1/28/13

Hola familia! 

I'm seriously freaked out by how fast the weeks are flying by. Granted, this week was one day shorter from preparation day to preparation day, but still! I sure love it out here, and I love my ward. :) The ward is so great and are really doing a great job stepping it up and helping us out with the missionary work. Members are so important! It's great to hear that you went out with Matthew and the missionaries, Mom, I'm sure you did just fine and it went great. :) I'm sure they greatly appreciate your guys' help.

This week was a great week! Lots of finding and lots of success. We have been going through our area book and visiting all the old investigators and the people that previous missionaries have said are potentials. It's proved successful! We found a couple new FAMILIES (finally) and have been working a lot with the part-member families in our ward. This past week was full of work! We are also still working on reaching out to the less actives, and we sure love seeing that their faith is still there. That's what we find most of the time. Less active members still have a very strong testimony and faith in the gospel, just other things happened that drove them away from the church. But, just like we read in the title page of the Book of Mormon. If we find any faults in this church, it's not the church, it's the members. This message is so true. All we need to do is focus on the message. :)

We are also working with a less active family, the Cedillos, who want their daughter, who is 8, to be baptized, and they are such a great family! We are teaching Samantha, and she has a brother who has 4 or 5 years. He is so adorable! He talks SO much, and is always wanting to show us his angry birds games and his other games on his iPad. It's really cute because most of the time, Elder Facer and I switch off conversing with him and teaching the lesson to Samantha at the same time. It's a total multi-tasking house. :) She is doing a great job learning, and preparing herself to be baptized. Love that family. :)

We pretty much started from scratch this week and now we have a full pool of investigators! It's wonderful how the Lord provides a way for us to teach his gospel to those who are waiting to hear the truth. We found the Moreno family this week through the area book, and they are perfect examples of people searching for the truth. The elect. They have been taught by missionaries before, but they are really looking for the strong feeling in their hearts that the church they attend is true. They came once a while ago, and weren't impressed by sacrament meeting, so they left. We're working with them to give it another try, and they said they would love to because they can already tell that this time will be different. They said the other missionaries were always so cold and didn't make them feel comfortable, but by the end of our lesson we were laughing and have already learned so much about them. But there is no doubt that the other missionaries still planted a seed. We sure hope we can help in the cultivation of that seed. As long as they do what we teach them, they will find the truth. :)

The work is true. Without a doubt, I know it. I know we can receive an answer to our prayers about anything in our lives. We just need to search the scriptures and pray. We need to show our effort in searching, and then through the trial of our faith, we will know. Then once we receive our answer, we need to be willing to change what we need to in order to subject to the loving will of the Father. I sure love it out here and I am thankful everyday for the difference that missionary work has made in my life and the life of my family. It is weren't for missionaries, I would not be here. :) I look forward to the final week of this transfer. It's already over! :O Not in a good way. I sure hope Elder Facer and I have another transfer together in this area. The ward has really warmed up to us. :) This 7 week transfer has flown by! Regardless of what happens, we are going to finish off strong! I hit my 6 month mark on Friday. SIX MONTHS! Already! O_O...time has flown by, and I can't wait to burn a tie as part of missionary tradition. ;) I have the perfect left over ugly tie from the MTC ha. Love you all so much, I pray for you every day, and I hope all is well!

-Elder Gallego

"Faith is not so much something that we believe; faith is something we live." Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

1/22/13

Hola Familia!

This week went by so fast! I can't believe it is already Preparation Day, again! This was a great week, and I really enjoyed it. :) 

For starters, thank you Johnson family for the unexpected visit. ;) It scares me how awkward I was. I'm sorry if I was rude for being rushed or anything, I was just nervous haha. When you met me in the foyer after the tour, my mission president's counselors were the two gentlemen standing nearby. :| It's okay though, I'm pretty sure I'm good. :) I hope that's not what I would be like if I would to return to "the world" right now. I just didn't really know how to react, so sorry, but it sure was great to see you! :)

So, Elder Facer and I were assigned to give the Spanish tour of the temple that we have every couple of months. The tour was pretty good, despite the fact that our group didn't say nearly anything, so it was a little awkward, but the Spirit was still felt, and it was an enjoyable experience. :) The Newport Beach Temple has such a great history and it's so pretty! When it was being built, it had a lot of the major walls up in white stone, but the city told them they could not build the temple to be that white because it distracted from the landscape. Unfortunately, they had already bought all the white stone and mortar for it, so they didn't know what to do. So they prayed and fasted about it, and a few days later, right before they had to dispose of the material, a company contacted them. This company was searching for the color white because they had the pinkish rock and mortar already and the employer told them the opposite. They no longer wanted a pinkish structure, but rather a white structure. So they switched! Miraculously, both companies had the same amount of material, so it was an even trade! Isn't that amazing? :) There's proof right there that God is aware of all of our situations.

I have a testimony of that fact because my experience this week is an example. As you may have noticed in my recent letters, this month or so has been pretty difficult, and I wasn't quite sure where we were supposed to go in this area. People haven't been listening, investigators are dropping us, and it is all around just a little frustrating. Or has been, I should say. So, let's just say I was really looking forward to the temple session we had today. I went in with a few questions, and came out with solutions. I love how that works. :) My main question was that of, "what should we do in this area?" To me, it just felt like the investigators we have are just good listeners, but aren't willing to act on the promptings they receive, or stick to the commitments they set. So the answer came to me and my companion at the temple that we are going to white wash. Usually, in missionary terms, white washing an area is to take the set of missionaries out and put a new set in that know nothing about the area, but in this case, we are referring to our investigator pool. We are cleaning everyone out and starting fresh. If they are truly interested in the message, we will leave it up to them to contact us, rather than us try only to get rejected every time we call, or avoided when we knock the door. It's been happening a little too often lately, but I have sure confidence that this was revelation from the Lord as to what he wants us to do in HIS area. :) I sure love it out here!

Check out the hymn "More Holiness Give Me" when you get the chance. I've never really noticed that it is a song all about the Christlike Attributes. We had a lesson on that this week, and I loved it. :) We can all acquire them with just a little work. It's all about the attitude, right, Mom? ;)

To sum it all up, this week was a good week. We as companions are closer than we have ever been and we look forward to the next week of starting over. We're going to work hard! Can't wait. :) Happy January Birthdays to Scarlett, Mariah, and Breck!! Sorry if I missed someone, I'm losing track of birthdays out here! :\ Love you all so much and hope all is well with you, too! Hasta la proxima semana, les vaya bien!

-Elder Gallego

"Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love. In the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine." President Gordon B. Hinckley

1/14/13

Hola Familia

 

Man! This week was worse! It's hard out here, without a doubt, but I know I am still being blessed for my efforts.

 

Not many lessons were taught this week because we had to move all the Elders in our district, including ourselves, so we didn't have time to meet new people, and when we did have planned lessons, they kept falling through with our investigators. We felt like our investigators were avoiding us. It was frustrating. But it was true.

 

To top off my week though, I received my first ticket. :( Just to add to it all. It was a couple weeks ago when a yellow light turned red RIGHT before I took a right turn at an intersection, so it flashed me. That started out the week bad, and then came Sunday.

 

Yesterday was probably the hardest day on my mission. To start off the day, and after our studies, we left a little early so that we could drive by our investigators' houses to remind them of church, because most of the time, our investigators don't respond through the phone. So we set out and no one opened their door except the last one. The house full of Salvadorenos. I remember a couple of weeks ago, I believe, I told you about them. Well, they invited us in, and since our first encounter and awesome lesson with them, it had been hard to contact them, but we finally did, but to no avail. They told us that they were not interested in our message anymore and that they would continue to go to their Catholic Church. They also told us that when we stop by, they have felt uncomfortable to tell us, so that's why they haven't. Okay. So that was Hit #1 of the day.

 

After feeling a little down, we proceeded to church anyways and kept our heads high. Church was pretty good, and a couple of our investigators showed up anyways, so that was cool. We ended up teaching the 16-17 year old chamacos. It was a lot of fun though to talk to people younger than us and give them this time to basically do question, answer with us. So that was cool, and neat. I don't know if you remember Melissa, but she came to church for the first time in about 3 months with her boyfriend Ivan, who is already a member of the church. He is a cool kid, and he's going to help us talk with her about baptism again this week. :) We're excited about that because we knew once he'd come back from Mexico that she would be more dedicated to going. We look forward to teaching her again.

 

After church we had lunch over at the Cifuentes house and had a great time talking with the family (they're pretty much half the ward ;)). It was nice to get my mind off of the denial. ha So after, since they live so close, we went to visit the Villegas family that had a baptismal date for this next week, and have been progressing really well. Except for the fact that they have not been completely able to visit with us lately, but we were excited to finally sit down with them for the first time in about a week. Well, that's what we thought. We could hear chattering going on inside as we came to the door, but they wouldn't answer to us. So we called them, and Alicia answered and said they couldn't come to the door because they were busy doing "things." Then she proceeded to tell us that she and her husband decided that they are no longer interested in us missionaries passing by anymore, and that they would be returning to their old church. They wouldn't even open the door to tell us that. I was so sad. They KNOW this church is true. I've felt it in their home. Hit #2.

 

At this point a little heartbroken, we tried to stop by another investigator we have in the same apartment complex, Carmen Zuniga. We met her one night on our way in to visit the Villegas family and she asked us to stop by her house. I was excited because she asked us...which is different. So the next day, Saturday, we stopped by and taught her a VERY powerful lesson of the Restauracion. She loved our message, and she was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. She even told us a couple times throughout the message that she felt our message was true. I could tell she could. Towards the end though, she mentioned that her husband is a Jehovah's Witness, and nothing against them or anything, but they aren't too fond of our message. So that seemed to be a little bit of foreshadowing for me. Even though she accepted a baptismal date, and I could feel that excitement in her and see it in her eyes, she left us a voicemail telling us that she needs to stay with the Jehovah's Witness church and that we can't come over anymore. Ugh. This was right before we went in to visit the Lopez family that I told you about last week, so I was just plain frustrated. Hit #3.

 

Just as I said last week, I am so grateful, though, for the Lopez family. Julie Lopez is an ex-missionary, and her spirit is so strong. I told her about all that had happened, and kind of just frustrated myself. She helped me out so much though. She told me stories from her mission that really related to me, and I left that house with a different attitude. Not that I was really letting it get to me BAD. I was just frustrated. But I had a spiritual experience later on that night that I won't forget. I am so grateful for this family, and for the chance I have to learn from trials.

 

Through all this negativity, I know that I am being blessed. As I focus more on being the best and most obedient missionary I can be, I know that Satan is going to try and knock me down. We won't. I know that it is all up to the will of the Lord, and for that reason, I continue to push forward and be strong in this work. If it weren't for the testimony I have of this work and the love I have for this Church and for the Lord, I wouldn't be out here. It saddens me to see that missionaries give up sometimes when times get rough. I'll keep pressing along because I know that the Lord is not only building his kingdom through me, but he is also building me. I look forward to a great week ahead of us, we're pretty much starting from scratch again, so this ought to be good. Love you all so much, I continue to keep you in my prayers, and I hope all is well. Love you and miss you!

 

-Elder Gallego

 

P.S. Preparation Day will be on Tuesday next week. We get to go to the Temple, again. I can't wait. It's perfect timing. :)

 

"We either have a choice to give up and let him win,

Or keep on fighting and never give in."

1/7/13

Hola Familia!

Whew! This week was difficult, I must say. I don't have much to say, but this work is just a great big roller coaster! Don't worry, still working hard and overcoming any obstacles, but it's just a little frustrating sometimes. 

For starters, the baptism of Clemente was cancelled. Again. A few days before his baptism, after we had gotten consent, finished all the lessons, and felt he was prepared, he took off out of town with his girlfriend and her family before he could be interviewed. Now he is avoiding us, not answering any text messages, phone calls, nothing. It's tough. He was SO close, and we could already see the difference this wonderful message is making in his life and the life of his family. We don't know what happened, but unfortunately it didn't happen. We are working on getting back in touch with him so we can help in any way we can, but I'll keep you updated on that!

This week was just rough in general because all of our lessons were falling through and it seemed like all of our investigators were avoiding us. We are doing the best we can though to just continue pushing through the hard times and not let it get to us. Thank goodness for my companion and I, we are not very negative people so we just do our best to look on the bright side of everything. It reminds me of Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk a while ago when he said "come what may and love it." He talked about a time he and his family were on a roadtrip and they kept taking the wrong turns and getting lost, but rather than getting angry and upset about it, they laughed about it and kept on going. I feel that is the best way to describe Elder Facer and I.

Although it is extremely difficult sometimes being a missionary and going from a great week, to a bad week, to a great week, to a bad week...this emotional roller coaster is building us missionaries. I have learned so much out here, and I know that I have so much more to go, but it will all be worth it. I know I will see the fruits of my labors soon, I already do. But even more, just have to be patient. :)

Fun little excerpt of the week though. I went on quick exchanges to Newport Beach with Elder Andersen as our companions went to visit the doctor in Arcadia together. It was awesome! Not only was I reunited with Elder Andersen, but I was finally in Newport Beach. :) It was the weirdest feeling knowing it all already. We drove past a bunch of our vacation spots, like Newport Dunes. :) It was a blast from the past! 

Something else that was great this week was our continuing spiritual experience with the Lopez family. They are just great! They have been so loving to us missionaries, and it has been great to work with them in their return to church. They have all been coming back to church lately and the parents have been inviting us over to dinner a lot, which according to Julie, is quite rare. We had a really spiritual lesson with them the other night and tears were being shed by all. The Spirit was so strong. Julie shared with us that this is the first time in about 10 years that her family actually remembers the name of a missionary. I have been blessed to work with them through this and to witness the pure love of Christ as they realized his loving guidance and mercy. Her niece, Vanessa is also coming back and even is helping her other friend return to church now. It's amazing to watch, I absolutely LOVE the Lopez family. Soon we will be meeting with the dad about baptism again. He's been taught before, but has never accepted baptism for various reasons, but we will see! Anything is possible through the power of the Holy Ghost. :)

On the bright side, the church time here has changed to 11 o'clock rather than 9 for the past 8 or so years, so that is going to be a lot more helpful getting investigators to come to church. Church is so important for them! 

Not much to talk about this week, Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad! :) Hope you had a great celebration! 23 years! WOO!! Almost to a milestone of 25 :). And thank you so much Grandma Pat for sending me the pumpkin roll in the mail, I loved it! And all the Sisters at the office wanted to try, and they loved it as well, thank you so much! :) Love you all so much and I hope you are all doing great. Please keep me and my investigators in your prayers that we will all be able to follow the will of the Lord in our decisions. Love you and miss you! Cuidense!

-Elder Gallego

"'I am the gardener here, I know what I want you to be.' Thank you God, for cutting me down. Thank you for loving me enough to hurt me. We may all reach the expectations of our Heavenly Father, if we willingly subject to his loving correction." D. Todd Christoffersen

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