31 May 2015

A New Area and a New Companion - General Roca

General Roca
19 MAY 2015


Hey Mom!
Sorry we didn't have time to write yesterday, because of transfers.......................................because I am now in "Enivirsitario A" in Roca! (where elder McCutcheon started) It was rough saying goodbye to everyone.. especially the flia Vilche, (bishops family). We visited them twice on Sunday haha. Anyway, its a little weird to start getting to know people in the zone and barrio but elder Lyman and a couple other Elders I know are here too so I'm not completely lost, haha. My new companion is Elder Lopez from Peru. He's pretty chill I guess haha, I just really met the guy but I'm sure we won't have any problems. I just found out today that we finish the mission the same transfer next year, kind of crazy but he's got only one more transfer than me, which makes me think that maybe I'll be the comp mayor pretty soon... weird. Our district is all Latino except for one of the hermana leaders, from New Mexico (from McCutcheon´s group) so its back to never speaking English, but this time I understand about everything so don't worry TOO much about that.


The temple Dedication was really cool though, Elder Christoferson was speaking Spanish for all of it which was cool and President Uchtdorf was the one who dedicated it, (in English with someone translating it) but it was cool! I had never been to one so I had no idea what to expect. There is one part when you need a handkerchief as part of the dedication and Mari Vilche (One of the older daughters) made and embroidered some for us! There were talks too and Pres. Uchtdorf talked about what it means to "walk before God with all of [your] heart" ( I forgot the scripture reference) but he said that having a current temple recommend is how we show our love to God. He went on to say that everyone needs to have one, even if a temple isn't close by because that is how you express the love of all of your heart. SUPER cool haha. It is definitely something that could help members have stronger testimonies and a firmer conviction to the Lord.


Well, that's about all I have to say about this week because really the dedication was all we did until now. I'm sure I'll have more stuff for you next P-Day, this transfer is only 4 weeks and a lot are leaving after it, including President Lovell. So, we'll see what happens, but I love you mom and thanks for the pictures! Ill talk to you soon!


Hey Dad!


I'm doing pretty good this week but the problem is that I don't have much to talk about because I am now..........................in Roca!! The ward is named Enivirsitario and once again I am surrounded by Spanish speakers, but NOW I can understand what they are saying to me! haha It seems like a cool zone. We play fútbol a lot here I guess. Plus I know a few gringos in the zone and one of them is Elder Lyman! That was kind of cool! I told mom too about the temple dedication and it was really interesting and super cool! I taped the ticket for the dedication into my journal so it will always be a cool recuerdo! The temple dedication was my last day in San Lorenzo so I went around saying goodbye to everyone, well I said "Chou" but you knew what I meant haha. It was super sad but good at the same time, because I know I'll see them all sometime while I'm still here. Anyway, my new comp now is Elder Lopez from Peru. Hes a good guy but he only has one more transfer than me (2 in the field because of the MTC for me) But I'm excited to start anew. I have also been told that this is one of the best wards in the mission! Some call Roca the "Promised Land" haha so I am ready to work. It's a weird feeling too at the same time, not REALLY knowing anyone, who are now the only people you know, but I guess that's just life. I wish I had more to tell about investigators and stuff but the thing is I wont know what happens until I see some of their names on the weekly baptism lists. I'm sure I'll have stuff to say soon and I know too my efforts haven't been and won't be for nothing. Well I love you Dad and I hope things keep going good back home, after all you have a son out in the mission field haha. I'll talk to you soon!





File:Roca-canalito.JPG
Darren lives about "three minutes" from this canal
Public Art


01 May 2015

A Volcano, Boredom and Humility

An interesting development on Darren's Mission last week as the Calbuco Volcano in Southern Chile erupted sending significant ash into Argentina.



27 APR 2015

Hey Mom!

So this has been an interesting week.. there was some ash in Neuquen but really it just made everything dusty here haha. We were told to go to the pension early one day and the next day we spent the WHOLE day in the pension. That night was when it erupted again and all the missionaries were told to go now and buy food and water for a week. So we were like wow, it must be really bad now.. so we did that (with my companion´s personal card because we still don't have money on my mission card). The next morning, we got a message from the ZLs saying "thanks for your obedience, you guys can leave now" :P So those were the events for us regarding the volcano haha.

We didn't have too much time to work this week. There has just been a bunch of stuff at once, elections were yesterday so we only had sacrament meeting. We did talk to Nestor though, he is doing REALLY good! A couple of weeks ago Elder McCutcheon forgot his pendrive and I guess they watched the restoration video on their own and copied it to their computer! We had a super good lesson too and once they get married he will easily be the best baptism we could have so far (Ester and Santiago are great too).

As far as who is in the pictures, the other Elder with me and Villanueva is Elder Sanchez and that family is the Fila a Cirer, he is our ward mission leader, he and his son are named Pablo.

The Spanish is going good, I'm pretty much at the point where I can understand most everything without much thought, but when I speak I recognize how much I need to study haha. Its kind of weird how that works, but you understand others WAY before being able to speak correctly.

Im trying to think of a story but this week has just been long and weird haha. Last P-Day we had the absolute worst luck with everything, (mostly because of our credit cards) but all is going good. I'm not sure exactly how it will work skyping (Darren gets to call home or Skype on Mother's Day), it should be sometime after church for me and probably luch too.. so it may be sometime during your church or after... I'm not sure exactly how it works, just don't plan anything else after church I guess haha.

Anyway, it's so awesome to hear about everyone and I hope you guys can send ME some pictures too! I need to show some of these Argentine what an awesome family I have :D Well, I love you Mom, I hope you have a good day and I'll SEE you soon! haha.


Hey Dad!

The volcanoes did affect our schedule, we were stuck in there for a day and a half, and on top of that on Sunday they had elections and here in Argentina, you MUST  vote or you get a big fine, so we had an hour of church yesterday, then a long time without anything planned haha.

This week has been interesting though, with all this stuff going on, I can't really remember anything we did before all this ash! We are doing good, we officially have our P-Days back! (That is what those Argentine drug dealers REALLY robbed from us haha). So today should start off a good week of uninterrupted missionary work. (If we have any luck haha)

For some reason I have been thinking a lot about "what life will be like AFTER the mission".  I guess its because I have had a lot of free time on my hands, but its also made me think of all the things I have already been blessed with. Its crazy to think that we all have a Heavenly Father, who blesses us and is patient with us, EVEN when we turn our backs on Him and we are so ungrateful at times. I couldnt help but think. "Wow, I´ve never had to worry about a Volcano before." haha. Being here in Argentina, where we help people build their houses (which usually are smaller than our front room) has really opened my eyes to the fact that He really has it all figured out and if we are willing to follow him, we are guaranteed better lives, in whatever living condition you are in.  Just the thoughts of a bored missionary I guess. The other day we were talking with some of the Elders about stuff back home, (I guess Elder Bursach played Destiny too haha) but its really crazy to think that sometimes, I didn't want to get up from the couch, in our big house in front of our flat screen, to walk 20 feet to help you guys pick up the groceries that are sitting in one of the 3 cars at home... And now it took us 3 tries and A LOT of walking to buy stuff for a few days :P

Anyway, i love you dad, im glad to hear that everyone is doing good and ill SEE you soon!