Rainbow Clouds, Being a Member Missionary and Ninja training

Week after week, lessons, talks and letters, I am hearing the same thing - "Be a Member Missionary".  Here again Elder Darke helps me understand more of why.  I know that Missionary families everywhere pray that their missionary will have people to teach.  I think that it is harder to stretch ourselves to help provide that person to teach.  When we like a new soda or a new restaurant we usually share our experience with those that we care about and love.  Why is it so different to share something so important to us that it envelopes our life, our decisions, our behaviors and everything that we are?  I know that I try a little harder everyday to share the light of Christ, thanks in part to my amazing son, Elder Darke.

From Elder Darke:

Another Wonderfully amazing week :D.

    This week has been one of working with members!  It is great to see how excited they are to help though :D.

    Transfers is comming up again and my companion is trying to prepare me because he thinks that he is going to be transfered :D.

    Rain storms here are really fun!

    & trying not to be a ´´hobo´´ :D

  So transfers is the 30th and my companion has been in this area for 6 months so he is sure that he is getting transfered.  Due to this he has been trying everything to help me remember all of the people here, where they live, how to get there and everything else.  For a few days straight he decided that i was the seinor companion.  That got really interesting really fast.  I remember people, but their names and how to get to their houses i cant seem to get down.  So we were completly lost for a little bit :D.  We still found it!  but it took a little bit of time, and some hints from my companion :D.  it is all good though :D We survived :D.

    Also this week i got to see some really cool rain storms :D.  So normally rain falls straight down right?  Because of gravity and those things :D.  Well aparently here gravity is messed up becuase Sometimes when it rains, the rain falls at like a 45 degree angle.  Luckily for us though when it started raining like that we were in our house, or at an appointment so we missed most of the rain :D.  I like the rain, but its a little harder to talk to people in the rain becuase everyone is in their houses.  Its really cool to watch though :D.

    So during my time as a seinor companion i was suppost to start and end lessons.  Or my companion would just keep talking and talking.  So while trying to not be rude, I tried to do this.  Later my companion told me that i was being a ´´hobo´´ or a robot.  It makes sense becuase When i started or ended the lesson it was suddent and abrupt. :D.  Thats ok though, i am slowly getting better :D.  

    So this week we have especially been working with members becuase we learned that the church is going to sell our chapel if our area doesnt see some major improvment really soon.  So me and my companion have been trying to help the members as much as we can get excited for missionary work.  Because we know that members are the key to great success in missionary work.  I have been talking to my friends and the other missionaries, and they have told me that some of the best investagators that they have ever taught have been referals from members.  I have also seen this.  The investagaors that have a member behind them are much more receptive.  They are golden investagators.

    For a great example of a member missionary is one youth that is in this branch.  He is a convert of not very much time and he is the only one in his family that is a member.  Through his efforts his mother has started being taught by us.  One of his friends as well, and he is helping reactivate another one of his friends.  That is three people that are people touched by the gospel because of one memember.  If every member in our branch did this, the results would be outstanding.  Not the results in numbers of babtisms, but the result in the number of people that are happier / have more peace in their lives / have learned who they are.  We do not do this so we can brag and say we got more babtisms then those other missionaries. But we do this to invite other to come unto christ.  That is why this is important :D  That is why we are here, and i know that this work is the work of the lord, in bringing many souls back to him.  I know this work to be true. There is not a doubt in my mind, and becuase of this it is my oportunidade to work as hard as i can.  to help as many people as i can :D

:D

-Elder Darke

As a side note.  Elder Darke sent these pictures of  "Rainbow clouds" and "Secret Ninja Training".  I thought that you would enjoy these representations of the personality of our Elder.  I miss this crazy kid!
Love,
  Melanie (Mom)

P.s. His birthday is coming up and I will be sending a package to him probably mid April. Any ideas or letters to piggy-back are appreciated!

Two "fantabulitastic" updates!

Well, better late than never?  You get two updates for the price of one today! YAY!

This is from March 10th:

  This week was fantabulatastic!  So a few amazing things that happened!

1.  I played soccer! wooo!

2.  It rained for like two days straight! like hard (im drowning) rain!

3.  Carnival ended! yaa!

4.  Made bannana bread!

5.  Babtism!!! wooo!

This isnt everything that happened, but just a few of the highlights! :D.

    So in my mission we have a rule that we are not allowed to play soccer with other (non missionary) people.  From what i understand this is to help the missionaries not get hurt.  IT makes sense.  But i was really missing playing soccer and being able to play was really fun :D.  No one got hurt.  The only thing that got hurt was the soccer ball.  One of the elders kicked it over the fence and it was attacked by a dog.  so it died.  We had a spare though!  So everything was fine :D.  So after i was really tired, and hot, but it was totally worth it.

    So for two entire days it rained really hard, all day.  The first day we werent prepared so we lost a few of our phamplets to the rain, but luckily that was all. The second day in the morning when we left it didnt look like it was going to rain.  But a few hours later it just started pouring.  Luckily I added my (recently obtained from family)  water proof bags!  So my stuff stayed dry.  We only had one umbrella between the both of us though, so we were both hiding under one umbrella while it was poring.  It was really fun.  We both had huge smiles as we quickly walked to our appointments :D.  It was also really fun to sing hymns as loud as possible becuase no one could hear us because of the rain! :D.  Our shoes were filled with water, our pants where soaked.  But the rain couldnt take away the happiness we had in our hearts :D.  and on our faces :D.

    So carnival, (the week long, missionaries have to go home early) holiday ended!  I was really happy becuase it was really messing up our ability to teach in the afternoon.  We also have quite a few people that can only we taught in the afternoon so we couldnt even teach them :P.  That is ok though,  Carnival ended, we went back to our normal scedual.  Nobody died or anything :D.  ( im the district leaders companion so i get the inside scoop on things :D).  For carnival i really dont know why brazil has the holiday.  All i know is that it is not good for missionaries, so we did not take part :D.

    So Last p day i decided that my companion and i needed some bannana bread.  So i made some :D.  I Still havnt been able to make it like my family can, and i think i used wayyy to much suger.  But it was really good :D.  I acidently made a lot though :D.  So we had to give some to some other missionaries that were visiting :D.

    The second day that it rained really hard, We also had a babtism!  Wooo! The person who was getting babtised is 9 and he is super amazing.  Hes super smart for his age and he is doing well :D.  He even chose me to babtise him!  :D.  It was amazing! :D!  We confirmed him the next day.  This area is super amazing!

    So One of the people we talked to this week was someone that was preparing to go on a mission.  He still didnt feel like he was ready, so he has not sent in his papers yet.  When he said this i remember when i sent in my papers.  i didnt feel ready at all :D.  There were still many things that i felt like i needed to know.  There were feelings of fear that i had not quite gotten over.  Over all, I did not feel ready.  However my heavenly father knows me better then i know me, and as i got down on my knees and asked him if now was the time for me to go on a mission.  He answered with peace, with assurance, with confidence.  Now i was still scared out of my mind (ok maybe not that scared, but pretty scared).  However i knew what heavenly father wanted.  So I decided that it was time for me to go on a mission.

    The funny thing is, even now.  There are still things that i encounter that i still feel like i am not prepared for.  Giving a talk in church in portugese. Helping people get over major addictions.  Teaching things that I dont really know how to teach in portugese.  These are all things that I feel like i am not prepared for.  During these times It reminds me of a quote i once heard ´´there is no growth in your comfort zone, and there is no comfort in your growth zone´´.  I know that heavenly father will help us with everything in this life.  However many times we must take the first step.  Even if that step seems extremly small.  Take it.  Then take another.  Then another.  Keep going, keep taking steps, no matter how small seem to be.  If we look back with an attitude of gratitude we will notice that Heavenly father was helping us from the beginning.  Even for the first step we were not alone.  We just had a hard time realizing it.  I know heavenly father loves each of us immensly.  If you dont believe me, look at everything you have.  Even look at the world we live in.  Heavenly father made it all for us.  This i know to be true.

:D

-Elder Darke

And here's one from today, March 17th.  Happy St. Patrick's day!

This week was fantabulitastic!

-We had a meeting at the mission presidents house, and afterwards we got to ask questions to the mission president!  The questions were mostly random, but they were really funny :D

-I felt like i have been on the bus a lot this week because of some trips we took to brasillia and another area (to do a babtismal interview).

-After the meeting at my mission presidnets house, me and my companion have been having these really deep doctrine disscusions every night.  It is really fun :D. (even though its hard to understand everything :D)

-A great companionship inventory!  

    Tuesday we normally have a District meeting (our district (6 missionaries)) get together and report on the work in our areas.  This includes talking about our investagators their needs and how we are going to help them.  After wards our district leader teaches us a priciple of the gospel, or missionary work,  and we do practice lessons, or contacts to practice what we learned.  We do this every week but this week we had our district meeting at the house of the mission president.  It was pretty normal except for the fact that we were sitting on really comfortable chairs.  After it was done the mission president took some time to teach us.  After wards we were allowed to ask questions.  For this meeting instead of our district is was our zone (our zone is made up of like 3 districts).  So there was quite a few missionaries there, and the questions that they had were mostly really random.  I really enjoyed them though.  There were questions to clarify some rules that we had, other to more fully understand how to better work with our investagators. However one missionary there was just constantly asking questions.  His went along the lines of ´´how did you two meet?´´ (he was talking to the mission president and his wife).  Or how do you know the book of mormon is true?  He had like 10 of these kinds of questions.  It was really funny :D.  We are going to have a new mission presidnet in a few months, so I am curious to see how different he will be :D.

    When we were going to the zone meeting, and comming back the bus took forever!  There was like traffic and stuff so we were on the bus for a long time.  Later that week we also went to the sisters area that is like forever and a half away, so that is more bus time.  So looking back i feel like i was on the bus for a really long time :D.  I kind of like the bus though so it wasnt bad at all :D.  I feel like i could of done better at useing the time on the bus to do contacts or something though.  So i will do better!  

    My companion and I were talking after the zone meeting at the presidents house, and the converstion turned to a question he had.  I dont know everything but i think its fun to talk about the gospel so talked about it for a while.  It ended up going into deep doctrine and stuff.  It was really fun!  My companion knows a lot of things becuase he has had companions that knew a lot of things also.  So it was a really fun converstion (even though it was a bit difficult to understand).  We did that for like 3 days in a row :D.  It has been really fun to just talk (becuase my vocabulary is limited when it comes to non gospel things, its hard to just ´´talk´´). My companion is pretty awesome and he has been super patient with me so far :D.  The only probablem with deep doctrine is we as missionaries need to teach things simply.  As people understand the simple concepts, we can then add on to what the understand.  Its like Building a skyscraper.  Do you build the top floor first?  or do you build the first floor, and work your way up?  So I just need to remember to teach simple truths.

    Also this week we had companionship inventory (we do every week, but this week was a bit different).  I am still new to many things here, so up to now i have been holding in a lot of my feelings.  During companionship inventory i finally let it all out.  (not yelling, or getting mad) but simply asking questions about things that i thought might make my companion mad.  I cant say that he didnt get mad. However i can say that he is pretty amazing companion becuase even if he was mad, he didnt show it.  He helped me understand the various custums here and he didnt do it in a way that made me feel like he was amazing that I didnt understand. Instead he helped me.  It still wasnt easy to be humble and except that i was doing things wrong.  However once i had, and once i stopped holding in my feelings things have been a lot better.  :D

    This week i have been thinking about preparing for a mission.  What to do, and what i wished i did.  

First: if you are preparing, you need a testimony of the book of mormon, and how joseph smith was a prophet of God.  This is probably the most important thing to make sure you have.

Second:  Ask your leaders for advice, especially your bishop.  The advice I received from their hands was invaluable.  It was probably one of the most important things i got when i was preparing.  Make sure you do it plenty of time before you even send in your papers.  This will help you prepare.

Third:  You are going to invite everyone to do things.  Like read the book or mormon, pray, go to church.  For members you will probably ask them to invite their friends to church.  Or something of that nature.  How can you powerfully invite people do you things you are not willing to do?  To help you be a better missionary, start now when you arnt in the feild.  Go teaching with the missionaries in your area.  Read the book of mormon, pray about it.  Talk to your friends about the gospel.  Be an example of a Christ like person.  This will help you in yourlife, both to prepare, and just normally as well :D.

    For the things i wish i had done:  I wish i had spent more time with my family. Games are fun, but as i look back, the time i spent with my family is hundreads of times more precious then the games i could have played in that time, or anything else I could have done.  Part of this is due to the fact that missionaries teach the gospel, that is focused on strengthening families.  Families are eternally important.  

    For everyone i have one more peice of advice.  Even if you are not preparing for a mission.  The advice is this: Strengthen your testimony.  Even if you think it is sufficiently strong,  what could possibly be wrong with making it stronger? :D.

:D

-Elder Darke

Carnival, Stretching and Preach My Gospel

From Elder Darke:

  So this week was fantasic!    but for a little background information for everyone, this week brazil has a holiday named Carnival.  It gets pretty crazy. All the missionaries are to be in their houses early.  (for me and my companion we are in our house at 6 because a lot of people drink in my area :D).  This isnt like one day either, this is like an entire week.  So It is really different to do missionary work when suddenly you loose two hours in the day. It doesnt sound like much, but it really changes everything! :P.

    So Carnival is interesting.  In my area all the youth (of the church / investagators) have the opportunity to do something called acompemento.  Its like a week long camp for the youth.  So church was really different becuase all the youth were gone.  The church felt so empty.  However that gave me the chance to help with the sacrament!  It felt really good to do that :D.

    (Random news)  I decided a while ago i wanted to be able to touch my toes when i strech.  So I started doing some streches every day.  A few days ago I was able to touch my toes!  ha ha!  First time in forever.  (ya, not that flexable :D)  It made me really happy :D.

    So In my ward we also got some new ward missionaries.  We had a training, and then we let them go :D.  One of the coolest things though.            One of the new ward missionaries is new, and she was really nervous when we first started.  We talked to her a few days ago though, she is already talking to a bunch of people about the church, and If this growth continues, I am sure she will be able to bring many people unto christ.  After learning this I though Wow,  she really must have been praying for opportunites to help people, and the courage to actually do so.

    What a great example.  She was given a challenge that she probably didnt think she was ready for.  Instead of hiding, running away, or something else.  She went to the lord for help and strength, and now she is helping many other people.  How many times have we faced a daunting challenge and Thought to ourselves, How am i ever going to be able to do this?  I am confident that if we humbly ask god for help, he will help us.  For we are his children, all of us, and from personal experience I know that a loving father will always help his children, through thick or thin.  He is there, all the time, watching, waiting to help us if only we will first go to him.  I know this is true.

    One thing that I have realized this week that I need to improve on is developing christ like attributes.  If you have preach my gospel (probably the best missionary tool ever)  It is chapter 6 i think.  I especially like that becuase christ was a perfect person, and this chapter helps us become more like him.  Now I also know that developing christ like attributes is a life long challenge.  However what better time to start a difficult challenge then now?  Or in other words, when is the best time to plant a tree.  20 years ago.  The second best time is now.

:D

-Elder Darke

P.s. Have a great week!

Studies (christ like attributes)

We love this guy!
Love, Melanie (mom)

Clouds, Monsters and Speaking in Church

So, now aren't you excited that you get a second post from this week?  Yep, let's look at the bright side.  Good news is he sent a picture of a recent baptism!  Yea!
From Elder Darke:

  Another fantastic week!  It was especially great becuase it was cloudy all week!  wooo!  I say this becuase when it is not cloudy it is increadably hot!  So i prefer cloudy!  If it rains It just fills me with joy, so either way clouds rock! :D.  My companion doesnt like rain because it gets his pamphlets and books all wet, (when it rains, it rains!)  My bag though is waterproof!  Its been brazil tested :D.  So other interesting things from the week :D

    We had seven investagators at church today!  Seven!  Thanks like (angelic noises) amazing!  It really made me happy!  The rest of thatsunday was meetings meeting meetings :D.  We had a leaders meeting, and ward missionary training, and a ward family reunion thing also.  So we were at the church almost all day, however I think that we are about to see some amazing activity from the ward for missionary work. Becuase the meetings went very well :D.  I think understand what the bishop must feel like on sundays :D.

    One of our investagator families is really progressing this week :D.  We have been working with them for a while, but this last week one of them started asking all of these amazing questions that she had becuase her proffeser is athest.  So taught her the plan of salvation but we couldnt teach fast enough becuase she was just constantly asking questions about things we are about to teach.  It was really funny :D.  It went really well though.  They were one of the families at the church :D.

    This last week we had a zone meeting for the missionaries!  We had 2 new missionaries arrive that were in our zone.  One was brazilian, the other american. They may be from different places, but their expressions of bewilderment were the same :D.  it makes me wonder If i looked like that when i came.  Probably :D. They will be fine in a few weeks though.  maybe a little longer for the american :D.

   Today I am really tired becuase I kept having dreams about a giant monster trying to eat me.  Explaining this to my non english speaking companion was really ammusing the next morning as well :D.  I think my sherades skills are increasing daily :D.  

    In church I was also asked to give a talk, the morning before Church.  We had things planned though so i couldnt sit down and plan out what i was going to say. To make matters even more interesting, I think our Stake presidency was there as well :D.  So I got up, and doing my best talked about the book of mormon.  How i knew it was true, and how anyone could know the same if they read and prayed about it with real intent.  So I felt like I didnt do very well.  As i went to sit down though I caught sight of my companion as he went up to the stand.  He had a huge smile on his face.  Over the next little while, quite a few people came and told me they understood everything I said.  Here is the thing, I am not sure that I understood what I said.  How did they?  

        For those of you that maybe are young, or even new at giving talks in church. I have some advice that might help.

    First.  Everything will be all right.  Even if you mess up, everything will be fine.

    Second.  Take the inicitive and prepare.  Make sure you spend plenty of time preparing for your talk. This means scripture reading, praying, searching, pondering,  Feasting upon the words of Christ.

    Third.  Relax, breath deep, You can do this.  You are prepared, and you are ready.

    Fourth.  (this is most important)  Follow the topic and gidence given to you by the bishop or his councelers, but make sure you are receptive to the spirit.  The spirit can take the words we say and turn it into a powerful lesson that is different for every person that can peirce them to their very heart, and help them with their problems.  Trust in the spirit, Have faith that it will work out, and he will not let you down.

    Now for what happened to my talk.  The words I said where clumbsy, unskilled, and probably gramatically incorrect.  However the spirit did something to what I said, and helped the people who heard it understand.  He has done this for me many times, I know he wont let me down.  I also know that he wont let you down either.

    I know that missionary work is vitally important.  We have the great blessing of helping other people gain eternal happiness.  What greater work is there?  I know that the spirit will be with us as we worthily try to help others.  I know that the book of mormon is true.  I know this becuase the holy spirit help enlighten my understanding.  The spirit is truly amazing.  It can, and will help anyone that sincerly seeks after, and asks for its help.  This I know to be true.

:D

-Elder Darke

I just love the baptismal font they use.  Simplicity. I think sometime we forget that gospel principals don't need to be dressed up fancy.  They are simply true, it doesn't matter the circumstances.
Love to all,
Melanie (Mom)

Transfers, Prayers and More Spelling Oddities

   Sorry everyone!  I'm sure that you were expecting a post from Elder Darke last Monday!  We were on vacation and I couldn't get to it.  Just think, it'll be an extra special week, you'll get to read two.
  Also, several people (concerned grandmas mostly!) have wondered about Elder Darke's spelling.  They have been wondering why I haven't corrected it or corrected him directly.  I think that I may have shared this in the past, but I want to share his general emails directly as he has written them.  Those who know Elder Darke well know that he has always struggled with his spelling and memory.  Leaving his grammatical errors shows how our Heavenly Father is performing miracles in helping Elder Darke's learn Portuguese and giving him Divine Intervention when he needs it most.  It may seem silly to many, but I can assure you that it has been a major comfort for Galen (and his mother!). As far as it being a schooling issue, I can assure you that he has had a great education with better than average grades and will go far in his life.
  At last, from Elder Darke:

This week was awesome!

    My companion was kind of freeking out all week becuase today is transfers and we dont know if we are getting transfered or not until sunday night.  So He was making sure I would remember everything if he left.  He didnt.  That is ok though :D.  I like him as a companion :D.  He got premoted to district leader though :D.  So instead of transfers he is nervous about that :D.  I am sure he will be fine though :D

    So i forgot about valentines day.  It was a good day though.  However it was totally forgotten :D.  I just remembered becuse I had a few emails that mentioned it :D.  The brazilians dont have valentines day, so it was pretty easy to forget.  They have a different holiday though called carnival or something. Ya, I have no idea what is going to happen :D.  I think we are suppost to stay inside for a few days though.  Thats going to be fun :D

    We have some amazing investagators.  The hardest part seems to be getting them to read, and pray about the book of mormon though.  We have one family that is amazing!  However they are having a hard time reading and praying and we are just like uhh!  come on!  There is so much peace and happiness you can have, you just need to do this easy thing that takes less time then walking to the store and buying a can of happiness (if they actually existed!)  uhh!  so frustrating!  However everyone has their free agency though.  I just hope they start using it to read and pray though :D.

    The power of prayer is truly amazing.  You are litterally talking to our heavenly father who loves us!  How amazing is that!  prayer by itself is pretty wonderful, but i find that praying with a purpose really helps a person understand just how loving our heavenly father is.  That he takes the time to listen, and respond to our prayers is a wonder.  Dont take my word for it though.  Go and pray for yourself and find out exactally what I am talking about.

First: Adress who you are talking to (our heavenly father)

Second: express gratitude for your blessings

Third: Ask him for anything you need.

Fourth: close in the name of Jesus Christ.

  Prayer is a personal thing though.  You are litterally talking to your loving father in heaven.  Tell him anything you want.  pour your heart out to him.  He will listen to everything you have to say.  and finally when you ask for things that you need, be patient.  He always answers our prays, but often he does so in a way we do not realize or recognize, and he is all knowing.  So he answers our prays in a way that is best for us, even if sometimes that means waiting a little while before we get an answer.  However I promise he will answer.  He want to hear from us, and I rather enjoy talking to him, Becuase he really loves me :D.  Just remember Everything works out in the end, even if it doesnt. :D

:D

-Elder Darke

I read the things this young man says and I wonder, "What happened to my little boy?"  I am constantly impressed at how much Elder Darke has grown and proud of the way he continues to affect others lives, including my own.  What an example of Christ like Love.
  Have a great Sabbath!
Love, Melanie (Mom)

P.S. By the way, if anyone wants to leave messages to this blog, they will find their way to Elder Darke.  We also plan on printing the blog in it's entirety to make a book once Galen has returned from his mission. Yah!

Portuguese Baptisms and some Good Reading!

This week's email from Elder Darke:

This week was extra fantastic!

    One of our investagators was babtised!  Wooo!  So I am still really happy becuse of that :D.  That was like the highlight of the week!  It was amazing!  and I was the one that babtised him!  and i felt kind of bad because the water was freezing cold, and he was shivering really bad.  I didnt think about that when i was putting ice in the pool :D.  (just kidding, I only thought about doing it, didnt actually do it :D).  Second portugese babtism!  It went really well!  Once again the hardest part was the name!  I had my companion there to help though so it was fine :D.  So this area is offically amazing!  I like being able to help people learn about the gospel and come unto Christ :D.

    Transfers is comming up and our area is getting more missionaries.  So we should have 4 in our house :D.  Its going to be fun :D.  I kind of hope they are all brazilians because then i will be completly fluent in no time :D.  (I am not yet fluent, working on it, but not quite there :D).  All the members here are also getting excited for the extra missionaries :D.  I think we are going to have a lot of babtisms in this area in the comming transfers :D.  There are a lot of people here that are super freindly and are probably just waiting for the gospel :D.  

    Oh and for those of you that have been looking for a good book.  (and i know many of you like to read).  I would recomend the book ´´Jesus the Christ´´ by James E Talmage.  It is amazing!  Have you ever had a question about Jesus Christ?  I am pretty sure this book will answer your question.  If your thinking, ´´uh i can barly understand the bible, i am not sure i would understand much about this book either´´  Think again!  This book clarifies everything in simple, easy to understand launguage!  and its just plain awesome!

    If your thinking ´´i want a book with some more action!´´  Then read the book of mormon!  That book is chaulked full of action!  Maybe the story of Ammon defending the kings sheep, or the young Strippling warriors, Or even captain moroni and His mighty deeds!  So much amazingness! but why should we keep this to ourselves?  There are people all around us that would love to read, or hear about this stories!  So have an extra book of mormon with you, and give it to one of your many freinds, you never know what will happen :D.  If you need help explaining what it is, I am sure the missionaries, the bishop, or even your parents would love to help you practice explaining so you can do it effectivly when the time comes :D.

    For our lunch appointment the other day this is what we helped the members with.  I for one, was extremly supprised at their insight, and their skill at explaining.  I am not sure how well i would have explained it before my mission, and even now I probably could do better then I am :D.  Now I am not saying they were perfect, but they dont need to be.  Then knew what they were talking about was true, and that itself provides more power then most other things.  All they need now is just the opportunity to share, and I am sure that heavenly father has more then enough opportunites for those who ask for them :D.

    Remember people have agency, its one of the most precious gifts god has given to man.  No matter if they refuse it or not, one thing everybody needs it a friend.  Be a friend, be friendly.  Help all those that need it.  For when we do this we show our faith powerfully.  Actions speak louder then words.  So do good, for those that do good eventually will receive their reward.

:D

-Elder Darke

P.s. As the apostle Paul taught ´´avoid the appearance of evil´´ This is wise coucil. :D.

It continually amazes me, the council that Elder Darke gives every week!  He is growing and gives strength to everyone else, always!
Love, Melanie (Mom)

A "pockat" watch?, investigators, families and gratitude.

Here's the update from Elder Darke.  Sounds like he is progressing well and that he's probably lost a few things.  Just like him! Not much to report, which I take as good.  Sometimes more of the normal is a wonderful thing to hear!
From Elder Darke:

Another fantastic week!  (i know I say that a lot but this week was fantastic :D)

    So a few fun things that happened.

  1. I got a pockat watch (sort of).  Its really a normal watch but the strap part is gone so it is just the time recorder part.  But it makes me feel fancy :D.  

  2. I found out that I have actually eaten star fruit (I am not sure about this one, because i dont know the names of everything i eat :D)  It was in a star shape though so I am going with it :D.

  3.  I also got a letter from the first Presidency! :D.  It was a christmas letter, and i think most of the other missionaries also got one.  However it made me feel special.  and it took me like 20 minutes to figure out what it said :D.  I had to look up every other word :D.

  4.  We also had like 7 investagators come to church sunday!  It was amazing! Most of that was because of members to!  So it was really exciting! :D.

    So this week has been fun and special :D.  I am still far from being fluent.  However I know that as I study, work hard, and have the lords help I will learn!  My progress is amazing in this past few weeks, and I am excitied to see my progress in the future as well :D.  I am sure i will be fluent in no time :D.

    My companion and I have really been praying and asking for blessings for the people we teach.  I am so grateful for the amazing and wonderful things that heavenly father gives us.  As I study the lessons that we teach people I am even more greatful as I learn of things that he has given us.  For starters he gave us all bodies, and an opirtunity to come to earth.  On earth he gave us the gospel (a road map to get back to his presence).  To help us further he gives us blessings on a daily basis!  He is really doing everything that he can to help us grow, learn, and return to him.  The best part is though, even for all the things that i am grateful for, there is undoubtedly thousands of more things that I have not even noticed.  His kindness and grace can hardly be comprehended.  Oh how grateful for these things I am :D.

    Something that really made an impression on my mind this week is the important role of families.  Especiall the roles of parents in the family.  Here I have seen all kinds of different family situations.  Every situation is different, however I have noticed what a difference it makes when there are two loving parent at the head of a family.

    The family proclamation (from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)  is absolutly true.  When the family is established and follows the direction in the family proclamation, it is so much better then otherwise it would be.  I am grateful for the guidance the church gives all of us in these sort of circumstances.

    My freinds, as we go about every day, do we have the attitude of gratitude that we should have?  Just think of everything you have.  God created it all for you.  Everything.  This planet.  The air we breath, the water we drink.  The Food we eat, and our bodies that we eat it with.  Heavenly father truly has done so much for us.  Have we noticed it all though? Or are we taking most of it for granted?  I know that I am taking most of it for granted, however I am trying to be grateful for everything :D.

People that have heard about Marissa's (Galen's sister) injury - she is doing better and hopefully will not have any long term problems with the concussion.  Now, the nose?  Surgery will take care of that in a month or so!  I think that she misses her brother so much, she wants to mimic his soccer injuries as well! Thanks to everyone for your continued support and love for our family!  It truly can take a village to raise good kids!
Love, Melanie (Mom)