E-mail dated 4/6/10

Happy Easter Monday,

I don't know why but Easter Monday is a very big holiday today here in Freetown. Everything is closed. Even the schools have been closed since last week Friday. Easter is celebrated a little bit different over here. Good Friday is the most interesting. I remember last year in Liberia many of the children had dummys of Judas Iscariot and were chanting innapropriate things about him. Most of the world really doesn't understand the Easter season. But we do. We need to tell the world the true meaning of Easter.

On Friday and Saturday evenings we held a little open house at the Freetown chapel. We set up a projector and sound system and watched some Easter films, "Finding Faith in Christ","To this end was I Born" and a talk by Bruce R. McConkie about the Savior. We invited the branches that were closest and everyone on the streets. We had a pretty good turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy the film.

I heard some exciting news this week. Grandma Jah is going to the temple this week!!! She was my first baptism all the way back in July of 2008. She is a very frail and fragile old lady but has remained faithful to her baptismal covenant and will be going on the next temple trip. President Squires doesn't think she will make it on the long bus ride so they somehow worked out for her to fly to Ghana. Guess who will be picking her up at the airport in Ghana. Elder Sadare (I guess he is Brother Sadare now), my companion at the time she was baptized. I'm happy for both of them. I have not been able to see grandma jah since I left Congo Cross, but all of the missionaries that have served there since, always give me an update about her. One of the missionaries said that grandma Jah said "All I want to do is go to the temple, so I can die." That seems to be her only will to live right now. She has got a sweet heart and I hope everything works out for her.

Elder Degen

Rice is Life