David at the (U.S.) airport with other Elders and Sister missionaries on the way to Chile, March, 2012.
Kari replays David’s message to us:
Some of you have asked and have been worried about hearing of the earthquakes where D is. No worries he says “I still haven’t felt an earthquake during my time down here, so things are all right.” (KS)
An Archie asks Kari how David is doing, and send her/our love to him.
@kariontour hey kari! How's David nowadays? We really miss him. Please send our love to him. :) we'd really appreciate that. :) thanks!
—
Myrtle Virata (@dApVirata) October 05, 2012And Kari replies with what we all want to know:
@dApVirata he is doing well. I hear from him weekly and every week I keep him updated on things you all are tweeting about and let him know he is missed and loved.
Many thanks to Kari for letting us know that David is in a good place, and that he’s doing well!
* * * * *
Warning! Following are other news of Missionary David.
The combo pop and hymn concert concert only for 18 – 30 years old. Held at 7pm (Chile time) on 13th October 2012. The performers were Elder Archuleta on vocals and Elder Coello on piano.
* Elder Coello (Italo Coello) is a concert pianist.
Gladys’s recap of the concert shared on The Voice.
Also, Gladys’s full story of her Second Trip to Chile HERE.
Gladys’ two-sentence recap:
I’M GOING TO SHARE IN GENERAL THINGS TO SWEETEN THINGS A BIT. HE SANG IMAGINE, DANCED SALSA, A SONG BY CELIA CRUZ, AND DANCED LIKE TO AL JOLSON
Size of crowd:
Ten chairs at each side, 20 rows and more peeps in the back (400+ attended)
How he looked, what he wore:
…DAVID IS STILL BEAUTIFUL AS EVER
He wore a a suit, and turquoise tie.
When I saw David dancing and singing, I swear I thought of telling everyone that he has grown, his confidence is huge, he is not timid at all.
David laughed a lot, and all the time he said that he was hot.
He no longer looks thin. He looks good, and has a muscular body now.
Language he spoke and sang:
David almost never spoke English, he spoke in Spanish. He gave a speech in perfect Spanish (he spoke really well, except for some words).
He gave a talk about his decision. He said the decision to go on his mission came from his heart, just like music. He said it was a difficult decision, but something he had to do.
When he finished singing, he said that in his country, the audience ask for more (song), but did not know how to speak it in Spanish.
David’s performances: he sang 19 songs!
He sang many hyms at the beginning. We were scolded because we clapped and screamed, but then it couldn’t be helped.
As a tribute to the Elders, he sang “Dixie” by Al Jolson which is an old song, kneeled down. David was on fire when he danced Salsa. He wore a white hat when performing “Dixie”, and at the end of the song, he threw the hat to the audience.
Pop songs: Imagine, A Thousand Miles, Hero (by Enrique Iglesias, Mariah’s version), Heaven, I’m Strong, What A Wonderful World, Eye of the Tiger (all in English). He also sang a beautiful Argentinian song, “Thanks to Life”.
In Spanish, he sang “Dream A Morning”, “One Minute More” (he asked his aunt, Reina Mayorga Deliz to translate the song for him), and all the hyms.
He came out boxing like a boxer when he sang “Eye of the Tiger”. Then he kicked the air like a kick boxer. This is so funny. Everyone was drooling!
He asked us to stand up and dance with him when he sang “Life is a Carnival” by Celia Cruz, the Queen of salsa. OMG! He DANCED SALSA, seriously. He said he liked that the audience danced with him, not like that many North Americans stay seated.
David’s voice has improved, now can hold any note longer, very relaxed.
David laughed a lot with the piano player, Elder Coello.
“What A Wonderful World”:
“Life is a Carnival” by Celia Cruz:
“Eye of the Tiger”:
The crowd:
They (securities?) took him out so fast. He kept smiling, wanted to greet us, but they did not let him do it.
The Sisters and the missionaries know he is a famous recording star. All the young girls that filled the place did, too.
Everyone chanted “One more! One more!”
No pictures or video allowed
The excitement doesn’t end here! There will be another public event in Chile at Christmas time that Gladys plans to attend.
Sept. 25, 2012 (from Elder Cadden’s blog):
“Carissa, you´ll like this; this week I got to spend a little bit of time with Elder David Archuleta. He´s not in our mission, but he and some other elders in his mission (Rancagua) were in Santiago to see a doctor for an elder that needed medical work done at the same time as when my companion needed to see a doctor here (he´s fine now by the way). We got to chat with Elder Archuleta and other elders outside the main offices for a little. It was sweet just having a normal conversation with him and other people…nothing at all about him being famous or even directed at him at all. Also, Sammy, the first thing I asked him was if he knew you haha and that was funny.”
30 Sept. 2012:
Gisselle from Chile told Janel from Utah her encounter with Elder Archuleta:
“There was an activity Gisselle attended after church on Sunday, 30 Sept., where David sang and the mission president gave a talk. David sang Joseph Smith’s First Prayer in Spanish, and other songs with a choir, but she doesn’t remember. She met him after. She was introduced by a friend and the friend told David it was her calling or job to invite people in the church, aged 18-30, who were active and not active to the event. David gave her a big smile when he heard she had that calling of inviting people. David told her that was great and asked if she brought a friend and she said she did. He asked Gisselle how she was doing and she said fine, and she asked him the same. She said it was a pleasure meeting him, and he asked her name. She said “Gisselle” and he repeated her name.”
This is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Joseph Smith’s First prayer:
6 – 7 Oct. 2012
Gisselle from Chile had another wonderful Elder Archuleta encounter over the LDS conference weekend, 6 – 7 Oct. Gisselle said that David was getting really good at speaking Spanish. Her recap was shared by Janel on Utah Fans of David Archuleta.
“On Saturday I saw Elder Archuleta and he sat behind me at the conference. When the conference was over, he started talking to me and asked if I have been a member my whole life and I said no, that on the 25th of October it’ll be 3 years. He then replied “Oh, awesome!” and he smiled. He asked if I could share how my experience was when I got baptized. And I told him my story. He asked how old I was then I told him that my grandma was going to have her 1 year of being in the church.
He asked which missionaries had baptized me and I told him. David told me that his mother was a member and his siblings as well. We talked about more things but I honestly don’t remember half of the things from being star struck. Before he had talked to me I had given him an “alfajor” (chocolate covered cookie) so when I was going to leave I went up to him to say goodbye and he thanked me for the alfajor. I asked him if he had eaten it. He had said no, but that he was going to eat it. He then said he didn’t remember my name. I told him that it was okay, and he asked what my name was once again.
On Sunday we didn’t talk, but this happened: I went to conference and there was a lot of people. I sat down near a door and then all of a sudden I saw David headed towards the door. He then spotted me, smiled, and waved hello.
Then, he came towards me and he came to shake my hand. He asked how I was doing and I told him “good, thanks”. He then left and sat at his spot because conference was about to start. When conference was over I went over to say goodbye and he said bye. I told him, “Oh, you remember my name? I thought you had already forgotten it!” and he replied saying “Oh of course, I won’t forget it!” and he smiled. Then, I walked home in the rain, thinking about the two days that had occured.
Oh I also remember with his companion on Saturday it was raining and they were running to get out of the rain. They were both tired and all wet.”
22 Oct. 2012
From jordaninchile’s blog:
“Elder David Bednar visited Chile on Friday, and the four missions in the area (Santiago north, east, west, and our mission Rancagua) were invited to hear him speak. “Elder Archie” sang in the beginning. The Elders from the other missions were freaking out saying “Elder Archie’s here!” when we just rolled our eyes because he sings at just about all of our mission events.”
From elderstollenwerk’s blog:
“One other thing that was neat about that meeting was that Elder A performed a special musical number for us, singing “I’m Trying to be Like Jesus. It was a really neat experience to be able to listen to him sing in person. I shook his hand and said hi to him, but that was about all. He is actually a really shy and humble person, which is really interesting coming from someone who has performed all over the world.”
From spencertasso’s blog:
“Elder Bednar spoke to us friday! It was with several other missions. Also David Archuletta sang “Im trying to be like Jesus,” but of course in spanish. The song was really simple, but beautful, the spirit was really strong, I almost cried.”
(From FOD comments, October 31, 2012)
Sarahsmom says:
My friends nephew is serving in the same mission as David, his blog has been posted on this site before. I asked what he thought about his pictures and blog being viewed by Davids fans and they said he thought it was great. He said he and David run into each other often and David is humble and kind, and just like the other missionaries in their area.