Feliz Navidad!

Merrrrrrrry Christmas!!! :)

SANTA!!!

I hope you all had a FANTASTIC Christmas!!! and a wonderful week! :)

I had an amazing one!!! I had so many fun things happen! :)

I must say holidays on the mission, are kinda hard at first, BUT overall they rock! :) I felt so much love and felt so happy!
 

Here are za highlights.. :)

A Screen Shot of my AMAZING Fam!!! :)

>So my FAV was that on Christmas I got to see my family!!! It was so so neat!! :) It was so surreal lol But I LOVED IT!!! There was about 18 people at my house! I got to see basically all my family minus a couple of my sisters' fams :) It was so crazy! I got everyone in a screen shot which I posted on facebook :) I got to speak to my brother in Spanish and it was a blast! I could understand him! :) I love love love my family, they are the greatest!!! :) I miss you all, BUT I know I am doing the right thing here! :) I LOVE YOU!!!

 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

>I had a wonderful Christmas, going to see members and having breakfast and dinner with them :) All throughout the day we got to share a message with them on the true meaning of Christmas :) it was amazing spending my Christmas out serving others and sharing the message of the Gospel :)

>My comp and I did have a little fun on Christmas too :) We had hot chocolate in the morning as we read the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and then we got to open our presents that we received from our families and friends..Which btw I LOVED them :) Thank you so so so much for those who thought of me out here!!! :)

SNOW SHOEING! :)

>We also got to go snow shoeing lol. It is ok if you don't know what that is..because I didn't! lol :) It was neat going up and down the hills on the Elk Ridge golf course by walking on top of the snow lol  It kinda reminded me of the movie Harry and the Hendersons :) lol I love that movie!! I didn't see a big foot though!! haha :)

>We got to have dinner on Friday with the Ewell Family :) which btw is Brother John Lawson's sister's family :) and GUESS WHO WAS THERE! JOHN H LAWSON! (I actually don't know his middle name, so...lol It sounds cooler with a middle initial haha :)  It was so super neat! And a cool part was that he was facetiming someone and I go to see who it was and it was....JOHN A VALLETTA!!!! Oh my goodness lol So I got to say hi!!! :) It was so so cool :) I had the best night ever! I was so excited!!

John Lawson and I!
Do you like my socks? :)

 >Yesterday, we were able to skype and teach Susie again, who lives in Puerto Rico! :) She is so open to the Gospel and wants to follow Jesus Christ! We invited her to be baptized on February 8 and she accepted!! She lives far from a church so she is already saying that she wants to find a carpool to go to church each week! :) SO AMAZING!!! :) She is the sweetest lady ever!! :)

LAST THING!
>On Christmas eve, we got to go caroling as a district and we even convinced our district to sing in spanish and it was amazing! We caroled to one of my favorite families!! :) Also that night, we had dinner with the sweetest lady from our ward. We asked her about her traditions and she said that they read and pray together and then we asked do they open their presents at midnight (a tradition in a lot of the Hispanic culture) or in the morning and she said that they do not do presents because they already have their family and the greatest gift that we can receive and that is our Savior Jesus Christ :) then she took both of our hands and said that she loves us and said she is so grateful for us too :) It was amazing...She is so so humble and she truly knows the real meaning of Christmas! :)

I hope you all had the chance to capture the true meaning of Christmas this week! :) We don't have to give up our gifts nor stop giving them to others because that is one way of showing our love to those we love :) We just need to remember that we can show that love in so many wonderful ways. We just need to remember the true reason for the season.  We need to remember Christ in all that we do.  If we do, we will become more like Him and we will be happier and those around us will feel our love and be happy, as well :)

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful day!!! :)

I will talk to ya next year!!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :) 

Are You Jesus Christ?

:) Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!! :)

I am so excited for tomorrow!!! :) I get to talk to you all! :) I am super pumped!!

I really hope you all are doing well...because it is CHRISTMAS TOMORROW!!! YAY!!

This week has been amazing thus far and it just keeps getting better!!! :)

>Highlights!!

Hermanita Lutz y Yo :)

TWO TRAINS were on the track the other night...we couldn't get out to our Christmas Party...We were stuck their for foreveeeeeer! haha So we found a way around :)

Two of the CUTEST kids that I met at the Christmas party! :)

-I honestly think my Spanish is improving a lot, it is hard sometimes to believe that especially here when we speak and see English everyday, BUT I am receiving so much help from the Spirit :) Hopefully when Justin or Chris whip out Spanish tomorrow I will be able to understand them! Especially because it is Castellano Spanish :) haha This will be interesting! I am learning all kinds of accents here :) Argentine, Peruvian, Mexican, Dominican Republican, Venezuelan, and so much more! You would never guess that here in Payson, Utah!! :) funny story. At a English ward Christmas party, there was an Hispanic family. One of the teenagers didn't have a fork and so he said "Donde estan los tenedores?" Haha :) And because I was sitting right by him and could understand him, I said "Necesita una tenedor?" and got up and got them some :) He was taken back that I could speak Spanish! Haha :) I love it!

Getting our hair and nails done by the lovely Sister Proctor and Charlee :)

-This past week we started teaching our new investigator, Miguel!! :) He lives in the basement of a member and so we have lessons in their house :) Miguel is so so sweet! And he wants to learn! :) We taught him the Restoration and and he needed to learn about the Atonement and by the Spirit we were able to teach exactly what he needed!! :) He is progressing too because we had another lesson with him and he kept his commitment! :)

-Yesterday was the best!!! :) We had our Christmas conference! :) We got to perform in the talent show :) I sang with my comp and the two other sisters in our district. We sang "Mary Did You Know?" :) And we sang with our zone :) The talents were the best! People are so so creative and talented!!! :) Afterward we got to watch the movie "Up!" :) I loved it! :) So so much fun :) Then we got all our amazing presents from our families and from friends :)

 Secret Combinations? Haha :)

My favorite part was that we had a special guest, David Hatch. He is a famous piano player and he has played all over the world!!! :) He played a Christmas special for us :) He just plays by ear and comes up with songs on the spot! He spoke in between his songs.

One of the stories he told that I really like was about a true story of two men commuting on their way to work in NYC. The first man was running on the way to catch a train and he full out ran into this little boy who was handicap at his little newspaper stand. And the boy fell and newpapers and candy went flying. Because the man was so much in a hurry, he cursed the little boy for being in his way and ran on his way. The second man who wasn't too far behind him stopped and helped the little boy up and gave him a five dollar bill to pay for any newspapers that got soiled. When the man was about to walk away the little boy asked him "Are you Jesus Christ?" The man kind of chuckled at the question but he kindly said, "No, I am not Him, but I am trying to do as He would do if he was here" :) I love love love this story! :) We all have the choice to be the first man or the second. We have the opportunity everyday to do as Christ would do if He was in your place. If we do, we will see His hand in our life, because just as President Utchdorf taught, we are His hands :) I hope that you can be His hands during this holiday season :) I know you will feel the Spirit more if you do :)

SNOW STORM!!!

I love you all!!! 

and Merry merry Christmas!!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :)

The Spirit of Christ

 Post from December 16, 2013

This week was great!

The Beautiful View Over the Valley!


>Sledding on last P-Day :) We went up to the mountains in Salem and it was a blast!!! The pics are really neat, our whole zone was there. We would have a blast going down the hill but it was a looooonng way back up! haha :)

Sister Glancy and Sister Reynolds and Hermana Lutz y Yo :)

>On Friday I met the younger brother of John H Groberg at a Christmas party! It was funny how I found out but I heard his last name was Groberg and I said "I am sure you get this question a lot, but are you related to John H Groberg? Haha He kinda chuckled and said yep that is my older brother! Small mormon world. I love it here in Utah lol :)

>Our LOVELY landlords, The Morleys, cut us down a whole tree from the mountains and brought it up for us! :) we have a beautiful christmas tree!!! :)


Our Grateful/Miracle Tree! :)

>Also, Hermana Lutz and I are doing a "Grateful Tree" That each day we each put up a leaf with something that we are grateful for :) It is growing very beautifully :)

>So, on facebook, I found our amazing amazing previous investigator that moved away to New York a couple of months ago! The best part is that we started talking and I asked if he has been reading the Book of Mormon still and guess what!!! He has and he loves it! I had to go, but I am going to talk
to him and see if I can teach him and then send missionaries to him soon! YAY!!! I am so so pumped for this!!! :)

 Sister Reynolds and I are matching! :)

>We started teaching the mom of one of the elders in my district. She lives in Puerto Rico! We got to skype and teach her!! I was so so cool!! :) She is the sweetest lady ever! :) We taught her part of lesson one and we are soon going to teach her more :) I love my mission!! :) I was so neat how you can feel the Spirit be in a lesson even over facebook and skype! :) Feeling the Spirit is the best feeling in the world!!

>Last thing! This week we brought the most amazing fellowshipper to our lesson with Erin! She has been through the same things that are combating Erin right now. She just recently quit smoking and she was testifying to her that she can stop with Heavenly Father's help. She was saying as well, that she actually had to go to jail for a week or so because of an unpaid ticket and she could have chosen to pay bail and not go but she felt like she needed to be there. So what she did was be a missionary in prison!!! She read the Book of Mormon everyday and shared her testimony with her cellmates. She went to church and invited others with her. Her parents said that when they went to go see her there she was just glowing with the Spirit. Many of the ladies got in touch with her after and said that she helped them get through that hard time in their lives. She was helping lift others up instead of looking at the negatives of the situation. She looked to serve and to share the Gospel with others. We can ALL do that everyday! We are the Lord's helpers in this great work. I can testify and say that this work is not complete without the members' help. Barely anything would get done. Missionaries everywhere need your help! :) This is "a marvelous work and a wonder" for sure :) I love sharing the gospel and lifting others up. The easiest way to be a member missionary is to be a good neighbor. It is so so simple! I know that prayer is powerful and if we ask our Heavenly Father for us to find someone, He through the Spirit will help us know what to say :) And I know if we all strive to do this a little better, especially during this Christmas season, that we will see miracles happen all around us :)

My Awesome Friend Lee :)

I love you all!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Feliz Navidad!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges

President Thomas S. Monson
"Our celebration of Christmas should be a reflection of the love and selflessness taught by the Savior. Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. We feel more kindly one to another. We reach out in love to help those less fortunate. Our hearts are softened. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ."

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

Post from December 9, 2013

I hear that you all have been receiving tons of ice and snow!!! Wow! I thought it was just here in Utah...but I guess I took all of the warmth out of the Midwest! haha :) Stay warm!!! :) You'll have to check out the awesome pics we got from our snow storm this past week! The snow is so so fluffy! :)

Ice Skating! :)

GUESS WHAT! I am staying in Payson!!! We just got our transfer calls and Hermana Lutz and I are staying! YAY! I am super excited that I am not getting transferred!!! I LOVE IT HERE!!! We are seeing the work move forward so so much!!! :)

Anywhooooo this past week has been fun :) a few of the highlights are:

The Sistas!

>Last P Day we got to go ice skating in Provo at Seven Peaks and we got to play the game bang! with our district :) haha It was a very fun p-day! Today will be another one!! :) We are going sledding! So fitting with all the snow, right? :)

>So our investigator Erin has been reading the Book of Mormon and it has been a bit hard for her to understand so we gave her the Book of Mormon stories book and she said that in one night she read 9 chapters and that she loves it!!! :) So awesome!!! :) I love her so so much!! :) She is the cutest thing ever!

>With another investigator, Pablo, we gave him a Book of Mormon in Spanish on CD to listen to on the way to work and he said that he has heard about an hour of it!!! Awesome!!! And he has been coming to church steadily now with his wife! :) We are so excited for him and all the progress he has been making! :)

>Last thing! This past week we had our second lesson with our investigator Rosie and her less active husband Tyler and it was AMAZING!!! Oh my goodness! I love them!!! We taught the Restoration and both of them felt the spirit so so strongly!! :) She started crying when she read John 3:16 and she said that she knows that the Savior died for her. :) I loved the Spirit that was there because it was so so strong :) And when we said the First Vision, she said it just makes sense and she feels that all of this really could be true. We invited her to pray to know for herself! :) It was an amazing lesson! :)

I know this gospel is true and I know it with all of my heart! :) I know the Spirit is so so real and it is almost tangible sometimes :) Seek for those moments that help you feel the Spirit more throughout your day. We can be having big Spiritual experiences EVERY day!!! :)

I love you all!!! :) Have a wonderful wonderful week! :) Stay warm!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Gobble Gobble

Post from December 2, 2013

How was everyone's Thanksgiving??? :) Did you all eat a bunch? :)

Well, I sure hope so because I did! Haha :) I really hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and you enjoyed the holiday :) and maybe some of you enjoyed black friday as well :)

This week really was a blast :) here are the highlights:

>On Monday we got to go to Provo and go bowling!!! :) As you will shortly see in the pics attached...how awesome I am at bowling!....haha.. just kidding! I kinda got the lowest score.. :) BUT it was still fun...but I probably should've put on the bumpers :) haha

>On Saturday, We had dinner with the Proctor family and apparently, the husband, Norman Proctor, made the podium for the Conference Center!!! :) He was showing us pictures of him and the Prophet Gordon B Hinckley! :) So neat! He also got out a little wooden beehive that is the same design of the ones on the podium :)

Our Sisters :)

>So hey BIG highlight! Thanksgiving!!! That morning we got to play turkey bowl, zone vs zone! :) It was freeeeeezzzzzzziiiiiiiiiinnnnnnggggg! brrrrr! But it was a blast!!! :) We took some fun pics with the sisters and we look like true warriors! :) but hey! you'll never guess what happened! I caught a sweet pass and an interception!!! ooooo yeah! :) I was very surprised at my random catching skills that when I actually caught the ball, I didn't know what to do! Haha but I did run it and I am just glad it was to the correct goal! haha :)

The Utah Lake Zone Sisters! :)

>Later in the day, we got to eat with two families :) The Christiansen's and the Toone's. :) It was super nice of them to have us over :) It was so fun and it felt like I was at home because they just had so much love for us! ;) After dinner, we got to make gingerbread houses! :) You can see from the pics that we had a whole candy store to help us decorate lol :) It was so fun!

My Cute Gingerbread House :)

>We taught a lot of new people who want to learn! It was such a blessing to see this happen this past week :) We are so excited to get the ball rolling and help them see how wonderful this Gospel is and how special and powerful the Atonement of Jesus Christ is. :) Being a missionary rocks! :) We get to just teach about our Savior Jesus Christ everyday! :)

>One of our new investigators is the sweetest thing ever! But she always makes fun of my spanish!! haha :) I find myself saying "si" (yes) ALL of the time when I am listening to spanish speakers lol...especially when I don't understand all of the time haha :) But anywho, the cool part is that she said that she finds the mormon church to be "mas real" than the catholic church!! and we haven't even taught her the Restoration yet! :) Awesome, right?? :) We are super excited for her and we can't wait to teach her more :)

Amber and her family and us, too! :)

>Last thing! So on Saturday we got to go to Provo because I had a baptism in my last area!! :) Her name is Amber and she is 8. She is so stinkin sweet and funny :) Hermana Cordova and I taught her and also her less active parents. Well... :) Now her whole family is reactivated and her dad got to baptize her!! :) It was so fun and neat to see this happen!!! :) This family was really a joy to teach and it was such blessing to see this great day come! :)

Good week, right? :) I loved it! I know that this Gospel is true, without a doubt! :) I know that our Savior lives and loves us. He is always there for us no matter what! :) He is always reaching out to us and all we need to do is reach back to Him and follow Him :)

Well my lovely family and friends :) I hope you all have a wonderful week :) I love you all so so much!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Be the Fourth Missionary!

Post from November 25, 2013

:) So this week has been fun, I have been learning a lot and we are working hard in our area!

Can you all believe that Thanksgiving is this week???? Oh my goodness, wasn't it Halloween, like yesterday and 4th of the July last week??? Time flies on the mish, but that is why I need to soak every moment in!

Here are the highlights

>So earlier this week Sister Echols, a really sweet member who we love, had a TON of cookies left over from a party and so we wrapped them up and we got to give them away to our investigators and less active! It was so fun :)

 Snow!

>It really snowed for the first time this past week. Thank goodness it is gone by now...I am so happy I am only here for one winter hehe :) But it was a blast!!! :) We had a lot of fun and took some pics :)

Snow.... :( haha 

>We got to go to the temple this past week :) It was the last time for the year because the Provo temple is closing for the rest of the year for cleaning....sad...but it was, like always, such a lovely experience, it was funny because a TON of Provo Utah missionaries went there at the same time :) So it was cool to see a lot of people I knew :) Also, we make it a game to see how many people ask us where we are going on our mission. It is really fun to say, Here!! And I have been out for 5 months lol. :)

 Hermana Lutz y Yo at the Temple :)


>So yesterday, we had the primary program for our Spanish ward and it was so cute and hilarious!! :) One of my favorite parts was when they sang "Follow the Prophet" --"Sigue al profeta"..and during the chorus there was this little sunbeam who when the sang the song. Right after they sing "sigue al profeta" this little boy would yell out "sigue al profeta" as loud as he could! haha :) everyone was dying laughing because he did it throughout the whole song :)

The Sistas in our District!

>Last thing! This past week I have been reading this talk entitled the Fourth missionary. I think it was given at the MTC and that is why I can't find it on LDS library and it is amazing!! It talks about how we need to be the 4th missionary. Meaning we are being obedient, following the Spirit and doing what is right and most importantly: WANTING to do what is right. If we are simply following the commandments and following the spirit without submitting our will and desires. we are not getting anything out of doing so. We may do some good for others because we are serving or we may do well in a calling by doing what the Lords wants us to do. BUT if we are not submitting our will to the Lord with a willing mind and heart, we cannot be benefited or changed by our experiences. BUT if we desire to do what is right, if we desire fully to follow the Spirit and the Lord. We are putting ourselves into His hands and letting Him shape us into who we are supposed to be :) There are so many more things from this talk that I could share but not enough time :) If we do not have the desire and we are simply going through the motions, try to start with your mind to change your attitude and your heart will follow :)

:)

Anywhoo :) I hope you all have a grand week :) Rely on the Lord and submit your whole heart, might, mind and strength to Him and that is when the real miracles start to appear in your life!

Love you all!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Be the Answer to Another Person's Prayer

Post from November 18, 2013

This week has been pretty great for me. We got a lot of work done and we are working diligently to build up Payson! :) My Spanish is coming along pretty well, I just need to practice more and more! I just talked to someone who served a Spanish speaking mission in Minnesota and she learned Spanish! So this gives me hope! lol :) Haha, I know that the Lord will help me :) Thank goodness! haha

Sooooo here are some of the highlights of this past week!

>First off, this is going to sound silly, BUT on Tuesday.. I went on exchanges with our sister training leader and I got to drive! For the first time in 4 and a half months I got to drive a car :) haha I thought this was so fun :)....I bet it might have been scary for my comp for a bit, but we lived! just kidding :)

>Ok ok, because this goes out to my family, you already know this...but my cute little niece Reece got baptized this past week! She is so darn cute!! :) I am SO excited for her and she looks pretty happy from the pics :) Love her!

>This past week I got to go to the temple with my comp, Hna Lutz :) I love the temple! I learn something new each time. And it is such a blessing to feel the Spirit of the Lord so strongly there! :)

>We had an activity in our Spanish ward: Dia de Gracias. It was a HUGE dinner and just a night to mingle. We had a couple of our investigators come and we were able to get to know the whole ward a little better. :) At the end, I used up ALL the spanish that I knew...lol Man, it was tough! haha :)

>Our amazing investigator, Erin, came to church yesterday for all three hours! :) She is the best! She was asking about the sacrament and what it meant. We got on the subject of baptism and she really wants to learn more about it. :) We are so excited for her and what direction she is moving in! :) It is so great :)

>Last thing :) At church yesterday, I learned something that is neat that I would like to share with all of you :) I learned that we can be the angels for others. The Lord will send help to us and others on the other side and this side of the veil. We are able to be the Lord's hands on this earth if we are following the Spirit of the Lord. ---The speaker shared his experience of one time he was scared for his life on his mission in Russia. He said that there was one time that he and his companion ran out of this house because the man living there was chasing them with a knife..he said he felt so so scared, then all of the sudden he and his comp both stop and feel a peaceful feeling. Both of them, at the same time. Then they looked and there was another man just standing over there in the distance. The man with the knife, saw this other man and stopped and turned around and walked away. When he said he got off his mission, he told his mom about this particular day. She went and got her journal and looked up that exact day and she wrote in her journal that in the middle of the night(bc of the time distance) she felt the biggest impression from the spirit that her son was in danger and she knelt and prayed for him--- We can be angels for others in our lives. This was a miracle and it happened because his mom and the man across the way, followed the promptings of the spirit. Miracles, large and small, happen EVERYDAY! We can be a part of them if we simply follow the Spirit :) I know we can be guided in our lives, not only for ourselves, but more importantly to help and bless the lives of others :)

I know these things to be true. :) I love this gospel and I know that our Savior lives and loves us :) The Spirit is real and we can have Him with us when we are doing what is right! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful wonderful week :) Try to follow the Spirit more throughout your week and I can promise you that you can be the Lord's hands in helping Him to bring others to His glorious light.

Love you all!

love, Hermana Derges :)

Teach the Why!

Post from November 11, 2013

Have any of you had an experience this past week where you saw a miracle happen? If you did, tell me about it! I would love to know :)

This past week was a lot of fun! We are still constantly trying to find more and more people to teach and who are prepared to receive the gospel. We have been going through our previous investigators and we have been finding a lot of potentials from this :)

So here are the highlights from the past week! :)

>Yesterday, The elders and us got to sing in the Primary program! We sang the third verse to "We'll bring the world His Truth" :) Then the whole congregation and primary joined in for the chorus. It was super fun :) Man, primary programs are the best! I love all the kiddos

>So about two days ago, we were studying up in our apartment and I randomly look down and I see a horse just chilling in the back yard. (their backyard has a fence and it usually never has animals in it because they are usually out in the fields) So I simply thought, well thats funny..I guess they let them in...So about 30 minutes later, we hear one of the Morley boys shouting outside..So we look down from the windows and now we see about 3 horses and now a cow! All chomping away at the bright green grass. Oh no! So lol we go down to try to help him get all the animals out of the backyard lol. So funny! We had to lour them out with oats lol But they magically came back in! Apparently as we soon found out that there were two gates open, so the second we get a horse out, it would come back in through the other gate. Haha :) Eventually we got all of them out. I wish I had taken a pic of it :) It was the highlight of my day :)

>So here in Utah, I have found that if you are not LDS you make it known to the people...So when we have someone to contact who is not a member and they are catholic, they usually have a "we are catholic" sign and it says to not proselyte here...lol So we knock them anyway and last night we were at a house for our appointment and they actually have this sign on their window..We knock a couple times- and we see them turn off ALL the lights in the house lol...again and again we knock..no response. So when we were walking away, we see on the window this sign and the blinds are somewhat open, so we could see the whole family just chilling on the couch...it was pretty funny to see lol...Sadly we went on to the next house..haha :)

> We ate with a fam from Portugal and for some odd reason..maybe because I was a little tired, I ALMOST asked them if they "habla espanol?" Lol I am SO GLAD I didn't...because of course they do not haha.. Also there, we met a foreign exchange student from brazil! She was so cute because she said that when she first got here, she had thought Mormons were Amish. So of course the family she is with are LDS and they broke the news to her that they were Mormon, and she said " Wait, you are mormon? Then why do you have electricity?" :) She was so funny :)

>So we went over to the fam I told you about last week, that all agreed to be baptized? We had another lesson with them and the mom said that she is no longer interested in getting baptized...sad day!!! We are going to still go over there and continue to teach the whole fam, because the kids seem more interested at times than she is. So hopefully as we keep on teaching her, she will come around :) Because we know she and her fam felt the Spirit and that is why she keeps letting us come back :)

> We had lesson with the Reyes family last night and simply the highlight was Lily, the lady who is super sick with lou gehrig's disease...was laughing :) I know it is so simple, but I just love seeing her loving life, even when this time is a sad time for her. She knows that this is not the end, and I can add my testimony of this as well :) We will be with our loved ones again after death and most importantly we will be able to return to our Heavenly Father's presence if we do our best here on earth :)

>Lastly, we had stake conference yesterday and since we were getting a new presidency, two of the 70 were there, Elder Munday and Snow. It was so so amazing! I learned so much :)

---here are some highlights that I got from it :)

Elder Munday

"Family home evening: the only war that starts with a prayer" Haha :)

Sometimes we know the what and how to a gospel principle....but sometimes we don't know the why. We need to teach the WHY to help others understand the deeper meaning. When others ask WHY I have to follow this rule or not to do this or have to do that- they are simply seeking to understand the truth. He explained it like this - God taught Adam and Eve the plan of redemption, the why, before He gave them the commandments

I loved what I learned from this. When we understand the why, we will more likely to understand and therefore choose to obey. Although, this doesn't happen ALL the time, because sometimes we have to simply walk by faith to follow the commandments, but even then, we know the WHY to it, the why is simply that if we love God, we will follow Him and His Son Jesus Christ :) John 14:15

So anywhoo! This was my week :) I hope you all have a lovely Veteran's Day :)

I love you all and I want to thank you for all of your love and support and prayers :) It truly means a lot to me :)

Don't forget to send me the miracles that you have seen!!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

The Lords Works by Miracles :)

 

Hanging out with my friend Billy Bob Joe :)

I hope you all had an awesome week! :) I sure did and I saw and heard of a LOT of miracles that occurred :)

Here are the highlights from the week! :)

>First off, I completely missed this one a couple of weeks ago..but I got to milk a cow! Some of you won't recognize this city girl when I get home. haha. :) It was so much fun! Also! I got to do some service in my skirt, haha. I was mowing the lawn! And if I am correct, It was my first time ever mowing....haha. It was pretty fun! :) And it was awesome too because I got to do service for the sweetest recent convert ever :)

>I got a new comp! :) It was sad to say goodbye to Hermana Baker but Hna Lutz and Hna Baker are practically the same person haha. It has been fun these past couple of days. She is from California and she is fun and we have been working hard in Payson! We are ready to build up this part of the Lord's vineyard :)

 

 Mowing a lawn in a skirt :) haha

>So this past week was of course Halloween! Wow, time is flying..but we had to be on lockdown on Halloween night, so we went to a nearby church..which was just SO FAR...haha :) And we got to play games and watch Ephraim's rescue, which is an awesome movie by the way! It was sort of like 17 miracles, but just told from a different point of view on the Mormon Trek out west. :) It was cool because even though it was a movie, you can still feel the spirit. :)

>We taught an AMAZINGLY spiritual lesson to Erin. She is so so so amazing! I love her so much! :) We shared the mormon message "Mountains to Climb" and she felt the spirit so strongly! We testified to her that she is loved by our Heavenly Father and that she is His daughter. In her prayer, she said that she knows that when the sisters come she can feel the difference. After the prayer she said that she knows it is the Spirit. She said that! She knows the feeling! :) It was so so great to hear that! I know that the Spirit works miracles and touches everyone's heart. I know I am simply the guide to allow them to feel the Spirit more in their life and to lead them to true happiness that comes from the Gospel :)

Elsa :) I love her!!!

>Lili, the mom of a less member family, said that her son, who just turned 12 had a brain tumor and that by this age, his brain would have stopped working...she knows that he is healthy, happy and strong all because they are going to church and doing what is right. Mikey received the priesthood yesterday and he is a living example of a miracle!! :) Love it!

>So.. we have been struggling with finding more people to teach.. we felt impressed to go through our former inv. and we went to a house and we testified to her on the doorstep that our message blesses families. She said "Pasen pasen!" yay! She let us in! She got all of her kids (4) and they all listened and participated and were fully engaged!!! We taught la Restauracion and they ALL commited to be baptized!!! It was so amazing! The mom says that she knows that this message will strengthen her family and bring them closer together :) Man...We were jumping up and down, outside of course lol, after the lesson :) we were so happy that we found this amazing family to teach :) :)

So there ya have it. I hope you all can see miracles happen in your life :) I am telling ya they are EVERYWHERE! :)

hehe I LOVE you all and I wish you all to have a wonderful week!

love, hermana derges :) :)

Come unto the Savior!

Post from October 28, 2013

Maybe this guy will be interested? :)

I hope all of you are doing swell :) Payson is great! And I just found out today that I will be staying here and Hermana Baker is leaving! We aren't exactly sure where yet, because another Hermana, Hna Lutz, called us to see if we have gotten our transfer call yet and she said that she is coming to Payson to be companions with me! lol... So we are still waiting for our call to find out where Hermana Baker is heading off to...the call is taking forever! haha

Watching the District :) while eating some oreos with milk :)

I am excited to stay here though! I don't know what I am going to do without Hermana Baker...but I am excited to start working with Hermana Lutz! We were in the same zone in Provo and she is super awesome and funny! :)

So...highlights from the week :)

 

  >On Monday, we had a sister's zone activity at our house. We all carved pumpkins and had an awesome time :) It was super fun to just relax and enjoy the day with the sisters. I carved a heart made from the treble and bass clef :) It looked cool and so did Hermana Bakers! She carved an american flag! She loves 'merica! Haha. She is so so funny! :)

After pumpkin carving, Lee and Annika both came to have a mini birthday party with Hermana Baker and I. They made an ice cream cake that looks like the worms and dirt dessert...but with ice cream! Yum! The funny part was that we did the Mexican tradition of saying "mordida, mordida mordida!" and the one with the birthday has to quickly take a bite without the others pushing her face into the cake....We got hermana baker good :) hehe I like this tradition. haha :)

Love these girls! :)

>Exchanges with Hermana Garces! We were together in the MTC! :) So....we were both greenies to the MAX..haha...it was so hard at times to understand people...but We survived :) And it was really fun too! It helped my Spanish a lot. It also helped me rely more on the Spirit rather than focus on what I was going to say :)

Brianne y Pablo :)


>On Thursday we had the opportunity to go to a Relief Society activity with a less active that we are working with. It was a presentation by a member who designs the stain glass for the temples! :) His name is Tom..something..I forget his last name...haha But It was really neat what planning goes into it and how unique and special the designs and pictures in the temple are. It was fascinating! We each got a piece of stain glass that he carved in the same design that will go into the Payson temple! :) We loved it! Elsa, our less active, loved it too! The Spirit was there in that meeting and I can imagine that from that presentation that anyone would want to be in the House of the Lord :)

>We are teaching a family, who the wife is a less active and the husband isn't a member. Before I came to Payson, He didn't want to do anything with the church. But now after several visits he is slowly but surely opening up :) We are really seeing progress! I love the transformation that comes with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I honestly see miracles almost everyday with this wonderful message that I have the chance to share with others :)

>Lots of Service on Saturday. We are really working with a less active/part member family. We helped set up her kid's birthday/costume party (which BTW was a Despicable me 2 Party!!) and we got talking to the mom and she says that the church is true, but she doesn't like the people. We hope to help build her faith in Jesus Christ and to help her come back to church. The same with Karla, a less active, and her husband who isn't a member, but we can see the interest building little by little. :) yay!

 John Bytheway! :)

>Also...with another less active family we were able to go with them to a devotional given by John Bytheway...it was amazing! I learned so many great things! He is such an amazing speaker and you can just feel the spirit from what he teaches. His presentation was entitled, Come Unto Christ. One thing I really loved was when he expounded upon the parable of the Prodigal son. The son had committed so so many sins and felt unworthy to be his father's son. When the son finally came back to the father, his father RAN and went to him and kissed his neck. When the father had kissed his sons neck, he was signifying that his son was worthy or of higher status than him. The Father had compassion on his son and forgave him. He gave him a robe (symbol of the Atonement) and a ring which symbolized his status with the family. He was STILL his son. An heir to all. "He was lost, but now, he is FOUND." When we make mistakes, "the minute we TURN to the Father, and He will RUN to us." You are never to far to come back. "It is not about distance, it is about DIRECTION". :) Amazing stuff right?? :) I loved it! Come unto the Savior! Come to be perfected in Him. Don't try to become perfect before you come to Him. That is why He is there for us :) He loves us! He loved us enough to have died for us. I know that this is true with all my heart :)

I hope you all have a wonderful wonderful week!

I love you all! :)

love, Hermana Derges :)