Little reassurances...July 14, 2015

Hey there guys! I sent you guys all those pictures not because I feel jealous about all of the peruvian pictures, or the pictures of KJ...but they are all sweet fotos for reals! Making me really excited to go out to peru someday soon!! You guys have also got to give KJ a big hug for me!  Im sure you are all wondering why we are writing  today, it was because yesturday we had a big zone conference with all the Montevideo zones, so we had pday pushed to today. It was a sweet conference and I really learned a ton from President, and we are changing a couple of things in the mission to be more efective and use all the tools we have been given to put in practice the Area plan that we have recieved. Every zone conference all the missionaries that just started and that are ending give their testimonies, so that meant me. I couldn't believe that I am the ending group of missionaries, and it was a surreal feeling, especially because I had a ton of friends there, and it just felt weird thinking that it was my last time. It was really cool because after sharing my testimony I had a huge peaceful feeling come over me. Just a little reasurance I think, it made me feel so good, and soo excited for the last month!

Today has been really fun with Elder Neilson, this is his first time serving in Montevideo so I gave him the pretty good personalized tour. We hit up the pocitos beach with the Montevideo sign, and then played pool and ate mickey-D´s in cuidad vieja. It was super fun and it was great for Elder Neilson to get a feel for the other end of montevideo, we dont really get out of the cerro very much, so it is nice to see the other parts of the city and get a feel for a big south american capital city. He has only been in the interior his whole mission, so it is fun to see him getting out of the small-city boy feel. 

This past week has been great though! I absolutely love being with Elder Neilson! Apart from being one of my best friends he helps me so much to be a better person and missionary. He has such good desires to work and to be obedient that I find myself trying to work harder to be better just to keep up with him. Our big highlight of this week was with the Ramirez family. We went and tought about the gospel of Jesus and Diego told us that he really wants to get baptized! He told us that he really wanted too but that he couldnt because he wasnt married. We talked to them all about it and the importance of the family (luckily her family is a pretty darn good example) and they decided that they are going to start getting the paperwork going to get married!! We were soo pumped!! I was a little worried about how it was all going to happen, but the Lord just keeps showing me that I dont need to worry. Diego has such a genuine desire to learn and do these things, and I am so excited to see things working out for them. It can be a pretty complicated process, so Im really hoping that they are able to get everything done alright. 

We had a great charla with Juan again this week but for some reason he didnt come to church, but he acts the same and is still excited about everything so we will are really going to try to help him make it this week. 

This past week we also had our mission leadership meeting and we learned a lot more about the plan that the Area has made for the wards here to put in practice, it has been taking awhile to get everything going because they are some pretty big changes, but now we understand everything a lot better and we have made big steps with our ward which has sooo much potential! It is a awesome ward, and if we are able to get this all put in practice this place is going to explode! I love this ward and Casabó, there is no limit to what we can acheive here! 

Also this week we read the book of John pondering the relationship that exists in between the Father and the Son. Really made me feel a lot closer to my Heavenly Father and made me want to be a better man and be always willing to do His will. If you have time, I recomend it.

Thank you so much for everything that you guys do for me!! I love you tons!!
Elder Z. Degn

What? Our moms together?

Well this is probably been the craziest day of my life! The week I get made companions with one of my boys you guys meet his family! That is sooo nuts! We were honestly both freaking out so much when we saw those pictures! The world is such a small place! When he got here he told me that his family was at aspen grove and we were thinking that maybe his parents would tell Scott, but we had no idea that you guys would all meet up...really cant even believe it. But it is super awesome! They sound like great people, I cant believe they have so many connections to our family too! It has been soo awesome to be with Elder Neilson already, he has a year and two months in the mission and is already helping me out a ton with everything! It is basically like having my brother come down to be my last companion, couldnt have asked for it any other way. 

It was weird to say goodbye to Gonzalez, he has already written me and sent a bunch of fotos, he says thanks for the package, he loved it. Speaking of that I got the other package of ties and Presidents book! Haha I had seen it before but it was weird to have my own, we looked over it and the majority of that stuff he has taught us out here, combined with gospel principles. Really good stuff. 

Our week was cut pretty short for the changes and such and getting ready for the mission leadership meeting which is tomorrow, but we have already had some awesome charlas together and Elder Neilson is a natural. It is awesome working with him, for his time he teaches and works very well, and is really helping me continue to improve. He gets along really well with all the members so far, and we are seeing some big steps being taken by a lot of people we are teaching. We have made some good goals and this week is going to be great getting to everyone and helping them keep progressing!

Im so excited for this change and to be where I am, and to have this time to make myself even better, there is pletty to do. 

Thank you guys for everything you do for me and for being the best family I know! I love you guys so much!
Con amor,

Elder Degn

Adios Gonzalez!!!

Hey everybody! Can't believe that Hannah is already getting back down to her Peru!! I'm jealous of her even though I am still here in Uruguay! I hope that Josh and Dad have a good time, it sounds like a blast! Hope josh enjoys the feeling of not understanding anything. Basically the first two or three months in the mish;)

Well the time has come, my good man Elder Gonzalez is signing out tomorrow. He has sprinted to the end and has been a huge example to me in many ways, he definitely helped me out more than I was able to help him. I do know that we both learned a ton together, and two changes have never gone by faster than these two. I feel like the mother that let her son go and serve in a far-away place, just that now I am sending my brother back into the world in which we live, having seen him completely dedicate and consagrate himself in this time, now having to adapt but keep doing what he knows he needs to do. I love this guy and I am really going to miss him. He was exactly what I needed to get me ready for my LAST change....can you guys believe that? I cant....but I am definitely going to be going out on a BLAST! My last companion in the mission is going to be.........Elder Neilson!!! One of my best friends in the mission! We were in Rivera together for four changes, then lived together for two changes in Paysandu, and now he is stepping up to the big leagues and coming down to Cerro to be my comp! I can't even explain how happy and pumped I am!! This is going to be the best change ever! Gonzalez is going to head out to the mission home early tomorrow, and I will be spending the day in tres cruzes, helping out with changes, always a blast;) 

But apart from all of that stuff this week has been amazing! The first miracle was that the packages that you sent for the both of us got here the last mail day that Gonzalez had. We were both sooo excited and loved everything, thank you guys sooo much! It honestly came in the perfect moment, Gonzalez was really happy, it meant a lot to him. He says thanks. 

This week was super crazy as well because of the copa america, I dont know if you guys have been watching or seen anything, but lets just say that the Uruguayans have very good reason to be furious with Chileans, and they are. Very very very very upset. Every house we go to it is just back and forth in good humor, but you can see that it hurts inside;) Haha now when people ask us in the street where we are from or something he says America or Mexico or something, haha it has been super crazy!

Everyone that we have been teaching is doing really well, Juan is right there still moving foward, the Ramirez family is doing SUPER good, turning on all wheels right now. I cant believe the change that has happened in them, and they just keep going foward! We have also been imensly blessed with another family that we have been teaching off and on because they havent really had a place where we could go visit them, but they finally settled down and we went this week and taught them about the book of mormon and it was fantastic! Rocina, the mother, is so smart! I have already said something about her before, but she knows so much and just takes everything in stride. When they found out that Gonzalez was leaving, they invited us over for dinner before he left, after our THIRD visit! They are awesome! We ate with them last night and it was great. They are so good with us and are just genuine people! I love it!
Well I just want you guys to know how much I love you all and how grateful I am to be where I am and do what I do. Couldnt have made a better desicion in my life. 

Thanks for everything!
Con amor,
Elder Degn

ps. Did I forget to say that Gonzalez is a jerky addict? Because he is!

Elder Gonzalez last P-day!!!

Hey what's up everybody!! Sounds like everyone is doing good, it's hard to believe that it is summer full-throttle out there because here it is super cold. I definitely like it more than the heat, so I won't complain. (And because every house we go to gives us hot chocolate or cebada, that helps a lot too:) Today has been really fun, Elder Gonzalez´s last free pday! We went for one last  pass for the ciudad vieja, ate at subway (his favorite) and then went and played a  couple of  games of pool at the same place we go to do bowling. Haven't played pool for a long time but it was super fun and Gonzalez plays super well. He took me to town the first game but I was just breaking the rust off and handed it to him pretty good the second game. Really fun though!!

This week has been awesome, even though we had a lot that didn't pan out our way. First off, Edrian and his family are doing sooooo goood!!! This week they sent us a text asking when we could come by to start teaching the boyfriend of the daughter. Out of no where this guy is super motivated and is really interested! We had a good ward activity and talked with him a lot there and built a good relationship, then went to their house the next day and the guy has already read all of first Nefi! We just looked at each other shocked! He knows a ton and understands really well and we have some really big hopes for him, he would help this family out a ton. Out of no where this family has basically become the most active family in the ward, so awesome! 

Juan is doing well, just a  bunch of little things keep getting in the way. A big miracle that is happening in his life right now is that out of nowhere he has re-kindled the relationships with all of his siblings that live close in Montevideo,  which has been awesome for them, but almost every weekend someone invites him to go spend a couple of days with their family and he always goes with the intentions of getting back for church, but we all know how it is to get away from family sometimes....joking;) But that is really the only thing that is keeping him from getting baptized right now. A little frustrating but it will work out here in a couple of weeks. 

We are also in the full fury of the copa america, and on Saturday afternoon Uruguay played thier last placement game, and we knew there was no way we would be getting into anybodies house without getting stuck watching the game, so we went out to  Santa Catalina, a litte part of our area outside of casabo, looking to have a charla with Katy, but no dice. We started walking around with no one to visit, and a guy that we  had talked with before in the street (while he was  really drugged up) invited us over, he was outside of a little shop cutting wood with a axe. We talked for  a minute  and  asked if we knew how to cut wood, my comp said no, I said yes, and he wanted me to go for it. The family that ran the store came out and we talked with them, and the guy really wanted me to cut wood, so I took off my coat and chopped a little bit for them. After hitting the huge stump as hard as I could a couple of times the owner showed me how you've got to cut it in pieces and work towards the center because it was rock solid. Then they put up a smaller one and in two swings I split it real good and  left them all impressed. There is a video on the girls facebook page somewhere...I´ll be looking it up when I get back:) It was really fun and we built a good relationship with them, but my hands and arms still kind of hurt...;) 

This is Elder Gonzalez´s last week and we are super pumped! It really doesnt feel like he is going home, we joke about it but it doesnt seem real. Its gonna be a great week!

I have learned a ton recently about the Law that God has and the proccess that is requiered to fulfill the law and recieve mercy. Really awesome stuff, Alma 42 is full of it, something so simple yet so profound. Look it up. 

Thanks for everything guys, I love you all so much!!!

Elder Degn

ps. Edrian and his brother Nicolas!

We look cool in our jackets:)

Hey everyone, glad to hear that you are all keeping busy now that school out for you boys...;) That is so crazy that dad "found" KJ! How was that even possible? Super crazy! Luckily dad doesnt ever have to travel to Uruguay so that he doesnt "run into" us here in Montevideo:) Haha but for reals though that is sweet and funny that he waited till the last month of Elder Patterson, couldnt have waited? Nah but we are doing super good here, today we are just doing the normal, trying to stay out of the cold. It is now freezing cold, inside and outside. I had a cold on Saturday because it dropped so fast, but I'm doing a lot better now. Like it never even happened. 

This week was great though! We had interviews with Pte. Smith, which felt kinda wierd because it was my last one until I leave. It was nice to be talk with him and receive some last council. We also had divisions with the APs this week, I went to their ward in Downtown Deo with Elder Trucolo (Argentino) and had a great day! I learned a lot from him and we taught really well together, it was different for me because I have never had an area in this part of Montevideo. I felt like I was a tourist the whole time. I probably sounded like an idiot the whole time making comments about how nice everything was and such. It would be wierd for me to have an area like that, so I'm glad to be out in Cerro.  

We also finally got back in touch with Juan, and true to his word, he is all set and ready to go! He has quit smoking, he is reading the book of mormon, and is getting ready to be baptized next week! He brought his whole family to church this week and is just doing great!! 

Then on Saturday we had the baptism of Edrian that was awesome! The whole family went and a bunch of people from the ward went to support them. Like always there has to be something that goes wrong, this time it was the water-heater. Didnt want to run for a long time, by the time we got it going there wasnt enough time to fill it with just hot water, so the water was just a little-lot colder than enjoyable, but he was a trooper and got it done! It was great for the family because the brother did the baptism and the dad did the confirmation. They have a daughter that lives with the boyfriend and now they are going to church and he is really interested and doing a lot to learn about the church. I've got a really good feeling about him, he is a great guy and really open to learn more.

Needless to say, we are really excited now for this week and to see how everything pans out! Thanks for everything, I love you guys so much!! 

Love,

Elder Degn

ps. Somos de Peñarol!!

and I did recieve the package that dad sent before mothers day, thanks for the protien!!

Justice & Mercy--June 1, 2015

Hey everyone thanks for all the good wishes. Sounds like everyone is doing good getting ready for school to get out. Hard to believe that it is that time of year already...Time really flies by! This week has been great and today was really fun, we headed out early to the centro for probably the last pass through for Elder Gonzalez. We might get out there one more time before he leaves, but we kinda just treated itlike it was going to be the last one, so we spoiled ourselves a litle bit:) You know, nice gifts and a subway lunch, doesnt get much better:) Gonzalez and I have been getting really well and we have a great time with each other. I am learning a ton from him and I feel like he is my brother. Just the other day there was a moment where I said something and it was one of those things where right as I said it I knew it came out wrong and because we know each other so well I knew he didnt take it right either, and we talked about it and fixed it all not allowing it to grow and become something big in between us that is really something super little. It is awesome to have a comp that you get along with well enough to recognize those little things and avoid little problems. I jsut felt like I was talking with a super good friend avoided a unwanted problem. The little things you learn in the mission....;) 

This week was really a great week though! We visited the family of Juan that is still really tied up looking out for his grandpa in the hospital, but he was operated on this past week and should soon be released and is going to stay in the house of Juan´s family and so we will be able to get back to teaching him and getting him back on the track to baptism! He is super excited though and doing great!

We are also working with a family that is recently re-activating themselves and they have a son that was married to a girl that is also a member, and now they are really active as well and getting things set up so they can be sealed together in the temple which is really exciting! They also have a nine year old son that we are teaching, just helping him get ready so he can be baptized as well, which they are all super excited about! They are a great family and are really excited to be back on track. They have just about every cool thing ahead of them in the church, and their excitement is obvious and  just shines off of them. We are excited to help them out as well, and they are  really just doing great, families are so happy when they are progressing in the gospel. 

We had a lesson this week with a young couple named Rocina and Christian. We had a lesson with her about a month ago which went really well but then it got complicated and we couldnt get a hold of her again until just barely and her and her husband (they arent married, even though it seems like it...) were both really excited to have a lesson with us, and they came out to the church to do it. We taught them about the restauration and answered a bunch of questions they had, which always makes for a good lesson. During the part of the first vision there was a very strong spirit and it was one of the few times that you see in the eyes of the  other person that they understood, and that they felt it. I dont know how this will all turn out, but Rocina has a special spirit, we felt it and saw it. She is really smart and has a strong catholic backround, but we could feel the desire she had to know more. I have high hopes with them and the future!! 

Well folks, I sure love you all and love so much what I  am doing! This gospel is amazing, Elder Gonzalez and I have been studying a lot together about the Justice and Mercy God and the role and conditions of the atonement...something so profound, yet so simple. Alma 42 amongst many. Great stuff. I know the plan is real and perfect and true! And that we all need the atonement to make it back. We are on His conditions, not ours. Thank you for everything you do for me everyday! I love you all so much!

Con todo mi amor,

Elder Degn

ps. The great city of Montevideo!

 I finally got my scripture covers!!  I love them!

 The great city of Montevideo!

 It is getting colder...

Still got the throwing arm...skipping rocks

Eloy! I love this man...

Hey my dear family!! With a full heart I send you my love and especially to my boy Mafatu. I had a sharp feeling of deja vu...it is impossible to forget the sweetness of victory or the bitterness of defeat. I'm grateful to have experienced both. Defeat makes us work harder and be better. There will be more games to be played. #traditionofexellence 

This has been a great and very, very, very, busy week. It was the week of changes and all the ZLs of Montevideo spend the day in the bus terminal sending and receiving missionaries to and from all over the country. It was very exciting seeing all of the missionaries ending the mission arrive early in the morning and head to the mission home and then later see all the new missionaries arrive with their companions to head out to their new area, mixed with all the friends I saw in between and it was a crazy mix of emotions the whole day! Thankfully everything worked out very smoothly, and we were able to sleep all night;) 

We were running around like crazy after that trying to get to all of the people that we needed to visit. We gave Katy her first triple (Book of Mormon, D&C, Pearl of great price) and she was so excited and we explained it and read some together and she understands so well and wants to just keep learning! We visited the mother of Juan, he is still in the hospital taking care of his grandpa, so we have only been able to talk with him over the phone, but he was so disapointed to not be able to be baptized on the day we had set up, but he is reading the Book of Mormon still and has completely quit smoking! His mom was telling us how she can't believe that he just up and quit. She offered him the other day a cigarette and he told her that he doesn't want to smoke and doesn't feel the need to anymore. So he quit!! It was awesome for us to hear and we are really excited to see him again and help him get to his baptism! 

Speaking of victory and defeat, I recieved a call on Saturday from the missionaries in Cerro 1, my old ward, and they were with the bishop who told them to call me because my good friend Eloy that was baptized while I was there was killed in an accident while he was  riding his bike. It was very unexpected news, and I felt that sudden surge of mixed emotions thinking about my old friend, and I felt peace. Grateful for the knowledge I have and for the privilege that was mine to get to know Eloy and help him learn about the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel that allows us to find peace and comfort in this hectic world in which we live, and to have faith and hope for something more glorious than we can presently imagine, the eternal life. Eloy was one of the most simple and practical person I have ever met. He was so humble but had a large heart, always helping people without being asked. I was looking forward to seeing him again before I headed home, but now I will be waiting a little bit more to see him again. But I know that I will! I love this gospel and I know that this is the true church of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. In his name, Amen.

I love you guys tons and am so grateful to be in this family!!
Todo mi amor,

Elder Degn

ps. I sent Elder Bentley off to Brazil this week, most likely the last time I will see him in the mission. I love this guy so much! Brothers for life!!   

 My friend and awesome missionary, Hermana Dow.

Elder Bentley!!

My sweet friend, Eloy.