NEWS FROM HONDURAS!!

Hi guys!! I hope you had a good week. 

Im glad you had fun at the derby Emma!! Was it fun chasing the pig?? :) I bet! I wish I was there to watch it and help you catch it! Maybe next time! You got a trophy for baseball?! Cool! Have you seen my trophies from baseball?? I have a couple of them. Are you going to keep playing baseball? You should! Cause its the best sport in the whole world!!! I miss you emma!! Well this week wasnt anything too exciting... Besides the fact that we have an investigator that is a theologian. He studied theology and the bible and other sacred records for 20 years, and now the Jews are wanting to fly him to Jerusalem for 3 years to teach him more.  Anyways, he got the BOM 10 years ago, and read all of it about 4 times. His wifes dad had a heart attack a couple years ago, and they are all members except for him, so the ward came over to their house with a truck load of food and stuff like that. He told his wife that if any Mormons ever come knocking on the door, they're opening it and letting them in... Well a couple months ago the missionaries knocked on his door and they came in and started teaching him. And now he is going to get baptized! He was supposed to be baptized this Saturday, but we are going to baptize him with his wife on the 30th. But he talks and talks and talks so we cant really ever teach anything. But when he first started out, we could tell that he just like the doctrine of the church and agreed with the church on pretty much every issue. And he came to church and loved the sacrament and the reverence and the people and everything. So we have been focusing not on the doctrine so much, but praying and focusing on the spirit. He told us he doesnt like to pray cause he feels like he is just talking to open air, but little by little he has come around. He prays when we ask him, and he told us he prays once a day. haha. But most importantly, he said that when he first started to read the BOM the first 4 times, he never really felt anything. It was just like reading any other sacred record. But once we started telling him to focus on how he feels and to pray, he told us that he feels peace when he reads it, and he feels the same when were there and when he goes to church. It is just a story about the power of the Holy Ghost. That it isnt anyone who converts people, its the spirit. Well I love you guys and miss you!!! I hope you have a good week and be good and have fun, and be safe!!! I love you!!! 

Real Madrid

Hey guys! This week was good! We had 2 baptisms this Saturday! I cant
send pictures cause I have no way to plug in my memory card of my
camera so sorry. I will have to send a ton of pictures when I can. I
hope everything is good! I miss you guys! This week was pretty good.
They had the finals between Real Madrid and Atletico, and most people
here are or Real Madrid and they won and me and my companion where
visiting this family and they told us to wait because the game was
almost over and so we were sitting there eating and Real Madrid scored
a goal and they both started jumping up and down screaming and banging
on stuff and the one of them went outside of his little restaurant and
picked up this bench and chucked it into the street. haha. It was kind
of funny.Well nothing much this week. Just those 2 things! haha. We I
love you guys and hope you have a good week!

ZONE FUN!!

There is a video of Darin singing in a small group of 6 missionaries accapella Abide with Me Tis Eventide. I couldnt get it to load on here but here are some exciting photos. I love how happy he is! Miss this guy to pieces.

MISSION GOODNESS

Hey there guys! This week has been pretty good!! We worked hard as usual, and we are preparing for a baptism this Saturday! Nery, and her two daughters. They have been looking for the truth for a while but they finally found it a couple weeks ago! haha. The week after that, we have a marriage, and a baptism! They get married the 25th, and baptized the 26th! Then the third of may we have another marriage, and baptism! Eddy and Carla are getting married and their two kids Melvin and Alisson are getting baptized with them! And We just started teaching Carlas mom and she will be getting baptized the same day! She had some doubts about the book of Mormon but we had a Bible session with her and now she tells us she knows its true.  Before, she felt the spirit but she just didnt want to believe it, but sometimes people just need an extra temporal push. We have so many pastors wanting to talk to us that weve gotten good at using the Bible. haha! Pretty much everything is in the Bible... Its really easy to see how pastors twist their words to get people to come. But everything's going good! Not sick yet. Feel fine. Weve been fed more this week than ever... This week one one day, we ate dinner 4 times... That sucked. But it wasnt bad. haha! ;) I dont mind food. Well I hope you guys have a good week! Be safe, have fun, tell Emma and Dad hi for me. Give Emma a big kiss from me and I love you guys!!!!!

DARINS NEW COMPANION

Darins new companion!!

Testimony

Hey guys! This week has been pretty good. Hot but good! We have been working more with the members to find new people and find less actives. There are about 200 people who are less actives in our area. Thats a lot. And we have been having much success. Our mission focuses on families. We have to do our normal planning and then every week we have to make goals for families. We have 2 families we are going to baptize and all together it is 6 baptisms, but we have to marry them first. haha. So thats a little more of a challenge. So we have 10 baptism dates, and 2 families. All for the month of April and the beginning of May! Its crazy! But its cool to see how both of those families have been prepared to be baptized. All that was needed was for us to find them. There are a few things different about this mission than other missions. Like, we dont have cell phones.... But we will receive them the month of April! Finally! Next step, Ipads! I highly doubt this mission will get anything like that. Not the best conditions for that kind of thing.... This mission really is awesome. Something that you notice, is how it was possible for all of the Churches to become so far away from the doctrine of Christ during the apostasy. Then you remember just how hard Satan works to destroy everything good. I never knew before my mission how much of the things we know in our church (and people seem to ridicule) are in the Bible! Our town is small. Maybe about 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other, but there are 43 churches. And the people dont really like us that much because their pastors fill their heads with lies. But theres one thing we have, and thats the Book of Mormon, and the promise given to us, that if we read it with an open heart and contrite spirit, the spirit will manifest the truth of ALL things unto us. And that is true. I have seen people with hard hearts who didn't necessarily want to listen to us, just Bible bash, receive a change of heart, and a knowledge that we know. And that is the purpose of a missionary. To invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through FAITH in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, REPENTANCE,  BAPTISM, RECEIVING THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST and ENDURING TO THE END. The 5 principles of the Gospel. And sometimes they are the simplest to do, but Satan works on the Children of God. Satan would have it that every single person on the Earth to be as miserable as him. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church, that will help us to receive eternal happiness. Only through Jesus Christ, can we recieve that blessing. Only through Jesus Christ can we be cleansed of our sins. He has a love for us that we cant understand, and all we need to do is come unto him with a contrite spirit, and a sincere heart. This Church is true, and the Book of Mormon, IS another Testament of Jesus Christ. Always remember to do the little things, like go to church, pay your tithing, say your prayers morning and night, read your scriptures, and love one another. As long as we do those things it is much harder for the adversary to make us slip. I know these things to be true, and all of God's Children can know it. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

NEW COMPANION!

Hey guys! How are you guys doing?! Well this week has been good! I got a new companion, from Baja California Mexico! So yes, I have to speak only Spanish. haha. I haven't heard any English since Wednesday :P haha. But hes cool. His name is Elder Vargas. We worked hard this week, and in only 5 days, we found 9 new investigators, 7 baptism dates with 2 families, and have found more families. So things are going pretty good. Our branch is helping us with the work and theyre fellow shipping our investigators nicely. How are you guys doing? Those are some nice pictures! haha. I have had several opportunities lately to help blind people. Because Ciudad España is full of them for some reason. So I think of Kevin and Bryant lots. I didn't know Grandpa and Margie are going on a mission. haha! Must have been in a letter that didnt send. haha. Well Love you guys and miss you! I hope you have a good week :) Be good Emma! Thanks for the prayers :)

Elder Lasley

 

This is Elder Lasley. He trained my son and was able to stay with him until he left to go home today. I will always be so grateful to him for being such a good influence on my son and and know they have become such great friends. They have spent almost 5 months together in Cuidad Espana. I wish I could hear his homecoming talk but he lives in Iowa (not too far from where I was born). He will be moving out to Utah soon and I will definitely have him over and will feed him well!! I can't wait to meet him and to hear his stories. Thank you Elder Lasley and we will be seeing you soon!

Zone Conference

Feb 17th

Cerro Grander in Tegucigalpa

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Hey guys! So this week nothing much happened. We didnt baptize Jordy
because he told us he hasnt been smoking or drinking coffee or
anything but we saw him smoking and stuff. So we are hoping for this
week to go a lot better with him. We can teach him all we want but if
he doesnt want to change he doesnt have to. They put up cell towers at
the national penitentiary to block cell signals from going in and out
of the prison. But they decided to just put up giant towers that end
up taking cell service away from the valley. So there is no cell
service at all in Ciudad España or in Zambrano or anywhere in between
or a little part of Tegucigalpa. So we cant call anyone because the
phone on our house is just a giant cell phone. The really stupid thing
is that its permanent. Were just wondering why dont they just take
away the phones from the prisoners?????? That would be the easiest
solution..... But here they have to complicate things. Elder Lasley
goes home in march. So I will be with him when he ends. I wont get a
new area till maybe a couple months. Ill be with Elder Lasley then a
new person and depending if Im training him or not will depend on how
long I will be in this area. Training is 12 weeks long. So I will be
in this area for at least a quarter of my mission. Which I really dont
mind because I like it. I went on interchanges this week with the zone
leaders again and I went to Cerro Grande this time which is a section
of Tegucigalpa. It wasnt too bad. But I dont really like the big city
too much. I miss you guys and hope you are doing well! Emma, youre
silly!!!! haha! Love you guys!!!! Be good Emma!!!

NO TRANSFER

Hey guys! So this week was transfers but theyre keeping me and Elder Lasley together in the same area! haha! So we are still in Ciudad España and he will end his mission there in March. So I will be in Ciudad España for like, a quarter of my mission. haha. I dont mind it tho cause its a good area! Nothing much has been going on here besides missionary work!! haha! We have a baptism date for this Saturday for Jordy, but he has to quit the smoking and coffee. But we feel like he will do it. Other than that, this week has been pretty uneventful. Yesterday my companion was sick all day so we didnt go out of the house all day... haha. But oh well! This week we hope to find some more people to teach and work with. I havent eaten anything strange in a while... haha! But now that I said that I will probably be getting something weird this week... haha! Well I hope everything is going good! Miss you guys and love you!! Be good Emma! Have fun! Love you!!!

 

 

February 3, 2014

Hey guys! So changes are supposed to be this Wednesday but I'm not sure if I will be switching areas or even companions.  This next change is my companions last so he might just keep us together or we will get split up. We will find out tomorrow. This week we found some new people! A family of a husband and wife with a baby on the way, and a 16 or 17 year kid named Jordy. Jordy is very proactive and asks when we can teach him. Last night we were going to show him the 20 minute video of the restoration at a members house but we got there and he said he wanted to watch the longer one! haha, So we watched the newer Joseph Smith movie which is a lot better. He even brought his two friends with them!  Lately I have been reading Jesus the Christ (I read 100 something pages the other day haha) and It is really cool. I'm not sure why its not considered scripture... haha! It gives a lot of insight to the parables and the life of not only Jesus Christ but the apostles tambien. It is a really good book! I would encourage you to read it. Even tho it is long and looks intimidating, the trick is to get lost in it and mark things as you read. It gives you a whole new look on the Savior. Even if you've already read it, its a book that you learn something new from every time.... Miss you guys! Love you!!! I hope all is good! All is good here! Bye!!! Love you! Be good Emma!!!!

Zona de Torocagua

Elder Bradshaw and Elder Lasley. Elder Lasley is going home in a few weeks! He has been fun for Darin and has been a great trainer.

January 27th

Hey guys! Not much happened this week. We did interchanges with our zone leaders and so I was with the one from Guatemala who didnt know English. haha. So I got to speak Spanish all day long which wasnt as bad as I thought! But we found some new people to teach, a couple families and so the only hard part now is getting them to be there for appointments. Thanks for sending me a care package :) haha! It doesnt have to be big. I love the little things! As long as there is a picture from Emma in there ;)  I am still in my training which is about to end next week so i will end up getting a new companion. Maybe Ill be getting a native! haha! Theres a pretty even mix of gringos and natives. haha. My district leaders keep teasing me that I will be training this change. haha. My Spanish isnt good enough for that yet. That kid is going to learn very little Spanish from me... haha! But everything is going good. I may or may not leave for this change Im not sure tho. If I do then ok cause I will get to see a different side of Honduras. Not that its not all the same... hahaha! Well I love you guys and miss you! Keep up the good work and Emma be good!!!

January 20th, 2014

Hey guys! I hope everything is going good! Everything here is good and we are staying safe! This week, I got to baptize an 8 year old boy in our ward. The experience was definitely amazing. There is nothing quite like taking a completely clean of sin child, and be able to bring him out of the water. There really isn't a way to describe it.

The people here are very humble and receptive to our message. It really isn't hard to get into doors. Sometimes we get people tell us they are saved because they already have a church and stuff. Its hard to get them to understand that its different. There are hard hearted people in every part of the world, in every situation.Whether they are rich or poor, people still rely on their own strength and not the Lord´s. That is the most important thing to always remember in life. That no matter what, rely on the Lord. Everything will work out if you do. I hope your letters get here soon!!!! Well I miss you guys!! Emma is just as cute as ever! Keep being good Emma! Love you guys!!!

Me and Brandon

Yum Yum!!!