6/2/14

Hola familia!

The last two weeks have been a roller coaster! (Dejavú?) The week
before last was a pretty normal week full of work. We stayed busy and
had a lot of lessons and people to teach. However, this last week,
Elder Ramirez through out his back and we had to take a break for a
couple days because he could barely move. We had to move some
appointments, but on top of that, there are a few people who decided
to drop us. :( It's been an interesting week, and I slipped a little
into a rut again, but I pounded faith into my head this week and had a
phenomenal study about trusting in God. I know I just posted something
about faith on my Facebook (Faithbook haha, get it?), but I just love
learning about faith right now. Gospel Principles yesterday was even
about faith! It was a great eye-opening week.

Also, the reason why I didn't get an email to you last week is because
I spent all day at the...drum roll...Elotada! So much fun! Not the
same as last year, because there weren't as
many people, but it was still a lot of fun to see familiar faces
again. :) Didn't play volleyball the whole day this time, but I still
got torched! Haha Sure sign of the Elotada. Of course, the Elote was
bomb and I was loving it. Food!

Speaking of food, I finally went on exchanges with the Peruvian elder
here in my district. We spoke Spanish the whole exchange....I never
thought I'd be able to do that before my mission. 24 hours of just
Spanish. It was embarrassing how bad my English was after that ha. Now
what does that have to do with food? Well, we got permission from the
Assistants to visit the Peruvian Sanchez family from Anaheim!!! He got
to finally meet them at the Elotada and they told us to come eat with
them if we ever went on exchanges ha....SO I got to go home! It was
great. He was in heaven - he missed his Peruvian food so much. So did
I, so it was great to see my Peruvian family ha. SO good!

Patty is doing amazing. She is my favorite right now ha (is it wrong
to pick favorites?). She is progressing really well and we are working
with her right now to like going to church. She sent us a message
yesterday that she honestly loves everything else, but doesn't like
going to church right now. We feel she would like it better in
English. She speaks both perfectly, but speaks more English with us,
so we will see. Please pray for her. She is the most progressing right
now. Please continue to keep the rest in your prayers, though. It's
going, but we are in the process of finding again. We found a part
member family that seems to have a lot of potential. We'll see!

Cool quick story this week. The Sisters in Santa Ana got food
poisoning, so we went to give them a blessing. Come to find out later,
after the blessing, apparently one of the Sisters had a bad toe injury
from the Elotada that she only told her companion about. Well, in the
blessing, I said that she'd be healed from head the toe. It was the
first time I've ever used those words, and I actually noticed when I
said it because it was a stomach sicknesses. Well, since the blessing
she hasn't had a problem! Super cool. The Holy Spirit truly does
guide.

Now to finish off (symbolism that this is the last thing on my mind
right now ha), a lot have been asking when I am coming home. My plane
arrives at around 11am on July 29th. Weird. Thank you, Alyssa, for
pointing out it's next month. Haha Still seems like forever away.
Sweet! I've got time! Ha Love you all very much and hope you are well.
Take care!

-Elder Gallego

"Faith is not believing that God can, it's knowing that He will."

5/19/14

Pics!

#1- New haircut and California shirt!
#2- Mom! You're on our Mother's Day board for the month of May in the
office! :) I look like a ghost...so white!
#3- Candid pic that Elder Curtis snapped on the spot!
#4- See you in two, buddy!!
#5- #webefly
#6- I have my own personal chef! Elder Ramirez cooks for me....and
it's delicious! And healthy. :)
#7- Called to Serve.

Hola familia!

This week was....awkward? Ha Not really sure how to state it. It was a
good week, but not in the expected areas, and then in the expected
areas, it kind of tanked again. I don't know, I feel like a see saw
right now. I don't have my sea legs quite yet in this area - good
think my companion is patient.

It was a normal work week, but we had a lot of success in finding this
week. We've struggled with that lately, but the people we visited
actually seemed to have good potential. A few people Elder Curtis and
I were teaching, or that we're being taught before I came here, that
disappeared popped up again. It's exciting! We have a pretty full pool
of people to teach right now, but a lot of them have hit the fork in
the road and can't make a decision on what it is they would like to
do. The unfortunate part is that they are not counseling with God
about it.

For starters, Henry Guadarrama was going to be baptized yesterday, but
five minutes before his interview on Saturday, he sent us a text
saying he isn't ready. That he loves the church, but feels like he
needs to go to church for a year before he makes this step. We've
tried explaining that baptism is the beginning as is states in Moroni
8:25, but he told us he has made up his mind. We are still going to
teach them, but we are going to try even harder to get the whole
family involved. Daniel wants to get baptized so bad, but his mom
won't let him. So sad. We have an appointment with the whole family on
Tuesday this week, though, so please pray that goes well! We really
need the mom, Rosalba, to be in board so that their family can have
these blessings. They could really use them right now. Great family,
but they need to trust more in God.

Also, Ely basically has disappeared. She came to church last week and
all, but she said that she did it to make her sister happy. She said
she doesn't have desires to learn anymore. Breaks my heart. She was so
close, and it was going to be something SO good for her and her
family. She was being such a great example and always looked so happy
at church. Apparently her sister, Leti and her husband told her not
to. That confused us because Leti wanted to get baptized a while ago,
but her husband wouldn't let her. So now she is against the church.
Doesn't really make sense, but Maria (the one active member in the
family) said that she is going to church with them now. I was so sad
leaving that house. Hopefully a miracle happens and that house turns
back around. The mom needs to come back to church before anything
happens.

We found a great lady, Rosario, though! She has had a great example
shown to her from the members here. She knows a few from school and is
very impressed by the teaching skills of none other than Elder Acosta.
He is the Area Seventy that loves here in this wars and is a teacher
at her children's elementary school. She is solid. She is going
through a hard time right now... Her father is going to surgeries down
in Mexico right now, and he is very old, so he is not in the best of
condition. She said she was going to take her family to church
yesterday but didn't show up and didn't answer her phone, so we hope
nothing happened with her dad. Please keep him in your prayers, as
well!

All around, it was a pretty good, awkward week. Ha I mean, on the
bright side, I did get to see Chandler! :) Sorry I was so awkward and
quiet, I didn't know what to do! Ha I was COMPLETELY caught off guard,
and what made it even worse was that my president was in the office. I
didn't know what to do. So, don't think I wasn't super excited to see
you, just had to play it cool and it still feels like a dream. My mind
can't take it in. It didn't even feel like 2 years without you! It
gave me a horrifying glimpse of coming home. Awkward. Ugh. Haha

We also had our Zone Conference and it was really good! I conducted my
first meeting! Well, that type of meeting. I slayed it, needless to
say (ha so humble). The spirit was very strong and I wanted to cry! It
was mine and the Bowen's last Zone Conference. Sure will miss them. I
spoke with President and talked him into he and I having an interview
right before I leave for my "temple recommend" a.k.a. departing
interview ha. I love my mission so much. Sometimes I forget about how
amazing this experience has been for me because I am ungrateful at
times, but I remind myself at the end of the day to count my
blessings. Work work work. There is no substitution. Love you all very
much! Hope you're doing well. Take luck!

-Elder Gallego

5/12/14

Elder Ramirez and I!!

Hola familia!

It was so great to see all your wonderful smiling faces yesterday. I
love you all very much and sure love having such an amazing family. I
know it is the gospel that has truly transformed this family from
where we used to be and I am so glad that we will be an eternal
family. Skyping was so much fun! I didn't take a screenshot like I
wanted to :(. New plan, I will call you tomorrow, get back together,
and we will get a picture. Haha I wish. Miss you and love you, but see
you soon!

The last couple weeks have been nothing short of a nauseous roller
coaster, as it can be at times. Ha It wasn't this time that so much
happened, but rather that so much DIDN'T happen. Agency is the
darnedest thing. Just wish people would follow the revelation they
receive and let the spirit talk to them. There are so many blessings
in store. Just try it. SO, Ely, Daniel, Henry, Heidi, Guadalupe,
Maria, Edid, etc are all fence sitting right now. They have committed
to change, but now we have done as much as we can and it is up to
their personal decisions and desires to follow through with it. We
will still be working with them, but we will be focusing this week on
finding more people to work with as well.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We are going to work
hard! The week before last, Elder Curtis and I were having a hard time
that everything fell through again for the second time in a row, and
as we were working on brushing off and pushing forward, I actually
shared Dad's email! It really brought the Spirit and lifted us. I want
to include some of it. I felt it was inspiration directly to me for a
reason. Just when I thought I got through the hard week and that the
email should have come earlier, that week hit, and I know it was
perfect timing. Thanks Dad! This is what he shared with me...

"Elder G!

"So sounds like your week may have been a little spicy with some
hurdles to overcome? So you just have to say, OK and press forward
doing what you know is right. It will not always be easy (as you know)
and it is not always as clear to those we teach as it is to us. Part
of being a good teacher/leader is to be an empathetic listener. It can
really be tough to walk in someone else’s shoes but you have to try to
understand people you communicate with in that way.

"One thing I have noticed throughout the years is that a persons'
perspective of things is so unique. For instance, look at politics.
Probably the biggest example of difference of opinions next to
religion, but religion is a belief that tends to be faith driven. With
politics, people can make decisions based on evidence that is more
material in nature. Religion may seem that way at times for those of
us with a strong testimony but for someone who is new in the Gospel
there are many issues because of the foundation of ones' faith. It
probably get pretty doctrinally deep as you start to peel back the
layers but bottom line is you need to do your best to help support the
foundation of faith by teaching the truth - and the Spirit will do the
rest. Words can be powerful and tend to convince people in the moment
but when that spiritual support leaves, many times so does that
persons interest in seeking the truth. Out of sight, out of mind.

"So what do we do you may ask?...

"...I can remember when Matthew was struggling after being caught
using marijuana and drinking. We took him away from his peers and went
to the cabin for some time away. He was very humble at the time having
confessed and entered into the process of repentance. We jumped on our
mountain bikes at the cabin and rode up to the top of the hill behind
Cheney Ranch. When we reached the top, we got off our bikes and looked
around. This was an area the the Rodeo-Chediski Fire burned thru and
devastated years before. There were blackened and gnarled trees and
ground everywhere. As we looked over the view, I asked Matthew what he
saw. He described the view on the horizon and the blackened landscape.
Then I asked him to look a little closer…'what do you see?' I asked.
His response was adding more detail to the surrounding carnage and the
depth of destruction. His perspective was of the magnitude of what had
taken place there. He was feeling beaten at the time so he had a
negative perspective of things.

"Then I told him what I could see. All around us, between the jagged
trees and blackened earth, there was a blanket of new growth. Grasses,
ferns, trees, and other life that was green and rich looking in
contrast to the burned out landscape. In the midst of death, there was
life. In the presence of destruction, there was beauty.

"We could probably spend hours discussing various thoughts and
analogies with this perspective but the one I wanted you to focus on
is how through the presence of destruction, there was beauty. In the
midst of our trials, there is always life - there is always beauty -
the Savior. Its up to us what we see. Will we concentrate on the old
or will we focus on the new? Do we get caught up in what we may
perceive as failure of do we just step up and press forward? Its so
easy to get caught up in what we see as defeats and forget what is
good all around us.
You have and are continuing to do a great work in the sight of God. No
matter what you may think, there is always a reason to rejoice in the
midst of failure. Stay strong and press forward. The Lord needs you to
give your all and see the beauty all around you. Teach others to
recognize and feel the Spirit so they can see the beauty for
themselves...

"Dad"

I truly believe that was guided counsel from the Holy Ghost to me
through Dad. I just love that email. I saved it. :)

This last week, Elder Curtis was transferred...lame! We were working
so hard, but only got one transfer together. I hate when that happens!
I am still kind of lost here since we were SO busy last transfer that
we didn't have much time to get to know the members, however, I am
still super excited for this transfer. My new companion is Elder
Ramirez from Chile! I love working with natives ha. I am going into
this transfer seeing the beauty. I love this kid! We have been
following each other our whole mission. Ha It's going to be a lot of
fun and we are going to work hard!

Once again, Happy Birthday and Mother's Day, Mom! It sure was great to
talk to you all yesterday and I hope you continue to do well. Love you
so much! Take care!

-Elder Gallego

"If you can't bring them to baptism, try to bring them to a place of
greater faith." Elder Neil L. Andersen

5/5/14

Birthday Wishes from the Santa Ana East Zone of the California Anaheim
Mission!!!!!!!! :)

5/1/14

Pic1- Guadalupe right before she left :(

Pic2- Taqueria Don Pancho - Ely's dad's restaurant. Tacos de carne asada. yummmmmmmm

Pic3- Road trip to Long Beach for my last Dr. Appt. Woo!

Pic4- Good times. :)

Pic 5- Sister Corona is back! She is the coolest sister missionary. She was the one that left back in Anaheim, but she is back to finish up! So cool, she is a great missionary.

Hola familia!

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISSA!!! It was fun to watch everything pop
up on Facebook. You are such a great example to so many people and I
love you very much. You are my favorite sister! ;) I wanted to comment
so bad on things that were being posted, but unfortunately that is
against the rules. :( So, I liked it all instead! haha You are an
amazingly loving daugher, mother, sister, and friend. I just love you
so much! Ahh! Best sister in the world award goes to you for sure. :)
And the most beautiful. ;) Love you Sis.

There's a lot that has happened these last couple of weeks! The P-Day
was changed for a Mormon Helping Hands service project that we were
going to have, but it wasn't approved by the correct authority before
they went into the planning. So, we were told Wednesday that it was
cancelled because there were possible legal issues that could be
involved. It was a service project to help people gain citizenship and
we got trained on how to help fill out the paperwork on Monday, but
because of the complexities in law in that area, our presiding general
authority from the Seventy pulled the plug. The missionaries were
basically signed up without approval. Ha Maybe later!

So the P-Day change was pretty pointless, but now it will be a super
quick P-Day on Monday with everything already done. Ha

This last week was actually a pretty rough week. Not that we are upset
or anything, things just didn't go as planned, but in the long run, it
all makes sense why things went the way they did. Somehow there was
credit card fraud on my mission card, Guadalupe ended up telling us
the following day that she didn't feel ready and had some doubts about
it, Ely didn't talk to us all week so apparently she wasn't sure about
it either, Daniel's mom won't give him permission, Henry didn't feel
certain quite yet between this church and Jehovah's Witness, and
Heidi's situation is a lot more complicated than we had imagined. This
week had a lot of twists. And it wasn't even until the end that we
looked back and saw all the things that went on. We just kept plugging
along and knew that God has a plan for each of them. No matter what
Satan throws at them, I know that each one of them will remember their
special answers and be baptized soon.

The way we think about it, is that there always seems to be some sort
of "Pogo Stick Effect" that goes one as one prepares to be baptized.
So, although this was a down week for the investigators and no one got
baptized as they had planned and prepared for, but just like a Pogo
Stick, they are bouncing back up this week, and we are able to focus
on each personal need better. :)

So we prepared Guadalupe for the missionaries to pick her right up and
help her prepare to be baptized in Pasadena. She really likes the
values of the church, and the feelings she feels being there. She
needs to be a little more willing to act on her answers, but she is
doing well, and we are going to stay in touch. She wanted me to
baptize her because I was the first one to talk to her once she got
here, but alas, she will have to make a connection with someone there.

Ely got scared as it got closer to baptism and began to doubt because
her father isn't a member and she works for him and she didn't have
Sundays off. She didn't want to commit to something that she knows she
won't be able to follow through with. What a great concern! Better
that than going through with it and then dropping away immediately.
She got up the guts towards the end of the week though and confronted
her dad about it and he gave her Sundays off right away. ha She just
needed to ask! :) So, she is now off on Sundays, and she came to a
baptism of another investigator in the ward this past Sunday and felt
guilty for not getting baptized then. So, she is set for this week. :)
She is super excited and just loves church. It's great to have a
strong youth organization here.

We had an amazingly powerful lesson this week with the Guadarrama boys
and they are doing great! They are reading and praying and Henry has
come to realized that this is indeed the truth because he says he
doesn't feel this way in any other church or in reading any other
book. Daniel is solid beyond belief for a 14 year old. He reads the
Book of Mormon and understands it better than most adults. He is super
smart! He's hilarious. He's not the best at telling stories and drags
them out for a long time and he explains ever little detail. haha But
we just love the stories! He also shares with us quote from his "How
to be a Successful Teenager" book that he reads all the time. He's
awesome! He wants to be baptized SO bad, but he just needs to convince
his mom that he is old enough to make this decision. He does NOT act
like a 14-year-old. He's super mature and smart! So please pray that
all will go well. Henry is for sure getting baptized this week and he
wants to get the priesthood right away so that he can baptize his
family. :) He paused after we asked him to be baptized this weekend
and said "I can see my future right now" with his eyes closed. And
then he explained all these amazing attributes and blessings that he
can see in his future with this gospel. He's solid. They're going to
be missionaries for sure. Please pray that their mother's heart will
be softened so that she allows Daniel to take this step that is so
important to him. Again, the youth have been AMAZING in their story as
well. Such a great ward.

With Heidi, they have a situation in which they can't get married
because she has a loan for being single. And she just started school,
so if she gets married, they will take away her loan and possible kick
her out of school. There's a lot more to it, and it's all very
complex, so please pray that it will get resolved and that they will
have the necessary faith to put God first. They are just so great and
want the best, there's just so much going on right now. She also just
got promoted in work, so she may not be able to come to church on
Sundays anymore. She knows it's true and knows it's what she needs to
do. We are going to meet with them soon and have been practicing how
to help them, so please pray that all goes well!

Other than the updates, it was a pretty usual week. We had our typical
busy teaching, studying, and meetings schedule. We did a lot of
service work, though! That was a blast. :) We are both running the
same time here (we go home at the same time) so we are being sure to
stay focused and working hard! I love it. We are having a great time.
Elder Curtis is a great elder and it has been a blast working with
him. We feel he is probably leaving this next transfer :/, guess we
will find out either tonight or Saturday! I think you are all amazing,
and I absolutely love you! Take care and be safe!

-Elder Gallego

"There are two types of people; those who think they can, and those
who think they can't. And they are both usually right." (I can!!!! :))

4/21/14

Hola familia!

This week was a cool week! Easter is the best. I love focusing our remembrance on the resurrection of our Savior, and that #BecauseofHim we, too, are going to be resurrected and can be together for forever as a family. I sure love the spirit of this season, and I am forever grateful for such a loving older brother as Jesus Christ. Happy Belated Easter!

We were blessed to be a part of a multi-mission meeting this Friday, and guess who was there! Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! I got to meet him and shake his hand! :) It was a great meeting, and I just loved being there. He has an amazing way of talking. It's so loving and gentle, but at the same time very powerful and direct. He has always been one of my favorites! :) And he is a funny man! We were all laughing through a lot of it, because he would constantly crack jokes. ha He shared with us how President Packer always reminds him that he is the last and least of the twelve haha and how they are always joking around. He mentioned how whenever he tries to talk how Elder Holland does, Sister Anderson tells him he shouldn't talk that way. I know that as I explain this, it's not funny at all..........ha......guess it's one of those "you needed to be there" moments. Sorry, but it was really well done!

I love how personable he is! I learned a lot from him. He talked about how everything we do out here needs to be focused towards increasing the faith of everyone, no matter whether they get baptized or not. I LOVED that. There are so many missionaries our here that are focused on baptism and numbers that they look past the purpose of it all. We are not going to be able to baptize the whole world while we are out here. As amazing as it would be, the circumstances just don't allow it. People still have their agency, so what we need to focus on his helping these people in any way possible. As he said, if they get baptized, all the better because it shows that true desire they have, but even if we are to increase their faith by a little bit, we can be comfortable in knowing that we helped a soul closer to God. There are a couple elders I know that have been so caught up on the fact that they have not had a baptism yet, and I have been trying to help them understand that there is more to just baptism. We build faith. Plus, we are only baptized once! ;) The rest of "our baptisms" are their baptisms and baptisms for the Lord. They are sacred promises that our investigators make with the Lord, and never should we try to get in the middle of that. Yes, we were the messengers, but the Spirit is the real converter, and we should never take away from the power of the investigator choosing to act on that themselves. I am so proud of each and ever person I have helped towards making that covenant, but I know that I have done more than just that. There are many seeds that have been planted by my hard work, and I look forward to someday being able to look back and see how those seeds grew into strong trees. :) I loved what he shared with us, and I hope it helped other missionaries see the work that way, too. :) As long as we do our best, we are leaving it up to them to make that choice.

It was basically like our own General Conference! ha Another thing that stuck with me was something that I am glad to have heard towards the end of my mission. I know there were many things that were meant for me to hear. He shared that we need to work as hard as we can all the way up until the very end, but that we also need to be prepared for what happens after. That caught my attention, because I have been wondering to what extent can I think about or talk about home without others thinking I am trunky. haha He shared that this time is a time of preparation. Many missionaries think that if you even think about home before your mission is over, then you are trunky and unfocused. I think the contrary! I need to be prepared! haha This just affirmed my thoughts on that. It's not that it is a distraction for me if I make plans for what will happen after my mission, but rather, it helps me feel more comfortable in knowing that I won't just be sitting at home watching all the movies and TV shows I missed as I take time to bounce back to life. That would just set me back further than I already am from everyone else around me. ha So that brought me comfort. :) Of course, everything has it's time and place, but there is a huge difference between being trunky and prepared. Still going to be crazy going home, but I've got to be ready! ha So don't worry if I talk about home or returning, it's not that I am distracted, I'm just getting ready. ha

There was SO much more that I got out of it, but I just don't have time to share it all, I will be sure to share more later, for sure! :)

Another cool story from the week really quick was that of Guadalupe. I have mentioned her a couple times now, but she is the one from Chicago. Well, we hadn't heard from her this week, and we thought she was done with listening to us (we were sad, because she was SO prepared and solid), but she responded to us Sunday morning and said that she was coming to church. We were so surprised. To add more to our surprise, apparently she had been spending the whole week with our Relief Society President and she was helping her with finding a job. Well, she got a job, and Hna Montiel drove her all the way to Pasadena to help with the interview process and she got the job right away. It was exactly what she was looking for, but sadly she has to move there because it is an in-home care job for a disabled man. So, she is leaving, and it's sad. :( HOWEVER, she met with us after church and told us she wants to be baptized before she leaves! O.O We were so caught off guard, but she has been listening for long enough and apparently Hna Montiel has been talking to her about it all week, too, and she really loves the gospel. She is already following the commandments and all. We are not sure if it is all going to be possible since it will all need to be taken care of tomorrow before she leaves, but we will see! Please keep her in your prayers that she can be sure in her decision. We'll see how it goes! Talk about miracles. I love this area. :)

Well, other than that, it was a pretty normal week. We worked, and worked, and worked. If all goes as planned, Guadalupe, Ely, Heidi, Daniel, and Henry will be getting baptized this Sunday. :) They are all doing REALLY well, and have received their answers. Heidi still needs to be married, and that may be happening this week, too. Crazy stuff! So much is going on, so please pray that we can keep up with helping all these people come unto Christ. :) Love you all very much, and thank you for the package, I sure loved it! I hope you all had a Happy Easter and that this is a good week for you. Sure love you! Take care. Pictures to come soon! :)

-Elder Gallego

"Honesty is the start of spirituality." Elder Neil L. Anderson

4/14/14

Hola familia!

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.)

www.mormon.org/becauseofhim

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."