2/22/11

I have been out in the field now for 4 months!! No manches time flies by super fast!! I sure have learned a lot in these 4 months and i know i will continually be learning more and more every day!! THis week was really crazy, and really stressful finally haha ive been waiting and praying and asking for some oposicion and boy did i ever get it this week! It is amazing how heavenly father will really show us how many things we have to work on or just how bad life can get when we ask him to! I sure do love being out here!!

SO elder Kerouac started therapia on his foot this week, and oh, the missionaries showed up to his parents house in Utah! Crazy huh?! Well his parents are devout catholics, like im talking big time, his dad is in the Knights of Columbus, dont ask me what that means, and his mom is the equivalent of the Relief Society President in their church! And they let the missionaries in!! We are still waiting to hear back from them about how that went, but we are both pretty stoked because Elder Kerouac is the only member in his family, and we have just been praying so hard for something to happen with them!

I think it was tuesday night, we went out to go teaching, we had a cita con una hermana se llama Aldelphyl, and she is from the Dominican Republic but MAN she talks so dang fast!! I can only just watch her mouth and try to listen really carefully as hard as i can but haha it is hilarious! So we were walking up the stairs to get to her apartamento and i had my hands in my jacket because it was blowing so hard, i think something like 40 mph wind or something like that at least! And i tripped on a stair and totally fell on my face because i couldnt get my hards out of my pockets in time hahaa it was so hilarious! Juan was laughing so hard hah man i only had a little mark, nothing too big, but yeah i didnt lose any teeth so thats a plus! :)

Our investigators, Florencio, isaac y fanni are all progressing very well, and they will be getting baptized this sunday! Isaac and Fanni have asked me to baptize them so im kinda nervous, and you know how the weeks before baptism are...HORRIBLE!! But im hangin in there! And so are they, just keep us in your prayers! And elder Kerouac will be baptizing Florencio so yeah its been a tough week so far already. I have been getting kind of frustrated with myself and trying to learn too much and just running my body dead so hopefully i can get some added strength this next couple of days! We picked up a new investigator on sunday as well, Alea Enriquez and she already accepted a baptismal date for the 24th of abril!! Crazy i know, but man she is going to be solid! Her boyfriend is the brother of a member in our branch and he was the one who brought her to church, and he hadnt been for 21 years!! What a miracle. Its crazy how the lord works sometimes :) Our branch is absolutely on fire, there were at least 130 in church this week, and with the confirmaciones and all, it was just a great spirit! Victor is progressing well, and we got back in contact with Carlos Escobar again and will be seeing him tomorrow night! We will be extending dates to him, victor, another couple Jacob y Nicole, and i think to a new one Trinidad. SO we got a big week ahead of us, and elder Kerouac and i are really working hard to get big work done before he gets transferred.

This week we also had exchanges and Elder Osorio came with me to our area and we did great! We taught a lot, and got some good contacts with a lot of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans! He is a great missionary! THe next day we had language training (saturday) in philly so that morning we got up and left at 7 and we got there to philly early and so we went and i got to go and run up the rocky stairs!! It was so much fun i got a video of it and everything you will love it!! Got some really good pictures as well, i hope i serve in philly it is so cool!! I was able to see Elder Reese, my mtc comp, and he is doing well, also i was able to see Elder Gunter, who was in my zone in the MTC but he left 6 weeks before me. They are both doing great and i sure do miss those guys! Language training was great ill send home the videos of it all!! There also was an elder that went home, he got diagnosed with Leukemia :( Elder Brewer. Keep him in your prayers please, he is doing well and they have him at the utah cancer place that is suppose to be really good, and they also said the the cancer is very treatable. So just thought you might want to know that.

Well, something i learned this week that i want to leave with you all is what i like to call Negro o Blanco. No hay gris. (Black or white. THere is no grey) If we really think about this analogy, well the way i look at it and i hope i can teach this so it makes sense, but its either its good or its bad. THere is no middle area. Now im going to use an example that i know we all hate, but speeding. How willing are we all to go over the speed limit? And how much? If youre going over the speed limit even by 1 mph, youre disobeying the law. Now i know, this really makes me so angry because we tell ourselves, well if the guy in front of me is peeding then its ok for me to speed. NO! THis is so hard for me so i wont be hypocritical, but how willing are we to sin?! DO we stay 5 mph under or at the limit or 5 over? Think about how you can apply this principle to your own life, and in what ways you can change. I testify that if we stay away from the limits of things, and keep ourselves in order with the lords will, doing the things that we know are right and wrong, not questioning what is right or wrong, then you will understand this concept more fully. If any of that made any sense, then thats awesome! I hope you understand the importance of obedience and how important it is that we are obedient to ALL things!

SOmething that i will be working on this week, and what was a big focus at language training is becoming submersed in the culture. Spanish Spanish Spanish!!! I am going to talk, think, maybe dream, write, everything in spanish! I was called as a spanish speaking missionary for a reason, so why not submerse myself into it and learn all that i can when i got 2 years to do it?! Great idea isnt it?! I hope so :) ALso, to become the missionary that God needs me to be, not the one that i want to be. THis is a hard principle for missionaries, and i am so guilty of it. I want to learn a lot, but if i dont need to learn as much as another missionary, so be it. Its not in the will of the lord. I am praying so hard that i can let go of my pride for loving to learn and study, and study the things that the lord needs me to study! Humility is a wonderful, but very hard thing!!

Well, i sure do love it out here, it snowed a couple inches last night, but it looks like its going to all melt off if it stays this hot! The work is progressing out here, and i am ready for the summer!! I played Futbol on thursday in my church shoes, pants and shirt and all the guys thought i was crazy ahaha i am just ready to start sweating or something i miss getting dirty!! But i sure do love it and i sure do miss playing sports! But i am out here serving and i am really being blessed for it. I love them people out here. I know that without the spirit of the lord, that i wouldnt be able to do the things that i have out here. Everything that i have, every talent, trait, just everything i have, i know is a gift from the lord. Find your strengths and make them stronger. Work on your weaknesses, but dont focus on them. Focus on what your good at and focus on doing whatever it takes to align your will with the lords. I promise you all that if you can manage to align your will with the lords, and perseverar hasta al fin, el senor va a bendecirle y va a mostrarle las cosas que son importantes en sus vida. Les amo amigos y familia, y yo quiero que sepan que este iglesia es la unica verdadera iglesia en este mundo y que cuando leemos las escrituras, vamos a saber bastante de nuestro salvador y redentor. Sigan Fuerte!

Elder Gallego