed in? Apparently there has been some crazy snowstorms in America because every time we go to visit someone and I tell them I'm from the states they just freak out and ask about my family. Apparently its pretty bad. I know that Utah is pretty chill, but I think its funny that all these people that have never seen snow in their lives are worried so much about it. They say a lot of people are dying, so I hope you are all alright:) You guys never stop! Everyone is doing so much right now, even with two of us gone it still sounds like a team effort to get everyone around. (also, shout out to Josh, Amanda was in my seminary class last year, say hi for me. Shes a real sweetheart;)

This week has been pretty great! Elder Sanchez and I have really just been trying to get a better feel for everyone here because Rosario has such a bad past with members leaving, so we are just hunting everyone down and visiting them again after all this time and trying to get them back. Its a hard road most of the time, but there are the bright sides. Also we got a reference from a member in Colonia and we visited a family that is solid! The sister of the family was there the first time we passed by and we chatted for a minute but she had to go so we said a prayer with her on her porch and afterward she was just crying and thanking us. The next day we went back and the family was there and we had an awesome lesson with them. Mostly the dad and two sons. We gave them the first lesson and I felt so good being able to share more and the spirit was definitely felt by them. One of the sons gave the closing prayer while we all knelt and it was sweet. They are great people and I hope we get to help them again.

Also we had lunch again with one of our members!! (4th time of my mission!!) And we had cow heart and liver. The heart is actually super good. The liver is just tough and bland. The heart was super tender and the souce she made with it was fantastic. Its funny because the other companionship with us didnt really like it but Elder Sanchez and I loved it. The other Elder hear from California couldnt finish all the liver he was given, so when the hermana got up to get something I took all that was left and ate it super fast. He was really relieved and I liked it to. Not a bad trade.

Well I hope you guys have had an awesome week and that you all have fun in all of your stuff! Keep dancing, playing, and going to school, and you will go places:) Just made that up too. Like Uruguay!! We have been enjoying a nice cold front this week. SOOOOO nice. Three nights in a row of crazy thunderstorms. The other day I heard the loudest lightning strike of my life. At four in the morning I thought we were under attack. And it was one strike. The windows in the house were all shaking for a minute after and it took awhile to get my breath back. I went from dead asleep to wide awake in about half a second. It was nuts. But definitely worth the cold weather. Really a nice break we were needing.

Well you guys I love you so much and cant tell you how happy it makes me to hear how well you are all doing! Love you tons

Elder Degn