2/20/12 Marino Moreno transfer

OH WOW I HAVE THE CRAZIEST NEWS EVER!!!! Yesterday was the
phone call for transfers. I thought it was impossible my district
would change because my comp. is brand new and also the comps. of the
other missionaries. BUT I WAS WRONG!!!! So I get a call at 8:30pm
sunday night. We are with my favorite family, I get the call and he
says, "Eder Darby, I have some weird transfers"!!! My smile dropped and I
said WHAT!!!! "You and your companion are going to open an area
in Mariano Moreno!!! Mariano Moreno is right next to Coronel Arias,

our area. I said SERIOUSLY? Then he said that 2 sister missionaries

are coming to work in Coronel Arias. I was shocked to hear this.
We visited a few families and just cried our eyes out because you
just love these people and they love you. We are opening an area

that has huge problems in the ward and that hasn't baptized in almost

a YEAR!!!! So wow, I am sweating bullets and am praying like I never

had before because not only is my comp. brand new but I don't know

the area. I need to help him the best I can while having success!!!

Man it has been a crazy day with moving and leaving the best apartment

and going to one that has pink and green walls.

I am exhausted, I didn't sleep and a little nervous but why worry and have
doubts when this is God's world and He loves us. Doctrine and covenants
6 really hit me hard 'to not worry to not have doubts but rather be
faithful and have the vision set that no matter what things will be
just fine'.

I know this is true, I love the scriptures and I have been told by many missionaries that I share too many scriptures during a lesson because

I swear when I listen to these people there is a scripture that has the

answer. I am a little worried but get a peaceful feeling and actually

excited to let you all know how the ward will be strengthened, how our

obedience and faith will bring us success.

I would love to hear some emails to get me excited for next
Monday cause this week should be a tough one to go from 50 lessons
last week to way less. I know that the Lord has callen me to serve here

and he promised me that I will speak with the tongue of angels and that

no matter what we will make a huge effect on this ward.

I love you all and yes Mom time is going so fast to see my 'kid' not be

able to speak. It's a humbling experience because I remember how hard

it was to be so new.

I saw a few members that are from my first area Perico and they were

shocked to see me and they said "Darby you have a voice?" haha

"Hermana why yes and did you know I have a kid?" her smile

dropped and I told her that a new elder on the mission is a 'kid' and
that I am his father haha,it was priceless. (It wasn't the funniest
thing I could have said but in spanish I think it was especially with
the culture and past stories of other missionaries)

Man I just love it here. Although we can't fish anymore, or just sit

and relax, sit on facebook, drive a car or text, I find that the best

thing I can do is feel that my Father in Heaven loves me and trusts

me to take on the most amazing tasks possible on the mission.
I love all of you so much and I dream of the day when I can sit in
front of you and tell you how crazy, spritual, humbling and just
FUN my mission is!!! The mission that has over 130 rules with

the most strict guidelines, 4 hour studies everyday. But with that

said, there is nothing that refreshes my purpose in my life than

studying the only thing that I know is true without a single doubt.

I have purified my heart this last week and have went through die hard

repentance and feel the most free I have ever felt and thanks to that
experience, I know that God will provide us with baptisms and a
stronger ward. I hope you all can realize I am just so excited
and ready to get to work. I love you all and hope your lives are
filled with as much joy as i feel. Love always Elder Darby

6 February 2012

I can´t even imagine what a fast and testimony meeting would be like in english anymore!!! I just love the emotions that people have here and the sacrifices they make just to go to a temple. So yes the closest temple is cochabamba Bolivia and it takes like 20 hours to get there by bus and is like 1000 pesos a person or 250 dolars which is a ton here. There was a family that bore there testimony yesterday and they sold their wedding rings and their car to be able to pay for their family. It is nuts how all we have to do is hop in our car and just drive a little ways when here they go for a week and make sacrifices that are just incredible. The people here honestly have better testimonies than those in the states because there conversion stories are just amazing!!! 

The love and respect I have for these people is truly incredible and the funny thing is that they love us more. I don't care what door we knock if it is hot they will bring out like coca cola or something and then tell us no. It is funny because they are never like jerks, just closed hearts. 

This week was great we had a few ready to baptize but they all had stuff to do so now we are gonna have a baptism of hopefully 3 or 4 people this saturday!!! It should be fun because it is so exciting to be able to change the lives and truly bring pure joy to them.

So clearly we are working hard and doing so well and my comp. is just hilarious!!! He loves the huge flea markets they have and Napolitana which is a filet of chicken that is breaded and friend with tomato sauce cheese and sliced ham on top of a huge pile of french fries. I just love it how excited my comp. gets when he says something correct in spanish and when he invites our investigators to be baptized. He is doing so much better than I did in my first area because he has almost a month out here and is understanding and speaking fairly well. We are practicing a lot and I am able to help him because I knew how it was. He is my greatest son so far on the mission !!!! 

Well that is about it not too much happened this last week other than just finding so many people to teach and having so many go to church on sundays. I think we are gonna make some records here on the mission and I know president keeps calling to check up because he is way excited for our success!!! Well i love you all and know there is no better place to be than here. Love Elder Darby

19 December 2011

Had a sweet week and still loving the mission more than anyone!!!! So me and my comp. with our 3 money investigators thought we were done because we didn't find anyone after knocking at least a hundred doors but guess what? We walk into a home of a family we love and they asked us about friends, "if they aren't baptized where do they go?"  So the 7 year old, angel Antonela, brings out 26 names addresses and everything and says"I know you 2 are the ones to teach these friends, I want to enjoy all my friends in the spiritual paradise!!!" I honestly started crying because she is SOOO CUTEE!!!! 

So we received these references Saturday.  When Sunday came we'd contacted 18 of them and found 16 new investigators to teach!!!!! All it took was a cute little 7 year old girl and the spirit!!! 

So sure our work is back online. The other highlight of the week was Sunday because now I am in a real ward and they had the primary program. I was crying like a little baby because of how excited I truly was to see these amazing little kids sing and just be so happy while singing and talking in spanish!!! 

I love it here, sure the country has problems like crazy but the work of the Lord never does!!!! I now know with all my heart that there is nothing that was more truthful than that first vision that Joseph Smith had. 

Love you all Elder Darby

12 December 2011

Thank you mom for the money I am seriously so grateful for the help that you have provided me with. I want to come home and go kayaking or something crazy like RIVER RAFTING!!!! I was known as your son that would enter the coldest water for the longest time right? And now 2 years without water!!!! This is why I keep baptizing so I can swim down to lift the drain up and dunk my whole body underwater!!!! Honestly it feels good to do that especially when the water is cold!!! Or hot!!!! So everything is perfect because we BAPTIZED AGAIN!!!!!!!!

I realize that I say this just about every week now because we are baptizing every week me and my gringo comp. from Utah!!!!

We are just having so much fun and had the best one year celebration (I will share it after the mission!!) I love it here but we fasted yesterday because we are baptizing faster than we are finding. I mean not a single person in the street walks by us without knowing us because we are doing what the prophet said "open your mouth" so we are talking every opportunity.  We have 2 more people to baptize this month and after that we don't really have anyone haha. But never loose the faith.  

SO EVERYTHING IS GREAT, 2 baptisms so far this month and we are in the second week.  Yesterday I gave 2 confirmations, I was crying and shaking so bad after because you can seriously feel the power of the spirit working through you. I just love the spirit and the joy we have right now. 

There is only one thing that I am bummed about this christmas...I WILL BE USING SKYPE BUT WITHOUT THE CAMERA!!!! The president said we can chat and talk but we aren't allowed to see your faces.  so yes, we will use skype but you need to shut off the camera. I honestly am a little bummed but i realize it is probably a test to see who will be disobedient and who will be obedient. This is the rumor but this tuesday, we have a zone conference and a leadership meeting with the pres. He will tell us all the rules for christmas so i will inform you all next Monday like what time and all of that. 

Well I've completed one year and I have more than a year YYYEEEEAAAAHHH!

More time to baptize and bring these amazing people unto REPENTANCE!!!! 

The best thing that happened this week was thursday in the church we started the lesson with Gustavo (who got baptized) he said he wanted to wait a year for his baptism. I looked at Yates and we both laughed.  We started with a prayer, watched the testimony from Richard G. Scott about baptism and read 2 nephi 14:10-11 it says "follow me my beloved children and be baptized and whosoever is baptized in my name will I give my holy spirit". We read it and he apparently had a huge doubt that he didn't think he was gonna recieve the holy ghost because he didn't think God loved him.  He said "wow so every child who is baptized in his name will be given the holy ghost?" I said "yes and hermano now you know this is not our invitation but God's so hermano will you be baptized this saturday (in 2 days)" he said YESSSSSSS!!!!!! We were so pumped because I remember the first lesson with him.  He was rude but we got him to take the cross off his neck and 3 weeks later after 4 times in church he was baptized and now will be entering into the celestial kingdom with us!!!!! His wife is a member and now they will be going to a temple in a year.  That makes 2 temple marriages for me in one year one from my first area and them.  Wow.  

I love my mission and know that this is so not our skill or talent but that we are just his servants and we are able to testify and truly bear witness of the power of the Book of Mormon. The work is perfect but sadly his servants aren't and this is why I am so motivated to be perfect, just like him, to be able to come home and be at rest knowing I did my best.  I will be able to see my converts after this life and know they are there because we worked hard. Me and my comp. are one in every lesson and truly every person we have found and has listened has been baptized or will be baptized!!

There are a few houses here with christmas lights but nothing like the states. We have a great apartment, third story with a huge tile roof so we will be seeing about 600 firework shows christmas night. They are just crazy with fireworks here because there are no laws or speed limits or DOG POLICE!!! 

We have a lot of families who want to celelbrate with us but we aren't sure what we are gonna do. Although we are close to christmas it doesn't seem like it but we got a little tree from a family for free so at least we have a tree.  Our christmas dinner I have a feeling it will be coca-cola and empanadas!!!!! 

Love you all, your names are always in my prayers, live hard but keep a strong foundation in the gospel because there is nothing more helpful or true on the earth. Just look how many people are changing to get baptized!!!! I don't have a single doubt about the church.  THIS IS THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH AND YES WE DO HAVE THE HOLY GHOST AND A PROMISE THAT ALL WE NEED TO DO IS BE OBEDIENT AND WE WILL ENTER INTO THE BEST PLACE IN HEAVEN!!!!! See you there love Elder Darby

12 December 2011

5 December 2011

Things are just perfect because i am glad to say YES BAPTIZED AGAIN JUST YESTERDAY!!!!! EVERY WEEK!!!! I just love it here and it is funny because just yesterday we got online to show a family lds.org and saw the video about Argentina and there I was....HOW AWESOME ME AND MY COMP.!!!!!!! It brought me so much happiness and I bet it brought all of you even more.  I use to sleep during all those conferences but when Apostle Christopherson spoke, a real living Apostle and special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, I was more focused than I have ever been in my life!!!! He was incredible and even better, I understood his spanish perfectly. 

I can say to you all, I am studying deep doctrine and many scriptures but whenever I doubt, I pray and it is always answered ALWAYS!!! The Lord has us all in his arms and he places certain things in our lives and the only thing we have to do is look towards him and we will be blessed. I love the scripture in 3rd Nefi (in english its nephy right?) my english is so terrible I don't remember any names of artists or movies and when I do, I immediately translate them into spanish. But anyway, 3rd Nephy says  "be of good cheer for we are free to choose the eternal never ending  joy from the never ending death'. I think it is this in english but I love it because we need to get excited because there is not a single obstacle in our way that we can't pass and you know why? Because we are sons and daughters of GOD!!! Meaning we have his traits, we have the priveleges and if we believe everything God can do-we can do also. Like 3d Nephy again "if you ask with faith and it is just let thee recieve". 

I am so excited to be here in Argentina now seeing the fake christmas trees and singing christmas hyms in sacrament, yet I feel loved.  If any one of you is having a tough time or has a doubt, let me know because I know I am now so in tune with the spirit that I believe every single question or doubt can be resolved!!! Things are perfect here, I am always happy and it isn't hot, thank goodness. I swear Jujuy central is like the northern california coast never hot and if it is, it becomes over cast and rains. I love it here and know the Lord trusts me to be his servant. 

Know that I love you all and can't wait to talk this christmas and chat and tell you the most amazing miracles of all time. I want you all to remember that when you think that wickedness is better than obedience, think of this question...

Who would you rather make smile GOD  or the devil? Which one will give you more in the end? I thought of these yesterday as I was reading and I want you all to know how much I ove you and there is no better place to be than either on a mission or with family. 

Elder Darby is Famous

Watch the Video below of Elder Christofferson speaking to the saints in Argentina. Pay special attention at 1:37... !

http://lds.org/media-library/video/prophets-and-apostles-speak-today?lang=eng