10/15/12

Well, this is the last email that i will send as Elder Mateo Gallego...pretty scary how fast that time come to an end. I can not put into words how much peace i feel right now for the knowledge i have that Jesucristo lives and that because of Him, we will live for forever! this past week has been the most spiritual of my entire life. I have seen so many miracles, seen so much love, and most of importante, i have felt the love and felt the faith that i now have and before didnt.

 

As i look back at where i started, i always laugh...its pretty funny to think about how immature i was, how little i knew, and how small my faith was and my testimony...lets not even go there! haha! it is a big change, and i know im not the only one that can say that. Any return misionero can say that. Every 1 out of 3 misioneros comes home and go inactive...scary right? my goal on my mision has been to learn, grow, and develop the testimony strong enough, and simply think with my heart to NEVER be one of those. It doesnt mean they are bad people, it just means they have to start all over again, and trust me, it is not easy and it is not fun the second time around. I know that as you submit your will for the one that Heavenly Father wants you to do, it is imposible to ever go wrong. I have had trials, i have had sickness, been on the near verge of what i have come to see broken down completely, that i never want to go there again. It will happen throughout our live, and i know it is necessary, but once you have the smallest bit of faith, the only way to get it bigger is Just Do It! meaning, ready, pray, and go to church. Go to the temple, hometeaching, callings, have an eternal familia y do all the things you promised at baptism. I know that by small and simple things, great things come about. look at yourself in the mirror and think about how little you were as a baby....pretty cool how much you grow! Just as your body grow, your spirit does too :) the spiritual growth i have come to gain is intense. I cant even put to words how much these people here have teach me for the last two years!

 

This week i had the oportunidad for the first time to do a Baptismal interview....the most spiritual experience of my life outside of the temple or the MTC. for what seem like 15 minutes, we felt the spirit for an hour and a half! i could see the repentance in Deliliah eyes. I could feel the love from the Lord, and the love she has for him. I could seriously see that as she made the changes necessary, she had become forgiven of her sins, and she forgave herself most importantly! She bore strong testimony to me of the great change she has made, the amazing blessing she has seen and the love she has for her familia. She got sunday free to go to church, got married, stopped drinking coffee, tea and alcohol- all in 2 months. She has not missed church yet, refuses to stop reading the libro de mormon, and has a strong testimonio of prayer and the love that one can feel in that. What a great example, a 21 year old mom of 3 girls, and a baby on the way. She is a great example of someone who has made mistakes, just like every single one of us, big or small, and has left what the transgresiones that she has commited in the past, go away. Repentance include forgiving ourself. That is the hardest part! i testify that there is great and eternal power in the atonement of Jesucristo, and it is available to all. It is a gift, use it wisely, and the blessing will come!

 

So this week, i did an exchange with two of the elders in my district, they were both great! with one, we set baptismal date to a familia de cuatro!! DULCE!!! it was an amazing experience as we teach the restauracion and feel the truth of it from the gift of the holy ghost. This familia, los Valle, they want the gospel so much and feel so much love for one another that it was like perfect!! :D also, we decided to go and visit the Jehova witnesses in their meeting house! jaja the center of atencion?? unintencionally yes! we werent harrassed, which is odd, cuz on the streets thats all they do, but they asked us so many questions about how we learn spanish, and didnt believe that we were american and that the church is growning and we are crazy for walking around in the Hood late, and all this stuff! the cool thing was that they are doing what they feel is right. Nobody but God will change that feeling. We can only bring the gospel to them, but they have to take it! so thats what we did! we testified of the gospel and the message of the restauracion  and the spirit was felt! until we did that, the spirit was really not there...it was a wierd feeling but we both knew why and were ready to help them understand that we dont hate them, never have never will,but that we love them and that we need them! there were about 30 people that the elders will be teaching from that....pretty nuts huh!! we didnt invite them or anything, they want to learn from the elders and they felt something that never did before! so they gonna be busyyyy!!! :D

 

well, last of all, we had a great activity at the church on saturday! it was culture night and i was chosen to be the presentor! with the ingles ward with our spanish branch, i did as best as i could to help them understand since the hispanics were the only ones with presentaciones from their home country. it was really cool, and we had a lot of food later! got like 8 new investigadores too!! it was AWESOME!! also, Onasi Beco, the son of Martin who just got baptize, is out of jail now, and say that he feels so good around us and wants us to teach him tonight at 8 :) he is the last non-member of that familia, and i know that he will get baptized and in a year, be sealed to his familia :) such a big change that familia has made!! with the amazing baptism of Jose y Ada yesterday, i was able to reach the baptismal goal that i set! it feel so good to know that the lord is in the work, and that He and my comps have helped me in that! i testify as a servant of the lord set apart from the world, that He lives. I know that the libro de mormon is true. I know that Jose Smith, Hijo, is the profeta of the restauracion. I know that this is the true church, that the atonement is real, i know that familias can be together forever, mine will be and i know that the greatest and most importante power in this universe, by which all things are and were created, is LOVE! It is All ABOUT LOVE! Prayer is real. he is listening. The power of miracles comes by great faith. these two years have teach me so many things, and i know with all my heart, that what the lord has bless me to accomplish as a misionero, will affect the life of me and my familia forever! Shall we not go on in such a great cause? i love each one of you, and from alll i am, i thank you for the support, love, letters, prayers, and blessing you are and have done/given/sacrificed for me to get to where i am now and be who i am. I cant explain it enough. This is the Only way...dont let go of that iron rod (the gospel, the libro de mormon) or i promise you, life will not get better and you will suffer. I want to thank my familia, and all you for never giving up on me...i cant wait to see you all in a week :) until then, Happy Day, All is Well :) 2 Nefi 31

--
Elder Gallego

10/9/12

ORALE!!! so this past week was very very productiva...we had many lessons and we were bless to find more people to teach. We are concentrating on keeping a Cycle of people so that we dont ever get empty of people to teach! there are many things that i have thinking about lately, especialmente of how cool it is to know there are DOS GALLEGO that are serving misiones!! one on the east coast and el otro on the west!! that is so cool to think about! also, that the profeta anounce that the age limit is 18 now for dudes and 19 for the chicas!! so stoked to see how many more misioneros serve misiones. I know that this will help keep them clean and focused so that they dont get lost into going to school and stuff like that. Youth, you people gotta shine! you are what we would have wished to be! but like henry b eyring say, All at the lords time! So now is the Lords time for you to shine and take the call and rise up!! i promise that this is the best and most importante work that you can do at this time in your life...no matter what situacion, take the time to pray and fast so that the lord can prepare you :) what a gran bendicion!

 

This past week was full of much learning for me! i had an amazing exchange with one of my elders, Elder Pabst, he is de Idaho and he has a very special espirit that i can feel when i am around him. So many times during the exchange as we talk about the area we are in and what to be able to do better, i was impressioned to ask him about how he has been feeling personally as a misionero and about his area and his companion...well he is in an area that he served in about a year ago and has his only two converts there, preparing to go the templo so he is excited about that and has been focusing on that. However, as he talk about his companion, he has been feeling that he is being punish because his companion is so dificil and he does not like to really work, and he really is just going through the motions...what we call "robots" and feels as if it is a burden to be a misionero. At this time, i was able to testify to elder pabst that the lord is not punishing him, he is simply helping him learn. I remember my time with a companero muy dificil and i almost just gave up. so many time i think about that moment in my mision and wish i never had to do that, and at the same time, i am grateful that the lord loved me so much to cut me down :) i explained to elder pabst that i had personally talk to presidente schaefermeyer to bring a good hard working misionero to be with this struggling elder, and he send elder pabst :) so when  i tell him that, his face lit up with joy and was very excited to know that it was not punishment...he had not done anything wrong so why would he be punished? as we talked about the paciencia and amor and caridad we made the truth that it was the 3 most importante things that a misionero can learn from every companion...As i have had 12 on my mision, if 12 comps in 24 months doesnt prepare you for marriage, i have no clue what will!! i have learn something from every one of my companions, especialmente the ones that are dificil! And i know that the lord puts us in the path of eachother to learn and to grow. It all depends on what we do with it and our attitude.

 

So, as the exchange came to an end, he thanked me for the sharing of what i asked from presidente and he has felt an increase in love and we focus on pointing out the good in everyone, not the bad :) it is so dificil but it is posible :) i also learned that the atributes by which we will be judged in the last day are spiritual...in other words, christlike attributes! we have to develop the attributes that cristo has to be like him..meaning we can recieve them as "gifts" from HIM! how? prayer, obediencia and love of the commandments that he give us, and really tresuring the gospel. As i think about what i have learned as a misionero en dos anos, i think of my testimony, that it is a "Gift" meaning it can be either taken away for disobedience, not praying, or in other words, it can be lost...not because of anybody else, but because of ME. i Know that the testimony that i have is the treasure of my soul...it truly is. I cant think of any other thing that i would say i really have changed other than my testimony...because of the testimony i have gained, the Lord has change me in SO MANY WAYS! i try to remember what i was like before, and i cant. I try to think about how, and i have no other answer. I dont say that i am truly converted yet, that is a life long process and i know that. I can and will testify that I know, through the gift of the holy ghost that the atonement changes lives, that Gods will is what matters, and the prayers we say are heard. God will never hide himself from his faithful children...ever!

 

heck, think about abish, the woman in alma 19 that had the vision of what her padre saw and how she testified to the people that what ammon and his brothers teaching was true and that the gente cant try to kill them, and that the lord works through many ways to bring about his purposes, and in verse 17, it talks about how abish was an instrument in the hands of god to bring the conversion of limhi and his WHOLE HOUSE to the knowledge of the truth. I think that is so cool!!! like one of the apostoles said en la conferencia, Lets ascend together! the work of the lord is an un selfish work and we have to be listo to help him and be willing to follow HIS guides...the profetas, the apostoles, and like elder russell m nelson said....which puts a HUGE responsabilidad on us, "Ask the Misioneros"! i think that was a huge call for misioneros to rise to the call, and as there will be more hombres y mujeres preaching the gospel, Why not?! it will be a blessing to see how much the chuch will grow in such a fast pace :)

 

so on friday, elder pabst and i ate taco bell....the second time of my mision i have done that....and on saturday morning while we played bball with the hermanos and investigadores en la iglesia, i had to ditch the game and go hurl!!! jaja i was laughing so hard cuz it was the first time in almost 2 years i had done that and it felt so wierd!! do NOT eat taco bell with a grip load of hot sauce...no matter how hispanic you are...it will DAMAGE! :)

 

Ok so the COOLEST thing EVER!! last week, i challenged the elders at the last minute of district meeting, like what elde bednar calls instant revelacion, to commit the elders and ourselves to announce to their wards that there would be a baptism the 21 of octubre...even tho they dont have anyone prepared or even ready for that day. I commited them to that, and on tuesday night, elder schneider and flake call me, and tell me that they met a husband of an active member, who they thought was already a member, and the husband told them that he is not baptized and has been waiting for the misioneros to ask him for the past year, anyways, they asked him to be baptized the 21 of octubre and they say that his face just lit up and he was like, "that is what i felt was the right day"!  SANTA VACA!!! :D that is NUTSS!!!! they were so excited as was i to be able to experience that!! since i have never been able to do a baptismal interview my whole mision, which has been a bummer cuz ive been a district leader for like who knows how long, and we only interview the candidates of our district, my districts have had so many people ready and at the week before just tank it and give up, or get antied or something absurd, I finally will have the chance to!!! :D  i will be doing one this week for them, her name is Delilah Ortiz, and she is super prepared! that will be on thursday, and my last week, i will do the interview of this man, Junior! so not only will i be able to interview them, i will be able to have a testimony of what the spiritual power in conversion can do and how to see a person accept this great covenant :) im so excited!!! yayy for misionary work!!

 

well, this is a long email, like prolly the first good one in forever, but just wanted to get my brain emptied and fresh! we are having the baptism of Jose y Ada on sunday! SICKKKK!!! and i will be baptizing jose, and i think Gian, our recent convert will baptize Ada...if not, Elder Wright! :) and, we will be filling the baptismal font the 21st and are praying that the lord helps us to fulfill a miracle and have a baptism that day :) this is the work of the lord. I know it. Soy mormon! lo se, lo vivo y a mi me encanta! ( im a mormon, i know it, i live it and i love it!) i hope you all can say the same thing :)

 

Dont be afaid to show others who you really are on the inside most deep part of your heart...you are only following the same plan that you accepted before you come to this earth :) I know my savior Lives :)

When the lord asks us to leave our nets, it is FOREVER! never look back, think back, or turn back. If you have the image of Cristo engraved in your countenance like it say in Alma 5:19, there will be no desire to do so :) Look forward, never doubting and he will ALWAYS guide you :) con mucho amor!!

--
Elder Gallego

10/1/12

Holy hanah...it is octubre!!! the world ends in 2 months!!! :D jaja, son bromas! :) so this week, seriously just flew by!! so crazy!!! the area here is on fire, we didnt have baptism this week, the two women dont feel ready yet so we are going to wait! i am so stoked for la conferencia general!! i hope everyone watch the conference and make sure that you take notes!! it will be a super importante!!

so out of all things i can say, i have to start with what our presidente de mision teach us this week about the Light of Cristo that all of us have, but the big diferencia and confusion between the gift of the Holy Ghost! that is so importante...actually it is what make la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias diferente from the world...we have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and it is always wit us and we are obediente and as we follow the promptings it give us...im so sorry if these email are not understandable, it seriously takes me FOREVER to type in ingles and my comp is all on me and sick of waiting jaja, that what happens meng! he will soon know... :)

so anyways, as we think about the holy ghost, it teaches us and help us to be who Cristo NEEDS us to be....not who we want to be...in Alma 12, it tell us that our job is to be obediente and keep the commandments... ALL of them. the more obediente we are, the more blessing we recieve...the less we are...almost never recieve blessing because the spirit will not be with us if we are disobeying. I have a strong testimony of this and i Know that this is true. As i have be obediente, i feel the spirit. When im not, i dont feel anything...it is a blank and empty nothing inside of me that i hate to have...even as a misionero i have not been perfect, i have made my share of mistakes, and some i will say that i definately needed in order to understand what it is like...i know that the lord has shaped my mision for ME and nobody else...he has shaped me to be what we call "the clay" in his hands...A potter, as he makes the pots, he has to shape the clay, and if it doesnt look right, he starts over, wets it down, and puts in on the spinner to use it in a different form...that is how the Lord is with us, if we end up not reaching something that we could have done, he will use us for something better :) not just "something else" cuz as we missed our first oportunidad to be useful in his hands, we LEARNED what that horrible feeling is and we dont want that anymore. I have definetely felt that, and i know that as i keep doing what he asks, there will be no need to worry. He is my light and my guide! and he is YOUR light and YOUR guide. dont ever leave him, he never leaves us....always remember that. it is US who make the separacion from the spirit. its like a glove...WE take it off...and there goes the proteccion that we had before...so dont ever take it off...like mi hermanito says, "Out with the bad, In with the good." :) te amo ELDER! so wierd!!

jaja this week, we ate SO MUCH that my comp threw up 2 times, i was so hilarious!! i have never been able to experience that yet, i dont ever get full....and it is reallly wierd, the people here think im "CrASY!" nacho style! we are having a "Dia de la Raza" it is like uhh....Cultural day, the 13th and i am representando a MEXICO!!! VIVA MEXICO!!! :D i am going to make enchiladas....no estilo gringo....jaja and Carnitas!!! with!! HORCHATA!!! it will be so AWESOME!! i am so stoked! and for the cultural presentacion, mi companero y yo...we are going to Dance "LA MACARENA" :) it should be good! we only are missing like a mariachi or something sweet lilke that...we will see what we can do :)

i had a great exchange with elder smith, he is one of my zone lideres and he is awesome! we got home the same time, and we had a good reflexion on what we would change if we could about our mision and i thought about how much i would love to have gotten MORE out of it...i think that is the regret of every misionero...you can never learn enough and you can never serve too much. and i think about this all the time, but i just feel that two years go by way too fast and it doesnt come and hit you that time is running out until its really too late. i know that i dont have any huge regrets, and like mi hermantio said, i have never disobeyed a spiritual prompting, that is something i have really been able to see the blessings and am so grateful for that. i know that my heavenly father love me. I know that Jesucristo Lives and he is my salvador and redentor. I know that Jose Smith, Hijo, restored the gospel for the last time on the earth, and that Tomas S. Monson is the profet today. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost el Libro de Mormon is true and it will always be an esencial tool to our salvacion. As i trained my district, and well, as they helped me know as well this week in district meeting, the Doctrine of Cristo is the purpose of us. We have to LIVE it and APPLY it so that the investigadores can SEE it working in us! as i have done this to the best i can, i have felt and seen a diferencia in the live of my investigadores, my own life, and the live of the elders that have served with me. I know that we have companions for a reason, and i have learned something from every single one of them! i love them and if having 12 comps on a mision dont prepare you for marriage.... i dont know what will jaja!! i know that this work is real and that through the atonement, i am able to repent every day and feel of the Love of the savior in my life!

I was able to share my testimony yesterday and i know that this is where the lord has prepare people to hear the message of the restauracion...it is true. I know it! the investigadores that we have: Matha, Yanela, Yolanda, Jose y Ada- they are all progressing so much and it will be such a great day to see them enter the baptism water and then be confirmed the last day. If you feel like you are struggling, trust me...Pray. It is the only instant comfort i can possible think about other than think about your familia...i know that when i do, it make me feel the same spirit i feel 13 years ago when we got sealed for time and all eternity....oh! remember Karina? the girl i talk about that cried as she bore her testimony about how MUCH she wants to be sealed to her parents?  well, we had an AMAZING lesson with her dad, and he is commited to start the temple classes in November!!! :D the spirit was so strong as we bore testimony of the reality of eternity and how importante it is to be an eternal familia...i KNOW that it is the reason we are here...to become eternal familias to be able to live with our Heavenly Parents again :)

Life is not about running from the storm, it is about learning how to Dance in the Rain :)

-- 

Elder Gallego