Not so bad, Could be worse...

Not so bad, Could be worse...

Well Elder Cook came and spoke to us here! It was great! We had a question and answer session which was really awesome. One of the things he was asked was how do we stay happy. He talked about the Russian translation of the song Come come yea saints. Insead of all is well, the literal translation is Not so bad, Could be worse. Well seeing as all of us here are completely starved for entertainment we were cracking up over that one and its been quite the joke here at the CCM. and its pretty aplicable. A bunch of missionaries left yesterday which was pretty sad, but now we are done being the sevies here!! #holla. (thats for you maf, #hashtag) We have our own lunch table and are no longer the newbies. Its a pretty big deal. Now we're the eighth graders here which has been pretty sweet so far. We are trying to claim the best table right now while its up for grabs. (it´s right next to the microwave which is just PRIME condition) We are also district 12 so we make hunger game jokes all the time and are challenging district 11 for it. *Spoiler alert in the book we win!!*

Anyways the week and weekend were good. Time definitely started moving faster which was nice and I feel like I am really picking up Spanish. We´ve been teaching our investigators- and it´s been going well. Except Peruvians talk so softly and don´t look at you so not only can you not understand but you can´t even hear them! Rough! Unfortunaely the only question I did understand was why did Jose smith have so many wives? Yeah not excited about that one. I stumbled through an answer and if she could decipher my spanish I actually think it was pretty accurate. Needless to say I have now thoroughly researched that topic. I am still trying to finish the Book of Mormon this week but am definitely behind. I am in Alma right now, but I love reading. There are SO many stories about missionary work that I haven´t really paid attention to before. So it´s neat to read it from this perspective.

On P-days we take the bus into the city and go to the temple which is awesome! In the session it is always funny because its majority missionaries (There are only 25 seats anyways) Also the peruvian women are so short and tiny! I just love talking to them in the Chapel while we wait but that also means that my dress is always SOOO short. And my feet are so big they don´t even have slippers in that size so I have to wear the men´s shoes which incidentaly are a pain to take on and off. Today was neat though my mission president and his wife were the witness couple. SO COOL! I got to talk to them in the Celestial room for a bit and I am just so excited to get out into the field. They also say that Hna. Morgan is tearing it up, and they told me about a few other sisters that I cannot wait to meet! After the temple our district has about two hours to shop and look around. (guess what garments here are about 37 cents!) Score! It´s awesome. Also THANKS FOR THE PACKAGE AND LETTER! I am so excited to read them! I saw Tyler and met his wife today at the Temple. He is soo nice, bless him! But Elder Christensen just gave me my package so I haven´t opened it yet. But thanks is advance I am WAY excited! Also Elder Christensen says thanks as well! You guys are seriously the best I love and miss you all! Thanks for the email! And you guys looked so good in all your color run gear. I am glad you had such a fun time! It really is a party huh? Yeah that was a blast. How did I get so lucky? You guys looked aweosme though! You should print out some pics and mail them to me! I was thinking about you guys that day and had two desserts since I new you all would be working them off for me!

Speaking of the food, Zach get ready for the nuncas and the siempres. It is a little rough, but eventually evens out(i think) just balance rice with juice and you should be fine.And lets just say that I will definitely be gaining weight because all i eat is bread, rice, more rice, and more bread. Seriously one meal they tried to do american past. (it was ravoli, I regret that one time i didn´t like it because this was worse) and the served it with a seperate plate which was just a side of rice! and then I ate that and rolls because the rolls taste good. yeah, the meals are definitely a roller coaster here. But when Pres. Cook came we saw some serious improvements. Hello soft serve ice cream. Also with how much rice they serve you would think it would be endless and thats the one thing you can count on but no! Last week we were late and they ran out of rice! Ayyame! It was rough. At least I can alwasy count on my tea.

The coolest thing was definitely Pres. Cook. He gave us an apostalic blessing which was so powerful and awesome, and we got to shake his hand. Yeah life is good. I can´t wait to be in the field! I sure love you and miss you!

Love,

Hermana Degn

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

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On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 7:47 AM, Hannah Degn <hannah.degn@myldsmail.net> wrote:

AHHH!! HI!! How is everyone doing!?! Well tuesday will be my p-day for the rest of my stay here at the ccm. esta bien. Every week my time will be different though because it depends on your temple schedule-- we are doing to the temple after this and I am so excited!! Also lo cien but no pictures yet because we can only take them on p-days and today is my first one obvi. Anyways this past week has been insane!! I feel like I´´ve already been here for 18 months. The CCM is like its own world, sometimes i forget I´´m in peru.... but then we have lunch or dinner and I remember. RICE on rice on rice. Its actually pretty good food. Execpt there are tons of bones in the chicken noodle soup which I still get a lot, and I´´m pretty sure i´´ve already eaten guinea pig. nbd. My favorite thing is the tea. I drink tea at least twice a day. Its pretty good. Not that i totally love it but its warm and fills me up..... Well basically every day we get up at 6:30 and head down to desayuno at 7:15. Then we study at 8 until class that starts around ten. we have class until lunch then more studying, phys ed, and class again at night until and also after dinner. We have schedules that have every minute of our life planned out and then at 9.30 we head up to our rooms. Hna. Blotter and I share our rooom with hna Phillipy and hna Romney. I love them! They are both super awesome. Hna Blotter is so great too. She is super funny.

Zach make sure that you decide what kind of a missionary you want to be before you leave. There is so much here that is figure it out for yourself and you will only get what you put into it. Make sure you are always working hard and staying focused when you are on your own to study. There are a lot of times when its easy to do something else but stay strong and focused because that is what is most important. Know what kind of missionary you will be before you get to Buenas Aires-! Also bring hangers, turns out they don´´t provide them so I am still living out of a suitcase becuase I have one shelf and one drawer- But we are going to the market to day so hopefully I can buy some there. Also they give you spanish scriptures and pme so just make sure you bring your own english ones. Also I brought my little english pme which turned out to be the best decision because the spanish one is big so its nice to have the little one to help translate.

Zach just know that the ccm is hard. I feel like I´´ve been here for a year. Time moves different but its still the best. Just be prepared to work hard and know that your first week/few days isn´´t going to be that awesome. Also you should try to read the BoM while you are in the MTC! If you read 28 pages a day you will finish in three weeks and then you can read the NT or something. Right now I am in Mosiah and am loving it. I can´´t wait until I can read it in Spanish. Also don´´t stress about the language and all that. It will come. and when you get into the field you will have a latin companion who won´´t know a lick of english and they can help take care of you as well.

Well this past week really has been great. I love my district. There are six hnas and six elderes. There are two hnas in our district that I especially love and they live on our floor which is awesome. We have a lot of fun together. Anyways I´´ve been praying that Heavenly Father will help me feel more love towards those around me and its definitely helped with my district. There are also a lot of other awesome hnas here that I love. Some of my friends are here from BYU. Hna Bunker!! She is great so its been fun to see a familiar face and hna Lyon leaves next week for Boliva but we have a pretty good Bingham representation here.

Well Bells I heard you lost a tooth, congrats! That´´s pretty cool! You should send me a picture. Also if you can you should try to send me american stamps. (z make sure you take some) because we send mail through the pouch here. You guys have to send it without envelopes so be creative? because you are also not allowed to send packages while in the MTC. but my pouch address is

Hermana Hannah Degn

Peru LIma West Mission

Peru MTC

Centro de Capacitalion Missional

AV Melgarejo 159 Urb Campo

Verde, La Molina, Lima 12 Peru

Also you can do dear elder if you select the Peru mtc. Anyways this week should be awesome. The CCM is kinda like middle school and we are the seventh graders. Literally you have no idea how true that is. But now we are not quite the newbies and President Cook is coming this weekend!! YAY!

Anyways I need to go love you all so so so so much!! Thanks for all the emails that totally made my day. Seriously P-day is like Christmas and it comes every week!! #winning. I cannot wait to take a nap this afternoon. Also Zach this quote has helped me so much this week: "The lord calls us in our weakness, but qualifies us for his work"- Jose Smith. Good luck with everything this week!!! Getting Set apart was the best feeling in the world! I can´´t wait to hear all about your ccm and mission stories! just write mom first hahahaha

I love and miss you guys sooooooo much!!!

con mucho amor,

Hermana Degn

P.S. Short hair is also the best because it doesn´´ cover up my nametag. Even though i miss my buns. Now they are just lame and tiny.

Made it to Peru!

Well, I am in Peru!!  Today was crazy!  I got to fly with my good friend, Hermana Morgan. YAYAYAY!  We flew into west Lima which is my mission and man, this is going to be such an adventure.  I'm pretty sure the area we drove through is not safe for  sisters, it is so different here.  We had to wait in line for two hours to go through customs.  Thankful for my good friend, Elder Christensen.  We just talked the whole time.

I got to meet my mission president when we got to the MTC. He and his wife and two kids came to pick up Hermana Morgan.  I can't wait to get out in the field.  He seems like such a great man.  My companion is Sister Blotter, from Heber, UT. We share a room with only two sisters and we have a bathroom in our room.  Yay! 

Also, I got my nametag!!!!  I love it, having a name tag is seriously so awesome!  Like the best thing ever.  I feel all official now and I have a lot to learn.  I can't believe I am here.  I am so excited to start learning.

Con mucho amor!