12/31/12

Hola Familia!

This week was awesome! Well, it was sad to say goodbye to you all on Christmas, but on the bright side it has been great here! :) The ward has really made us feel at home here for Christmas away from home. We've been getting presents left and right and have been stuffed full of food for the past week. I swear, I'm going to explode. NO BUENO! On the bright side though, I bought a scale so I can guilt myself into losing weight and getting back down to where I was. I've only gained 10 pounds according to the scale...but I'm sure my muscle is slowly being replaced with fat! Grrrr...I'll be okay though, yay workouts! And people will not feed us as much with the end of the holidays. :) I sure love this ward. 

Little update on the work! We found 10 new solid investigators this week, we have 6 investigators with baptismal dates, we have a baptism set for this Sunday, we had 5 of our investigators in the chapel on Sunday, and the ward attendance that we have been working on with less actives has gone from around 80 when I got here to 200 at church yesterday! Our little chapel was packed! It was great though. And plus it was a great Sunday for everyone to be there, missionary Sunday!

Speaking of missionary Sunday, I spoke! AHHH! I was a little nervous, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I though it would be. I guess I have a limit as to how many people in the congregation before I shake ha. I used to get super nervous in front of wards with 300-400 members there, so I guess my mind's content with 200. :) The Spirit was so strong in the room, because I could tell it was guiding me in what to say. Because I'm a procrastinator, I forgot about it until the morning of, so I pulled all my notes together and decided to talk about how to recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost and how that applies to missionary work. It wasn't too hard, because it was easy to testify of the power of the Holy Ghost when the members are in the lessons with us. The more we have in the lessons to testify, the better. I love member lessons. Following me was an old bishop who basically talked about the same thing and talked to the members about how important they are. Something he said that I really liked was when he said, "we invite, the missionaries teach, and the Holy Ghost converts." How true that is! I also shared that and how the real teacher is the Holy Ghost. I shared our family's story and how it was through members that we found out about the church. That that statement really is true! Members are SO important. So please talk with the missionaries in your ward and share with them who you can go with them to visit. They only need a good 15 minutes to meet with anyone, and the Holy Ghost has their attention to testify. 

Our investigators that were there absolutely loved it! The whole block. Our investigators right now are the ones Elder Kopischke warned us of-the elect. Alicia and Florentino were a referral from another investigator and have been progressing so fast! It is amazing how important this message is to them. The Spirit is so strong in our lessons, and I know they will feel super ready when it comes time for their baptism on the 13th. :) 

Please keep Clemente in your prayers. He is going through a rough time of doubt, and what his mom is saying is really getting to him. Which is sad. This is like a repeat of Melissa. He has come so far, and is so close, and his mom is talking about how he should look at other churches first. He shares with us how he knows this church is true and he knows he will be baptized someday into this church, he just isn't sure right now is the time. We had a really good talk with him last night though and we are fasting with him today so that he can gain a sure answer of where he should be going with his life and this decision right now. I have faith that he will receive his answer for sure today. The power of fasting cannot be denied.

Those are our more progressing investigators right now, but this week we found a house full of Salvadorians who are itching to hear our message and already love what we have shared with them so far. The fruits of our labors. I love working, working, working. It is so fun, and so life-changing at the same time. :) 

Oh! And I love my new shoes! They are definitely the most comfortable out of the three pairs I have right now. :) Thank you! I love all the presents I got from you, I use them all the time. :)

Well, today starts a new week! And tomorrow starts a new year! A new year full of surprises. A new year full of work. A new year full of laughter. A new year full of goals. I hope you all have a great week, and enjoy celebrating this new year. Now let's not forget this year about all the goals we set last year! ;) When you have a chance, you should watch the "New Year's: Look not behind thee" Mormon Message on LDS.org. It's one of my favorites and gives us a great message about the New Year! Love you all so much, Happy New Year!

-Elder Gallego

"You can't move back, so you might as well look forward in the best way you can. Anybody can chose to change. Leave the past behind and look ahead to a brighter future. It's a new year. Don't look back."

12/24/12

Hola Familia!

Well, this week is going to be super short, because honestly, I DON'T WANT TO WRITE RIGHT NOW! :) I love you all so much, but I have so many letters and packages to open, I am just too giddy to wait. haha All us missionaries are super trunky right now, too...but that's okay because it is Christmas ha. This week was a great week, my companion is great. We got to watch Tangled for our once-a-year Disney movie at our Christmas Devotional! It was even funnier than I can remember. We were all cracking up, I loved it. I have a great mission family out here. I still miss you all so much though, and I can't wait to see you tomorrow!

The work is progressing, our investigators are great, and I am happy. :) I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and always remember, "Christmas is in your heart, not under the tree." ;) Love you so much!

-Elder Gallego

"All the miracles of Christmas are just stepping stones to the greatest miracle of all, Jesus Christ."

12/17/12

Hola Familia!

Where to start?!

This week was AMAZING! So much happened, I am not even sure if I know where to start. :/ We were non-stop working this week, and I absolutely loved it! 

For starters, I have a new companion! :)/:( I am so excited for this transfer with my new companion, Elder Facer, but it was SUPER hard saying goodbye to my dad this morning. I got all teary eyed :(. I am going to miss Elder Andersen so much! He has taught me so much and he and I have come so far. He is the greatest first companion a missionary could ask for. I have been blessed to have him in my life, and I look forward to the days when we will see each other again, during or after the mission. :) 

Elder Facer from Utah is awesome. He reminds me so much of you, Matthew! Seriously, I think he is your twin. So it's official, I've had, or am having, both my brothers as companions! Que chido! Elder Russo was Chandler and now Elder Facer is Matthew. I hope none of my companions are like Alyssa ;). Hahaha totally kidding...well, I would hope they aren't girls is what I mean. ha But one of our investigators reminds me of you, Alyssa, and she's a girl, so that's cool, too! :) I am so excited for this transfer, I know we are going to see much success and I'm going to grow so much through this one as well. 

So before Elder Andersen could escape me, we really really got to work, even more than we already were this week. And let me tell you, I...am...dead. But I love it! We set a new record in the mission this week with 31 lessons taught. 31! The numbers aren't what counts, but they still mean something. It shows how busy we are! We didn't even realize we set a new record until we turned in our numbers for the week. It has been a blessing to push push push push to reach our goals this week. We have seen so much change in this area, and we now have 5 new investigators with baptismal dates. I just know the work is going to continue to progress in this area as Elder Facer and I continue to hit the ground running. He is a solid Elder, and he has been in this ward before, so he already kind of knows the area, so that's good. The only thing about him though is that he does not eat vegetables, so from what he and the other missionaries said, the members felt offended and didn't like feeding them anymore...hopefully they look past that and still feed us. If not, oh well, I'll lose weight! :) Weight loss through starvation is okay, right? ;) 

Clemente is still rock solid, following through with commitments and everything. He is well on his way to his baptism the 6th and we can't wait for him. We have seen such a change in his family. This week when we came over, his mom answered the door and instead of kind of rejecting us, she looked SUPER happy, invited us in (which never happens), and sat in the lesson with us. After the lesson, Elder Andersen and I were just so confused! We have been trying to help the family for the longest time now, and nothing seemed to be working, but it was like a switch flipped and ever since then, she is always super excited to see us and invites us in, even though sometimes we can't go in. And, she wants us to teach her son and daughter as well. They have wanted us to teach them for a while now as well. We have consent for Clemente's baptism, and everything. It is indeed a miracle. I am so happy for the family, and the change I have seen, and I know that it is through faith, prayer, and fasting that these "mighty changes have been wrought" in this area. I am so happy!

Also, during our non-stop finding efforts this week, we found 8 new investigators on top of the 6 last week, and 4 new investigators with a baptismal date. One is a family that we found who want to return to a church, and have been listening to our lesson, and love it. They have a baptismal date for the 13th, and so do our other family. She was an investigator referral, actually, from her daughter. She said she was having troubles with her not remembering the importance of family. We are working with them, and they seem to be progressing very well. They are amazed with the fact that there is a prophet once more on the earth. Their excitement shows in us as well as we teach them. 

We were also blessed to witness the baptism of an investigator that we were the initial missionaries for, but had to pass, Minh. He was so excited, and had tears in his eyes as he made that wonderful step in his life. It was an amazing 

I know this church is true without a doubt. I know that there is a prophet once more on the earth, and I know that he is called of God. We are truly blessed to have the Book of Mormon to guide us. I know that prayer works. God does answer our prayers. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know that this is his true church restored once again on the earth. I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Gallego

"Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work." D&C 4