3 December 2012-Almost FINISH LINE

Ok so this is probably the worst moment of my entire life because I am now going to finish my time as a full time servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The joy, the happiness, the friendships. All of these things will be coming to an end next monday. I truly can't believe at how much I have grown as a leader and as a dedicated worker. 

I have learned how to be in charge of groups of large people, I have learned how to deal with those that are out of line and with those that are just done with life. This last week elder Viñas from the Seventy came to speak to us and it was great because I was able to give the spiritual thought and I loved being able to teach 130 missionaries in one room. Not only in a huge group but also in a foreign language. I am truly shocked at how 2 years has passed by and how much I was able to speak near-perfect in 2 weeks. I have seen so many miracles and have had so many in just 2 years. The fact it is coming to an end truly brings a very sad but hopeful feeling to my heart. 

I will leave behind the success and my Argentine family that I have been one of for 2 years and will be going back to being just a normal member of the church. The fame on the mission is great but it will be a hard time getting use to going back to a sick and perversed generation. I was able to give my testimony Sunday just yesterday and as I saw all my converts sitting in the sacrament meeting, I was able to see when they first heard us up to their confirmation as a member of the church. It was great because Saturday we had more baptisms and this Saturday we will be having more. Here in this area Villa Alem I was able to complete the family Rams that consists of Graciela the mom the daughter Guadalupe and the father Luis and the neighbor Jose. This last Sunday the other son who doesn't live in our area attended church as well and it was an incredible experience to see them and see how families can be blessed so much from the gospel. 

All I have learned, all I have felt centers on one thing and that is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He made all this possible and he suffered every single pain there is in the world not only for him but for each and every one of us. I know the power that has hit me came through repentance and the faith in him. There is no better moment in history than that. 

I cry when I hear of the apostles as Christ says"Come follow me and I shall make you Fishers of Men." then after Christ died they went back to fishing and were visited again by the ressurected Jesus. Peter jumped out of the boat and they went back to shore and Jesus asked "Peter do you love me?" peter responded"of course i do thou knowest" Jesus then asked another time and the 3rd time he states"Peter do you love me more than all of this?" "yes of course i love you more than all of this" I love the statement by Jefferey R. Holland in the MTC and my last general conference "Then Elder Darby GO AND FEED MY SHEEP!!!"  I took this statement to my heart and it has made all the difference. I love this work and there is no way i could ever abandon it. 

In my testimony sunday I was crying because I felt the power of this work to see the most difficult the most stubborn the most rich people throw it all away because I completed my purpose to invite them to come unto Christ by the gospel. They did and that is why I am more than proud of the 2 years I have served. I will see you all so soon and I know that you will all see the change in me. 

I know God lives and Jesus as well I have felt his presence and his spirit has warmed my soul in the most dificult times. I know that if we never look down and we keep the attitude and will always positive then the love of Christ will fill our lives and like it says in the Book Of Mormon the love of God is most desirable above all things.  I know that if we have it we will never need anything else. Love the one and only for one more week Elder Darby Signing off for the last time Hasta Ver(till we meet again)

26 November 2012

I will send the last email on the 3rd of december that way I will be in the thinking mode because right now I am in the focused zone because I have a lot of investigators that need to get baptized and if I don't focus, they will be gone. I always worry about the people I teach and to leave them with other elders. So this last weekend was a true accomplishment we completed a family!!!! All 4 of them got baptized meaning the Mom the Daughter the Father and the son!!!!! It was incredible. Tomorrow we are doing their first family home evening, then we have a bunch of dvds and stuff to give them so they can just rock this place when I leave. I have made sure that all my converts stay active and as of now they are all!!!!! I am so happy and blessed to see them all in the church on Sundays. Passing the sacrament, giving prayers and singing the hymns. Oh it just melts your heart when you see the change they have made. 

I remember with Elder Ipsen, I wanted to stop passing by this family we completed but he said one more time and look what came out of that.They all got baptized!!! Is that just a coincidence?  I tell you that in no way is it. So this week was pretty great we had a lot of success and had that baptism Saturday of the real GOLDBERG!!! He is taller than me yet I still only baptized him in one try. It was a classic because the members kept telling me that I needed help but I said"aww, I got it" and it worked out haha. 

I am very very sad to go home but yesterday I saw this family and we then had a lesson last night and as we were walking back, all the faces in the Darby family came to my mind and i just thought of how fun it will be to be together again and to able to see the DANESTER!!!! Plus Los Vaqueros Reservoir sent me an email today and the trout fishing is great!!! Plus the sacramento river is on fire so it made me happy to think that I am not going home to be sad and depressed but to an AWESOME FAMILY!!!! Friends, wards, and of course my girlfriend Danielle!!!! (I had to throw that in their for the bonus points) 

I am very excited, this wednesday Elder Viñas of the seventy is coming to talk to us so it should be just great to hear him. Then on the 5th of december we have a wedding of our 2 investigators that are gonna get married then baptized. Then we have about 3 more people who will get baptized so it isnt over yet!!!!! Not till i am denametagged!!!! The weather is perfect with an overcast and the work is just OUTSTANDING!!!! 

My comp. is for sure going home with me at the end of the transfer so I failed my mission to change his mind but a new elder is coming to our area today and it is Elder Reece who i just love so I know this will be great to be with the three of us as I "die off" haha. My comp and I are great friends though it is just that he hates it here and I know how he feels but I couldn't convince him to stay. 

I had a baptism interview to do of this lady that didn't want to get baptized this week because she is scared her family will abandon her and it was great because the elders said"elder darby we believe in you please help us." I gladly accepted and sure enough we talked for 30 minutes and she will get baptized this saturday and asked me to baptize her even though I don't know her but I told her to have one of the elders to baptize her. I just think it is funny though because she made a decision on faith and I was able to promise her so many blessings.  I shared the stories of my own family and it seemed to work. So that was a good acheivement for this last week. Lets see oh yeah plus this last week was a strange one because elder parraga!!!! I was his last comp. in salta and he is from buenos aires and he came to visit villa alem and sure enough we saw him when we had our district meeting and it was awesome because we were able to chat and he accompanied us to a few lessons and it felt great to teach with him again. So that was a fun experience to be able to see him before iI go home. He told me that since i killed him (ended his mission) he came back to kill me but he had no clue I was here and I had no clue he was coming. It has to be another one of those coincidences right? haha (sarcasm) But all is well, I  put up my christmas lights that Dad sent me last year and I wore my santa claus tie sunday so I am ready to be home for the best time of the year and real FOOD!!!! I haven't even seen anyone eat a turkey here and we tried to find one to cook but couldn't find one. Argentina you just have to love it haha. I love you all see you in a few weeks!!!! Love elder darby the 2nd

19 November 2012

I once heard the saying "THIS IS IT" By michael jackson.  Things are truly starting to feel real. I mean the way I speak spanish, the focus I have, the lessons I have learned and the changes I have made. Wow big change. 2 Years sound long to the world but for me it has gone by so fast. I can't believe the faith that I have gained to honestly feel like anything is possible. It all comes down to obedience. 

It was funny because last week I was talking to the other elders in my group and that were in the MTC with me and they all said"Darby, I thought you would be the most disobedient trouble maker" all 4 said that and one said "Darby, I knew you would change for the better" You could imagine that these words sound pretty harsh but as for me, I smiled and said "well Elders when you make a mistake you can always repent and will be forgiven" they looked at me shocked that I said this and then 1 said"elders I also thought I would be the same way!!!" It was fantastic but look at what has happened. I have to admit the one who has seen me change the most has to be Danielle because I wrote so many letters but I know you can all see what has happened. 

I have come to keep the rules and to reap the blessings. I have to say I had a dream last night and I saw myself starting the mission over again and I saw how I was and the desires I had then were so much different than now. I realize I am not perfect especially with my comp. now who has brought me down abit, but things are getting better. Just wait till you hear the story of him when I come home. It will shock you. 

So this week was pretty much a disaster and like I stated the other week, I thanked God for the hard time I had. The 2 baptisms both fell through and they didn't even go to church as well as most of the investigators. They all slept in yesterday but in every bad situation there is always something good right? There is a man who has to be the hardest person I have ever taught here and actually left me almost wordless a few times but this last week we found him...He is named Francisco and this man or should I say brother of mine is about 68 years old die hard catholic. He had a fall last week and fell in the bathroom almost cutting off his right hand.  As we sat down I said the first prayer and it was a prayer I hope to never forget. "Father please bring Francisco back so that we can be able to invite him to assist church" It felt weird as it left my mouth but sure enough 3 seconds later he came back. My eyes lit up and he sat down and looked different. We taught about the importance of obedience and promised many blessings to him. Then I asked "Francisco is there anything that would stop you from receiving these blessings?" he stated "no" I replied "what is the one reason that is stopping you from keeping all the comandments?" He said "I have my belief and you have yours, please stop" The spirit was strong as can be and I sat and stared into his eyes, not scared not worried but just happy. He finally said "elder Darby why do you want me to go to your church so bad?" Instead of answering I said "Francisco what is God telling you in this moment? Does he want you to go to his church or this church?" He said"yes he does"I said"then brother Francisco will you go to church this sunday?" he said nothing and we finally ended with a prayer. 

I kid you not that yesterday as I was sitting in the elders quorum listening to the class a sister from the ward said"elder there is a guy looking for you and sure enough it was him!!!! He made it to church sunday and after the class and sacrament meeting he said"Elder Darby it was worth every minute to come, I want to thank you and next sunday I will be back. Now he didn't say this out loud but rather with a defeated little mumble that i understood perfectly. This had to be the best and most rewarding moment because I knew in that moment that the sopirit of God testified through me and all I did was put myself in the right place and the right time. It was a truly incredible experince. 

One I will never forget. I want you all to know that we are just instruments here we are the latter day saints but we stay strong because we feel the spirit it does everything. I love it and it was a great experience. I love it here even though I am having a tough time, I still have the smile on my face and a positive attitude. I love you all with all my heart Love elder darby

12 November 2012

It doesn't seem real that my mission is coming to an end but you all
remember elder Zulauf who I trained, well he is in my district now and
he completed a year!!! I remember him when he was brand new and now he
is an oldy. I realize I am old here with the way to teach and the love
I have for this work. 

The people we teach here call me smiley because
I am never caught with a bad attitude or a frown, I always say how can
anyone be sad in this world when we have the one and only true gospel
and we LIVE IT!!!! It is a huge testimony grower and now I love just
telling everyone. I honestly think we talk to about 30 to 40 people a
day now. We just pass people on the street and i tell them that God
wants them to be a member in his church then i share my testimony with
all the love and excitement I can and you know how many investigators
we have right now? We have 46 people that we are teaching right now
and now you realize why I love having bikes haha. 

It is incredible and
the best part is that we are gonna have a wedding of 2 investigators
on the 5th of December. I am so excited and we have 3 baptisms for
this Saturday and more and more to come. Yesterday we had 11 go to
church WHICH IS GOOD!!! 6 of them said they want to get baptized. They
even came from outside of our area because they loved our excitement
when we talked in the street. One girl rode her scooter to church
30minutes in the rain to get to church alone. She is 21 and is willing
to get baptized after one or 2 more church attendances. It is
incredible. 

So there is a family that has been listening to elders for
4years and never went to church, never accepted a baptism date, never
stopped smoking but out of this family. We found them my first day
here and they all have gone to church over 3 times and the Mom got
baptized the daughter and the husband who looks like the wrestler
Goldberg QUIT SMOKING AND IS GETTING BAPTIZED SATURDAY!!!! It is
incredible!!! This family now has a goal to go to the temple and
everything. They are so wonderful and I will miss them so bad!!!(that
answers your question Dad that yes, I will miss a lot of people here
but thank goodness facebook exists) 

Also this marriage well these 2
have been talking to elders for 2 years once again never went to
church never progressed but they have assisted 6 times their daughter
has been baptized and now they will be getting MARRIED!!! This man he
is 23 years old and he was addicted to drugs, alcohol you name it and
yeah he liked it haha. He has changed a full 300% and is just
incredible now. He loves the church and is now sharing the gospel with
his entire family. He goes an hour early to church ON SUNDAY
MORNINGS!!! Here in Argentina waking up at 7am is a miracle haha and
he gets to church by 8am. Whoever says that this gospel isn't true or
doesn't have the power to change lives or bring happiness well that is
IMPOSSIBLE!!! What is funny is i can go on for days telling you these
stories of people leaving behind everything. 

We have an investigator
he works in a night club as a DJ(he is so cool) but he still comes to
church even though he works Saturday night to 7am Sunday morning he
gets to church at 9:15 or 9:30am. It is truly incredible to see that
this ward is changing so much the members are really active they are
working hard in their callings and they cook us some good lunches.
haha. But other than these there are only so many more miracles that
happened this last week. I paid a very very generous fast offering
and everything got better. I have obtained a testimony in every
single topic or point in this Gospel and the power of the atonement is
the best of all. To bring just streams of tears to know that he
suffered so much for me. It is incredible and just cant wait like
seriously CANT WAIT!!!! To see all of you so soon and to be able to
tell you everything and to see how my life has changed and how I have
changed. I heard that you never know how much you changed until you
get home so I am just as excited as you to see what has happened to me
here. 

I just love this church and Now is the time to change like
it says in the book of Mormon."today is the day of our salvation!!!"
Everyday we either serve God or the devil. Choose ye this day for whom
ye shall serve!!! The bible haha I just love it because now i even
have scripture knowledge haha. I love you all so much and will be
sending some good pics. Of Goldberg when he gets baptized Saturday
haha Love Elder Darby the second

5 November 2012

Oh wow, I get home on 12/12/2012? that one will go down in the books.
So things are really interesting here because everyday we still find
someone to get baptized and the best Sunday in almost my whole mission
was this last Sunday.  This past month we baptized 2 brothers that
are 12 and 13 and their neighbor that is 14 and their friends who are
12 as well so this last Sunday all 4 of them got up and passed the
sacrament.  

You can't even imagine the tears coming from my eyes as I saw
these 4 before just wrecks actually passing the sacrament doing
something so sacred. I realized that this was the purpose because i
love these kids because they will for sure be the future elders then
leaders in the church. I just loved seeing this and to top it off we
had 2 confirmations of the 2 we baptized Saturday and the girl who is
14 she got up and bore her TESTIMONY!!!! In a ward of 120 people she
got up and shared her testimony, I was going nuts!!!!! She gave thanks
to everyone in the ward and she forgot to close in the name of Jesus
Christ but i believe all the members learned there lesson Sunday with
this young girl just confirmed bearing her testimony. It was
incredible to me. So I had the best fast and testimony Sunday of all
time. 

MOM young women's presidency? oh just get in there and knock it
dead get everyone of those young girls reactivated and just let each
of them shine!!! That is so great, I am so glad to hear that because we
have a young women's president here and she is just like you and not to
mention she drives a Lexus!!!! She is the best and she calls us her
sons haha you just have to love the members here they are so loving
ALWAYS!!!! 

So about the success we are doing great we had the 2
baptisms Saturday and this 13 yr. old kid went to church Sunday for
his 3rd time and i said "ok your baptism will be Saturday" and do you
know what he said?
"But Elder Darby does God want me to wait all the way till Sunday to
get baptized?" IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! I just wanted to give him a big hug
and say "you are the man!!!" So he chose this Tuesday to be baptized
so we will hopefully be baptizing during the week and on the weekend
haha i just love this place. 

Although it is insanely hot and the rain
storms have started to drench us it is still such a blast. I was
walking in water up to my knees the other night i took a picture but i
don't think it came out very well. I will send it to you all. So other
than that my comp. well he is starting to talk but only to me.
Everyone asks me "Darby is he ok?" i say "of course he is just really
chill ALWAYS!!!" haha so with him well there isn't much conversation
but I am just being patient. He told me he is always like this and the
best part is that he hates the food here haha. So the members gave us
about 20 empanadas the other day he ate like 4 so i had to eat the
rest and man it was quite a trial. I guess I don't have to eat them but
if you want referrals you gotta eat their food haha. But as you can
hopefully tell in my letter i am happy and HEALTHY!!! Thank goodness i
am not kidding when i get home do not feed me a lot and no rice please
i will quote tommy boy and say i will just want a ketchup packet or
two. haha 

I have a couple foods to cook for you all as well. You will love it. The weather is really hot
the rain storms are incredible and my timing is running out here in
the wonderful Argentina. I just love it but i know that I was born in
the states so i have to go back haha just kidding I cant wait to see
how amazing technology is now and my comp. has explained a couple cool
things to me so I guarantee you will all get a good laugh when i open
a dish washer and say "wow a dishwasher I haven't seen one of these in
forever!!" So you could only imagine if a dishwasher will excite me
how I am gonna be when I see other things like CARPET!!!!! haha i am
getting myself so excited!!! 

Anyway i love you all so much and as much
as I love it here yes this transfer is a little harder than the last
but i am fighting it out and the Lord is right on my side. I just love
it here and that will never change. Keep it real because I will be
coming home in just a little over a month!!! Wow it so doesn't seem
real. Love Elder Darby

29 October 2012

NO Saw movie how sad haha but just imagine you could be here and not even celebrate Halloween.  I can't even imagine how many people are gonna go to your old house and find out you moved they will all be so sad. 

Mom things are really interesting and about being sick well it was one day and I can't stop working it is just so fun always. All elders ask me why i love it so much and why i am always so excited. I tell them the same thing every time. Because it would be a waste if I had this testimony and didn't share it with everyone I encountered. That is my response and I just love it. I am always so excited and just so happy even when i was sick i thank my heavenly father for the sickness. 

Mom this work is incredible and today things really changed. So today transfers and I didn't leave but elder Ibsen left to go to my first area in Jujuy in Perico. How weird then elder Yates got called to my last area to be zone leader, and now my kid Elder Zulauf is in my district and just came today. Meaning new companion, new assignment. President Levrino called me and said "Darby you did it" "Ibsen is more excited than ever and now the Lord wants another favor, There is an elder who has packed his bags and wanted to go home 2 times on his mission and he is still in his first area and he has promised to stay one more transfer and you Elder Darby with the trust that me and the Lord have in you, I want you to get him excited and to make him want to stay and not go home because I just know you can do it and that if it doesn't work out, we will have to pull you both out of the area and I don't want to do that. Elder Darby keep baptizing you are doing great and i trust in you so much and just know you are so capable of doing this. I love you so much and will call in a couple weeks to see how you are doing." Talk about a responsibility because he got here and my comp. does not look happy at all I have been trying to crack jokes and trying to be really nice but I haven't cracked him quite yet although now he is talking a little more. 

So we will find out what happens haha. His name is Elder Ellsworth and I just know we are gonna rock this area on my last 6 week transfer. I am so excited as always and will keep you posted on how i do with my comp. and of course with this area. I love you all and lets just say miracles are happening here. This last Saturday we baptized 2 people then on Sunday a girl that is 17 years old went to church and after 4 years of talking to elders she said I want to be baptized so I said tonight and she totally got baptized last night so that tops off an amazing transfer with a great comp. and a mission well succeeded. I am so excited to be able to work my heart out in this last transfer and rest is so not an option there is just no time for everyone. The other great news is that this last week we found a couple that have been living together for years and we got them so excited to get baptized that they will be getting married this month. I am so excited and just know that the Lord is on our side. We are knocking it dead and i just know that with my new comp. we will be killing it some more. Everyone is excited to hear about this area even president. So we will find out. I love you all and want to wish you all one thing that i wont be celebrating and that is a 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!! Love Elder Darby

22 October 2012

Baptisms after baptisms and more baptisms!!!! Our purpose is explained as this to invite the highest number of people to come unto Christ through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is amazing the faith we are finding in the people in this area. Everyone listens to us once or twice and says i want to be baptized. So our faces light up and we put a date on it. As of Sunday we have 8 baptism dates meaning 8 for sure baptisms for the end of this month and next month for sure. We are doing great in this area. President Levrine came this last week to give a conference and he used me and my mission as an example many times. It made me feel so good because I realize I am being the missionary that he wants me to be. It was so great to hear him share stories and ask me questions knowing exactly what I was gonna say. 

I am so excited because I know coming out of Salta in a tough area and enduring for months has brought so many blessings here. All those prayers to baptize to find more to teach to have more people go to church well it is happening now. It made me step back and truly realize how God knows exactly when we will need trials and when we will be blessed from them. I know this might sound weird but this last saturday we had 2 baptism services for 3 people and at the end of the last one I got hit with a sickness. That night I had the chills and I was very uncomfortable and couldn't sleep but sunday I woke up and felt not too great, but a little better. 

Then at church it was bad I felt weak, dizzy and achy. Usually when I get sick or was sick before I could be mad and try to fight it off as much as I could but sunday I listened to the talk by Henry B. Eyring he says he heard Spencer W. Kimball pray for mountains to climb. This brought a different look on how I was feeling, my attitude changed.  During the clases I felt bad and didn't listen or even pay attention but during sacrament meeting as they invited us to help with the confirmations.  I remember wobblying back and forth because I felt so sick but as we sat down and as I was taking the sacrament I thanked God for every sickness I have ever had. It shocked me that I said this because it was always terrible to be sick but it made me think so much on how we are given a body to be tested, to feel pain, have trials and in reality we accepted this before we even came to this earth. 

It is amazing as I still am a little drowsy I realized how much I love this work. Last night I was feeling bad and very weak but we went out and worked I was as pale as can be, my comp. didn't want us to leave but as we went out to work we had no success.  Imagine being as weak as I was having to walk for 2 hours with no success.  I started to pray in my mind to be able to have a miracle and as we passed a park the benches looked nice to sit down and as soon as we were gonna sit down we decided lets keep going. My comp. looked at me with his eyes wide open and said "are you serious you look like a zombie" I might have looked a little like a zombie but we walked another few blocks and found our convert that we baptized Saturday and both her parents. We went in and honestly taught the most amazing lesson to both the parents they are now willing to get married so that they can both get baptized. Honestly marriage was never an option for them but after this lesson they got excited. Directly after we got a call from a member and found out they were gonna watch the ressuration with a lot of non members and to our amazement they invited the family we were currently teaching, so we went together. It was incredible because we not only got a couple who now wants to get married but we found at least another 8 people that sat down and watched the ressuration with us. 

Then after the member of the house asked me to share a scripture so I shared Mosiah 2:41 consider the happy and blessed state of those who keep the commandments, the will dwell with God in an everlasting happiness. The spirit was so strong and I totally forgot I was even sick.  It was incredible to see how happy everyone was and to see all of our converts talking with the members being best friends. 

I forgot to mention that Sunday was mothers day so everyone in just about every house had really loud music and beer like crazy this is why we had no success because either our investigators parents were drunk or you couldn't find anyone in their house because they visited other families. So anyway this was truly a testimony grower for me to prove doctrine and covenants 50 'we are little children and we cannot bear all things now but we should believe in the grace of god'. None of those that my father sent will be lost. I realized that we will not be forgotten but we better pass this test. We need to be stronger than ever because we are in the last days. Like God says he knows we wont be able to bear all things now but we better not have excuses or exceptions because that is not what it means. Many times we think oh this doesn't apply to me but we need to always realize it is Gods will that matters in the end not ours. It is Gods law by which all men will be judged. Stay strong because it says who knows how many times in Doctrine and Covenants that Jesus Christ is close and is coming soon. I love you all and love you all sooo much. Love once again Elder Darby