Hola familia!
Sorry for not being able to send out a main one last week. It was a little too crazy with all that was going on, but it wasn't the craziest week, so no worries, you didn't miss much. Just a lot of running around, work in finding the elect, and being stressed out. But it was good! ha Love working out here. Have to keep working hard, the clock is ticking!
Anyway, this week was a good week! We continue to work hard, and my companion here is a champ. He learns so fast, and I literally forget most of the time that I am training him. He came pre-trained for sure! We are having a lot of fun working hard and finding those elect in this area. I've been here for almost a year now...I MUST be missing someone. ;)
Our main investigators right now are Elvia and Claudia. Elvia is the wife of our Elders Quorum President, Hno Chavez. It's pretty interesting, because, as a part-member family, a lot of the things they say or do remind me a lot of Roberto and his family. :) They are doing really great, in all! Elvia is preparing for baptism right now. She has been praying as to when she should be baptized. Last week, we had a really powerful lesson with her as we sat down and talked to her about expectations. We have been working with her for a little, but she has been on and off with appointments. We can tell she is so ready, but we want to be sure she knows as well. At the end of the lesson, after a great talk about our goals in life, a strong testimony beared by her husband and her close friend, Hna Yolanda Sanchez, she accepted the invitation to pray. It was a total dejavu back to what happened with Roberto. We knelt down and she gave the strongest prayer I have heard her ever give. She, too, was praying like God was there in the room with us, and at the end of the prayer, she also began to cry. The Spirit was felt so strong, and she shared with us that she needs to be baptized. We told her that we know and that she needs to set a date to show God when she wants to be ready by. She told us she would pray about it. With the question in mind, she also went with us to a baptism the following day. The baptism experience was also amazing!
The night before, we also got in contact through Facebook with their daughter, Claudia. I had taught her a few times before, but she wasn't really all that interested in hearing. Recently, however, with all the time we spend at their house, we have tried inviting her into the lessons little by little in any ways we can seem to connect with her. Not to lure her in, but rather so the Spirit can catch her attention. :) So, since she is REALLY good at the piano (she's taking lessons from a really good Korean lade :)) we have sat down and listen to her play, brought her a hymnbook, and since my companion is also really good at the piano, he has played for us, too! She sure loves music, and so do we! So it works. However, I have never felt so much guilt for giving up on piano. :/ I really wish I stuck with it! Oh well. Maybe someday. After all our attempts, she has now joined in in listening with her mom. :) She has SO many good questions, and they are really good support for one another. Now, back to the baptism.
Elvia had never been to a baptism before, and she wanted to see what it is like before she committed to it. Claudia saw her dad get baptized a few years ago, and was confused about why we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. After an explanation from the final few verses of the book of Matthew in the Bible, she wanted to come with her mom and dad, as well, to see a baptism. It was great to see them all together for the first time. :) Elvia's main drive since the beginning is that she wants her family to be together in a church. It is happening little by little. They have both been so impressed by their husband's/dad's committment to the church, and he sure has been a great example to them in helping them learn and grow. It's great to see! Before we went into the baptism, we had a prayer together that they would receive a response to their questions. Because they showed up a little late, we entered in the middle of a a talk, but it was amazing. The very first thing we heard as we set down was something along the lines of, "God will always answer our questions. It may not be the way that we imagined it to be, but he will answer them. He always does. He answers us through the Holy Ghost, and only we ourselves can feel it." The Spirit was so strong, and they loved it! They are still praying about baptism, but we had another great lesson today and we are really excited to set their goal with them. Hopefully they end up doing it together! :) We love them and we are so excited to see them together! Speaking of which...they all went to Stake Conference together this week, too. :) It was great! They felt so good to be together in the same church. We're so happy for them.
It was also quite the surprise to see Ammon Hallsted at Stake Conference! Right in the middle of it, he shows up walking down the aisle and sits right behind me. I was so confused! It was great, though! Apparently, he met Austin Facer (ex Elder Facer-my old companion) in the Disneyland College Internship, and Austin told him about the spanish Stake Conference. Austin sat near me, so when he showed up, he said hi to him, and then we were surprised to see eachother. Austin's mind was blown (and mine, too) to find out that we knew eachother and that we've known eachother for a long time! PLUS, on top of that, Elder Thorne was there, too, and Ammon was his teacher in the MTC. What. A. Small. World. It was great to see them all!
Well, this week I really focused on my foundation. Of course, with the great emails you sent me this week, it reminded me of how important it is to have a sure foundation. Helaman 5:12 continues to be one of my favorites. :) We all need to have that foundation in Christ so that we can be lead down the correct path. I love you all so much, and I hope you have your goals and foundations set, and I look forward to hearing back soon. Love you and miss you! Take care!
-Elder Gallego
"It's not about perfect. It's about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that is when transformation happens. That's when change occurs."
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