Fun Times in the Pension and a few Fotos - 7 JUN 2015

7 JUN 2015

Hey Mom!

I'll explain some of the pictures haha. Those pictures with the matress, we were in the OTHER Elder's pension haha OUR pension is A LOT cleaner haha. But at night their pension is cold so we had to wear whatever to stay warm (Their heater doesnt work) haha the one standing up in both pictures is E' De la Serna and the other in PJs is E' Loayza. Thats the kind of stuff we do, we will all four go to an asado or something in the others area and sleep over there or with the french toast (Which i made pretty bomb btw haha) we did the same.

Right now we have... 9 or 10 investigaters. obviously others are progressing a little better than others but I think it will just take a little more time with a few. With interviews I got them mixed up with zone conference which is just the missionaries, the interviews will be tomorrow and Sister Lovell already texted us saying she was going to bring my camera with her, so don't worry :P We always go to one cyber a street down from the church which is 5 minutes away from the pension. I found it on google maps but there isn't a street view, but our pension is across the street from the canal. Our area though is huge.. There is one area we haven't gone into yet because its so far, and we walk EVERYWHERE :P but we are having good success!

That is SUPER weird though haha, I can't believe he is actually done with high school!!!!!!! and I can't believe Jaxson had to go to the ER again hahah poor guy. Sounds like normal back home haha. My week has been about the same I can't really remember much like usual :/ umm... honestly I don't remember doing too much that I haven't already told you guys about..the work has been a little slow this week so its really just been the other stuff.... dang it.. for my & months we bought ice cream and ate it in the pension haha but other than that I've told you everything. Its been kind of a lazy week I guess.. sorry I don't have more.

Well, I love you mom, I hope you guys are all doing well, I'll try to make sure I have a good story for you next week, I love you mom and I hope you have a good week!




Hey Dad!

With your letter I'll explain more detail in the pictures, because other than that stuff this week has been a little slow :P

So the first few pictures with a bunch of Elders is at the pension of a couple of other Elders cooking an asado! After that we went with a member family to a place called "Valle de la Luna" which was super fun! The other gringo is Elder Sulzen from San Diego.

The mess of a dessert was banana cake haha we made that at the other Elders pension to bring to a menos activo family for a birthday and we put a little too much batter haha.

The OTHER desert we made with a member, Fabiana Gutierrez who sent more photos to my facebook! that is called Chocotorta.. so I can make that now.

Chocotorta - Sister Gutierrez, Elder Lopez, y Elder Bramell

After that the pictures with all of our district is at the house of the Familia Caram where we had lunch after church. The Elders ended up being there until about 9:30 haha.

The photos of the 4 of us in the pension was a night where we slept in the other Elder's pension and their heater doesn't work so it gets cold at night, thus the mixed up clothing.

The last ones are just Elder Lopez and I cooking lunch in the pension, he cooked the noodles and I cooked the milanesa (which is basically thin country fried chicken haha)

Hna Lovell is bringing my camera tomorrow so I will be able to send more soon. Thinking back to the week we did a lot of stuff like that which was fun but not as much working as before and thus less success. Don't get me wrong I love this district but sometimes we slack a little. Its made me think more about how I'm ok with slacking every now and then, we ARE human but at the same time I'm not trying to waste my time here doing stuff I could've been doing at home. In the mission some Elders get "trunky" and I completely understand but we came out for a reason and like you said I know where I stand and why I'm here. So that's what I got for the week haha.

I love you dad and I hope everything keeps going good back home! Tell everyone I say hi and to have a good week, i'll talk to you soon!

"I came out to serve" - 25 May 2015

25 May 2015


Hey Dad!

My first week has been really good! We've been busy finding new people and we are very excited about a few particulars. As far as the Spanish, I can understand everything and can talk fine. When I speak its a bit broken but my vocabulary is definitely expanding. Geographically it is definitely a lot nicer here, that canal you saw is across the street from the pension, so if you find the capilla we are literally three minutes away but we work in a part northeast of the church. It is good! There are still a lot of dogs but these ones are more domesticated and don't try to bite you as much haha. I can't believe another year of school has ended, that means I've already been out of high school for a year, with 6 months in the field!.. weird.

Yeah, the dedication was super cool though and one of the members of the bishops family in San Lorenzo, Rosmari Vilche made and embroidered my name and the temple dedication on a handkerchief that I have now. Really cool recuerdo haha.

(I told Darren to keep working hard and stay busy with the work...) That's what I realized too, because a lot of missionaries make themselves miserable thinking of home. Of course I doze back into stuff like that, but I also didn't come out on a mission to feel sorry for myself and what I'm missing out on; I came out to serve. Of course there are bad days and of course there are times you want to go home, but the more you focus on your purpose in the mission instead of your purpose in your daily life, the better off you will feel and the more rewarding your experience will be. So yeah, I'm just going to put "mi hombro a la lid" because I didn't leave such an awesome family just so I could miss them, haha.

Anyway, I love you Dad, tell everyone I love them too. Keep working hard and focus on the important things! I'll write you next week!

Catching Up in Roca - 15 JUN 2015

15 JUN 2015

Hey Dad!

Yeah Stake Conference was this week and the Lovells were there too! It was super good, we had a general authority there from the 70, Elder Salez. He gave really good talks. This week was also the end of the short transfer so I'm staying here with Elder Lopez for one more transfer. I feel like that will be good for a few of the investigators we have, we have good chemistry when we teach and I'm sure we will have some more success this transfer! Its weird to think about, but my comp mentioned that after this transfer we will be getting close to General Conference again!!! I will be working on 9 months too, I don't understand how fast the mission goes.. haha. Its funny though you don't realize exactly what a mission is like until your doing one haha. It sounds like the Hermanas in the ward are great, tell them I say hi haha.

We have been singing in choir too! The choir director Hno Jose Martinez asked us if we could help (Because they dont have any bases) so I've been singing the other end of the spectrum for now haha. We sang yesterday in conference too so I'm sure its going to be that way for a while.

I cant believe that Curtis just needs the interviews (before getting his mission call)... well AND turn 18...but I seriously CAN'T believe it! I remember being at home doing the same thing like it was only a couple months ago... So weird.

I bet you are an awesome Mission leader! Especially if your always so busy studying all that stuff! I'm sure that is just a part of the blessings we will get. Last night we were watching a church movie with a member called "The Mountain of the Lord" and it was AWESOME! It's about the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. They also explain why temples are important and toward the end it showed the rooms inside the temple and the spirit hit me super hard and I just felt grateful for our opportunity we had to get sealed. If you guys can find it, watch it for a Family Home Evening or something because its seriously worth it.  I feel like you guys are getting a lot more spiritual too haha. I'm sure mom would love it.

It is getting colder here but mainly due to the wind nothing more.  It has rained a few times but its nothing unbearable haha. Neither is the work.  We have been struggling to find some of our investigators but I feel like we are still doing good, so hopefully Ican let you know soon.

Well dad, I love you and I hope everyone is doing good! I'll talk to you soon!


Hey Mom!

I've actually been on the computer for an hour already but I have been figuring out my pendrive, (it is somewhat messed up) but I'm doing good. Um as far as our newest investigators, we have two that we think are our best hopes right now. The first is an older lady named Mari. We started contacting in the morning and the third house we knocked at was hers. We ended up being late for lunch that day haha. She believes in Christ and everything and is really open to our lessons. We taught her some about the Plan of Salvation and left her a Libro de Mormon. She has started reading it and wants to go to church this week! She was even talking about tea with us and she told us she wasn't sure which you should or shouldn't drink haha so she is really prepared. The other investigator is named Lucio. He is actually the brother of Soledad (an older investigator). We ended up talking forever to him too and when he was telling us what he believed, it was all the plan of salvation haha The only thing he was missing were the degrees of glory! He is also excited to attend church this week and the next lesson will be on the restauracion, so we are feeling good! Hopefully I can tell you all about them next week when they attend haha. Oh and Stake conference was good too, we had Elder Salez from the 70 come and talk both days and it was super good!

For your name (Brandee is working on ideas for Trek) I like "Forward in Faith" and to be creative with it the Fs could be pioneers pushing the cart and the rest of the letters would be in the cart! Like the 2 lines going sideways would be their arms for instance, just an idea haha. One thing you really learn to appreciate on the mission a lot more is the pioneers. (Mostly because the majority of the movies we can watch in the mission are about them :P) This Trek will be something you guys will always remember because really all the stuff they went through and the faith they had is really incredible. I for sure am greatfull for them now, I'm not sure I could endure all that..

Anyway I almost forgot transfers are today! I'm still with Elder Lopez but Elder Lyman is going to train a newbie! Plus Elder Alonzo from my first transfer is the next Assistant to the President! That was super crazy to hear haha, it makes me wonder whats in store for me here in the mission.. anyway, Elder De la Serna went to Neuquen yesterday with all of the missionaries going home. They leave for home Wednesday.  I'm not sure if that is when The Lovells are going to leave but it will be soon. This new transfer will be 2 months long now.  So ya! Im sure this transfer we will have success.

I'm super glad to hear all your stories from back home, I could totally imagine that story with the cousins hahaha. I love you mom and I'll keep you updated! Talk to you soon!

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!

Darren lives about "three minutes" from this canal

Public Art

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!

A Busy Week and a Special Memory

20 APR 2015

Hey Mom!

So this week has been pretty good I guess.. but to answer your first question, no. We were working with them a lot this week and we did the baptismal interview questions with both of them, Ester, we had to explain a lot, but she has a desire to be baptized and our mission president was talking a lot about how "baptism is not a question of their knowledge, but a question of their faith." That has definitely been the focus of our thoughts though, are they really ready? Is this what the Lord wants for them? Will they be active later? All kinds of stuff and finally on the Friday before we managed to talk to Santiago and do the interview. He surprised us! We were worried about his testimony of "José" Smith but when we asked him about it he basically told us, he believes the Book of Mormon is true, so he believes he was a prophet! Super cool. So we did all the interview and the only thing he had problems with is the Word of Wisdom. So we asked him to pray right there and he did, we all knelt down and he prayed silently, then when we got up, he said, "no... I´m not ready. I need to repent of some stuff first." At first I was confused and frustrated because I prayed he would receive an answer, but then I realized that he did, it was "Not yet." So, we know he has a true desire now, it will just take time. When he said that though, Ester changed her mind and we know she won't be baptized without him.

So that's been the big thing for the week, haha but its all still good. The pension is actually really nice, plus we have started taking the bus to our area (we are still learning all the routes and stuff though, Saturday we almost left Neuquen on a 2 hour bus ride haha) also we installed our washing machine, but I guess the water drain doesn't work because every time we wash clothes a lot of the water dumps on the floor. We are getting it checked soon I think but for know we are just living with it haha.

We did have another cool experience though, Omar asked us if we could find shoes for a few of the kids to go to school with and one of the Hermanas in the ward helped us out and the next day after dropping them off, the two little boys, Aaron y Nahuel were wearing theirs, and they loved them, that was super cool. We have been going over there a lot too, and they are definitely progressing, except for not going to church, but they all love us now. Sometimes we play little games with the kids and Omar told us that we are a blessing to their family. They will for sure be baptized one day soon!

To answer a few more of your questions, we always try to contact in the morning and go back for studies during the siésta (The naptime for all Argentines from like 2-5 haha :P) and I don't need an ipod, here they just use pen drives to play music on the dvd players we get, so I'm good there haha. Yes I still have my camera bag with a few extra chords they left. Transfers are every 6 weeks, so not counting the MTC I am on my 3rd transfer, which usually is the average in one area, so my guess is that me and Villanueva are leaving this transfer which we will know for sure on the 16th of May.

Now to your questions about the first vision, when we teach the restoration, we talk about how the purpose of this life is to have families, learn, progress, and be happy. Then we talk about prophets and their roles, then Jesus Christ. How he established the church, had the authority and when he and the apostles died, the church and the priesthood were lost. Thus, a restoration was needed. Then we talk about how there was a lot of religious confusion and how Joseph wanted to know the truth. Then we quote the first vision. "Vi una columna de luz..." when we do that the spirit testifies and every time is super strong. We explain that they are feeling the spirit and a little more about the Book of Mormon. After feeling the spirit so strong, they want to learn more. Crazy how simple it is haha, but it works.

One more little note. So I guess a little while back, a few branches watched Meet the Mormons and 80 something investigators showed up. One member made a video of it and Elder Holland saw it and called President Lovell. Now we are doing it again but A LOT bigger! Plus we are the ONLY mission in the entire WORLD to do this! How cool is that!

Well, that about sums up the experiences of the week, we have been talking a lot about how Christ is always there for us and its super true. He's always waiting for us to turn back to him. I love the scripture, Jacob 3:1-2. (I only have it in Spanish so you might have to type it up in English for the blog haha) but that scripture is super powerful for me, it talks about how basically, we just need to want to follow him and he will help us more than we can imagine.. super good.

I love you mom, I'm super glad to hear about all the family, tell Jaxson he's a stud for getting in the paper (like his oldest brother haha) tell everyone I love them and miss them, I'll talk to you soon!

Jacob 3:1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction. 2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.

Hey Dad,

Now the question is...... did you hug him? haha that's super funny though, that totally happens! The other day some guy asked for a kiss. Plus another guy was so drunk he was mumbling and falling and coming toward us and I guess Elder McCutcheon thought, "no he wont touch us" then the guy falls flat on his back! I guess he knew Omar because it was right in front of his house and we saw him the next day.

Anyway, the baptism didn't happen.. yet. Basically he prayed after our interview and he got the answer "No, youre not ready" but now we know his testimony of the Book of Mormon and he really wants to be baptized. We know he will soon though just not yet. Ester backed out when Santiago did so we will just see what happens though. We feel a lot better about it now, strangely enough haha

So, Happy Late Bithday!!!! Just so you know that is a good memory for me too (we went deep sea fishing and Darren got pretty seasick)! I don't regret it at all haha. Speaking of which, this weeks Noche de Hogar, Hno Cirer (Our ward mission leader) had us draw pictures of a really good memory and then explained that that is what it will feel like to return to live with Heavenly Father again.. so I was thinking maybe I would draw myself making that diving catch or something but then I had a better idea. I drew the two of us laying down looking up at the stars on the last night of the High Adventure campout. Just thought I'd let you know :)

Oh one other thing, one time when we were at Omar´s and they had "Son como niños 2" (Grown-ups 2) on the tv and I noticed now that Adam Sandler totally reminds me of you haha, in the good ways of course haha but anyway. I really didn't have too much to talk about this week, I explained a lot to mom, so I guess for this letter, I just want you guys to know that I think about you all a lot and that you guys are in my prayers too. I love you Dad and I hope this week goes good for you and everyone, talk to you soon!

High Adventure Campout - June 2014

A Much Better Week!...Pictures too.

13 APR 2015

Hey Mom!

So this has been a good week we are officially moved into the new pension, its in another area next to ours.  Now instead of a 5 minute walk to the church, it is about 30 minutes... but its a good pension! We have a pet cat haha, its the neighbors cat but he always comes into our pension. The only thing is that we didn't have a laundry machine, until now (we just got that today :P).  We're figuring it out. So as far as the work, we have a baptism this Saturday! Ester y Santiago are officially getting baptized. And with the familia Gutierrez, she's the woman who left, Claudia,  and she came back the other day! I guess all of the kids were missing her and one of them was praying that she would come back and it happened! We set a baptism for them on the 25th of this month. The only problem is that they aren't married but after all this he was thinking about it so there are good possibilities. Nestor though is totally converted, he asked us how to pray and he and Esefania need to get married too. (NO ONE IN ARGENTINA GETS MARRIED, except members) but we also participated in their baby´s blessing in church! He also has a fecha (date) for the 25th. We are definitely getting answers to our prayers.

Oh I also have to tell you, the Elders in the other end of our zone... found my drivers license! So you don't need to worry about that, I have no idea how it happened but I got it! Also I still have my retainer. And I am happy to hear you will send a camera, YAAAAY haha. I keep thinking "I should take a picture of this..... darn" haha but that will be nice.

Anyways, we have had a pretty good week. I can't remember too many stories, the weeks keep going by faster.. Oh haha I did watch a part of the first Ice Age movie at an investigators house.  There was the part that all of us watched as kids, kind of funny haha.  I love you Mom, I'll write you soon. Oh and I'm going to send pictures from Elder Villanueva´s camera :P, Bye Mom!

Hey Dad!

Ya we moved into the new pension, its not as nice as our old one but its still a lot nicer than most of the other ones I've seen! Its definitely a lot safer though! We have to walk pretty far though, usually about 40 minutes to an investigator.. but its all good. We have had A LOT of success this week, we have baptismal dates set for almost ALL of our investigadores, including Ester and Santiago this Saturday! So hopefully we will need to find new people like you were saying haha. I hope you're right about my Español haha it would be nice.  I have pictures from Villanueva´s camera so you have some stuff to put up.  I wish I had more to tell you but I don't remember much from this week :P I told mom too that I found my drivers license in the other end of the zone. Oh, also guess what? One of the zone leaders asked me to draw something to make t-shirts for the zone! (nothing that hasn't happened before haha) but I came up with a SUPER cool idea. I'm going to send it to you! So that could be super cool! Anyway, I love you Dad I'll talk to you soon!

Darren's draft t-shirt design for the zone!

Sharing the gospel

Visiting an Argentine family

Zone Meeting - Elder Sanchez, Elder Bramell, Elder Villanueva

Good to see Darren is still Darren

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Now THAT's a cake!