April 27, 2015

Hey guys whats up!? Two things, first off, that is the biggest trophy I have ever seen Bella!! Its bigger than you guys!! Congrats Bells! Also Congrats to Mafatu, the big 16! Super crazy that he is already 16! Everyone is growing up way to fast! Just keep his hands off the car keys is my only advice for now:) Today was super fun because we went to Downtown Montevideo to go walk around, and it was awesome but really nastalgic all at the same time. I was like ´ooh this place, and oh I remember that and this..´   yeah it was really fun. Downtown is such a crazy place, first time in the big city for almost a year, and it really is so much diferent than all the other places in the country. It was awesome to go look around again though. 

But this week was absolutely awesome!!! The conference with Elder Oaks was SOO GOOD!! We all got to go shake his hand which was so cool! It was funny because I was sitting next to Elder Toledo (my old comp whom I live with) waiting for the conference to start and we were talking about the mission and life, and how he has super mixed emotions about going home and what to do and all that fun stuff, and then when Elder Oaks started talking he started right off the bat talking about the importance of life after the mission especially marriage! HAHAHAHA it was so funny to give Elder Toledo a little shoulder shrug and we both laughed, ah it was awesome though. He also focused on being a instrument in the lords hands. He used a example of a pen, that does nothing for itselft, only the work of whose hands it is in. Also that the pen doesn't decide when to write and when not to write, the writer expects the pen to be ready 24/7, hence, full-time missionaries. We are here to do His work when He wants, not our work when we want. (Even Pday;) Really a awesome conference and a awesome lesson. I was decently close to the stand, and Elder Oaks voice is just like conference, funny, but still awesome for me to see and hear in person!!!

This week we also had a huge ward activity where we showed the movie ´Meet the Mormons´ We invited a ton of people and we had a really good turnout, and everyone loved the movie! It is so good and a great way to get to know the church.  I was sitting by a couple where he is member and she isn't, and after the movie (especially the part about the missionary mom) she was teary eyed and looked at me and said, ´now I understand so much, thank you for doing what you do.´ Fa that hit me like a wall. I love what I do and as much as I miss my family there is nothing that I would give to be anywhere else in the world. Also we are teaching a awesome family right now, named Juan his mom Reina, and his daughter milagros. The came to the church for the activity, the baptism, and the sunday services!! They are soo boss and so excited! They are such great people and have been progressing so fast, I am so pumped to see where this week goes for us!
And the best for last, we had the baptism of Katy!!! She is so awesome and is a huge example for me because she has been working so hard to learn as much as she can. She studies a full and has learned so much! She was baptized by the son of her friend that introduced her to the gospel. He is 20 but is slightly challenged mentally, but has the priesthood and was autorized to do it, but wanted someone to help him, so I suited up and helped him in the font. It was really fun to be a part of, helping him get the prayer right and getting her whole body in the water. Took a couple of tries{7}, but worked out great in the end! She brought a bunch of family and friends to her baptism, and it was really just a great day. I love what I do and where I am. There is nothing better!! 

I love you guys so much and am so grateful to be a part of this great family!! Keep on keeping on!!
Con todo mi amor,

Elder Degn

 Sweet baptism of Katy!

 How to cut down trees...

April 20, 2015

hey guys whats real? Glad to hear that everyone is still keeping busy;) just the usual right? Honestly I'm just slightly alarmed at how old everyone looks ( apart from hannah of course:) but just tell everyone to slow down please!! 

So I'm sorry that I didn't say anything before because I forgot, but the highlight of the week is that tomorrow we are having a big day. In the morning we are having a all-mission conference in the one and only stake center here in Cerro, so we spent all morning setting everything up, but its a big deal because it has been almost a year since the last one. Its pretty tough to get 220 missionaries to the same place. But after the mission conference we are all going to the other side of Montevideo for a conference with the other mission featuring Elder Oaks of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles! Crazy Right!? I'm super pumped because I have never been to a small conference like this and seen a member of the 12 like this before!! Everyone is going kinda crazy getting ready for it but it is going to be amazing! Im so excited to hear from him and get some revelatoin!! So yeah its going to be a big tomorrow and I cant wait!!

Apart from all of that fun jazz this past week was awesome! We are really focusing and helping the members of the ward get excited and feel the spirit about being active themselves and then spreading the good word, and what we have been taught to use is the doctrine of the gathering of Israel. It is a subject that many people do not know very much about, so it is something that opens their minds and they feel the spirit of the reality of the work and feel the urgency to do it, and then they start feeling about the people that they know that are in a position where they could accept the gospel. It is really amazing how the spirit works like that, but it has been increadible to see the desires that peolpe have to share the gospel when they feel the need for it in their own lives and in the lives of those they love. It also strengthens their own testimony, and the result is awesome! This week was one of the few times in my mission where probably 90% of the people we tought that needed the visit went to church. It was increadible!! Katy, our investigator, went again even though she came strait from work and had barely slept in the past two days! She is super excited for her baptism that is going to be on this saterday!! Her friend that passed the reference is also very excited, I think their family is coming from the other part of Montevideo for the baptism too. We aren't sure what happened with Graciela because we had a good charla with her and everything was going good, but she didnt come to church, and are phone doesnt have money so we werent able to call her to find out. she has a very dificult family life, and I really just hope she is alright. 

Elder Gonzales is a boss and I love being with him because we get along great and teach really well together. Our area is AMAZING and we have sooo much to do! We have been finding and teaching members like crazy and we also have a good group of investigators right now as well. There is so much potential and we are already seeing the lives of many people change. What I have re-learned this week is that the greatest happiness you can find in life is in the gospel. And that no sacrifice is too great. He knows us, He loves us, and He wants us to FOLLOW HIM. And so I will follow. For the rest of my life. I know the church is true. I know that we are involved in a great and marvelous work, much greater than we can imagine. I love you all, thank you for everything!!! 

Love,

Elder Degn

ps. This morning we got up super early and ran to the beach on the other side of the cerro, and we ran and chilled at the beach and then studied down there. So pumped to go back to cali and see the beach again. Sooooo beautiful in the morning!!!

April 13, 2015--El Cerro!!

Hey guys sounds like everyone had a pretty good week apart from joshy boy #cararota jaja sorry buddy, glad to hear that it was all for a good cause though:) I also loved the foto of my man parker!! Thank you guys so much for inviting him over and treating him good. He definitely deserves it and I hope that you were able to tell him how much I love him too. It was tough leaving Elder Silva and Paysandu, but they are all in good hands. This past week in el cerro has been awesome!! My comp Elder Gonzalez is a boss and we get along really well and work really well together as well. The area is pumping right now as well as the whole zone, this place is a animal in and of itself! Our ward has had a good amount of baptisms recently and so we have plenty of work to do helping them stay on the path, and we have two investigators lined up right now to be baptized in two weeks! One is named Graciela and is a really big example for me. She is 24 and comes from a very very difficult family situation but comes to church without fail and has been reading the book of mormon for the past couple of months, and is really excited to be able to be baptized now. She is so funny because she likes chatting with us about everything and then when she is kinda by herself for a minute she starts writing in a little journal. I dont really know what she writes about, but she just smiles the whole time so I think they are jokes about us:) But apart from her there is an older woman that is coming to church as well named Katy that was introduced to the church by her lawyer and loves learning and talking as well! She lives really far away  but takes the bus with the other members that live out there. Our ward is awesome and huge!! It is one of the biggest and oldest wards in Uruguay. President Smith started his mission in this area when he served here, and so he comes every now and then to visit his converts and go to church. It is really weird to have a area where everyone knows him basically, but it is really sweet at the same time. Also we share a ward with two other missionaries, and one is Elder Toldeo! He served in this ward a year ago and now has come back here to finish his mission. It is crazy being with him again and living together again, well kinda, he lives upstairs and we live downstairs and they arent connected so there isnt a ton of interaction, but its still fun! Our house is super nice as well, literally next to the forteleza. On the first street down. Really sweet just kind of a killer to hike to every time we go home. Im soo excited to work in this area and be able to see the miracles that will happen! 

I love you guys so much and hope you all have a good week!
Con amor,

Elder Degn

ps. My comps sister is in Utah right now visiting friends from her mission, Im going to pass him our address and see if she wants to pass by to visit. (if she wants that is) She is in west valley, so really close. Just a heads up, thanks!!
pss. Me and Gonzalez at the forteleza!!

 Oh...Montevideo!

 At Forteleza

April 7, 2015

Hey everybody, Happy Easter!!! It looks like you guys had a AWESOME week with traveling and conference, and I hope you loved conference too!! I just hope that Hannah doesnt take it too seriuosly and get herself married here before I get home;) We were able to watch it just fine here in English with our little posse of gringos, so we didnt miss a single beat. Really though, I love conference!! Crazy to think thats the last one on the mission right? Feels like just yesterday I saw the last one with Elder Bentley in Rivera.... moving on.

 In other news, we did get changes this week and I am going back to Gotham City! Im sooo pumped!! Im going back to EL CERRO de Montevideo!! Crazy right!? Im going to the ward that is next to my old ward and that is literally right on the cerro. If you look up the fortress that is there, my house is in the first block down from it. The pictures I sent last week overlooking everything, yeah that was from what is now my house. Super crazy!!! My area is called Casabó and Santa Catalina. Its funny because you say Casabo to any Uruguayan in any city, and they all cringe and give you a hug like, ¨It was nice knowing you...:¨ haha its funny because everyone on the outside looking in doesnt like Cerro, but for those that have served there, they love it. I am so excited to be able to go back and serve in the place where I recieved some of the strongest testimonies of my life. My new companion is going to be a Chilean named Elder Gonzales! I met him this past change and I like him a ton and am really excited to be comps with him! I will most likely be his last comp, he ends in June or July, and then I will most likely finish the mision there. Crazy that it has come, but I am very excited to get to serve in Casabo. 

So thats that, and I am still in Paysandu until tomorrow, but I am really sad to leave so many friends that I have here. This has been my shortest time in a area, three months, but I feel like I have grown closer to some people here than in other places with more time. I am definitely leaving it all behind in good hands with Elder Silva and I know that he is going to make this place explode in his last change in the mission. He has been a great example to me of ending strong, and this last change will be a great one to go out on. We have seen some great growth here and we have met some amazing people that have been real examples to me. I have seen the Lord change lives here, and I am really just grateful to have been a part of it. Its too bad that I will not be here for the baptism of Lucresia that is next week, but it really is awesome to see her and her mom progress in the gospel. They are flying! Also with Estela, even though she can't get baptized right now because she has to go through a complitcated process to get married, she is still going to church and pushing foward. We also have recently been helping a guy that got baptized a couple of years ago but that is trying to come back after a while outside, and we went for the first time and talked about what he was doing and what he needs to fix to get everything back in line, and he did it. Immediately. He went to church three weeks in a row ever since, including the conference and we taught him about the temple, and it is really amazing to see the light in peoples´ eyes when they grasp what the temple really is and means. He is doing everything possible to make it there. I am So grateful for the knowledge that I have of the gospel in my life and for the covenants that I have made with my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful the oportunity that I had to serve in Paysandu, and the people that I met here and for the experiences that I have had. I know that Christ LIVES. I know this is his church, that He loves us and has provided a way to return to Him. Many times this past week we taught about the ressurection, and to many people they just focus on the death of Jesucristo and dont understand or even know much about his Resurrecion, and what it means for us. How grateful I am for His Resurecion! The hope we can have for the future all was made possible through Him who is powerful to save. I love you all and am so grateful for the eternal family that we have the potential to become. En el nombre de Jesucristo, amen. 

Con amor,

Elder Degn

ps. Our final district lunch!

 Loving General Conference!

 Ward Mission Leader

 My Good Friend!! Awesome young man.

 My little buddy!

March 30, 2015

Hey guys whats good?!? Thanks for the updates, glad to hear that everyone is still doing great and keeping up with everything that you guys have to do! Sounds like a crazy/fun week with the boys traveling, good luck to all everyone in their tournaments! And you girls, Semper fi. I'm super pumped for conference and really cannot believe that it is already here again! The last one I was chilling in Rivera with Elder Bentley just living it up, where does the time go? Enjoy easter as well, here it is La semana santa for the Catholic church, but it is funny because it is also la semena de turismo, or basically a fall break type thing, Paysandú is famous for this week because here is the Urugayan headquarters of a beer company that has a couple big factories in my area and this week is la semana de la cervesa (beer week). Basically a weeklong party down by the beach with tons of beer and concerts. Funny how the world keeps sliding away from God, even when we need to remember the most important event in the history of the world! But oh well, I will try to resist all the free beer;) Also this week we basically changed to Fall all at once, really just one day to another it was really cold, and has stayed nice, really relief of the heat. It was just nuts how suddenly it happened, but Im really glad its here!

This week has been awesome though! We worked on wednesday in Montevideo, and it was awesome for me to work in Cerro again, really close to my old area. I was working with Elder Goold from Idaho, and it was awesome because a year ago we were in the same district in cerro and were both junior comps. Time just goes by too darn fast. It was a great day though despite the cold and rain that we were not prepared for, but we had a amazing experience and I learned a lot as well! We are also on the stake activities committee and this week we had a stake talent show and it was super fun! My house did a syncronized swimming spoof, and it was hilarious and really gave the show the comic relieve that it needed. Everyone loved it though and it was super fun as well! 

We were feeling so good going into this week as well with our investigators too, and we were really able to make good progress with most of them, and we also found a couple of awesome new people as well! We found out that our number one investigator isn't married and doesn't want to either, so we invited her to pray about it and we are also praying that she has a change of heart. They have been together for 31 years for crying out loud, just tie the knot!! 

On Monday night of last week though I had such an amazing experience with Elder Luke, an elder that stays the night at our house because they live far away, so we were on divisions and went to a part of the area I didnt know yet to find new people, but turns out that there is absolutely nothing there, just an army base. We walked for a really long time without seeing everyone, and I realized why we had never gone there before, but then we went back to the other part of the area to talk to some people before the night was over, and we went to a house that I had wanted to visit before because their kids always said hi to us when we walked by, so we went to try to find the parents home, and they were, and they were so....normal. It was amazing, they are both police officers, have two kids, work a lot, run the kids around, and believe in God, we had a great conversation with them out front, and then we had to leave and I asked if we could say a prayer with them and she said yes and invited us in to do it. I don't know why it still shocks me so much when that happens, but it was amazing and we shared a great moment together, and they invited us to come back whenever we like. I love this work!! It is so amazing! I know that Christ LIVES. Not that he lived or will live, but that he lives NOW. I know that He is at the head of this, HIS work, and that He is the one doing all the heavy lifting. Its an honor to be on his team and meet the people that He is preparing to recieve the gospel. 

I love you guys so much, have a great week!!
Elder Degn

ps. Me and Elder Goold on their house in cerro, right beneath the forteleza.

 Uruguayan Synchronized Swim Team!!

March 23, 2015

Hey guys hows it going!? I've got to start off and say thanks for the packages that you guys sent for my birthday! Today the offices sent us the the mail stuff and I got all of it at once! It has got awesome stuff and I'm really pumped for the new shirts, sweater and pants! My black pants are really beat up and so these new ones were really needed. And the protein as well! I've been doing p90x for two weeks straight now and maybe its just because I haven't worked like that in a long time but I feel like I am getting a whole lot bigger. Really crazy actually but I feel soo good! So thank you so much for sending me the protein!! 

This week was honestly amazing though! We did do a bit of traveling thought but not as much as we thought it would be. We went to concilio on tuesday which was awesome! We talked about everything that we need to do to be more efficient in the mission and how we can change things to make it better. Always just kinda mind blowing seeing the long term mindset of presidente Smith, but it really helps us remember what we are here for. We are really trying to focus on starting with the end in mind, and something that we are being instructed to teach to members is the doctrine of the Gathering of Israel. For months now I have been studying and it has completely blown my mind and changed my mindset about the Book of Mormon and the plan of God. It is all just so perfect!! As we teach and study we are trying to get the members to think about the Gathering of Israel in every moment! It really helps to understand what is happening right now and how the Lord allows us to participate in his work!! I love it and I now that it is happening! 

But anyways back in Paysandu we worked a bunch with our investigators, and really made some awesome progress! We have decided to push back a little bit the baptisimal date of one just to make sure she is all set and that she feels like she is ready too. Still really excited for it all though! On Saturday we had the zone conference and interviews with President Smith, who was in town for the whole weekend because he was invited to the stake conference this week as well, and it was such a awesome weekend! We had a awesome capacitation from him and he is helping everyone understand and be able to apply the direction of the area and the mission. Our stake conference was also amazing! There was an area seventy as well and they really gave great messages to help the stake be able to continue to grow. In the general session on Sunday all of the messages were incredible and there was such a powerful spirit! It was amazing as well because there were more people that were in the stake conference than any other week in the stake since I have been here! It was a full house! It was really one of the best stake conferences that I have ever been too, and we are so excited to see how we will be able to progress even more from here on out! Today is the day that the Lord is hastening his work, and now is the moment to save His vineyard! I know it, I love it, and I live it! 

Thank you guys for who you are! I love yall so much!! 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Degn

ps. Me, my roomates E´ Neilson y E´ Woodcock and the Assistant Elder Stafieri that stayed with us for two days. He is traveling all over Uruguay with Pte this week, so he was our guest on their stay in Pdu. Awesome dude and big chargers fan! Goes home in 10 days....

March 16, 2015

Hey guys thanks for the party, it looked like some real good sheetcake!! I cannot wait to eat that stuff again, but my boys here hooked me up pretty good for my birthday. We live right across the street from the most famous place in Paysandu called Chajá. It is a desert place, and the other Elders we live with, Elder Woodcock and Elder Neilson (aka my bffs) bought me a cake from there and it was sooooo good! Especially with the ice cream I bought as my gift from President Smith. It was sooo nice! so don't worry yourselves, I had a good day, pizza, cake, and ice cream, what more can a boy want? Alright jk, but lets just say the next one will be even better right?:)

Apart from it already being a great week because it was my special day, we had such a miracle filled week!! We worked really hard to get back to all of the people that we found last week and it just worked out so good!! I love it when things go like you want, every now and then it is nice to have that stuff happen:) We went and tought our investigator Estela that couldnt go to church last week, but we had great lessons with her and her grandkids and nieghbor that also want to go to church, and this week she made it to church with her granddaughter!! It was so nice because she already knows one of the hermanas in the ward, and they really made her feel welcome and she felt so good! It was beautiful to watch!! She needs this so bad, and it makes me feel so good to see her be able to take these steps in her life! She is progressing really well and we are super pumped to see where she will get! 

The other family that we are working with right now, Yaquelin that is a recent convert and her daughter Lucresia that is getting ready to be baptized, are doing amazing as well! We went and taught Yaquelin about family history and such and she is doing great living the life of a member of the church, and her daughter has progressed so much! In the beginning I was a little bit hesitant to teach her because she didnt seem interested and didnt remember anything, but this week we repased a lot of the lessons and she shocked me with how much she knew and now has a lot more interested and does the things because she wants to and she likes to, something that you dont really ever see in that many people! She is getting ready to be baptized here in two weeks if all goes well! 

We also had an awesome experience this week while we were working with a member in our ward. She is an ex-missionary and has three kids now and she left to visit people with us but brought the youngest, Mateo, who has 14 months, in a stroller. So anyway it was fun being with her and her son, and we went to a family that we are working with where the kids are inactive and the parents arent members, and first off the grandma (that is also member) greeted us and was SO drunk! She grabed my arm when I shook her hand and firmly said, ¨dame un beso´ and I was like, ¨Im good thanks, maybe next year´. Haha it was hilarious but kinda freaked out the hermana we were with. But anyways in the lesson we were having the baby Mateo was making himself a lot of work crawling all over, and the hermana totally kicked into mission mode teaching this family with my comp, and I felt like it was more important that the hermana taught the lesson so I played mr. mom with this baby while they taught, and it worked out fantastic! The hermana was so pumped afterwards to have relived the glory days, and the lesson went great as well! Those little sacrifices are definitely worth it!:) 

So this week was definitely unforgetable, the Lord is really coming through for us, as long as we keed doing our part! This week is going to be a little hectic, but it is going to be awesome!! Thank you guys so much for everything that you do for me everyday, and Im looking forward to those packages!;) Sorry that you guys never knew me as the boss 19 year old that I was, but the 20 year old me will be even better!!

Les quiero con todo mi corazon!!

Elder Degn

ps. here we´ve got fotos of my birthday night bash, the service we did with a youth in our ward on my birthday, and me and silva at the huge catholic church a block from our house, cheers!!