3/28/11

Que transita por sus venas mi familia y amigos?! Haha i am turning into such a chilango out here with all of these mexicans hahaah i love it!! This week, man so much happened and time is literally flying out here!! I cant believe it is already Abril ya! Esta loco!!! Bueno..

 

Well to start off, the baptism went great yesterday!! Satan sure did try to stop it though...I was sick all week with some sort of stomach issue, i dont really know what it was, because i didnt go to the doctor...you know how i am. I ate something on tuesday, and until yesterday, i literally was in pain all week. It felt like someone was squeezing my stomach, it was horrible! I didnt sleep at ALL on tuesday night, not even 10 minutes. It was the worst! I got a blessing the next morning from Elder Bingham, and that worked. Everytime we had an appt, right when we walked in the door, i felt fine. But right as we left, the pain came back! It was so annoying! I didnt want to go to the doctors because i knew it was just not worth it, and because im stubborn. Next time i will be going, but i feel fine now. I think i have lost a good 10 pounds though, but as of right now i feel perfect!

 

But back to the baptism, so Jacob calls us at like 8:30 saturday night and says that his car broke down on the freeway, so he wont have a ride for his baptism, and then yesterday morning, he calls at like 8, keep in mind his baptism starts at 9, and says that he left his baptismal clothing in his car and its on the side of the freeway...sooooo we book it out of the church, go get his key, drive all the way down the 95 to the 141 and get his clothes and bring them back to the church. Get there at like 8:45, and he doesnt have a ride, so we call alfonso and he goes to grab him and they finally showed up at about 9:30. Sooo to make this story shorter, we had the baptisms! It was great! I had to dunk nicole 2 times because she did the classic foot in the air haha, and then jorge ramirez baptized jacob! It was a very great spiritual experience, and now their 8 year old son wants to be baptized! I also had the opportunity to confirm Nicole in sacrament, and it was so crazy! So i started off in spanish and then like halfway through her blessing i switched like on the spot to english! It totally freaked me out! But man was the spirit there! I will never forget that experience! They will be such a great family, and such strong members!

 

So as of right now, we are busy as ever! We will be having the baptism of Jonny Vasquez in 2 sundays, and Elia and Rebecca 2 weeks after that!! The work here is progressing so much and the Lord is in it all! We have been making some good progress with Mario Tequianes this past week. He asked me to give him a blessing so that his urge to do really bad drugs will go away, and that was a really cool experience! Heck, the guy is finally progressing! He will have a date hopefully this week as well as the puerto Rican family of 4 that i talked about in my last letter! Oh! David and Yaneli also accepted Baptismal dates! For the 14 de Mayo! As of right now we will be having Adelphy and her two daughters on that date too! SO we are making good progress with everyone! It is so increible!!

 

Oh man! On tuesday there was this wicked crazy police investigation that was going on right as we left marios house after the blessing! Our car got boxed in and we couldnt leave so we stood around, and there was like 10 cop cars and a huge S.W.A.T. van there with all the guys totally decked out in M5 Machine guns and all this stuff! Some Mexican went in and tried to rob some house and there was a 15 year old girl in there and he had a gun to her head! And we found out that the guy was like an expert with explosives and so they had to get all the gas shut off on the whole street and all this stuff! It was nuts! We got stuck there for like 3 hours! We contacted a lot of people though, and they all thought we were crazy because this was right next to 4th street, like where white people DONT go...but we had cops there and stuff so we were just fine! It was way cool though!! They ended up going with tear gas for the guy with the gun and all was fine in the end! But it was so cool!!

 

Besides that, we have just been super busy with trying to figure out why there are so many problems with Issak and Fanny and the family, and we sure did figure out the problem. Wasnt something that i really wanted to know, but theyre so awesome now! I Issak and his mom were the problem, and fanny was just mad because they were always mad at eachother. But we got down to the bottom of it, Erika just decided to tell us why, and yeah...so everything is perfect with them now! It was something that i ave had on my mind since i met them! I knew there was something more than just not getting along! I will never forget this family! They are really a family that i know without a doubt was one that i was suppose to meet and help on my mission for sure! We have been taking issak and fanny with us teaching, and man, it is tough for me not to cry. To see the change that they have made since the first day that i met them, to now, it is so increible! They have testimonies that are so solid, and it is such a blessing for me to be able to see the fruit of my labors with them. The gospel is so True!!!

 

I have also been learning dialects that a lot of the members speak at their homes or that they have learned growning up, like nauhatl and efe and a couple others that i dont remember the names of, but it has really been so fun to learn about the culture. I feel so..Mexican :) it has really helped me understand and love my own heritage as a bit of mexican and how our name somes from the northern part of spain and it is just incredible the kinds of things i have been learning! I dont even think about speaking spanish anymore, it just comes out! I am starting to really work on the accent and everything, and i am starting to get lost in it :) It is sooooo crazy!! I cant wait to call home and talk and show you how hilarious i sound! I crack myself up!!

 

This week we had exchanges also, and elder spear, my district leader, taught me a lot! He taught me how to work smarter, not harder. It helped me realize how much more efficcient i can be as a missionary and i have come up with a bunch of fun little things that we are going to start doing to be more efficient as we are out on the streets. Elder Bingham and i are awesome together! He truly is going to be one of those companions that i talk to for the rest of my life! We had a ton of fun this week and it was just a blast.

 

This gospel is so true. I know that Jesucristo lives and that he loves each and every one of us. I know that through the atonement of jesucristo, we can all be healed once again. Take every opportunity that you can to learn about the atonement. Without it, there would be no reason for us to be here. He gave his life for us, the least that we can do is go to him, everyday, and ask for his help. Ask for his forgiveness. We are sinners in this world, even as a missionary, i still sin, just like every other person, but i testify that through the atonement and daily repentance, we can feel those burdens lifted. Have faith in him. The first principle to progression in this gospel is faith. DO what you can to be the best you can be. Love and serve others always, and show your families how much you love them. I love you all and hope that everything goes well this next week. Listen to the words of the prophets, and really want to learn more. Have questions, and i know that you will recieve answers. The profeta is for us, we have the oportunidad to listen to him this weekend. Set that time aside to listen to them, and i promise, that you will learn and you will know what your heavenly father wants you to know. I love you all!! 

 

Elder Gallego

 

Remember, faith is not always a feeling, it is a Decision.

3/21/11

Where to even start?! I cant believe that it is already a new week!! THis past week was absolutely nuts! I dont think i have ever worked so hard in my entire life!! I am just so PUMPED!!!!! THis gospel is changing so many lives of the people here in Wilmington and i am so grateful to be a part of it!

My new companion is awesome!! We speak so much spanish together and haha it is so funny, His name is Elder Bingham but everyone here just calls him Elder Big man because spanish people cant say his last name haha it is so hilarious! So now we have the Powerful yet Productive Unit of Elder Venancio and Elder Big Man!! It is so much fun! He has been out for 17 months, is from "la fabrica de misioneros" (Utah) and he is just an all around awesome Elder. I have already learned a lot from him, as he has been helping me now learn the grammar principles and understand simpler ways to use words or to say things in spanish without having to use so many words, if that makes any sense? But, HOLY COW you wont even believe this!! Ok so i have been speaking like 90% spanish all week, and every night this past week, all of my dreams have been in SPANISH!!!! It is so much fun! Dad, you and i were totally having this full on conversation in spanish, and i was doing my Chilango accent and you were dying laughing!!! It was so hilarious, man i am sure you all just think im some crazy ADD kid, which i am, but this was basicamente mind blowing!!

Also, my new district leader, Elder Spear, Knows the Hallsteds!! We were freaking out! He is a really awesome Elder, very hard working and very diligent. We are going to learn a lot from eachother and i am excited for the oportunity to crecer mi testimonio de su testimonio! This week, i really found out how much i have learned in the 5 months now that i have been out. It has really been an increible experiencia showing my new companion around, and just working harder than i ever have! This week we taught 33 lessons, which is a ton! Now im not getting focused on numbers, but i am really grateful to my heavenly father for opening doors for us this week, and allowing us to bring the spirit into the homes of so many people! We have 3 more baptismal dates as well, one is Jonny Vasquez, he is 13 and he will be baptized on 9 de Abril and then the other 2 are the daughters of Adelphy, the one who accepted the baptismal date for the 28 de Mayo. their names are Gabby and Angela, super nice very respectful girls, that are so totally excited to learn and grow in this gospel! It is just insane what is happening here right now! We feel so overwhelmed with all this work, but hey we have been praying for it and the lord is answering our prayers in ways i never thought were possible, especialmente all at once! Jacob and Nicole are doing great, and guess what?! They both stopped smoking and drinking!! What an increible bendicion de nuestro Padre Celestial!! I was just absolutely amazed at what happened, i didnt even know what to say when they told me. It was like one of those awkward moments....where i just starred at them and was speechless, but i snapped out of it, it was totally hilarious and i just said how amazing that is that they are doing so well, and all that stuff, i cant really remember it happened all so fast! What a blessing! But nicole asked me to baptize her so that will be an awesome experience! This sunday!!

Elia, i dont even know what to say about her. Lets just say that she is one of the reasons that i am here on my mission, and she is an incredible lady. The most prepared person to recieve the Evangelio that i have ever seen in my entire time as a missionary. So sensitive to the spirit, so open to the gospel, and heck she is already in 2 Nefi 9 en el libro de Mormon! She reads it every chance she gets during work, she doesnt watch TV anymore, she just loves to read the Book of Mormon! I just dont even know what to say, she is just incredible. I love this area so much!!! We have a couple others, David y Yaneli and Leticia, Alex and their 2 kids Lexi and Axel that we will be asking to be baptized this week as well, and all 6 have already told us that they feel that this is the path that they need to follow, so i guess that is our clue! We will see what happens though!

So from all the food that we have been getting fed this week, we started running in the mornigs, and we found a sweet river run that is about 2 miles so we ran that tuesday-thursday...but then we got lazy and didnt run until..well we are going to start tomorrow if its done raining! Hopefully it is! Saturday night...we got fed 4 times in 4 hours!!! Chalee!!!! It was so rough! Mahonry fed us 2 sandwiches, and a bowl of Maruchan-ramen, but the chili kind, and he added more chili too...not to mention it was already like scorching hot having just been cooked, so i was eating it and literally almost crying because it burned so bad hahaah we were all laughing and i told mahonry i couldnt do it anymore. Heck i drank 3 glasses of Sunny D and a bottle of water and i just couldnt take the fire anymore! He was totally fine about it, just laughing his head off because he was also like in tears eating it as well! After that, i thought i was full, but no! Freddy and Swatt Gonzalez fed us Shrimp Linguini - they are our life saver when it comes to eating good healthy food! She is from Honduras and he is from Nicauragua! Awesome couple, but yeah, ate a huge plate of that too, ohhh and then after them we had Alex and Leticia- puerto ricans- and it was 9:15-time for us to leave and then she comes out and says ohhh elders espero que ustedes puedan comer porque yo me he preparado algo para ustedes! Holy cow i just looked at elder bingham and told him. "i cant do it man, i just cant eat anymore i am full up to my neck!" but....yes we did eat, you never turn down food as a missionary, and especially not from a brand new investigator that is golden. And Puerto Ricans! It was so delicious!! Arros con arbituelas y tostones-tostones are fried bananas, which are amazing! Arbituelas y arroz, is just rice and beans the puerto rican way, also amazing! Oh and chicke, and a piece of cake...i forgot to say, our curfew was 9:30, and yeah...we didnt get in till 9:50...but everything is ok, we told the district leader right when we knew we wouldnt be home on time, but we did make it home in like 5 minutes, when it normally takes 15. So...yeah...wont be dooing that again!!

Well, i learned a lot this week, especially in church, but i was studying Service this past week, and how i can show more service to my loved ones, and even those people who i dont know. And i found some really good scriptures that i feel will really apply to us all, Moroni 7:43-48, Mosiah 18:8-10, and Mosiah 2:17. Read through those and try to think of some ways that you can better show charity and love to those around you. Just read the new testament, and learn from the master of it all, Our lord and Savior Jesucristo and all that he did for us. I know that this will bless your lives as it has mine. Its incredible to see the blessings of living the gospel. I wouldnt trade it for anything! I love you all and hope all is good with you! And Dad, Feliz Cumpleanos! On saturday! I love you all! Se cuida y que dios los bendiga

Elder Gallego

3/14/11

Hola mi familia! Ok so today has been crazy, but man i have so many things to put in this email so everyone buckle up!!

To start, i got the package that grandma and grandpa sent and those brownies and all the 4.5 lbs of mike and ikes that she sent...yeah those are all gone!! haha elder kerouac and i went at it! They were so good!! But hey, i have actually lost 2 pounds this week so im doing great!! Well, with the passole that we just ate last night at edgars, i think that my weight is going to rise...oh well!

I do have a new companion now, its really hard, but he is a super cool elder! His name is elder Bingham! He is from utah, and he has been out for 17 months! He speaks really good spanish and i know that we are going to do a lot of great things together! Our area blew up this past week....we will be having 14-20 baptisms within the next 2 months!! It is so insane to see how much the branch is growing!! I love being a part of it and being the tool in the hand of the lord! Also i did hear about the tsunami, we are all ok here, and hope that everything works out ok with all the people in Japan. Also i got the package with all the pictures and a tape, but the tape was all messed up, because when you recorded over all the old stuff that alyssa already had on there for trevor when he was on his mission, it like distorted everyones voices and you all sounded really wierd! SO next time, make sure to listen to it to see if it sounds right! I did enjoy it though, and all of the thought that you all shared with me about everything that is going on! Oh, dad i wasnt playing futbol in my suit, just my shirt and pants and shoes, no tie or suit, and no i didnt leave black marks on the floor! So its all good there! But i agree, i shouldnt be playing in my dress pants, i will make sure to bring gym clothes this week!

Alec and chandler are starting to look like me!! Its so crazy alec is getting so skinny!! I loved all the crazy pictures of everyone, and it was cool to listen to you all on the tape recorder! Send me more, i should be sending out some in the next little bit! I just have to find time in the day or night to do it, so ill get on that!

We got 2 more baptismal dates this weeek, and jacob and nicole are both progressing well for their baptism in 2 weeks! We now have a dominican lady, Adelphy who will be baptized on the 28th de Mayo and a 9 year old girl, Rebecca for the same day! We are going to be extending baptismal invitations to Adelphys two daughters who are 15 and 12! So that will be awesome! Also another to the nephew of Mahonry, Jonny who is 13! Its amazing what is happening in this area right now, im so glad that i stayed, i miss elder kerouac but i know that he left for a reason and elder bingham and i are going to work really hard!! Elder Kerouac is now a Zone Leader in Reading, Penn. And he is speaking English now...so he is supper bummed about that for sure, and i am too, but he will do great! I will never forget him and all of the things that he has taught me!

We got to give a blessing to a sick baby of another investigator, Mario Tequinaes, at the hospital and it was a great experience. Mario is trying to get out of a drug addiction to crack and weed, and we are working really hard with him to stop. He and his wife really want to be baptized, but he has a lot of things to work out before that happens, so please pray for him to be able to have the ability to quit. Also, we went to court with Mahonry to translate for a ticket he got for not having a license while driving, and he is illegal too, but the judge let him off and he just has to pay $20 a month for a total of $140 for the ticket! So it was a huge blessing for him for sure!! I got some new ties too! Grandma miller sent me $40 so we went to Burlington! That place is awesome! I got 4 ties for $35!! They are so nice too! Im definately going to be going there when i get home for ties!!

Also,  we had the opportunity to go to a wedding for a couple that the other elders have been working with! Angel, the one who has been investigating for a long time, got baptized on saturday!! But right before that, he and his now wife, Eudina, got married so that he could get baptized, bc they didnt want to break the law of chastity so yeah...She is 45 and Angel is 22....so its a little wierd, but hey, if theyre happy then whatever!! It was really fun to see the change! I got to teach the restauracion with elder Kerouac while Angel was changing after his baptism and it was so amazing the spirit that was there! Baptism is so essencial to enter into the Celestial Kingdom! I know this to be true!

Yesterday, i had the opportunidad to ordain and set apart Isaak to be a deacon and recieve the Aaronic priesthood!! What a great experience!! The spirit bore witness to us all that the priesthood is real, and i know that i have the priesthood not for myself, but to bless other people, and i am so grateful for the power that i have to be able to do that!

Well, i know that was a crazy email, and all over the place. I have so many things on my mind! I gotta show my new comp the area and tell him so much stuff, and we have 2 lessons tonight, its just awesome! I love missionary work and i love this gospel with all of my heart. I know that it is true and that if we are contantly doing the things that the lord asks of us, he will shower his blessings down upon us like you wouldnt even imagine! Pray to gain your own testimony of this gospel, share the gospel with others, and ALWAYS do what is right! Its a whole lot easier to be obedient than it is to be disobedient! Remember that! Les quiero mucho mi familia y amigos! Se cuida!

Elder Gallego

3/7/11

Hola mi bonita familia! Como estan gringos?! Ha todo esta bien aqui y estoy progresando bien! alyssa, necesito algo de ti, NECECITO UN SOBRINO!! Alyssa i want a nephew!! Elder Kerouac is going to have one when he gets home and now im jealous!

Anyways, this week was awesome! We taught a ton, and we found some new solid families! Like im talking miracles!! Holy moley it is just getting so crazy out here!! So i was sick most of this week, just with like some cold thing i dont really know what it was it just made me want to put a bullet in my head about 10 times because it felt like it was going to pop, but that didnt happen and now everything is fine! :) I got all better i think like sabado, yeah. I feel fine now and the weather is getting really nice! Kinda getting hot at times! I just got to make it to Abril and then we can take off our suit coats until octubre!! (general conference to general conference) It rained hard all day yesterday! It was so much fun, we went to go knock on the doors of some payasos that never come to church, like francisco sanchez (mucho trafico) and hitamar (he ignored us) and then it started to dump rain on us and we were leaving the house of hitamar and we were running to the car haha it was so funny! There is like no warning sprinkle of rain here, it just starts dumping, so we were soaking wet for chrch, but we ended up stopping by an investigator, David, and he and his 2 little ninas followed us to the church! Come to find out that David is related to like half the branch (like most of the members) and he already knows almost all of the active ones! So we have some good fellowshipping tools for him it is going to be great! We will be extending a baptismal date to him and his wife for the 24th de abril! As well as the sobrino de Mahonry-Jonny. We is like 10 or something so he just told us last night that he wants us to teach him and we will be ready to go soon!

Ok, that paragraph was really long, sorry. Jacob and Nicole are doing well with the smoking and drinking, theyve got it down to 1 cigarette a day for the both of them, and they have made the decision that 13 de marzo they will be done! Keep them in your prayers please!! We also found a new golden family, which was a referral of some guy whos door we knocked on, and they want to learn more! They are puerto rican and super nice! The perfect family, they have a 12 year old sone and a 10 year old daughter and they really want to raise them in the correct path, so we will be working closely with them! Theyre names are Alex and Leticia we dont know the names of their children yet, but the only problem we will be having with them is Alex works in Rhode Island! He is only here for the weekends every other week, and the rest of the week he is gone at work, so we are trying to find him a job here that pays about the same as he is making out there. He is a pro welder so we are going to try and see if we can get him to find a job at Edgars metal shop that he Moroni, Mahonry and juan all work at!

Last monday, we had a great noche de hogar with Mahonry and daicy, edgar and Karen, Moroni and Betty, Alfonso and Linda, and Yunyen and Jorge at Mahonry and Daicys house! It was so much fun! We had this sweet scripture chase/hymn chase that alfonso put together for his lesson, and we were all separated into 2 teams, man it was awesome! All the little ninos and ninas were involved too! Oh by the way, mexicans know how to have fun!! It is so much fun being around them, and learning a bout the different cultures that they have, Im trying to learn a new language as well! It is called Nahuatl. It is what they call "puro mexicao" it is an ancient language that they speak within their own pueblo in mexico! Its so sweet! Sounds similar to indians and that kinda dialect. I love it!!

So i have decided, that since i want to stay around the spanish language the rest of my life, that i am almost 100% positive that i want to buil custom Homes! Keep my pool business running of course, but i have been praying hard about it, and what i will do if i dont end up playing baseball. There are a lot of dominicans here, so this summer i will have the chance to play a lot with a bunch of the kids around the neighborhoods and stuff on p-days and what not! Im really excited for that!! Futbol is also going great! I didnt get kicked in the face this week, just in the leg really hard by Angel and it left a huge mark and a cool battle wound looking scratch! Haha something else that hispanics love to do, everytime we teach or meet someone new, we always get fed something, like during the day mainly fruit, and they always give us a water and either a pepsi or a coke! Haha they love those for some reason! Im not much of a fan of coke, but it does taste really good with mexican food! Also, they like to give us cereal, we have like 10 boxes of cereal in our apartamento and we wont need to buy any more for like a year! Once summer hits, ive been told that i will be fed like crazy and always have an endless supply of waters and coke! :) Im excited for summer! I love talking to people and just getting to know them! And i love teaching the plan of salvation for some reason it is just so much fun!!!

So i wanted to share a little booster upper that has really helped me through this past week-If you have troubles at home with children who stray, if you suffer financial reverses and emotional strain, that threaten your homes and your happiness, if you must face the loss of life or health, Peace be unto your soul. We will not be tempted beyond our ability to withstand. Our detours and dissapointments are the straight and narrow path to Him. This really helped me think of how much power i have to do what is right, and not even just as a missionary, but as a normal member of the church or a normal person. All youhave to do is help people recognize that power that they have, that ability that they have to do what is right, and to become the person that their Father in Heaven wants them to be. No matter what the circumstance is, Keep your Chin up. If you dont look it straight in the face, you wont overcome it. Your heavenly father knows you, and he knows the things that you cant handle. For those things, he has given us the way and the truth. It is the gospel of Jesucristo! The gospel answers all of our questions, and through prayer and trust in the lord, we will never be led off that path that leads to him! Things will work out. Keep trying, Be Believing, Be Happy, Dont get discouraged. Things will work out.

I have such a strong testimony of this principle, and i hope that you too can learn to put your trust in the lord, and go to him for every problem and trial that you have in your life. I have seen the miracles of the gospel in my own family, and now in the lives of the families that i am teaching. I had the oportunidad yesterday to confirm isaac and fanni members of the church, and what an amazing experience that was. To instantly see what happens when someone recieves the gift of the Holy Ghost. Do all that you can to keep that. Repent every day, and always strive to follow the example that christ set for us. I know that it will never lead you in the wrong direction!

Keep praying for me and keep praying for people to open their doors! It is so important for members to pray for missionary experiencias! The more your share the gospel, the more you will realize how much it means to you. Se cuida mi familia y amigos!

Elder Gallego