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

9/24/12

hey familia!!! q lo q?! my brain is so fried right now....we ate 4 times ayer and i seriously can barely even think!! this week went by so dang fast! it was cool and at the same time, like as misionero it is so annoying bc you feel there is not enough time to do anything!

so i had my very last zone conference this week! we learned a lot about the doctrine of christ and how the simple things we teach and do are always the ones that matter. we had some really great role plays for some investigatores and they worked out really nice!! i was able to bear testimony to the two zones that were there, and it really hit me on how much i have grown and how much the lord has blessed me with and the great love he has for me and i know that as i keep doing the things tha ti have learned as a misionero on my life, that will be the best thing for me and it will help me to grow and become like my savior, Jesucristo.

so between all the teaching 61 lessons this week, yeah way loco, and the fiestas and actividades por los miembros and all the great and amazing miracles the lord show us every day, there was one that really stood out to me, and it was yesterday. the sacrament is algo tan impotante en our vidas! i know that as we partake of the sacrament the cleaning power of it makes us pure and clean to be worthy and enter into the presence of out father in heaven. i am so excited for this day, when i can be in the presence of Him, my creator. I love this gosepl so much and i am so grateful for all the many blessings i reacieve for being a servant of him. the many blessing that are involved in this is the testimony that i have gained. many people think of blessing as just liek being rich or having many things, when really that has nothing to do with it, that is fortune. BLESSINGS are the true yet eternal simplicity in life that we will carry with us to the next :) it will be something that in thsis short periodo of 2 years that will have an eternal effect on my life. i know that the mision is nothing easy, but it takes work that will help to build you into who you NEED to be in the future. I have an AMAZING father, and he didnt serve a mision. But i do remember him telling me all the time that if he had the chance and he knew about the gospel at a younger age, he would have. I know that he will serve with my mom and i know that it will be an amazing experiencia, but i also know that as i am following the counsel of him, and my Father in Heaven, they will lead me to the same spot.

the goal for us is to be the kind of people that others want to follow...the best leaders in the world are those who follow. Look at the profeta, Tomas S. Monson...he was been a follower his whole life! and he still is! from an apostol at 35 to profeta like 50 years later, think about that sacrifice! but the lord put it in him just like he does to us that power and that drive to be a leader in the future. he build him up to start and then he just keep doing it from there. we are never done learning in this life. i know that i have obtain so much more info on my mision that i did my whole life before. i know that the savior live, and he love me like he love you. it is a ver personal relation that we all have to have with him! that is the key!! how? PRAYER!! :)

martha, yanela, yolanda, jose y ada are all great, getting ready to get baptise the 14 of octubre and it will be sucha great day! i know that as the spirit keeps guiding us, we will have so much success here! prepare for general conferencia! this is the most important one! why? i have no idea, i just feel that this is the one that will tell us, if we are ready, what and how to prepare for the second coming of our lord and savior Jesucristo :) i know this church is true and i know that it is the only way! Alma 5:19

-- 

Elder Gallego

9/17/12

Holy hannah!!! this is the greatest thing i have ever put my mind to doing!! i am so grateful to be a misionero!! jaja we had some seriously HILARIOUS moments this week, i mean as a misionero the life you live is somthing sacred and you should always live up to that, and i have learned that just like elder wirthlin said i think like 5 years ago right before he died was that when bad things come, Just laugh :) so not to  be like always laughing or anything, but we gotta just smile it off and look at the bright side and move on. The moment we take steps back, satan has overpower us and we are falling into his hands!

Well, to cut to the story, friday night, we were with a familia and they said something that reminded me of Nacho Libre....so as i tried to do the "ignacio stretch" that he pulled off in his madd tight white pants, well my whole crotch of my not madd tight grey pants, BLEW OUT! jajajajaja probably one of the most hilarious, yet embarrasing moments of my life, it was definately a moment that nobody there will forget, but lesson learned---never try to do the "ignacio stretch" in dress pants....they will RIP! but the bright side is that they ripped right on the seam so there is a seester here in the branch that is like my personal tailor! jaja, this is not the first time i have done this...my butt is not shrinking jajaj so it is making things a little "tight"  :)

anyyways! wow, were to start. i feel wierd to know that the time keeps running out, i always say it because it is always obvious, my comp never let me forget it! jaja payaso! so i was sent a package from my parents like 2 weeks ago and it didnt get to me by last monday, so as i was in the apartamento writing letters on monday, i said a prayer that no matter how that the package will get to me. i stared out the window for seriously like 30 minutes, and i saw NO mailman...well after that 30 min i decided to go and check the box....the package slip was in there!!! :D i was like "WAAAAAAA!!!" "ORALE!!" jaja, lesson is that Heavenly Father answers prayers for even the little things. :) i know that it was a miracle cuz there was no mailman that came, not one! so that was kinda cool :)

anyways, this week was filled with blessings. It was cool cuz we got to bless the home of our elder quorum presidente and it was a very nice and spiritual experience. those who have not yet blessed the homes they live in and would like one, just call a priesthood holder or if you already have the melquisedec preisthood, offer a prayer and bless it and all the elements (not individually) cuz that would be one LONG prayer, but bless your home so that the spirit of the Lord can be there, i testify it makes a diferencia :) Also, with the branch, there was two people sick that we gave blessings to, Hno. Cruz has a disease in his intestinos and la hija de Martha was sick and so we were able to give them both blessings yesterday! Also, my companion and i had been feeling a little down with the lack of progress on some of the investigadores that we have, and so we gave eachother blessings, and i tell you what, blessings are a great way to know what your heavenly father needs of you and thinks of you. The comfort that i felt was uforgettable! i love it and i know that as one part of it told me to Listen to the Spirit, i have focused on that even more and it has brought more of it to my life. i know that we are loving children of heavenly father and that he wants us to be ok. We have to put our trust in him to be able to progress as his children here on earth!

Yesterday, Gian was confirmed! he asked that i do it, and it felt as if it were just me and him in the sacrament meeting room. it was increible and Gian will be a great power to the branch and a big help so that the last one of the Beco familia- Onasi- who is in jail, can get baptized when he gets out...well soon after :) we have been pushing the stake program of Set a Date and they have set a date well, like a goal that Onasi get baptized on the 21 de octubre...so that will be super sweet!! Martha y Yanela are doing great, they are preparing for baptism the 30 of this month, and jose y ada y yolanda the 14 of octubre and the 21 of octubre...so life as a misionero is super busy right now! we have zone conferencia this week, my last one :/ that will be good tho to be able to learn more from my leaders! i love learning, my companion helps me in my trials, and i learn so much from him. He is prollly wone of the dorkiest guys i ever met, but one of the most humble people i meet too. we are working great together, and are going to go to the end! i know that as we put our faith in Jesucristo we will be lifted up. Dont give up. Ever. The blessings that await are right around the corner!! :) andale y echense galleta CAMARA! 

-- 

Elder Gallego

9/10/12

well familia y amigos, the road ends in Allentown, PA! i am very excited to be able to finish where my trainer, elder kerouac, started his mision...it funny cuz he finished where i started mine...Wilmington! so we kinda just switched it up!! it will be a wonderful 6 weeks and i will also be staying with my companero, Elder Wright! he is so stoked to "kill" me...that is what the term of a misionero that is "dying" or leaving the mision....the mision is like a whole diferente world man! i love it and am going to live it all up and we will work as if it was our last day every day!

so it has been an emocional week, with having two couples sealed in the temple on saturday, seeing a couple of my ex-comps, elder reese and de leon and being able to have them spend two nights with us while they were at the temple was way cool! as you prolly see on Facebook, we were sleeping like all over the place! we had some crazy events! incluso i locked us out of the apartamento cuz i left my keys in there, and my comps keys were in his backpack and that was in the car, and we only have one set of car keys, the ones i left in there....jaja so we only have one little window...and it was occupied by the air condicioner so i gave it a swift push and it went through as planned, but all this mud and stuff came out and my comp and de leons comp picked me up and were slowly helping me get through this little window and all the sudden they just push me thru and it was hilarious as i hit my head on the ground and got all dirty and stuff...but it was a memorable experiencia! :D

so to give the rundown of the events this week, we got Martha committed to baptize the 30 of this month, as well as Yanela and Yolanda. Yolanda will be getting married this next week, Yanela is already in Jacob en el libro de mormon, and Martha is progresando like no other! we had a great lesson with Jeremy (the one we baptize like my first month here) and he bore testimony of the power of baptism and he told her how he didnt want to at first but knew it was what the lord needed him to accomplish so he put his faith in him and he is now a great strong convert! the spirit was so strong! we were able to help her put her faith in the lord, as well with Yanela! she is so awesome and is reading like crazy! she loves el libro de mormon!

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Also, we were blessed to be with Martin and his wife Yaquelin on tuesday night! so they have friends, Jose y Ada, that are super super close and believe in what the church teaches is good and they were super interested, well martin just walk in and is like "jose y ada, we are here to tell you that this is the way and we want you to be baptized so that we can see you get sealed in a year" en espanol of course....and we just sat there like waaaaat!!! that was mad tight!!!! Martin is so strong and it is cool cuz he is not afraid to share the gospel. his wife yaquelin is the same way! their daughter, Leny, got sealed on saturday and it was a great event. i was not able to go cuz i wasnt involved in the reteaching process of her husband Toribio, he got baptized a year ago, and so i wanted to go but couldnt :/ it was hard but they came out totally changed!! it was amazing!! Anyways, back to jose y ada, we didnt even teach hardly anything and i invited them to be baptize the 14 of octubre and they both said SI!!!!!   we were like amazed! all this inviting people to get baptize happen in a day! it was so crazy!! we also had a familia home evening with martin and his familia and we centered it on their son, Onasi, who is in jail right now but who will get out the 30 this month....we are going to get him converted before i get out of here!! it will be so AWESOME! Onasi is the only one left :) Gian did not get confirmed yesterday cuz he went to NJ to see his mom, she just came from Santo Domingo...so that was like not planned but he will be getting confirmed this coming sunday! :)

with all this going on, we also had a great Zone Training and we were taught about the importance of the spirit in teaching and how to use it in our every day life. i think it is so importante to say that without the spirit, why would we want to keep going? there is no motivation! that is what everyone needs, the gift of the holy ghost so that the feel the motivacion (love) from Heavenly father to do what is right. we are doing very well as a zone and there are many people getting prepared to recieve baptism and ge confirmed. Baptism without confirmacion is nothing! that is really what cleans us, the gift of the holy ghost is the baptism by fire the lord streses so much on. we have to remember why we got baptize and the commitment we left that day. it is so importante! the sacrament is why we need to go to church, and the classes help us learn more about what we told Heavenly father we would do at baptism....endure to the END! i know that this is why we are here. to be tested, and the lord do it so he can see how much we really love him. mosiah 23:20-24. i feel so much love for all the people that i know, you are the reason i keep going! God has so much love for us, and we want it right? so we have to go GET IT! he is the source, this mesage is the way, and the spirit is the guide :) Vivir, Amar, Reir :) (live, love, laugh) there is no better way :) it is found in the mensaje de la restauracion! i know this the time to act, so lets do it!

the rest of the week was a blur, one thing did stick to me tho.....the love we have for everyone has to be first centered on ourself. if we cant love ourself, how can we love anything else? i know that Heavenly Father has an infinite love for each of us,.....and he wants us to feel it, realize that we are loved, love ourself, and share that SAME love and charity with others :) we gonna go git em this week :)

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Elder Gallego

9/4/12

wow! so i got to be super fast this week! it was super crazy and things went super bien!

i going to kind of just list some things off so that i get my mind cleared, we dont have much time to write and i am truggling to write in english again cuz this week hardley speak like any! but i just want to start by saying that i have felt the prayers and love of all of you this week. as i am focusing on the mision and my companion and i had a baptism it helped me realize that there are so many people like Gian Carbonell who my companero baptized on suday that need this message. all of the love that you have for me and for your families, share it with the WORLD! if you get the chance, read the talk of Elder Richard G Scott from April general conferencia about how to obtain revelacion and inspiracion in your own life. that talk impacted me so much and i learn so many things that i wish i could explain but i dont have time. we have to help a couple who is going to be sealed on saturday and they are having trouble getting along and they want blessings so we got to head in like 10 min. but that talk help me realilze that the lord will reveal to us through so many ways that we always think is just our feeling and things like that but elder scott talk about how the scriptures are the key to recieving lasting revelacion! i know this to be true and i am having so much fun time studing and learning constantly that i cant see life the same way without the scriptures! the key is to obtain a testimony so strong that if you see that you dont have your libro de mormon or that someone you know is not reading that you help them, and love them so that you can let them lean on your testimony del libro de mormon while they try to get their own. i did it for way too long, and it is so much easier to know that this is the true church when you believe in the only and true gospel that it teaches :)

also, as we were able to go to the site where the preisthood was restored, Susquehanna, it was such a better experience this time around. we had a testimony meeting on the banks of the river, and the spirit was so very strong! i know that the savior lives and that the preisthood we do posses it! it is here on the earth and it is to carry out the miracles of god in the world. it is sucha blessing to me to know that the lord has entrust me with the authority that he has, and that as i continue to live righteously i will be able to be as he is, Perfect. it makes me even happier to know that everyone of you can do the same things! it is true. i know it is. As i continue to see the hand of God in my life, i realize that everything is the way it is so that we han be who he wants us to be. if life is hard, he wants us to be stronger. if its easy, trials will come. if it is perfect, then one day we too will be perfect. but to see that right now life to me is perfect, i am not yet perfect. because life to me IN this MOMENT is perfect because this is what God wants me to be doing. I love to think that as we do what he asks, he is obligated to bless us. the simple things are what count. as we offer our love, service, and testimony to those in sacrifice for the worldly things, we will see the hand of God working so many miracles! i love you all, the gospel is the only way and this is the work of the lord :) Never Give Up. 

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Elder Gallego