Shout Out to Payson!

  I have to say that I will miss Payson with all of my heart :) I just wanted to make a post of all the amazing people that I worked with there that showed my so much love :)

 

Hermana Lutz and Sister Reynolds and Glancy :)

  

La Familia Reyes y Cabral :)

 

  Concepcion! :)

 The Ewell Fam :)

 

 The Lewis Fam :)

  

La Familia Martinez :)

 

 BriAnne y Pablo! :)

 

The Phillips Family :)

 

 Lee and Annika!! :)

 The Cole Family :)

 

 Lesli y Eduardo! :)

  

 The Mullen Family :)

 Raul!

 

 The Jeffery Family :)

 

  La Familia Perez :)

 The Ramondinis! :)

 Emily! :)

My Amazing Landlords :) The Morleys! :)

and so many more amazing families! :)



I love you all!!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Saratoga Springs Here I Come!

 :) Hey everyone! How was your week??

 

My New Panion! :)

>So yes, you might have seen that I was transferred to Saratoga Springs! :) I just went from one side of the mission to another! :) I am super super excited to be here!! I have an awesome new companion, Hermana Despain!!! I just love her! She is so sweet :) You want to know the funny thing though? haha I live 10 minutes from my sister Amy. I am literally one stake out of her area! We pass by her on the way from Provo all the time...lol crazy right? We cover 6 stakes here...that is a lot of people..lol...Oh and another thing!!! I am the driver! After 7 months of not driving, LOOK OUT Utah, here I come! Haha :) I drive a Toyota Corolla 2013..so I feel super lucky! I need to be very careful with it lol :) Plus one more thing! I get to go to Mt Timpanogos Temple now! :) I am super pumped to go! :)

 

 I love these signs :) haha

>With transfers being this past week, I am really going to miss Payson though, seriously I had to say so many goodbyes it almost killed me! Haha just kidding..that is too extreme...but! I love the people of Payson and it was really hard to say goodbye to all the people I love there! I will be back for the dedication of the Payson temple next year!! :)

 

 The Payson Temple!

 

 

 Kitty!!!

>So we have amazing landlords! The Rades family, He makes us food all of the time, everyday that I have been so far! He is so sweet! But unfortunately we are going to move in 3 weeks because they have family coming home to stay.

 

I love this tree!!! (In Payson)

 

>On Saturday, we checked on a former investigator to see if they were still living at the same address and to see if they would want to learn more again and we went to the house and a couple, Eva and Juan, just pulled up in the driveway and they were a different family that are not members of the church and a family that we had never met before and they invited us in!! :) We got to teach them the whole first lesson! and at the end, she prayed!! :) It was amazing!! :) I can't wait to share the message of the Plan of Salvation, because she told us that her parents passed away when she was younger..We are so so excited! :) so amazing! :) We were praying for more people to teach and Heavenly Father answered our prayer :) :)

 

 Only in Utah will you find two churches sharing a parking lot! lol (In Payson)

>It is amazing to see how miracles happen everywhere if we just have faith and believe :) and if we act on that faith. I learned something neat as we were teaching the Restoration this week. Joseph Smith didn't just have this amazing vision out of the blue, he was prepared for this moment in his life. He learned that he should pray and read the scriptures and go to church before the First Vision happened. He studied in the scriptures and found James 1:5 and then acted on that faith to receive answer to a question that he knew came only from God. and because he did, he received an amazing answer to his prayer and thus began the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Think about how simple his act of faith was and the outcome that came forth from it. It is wonderful and astounding!! :) I know that this Gospel is true with all my heart :) I know that we can see great things happen from us acting on our faith. The faith of a mustard seed can move mountains :) And I know that this is true with all of my heart :) and I say all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen :)

-I love you all!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Miracles Really Do Happen :)

Hola everyone! This week was AMAZING! :) I hope yours was too! :)

  

 Here are the highlights!

The Sisters :)  

 >TRANSFER CALLS- So I am leaving Payson!! Oh my goodness! I have been here 4 1/2 months! Time has flown and I have made so many memories here that it is so hard to leave! I LOVE PAYSON, UTAH! Seriously it is the best :) and I don't know where I am going yet! It's a mystery until transfer meeting tomorrow! eek! so I have NO idea where I am going lol So they changed the system to where you don't know where you are going or who you are with until transfer meeting on Wednesday morning! So I will give you an update next week on where I am at and who my awesome new compañera is! :)

Graffiti Mansion!

>Ok so yesterday we had a cool district activity! We went down to Santaquin to go see the graffiti mansion! The picture explain this, but we hike up to this really old and huge building that everyone comes and graffitis. IT WAS SO NEAT! We didn't graffiti it but it was cool to see the remains of this large building that everyone comes and uses as a canvas for art. Super neat, right? :)

>Oh my goodness! Guess who I saw in Payson on Friday??? Bishop and Christine Hurst! Oh my goodness I was so excited!!! I LOVE them and seriously this was a tender mercy from the Lord that I got to see them on my mission :)

Bishop and Christine Hurst!

>We found so many new investigators this week! :) One lesson the woman didn't know how to pray and so we taught her and we prayed, she started to bawl. We testified to her that Heavenly Father loves her and He aways answers our prayers. It was so spiritual!

Concepcion! :)

>An appt of ours got cancelled late Saturday night, so we went to the Navas, a referral where no one has been home each time we have gone, and...........we had the BEST LESSON EVER!! Omg :) so main points : they are non members and so we ask about their experience with the church and he says that he has read a little of the Book of Mormon in the past and felt happy and warm when he reads it! They also had an amazing experience with prayer when he was deported for two years, and he brought his Book of Mormon with him, and they prayed and he got to come back! Also, when we invited them to be baptized they thought about it for forever and looked at each other and we were really pondering it! Then they said they don't know yet but they want to keep learning. :) we asked them how they felt and she said that her mom went to a bishop and he put his hands on her head, and we said oh like a blessing?, and she said yeah and she said that after her mom said she felt a feeling go from her toes to her head and she felt like everything was going to be ok :) wow! So because of that she feels she is doing the right thing by learning these things. THEN afterwards, because he lost his Book of Mormon, he wanted us to go get another one for him! :) SO AMAZING!! We were so excited this was a miracle because we have been praying for people who are ready and they are golden!!!!! Yay!

 BriAnne y Pablo :)

>I have a strong testimony of the power of prayer and a testimony of receiving real answers to our prayers. Just like our prayers were answered this week, you can receive answers to your own prayers because I know that our Heavenly Father hears me and you because He loves us. There is no doubt in my mind. I can feel the Spirit when I think about how much love He and Jesus Christ have for me. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He overcame every affliction, pain, sickness, sorrow, sin, and trial that we would ever have in our lives. I know that through Him and his atoning sacrifice, we can overcome anything. He gives me hope and the strength to move forward each day. He is my light and I feel so blessed to share that light with others. It is amazing the miracles you see when you are following in the footsteps of the Savior. I know that as we try to follow Him with all of our heart, mind and strength, He will lift us and mold us into the being that our Heavenly Father designed us to become. I know that this true with all my heart and I say all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Hermana Suarez :)

I love you all!

La Familia Martinez!

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Personal Revelation is Real!

Hola friends and family :)

How was your week? Have you kept to all your new years resolutions so far??? I know it is tough, but stick with them!! :)

This week was not too eventful, but good nonetheless :)

Tree Huggers!!!

>My district all got to go to the Provo Temple of Tuesday because it finnnaaaaaalllllyyyy reopened!!! It felt like I haven't been in forrreeeeevvvveeeerr! :) I love the Spirit that I feel when I go! It is amazing to know that I am in the right place at the right time in my life :) I hope that you all take the opportunity to go to the temple as much as possible :) I feel very lucky to be able to go so often here on my mission, this is truly a tender mercy from the Lord. :)

My new friend Marley! :)

>After the temple we all had to hurry back to Payson for a surprise meeting with our just our district. We had nooooooooooooo idea what it was about so we were all freaking out lol thinking that we either did something wrong or something along those lines..haha But we found out that our district was 1 of 3 districts chosen in our mission to have a meeting about the iPad Area Book app. Tim Zeidner and two other guys came and it was super fun! We got to give imput on how the App will help us more in our work. We all had a blast and afterwards, we were all laughing because we thought we were in trouble haha :)

>Oh my goodness, I really messed up in spanish a ton this past week, well really just on saturday night at a LA/RC and I dinner....so there was a TON of spicy stuff and I said that if I tried some of that salsa "voy a matar!" (I am going to kill) but I really meant to say "voy a morir" (I am going to die)... oh goodness. BUT the best one yet is this next one...So we have a new convert and he is older and funny. He was the one who cooked all of the food. So I went up to him after and said "Usted es un gran cochinero" .....lol...I DIDN'T MEAN TO CALL HIM A PIG!!!...EVERYONE heard it!!! and of course laughed...lol I meant to say "cocinero" which means cook! and the bishop's daughter was there....so yesterday at church I shook obispo's hand and he told me he heard what I said!!! oh no!!! THE WORD IS OUT!....yeah, Spanish mess-ups are the stories of my life lol :)

>At DTM this week we had a really fun role play where we all were given different names. I had the name "Pistol Patricia" (because I love OSU and Pistol Pete) haha. Other names that were given were "Chesonda Lootz" for my comp. Hna Lutz (She's on the loose), "Ivonna Ysing" (I wanna sing), "Yora Weird" (You are weird), "Juan Direction" (One Direction-the band), and "Nathan Bunnet" (Nothing but net) It was super fun! We had one companionship come and contact us and teach a principle in about 2 minutes and ask for a referrel. After one person we pointed to the next. It was super fun! We all had different characteristics and interests that we got to act out as well :)

>At DTM as well this week, we had president interviews! I love our mission president!! He is amazing and he truly is directed by the Lord! :) He gave me really good advice and helped me feel that I really am a successful missionary, even though our area isn't blooming yet. I really felt that as long as I am doing by best, I am a successful missionary. I cannot control the agency of others. I learned that I am in the right place in my life right now. I am learning things here that would take me years to learn outside my mission. I am learning how to be a better wife, mother, friend and so much more :) I learned that the "best year and a half" will click sometime in my mission, not because it was an efy experience, but because of everything I have learned because of the opportunities I had to serve the Lord and the amazing people here in Utah. I am seeing this come true more and more each day. I am learning more about myself and how I can become better. I am learning that the key to happiness is to think about others and how to make their lives easier and to help their burdens become light. I have a long way to go with this, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to go out and serve others everyday! I can truly be the Lord's hands and help everyone around me :) I know that I am in the right place at the right time in my life.

What I love about everything that I learned in my interview and what I am learning everyday, is that we all can have the knowledge and testimony that we doing exactly what the Lord wants for us right now! We can know that we are truly submitting our will to Him and if we are on the right path :) We can gain this knowledge through pray and scripture study :) I know that about a year ago, I prayed and received my answer that I need to come out here on my mission. I found my answer in the scriptures and had a Spiritual confirmation from the Holy Ghost that a mission is what I need to be preparing for :) We can ALL have these types of experiences! :) We truly can receive answers to our problems and or questions :) We just need to be ready to act on whatever answer we receive :) I know this is true with all of my heart! Y digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen :)


I LOVE YOU ALL!!
I am so grateful for all of your love and support while I am out here :) I know I couldn't do it without with you and definitely without the Lord. :) Thank you for your love, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

IT'S 2014!!! 

Oh my goodness how time flies!!! :)

I hope you all started off the new year well with some handy dandy new years resolutions! Haha :) I have! And hopefully I can make it past a couple of weeks this year :) haha

Wellll... As you could probably guess, one of the big highlights this week was NEW YEARS EVE! :)

>That night, our district went out in front of Smith's Grocery and passed out free hot chocolate! :) It was so fun! We had HUGE "free hot chocolate" and "did you think to pray?" signs lol We all got to go out to the street with our comps and wave those around lol :) It was so fun! We also sang to the ukelele! :)

My Awesome District! :)

>Then that night, Hna Lutz and I set an alarm for us to wake up at 11:55 :) So that we could celebrate for the new year for 5 minutes! :) We even got some sparkling grape juice to celebrate!! :) And people who live in West Mountain were celebrating with fireworks!! :) It was so fun! IT'S 2014!!! YAY!!

>On New Years Day, we got to sleep in til 7:30! :) Then we made breakfast with our district and play games :) It was so fun to start out the year like that :)

>Hermana Lutz and I were asked to sing at two nursing homes yesterday. We sang "Be Still, My Soul" :) at the first nursing home and because we HAVE to be at our Spanish Ward sacrament meeting, we went on splits and I sang it again by myself! :) I sang it acappella :) It was so fun!! Afterwards, an older man got up to bear his testimony and he said, concerning me, "She has such a sweet voice, I could see her with a guitar in her hands and singing some folk music" :) FOLK MUSIC?? haha alright! So, one. I need a guitar and learn how to play lol and two. I need to start learning some some folk music. and I would be famous!! haha :)

>Last night we had an AMAZING lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a less active family we are working with! :) It was just amazing because the Spirit was so strong! We loved it! We felt like they could really feel Christ's love and what they need to do to start feeling it more and more everyday!! :)



>Last thing! :) Yesterday at church at the nursing home, I learned that we can become EXACTLY who Jesus Christ is. We are not learning to become sorta like Him or to be a fraction of who He is. We can become who He and Heavenly Father wants us to be :) We can say what He would say, we can do as He does, we can serve like serves, and to love as He loves :) I love this because it is so true! I love how we have that potential! We can develop His characteristics everyday! :) If we have the desire to become like Him and work towards it, we will start seeing our character transform to be more like Him, we and others will be able to see His countenance reflected in our own :) Then we can help others more and help them feel more of His and Heavenly Father's love :)

I love you all! :) And I hope you all have a wonderful start to this new year!! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :)