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Danny’s Letters
Newest to Oldest
12/29/11
This week was so ridiculously long. Being the only district here has some pros and cons.
Cons:
First, everyone is watching you. Everyone. It is crazy.
Second, our schedules were random. We changed through maybe 6 teachers a day. Mis maestros son
loco.
Third, you have little or no practice in spanish other than with other Gringos. It is a pain. I missed my
latinos.
Pros:
First, you are the only district and the budget for food remains pretty much the same. Steak dinners
anyone?
Second, it is easier to enjoy the quiet. Especially for personal study.
Third, you have extended computer time. The computer language programs are super helpful.
...
Those are just some of the things you go through. But alas, we have recieved more missionaries. Both
Norte Americanos y Latinos. I finally have Latino roommates so I can practice my language skills more. I
tend to be the one that talks to them the most in my room which is super weird because at least one of
my roommates is almost fluent.
Proselitismo was pretty good this week. We got a reference from a young man named Gabriel and gave
him a BoM. He seemed excited and it is too bad we can´t go see him because we are switching areas.
We got a few other contacts but nothing big. We did buy our teacher a 2.25 litre bottle of coke so he
would ask another teacher on a date. We find it our responsibility to give him eternal happiness. He will
thank us later.
Christmas, as most of you know, was amazing. I had a lot of spiritual experiences that I can´t really
explain. The lady at the orphanage totally felt the spirit, but we weren´t really aloud to discuss it.
Bummer.
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So my Utah compañero has been feeling very depressed about missing home. I'll be honest, I don't know
why because I hardly find myself thinking about home. Sorry everyone. But he has had several meetings
with Presidente George and seems better for the time being, which is good. But while he was gone, me
and my other compañero, Elder Nord from Alaska, were in Investigador Progressivo, which is a Roleplay
of lessons. We were doing a contact and we both spoke pretty good spanish, which was super suprising.
Usually my Utah compañero does all of the talking.
Anna:
Ezra's third favorite gift is totally him. Makes me laugh.
Shelley/Roberto:
Your kid will be a babe. No fear. Sound like a great Christmas.
Kristen:
SHAME ON YOU. I even wrote you. In Shelley's defense, I didn´t even have her email. Merry Christmas
Though
Mom:
SEND ME MORE JELLY BEANS. by the pound. by the pounds. Muchos por favor. They were amazing. I ate
them all in what seemed like an hour or less.
Nieces and Nephews:
Love you all. Stay awesome. You are my favorites, but don't tell anyone.
Todd:
Tenga fuerza. Le amo, mi Hermano. Buen suerte en su trabajo.
Buen Suerte, mi familia. ¡Haga trabajo!
Love,
Elder Kohl
12/26/11 from Sister George
When I went downstairs on Christmas morning the Elders were practicing carols, and I thought
that was a very good way to start our Christmas Day. Then our visitors arrived: Elder Arnold, President
of this Area, and his wife…..Sister Foster, wife of the 2nd counselor in the Area Presidency…..and a couple
who came from the states to visit the Arnolds. It was time for Priesthood to start, but Pte Arnold
suggested that we just go right into his devotional, so of course we did. It’s good we did that or we
wouldn’t have been on schedule.
Sister Arnold and Sister Foster gave very sweet, sincere talks, and then Pte Arnold spoke to the
missionaries. He just relaxed and said what was in his heart to say. I think he enjoyed teaching them in
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English, and being able to talk to them about the Savior. It was one of the most spiritual meetings we’ve
had here.
Then our Sacrament Meeting began. Somehow when we take the Sacrament on the Sabbath that
we are honoring His birth, it seems somehow even more important that we also honor His death and all
that it represents. We are thus remembering Him and His earthly life, from beginning to ending.
Pte George and I had prepared a program where the missionaries themselves read the parts, so
that all participated in the Nativity Story. And we sang the appropriate songs, my favorite being “Oh
Little Town of Bethlehem”. Now we had sung these very carols with the missionaries just last night but
after the sweet spirit we had all felt in the Devotional Meeting, somehow the words came to have more
meaning. During this program I sang a solo of “Mary’s Lullaby”. I basically was the only MTC Sister
available. Pte George also sang a solo! I think this is a first in his life. He sang “When Joseph Went to
Bethlehem”, and it was very touching, to me, to hear a father singing about Joseph’s love and care for
his newborn son.
We then adjourned to the dining hall where a beautiful sight met our eyes: the tables were set
together, covered with tablecloths, and made very beautiful. ONE of the cooks, who was alone in the
kitchen this Christmas Day, just went out of her way to make this nice for the Elders and our visitors.
And she served us all with such love and dedication that it touched our hearts. She had for desserts:
the Christmas cakes they serve here instead of fruitcake, a fruit salad, and two kinds of ice cream. The
Elders were in 7th heaven.
Pte Arnold had arrived with two mini vans, so we loaded up 7 in each van. Pte George drove one
van, and they asked him to lead the way. It took us longer to get to the Orphanage than we had
planned, but we arrived without getting lost. We hadn’t known what to expect, and what we found was
basically a home, where these orphans are taken care of. They have something like 20 orphans there.
Here is the kitchen in the orphanage:
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This is the patio. No matter how much poverty they live in, they always have beautiful flowers:
Here is the front room, with their Christmas tree (and manger scene under the tree):
In the kitchen they had a tiny tree, decorated solidly with bows:
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We discovered when we arrived that most of the children had left! The local Catholic Church had
invited them to come and sing (which they do as a way to raise funds) and then eat at the church. We
had also brought a meal, which we left with them. Basically these are the children who were there, not
counting one little boy and a couple of babies. The woman on the left is in our group. But just look at
these faces, and see if they change:
The Elders were “Santa’s Helpers”, and here they are singing their Christmas Carols. They had to keep
singing while Santa (Pte George) got into his outfit. They sang with MUCH enthusiasm, although it isn’t
showing during this more serious hymn:
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They ran out of the songs they had printed on the papers, and had to all try to see the words in just one
small hymnbook!
Then Santa came Ho! Ho! Ho!ing into the room. One little girl who had been quiet and shy, suddenly
came to life! She hurried up to “Papa Noel” as they call him here, shouting his name with great joy! He
knew her name, having met her when we arrived, so he greeted her personally. He asked her if she had
been good. “Yes!” “ALL year?” “Yes!” “What about that little mischief you did
not too long ago?”
“Oh, no! Not me! No! No!”
Santa had a toy in his pack for each child, by name, thanks to Pte and Sis Arnold. You can see Pte Arnold
here, holding a sleeping baby:
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A present was left for each child that was missing. Here Santa looks like he’s trying to figure out WHO to
give this present to:
This little boy was afraid of Papa Noel, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to get your present:
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This little girl is thinking: “Mama, who IS this guy?”
Meanwhile, Sister Foster and Sister Arnold and Sis Arnold’s friend were fixing hair, painting faces, and
painting nails: This girl, with Sister Foster, didn’t know what to think of her pretty nails. And isn’t her
hair nice, too?
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This girl is showing us the results of the complete works:
They still weren’t tired of our singing, so the Elders sang in English! Songs like “Jingle Bells” and
“Rudolph”. Pte and Hna George even sang a duet:
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Here’s a picture of their entire group, complete with the seven Christmas Helpers, and Pte and Sister
Arnold. Do their faces look any different now?
And I am off. Good luck to everyone.
Love,
Elder Kohl
On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 7:31 PM, Daniel Kohl <daniel.kohl@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Well, I heard from Nathan that you didn't get my letter last week? so here it is:
Alright. I am going to try and crack this out and probably send some pictures back as well if time permits.
This week was interesting. Because of the ominous transfer there was a hustle about by both latinos and
gringos. Todd leaving was interesting as well. One awkward hug before he went to sleep and I entered
my rigorous work out schedule and he was gone by 5 AM (Yes, I am working out now. Like a boss) I also
had my journal signed by my latin friends. Both fortunately and unfortunately they wrote in Spanish.
Speaking of my journal. It is near impossible to find the time to write in it, let alone go back and read what
I have already written.
My district will be the only ones in the CCM for Christmas. It will be us 7 for a week. It is creepy. Very
quiet in the mornings and very quiet at nights.
I feel really bad that you guys are not getting any snow. Boo hoo. It is 90 degrees here, and getting hotter
by the day. Yesterday was the first day of the summer and boy are we feeling it.
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Speaking of yesterday, because Saturday is Christmas Eve, we went prosolyting on a wednesday. And
because of the conundrum of time perception here I will share stories of Prosoletismo rather than a
recounting of the days. In the area that we had for the transfer, there was a sever lack of people. We
head out during siesta so we have very little tracting time. Anyways, we search for people for hours and
find maybe a couple contacts. We have efficiently put out a few copies of the Book of Mormon, and have
made a few friends along the way. One fruitstand vendor attempted to have us come to his Christmas
party. He was a very nice man. We wrote our testimonies in a copy of the BoM and gave him a Gospel
pamphlet. Pamflet? I don't know, we call them folletos here.
(Spelling is ridiculously difficult now. If you couldn't tell)
Because I am in the only district here I was able to read the letters more fully. So here it goes..
Dad:
I'm happy the Colts one once. If they didn't it would have sadened me to be numbered among the Lions
as a zero win team. I also agree. I do not want the team to win anymore. Good luck getting the new job at
Oracle. Maybe you and Nathan should go into business together. Chiste. But really.
Mom:
This applies to dad as well, but I did just recieve the Christmas package. It was ravaged by customs, but
from what my more adept spanish readers in my district have told me is that it was not looted. You will
have to let me know how lonely Christmas is because I'm pretty sure mine is going to be pretty unique.
Nathan:
You were kind of vague about you leaving Crump. First of all, good. That name is gross and not very
appetizing for a consumer (even if it is a B2B commerce). Do you have a job lined up? are you in a new
position? I am super confused. Also, I figured that the field would be just like the CCM with the time lapse
stuff.
Anna:
My district has come to enjoy your Ron Swanson quotes. So I beg of you. Keep them coming. It is at
times very difficult to remain sane.
Kristin:
I will forgive your short comings. And chances are I will get the package while I'm here so no big deal.
Oh and something cool, my district is making a BoM risk board to play on P days and Christmas. I will
send pictures and you will be amazed. It is pretty nifty.
I will send this email and possibly another with pictures so be patient. there is a limit to the amount I can
send.
Good luck to all in your efforts and Merry Christmas
Elder Kohl
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12/24/11
This is Sister George writing from the Buenos Aires MTC. We only have ONE District of Elders here at the MTC for
Christmas. Even though they are few, we are enjoying them. I thought I’d share with their parents the activities
we shared this beautiful Christmas Eve. It doesn’t seem like Christmas to them, because the weather is so warm.
Here they are, all wearing “Christmas ties”:
They acted out the story of The Little Fir Tree who wanted to be a Christmas Tree. Here are the trees in the forest:
Here is the frog, sitting on a log:
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And then a snowflake falls on the log:
Here are the stars, shining:
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Then the Little Fir Tree is chosen by the little boy, and here he is being decorated:
We sang carols, and everyone harmonized. It sounded beautiful!
We also played a “present game” where the presents are passed right and left until the story ends. Here they are
with their presents:
Elder Wald and Elder Childers:
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Elder Mitchell and Elder Brown:
Elder Kohl, Elder Nord, and Elder Brown:
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They ended the evening eating Argentina-style treats:
They are a hard-working group, and are making a lot of progress. We’re grateful to have them here and share this
special season together. I’ll be back tomorrow or Monday with pictures of their Christmas Day.
May you at home be richly blessed, and feeling the peace and joy of this time of year. I know blessings will come
to you through the service of your son.
Sending you our love,
Sister George
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While we were there one of these women was looking very carefully at the Elders. She finally said to
me, “They all have the same first name! How could they all have the same name??” So, we explained
about missionaries and she was very interested. We couldn’t do any actual proselyting, however. But I
know she’ll remember these young men who all have the same name.
She said “Other people have visited us, but we’ve never felt before this feeling of peace and tranquility.
You are precious.” They didn’t really want us to leave, but of course, we had to.
The Elders went Christmas caroling that night, too, just around two blocks of homes right here by the
temple. Altogether, they had a very Different Christmas, but a very special one, too.
And now you’ve shared it with them!
Happy Holidays!
12/24/11
Seeing as I am in the CCM I do not get a call home tomorrow. I do however, have the opportunity to email back and forth between family members. If any of you are interested be on the Internet at the
following times:
The time in Buenos Aires will be 6:30pm to 7:30pm.
So Eastern Time should be 4:30pm to 5:30pm.
And Mountain Time should be 2:30pm to 3:30pm.
¡Feliz Navidad
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12/22/11
No letter in response to Ally’s letter…just a couple of pictures
12/15/11
So it was a rather intersting week.
The first prosolyting day was pretty interesting. A few green missionaries walking around the heart of
Buenos Aires armed with nothing but scriptures and pamphlets, both in spanish. We wandered for a
couple hours being turned down by everyone. I was senior companion this week so I said that we were
not going to eat lunch until we had our first contact (a contact being inviting a person to hear the
message, not just saying "¿hola, como esta?") So eventually we prayed and as we were headed to where
we were going to eat we stopped a lady on the street and she finally talked to us for more than 4
seconds. Later that day, we ran into a guy and got our second contact. He was speaking super fast
spanish and my companion from Utah, the only one relatively well versed in the language and who has
taken 5 years of spanish, couldn't even understand him. So in our broken spanish we started our
message until he says "Yo hablo ingles. Would it be easier to speak in english?" So he is completely
fluent in english. We ended up having a 30 or so minute conversation about the restoration and the
book of Mormon until we eventually give him a copy and ask him to pray about it. It was awesome. We
ended up with 2 other contacts. That was about it on that. I did buy like 10 alfajores though. They are
basically the best things ever. Alfajores are like little debbie snacks. They are little graham cracker things
with dulce de leche (a sweetened milk paste) in a chocolate shell. They are absolutely fantastic.
Sunday was super relaxing after a stressful week. Everyone bore there testimonies then we had a
delicious dinner because we were all starving. Oh, and on a side note, the rice here is absolutely terrible.
It tastes rancid.
My spanish is coming along pretty well for only having been here for 2 weeks. For Progressive
Investigators (which is just like teaching a teacher the lessons in a role play format) I do pretty well and
have had a few commit to baptism. It felt good even if they were just going easy on us.
This place finally feels like home now. Christmas will feel weird though. Aparently we are going caroling
on Christmas and doing like white elephant and such.
I got most of my district sick. And for that matter, quite a few of the other north americans as well. Todd
included. Speaking of Todd, he told me to tell you that he did not recieve any of Jordan's emails. Just
saying. And unless I missed it no one told me if they posted my address and stuff. I need to know if it is
my friends or my family that are lazy. Chiste chiste (joke, sounds like cheesteh), but really. Let me know.
Anna: I got your package. Thanks! The pictures of your kids are the first amount of homesickness that I
have felt but in a good way. Let them know that I love them.
Kristin: I'm waiting, ever so patiently, for your package. Cause I can.
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Nathan: My roommate has his days, he is up and down so I have a fairly dynamic opinion of Utards. I
mean Utahns, disculpe. I kid. Actually the Elder I am second closest to in my district is from Saint George.
Me and him often sing Phantom of the Opera. Cause we can.
So the funniest thing that has happened me language wise was actually on purpose. But this is it
anyways. So we are doing an IP and we are trying to get to know the Investigator. We know he has a dog
so My companions start talking about their dogs. Then my companion from Utah talks about his dogs
name and the Investigator says, "That was my dad's name, he passed away last year." So with a solemn
look my companion tells me to say something so I say, "No tengo un perro, pero yo tengo tres
hermanos!" I don't have a dog, but I have 3 brothers! Apparently that was the wrong thing to say
because everyone started laughing, including me, but not the investigator. I know it isn't that funny but
quite frankly when you are cooped up in spirit prison (as we refer to the CCM) for so long, your sense of
humor has to develop to encompass even the most pathetic jokes.
Well I'll talk to you all next week because I ran out of time this week.
Buen Días,
Elder Kohl
12/8/11
So my one of my compañeros shared something intersting with me. He had been told that the weeks in
the CCM feel like days, and the days feel like weeks. This statement could not be anymore true. It both
feels like I have been here for a couple days and a couple months. Really peculiar.
My compañeros are pretty good. One of them I get along with really well. He is a 26 year old Alaskan
and has a dry sense of humor like me. The other is much more difficult to reside with. He is a newly
turned 19 year old,super home sick, homegrown Utah Mormon who won't stop blabbering about how
he misses home. It can get frustrating at times but I generally deal with it pretty well. My district in
whole is made up of mostly Utah natives excluding my Alaskan comp, a missionary from seattle, and
me. All in all, we get along really well.
Unfortunately I had a pretty cruddy birthday. I got pretty sick the day before and am still sick these 2
days later. Yesterday was the worst however and I couldn't talk at all until around 4 in the afternoon
when my vocal cords started to work again. I cannot voice the amount of frustration that I had not being
able to speak spanish OR english.
Spanish is coming along suprisingly well though. While it has not been as fast as we all would have
hoped, we are doing well and moving fast. Our mock investigator meetings have been 100% in spanish
since the start (and not even Todd did that).
It has been great having a brother here in the CCM. A lot of the other missionaries have been jealous
and often voice their jealousy.
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I am making friends with a lot of Latinos here. They are all great people. There is this one elder, who I
refer to as Elder Poco or Elder Chupenero. Those both mean Elder Little or Elder Short. He in return calls
me Elder Alto which means Elder Tall. We will go back and forth calling eachother weak and calling
ourselves strong (because that is pretty much the extent of my abilities, outside of gospel topics, at this
point). Yeah. We are cool.
The food here is hit or miss. Sometimes it is great and others it is the worst thing I have ever had.
Sometimes towards the end of the week they give us what we call squares. They are just all of the food
that we have been having piled into a pan and baked with pasta and spinach. Pretty messed up.
If you haven't already, post my address to facebook. I had some friends that wanted to contact me. You
can post my email if you'd like. I haven't heard any rules regulating the letters you can recieve from
people. Also, can I get a list of everyone on the recieving end of my letters? I'm just curious.
I really didn´t get a chance to read everyones letters but I am planning on printing most of them out so I
can go over them during the week.
Buenos Días,
Elder Kohl
12/1/11
So I'm assuming that you will be sending this out to various people and that works because I don't have
everyone's email address. The flight was alright and I don't know what Todd was talking about when he
said that he was super cold because I actually thought the temp was perfect. I made it here safely and
waited in lines for about 3 hours before we headed to the CCM. I know no spanish whatsoever which is
detrimental to basically everything here. P-Days, as you all already know, are on Thursdays. And other
than that I don't really have much anything else to write. So I guess I'll talk more next time I write.
(the other) Elder Kohl
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