3/10/14

Hola familia!

This week was a blur. So much but so little happened this week. It
went by so fast, but it went by so slow. After all that
happened/didn't happen this week, I can barely remember what
did/didn't happen. Ha Weirdest backwards week, but it was a great
week. Don't worry, no drinking was involved, just a scattered
20-month-old missionary brain. Ha

We had a couple meetings this week and had a few lessons with other
investigators, but, as of right now, not too much success aside from
the Chavez. They just do not seem interested in changing right now, so
please keep us in your prayers that we will be able to find more truth
seekers! Our main focus this week was Claudia, of course.

After the miraculous moment last week, we had a lot to do this week.
On top of a surprise baptism, we also had our ward activity to plan
and take care of along with exchanges and zone meeting. So in that
sense, it was a busy week, but it all just fell into place, so it
didn't end up being as stressful and crazy as we had anticipated.

We were a little worried when Claudia told us Monday night that she
wasn't sure if the 9th was really revelation for her, but rather that
she would prefer to wait another week. We know how hard it is to wait
2 weeks after someone receives such a direct and straightforward
answer - not that we didn't want her to feel comfortable about it, we
just know how nerve-racking it is to wait - so we invited her to pray
about it. That night, she prayed until 1 in the morning and the
following day, at our final lesson with her, she explained that she
received another answer and that she knew she needed to be baptized
the 9th, so all the planning continued. She was so ready and the
Spirit was already so strong with her - it's amazing. The Holy Ghost
is so powerful.

As we continued the planning for the baptism, we also pulled off a
ward Culture Night. We were a little worried because everyone started
to cancel right before, but it actually all came together well. We had
different members prepare presentations from the different countries
they are from and they each set up tables around the CULTURAL Center
in the church. Ironic? Nope! We have Mexicans, Peruvians, Hondurans
(at heart - Hno Badillo served his mission there), Nicaraguans,
Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Colombians, and Americans (we attempted to
represent ha). The point was to show that although we are all from
different cultures, we are all children of God and share a core belief
- our faith in the Gospel. It was a great opportunity for members to
show pride in their culture, and the food was delicious! It turned out
really well! I'll send pics!

The following day was the baptism and it went amazing, as well. It was
definitely the most powerful and smoothest baptism I've been to. It
was great. I was so impressed and it's remarkable to see how far this
ward has come. It was a very touching experience as Hno Chavez was
able to baptize his daughter that he thought would never accept the
gospel just a few weeks after baptizing his wife. Also, Hno Sanchez
baptized his 8-year-old son. The baptismal talks and testimonies ended
up being centered around how special it was that they were both able
to baptize their children. Very special moment. We sent Claudia little
spiritual moments throughout the week and she is already doing great.
We have already seen a huge change in her. This week will definitely
be a week I will never forget.

These last few weeks have strengthened my testimony so much. I am so
grateful for the chance I have to be an eternal family. I love the
primary song that reminds us of the power of this gospel. Families Can
Be Together Forever. I understand this song so differently now. It
doesn't say Families Are Together Forever, I feel, for a reason. We
CAN be together forever, but we have to get there ourselves. As I have
watched part-member families be united recently and enter that path to
being sealed as an eternal family, I have come to love the importance
of this message. That we can be together forever. If we really apply
the teachings of the gospel, God has made it possible to be with our
loved ones for eternity. I love this gospel, and I know it can change
lives. I have seen it so many times out here, and I am so grateful for
it.

I love you all so much and I appreciate all the love and support I
receive from you! Miss you and hope you all are doing well, and I pray
that we all take advantage of this amazing blessing we have to be
together forever and they we indeed accept it so we can be happy
forever. Love you all, have a great week!

-Elder Gallego

"We aren't supposed to make time for children, children are what God
gave us time for."

3/3/14

Hola familia!

His week was a week of miracles. I can't even get over how amazing it
was. I am so blessed to be a part of this gospel and such an amazing
work. I just love it!

For starters, it rained so hard this week! That was my first big
testimony builder of fasting this week. Bringing back what I talked
about a little while ago, the First Presidency issued an invite to all
the members here in California to fast and pray for rain, and sure
enough, these last three days was more rain combined than all of last
year. I had to check my location! I thought I was in Arizona. It was
raining SO hard at some points. I was driving and literally could not
go faster than 20 mph with the windshield wipers on full blast. It was
awesome! I loved it, and I'm so sad that it is gone now... Hopefully
it happens again soon. Definitely the hardest I have ever seen it rain
here, and it was more than enough to get California out of the biggest
drought ever recorded. Prayer and fasting works. Miracle #1.

Now for Miracle #2. The Sunday before last, I had the privilege to
confirm Elvia a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. What a blessing it is
to watch this family take steps towards being an eternal family. :) I
have never done a confirmation before, but I believe it went well.
They have a lot ahead if them, and I am amazed at the miracle that has
happened in that family for her to go from wanting nothing to do with
the Church to accepting the invitation and receiving a testimony of
her own. It's incredible, and I a, so happy that Hno Chavez now has
the ability to be with his companion for all eternity.

Miracle #3. This was another one of those moments when I can't really
even describe in words the feelings I felt. To give a little
foreshadowing, this moment was very similar to that of Roberto and
Elvia. However, this miracle may have been one of (if not THE)
greatest turning points in my testimony and certainly in my mission.
Claudia Chavez. I, personally, have been trying to work with her for
just about 9 months now, and at the beginning, she didn't even want to
listen to us. Over time, she relaxed a little more and we didn't find
ourselves in gospel debates anymore. Little by little, she actually
started to understand that we are here to help solve doubts rather
than add to her confusion. We've recently been meeting with her
regularly. She started to show a lot more interest as her mom did as
well. After a few weeks, her Mom pulled ahead a little more because
she was having trouble juggling all that was going on in her life-
school, work, etc. Elvia was baptized, as you know, and it's been an
excellent example to Claudia. Claudia had so many doubts and little by
little we are resolving them. Now the main miracle took place
yesterday, and I literally get chills thinking about it. There's not
doubt that God is there listening.

Saturday night we had an extra special lesson with her. We talked to
her about recognizing the Spirit because we have pretty much taught
her everything besides the 10 commandments, which she definitely
already knows, so we had reached a barrier. She needed her answer to
continue. We got through the lesson and after a really spiritual
discussion and answering even more of her doubts, I was impressed to
promise her that the next day she would receive her answer. Not going
to lie...it was a little nerve-racking! Don't get me wrong, I had
complete faith that she would, but the words coming out of my mouth
even caught me off guard along with everyone else in the room. It was
a very strong promise to make. She has been telling us that she has
been waiting for so long now for that sure answer. So the promise was
extended, and we talked about how it will be fast Sunday so we will
all be fasting and praying for her, and she said she would do the
same. The next day, she came to Church and we started the day with the
Spirit of Revelation video by Elder Bednar. It really set the mood, so
we went to testimony meeting. Through testimony meeting, they were so
well focused towards doubts that she had. It was really good! Then
they closed with her favorite song "Nearer, My God, to Thee." During
Gospel Principles, another doubt of her's was answered about the
Creation. She had to leave early, but she said before she left. "I'm
starting to be convinced." We could tell the Spirit was really working
in her. Sorry this story is going to be really long. It was just all
so great! And since I don't write in my journal....this will have to
do. Ha

Now this should be the climax of the story (hope it's not
anti-climatic...). We had a lesson planned for her for Thursday, but
we knew we couldn't wait until Thursday to visit her after a day as
important as yesterday, so we asked if we could stop by last night to
see how the day felt and invited her to thinking about what she has
felt and was feeling. We stopped by last night and talked to her about
how her day went. It was a good lesson and she shared her thoughts on
it all and again, the Spirit was so strong. We could feel she was so
close to receiving her answer. After another wonderful lesson with her
dad, we got back to the barrier again. She didn't feel she had really
received her answer yet, so we were wrapping it up and inviting her to
pray about it all, and right in the middle of that invite, she stopped
us.

She picked up her Bible and read a scripture in Ephesians 4, and
retread it a few times. She looked at us, and said, "dice 'la
verdad.'" "It says, 'the truth.'" She had the biggest smile on her
face, and explained that just then she was flipping through her
scriptures and praying in her heart that He would give her an answer.
She felt prompted to stop and read, and that's when she read about
changing her life to be on the path of The Lord- the oath if the
truth. The Spirit was so intense as she said, "I've received my
answer." As she said that, her dad, Hno Chavez, buried his face in his
hands and just started to bawl. It was so touching to see as she went
to comfort him, and we was just so happy that she finally received her
answer. He has been waiting for this day for a LONG time. He knew his
wife would join eventually, but he knew it would be so hard with
Claudia because she had always been so stubborn to listen. After all,
she finally received her answer. God had heard the prayers and
accepted the fasts of all us that were praying and fasting for her to
receive it. At the very end of the night, she got it, turned to us and
told us she knows now. She explained how she knew her answer would
come through the Bible. Not that she didn't believe in the other
scriptures- she just loves the Bible and knew that God knew that. It
was such an amazing experience, and I just wish that everyone could be
there for it. Her faith his so strong, and I know without a doubt that
God heard our prayers and accepting our offering of fasting to Him. We
were impressed to invite her to be baptized this next Sunday, and
after a little bit of discussing and planning, she accepted. She will
be baptized this Sunday.

My heart is filled with joy today as I think back over all that family
has been through. He had made such remarkable changes in his life 5
years ago, and he never left it. He has always been that amazing
example. His wife now is with him, and his daughter, too, is following
the Savior to be with her family for forever. I know without a doubt
that God hears our prayers. I have an even stronger testimony now of
the power of fasting. I needed this moment to change my own heart, and
for that reason, I am grateful to God for the chance I have had to be
a part of it. Their loves are changing, and as they do, so is mine. I
am so grateful for this mission. It has changed my life. I feel like
Ammon from the Book of Mormon right now. As I boast to everyone about
these amazing experiences that are happening, I do not boast in my own
strength or my own efforts, because I know that I cannot do it alone,
but rather I boast in the power and miracles of God, who has made
these blessings possible to His children. This work cannot NOT be
true. The miracles that I have seen just strengthen more and more my
certainty that this is the Church of Jesus Christ restored again to
the earth with His perfect doctrine. As we drove home last night, she
sent us a message thanking us for caring for her family and helping
them back to God. The mission can change your life. If you're even
questioning it, don't. Just do it, and you will never regret it.

Please continue to keep Claudia in your prayers that all goes well
this week as we prepare for her baptism. Sorry this is so long, but I
hope it's not too boring. Love you all so much and hope you find the
same joy I do in this marvelous work and a wonder. Take care, you're
always in my prayers. This Church is true. If you haven't already, put
it to the test, and God will answer you. I am a witness of that, and I
testify of it in the name if Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Gallego

"Knowing that God knows each individual personally is like a light
that illuminates one's life and gives it meaning." Bishop Gerald
Causse

P.S. Some pics from last week. Couldn't figure out how to get the pics
from my personal camera into here, so I took them off the screen of my
camera. Ha sorry for the poor quality!

2/17/14

Hola familia!

It's official. As I have said before, the weeks I cannot email for two
weeks are definitely the busiest! There was a mix up and we were under
the impression that it was Presidents Day last week, so that's why it
is another combination email. So I am sorry if this email drags on,
but I will do the best I can to keep you up to date and not bore you
to death. There are a lot of fun things that happened these last
couple weeks, though, so it shouldn't be too anti-climatic.

Eyewear. I finally got my new glasses! After a couple months of having
my glasses fall off my face, I now have a new pair. I don't think I
ever explained that story, so for those who don't know, a couple of
weeks ago, I was playing dodgeball with my zone, and my father (Elder
Andersen), being his typical not-thinking self (haha) decided to throw
a dodgeball as hard and fast as he could right at my face. Needless to
say, my glasses shattered on my face and left a gash on my eyelid. All
is well, though, I've been repaired. Super glue just didn't seem to
work... What do you think? And yes, of course, they are still Ray
Bans. :)

I know, I know, I need to shave! I forgot to shave this morning as we
hurried out the door to get started on time to get everything done. No
worries, though, I will shave before we get out in public. My bad.

Now the reason I was able to edit that picture the way I did is the
next big news...wait for it...we are now iPad missionaries. Woo! Kind
of. There is a LOT of work to be done to get these things going. So,
once again, as many times it has seemed to happen in my mission, we
are the guinea pigs to get it started. Ha So I hope the missionaries
that come after us are grateful to their iPad pioneers. ;) That's what
I get for being out here for "the wave", but I wouldn't have it any
other way. We have to put our whole Area Book into the iPad, so it's a
lot of monotonous work for an hour a day, but we can already see how
it is going to help the Lord's work hasten. It is such a great
blessing to have what we have. The rumors were just those, rumors. We
don't actually get to keep the iPads - they get passed down...darn.
Luckily, with the iPads now, we don't have to worry about libraries
closing anymore. And taking all the pictures is fun.

Ay Caray! Because we have been very busy these last two weeks. I enjoy
being busy, though because these last two weeks have been busy weeks
of baptisms. :) There is no greater feeling than the joy of watching
someone you have come to love enter the waters of baptism. It is such
a blessing to be a part of it.

Last week was the baptism of the Regalado family (4 children) and
Jaqueline Menjivar. Then this week was the baptism of Elvia Chavez and
the Gomez family. It was a powerful experience to watch as another
part-member couple have been united to progress towards being an
eternal family. Hno Chavez was so excited, and although it took a few
times for him to perform the ordinance correctly (it happens ;)), we
were so happy to see them enter the water together and him baptize his
wife that he will soon enough be able to be with for forever. After
the baptism, Hno Badillo went up and explained that he was going to
give her a hug for us because we can't, and she straight up said,
"forget that," and then gave us both the biggest hug. It was
hilarious...and awkward. I'm going to be so awkward when I get
home...it's inevitable. She was so happy, she just couldn't contain
it. :) I can't wait to return for their sealing for time and all
eternity in the temple not long after the Sanchez's. This ward really
has become my home, and I am so grateful for the chance I have had to
spend so much time here and be a tool in the Lord's hands here. The
Gomez family was a district effort - as they have been investigating
for quite some time and have circled through missionaries and passed
through difficult times. They are a wonderful family, and it was a my
privilege that their oldest daughter Erika asked me to baptize her. It
has been a great past couple of Sundays and has been a great way to
start out the year. This ward is growing! There are yet many more
souls to save.

I hope I don't leave something out...the first time I sent this email,
as you could tell, it only sent half, so now I am retyping, and it
just doesn't seem the same. Oh well! It works. :)

Also within the last couple weeks, we had transfers. Because there are
still 6 more weeks of Elder Silvester's training, I am, of course,
staying, as anticipated, to finish. (Wordy...) I'm excited because
it's been a great learning experience for me, too. I love him and I
enjoy being his father very much. These transfer calls were a little
different, though. Instead of having a phone call late last Saturday
night from Grandpa (Elder Andersen) on the updates for transfers, we
ended up saying goodbye to him at transfers. :( Kansas City, Missouri
now has another great prospective Ward Mission Leader! Grandpa is
dead. I feel old. -_- keeping my mind off it!

Along with transfers, Elder Dehlin, too, followed his father, spread
his wings, and flew away for his first time. He left to Garden Grove
and I have officially outlasted 7 companions in this area. The members
find it hilarious ha. I call it my lucky number, because it ends here!
Ha Elder Urrutia was called to train and picked up his hijo fresh from
the Mexico MTC Tuesday afternoon. It was surreal to think that it was
6 weeks ago I did the same thing! Time's flying too fast. My son's
throwing up too fast! (Catch that?) His name is Elder Nixon from
Colorado Springs. He is a great elder, and I can tell he's going to do
great.

Please always continue to keep all missionaries in your prayers.
Crazily enough, on his 5th day in the field, Saturday night, Elder
Nixon got hit by a car. Luckily, he is alright and is just a little
sore from being thrown a few feet into the street, and it really now
just turned into a great story, but I know he was safe because of all
your prayers towards our protection. Of course, it is all still the
will of God, but had he been in that spot any earlier, he could have
been seriously injured or thrown into traffic. I know there are many
beings that try to keep this work from progressing, but the power of
prayers will always be stronger. :)

I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for all the support. Seen
and unseen, heard and unheard, spoken and unspoken. I hope you all had
a great Valentine's Day! I loved the packages. I love you all very
much and I love this mission. It's been hard being away from so many
loved ones, but, as I've said before, I wouldn't have it any other
way. We will be reunited soon enough, and I can't wait to exchange
stories of the best two years of my life. Sorry if I talk your ears
off. Okay, I'll stop rambling now. Miss you all and pray for you
often. Thank you for everything. Take care!

-Elder Gallego

"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person
to be loved." President Thomas S. Monson

P.S. Downside of the iPads - can't send pics from my camera from here.
I'll try to figure it out for next week and send the pics of this
email. Stay tuned!

2/3/14

Hola familia!

 

Sorry, but this letter is going to be short. I've been too busy talking with you during this whole time about the big news! I'm SO excited for Chandler to go to NYNYN! ha The indecisive mission-as I call it. ;) Can't make up their minds...NYNYN. ha New York New York North Mission, here comes the best missionary you'll ever meet! You're going to do great, Chandler. Just keep up the good study habits and practice practice practice your Spanish! We're here to help! Boo ya! We're finally accepting our roots and joining the latin culture. I love it. :) We just need to work on teaching you-Mom, Dad, and Alyssa-some Spanish so you can keep up and join in the fun. ;) But can't teach you ALL, because then we can't have fun. ha I'm so excited, I know you're going to do great! I'm sad that I won't be able to see you, but things happen for a reason, although it's not fair that I'm the only one that has to worry about not seeing my brothers for 4 years each. Lame. I'll get over it. It's worth it to know where you are and what you are doing. So proud of you. :)

 

This week was a good week or good hardworking fun. We just worked hard and ended the week by burning a pair of pants! That's right. As of February 1st, I am officially 18 months into the field. O.O. Where has the time gone? It's crazy. I'm going to be sure to keep working hard so that I get all the work in for the Lord that I can. At the same time, however, I can't wait to use all that I have learned out here back home with member-missionary work. It's so important! Love what this mission has done for me, and I am so excited that Chandler will now have this amazing chance just like his 2 older brothers. :) 6 more months of good hard work, like always! :) You'll have to watch the videos of the pants burning when I get back...it's pretty epic. ha Needless to say, the pants were made of nonflammable material as well. It was ridiculous. Nothing gasoline couldn't fix, though! ;)

 

Please continue to keep Elvia, Claudia, Juan, Marina, Antonio, and Adrian in your prayers that they continue to progress and that they can make it to church this next Sunday. No one came to church this week, so we were sad for that, but Elvia is ready for her baptism and has decided that she wants to be baptized on her birthday/anniversary/Valentine's day. :) We're very excited for her and we are going to be working hard so that she feels ready and prepared. Thank you for the support and love out here, I sure hope the missionary work back home is continuing to hasten like it is out here. It's amazing!

 

Miraculous quick moment from this week. California is in a big drought right now...evidently one of the worst the state has recorded in history. Well, leaders from the Church sent out a message to Stake Presidents and other leaders to ask member to fast for rain since yesterday was Fast Sunday. Yesterday started out as a clear day with no warning of rain, and towards the night, a huge cluster of clouds rolled in. It rained harder than I think I've seen in my whole mission. California just doesn't rain like Arizona, but last night felt at home. It is such a blessing and comfort to know that God does hear our prayers and fasting does make a difference. It is still a little cloudy outside and I think it may rain again-although the forecast says sunny. ;) Love this gospel, and I love our Father in Heaven. I hope all is well with you and that you all get a little rain sent your way as well. Take care, and hope to hear from you soon. Love you!

 

-Elder Gallego

 

"One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds." Elder Richard G. Scott

1/27/14

Hola familia!

 

This week was full of...you guessed it...teaching! We did a lot of work this week as we continued to follow up on those elect that we found last week and search for other that have been prepared as well. It was a lot of fun and we were busy every single day. I love the days when we get home just so worn out and tired that we just pass out as we hit the pillow-after planning, of course. We were pooped pretty much every day this week! We had a lot of fun, and we are really cleaning out our area book and weeding out the wheat from the tares. We're doing good!

 

The highlights of this week were our lessons with Claudia and Elvia and also a new family we found, Familia Lima. Claudia and Elvia are doing amazing! The lessons with them just keep getting better and better. Claudia completely opened up to us this week and explained that she, too, wants her whole family to be together in a Church, and she feels really good when she goes to this church with her family. She's always been super stiff when it comes to the topic of baptism, but we have been talking a lot with her mom lately about setting goals for baptism to help us show God what we are working for, so the last lesson with her, we talked to her about it, and she didn't cringe! In fact, she set a goal for the 2nd of March! :) We were beaming as we left that lesson, because not only that, but Elvia is doing great, too. They are both reading and praying, and they are completely open about their doubts and questions. They are progressing so well, and we're so happy for them. Claudia came to church again, but had to leave right after to take Elvia down to Tijuana to pick up her grandma who isn't doing too well. She enjoyed Sacrament Meeting, though, and enjoyed the talks. She just seems so different! It's great. :) On top of it all, we were talking to Hno Chavez about them at church yesterday, and he said that the night of our lesson, he came home, Elvia walked up to him, and told him that she is ready. That she wants to be baptized. She has never been that certain and straight forwrad with him before! It was great to hear, and she was telling him that she set the goal for the 16th of February, but that she thinks she wants to get baptized earlier. We will be seeing them tonight, so please keep them in your prayers that all goes well at the Family Home Evening we are going to have tonight so that they will continue to feel good about their decisions and enjoy it! :) Claudia also mentioned that she wants her family to get together once a week to meet together. That's when we told her about Family Home Evening and how all meetings in the Church are moved and set around Monday being set aside for Family Home Evening. She loved it and was amazed. :) They're doing so great!

 

Now as for the Lima family, they are great, too! We found them originally trying to follow up on a contact the English Sisters in our area had made and passed to us. However, we found out when we got there that Mario didn't indeed live there, but we found the Lima family! :) It was pretty amazing, because from the beginning, they have been very willing to listen. She invited us in right away and we sat down and talked to them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the end, she said the prayer and then thanked us for coming, told us that it wasn't a coincidence that we were there, and told us that she hopes we convert them. haha It was so cool! The Spirit was super strong during the lesson, and they are truth seekers for sure. She wonders why there are so many churches, and she really likes knowing that there is another book to help us understand the Bible and a living prophet nowadays to lead us. We set a return appointment for the following week, but they weren't home and we couldn't find them the week after either, but we finally found them again this week, and this time, another man who lives there, Juan, joined us for the lesson. We reviewed the Restoration again because Juan was new to listening to us, and it was even greater than the previous time! He is a truth seeker, too! He had pretty much the same questions, and is so genuine in the way he talks and in sharing with us his desires. He has been prepared for sure with the rest of the family. The return appt fell through again because of a soccer practice and they weren't able to make it to church, but when we stopped by again, we met her Sister and her family as well, and they, too were very accepting and inviting. We have an appt with them soon, so please keep them in your prayers that they will have time to listen and be edified. We are very excited to meet with them again. We're excited to see who else lives there. ;)

 

All is well! It was a pretty basic week, but we can definitely see the blessings of the Lord in our lives. I'm never happier than when I am teaching. There truly is no greater call. I feel so honored to be a part of the Lord's work and teach these souls who are yearning to hear the truth. I love you all so much, and I hope that you, too, are taking time to help those around you by teaching them about the truths of this restored gospel. I know that at this time in the world, there are can be so much confusion about religion, but I know that because Heavenly Father loves us, he has given us ways to find out for ourselves. Everything we do is an invitation, and I sure hope we all take that opportunity to find out for ourselves, because no one on this earth knows us better than we do. For that reason we need to search for ourselves...try it for ourselves, and then look to the only one that knows us better than we do, and He will guide us to the truth. I testify of that with all my heart because I have experienced it myself, and I will never go back. :)

 

I love you all so much, and I hope you are doing well. I hope all those back home take a chance to go through the Gilbert Arizona Temple Open House! I have heard that it is a remarkable experience. I sure would love to be there for it, but I'll be waiting for the Phoenix Temple for all of that. ;) Love you, miss you, and hope to hear from you soon!

 

-Elder Gallego

1/21/14

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."

1/6/14

Hola familia!

 

Feliz Dia de Los Reyes Magos! As in hispanic tradition, this is the day the wise men came bearing gifts for Jesus Christ. In most households here, this day is bigger than Christmas as far as presents go, so they get pretty excited for it ha. They leave their shoe outside the door and the wise men come drop off gifts at their house, too! I'm jealous. They get 4 Santas! ;) I hope this day finds you well, and you are enjoying your Day of the Wise Men. Also, Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad! Thank you for being such amazing parents to us! I sure hope you have a great day, and I look forward to hearing where your vacation will be this year! CONGRATULATIONS! :)

 

As I explained last week, right after getting off last week, I went to the mission office to pick up my son! His name is Elder Silvester from Clinton, Utah. He loves hunting, puzzles, magic tricks, swimming, and his favorite color is green. He's a cool cat. I couldn't get him to smile at the camera, and we haven't had a chance to take a companionship picture yet, so this is the best I could get for now. ha He is such a good missionary, and I do not feel like I am training him. He already knows his stuff really well, and is already really good at staying involved in planning, teaching, etc. His Spanish is already pretty good, too! I got lucky! ha He's way awesome, and I can tell we are going to have a lot of fun together! Elder Dehlin stayed in his area and welcomed Elder Urrutia from Santa Ana 5, as I said last week, so here's a picture of them, too! This is going to be a great district and transfer!

 

This week was a pretty good week. It was a very basic normal missionary week. We picked him up, had a few meetings this week, and had a lot of studying to do. During the first 12 weeks of training, we are inside for 6 hours! So, we don't get out until 2 on a good day. If we have meetings that day, too (which we had every day last week), we basically learn and study all day, get out for a couple hours, then have to call it a night. It's pretty rigorous work, as you can imagine. ha It's a joke that we spend all day studying for our investigators just to go to sleep and do it all over again. ha This week will be good, though, and we are going to have a lot more opportunities to work hard! We're excited.

 

Depite all the time in-doors, we still focused on helping the investigators we do have. We are also working on bringing this area back to life. When Elder Smith left, our area basically went dormant as I was moved into the north area for a couple weeks until I got a new companion to join me once again in my area. So we are excited to do a lot of finding! Woo! We still kept up with those preparing for baptism-Elvia and Joaquin-and continued to contact referrals and visit some potentials when time permitted. We still got to teach our first lessons together, and it's crazy that we already teach with great unity! He is really a great missionary, and I am going to enjoy having him here with me. He's a hard worker, and he's ready to go! He actually reminds me a lot of myself when I came in....I don't know if that is a good or bad thing yet...stand by. ;)

 

For New Year's Eve, the ward had a party with a lot of food and music to welcome in the new year. We could only stay for a little bit because there is only so much missionaries can do while music is being blasted and people are dancing. So we enjoyed the food, talked with a few members (so Elder Silvester could meet them), and then took off for home so that we could unpack and get to sleep. He had been up for almost 24 hours due to the travel time and jet lag. He was a trooper!

 

It was nice to welcome in the new year this Sunday, as Roberto Sanchez had the awesome opportunity to baptized his son! He turned 8 in September, and really wanted his dad to be the one to baptize him. So, it was good that they waited a little with him! It was an awesome experience to watch someone who has come so far get in the water and do what had just happened to him a month and a half before. They were both beaming with excitement. He did a great job-although it took 3 times. ;) He REALLY dunked him on the 3rd try haha. I was also invited to join in the circle for his confirmation. So excited for that family, and can't wait to come back for their temple sealing. :) So happy for them!

 

I hope you all are doing well, and that you started off the year, well! I love you and miss you and pray for you constantly. Please be safe-I sure love hearing from you all. Sorry if I don't respond too fast, but I'm working on it! Love you and hope to hear back soon. Take care!

 

-Elder Gallego

 

“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” Elder M. Russell Ballard

 

P.S. I solved one of those crazy Japanese metal puzzles! Took a while, but I feel pretty confident. ;)