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
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Elder Gallego
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Elder Gallego
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