2/14/11

Que pasa mi familia y amigos?! Como estan?! Espero que todo esta bien en Arizona!

Ok so to start off...this was a really busy week!! Man i have so much to say! Ill start with yesterday and work backwards..So yesterday i gave a talk in church!! Yeah i know right it was wayy sweet!!! It was all in spanish and i messed up a couple of times but its all good! I got called on Sat. about 2 en la tarde that they needed me to give a talk on gratitud!! It went really well, and like they say, sometimes the person giving a talk or teaching gets more out of the people he is talking to...well that definately happened! It was such a great spiritual experience for me to bear my testimony on all of the things i am grateful for. First off, the savior. He gave his life for me, and i will be eternally indebted to him, but i am so grateful for the atonement and the opportunity that we have to  use it every day and repent of our sins cada dia!! What a blessing that is, and now all we need to do is use it! The savior will always forgive us if we just come to him humbly in prayer and ask for forgiveness, and then do the things necessary for complete reopentance. I testify that the power of repentance is real and that if we truly do repent of our sins, then the adversary will no longer have any power over us. It is so worth it, and i am so grateful for this eternal principle! Also my family, without them i wouldnt be here. Mom, Dad y todo el resto de mi familia, thank you all so much for your hard work and sacrifice for me, for all the things i have put you through, and for everything you have done for me. I really have a special family that i cant wait to share all these experiences with! It truly will be so much fun when i can sit down and talk to you all about all the stuff i am learning!

I wish i could just explain all of the feelings that i have!! Its so hard as a missionary to write all these things that happen in a week in an email, because i just cant focus! I have so many things that i want to say that are changing my life, but then again i dont want to run out of stories to tell you when i get home!! But also yesterday, we had a baptismal service! It was great and a great blessing! There were a mom and her two ninas that were baptized by the other elders in our branch. Florencio, isaac and fanni were all there though as well as Victor! It was such an amazing experience! Victor is getting close to getting a date for his baptism, and florencio isaac and fanni are all still good to go for the 27th of this month! I am so excited!! Crazy thing that happend, remember how florencios grandmother was on her death bead...yeeah she is totally fine now! :) and now his brother who lives in virginia wants to drive up here and be taught the lessons and become a member!! It is insane!! THe bendiciones that are coming right now to our area are just unreal!!

Saturday we had exchanges, and i was with elder hall! We were doing some serious work!! We contacted 30 people, taught 7 other lessons, 10 total lessons, and got some new investigators!! I was just going at it man it was a blast! I love when i get the oportunidad to go out and contact new people! It was great!!!! We have a couple new families that we taught and have return appointments with as well, so this next week we are going to be really busy!

Zone Conference was on Wednesday, and man it was so good!! THe main focus of it was on prayer, and how we can make our prayers more sincere. It taught me a good lesson, because sometimes i am really tired and i really just want to get done with them, but that is the time where we need to pray the hardest. When christ was in the garden of Gethsemane and he was taking upon himself the sins of all the world, he prayed more fervently. Now if christ himself, the only perfect being that will ever walk the face of this earth prayed more fervently, i know i sure can! I am so grateful for prayer, and the oportunidad that we have to communicate to our father in heaven with whatever we need!! I challenge you all to really be more sincere with prayers. Especially when it comes to the book of mormon. In the second to last parafo in the intro of el libro de mormon, there is a promise made to everyoone who reads that book, and prays with faith tha not only will you receive an answer, but you will recieve an answer that the book is true. What a blessing that is! THat is a promise! REad it and pray about it and you will recieve an answer that it is true.

Until you have a testimony of this gospel, lean on mine. I know without a doubt in my mind that this is the true gospel of jesucristo. THat the blessings that come from living this gospel are eternal. If this church wasnt true, then the missionaries would have ruined it a long time ago!! How can it not be true?! The bible testifies of it in countless ways, and if you really do pray for an answer that it is true, you will recieve one!! Pray more fervently. Be a better example, and always remember who is watching out for you. Your heavenly father always will be with you no matter what. WHat a great blessing this is!!

Well thats about all im gonna say for this one, i had a great week, im learning so much spanish, and im kind of picking up a chilango/dominican accent hahaah even when i say english words it is really freaking me out!! But i love it! THis gospel is so true! Keep praying for me and for my investigators! We got back in touch with Hitamar!! His phone got shutt off and he has been busy he says, but he has a lot of doubts and we are going to start teaching him and his novia otra vez! SO please keep them in your prayers, as well as Carlos Escobar, who we havent gotten in contact with for almost 3 weeks now :( As well as Florencio, Isaac and Fanni. They are doing great, and it is really starting to get crazy out here! We had a full capilla yesterday! Thats chapel by the way sorry haha, and the spirit of the lord is working within my companion and i like never before! I love you all, and Happy Valentines Day Mom and London!! I love you all my family and friends!! Se cuidan!!

Elder Gallego/Venancilo-levanta la pata te que machucas el callo-hahaah this is what they all say to me when they see my last name. It is a really funny joke that i will explain when i am home :)