10/17/11

Hola!! haha, man i can believe i have almost been out a whole year in 3 days!! so scary!!! this year has seriously flown by for sure!! i cant believe it!! but i sure am greatful for all of the many blessings that i have recieved here, and the oportunidad to bless the vidas of the people here in philly!! so crazy how the lord works sometimes...

well to get this off my mind.....i have a HUGE surprise for all of you!! Well its not totally official yet, and our recent convert John Guzman  doesnt know that i know yet, but the bishop talked with him yesterday, and as i was told by john a while back, he was 25 years old....well, we figured out that he is 24 years old....and as i was confirming him yesterday, mission came to my mind, but then the spirit directed me to tell him that his testimony will be of great value to not only many members of his family, not only his friends, but many other people throughout the next couple of years and then after he is sealed and has a family. Really descriptive right?! well, here is the catch....JOHN IS GOING TO SERVE A MISSION!!!!!!!!!! DAHH!!!! i have never felt so much happiness and joy for someone!! seriously!! just completely put me to tears yesterday when the bishop told me that!! so, this next week we will be starting his papers, and he will recieve the aaronic priesthood, and then in a couple of months, after he baptizes 4 other members of his family in a couple of weeks, (yeah talk about miracles) he will get the higher priesthood, and will continue preparing to serve!! CRAZINESS!!!! ahh, i hope you all feel the joy i do. i am just so grateful for the lord, he is the best!!

so also this week, well some of the highlights:

-driveby shooting right outside the house we were in monday night!! wicked crazy!!

-Johns computer and both of his TVs decieded to just completely fry themselves for no apparent reason haha

-The confirmaciones went great! i confirmed john, steven, and alessandra, and elder mailo confirmed Karina. spirit was great and so intene!

-we had 16 investigators in church!!! 

-first district meeting went great!!! 

-8 more people to get baptized within the next 9 weeks, and we are seriously packed full!!

I know that the church blesses lives, i have been able to see it as a misionary, my own life, and the life of many people. The work is just crazy here, i cant put ito words how it is, just it is amazing and that the lord is blessing us!! I love you all and i hope that you go out and share what you know!!

Elder Gallego

10/11/11

alright well i definately dont have much time!! the library was too filled and we had to get permiso to come to a members house, to do our email! so i gotta get this out and then get to the dinner table! we are going to eat pupusas and man, they are so good!! its a tradicional food from el salvador!! ok enough of my blabbering..

so the baptisms went great!! finished off the transfer with 4, and we got 6 more coming up here soon, haha its just way to many things to do! and on top of that, i have been called to serve as District Leader, so that has just been totally mindswamping today, haha actually president forgot to call and tell me i would be the new district leader, the old one, elder burnham actually called me to delegate it over haha president was just chuckiling (imagine the george bush laugh) and he was like, "tell elder gallego he is the new district leader, and that im so sorry.." ahaha he kills me!! he is probably one of the funniest people i have met in my entire life, i cant even look at him without laughing, so he always just looks at me am=nd says, "What?!" i did nothing! so i just have to explain to him that its not that, i just have become such a goof ball here, the hispanic is taking over my personality and everything, so i kinda laugh a lot and am always smiling...i guess thats not too bad.. haha :) 

well, the rest of the week basically just flew, i had the opportunity to baptize john, great experience, and i was able to sit in on his interview, and it was so powerful, and i felt so good and it was so cool to see the change that john has made!! i was so overwhelmed by the great change that he has made! also, emmanuel, the father of alessandra quit smoking 2 weeks ago and was able to baptize the 3 others, his daughter and his niece and nephew. it was so special for him!! 

that was seriusly all that was going down this week, just a ton of finding and trying to fit in all of the people that we have to teach, on top of that, we got 10 new investigators this week, and had 15 in church!! so crazy what is gioing down!! im excited to see what this next transfer brings!! anyway! i love you all!!!!!

Elder Gallego

10/3/11

Hola familia!!! man!!! president monson just cracks me up so much!!! he reminds me of our mission president, as a matter of fact i told president schaefermeyer that the profetas enthusiasm reminds me so much of him, and president told me that that was the nicest thing anyone had ever told him!! haah just made me die laughing, but i was definately totally surprised to see the prophet so energetic!!

so i hope that everyone got the whole theme of conference!!! as i have always said, read pray and go to church!!!! that is what is going to bring us the blessings that we want, and will make us want to be perfect, and strive to help others to try to reach their full potencial as well!! 3 Nefi 12:48

This week, we were able to go the the priesthood restoration site at susquehana and it was a great experience!! it was so cool to seee the lugar where the first baptism of this despensation took place!! (some black guy right next to me just totally let a HUGE burp go!) haha anyways, the spirit felt there, will be something i will never forget! THe priesthood is restored, and i know that we have that power to bless the lives of those around us!!

I also wanted to say that we will be having the baptism of John Guzman, Alesandra Butler, Steven Butler, and Karina Butler on sunday! all are super excited especially john! He came to all but one of the sessions of conference, and gained his own personal testimony that the profeta and his apostoles are men of god, and that they have those keys to help move the work of the lord throughout the whole world. My comp and i are so excited!! He is progressing as well, and for this being his only transfer so far on the mission, his spanish is increible!! His english is...well its coming along :) i am so blessed to have this opportunity to train and to honestly be trained by him and the spirit, and fall back on the things that my trainer taught me! I sure do miss him!!

Well, we are still busy as ever, have too many people to teach and not enough time, and are being blessed by the lord in this great work! I am comin up on the year, feels really really wierd but ni modo, camara y hechete ganas!! :) Something to leave you with, it all starts with a vision, then the goal, and then the plans. Because when the time to make a decision has come, the time to make plans has already passed :) I know this work is real, i know that our father in heaven loves us and that he wants us to succeed! so do all you can to get out there and prove to him and to yourself, that you can do it!! I love you all!!!

Elder Gallego

9/26/11

alright!! this week was absolutely packed!!! we have been working so super hard out here, and we have been really really blessed by the lord here in the area!! It is so wierd to see how much time is flying by and how fast it is going!! As with this week, my companion and i have been really really spiritually uplifted by the strength of our relationship with one another!! I have been able to see him grow so much and him see me grow, that we are just basically brothers!!

as far as the people we have and are teaching, we have john guzman, who is progressing great and is really excited for his baptism coming up here on the 9th as well as maximo, karina, alesandra, and steven!! they are all so prepared and excited to enter into the covenant of baptism!! We are so super packed, so we have to get interviews in, zone conference at the priesthood restoration site on wednesday, and then GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! i am so stoked!! but we will have to be back in suits, and it has started to heat up here, so hopefully that changes!!!

Also, we have had some really cool experiences this week with meeting the people that the lord has prepared specifically for us!! It is so insane, and it has been really interesting to see how the lord works!! First off, we kept a man from killing himself saturday night because his sister had just been killed, and he was just losing it...so sad and so hard to see him, and talk to him but after about an hour of trying and trying, he calmed down, and then asked us where his sister was...it opened our door to the plan of salvation and we testified to him that she was in the spirit world, and that she isnt lost forever and that he would indeed see her again!! He was so happy, and he wants us to stop back by. What a great experience for the both of us, and i know that the lord made that way possible for us!! The gospel of Jesucristo is so true!!!!

well, got to git going, we got a football tournament today!!!!

Elder Gallego