This week was awesome! We are seeing so many milagros here that it is insane. The Lord is literally just placing people in our path. It is so stressful being a part of this work because there is so much to do, but I wouldn't change it for anything. I love being a part of it and it has been a blast working with Elder Curtis. He is a great companion and we teach well together, so it feels good to be decent (at least we seem to think ;)) mouthpieces for the Spirit.
I am humbled to be a part of this work. I just step out of the way and let the Spirit guide. Prayer has been a HUGE part of our work lately, and it really helps us involve the Lord in HIS work. Makes sense, right? As we are lead to where we need to go this week, we have experienced more success than either of us have ever seen in our whole mission. Every lesson this week went smoothly and was Spirit-led. Each person we shared with was sincere with us and we were with them. Those who have been listening are actually acting. There were 8 people there at church on Sunday. That is more than I or my companion have ever seen. And it's not about the number. We didn't care that that may have been a record in our missions, but rather we just had so much joy that they are really applying the message. We are so happy for them! :)
General Conference was great! I hope you all loved it as much as I do. If you want to catch up on it, just visit lds.org. :) I feel like I have definitely fallen behind with keeping you updated on the investigators' names so that you can please keep them in your prayers.
We are teaching the Guadarrama family (mainly Henry, Daniel, and Jairo) and they are so cool! They were a referral from the Bishop because their son was having issues. They have come so far. When we first met them, they were all very depressed and didn't know what to do with their son/brother who has chosen to become addicted to drugs and has gotten himself into a lot of bad experiences. He started when he was 12 and now he is 16 and his mind is so far gone. We can really tell how drugs can hurt not only your body, but your family as well. To this I always revert back to the basics we learned in Elementary School. Don't Do Drugs. The other boys, Daniel and Henry are doing amazing. They both came to church yesterday and Henry even got up to bear his testimony. He shared that he feels it is the true church and for that he is going to get baptized and then his brother, and then the rest of the family. It was awesome. They're GREAT kids. Just have had some struggles in the past. So please keep them in your prayers that their parents will get involved, too, so that they can receive the peace that the boys are experiencing. :)
Also, Guadalupe, the one I briefly shared about a couple weeks ago...the one from Chicago...is doing really well, too! She came to church right after meeting us, but we were having a hard time meeting with her because she is searching for a job. She came to church again yesterday, though, because we still stayed in contact and we finally had our first lesson with her. She is very well prepared as well, and said she has been searching for an answer and really wants to know. She said she hasn't felt anything yet, but we know it's because she now has a Book of Mormon to really test the validity of this church. We are happy for her! So please keep her in your prayers that she finds a job...or else she has to go back to Chicago :(...and that she can receive an answer soon. She is preparing for baptism, as well as the Guadarramas. :)
I'm sorry if this email is just a boring update...but I would really appreciate it if you could help them out with your prayers. :)
Heidi is the girlfriend of a less-active member of the ward. We actually found her through Facebook and after teaching her a little bit, we came to found out that she lives with a member family! ha So she is SO prepared as well. She gets so into our lessons and is so sad when we have to leave. We love that family and we are meeting with the boyfriend, too. She, too, is preparing for baptism soon, but they need to be married first. They have a son together and both want to be married, they just need to make it happen. So please pray that they continue to progress and that they get married so Heidi can fully accept something she says, "she has been waiting her whole life for." Another amazing family.
There is also Ely! She is the daughter of her less-active mother. We went by to give her mom a blessing and met her and she is awesome! She says she wants to finally "do something for herself." She has gone through it all before but didn't get baptized before because she stopped reading and praying and such, so she stopped progressing. But after the night we helped them, the confidence that whole family has in us has completely changed and now the mom is planning on coming back and bringing her daughters. We are going to have a Family Home Evening with them tonight about the plan of salvation, and we're really excited for that. :) She said she really wants to find out that it is true and she has been reading and praying a lot. Couldn't make it to church because of work, but she's fixing that! Please pray she can get an answer to her prayers! Yet another very SOLID family. :)
And Patty! She is amazing. We love talking with her! She is the Aunt of the referral from the house where the fight broke out, but she just loves us! Ever since her dad died, she has a hard struggle in life, but she finds so much peace in our message and has been reading and praying and going to church and really likes the message. Please just pray that she can receive peace and hope in knowing that she will see him again. She is awesome and really likes that we show we care. It's because we really do! I love each and every one of these people we are teaching, and I really do want them to succeed life. Whether it be through this message or not (although I know this message is the way!), I just hope they find more peace in meeting with us. :) LOVE THEM ALL!!
I may seem to perky and happy in this email, but it is just because I absolutely love the work right now. Not going to lie, when I first got moved it was SUPER hard getting used to it all over again, but I buckled down, forgot myself, and went to work with my comp this week and the miracles we are lucky to be a part of just erase that confusion and help strengthen me even more. It's awesome! The more I forget myself, the more converted I become, and the happier I get. :)
Funny moment from the week? Okay! Well...this week I got sick :( despite the sickness, though, I worked as hard as I could (after I rested a little to recuperate). Well, I ended up losing my voice all of Tuesday and Wednesday. It was the first time that has ever happened to me! It was hilarious. The worst part...we were super busy both those days, so we had to go to lessons anyway. So, I literally taught lessons whispering. Talk about giving room to feel the Spirit haha. My companion says he felt like he was yelling every time he went to speak because I literally had to whisper ha. In one lesson, I wanted to share so much that I actually got light-headed and almost passed out. haha It was a joke! The following day, so we didn't have the awkward moment of one of the missionaries passing out in a lesson, I let Elder Curtis do most of the teaching, and we brought more members with us so he at least had a companion ha. When we tried to teach the Guadarramas, Jairo and Daniel couldn't stop laughing when I would talk, and in return neither could we ha so I didn't say much for that one, but the Spirit still remained strong during the week. :)
Well, I am sorry this email has been super long. It makes up for the last two weeks! I wish there was enough room to tell you about everyone, but that will have to do for now. We are having such a great time sharing the gospel because this message is a message of joy and happiness. We have to represent the message we carry. Heidi asked us this week why we are always so happy, and that's how we responded. It's the gospel! It's just so great!
Now I invite you to reach out and share the gospel-ESPECIALLY during this special week of Easter. The Church will be making a huge movement and I am sure most of you have already seen it, but they are trying to reach out to as many as possible to share this message this week, and so they started a hashtag #BecauseofHim and made an amazing video to help us remember Christ during this special season. It is all over Facebook, and the Church will even have that video as the main video on YouTube on Easter Sunday! So many people are going to see it! :) They also made a website to share our message of this Easer time! We are really hoping that a LOT of people get to see it and feel the amazing spirit from it. Please, all of you watch it! It's soooooo good. :) And please share it. Post inspirational Jesus Christ images and such on Facebook with the hashtag #BecauseofHim and share what you have Because of Him. :) The blessings are evident and we need to share it with all those around us. We can all be missionaries, as I have said main times. I just love the work because it really does change lives. I hope you make time to be a part of this so that more people's lives can be blessed during this remarkable time of year. Here is the link to the video and website or you can visit the hashtag #BecauseofHim on Facebook to learn more. For those Spanish speakers...#GraciasaÉl :) (To make É you press Alt plus 144 in the windows system.)
I sure do love you all very much and I hope you enjoy your Easter Sunday in remembrance of our resurrected Savior. I know He lives, and I know that Because of Him we will all live again after death. I love you all and invite you to check it out-I'll be posting things on my page for sure! :) Happy Easter! Cuídense!
-Elder Gallego
"Tired, sweaty, bloodied, Jesus did only what a Redeemer could do: He forgave His murderers, comforted the criminal suffering next to Him, and trusted in His Father. When His sacrifice was complete, Jesus willed Himself to die as only God's Son could do. He gave up the ghost, but His death wasn't an end. It was the beginning for all of us."
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