The Strength of Your Testimony

Hola todo :)

How was everyone's week? I hope it was fantastic :)

So as you all knew from last week, Hna Bumstead left Santaquin and she went to Eagle Mountain! Crazy crazy far lol and my new companion is Hna Santos! :) She is from Peru! She moved to New York when she was 11 and she has been out 14 months, the same as me! So I don't know what is going to happen in a transfer because we both can't end our mission here. So it's a mystery yet again if I might have one more area left :) 

But this week has been crazy fun :) We have been working hard in our little area and we are going to be picking the speed and I am totally pumped for it! :)

This past monday, as a district we drove up Mtn Nebo-it was a crazy adventure :) The view was gorgeous!! :) 

Also Leslie dyed my hair on Monday :) I am officially a brunette :) But I know the joke that a blonde is always a blonde lol But I guess I am ok with that :) Blondes have more fun right? haha

 Sister Reynolds went home on Wednesday!

Hermana Smith went home to OK on Wednesday!

I forgot to mention some very exciting news lol 

My investigator, Miguel, back in Saratoga Springs got baptized on Saturday!! I am SO SO SO excited for him!! :) And Javier, who I taught, is on date in September!! :) So exciting! 

I am back in the Midwest!!!! This past week I am sure it has been the highest record for thunderstorms in Utah in forever. There have been SO many. It is kinda weird lol It is normal back home but here it is kinda scary-like something is wrong with all the storms lol SECOND COMING! jk jk :) But in any case the rain has been really nice- I have been missing it here! :)

To close, last night we had an interesting "lesson" with a Jehova witness. Which is started out ok, but sadly all they wanted to do was bible bash and tell us that every we believe in is wrong..which is kinda of sad. But there was something I really learned in that lesson. I knew that if I brought out the bible and started preaching from it and trying to prove them wrong, that the Spirit would be gone and the bashing would continue. So instead, I simply testified to them of what I knew to be true. I testified to them that I know that Christ is our Savior and that the bible and the book of Mormon are true and that families can be together forever. When I testified to them, there was nothing I could say to contradict or tear down my testimony, because it was mine. The Spirit filled the room and I knew they could feel it. I learned that a testimony is something that we need to hold dear to us and that it is something that no one can take away. No matter how many accusations we made, I knew that it was true. We need to be constantly building our testimony so that we can be strong in tough times when the world just wants to tear you down. Hold true to what you know and don't let others diminish the light that you have. Hold it high for all to see and they will feel of its warmth and light. I know that this is true and even though we didn't have per say "success" with this family. I felt I came off stronger from before I went in there. I hope and pray that they listened to the Spirit and will find out more. That they will one day come into the light and hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ-the only one and true gospel that will lead them to exaltation :)

That's the whole bit of my awesome week in the mission field! :) 

I love you all and you are all in my prayers! :) 

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Faith and Hope

My whole district is in the FHC right now and we are waiting for transfer emails......it is agony to wait..........just come already!!!!! It is really hard to concentrate when you are waiting on the most exciting moment in 6 weeks lol I will update you in a little bit on what is going to be happening!!!

Elvia!

 Platanos Intentaciones!

Flour Tortillas!

But this week has been pretty fun :) We cooked with our less active, Elvia, this past week :) My first shot at making flour tortillas turned out alright lol I have years to practice.. haha :) But I made platanos intentaciones :) If you don't know what those are, then i will make them for you when I get back! lol :) They are gooooooooooooood! :)

 Eureka!

We marched in the Eureka Days parade. 3rd one this year! :) It was pretty fun! We actually remembered to bring candy this time! lol :) Eureka is a pretty fun town to visit. Lots of old historical sites. We saw Porter Rockwell's cabin, who, I learned, was Joseph Smith's bodyguard. lol Pretty neat. 

Russian Hat!!!

We are helping out every week on the Guerra farm :) This week we picked tomatoes, they were pretty yummy :) 

We taught Delia :) She is the sister of a recent convert and she wants to get baptized and possibly her husband is interested. We praying that he will want to listen to the lessons!!! :) She is so receptive. We taught her about how when we read the Book of Mormon, that we feel and receive more hope about what is going to happen. We don't need to be scared about anything. The Book of Mormon teaches us that we need to have faith! Faith is SO powerful!!! :) It helps us be happy in a time of turmoil or be strong when we feel we are about fall. Faith in Jesus Christ helps us with anything. :) I loved testifying about that to her :) It was so amazing!!!

Chocolate won yet again.....

But other than that, Life is good :) except that we have not received our email determining our fate yet....lol I will update in a little bit!!! haha

Love you all! :)

Love, Hermana Derges :)

...

Transfer updates

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I am STAYING!!! My sweet companion is leaving! Eek! I don't know how to feel lol I am excited and nervous to take over the area.... It will be an adventure!! :)

Haha I love you all! Have a great week! :)

Love is the Key!

Hey everyone!

 

Thank you so much for the fun emails you have sent me this week! :) I love hearing from you! :) :) :)

So this past week was an adventure like always :) 

Last Monday we have fun exploring Eureka lol Then in the evening we made our investigator and his wife dinner and had a lesson with them :) It was really fun! 

 

Mini 'Pops'!

On Wednesday we got to go to Provo! :) So I found out that in my mission there are 4 missionaries (maybe more) serving from the Springfield South Stake! Crazy right?

 

Station 22!

 

In Provo, we got to go to this cool restaurant called Station 22. If any of you know Pops, in Oklahoma. This is a mini version of that, minus the gas station but plus a neat restaurant. I loved it!!! :) I love bottled soda! :) 

Update from a year ago on the Provo City Center Temple! :)

And plus right across the street is the Provo temple! It is a major update compared to when I was working at the temple booth last year! My trainer, Hna Cordova and my followup trainer are BOTH my sister training leaders now! I can't believe that this past week marks my one year in the mission field. CRAZY! lol 

 

We can not do weekly planning in a chapel without the priesthood there nor in our home. So guess where we went!! We went to Santaquin canyon to some picnic tables and we planned there! It was so much fun! And it ended with a bang when it started to rain on us lol :)

 Our District!

 Our poor car...lol

This past week was also full of SERVICE!!! I loved it so so much! We pulled weeds in the corn field :) and we also got to pick cucumbers and raspberries! :) I have to say that not a ton of raspberries made it into the box lol :D But sadly for the third time in my mission, our car got hit lol man I am not lucky with keeping the car undented..The guy backed up into our car...just a little dent! I felt so bad for him though! 

Hermana Huebsch!!! :)

Huebsch Fam minus Donavon :)

So the highlight of my week was going to Saratoga Springs on Saturday to see Damon, Hermana Huebsch's son, get baptized!!! I was SO happy to be there! When I came in and she saw me, she got so excited and hugged me and started to cry. I stinkin love her with my whole heart!!! :) :) I also got to see Eva!!! I was so happy to see her! I also got to see Hna Abellan :) She told me that they went to the temple with Librado to do baptisms! He said, I feel so good! Why haven't we done this before now?? lol so funny :) and one of my favorite people, Hna Pilar Wilson came ALL the way down to Santaquin to drive us there :) I love her!! I am so blessed to be here :) it was such a special day!!! 

Hermana Wilson!!! :) :) :) She was such a SWEETHEART! Quick shout out, but she drove an hour to come pick us up and went to the baptism with us :) I LOVE HER! :)

 "Owispo" y Hermana Vieira :)

Eva!!!!! :) :) :)

Everyone, I know this gospel is true!!! :) I know that following the commandments brings happiness into our lives. I was listening to Elder Scott's last gen conference talk this morning and he was talking about how we can positively influence those around us. He said that it is through our love and our conviction in our testimonies. Most importantly love. If others trust and know that we love them and then share our conviction. It will positively help them in the right direction :) I know that that is true. Love is powerful. God's love is eternal and everlasting :) Let us share and show that love to those around us and share our testimonies with them. It will not be pushy nor forceful. It will come out naturally when we show our love for them. When we do this, the gospel becomes a part of us and we grow to show God's love and care to all those around us. People will see and feel the difference when we reach out to them with love. They will feel the influence of the Spirit and want to change for the better :) I know that to be so so true!! :) 

Well everyone, I love you and I hope you have a great week! I am praying for you and I hope you will find success in finding and preparing those around you to hear of the amazing gospel that will bring so much light and happiness into their lives :) 

The Eagle!!! -now after so long I found out is actually a pelican lol...

Drive out to Saratoga :)

Chao!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

Miracles Miracles Miracles :)

Hola todo! :)

This week was a lot of fun :) 

Service picking cucumbers! :)

So a lot of miracles happened this week! It was amazing :)

But the first thing isn't really a miracle at all, just something fun to share :) My zone and I were in the Santaquin parade on Saturday! We basically just high fived all the little kids throughout the ENTIRE thing lol It was a blast! 

So here is goes with the miracles :)

On Monday I get a call from my old comp Hna Abellan :) She had a HUGE list of things to tell me! 

First off, one of our less actives back in Saratoga, who had a lot of family problems and couldn't forgive her family. Hna Abellan told me that this past week, she called EVERYONE and just forgave them for everything! I am talking, this is the sweetest, funniest lady ever who needed to do something hard. And after months and months of working with her, she finally did it!!! Hna Abellan said she is like a new person!!!! :) I am SO happy! :)

Next :) Miguel, one of Librado's (recent convert) roommates, who we taught off and on has a baptism date for next next Saturday!!!! :) He stopped drinking cold turkey and he is progressing!!! WOW! :)

Then :) Hna Abellan and I had lunch with a family from an English ward a couple months ago and there are couple teens who said that they don't believe in God. We testified to the teenage girl that she IS a daughter of our Heavenly Father and that He loves her so much. The Spirit was SO strong and we knew she and her brother felt something. So a couple Sundays ago, Hna Abellan and her comp went back to her ward and the mom found them and told them this: Her daughter a couple weeks prior was talking to the bishop to get her records removed from the church. He asked her one simple question. Do you know you are a daughter of God? And she said that because we were inspired by the Spirit that day to testify to her of that truth that she didn't take her name off the records. That was the most amazing thing I have ever heard. The Spirit is real! It wasn't our words, we were just the instruments for the Spirit. What a miracle!!!!! :)

:) Then this past week, one of our less actives, who is going through a REALLY hard time family and financial wise and she INSISTED on taking us out to lunch. So we went and apparently (we heard after) that she was worried and thinking "how am I going to pay for this...?" And at the end of our meal, the waitress said that someone had paid for us. What an incredible blessing that is. 

Seriously I LOVE being a missionary. Never before have I seen so many blessings at once. Or blessings and miracles so big. I love this gospel. I KNOW that it brings blessing and miracles in our lives. I know that if we look around ourselves more, that we will see Heavenly Father manifest Himself in tiny and miraculous ways. Miracles are everywhere. I know that is true with my WHOLE heart!!!!

My Compy :)

I love you all!! I hope you enjoyed hearing about these experiences as much as I did when they happened right in front of me! :) 

I love you and you are all in my prayers!

Love, Hermana Derges :)

The Hope of God's Light

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God" ~Ether 12:4

I know that God is our eternal Father in Heaven :) He DOES answer our prayers and DOES love us unconditionally. He is always there. We just have to sometimes wait for our answers. We need to be patient and humble as Todd was. I know that answers do come in the time of the Lord. Seek for them and be patient as you do so. You will receive many many blessings from His hand. He will lead you to where you need to go and to who you need to talk to. Pay close attention to the Spirit and His promptings. Answers come in very different shapes and sizes than what we might think. We need to pay attention to those feelings and follow them! We can even be answer to another persons prayer just like in the video. Don't push away a silly thought of calling up an old friend or waving/smiling at someone who looks a little down. We almost NEVER know what that might mean to them :) We could be the way the Lord gives them an answer to a long sought out prayer. I know that this is true with all my heart! And you can know too, by listening and following the promptings of the Spirit. You will feel a joy inside of you that will just make your day! :) I believe this to be true, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen :)