6/27/11

well this one is going to be really fast and quick! I sure did have a much better week!! We are working with a lot of less actives, one in particular, sam torres, he is going through a divorce, and we are trying to get his sights on getting a new wife, and getting into the temple!! Best thing that you can do!!

we also have another person ready for baptism!! His name is john, and he will be the same day as Carlos, and hopefully giovanni!! 7 de agosto!! the work is slowly starting to progress her, i am really excited for this weekend! It will really be a busy one for sure!! I am going to turn 20 on friday, man i sure did enjoy the teenage years that is for sure!!! I hope that i really have fun in philly trying to eat 3 cheesesteaks, a large fry, and 2 drinks to set a new mission record!! :) that will be really fun!!!

also, i wanted to focus today mainly on some of the lessons that we can learn from joseph smith as he was in liberty jail. Listen. If you are ever in a spot where you think you are alone, or that the lord has abandoned you, you're wrong. He is always there for us. even in our hardest trials, he is right there by our side because he loves us, and he only wants us to go through the trials to grow and to learn. THe things that jose smith went through, that are discussed in dyc 121-123 it really goes to show, and is such a great testimony to me of how much we actually can learn in our hardest times!! just read all of that doctrine that he received in that very trying time of his life!

I know that the lord is always going to be there with us, we are never alone. Always look for him, and always be willing to receive his help! But dont just do it when you are having a hard time!! Do it all the time!!! i love you all, thank you for all the birthday wishes!!! Keep choosing the right!!! Philly and the mision are the best things that have ever happened to me!!!!

ELder Gallego

6/20/11

so this week has been filled with a ton of stuff, and i got 17 minutes to power through it all!! Get used to really short emails!!

-i had an exchange with the district leader this past week, and it really lifted my spirits up i really needed to laugh my head off with someone!! Also i talked to president, he gave me some good ideas of what to do, i am just having to have a better attitude with the whole thing!

-It poured rain on me and the district leader this week, when we were on the exchange!! I was soaked from head to toe it was so awesome!! People thought that we were crazy!!! Thats for sure!!

-who won the nba finals?

Dad Happy fathers day!!! Hope you had a good one and hope you are catching some good waves for me there in cali!!!!!

-We had a great turnout for our book of mormon class that we teach every week this past tuesday, also we have been finding a couple people here and there through some friends of the members! got another person, giovanni, who will be getting a baptismal date this week so im really excited!! I hope that it all goes well. He is battling depression so its a bit rough.

-this week i really got to use my priesthood! I was asked to give 4 blessings this week! I love being able to hold and carry the power to bless the lives of others. It really makes me happy!!!

-instead of making to do lists, why dont we start making "to Be" lists. I know that if we do that, whoever it was that said it in conference, we will be able to increase our personal progress as well as others, because then we will be able to help them when we ourselves are capable after the changes that we have made. I know that it is going to bless your lives! We have to do what james says, we need to be Doers of the word rather than hearers of the word! ANd always remember that faith without works is dead!!!

-Well, i want to let you know that this is the true church. The gospel truths have found a home in my heart, and i am so grateful to be going through the struggles of a mission! I really am learning how to rely on my father in heaven for the answers that i need. He is always there for us if we just go to him!! Never be afraid to change, especially if it is for him. He will always bless us. DOnt be afraid to ask for help!! It is there for us! I love you all, read pray and go to church!!

Philly is awesome, i've been out for 8 months now!! YEAHHH!!!! haha love you all!!

Elder Gallego

6/13/11

well, i got a whole 19 minutes to get all this out in an email, so lets see how i do!

First off, i have already met at least one person here from every spanish speaking country on the earth!!! Crazy huh?! It is a melting pot here that is for sure! Ive also met people from haiti, greece, republic of georgia, congo, africa portugal and all!!! It is so crazy!!! there are so many chinese people here, and india people!! It is really a crazy blend!!

SO i am serving in a district, and we have a native, who is awesome, and i am also in the same district as elder cook!! He and i had a blast on thursday talking about AZ. I need a GPS. My comps broke, and i figured, well its my bday soon and ill need one anyway when he leaves in 5 weeks so yeah...hook me up please? :)

It is so crazy here, people are seriously out of their mind, i heard some guy walking past us singing how he was going to hang himself with an extension cord, they open the firehydrants in the middle of the city if they are hot, and play in it, there are metal detectors in every school, there is so much trash here, we could fill a landfill in AZ, and thats all in the middle of the road and all over the sidewalks, and we live above some crazy chinese discount store in a little shack!! it is so ghetto!!

But, now that ive got that out, i have really had a lot of fun. Its been a bit wierd adjusting to the area and my comp. He goes days without saying a word to me, it is really hard!! I mean, normally i can get someone to talk, but him, not working!! and when i give him some advice to go somewhere or do this or that, its as if he didnt even hear me. Ive never felt so lonely in my life!!!! So, i am really really praying that something gets him to crack!! Im not going to stop though!!

We did a ton of tracking on the streets it was really like my only release. I love sharing the gospel with random people!! its something that i have really grown to love here because we really werent out of the car a whole ton in wilmington! but man it is so different here!! I have been so amazed at how much this world is changing, and not for the good. Its so sad seeing people who are just totally lost, and they are looking for something to help them! We met a guy, Carlos, he is a friend of a less active coming back member named elvys and he has had a really hard time with alcohol and has lost his wife over it. Well i told him that the only way to get her back is to change, and that the book of mormon, repentance, faith and baptism are the only way to do it!! As well as recieving the gift of the holy ghost! He accepted a baptismal date for the 7th de agosto!! Totally made my week!

Then yesterday, a lady came up and said to me i have 3 kids who want to be baptized! I was like uhh ok i can help with that! :D it was amazing! We prayed in the empty baptismal font on thursday for district meeting to be blessed with prepared people to convert, and the miracles are already happening!! I love how fast our heavenly father answers our prayers if we put all of our faith in him!

It is so important to understand that no matter what we are going through, the gospel of jesucristo has an answer!! It is so key to everyone, and it is so important for us as members to help them understand that importance!! I know it is true. It is a part of me now and it will never change! I know that it is the only way to get back to him. We have to do what he askes, if we want what we want. He is offering eternal life!! Why not give it our all?

P.S. there are fireflies here!! And my new address is 4704 Longshore Ave. Apt. B Philadelphia, PA 19135- dont send packages here, send them to the mission office. Too ghetto here!! I love you all so much!!

Alma 32:28-30- read it, apply it, live it!!

Elder Gallego

6/6/11

well, i did get transfered, which really was hard, but i am now in North Philadelphia!! ANd man,i live in the ghetto!!! It is so cool though. SO i really dont have very much time at all, 15 minutes to write this email, so i am going to just get down to business and hopefully next week i will be able to have more time.

we had some good fun this last week with basketball, and finding more people to teach and really just grinding it out to the end!! I am really excited to get a new companino though! I havent had a comp study in 3 weeks because mine doesnt get up!! But i will move forward!!

So, leaving wilmington, ill never forget my first area. 6 months there changed my life, and now i am on a special assignment from the mission president to help my new companion, elder freeman, finish his mission! He has just this transfer to go, so i have been asked to help him become more excited, and just end his mission on a high note! He is a convert to the church, 3 years now, and he is awesome. I can already tell that it wont be really easy, but i know that through the charity of the lord, that i can help him and do what i need to do. We will be great together! I am really excited!

so i still have no idea what my new address is but i will be writing a letter home today, so hopefully you will get that soon. I have to get to know this area really well, because i will be taking it over in 6 weeks! We have a car, speaking of which is a brand new subaru imprezea, pretty sweet, but it is a walking area as well, and man there are so many people here!! Its a melting pot for sure! I am in the spring garden ward, which is on of only 2 hispanic wards in the mission!! I guess they get an average of 300 people a week! ANd none of them are mexican! :( so i will be learning some new spanish for sure!! I will always remember the mexican accent though :) there are a lot of people from south america and a ton of puerto ricans and dominicans!! SO i am really excited!!

Something i would just like to leave with is my burning testimony that this church is true. God lives and he lovess each and every one of us. There is no greater feeling than knowing that he always knows how to help us, and that through the atonement of his son jesucristo, we can be cleansed of our sins and become clean again. I know that i am here called by god, i know that only through the priesthood power and authority given from him to me, and all priesthood holders, that miracles happen, lives are changed, and testimonies are strengthened. It is so important to read the book of mormon, how true it really is. Through reading that book, we will come to know our heavenly father so much better, and through his love we can succeed all things. There is no doubt in my mind that this is where i am supposed to be. Even though it is hard to leave my family in wilmington, i am needed elsewhere, and i am so excited for this next 6 weeks with my new companion! Thank you all for your support and love! I will make sure i get more into my email next week when hopefully i have more time!!

Elder Gallego

5/31/11

Well, looks like i will be heading on my way out of Wilmington, DE. Well.....atleast thats what i think...hahah just got an email from president saying that he has a "special assignment" for me to complete!!! I am ready for the next chapter of my mission!! I cant wait to see what happens! We will be finding out on thursday night if we are getting transfered, and by the comment that president made, i imagine that i will be leaving seeing as how i have been here for 6 months now, but its possible to stay!! :)

This past week has been rough, but definately very rewarding!! I had the most successful day of my mision with my great district leader, Elder Spear! He leaves to go home on tuesday!! Cant believe he is already done! The hallsteds know them, so i am sure you will be getting to know him!! We taught 12 lessons on wednesday!! That is definately incredible!! I didnt realize we had taught that much until we were sitting down at the end of the day and planning for the next day and we were both mind-blown!! It was really cool, because my focus for that exchange was to find new people and we found 5 new people to teach!! One of them, is Rebecca Anzurez father, Jesus, and it was so incredible!! Missionaries have been trying so hard to teach him, but that is the problem!! I had a great trainer, who taught me how to get to know people, before you try to tell them that everything that they have believed in their whole life is wrong. I have been really putting myself in others' shoes while we teach and realizing how all of this sounds, and how crazy it is!!

Well, with jesus, we sat down, and got to know him! He told us his stories of how his parents passed away, and how he and all of his brothers crossed the border, and all this, im thinking to myself, man this guy is so awesome, then he decides to tell us that he has been really thinking lately and through the example that we have set at his house teaching rebecca (the last person i converted) which is his daughter, that he thinks it is time to get baptized!! I almost freaked!! The spirit bore witness right then and there of how this is the only true and living church on the face of this earth today. Jesus is going to be solid here in a couple of weeks,and we will be finding out what it is he wants! Also, we found a couple other families, and a honduran lady named Sunia Madrid. She and her husdband, they will be awesome!! we will see where that goes, she really is interested in how we believe and claim to have a living profeta on the earth today with the same power and authority that jesucristo had!! It was way cool!!

So it has been really hott here, like 99 yesterday and about 80% humidity!! I shaved my head!! :) yeah looks real good, and feels so awesome!! Some quick highlights so that i can get my brain cleared a little bit, we will be volunteering at a center where they teach english for free monday and wednesday in the mornings, we remodeled a house on friday, tore out all the carpet, taks, painted, everything!!! It was so awesome!! I am still sore!!!! Basketball was great on saturday, and yesterday. Played hardcore, almost dunked it!! (ill send home the video) but yeah, i got rim-stuffed hardcore when i tried that...its all good!! ELder Bingham threw out his back and has been having issues, so that is a pain, we found a sweet new family at church on sunday that just came from utah and wants to be baptized!!

Ok, so now that i can think a little better, we taught victor perez, the dominican this week about why the lamanities had a curse upon their skin, that blew his mind, and mine as well.. :) i love that...and he now understands who the native americans are and even who he is!! I wont get too into that, its really crazy!! A man named marcus came up to us on the street, asked for a book of mormon, and decided to read it!! He is with the english missionaries, and i am really excited to see where that goes!! District meeting this week was way cool, we all shared our testimonies with one another about the book of mormon and why it is so important in our lives, i felt the confirming power of the spirit so strong!! Fanni, she went to do baptisms for the dead at the temple on saturday, and she told us about the amazing experience and spirit that she felt, so that was awesome as well!!

This week i learned that we arent really finding people, we are just meeting people that the lord has already prepared!! It was so cool to know that!! And that obedience is like a pen. It only works the way we want it to if our hand is using it and guiding it in the direction that it needs to go. Like the spirit!!!!! Be obedient and you will have that spirit as your constant guide and companion!! As it says in 3 Nefi 9:14-19 cristo tells us to come to him, and in him we will find eternal life and joy and how he is the only way!! I know and bear testimony that that is the only way to it. We have to look for him, do what we need to do, and endure to the end to recieve the desired blessings. It all starts with a desire!!

I am so grateful for this opportunity that i have to be a missionary. I am excited to see what happens on monday for sure, hopefully i train!! I love you all, and im sorry that this email is just crazy as all ever, but my time is running out!! I love you all so much!

Elder Gallego