12/27/10

Hola mi amigos y mi familia! Como estan?! Hace muy frio Hoy!! haha just kidding with you all i guess i can type in english but its lame!!
Ok so for all who dont know where i am, i am in Wilmington, Delaware!! I kno right?! Crazy!! i had the option to go to North Philly which is the most dangerous part of the mission or to come here and i guess they threw me in here!! It snowed like crazy last night and there is some intense wind!! Its like 30 degrees out too so its kinda cold but not really cuz im used to it after being in Utah for the past 2 months!! Speaking of which, i almost didnt get out of there because of all the snow!! But thank goodness i did cuz man i couldnt take another day in the MTC. Like serioiusly, after 9 weeks of gas, the same food, and the same thing every day, my ADHD was in overdrive and ready to break away!! hahaa esta loco no?!
 
So i am here now after a very long flight, well a stop in dallas, almost missed the plane to philly, but then that night i ate 2 philly cheese steaks, and they will be my last ones for the rest of my mission hopefully!! But its all good now!! THe mexican food here is really good, and i will be coming home showing all of you how to make REAL mexican food!!
 
SO my companion, Elder Kerouac, is a new member, only been a member for almost 2 1/2 years! Heck he has learned more about the gospel in Spanish than he has in english!! Crazy right?! He is a stud though!! He has been out 15 months and speaks the language pretty well!! I found out as well that i apparently speak really good! Heck the jerk took me the first night on an "appointment" and i was so stoked!! THe girl was receptive but her husband was a Jehovahs Witness thingyy so i was really excited to see what this was gonna all be like! He told me that we are going to teach him the first lesson and that he is going to use me a little here and there, which i said no let me talk i can understand! 
So the lesson goes and goes and its like 40 min in and keep in mind, this is all really super fast spanish this guy is saying, but me being the pro i am :) haha just kidding, but anyways, he flippin starts reciting the Articles of Faith in Spanish! I was like waiiiit, something is not right here, and then he looked at me and said, Que paso elder? Esta bien, Estoy el lider de Elders! I was like youre the elders quorum president?!! You have got to be kidding me!! HAha my companion tricked me on my very first night!! But he and Edgar (the elders quorum/Jehovahs wittness(sometimes :))) said that i did so good!!! Cuz i answered all the questions and everything!! I screwed up twice though and said that i hate my mormon neighbors, and that we worship Joseph Smith hahahahhhaahah but other than that i did Great!! I was stoked to hear that cuz i thought i did really bad!! 
 
But that is that, CHristmas was great and i found out that mexicans LOVE To feed the elders!! We ate 5 meals that day cuz we werent allowed to go out and proselyte so we were in eating at 4 different houses!! Man o man was the food good but i felt like i gained about 20 pounds!! Fyi..Mexicans dont like beans and rice all that much, thats the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans! Mexicans also eat everything with corn tortillas ya know like the little ones..so yeah! 
 
But i have been going all sorts of places so far, but havent had the chance to Use my mode of transportation yet, a bike!!! :))) Now i really wont get fat!!! hahaah there is a bunch of snow from last night now so our plans for this week are kinda shot until the snow melts all off the sidewalks. Man i love Black People!! THere were 2 of them outside yellin about kobe this morning at like 7:30 haah i was laughing so hard cuz they sound so like crazy!! Im not used to it but i will be by the end of the mission for sure!!
 
Church Yesterday was way sweet i saw nyals uncle and get this....like 28 people in sacrament ahahaah we have some work to do! Everyone here is illegal and so they have a hard time trying to decide whether they want to be a member and stay here or just go back to mexico, and its really annoying!! THere are about 30 couples who are active some, the others less active, and they havent been sealed for some reason!! Its ridiculous! ANd most of the men dont have the priesthood which is really frustrating cuz they kinda need it to be sealed and then they need to use it and be active in church before the sealing even becomes a thought. Also all the less actives, oh my heavens there are so many!! And if we can get them active, we could have some baptisms out of it, but i personally dont want to baptize anyones kids their fathers need to get the priesthood and be active first or the children will have no support system at home and just fall away. SO we have some work, but like in Luke 1:37 For With God, All things are Possible!
 
God is on my side for sure and i pray every day for the ability to find the people i need to and to be able to bless the lives of many. I hope that i get the opportunities to learn even more of the language as well more and more comes each and every day and i am so excited to get to the point where i dont need to use english anymore!! :) I love you all so much and am so very grateful for all of your prayers for me. But what i need you to do is to pray that the lord with guide me to the hearts of those that are ready and willing to submit their will to the lords will. ANd also i challenge everyone to read the book of mormon by March 1st this coming year! If you do i know for a fact, that it will bless your life and that you will have a more firm understanding of the knowledge that comes to one when he/she studies it out and really tries to apply what is being said in that book. I am so grateful for the opportunity i had to talk to you family!! Sorry i talked so much but i hoped you enjoyed it! I love being out here and i love being a missionary!! I love spanish and am beginning to become very close with the families already!! Especially the less actives and non members we play soccer with in the church gym on thursday nights. THey are really sweet great people that are just looking for the right direction to go, and i know that through my efforts, prayer, and consistent diligence i can do that for them and the doctrine of Christ will be what they will look up to. I love it. Every Second of it. Heck i super cleaned the apartamento today and i loved it!! And went grocery shopping, and got stamps, and i loved it!! It is so much fun out here and i know without a doubt in my mind that I have been called here by God and that when i am diligent and use my faith always, then he will bless me always, and i have seen those blessings in my life. 
 
I hope you all had a very wonderful christmas and always remember what the true meaning of christmas is. The Savior, Jesucristo. He gave his life for us, and we need to do all we can to give ours to him. He will lead us in the right direction always, and all we have to do is follow his light, la luz de Cristo, and he will never lead us away from it.
 
Pray for a miracle this week, heck every day, and i PROMISE that you will get a miracle. I have recieved a miracle every day out here and i will keep recieving them if i am diligent and always use my faith.
 
This church is true, the Savior and His father live, and the Spirit is real. Never doubt whether a prompting you get to do something was from the spirit or if it was just your mind. If you are following the commandments and heeding to the words of the prophets, and being worthy to take that sacred sacrament every week, those promptings are never you. It is always the spirit. It will never lead you astray, Ever. 
 
I love you all so much, and i am grateful once again for all the support from my family, i love you all idividually, and my friends whom i miss dearly. Keep follwing the straight and narrow path and the lord will always bless you. Have a happy new year, and i love you all and miss you all!! 
 
Vi una columna de luz, mas brillante que el sol. Directamente arriba de mi cabeza, y esta luz gradualmente desendio hasta descansar sobre mi...Al reposar sobre mi la luz, Vi en el aire arriba de mi, a dos personajes. Cuyo fulgor y gloria, no admitten descripcion. Uno de ellos me hablo, llamandome por mi nombre, y dijo, senoladro al otro..Este es mi Hijo Amado! Escuchalo!
 
THe first vision without all the accents that are missing sorry! But i know that this happened. It is because of joseph smith that we are here today! ALways remember that! I love you all!!
 
Elder Gallego

December 24, 2010 - Matthew's Arrival!

Dear Brother and Sister Gallego,  

This week Sister Schaefermeyer and I have had the thrill of welcoming your son to the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission.  He has arrived safely and we have enjoyed becoming acquainted with him.

Yesterday, Elder Gallego was assigned his first companion and trainer, Elder Kerouac.  Below is their address; we invite you to please write or email Elder Gallego weekly with positive, uplifting information and experiences to encourage him in his missionary efforts.  Your expressions of love and interest in him will not only bless his life here in Philadelphia, but will cement relationships of trust forever.  As instructed by the leaders of the Church, we ask that you not telephone or visit Elder Gallego during his mission unless I have been informed in advance.  He will have my permission to call on Mother’s Day and Christmas.  You should feel free to contact Sister Schaefermeyer or me at any time.  Email is my preference, but if the need is urgent call the Church operator in Salt Lake (801-240-1000) and they will know how to contact me.

We know the Lord will bless you as He does all who make the necessary sacrifices to allow their loved ones to serve in these great callings.  If we can ever be of any service or assistance to you or your son, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Thank you for the privilege of serving with Elder Gallego.

Best personal regards,

William A. Schaefermeyer

President, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission

Schaefermeyer email   rcoachman@gmail.com

Elder Matthew Gallego

86 North Harrison,

Apt. #1

Wilmington, DE 19806-4600

12/15/10 - Last Email in the MTC!!!

Hola Mi familia!! Ok so i leave on tuesday the 21st not monday! Its gay but its whatever i leave at 3 in the morning and ill be able to call home at around 10 your time maybe earlier depending on when the flight gets in so get ready!! :)

My orthodics are amnazing and they work so good!! My feet havent hurt since i got them!! so thank you very much!!

I want a new set of scriptures for christmas!! Either black or green! THe Genuine leather too  not the crappy plastic leather and Have it engraved with Elder Matthew Gallego that would be pretty sweet!1 And i will need a new backpack this one that trevor gave me would work but only as a side bag and i dont like it that way so a new backpack would be sweet as well for christmas! And a new CTR Ring size 9 1/2. The boys know which one it is so have them go with you!

Happy Birthday Chandler!!!! Im stoked that you are finally 16!! Go out and date lil bro!!! :) hahaha i cant even picture him dating it is going to be so weird!! Im sending a package home on monday with his present in it as well as alecs and alyssas so keep an eye out for a package arriving about next thursday or friday!!

Im mad that you still didnt get my big letter i wrote everyone a letter and put it in the same envelope and if it hasnt gotten to you yet then im sure they lost it so that makes me really upset. :(

Well other than that, i will need $100 cash and $100 on my card for when i leave on tuesday so i will take the money out of my acct tomorrow so dad if you could load it up again that would be great then put $100 back on the card that would be great!! THank you so much and i love you!! Remember i get reimbursed for the baggage fees so i wont be spending any money really cuz they put it back in my pocket!! Sweet huh?!

SO this past week has been crazy!! DIligence DIligence Diligence is all that is on my mind!! I am so excited to get out of this place it has been so amazing though for me to learn the things that i have learned here though!! Im so grateful for the many opportunities i have had to grow and learn the spanish language!! I speak it all the time and i love it!!! It is the best thing ever!! Oh i bought leather gloves here for $10 the other day so dont worry about getting me any! It is snowing right now finally it has been so hot this past 2 weeks!!!

THe devotional last night was great and it talked a lot about using our agency to the best of our abiltity and to be smart in the choices that we make. I have a very powerful testimony of this and i know that it is true. Agency is so key in our lives. It is because of Agency that we are here on this earth today! Without adam and eve taking the fruit then we wouldnt be able to live so im so grateful for them and the agency that they used!!

I am so grateful to be a missionary it is the best thing that has ever happened to me and i wouldnt change anything!! I will be coming home with no Regrets!! Sont worry!! I cant wait to speak to others and share my burning testimony with them! I know i will kill it out there and i cant wait to get therer!!! I loove you all, sorry its so short, but thats all i gotta say for this week!! Merry christmas and i will talk to you all in 6 days!! :)

Elder Gallego

12 Days Left!

alright this seriously has been the best week of my life!!!! Dad did you all not get the fat letter i sent home? I sent all the letters in one envelope and i sent it last thursday? so you should have gotten them by now it bothers me that you havent!! Im stoked to see what you all sent me for christmas! I heard that Philly just got hit hard with snow?? Whats the temperature like up there? I am buying little things here and there that are needed for my mission. Like binders and stuff and good study materials. I gotta stock up on the 40% discount while i can!! They only give us $6 a week on the blue card that we have and that normally runs out quick cuz we use the vending machines. But im saving mine the next 2 weeks so that next saturday i can get as much stuff with that card without using my own money. Im going to get 2 more journals cuz they are only $4 here and theyre the nice missionary journals!! Anywho....the Spanish is so BOMB!!! I am basically an almost fluent/not really! haha meaning right now i know so much spanish untili get out to Philly. I am so excited to get out there!! Trevor, i hope your doin better buddy!!! i love you bud! .
 I am going to get my orthodics today at 10 so im really excited for that! Im sorry i have flat feet but thats what dress shoes all day every day do and my feet are really important!! :) THank you mommy and daddy!! ALec, alyssa, and chandler, i am sending you all shirts, so get excited!!! I am also going to be sending a tape from my tape recorder so alyssa hopefully you have yours still form trevors mission?!! London i am sending you one too so go out and get one if you dont have one that way you can listen to it!! :) I need some more ties these ties are getting boring! SO if you see a tie sale, hook it up!! Can you send my black paisley tie? I need that one it is my favorite! :) SO on Fast sunday i got up and bore my testimony for about 8 min all in spanish!! It was so sweet!! The espiritu was so storng!! It was such a great strenghener for me! One of my goals since i have been here and for my whole mission is to never miss an opportunity to bear my testimony and i havent yet!! :) I love this gospel so much and i cant wait to talk to you all on the 20th!! I dont know what time i will call yet until i get my travel plans which will be this week sometime!! :) ill let you know through a letter or next p day! :) Ok so last night we had a speaker from the first quorum of the 70, and it was the best talk i have heard here at the MTC. His main focus was on how we can come to know, personally, our savior Jesus Christ. It was so good i took 5 pages of notes!!!! Him and his wife talked about how theyre 9 year old mentally dissabled son asked them one day if they knew Jesus. WHat a powerfull question!! I put myself in his shoes and thought about how would i answer that question if i was asked it and i thought to myself, I hopwwe can all lean from this and understand how much our savior really wants us to take the time to get to know him and  how can i learn more about him? my computer typer is getting all jacked up right now so im sorry if this email totally is retarded i hit a button and its being retarded!!  I love my heavenly father so much and i know that he lives. I know that if we just take the time to personally know him that we will be blessed and that he will give us opportunities to learn of him. We need to have faith and we need to help others know that he lives. i am so excited for the field. THere is still much for me to know but i kknow that he will bless me with the knowledge that i need to know more about him and his atoning sacrifice for me. THe more i learn about the atonement, the more i want to share his message with others. I finished D&C on sunday so i am going to start reading the new testament now!! I love you all and i cant wati to see you again!! Elder Gallego

19 Days Left in the MTC!

Hola!!

 

Ok so its been snowing all week long and is right now! its so cold outside!! I love it! Everyone thinks im weird cuz i love the snow so much! haha i dont care though i love it!!

 

So it has been a very good week to say the least!! Thanksgiving was amazing! Elder Holland came and spoke with us about being grateful for everything that we have in our lives and how it is so important for us to really make sure we show the people who are most important in our lives how grateful we are!! So Family, i said it las week, but i am so grateful for everything you have sacrificed, done, provided for, and all the love that you constantly show me.  It means so much to me!!

 

Mom, for the christmas package, i could use some cool scarfs?? i love scarfs so that sounds like a fair enough christmas present? I dont know what else i need haha. I do need you to send the missionary books, the jesus the christ, true to the faith, our search for happiness, and our heritage in that box to the mission home! I will need those! but actually, ill just get some in spanish here before i leave theyre like 2 dollars! I pretty much do everything in spanish now so typing this is really hard!!!!

 

Im about to finish the Docttrine and covenants today!! I love it! I have been a reading fool the whole time ive been here!! I have learned so much about the doctrine of christ and how much it impacts my life. I have found that since i have really been studying hard and trying to focus on the teachings and whisperings of the spirit, i am driven to prayer, so that i may understand what my father in heaven is trying to teach me in that very moment! D&C 84:85. I absolutely love this gospel so much and i am so grateful for the things i have learned here. I Got a prayer journal 4 days ago...what an amazing blessing that has been for me!! So before i say my prayers at night, i write what questions i have in black pen, and leave a couple lines under each one. Then as i say my prayers, i ask heavenly father to help me understand and to answer those questions. As i finish, i get a blue pen and answer the questions with the imediate answers that heavenly father has given me! It has worked!! Heavenly Father will answer our prayers if we show him that we have faith! I testify that this is true and that i know that our heavely father lives and loves each and every one of his children here on the earth!!

 

I really havent done a whole lot of new things this past week other than become really close to my companions and the members in my zone!! I have been able to testify to a couple about the importance of using the atonement and how it has impacted my life a lot!! I have seen that too many missionaries have come out here not clean, and its really sad because they have to go through the temptations and the trials of those burdens that have not been lifted off of them and i cant imagine why anyone would come out here and go right back home. It  hasnt happened yet, but there are some missionaries who have talked to me and all i can say is what i know works, and if they use it then good but its just hard to see them here. I know that the atonement is real and im so grateful for it and the way it has blessed my life! it is so amazing that our brother, Jesucristo suffered for our sins, and not only that, he suffered for all the dissapointment, depression, grief, sorrow, happiness, joy every emotion we go through in life, he has sufferd for. I am so grateful for that and for all the blessings that i have recieved through being worthy and showing my Heavenly Father that im all his for the next 2 years!!

 

I love you all my family, i hope you got my letters i sent home, and i hope you understand how much you all individually mean to me!! Mom, i love and miss you more than i can explain!! I cant wait to call you! i dont know if i will have that much time, but ill get at least 20 min im sure. If not ill talk to you 5 days later anyway. Dad, i miss you like no other. I miss cracking jokes, and just being able to talk to my dad. I miss my dad. I am so grateful for you and mom and the drive and the work ethic you helped me build. It is definately paying off!! Boys, keep doing well, and keep writing me!! I miss you two dorks more than ever!! And alyssa and trevor!! I miss you two a lot, keep writing me and alyssa, ask dad if i can get you a shirt money is tight. theyre 7 dollars so let me know!! and granny and the rest of the family, I miss you all so much and love you more than you know!! My friends, derek and dan, i need you two to write me back!!! I need dereks address so write that in my dear elder today please! The orthodics are getting made today and im excited for them! My feet are so flat and they will fit in all my shoes dad! Thank you!!!

 

I love you all so much and miss you all more than you know!!

 

Elder Gallego