10/15/12

Well, this is the last email that i will send as Elder Mateo Gallego...pretty scary how fast that time come to an end. I can not put into words how much peace i feel right now for the knowledge i have that Jesucristo lives and that because of Him, we will live for forever! this past week has been the most spiritual of my entire life. I have seen so many miracles, seen so much love, and most of importante, i have felt the love and felt the faith that i now have and before didnt.

 

As i look back at where i started, i always laugh...its pretty funny to think about how immature i was, how little i knew, and how small my faith was and my testimony...lets not even go there! haha! it is a big change, and i know im not the only one that can say that. Any return misionero can say that. Every 1 out of 3 misioneros comes home and go inactive...scary right? my goal on my mision has been to learn, grow, and develop the testimony strong enough, and simply think with my heart to NEVER be one of those. It doesnt mean they are bad people, it just means they have to start all over again, and trust me, it is not easy and it is not fun the second time around. I know that as you submit your will for the one that Heavenly Father wants you to do, it is imposible to ever go wrong. I have had trials, i have had sickness, been on the near verge of what i have come to see broken down completely, that i never want to go there again. It will happen throughout our live, and i know it is necessary, but once you have the smallest bit of faith, the only way to get it bigger is Just Do It! meaning, ready, pray, and go to church. Go to the temple, hometeaching, callings, have an eternal familia y do all the things you promised at baptism. I know that by small and simple things, great things come about. look at yourself in the mirror and think about how little you were as a baby....pretty cool how much you grow! Just as your body grow, your spirit does too :) the spiritual growth i have come to gain is intense. I cant even put to words how much these people here have teach me for the last two years!

 

This week i had the oportunidad for the first time to do a Baptismal interview....the most spiritual experience of my life outside of the temple or the MTC. for what seem like 15 minutes, we felt the spirit for an hour and a half! i could see the repentance in Deliliah eyes. I could feel the love from the Lord, and the love she has for him. I could seriously see that as she made the changes necessary, she had become forgiven of her sins, and she forgave herself most importantly! She bore strong testimony to me of the great change she has made, the amazing blessing she has seen and the love she has for her familia. She got sunday free to go to church, got married, stopped drinking coffee, tea and alcohol- all in 2 months. She has not missed church yet, refuses to stop reading the libro de mormon, and has a strong testimonio of prayer and the love that one can feel in that. What a great example, a 21 year old mom of 3 girls, and a baby on the way. She is a great example of someone who has made mistakes, just like every single one of us, big or small, and has left what the transgresiones that she has commited in the past, go away. Repentance include forgiving ourself. That is the hardest part! i testify that there is great and eternal power in the atonement of Jesucristo, and it is available to all. It is a gift, use it wisely, and the blessing will come!

 

So this week, i did an exchange with two of the elders in my district, they were both great! with one, we set baptismal date to a familia de cuatro!! DULCE!!! it was an amazing experience as we teach the restauracion and feel the truth of it from the gift of the holy ghost. This familia, los Valle, they want the gospel so much and feel so much love for one another that it was like perfect!! :D also, we decided to go and visit the Jehova witnesses in their meeting house! jaja the center of atencion?? unintencionally yes! we werent harrassed, which is odd, cuz on the streets thats all they do, but they asked us so many questions about how we learn spanish, and didnt believe that we were american and that the church is growning and we are crazy for walking around in the Hood late, and all this stuff! the cool thing was that they are doing what they feel is right. Nobody but God will change that feeling. We can only bring the gospel to them, but they have to take it! so thats what we did! we testified of the gospel and the message of the restauracion  and the spirit was felt! until we did that, the spirit was really not there...it was a wierd feeling but we both knew why and were ready to help them understand that we dont hate them, never have never will,but that we love them and that we need them! there were about 30 people that the elders will be teaching from that....pretty nuts huh!! we didnt invite them or anything, they want to learn from the elders and they felt something that never did before! so they gonna be busyyyy!!! :D

 

well, last of all, we had a great activity at the church on saturday! it was culture night and i was chosen to be the presentor! with the ingles ward with our spanish branch, i did as best as i could to help them understand since the hispanics were the only ones with presentaciones from their home country. it was really cool, and we had a lot of food later! got like 8 new investigadores too!! it was AWESOME!! also, Onasi Beco, the son of Martin who just got baptize, is out of jail now, and say that he feels so good around us and wants us to teach him tonight at 8 :) he is the last non-member of that familia, and i know that he will get baptized and in a year, be sealed to his familia :) such a big change that familia has made!! with the amazing baptism of Jose y Ada yesterday, i was able to reach the baptismal goal that i set! it feel so good to know that the lord is in the work, and that He and my comps have helped me in that! i testify as a servant of the lord set apart from the world, that He lives. I know that the libro de mormon is true. I know that Jose Smith, Hijo, is the profeta of the restauracion. I know that this is the true church, that the atonement is real, i know that familias can be together forever, mine will be and i know that the greatest and most importante power in this universe, by which all things are and were created, is LOVE! It is All ABOUT LOVE! Prayer is real. he is listening. The power of miracles comes by great faith. these two years have teach me so many things, and i know with all my heart, that what the lord has bless me to accomplish as a misionero, will affect the life of me and my familia forever! Shall we not go on in such a great cause? i love each one of you, and from alll i am, i thank you for the support, love, letters, prayers, and blessing you are and have done/given/sacrificed for me to get to where i am now and be who i am. I cant explain it enough. This is the Only way...dont let go of that iron rod (the gospel, the libro de mormon) or i promise you, life will not get better and you will suffer. I want to thank my familia, and all you for never giving up on me...i cant wait to see you all in a week :) until then, Happy Day, All is Well :) 2 Nefi 31

--
Elder Gallego

10/9/12

ORALE!!! so this past week was very very productiva...we had many lessons and we were bless to find more people to teach. We are concentrating on keeping a Cycle of people so that we dont ever get empty of people to teach! there are many things that i have thinking about lately, especialmente of how cool it is to know there are DOS GALLEGO that are serving misiones!! one on the east coast and el otro on the west!! that is so cool to think about! also, that the profeta anounce that the age limit is 18 now for dudes and 19 for the chicas!! so stoked to see how many more misioneros serve misiones. I know that this will help keep them clean and focused so that they dont get lost into going to school and stuff like that. Youth, you people gotta shine! you are what we would have wished to be! but like henry b eyring say, All at the lords time! So now is the Lords time for you to shine and take the call and rise up!! i promise that this is the best and most importante work that you can do at this time in your life...no matter what situacion, take the time to pray and fast so that the lord can prepare you :) what a gran bendicion!

 

This past week was full of much learning for me! i had an amazing exchange with one of my elders, Elder Pabst, he is de Idaho and he has a very special espirit that i can feel when i am around him. So many times during the exchange as we talk about the area we are in and what to be able to do better, i was impressioned to ask him about how he has been feeling personally as a misionero and about his area and his companion...well he is in an area that he served in about a year ago and has his only two converts there, preparing to go the templo so he is excited about that and has been focusing on that. However, as he talk about his companion, he has been feeling that he is being punish because his companion is so dificil and he does not like to really work, and he really is just going through the motions...what we call "robots" and feels as if it is a burden to be a misionero. At this time, i was able to testify to elder pabst that the lord is not punishing him, he is simply helping him learn. I remember my time with a companero muy dificil and i almost just gave up. so many time i think about that moment in my mision and wish i never had to do that, and at the same time, i am grateful that the lord loved me so much to cut me down :) i explained to elder pabst that i had personally talk to presidente schaefermeyer to bring a good hard working misionero to be with this struggling elder, and he send elder pabst :) so when  i tell him that, his face lit up with joy and was very excited to know that it was not punishment...he had not done anything wrong so why would he be punished? as we talked about the paciencia and amor and caridad we made the truth that it was the 3 most importante things that a misionero can learn from every companion...As i have had 12 on my mision, if 12 comps in 24 months doesnt prepare you for marriage, i have no clue what will!! i have learn something from every one of my companions, especialmente the ones that are dificil! And i know that the lord puts us in the path of eachother to learn and to grow. It all depends on what we do with it and our attitude.

 

So, as the exchange came to an end, he thanked me for the sharing of what i asked from presidente and he has felt an increase in love and we focus on pointing out the good in everyone, not the bad :) it is so dificil but it is posible :) i also learned that the atributes by which we will be judged in the last day are spiritual...in other words, christlike attributes! we have to develop the attributes that cristo has to be like him..meaning we can recieve them as "gifts" from HIM! how? prayer, obediencia and love of the commandments that he give us, and really tresuring the gospel. As i think about what i have learned as a misionero en dos anos, i think of my testimony, that it is a "Gift" meaning it can be either taken away for disobedience, not praying, or in other words, it can be lost...not because of anybody else, but because of ME. i Know that the testimony that i have is the treasure of my soul...it truly is. I cant think of any other thing that i would say i really have changed other than my testimony...because of the testimony i have gained, the Lord has change me in SO MANY WAYS! i try to remember what i was like before, and i cant. I try to think about how, and i have no other answer. I dont say that i am truly converted yet, that is a life long process and i know that. I can and will testify that I know, through the gift of the holy ghost that the atonement changes lives, that Gods will is what matters, and the prayers we say are heard. God will never hide himself from his faithful children...ever!

 

heck, think about abish, the woman in alma 19 that had the vision of what her padre saw and how she testified to the people that what ammon and his brothers teaching was true and that the gente cant try to kill them, and that the lord works through many ways to bring about his purposes, and in verse 17, it talks about how abish was an instrument in the hands of god to bring the conversion of limhi and his WHOLE HOUSE to the knowledge of the truth. I think that is so cool!!! like one of the apostoles said en la conferencia, Lets ascend together! the work of the lord is an un selfish work and we have to be listo to help him and be willing to follow HIS guides...the profetas, the apostoles, and like elder russell m nelson said....which puts a HUGE responsabilidad on us, "Ask the Misioneros"! i think that was a huge call for misioneros to rise to the call, and as there will be more hombres y mujeres preaching the gospel, Why not?! it will be a blessing to see how much the chuch will grow in such a fast pace :)

 

so on friday, elder pabst and i ate taco bell....the second time of my mision i have done that....and on saturday morning while we played bball with the hermanos and investigadores en la iglesia, i had to ditch the game and go hurl!!! jaja i was laughing so hard cuz it was the first time in almost 2 years i had done that and it felt so wierd!! do NOT eat taco bell with a grip load of hot sauce...no matter how hispanic you are...it will DAMAGE! :)

 

Ok so the COOLEST thing EVER!! last week, i challenged the elders at the last minute of district meeting, like what elde bednar calls instant revelacion, to commit the elders and ourselves to announce to their wards that there would be a baptism the 21 of octubre...even tho they dont have anyone prepared or even ready for that day. I commited them to that, and on tuesday night, elder schneider and flake call me, and tell me that they met a husband of an active member, who they thought was already a member, and the husband told them that he is not baptized and has been waiting for the misioneros to ask him for the past year, anyways, they asked him to be baptized the 21 of octubre and they say that his face just lit up and he was like, "that is what i felt was the right day"!  SANTA VACA!!! :D that is NUTSS!!!! they were so excited as was i to be able to experience that!! since i have never been able to do a baptismal interview my whole mision, which has been a bummer cuz ive been a district leader for like who knows how long, and we only interview the candidates of our district, my districts have had so many people ready and at the week before just tank it and give up, or get antied or something absurd, I finally will have the chance to!!! :D  i will be doing one this week for them, her name is Delilah Ortiz, and she is super prepared! that will be on thursday, and my last week, i will do the interview of this man, Junior! so not only will i be able to interview them, i will be able to have a testimony of what the spiritual power in conversion can do and how to see a person accept this great covenant :) im so excited!!! yayy for misionary work!!

 

well, this is a long email, like prolly the first good one in forever, but just wanted to get my brain emptied and fresh! we are having the baptism of Jose y Ada on sunday! SICKKKK!!! and i will be baptizing jose, and i think Gian, our recent convert will baptize Ada...if not, Elder Wright! :) and, we will be filling the baptismal font the 21st and are praying that the lord helps us to fulfill a miracle and have a baptism that day :) this is the work of the lord. I know it. Soy mormon! lo se, lo vivo y a mi me encanta! ( im a mormon, i know it, i live it and i love it!) i hope you all can say the same thing :)

 

Dont be afaid to show others who you really are on the inside most deep part of your heart...you are only following the same plan that you accepted before you come to this earth :) I know my savior Lives :)

When the lord asks us to leave our nets, it is FOREVER! never look back, think back, or turn back. If you have the image of Cristo engraved in your countenance like it say in Alma 5:19, there will be no desire to do so :) Look forward, never doubting and he will ALWAYS guide you :) con mucho amor!!

--
Elder Gallego

10/1/12

Holy hanah...it is octubre!!! the world ends in 2 months!!! :D jaja, son bromas! :) so this week, seriously just flew by!! so crazy!!! the area here is on fire, we didnt have baptism this week, the two women dont feel ready yet so we are going to wait! i am so stoked for la conferencia general!! i hope everyone watch the conference and make sure that you take notes!! it will be a super importante!!

so out of all things i can say, i have to start with what our presidente de mision teach us this week about the Light of Cristo that all of us have, but the big diferencia and confusion between the gift of the Holy Ghost! that is so importante...actually it is what make la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias diferente from the world...we have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and it is always wit us and we are obediente and as we follow the promptings it give us...im so sorry if these email are not understandable, it seriously takes me FOREVER to type in ingles and my comp is all on me and sick of waiting jaja, that what happens meng! he will soon know... :)

so anyways, as we think about the holy ghost, it teaches us and help us to be who Cristo NEEDS us to be....not who we want to be...in Alma 12, it tell us that our job is to be obediente and keep the commandments... ALL of them. the more obediente we are, the more blessing we recieve...the less we are...almost never recieve blessing because the spirit will not be with us if we are disobeying. I have a strong testimony of this and i Know that this is true. As i have be obediente, i feel the spirit. When im not, i dont feel anything...it is a blank and empty nothing inside of me that i hate to have...even as a misionero i have not been perfect, i have made my share of mistakes, and some i will say that i definately needed in order to understand what it is like...i know that the lord has shaped my mision for ME and nobody else...he has shaped me to be what we call "the clay" in his hands...A potter, as he makes the pots, he has to shape the clay, and if it doesnt look right, he starts over, wets it down, and puts in on the spinner to use it in a different form...that is how the Lord is with us, if we end up not reaching something that we could have done, he will use us for something better :) not just "something else" cuz as we missed our first oportunidad to be useful in his hands, we LEARNED what that horrible feeling is and we dont want that anymore. I have definetely felt that, and i know that as i keep doing what he asks, there will be no need to worry. He is my light and my guide! and he is YOUR light and YOUR guide. dont ever leave him, he never leaves us....always remember that. it is US who make the separacion from the spirit. its like a glove...WE take it off...and there goes the proteccion that we had before...so dont ever take it off...like mi hermanito says, "Out with the bad, In with the good." :) te amo ELDER! so wierd!!

jaja this week, we ate SO MUCH that my comp threw up 2 times, i was so hilarious!! i have never been able to experience that yet, i dont ever get full....and it is reallly wierd, the people here think im "CrASY!" nacho style! we are having a "Dia de la Raza" it is like uhh....Cultural day, the 13th and i am representando a MEXICO!!! VIVA MEXICO!!! :D i am going to make enchiladas....no estilo gringo....jaja and Carnitas!!! with!! HORCHATA!!! it will be so AWESOME!! i am so stoked! and for the cultural presentacion, mi companero y yo...we are going to Dance "LA MACARENA" :) it should be good! we only are missing like a mariachi or something sweet lilke that...we will see what we can do :)

i had a great exchange with elder smith, he is one of my zone lideres and he is awesome! we got home the same time, and we had a good reflexion on what we would change if we could about our mision and i thought about how much i would love to have gotten MORE out of it...i think that is the regret of every misionero...you can never learn enough and you can never serve too much. and i think about this all the time, but i just feel that two years go by way too fast and it doesnt come and hit you that time is running out until its really too late. i know that i dont have any huge regrets, and like mi hermantio said, i have never disobeyed a spiritual prompting, that is something i have really been able to see the blessings and am so grateful for that. i know that my heavenly father love me. I know that Jesucristo Lives and he is my salvador and redentor. I know that Jose Smith, Hijo, restored the gospel for the last time on the earth, and that Tomas S. Monson is the profet today. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost el Libro de Mormon is true and it will always be an esencial tool to our salvacion. As i trained my district, and well, as they helped me know as well this week in district meeting, the Doctrine of Cristo is the purpose of us. We have to LIVE it and APPLY it so that the investigadores can SEE it working in us! as i have done this to the best i can, i have felt and seen a diferencia in the live of my investigadores, my own life, and the live of the elders that have served with me. I know that we have companions for a reason, and i have learned something from every single one of them! i love them and if having 12 comps on a mision dont prepare you for marriage.... i dont know what will jaja!! i know that this work is real and that through the atonement, i am able to repent every day and feel of the Love of the savior in my life!

I was able to share my testimony yesterday and i know that this is where the lord has prepare people to hear the message of the restauracion...it is true. I know it! the investigadores that we have: Matha, Yanela, Yolanda, Jose y Ada- they are all progressing so much and it will be such a great day to see them enter the baptism water and then be confirmed the last day. If you feel like you are struggling, trust me...Pray. It is the only instant comfort i can possible think about other than think about your familia...i know that when i do, it make me feel the same spirit i feel 13 years ago when we got sealed for time and all eternity....oh! remember Karina? the girl i talk about that cried as she bore her testimony about how MUCH she wants to be sealed to her parents?  well, we had an AMAZING lesson with her dad, and he is commited to start the temple classes in November!!! :D the spirit was so strong as we bore testimony of the reality of eternity and how importante it is to be an eternal familia...i KNOW that it is the reason we are here...to become eternal familias to be able to live with our Heavenly Parents again :)

Life is not about running from the storm, it is about learning how to Dance in the Rain :)

-- 

Elder Gallego

9/24/12

hey familia!!! q lo q?! my brain is so fried right now....we ate 4 times ayer and i seriously can barely even think!! this week went by so dang fast! it was cool and at the same time, like as misionero it is so annoying bc you feel there is not enough time to do anything!

so i had my very last zone conference this week! we learned a lot about the doctrine of christ and how the simple things we teach and do are always the ones that matter. we had some really great role plays for some investigatores and they worked out really nice!! i was able to bear testimony to the two zones that were there, and it really hit me on how much i have grown and how much the lord has blessed me with and the great love he has for me and i know that as i keep doing the things tha ti have learned as a misionero on my life, that will be the best thing for me and it will help me to grow and become like my savior, Jesucristo.

so between all the teaching 61 lessons this week, yeah way loco, and the fiestas and actividades por los miembros and all the great and amazing miracles the lord show us every day, there was one that really stood out to me, and it was yesterday. the sacrament is algo tan impotante en our vidas! i know that as we partake of the sacrament the cleaning power of it makes us pure and clean to be worthy and enter into the presence of out father in heaven. i am so excited for this day, when i can be in the presence of Him, my creator. I love this gosepl so much and i am so grateful for all the many blessings i reacieve for being a servant of him. the many blessing that are involved in this is the testimony that i have gained. many people think of blessing as just liek being rich or having many things, when really that has nothing to do with it, that is fortune. BLESSINGS are the true yet eternal simplicity in life that we will carry with us to the next :) it will be something that in thsis short periodo of 2 years that will have an eternal effect on my life. i know that the mision is nothing easy, but it takes work that will help to build you into who you NEED to be in the future. I have an AMAZING father, and he didnt serve a mision. But i do remember him telling me all the time that if he had the chance and he knew about the gospel at a younger age, he would have. I know that he will serve with my mom and i know that it will be an amazing experiencia, but i also know that as i am following the counsel of him, and my Father in Heaven, they will lead me to the same spot.

the goal for us is to be the kind of people that others want to follow...the best leaders in the world are those who follow. Look at the profeta, Tomas S. Monson...he was been a follower his whole life! and he still is! from an apostol at 35 to profeta like 50 years later, think about that sacrifice! but the lord put it in him just like he does to us that power and that drive to be a leader in the future. he build him up to start and then he just keep doing it from there. we are never done learning in this life. i know that i have obtain so much more info on my mision that i did my whole life before. i know that the savior live, and he love me like he love you. it is a ver personal relation that we all have to have with him! that is the key!! how? PRAYER!! :)

martha, yanela, yolanda, jose y ada are all great, getting ready to get baptise the 14 of octubre and it will be sucha great day! i know that as the spirit keeps guiding us, we will have so much success here! prepare for general conferencia! this is the most important one! why? i have no idea, i just feel that this is the one that will tell us, if we are ready, what and how to prepare for the second coming of our lord and savior Jesucristo :) i know this church is true and i know that it is the only way! Alma 5:19

-- 

Elder Gallego

9/17/12

Holy hannah!!! this is the greatest thing i have ever put my mind to doing!! i am so grateful to be a misionero!! jaja we had some seriously HILARIOUS moments this week, i mean as a misionero the life you live is somthing sacred and you should always live up to that, and i have learned that just like elder wirthlin said i think like 5 years ago right before he died was that when bad things come, Just laugh :) so not to  be like always laughing or anything, but we gotta just smile it off and look at the bright side and move on. The moment we take steps back, satan has overpower us and we are falling into his hands!

Well, to cut to the story, friday night, we were with a familia and they said something that reminded me of Nacho Libre....so as i tried to do the "ignacio stretch" that he pulled off in his madd tight white pants, well my whole crotch of my not madd tight grey pants, BLEW OUT! jajajajaja probably one of the most hilarious, yet embarrasing moments of my life, it was definately a moment that nobody there will forget, but lesson learned---never try to do the "ignacio stretch" in dress pants....they will RIP! but the bright side is that they ripped right on the seam so there is a seester here in the branch that is like my personal tailor! jaja, this is not the first time i have done this...my butt is not shrinking jajaj so it is making things a little "tight"  :)

anyyways! wow, were to start. i feel wierd to know that the time keeps running out, i always say it because it is always obvious, my comp never let me forget it! jaja payaso! so i was sent a package from my parents like 2 weeks ago and it didnt get to me by last monday, so as i was in the apartamento writing letters on monday, i said a prayer that no matter how that the package will get to me. i stared out the window for seriously like 30 minutes, and i saw NO mailman...well after that 30 min i decided to go and check the box....the package slip was in there!!! :D i was like "WAAAAAAA!!!" "ORALE!!" jaja, lesson is that Heavenly Father answers prayers for even the little things. :) i know that it was a miracle cuz there was no mailman that came, not one! so that was kinda cool :)

anyways, this week was filled with blessings. It was cool cuz we got to bless the home of our elder quorum presidente and it was a very nice and spiritual experience. those who have not yet blessed the homes they live in and would like one, just call a priesthood holder or if you already have the melquisedec preisthood, offer a prayer and bless it and all the elements (not individually) cuz that would be one LONG prayer, but bless your home so that the spirit of the Lord can be there, i testify it makes a diferencia :) Also, with the branch, there was two people sick that we gave blessings to, Hno. Cruz has a disease in his intestinos and la hija de Martha was sick and so we were able to give them both blessings yesterday! Also, my companion and i had been feeling a little down with the lack of progress on some of the investigadores that we have, and so we gave eachother blessings, and i tell you what, blessings are a great way to know what your heavenly father needs of you and thinks of you. The comfort that i felt was uforgettable! i love it and i know that as one part of it told me to Listen to the Spirit, i have focused on that even more and it has brought more of it to my life. i know that we are loving children of heavenly father and that he wants us to be ok. We have to put our trust in him to be able to progress as his children here on earth!

Yesterday, Gian was confirmed! he asked that i do it, and it felt as if it were just me and him in the sacrament meeting room. it was increible and Gian will be a great power to the branch and a big help so that the last one of the Beco familia- Onasi- who is in jail, can get baptized when he gets out...well soon after :) we have been pushing the stake program of Set a Date and they have set a date well, like a goal that Onasi get baptized on the 21 de octubre...so that will be super sweet!! Martha y Yanela are doing great, they are preparing for baptism the 30 of this month, and jose y ada y yolanda the 14 of octubre and the 21 of octubre...so life as a misionero is super busy right now! we have zone conferencia this week, my last one :/ that will be good tho to be able to learn more from my leaders! i love learning, my companion helps me in my trials, and i learn so much from him. He is prollly wone of the dorkiest guys i ever met, but one of the most humble people i meet too. we are working great together, and are going to go to the end! i know that as we put our faith in Jesucristo we will be lifted up. Dont give up. Ever. The blessings that await are right around the corner!! :) andale y echense galleta CAMARA! 

-- 

Elder Gallego

9/10/12

well familia y amigos, the road ends in Allentown, PA! i am very excited to be able to finish where my trainer, elder kerouac, started his mision...it funny cuz he finished where i started mine...Wilmington! so we kinda just switched it up!! it will be a wonderful 6 weeks and i will also be staying with my companero, Elder Wright! he is so stoked to "kill" me...that is what the term of a misionero that is "dying" or leaving the mision....the mision is like a whole diferente world man! i love it and am going to live it all up and we will work as if it was our last day every day!

so it has been an emocional week, with having two couples sealed in the temple on saturday, seeing a couple of my ex-comps, elder reese and de leon and being able to have them spend two nights with us while they were at the temple was way cool! as you prolly see on Facebook, we were sleeping like all over the place! we had some crazy events! incluso i locked us out of the apartamento cuz i left my keys in there, and my comps keys were in his backpack and that was in the car, and we only have one set of car keys, the ones i left in there....jaja so we only have one little window...and it was occupied by the air condicioner so i gave it a swift push and it went through as planned, but all this mud and stuff came out and my comp and de leons comp picked me up and were slowly helping me get through this little window and all the sudden they just push me thru and it was hilarious as i hit my head on the ground and got all dirty and stuff...but it was a memorable experiencia! :D

so to give the rundown of the events this week, we got Martha committed to baptize the 30 of this month, as well as Yanela and Yolanda. Yolanda will be getting married this next week, Yanela is already in Jacob en el libro de mormon, and Martha is progresando like no other! we had a great lesson with Jeremy (the one we baptize like my first month here) and he bore testimony of the power of baptism and he told her how he didnt want to at first but knew it was what the lord needed him to accomplish so he put his faith in him and he is now a great strong convert! the spirit was so strong! we were able to help her put her faith in the lord, as well with Yanela! she is so awesome and is reading like crazy! she loves el libro de mormon!

we

Also, we were blessed to be with Martin and his wife Yaquelin on tuesday night! so they have friends, Jose y Ada, that are super super close and believe in what the church teaches is good and they were super interested, well martin just walk in and is like "jose y ada, we are here to tell you that this is the way and we want you to be baptized so that we can see you get sealed in a year" en espanol of course....and we just sat there like waaaaat!!! that was mad tight!!!! Martin is so strong and it is cool cuz he is not afraid to share the gospel. his wife yaquelin is the same way! their daughter, Leny, got sealed on saturday and it was a great event. i was not able to go cuz i wasnt involved in the reteaching process of her husband Toribio, he got baptized a year ago, and so i wanted to go but couldnt :/ it was hard but they came out totally changed!! it was amazing!! Anyways, back to jose y ada, we didnt even teach hardly anything and i invited them to be baptize the 14 of octubre and they both said SI!!!!!   we were like amazed! all this inviting people to get baptize happen in a day! it was so crazy!! we also had a familia home evening with martin and his familia and we centered it on their son, Onasi, who is in jail right now but who will get out the 30 this month....we are going to get him converted before i get out of here!! it will be so AWESOME! Onasi is the only one left :) Gian did not get confirmed yesterday cuz he went to NJ to see his mom, she just came from Santo Domingo...so that was like not planned but he will be getting confirmed this coming sunday! :)

with all this going on, we also had a great Zone Training and we were taught about the importance of the spirit in teaching and how to use it in our every day life. i think it is so importante to say that without the spirit, why would we want to keep going? there is no motivation! that is what everyone needs, the gift of the holy ghost so that the feel the motivacion (love) from Heavenly father to do what is right. we are doing very well as a zone and there are many people getting prepared to recieve baptism and ge confirmed. Baptism without confirmacion is nothing! that is really what cleans us, the gift of the holy ghost is the baptism by fire the lord streses so much on. we have to remember why we got baptize and the commitment we left that day. it is so importante! the sacrament is why we need to go to church, and the classes help us learn more about what we told Heavenly father we would do at baptism....endure to the END! i know that this is why we are here. to be tested, and the lord do it so he can see how much we really love him. mosiah 23:20-24. i feel so much love for all the people that i know, you are the reason i keep going! God has so much love for us, and we want it right? so we have to go GET IT! he is the source, this mesage is the way, and the spirit is the guide :) Vivir, Amar, Reir :) (live, love, laugh) there is no better way :) it is found in the mensaje de la restauracion! i know this the time to act, so lets do it!

the rest of the week was a blur, one thing did stick to me tho.....the love we have for everyone has to be first centered on ourself. if we cant love ourself, how can we love anything else? i know that Heavenly Father has an infinite love for each of us,.....and he wants us to feel it, realize that we are loved, love ourself, and share that SAME love and charity with others :) we gonna go git em this week :)

-- 

Elder Gallego

9/4/12

wow! so i got to be super fast this week! it was super crazy and things went super bien!

i going to kind of just list some things off so that i get my mind cleared, we dont have much time to write and i am truggling to write in english again cuz this week hardley speak like any! but i just want to start by saying that i have felt the prayers and love of all of you this week. as i am focusing on the mision and my companion and i had a baptism it helped me realize that there are so many people like Gian Carbonell who my companero baptized on suday that need this message. all of the love that you have for me and for your families, share it with the WORLD! if you get the chance, read the talk of Elder Richard G Scott from April general conferencia about how to obtain revelacion and inspiracion in your own life. that talk impacted me so much and i learn so many things that i wish i could explain but i dont have time. we have to help a couple who is going to be sealed on saturday and they are having trouble getting along and they want blessings so we got to head in like 10 min. but that talk help me realilze that the lord will reveal to us through so many ways that we always think is just our feeling and things like that but elder scott talk about how the scriptures are the key to recieving lasting revelacion! i know this to be true and i am having so much fun time studing and learning constantly that i cant see life the same way without the scriptures! the key is to obtain a testimony so strong that if you see that you dont have your libro de mormon or that someone you know is not reading that you help them, and love them so that you can let them lean on your testimony del libro de mormon while they try to get their own. i did it for way too long, and it is so much easier to know that this is the true church when you believe in the only and true gospel that it teaches :)

also, as we were able to go to the site where the preisthood was restored, Susquehanna, it was such a better experience this time around. we had a testimony meeting on the banks of the river, and the spirit was so very strong! i know that the savior lives and that the preisthood we do posses it! it is here on the earth and it is to carry out the miracles of god in the world. it is sucha blessing to me to know that the lord has entrust me with the authority that he has, and that as i continue to live righteously i will be able to be as he is, Perfect. it makes me even happier to know that everyone of you can do the same things! it is true. i know it is. As i continue to see the hand of God in my life, i realize that everything is the way it is so that we han be who he wants us to be. if life is hard, he wants us to be stronger. if its easy, trials will come. if it is perfect, then one day we too will be perfect. but to see that right now life to me is perfect, i am not yet perfect. because life to me IN this MOMENT is perfect because this is what God wants me to be doing. I love to think that as we do what he asks, he is obligated to bless us. the simple things are what count. as we offer our love, service, and testimony to those in sacrifice for the worldly things, we will see the hand of God working so many miracles! i love you all, the gospel is the only way and this is the work of the lord :) Never Give Up. 

-- 

Elder Gallego

8/27/12

No MANCHES!! this time is passing by so dang fast! the weeks seem like a blurr!! holy hannah!! bueno pues, this week many many things came to pass!

finally i was able to do exchange with the elders in Reading, PA. i havent been able to do any this transfer cuz they have been sick or had appts at the doctores o algo asi. So i was happy to be able to leave my comp in the area and let him go to work! he is a horse man! while i was able to have exchange with elder schneider and elder allen wednesday-friday, things went really well! we were able to figure out why the area and the members are not working with the misioneros with the lack of trust and the constant cancelling on appts, the lack of work that use to be there, and just the elders had a little bit down on their faith. So we talked and did many things and they finished this week with baptism dates and were able to really enjoy the great exchanges that we had. I love learning from the other elders. Just a hint of advice- young misioneros, dont be afraid to teach your leaders. We love it more than you can possible believe!! (nacho voice) "It isss de BESSS!! :) things are awesome here!! even tho a stinky Chihuaua PEED ALL OVER ME! that was not cool....but it was funny haah! (note to self- NEVER let an excited dog stand up and dont EVER scratch his back when he has his front two legs up on you....your leg will get SOAKED!) :)

so yesterday, i dont know if any of you remember when i first got here i said that we was going to fill the iglesia by the end of Summer......jaja the VERY last sunday, yesterday, before the kids get to school again, and we FILLED THE IGLESIA!!! ORALE!!!!!! there were 116 people that came :) the coolest thing i seen since we got 220 to the ward in Philly, and the day we had 156 in Wilmington!! there is no better feeling as a misionero to 1-baptize 2-fill the church! it makes us so giggly inside!! presidente payba spoke with tears and was trying to hold it all back but he just couldnt, and neither could i. the lord bless us according to our faith in him! we HAVE to put our faith to accion! ya pronto, this area will be a ward if we keep on moving on. also, we gave the priesthood aaronic to Martin! Juans ride didnt get hi so he could not make it yesterday, but he will get it next week. Martin is doing awesome!! Gian, will be getting baptize this week by my companero! we are goin to do the others in the coming weeks!! too much of a hassle and not enough time!

so something i realize, is that king benjamin del libro de mormon is INCREIBLE! his discourse in Mosiah 2-6 is just awesome! it apply all to us! we have to apply what he teaches, a man who went his whole life in the service of the lord, working with his own hands and side by side with us. i think of it like him being the lord with us. he works side by side with us, and even when we stop, he still works. the lord always progresses. dont ever forget that. just because he is perfect doesnt mean he doesnt learn from us. King benjamin learn so much from his people, they love him so much and we willing to do all the possible to make sure their names were written in the books (baptism) they are awesome examples to us and i know that as we put out hands to work, and as we just think about What more can we do other than, Are we done yet. we will be so much more successful! i know that the profeta Tomas S. Monson is the profeta of our days, and of the lord. there is no other way. Jesucristo is our light and we have to follow what the profetas say so that we can get to him. Just like King Benjamin, we have to believe in Cristo, and we then have to act :) it is ALL  ABOUT LOVE!

L- Life of-

O- Obediencia

V- Virtue

E- Example

= LOVE!!! :) a life of obediencia, virtue and example will bring us LOVE! you all have it, just have to find it :) 

-- 

Elder Gallego

8/20/12

Bueno, pues as today is the 20 my comp didnt help me forget that there is only 2 months of my mision left :/ so WE gonna work even harder!

there are so many  things that happen this past week, i dont have a clue where to comenzar...between the miracles, the blessings, the people we teach and barely enough sleep, we are just doin all we possible can to carry out this work and make this rama to a barrio PRONTO! the lord is guiding us as we continue to work diligentemente and be obedientes and it is something very interesting that we realize. As misioneros, there is no other time in your life that satan will try and get at you from so diferente ways. it can be people on the street, thoughts, words, acciones, old habits, ANYTHING that he can to get you to fall even if it be a little bit. i have felt the spirit testify to me that the so called "power" that satan has really is nothing. as a human being and a child of God, no temptation is too big, no obstaculo too great, no test too hard, no trial too worked, that we cant possible think of our savior durning at least one second of them. I have ask myself this many time and have tried to answer it, and i dont know how other than as we are going through trials, we ALWAYS think about our Heavenly Father. Let not forget, Jesucristo also knows how it feels to not have the spirit with you, as he suffer everything including the separacion of the holy ghost for moments of trial and pain. if one man, would give his own life so that we could become like him, Will you do it so that others can follow you? it is so importante to always stand in holy places. getting back to the point, as misioneros there is never a half-second when at least one set of eyes is not on us. it can be Gods or our comps, anything! but people are always watching...so why is not like that for the normal members of the church? i dont know.....that is what get me. but i think about how we have been Set Apart, from the world, to preach the message of the restauracion of the gospel to those in need...actually EVERYONE with who we speak. that is something that brings a smile to my face :) there have been many time in my mision where i want to give up, pack my bags, and go home. but as i think about the many blessing of serving and the many blessing i will lose for not serving, why not go on?! this is such a great work, and if there is some little blue book, that has change the lives of 15 milliones de personas, Why not be part of it? the gospel is so cool :)

so to get to my week, well i dont really remember sleeping, i think i dream maybe once or twice, and we were out earlier than 9 almost every morning. there was a benefit to that and a well, a blessing missed. i was only able to read a chapter del libro de mormon 3 time this week :/ and it wasnt cuz we were sleeping in, or being lazy, heck we were out and workin! but i wont ever do it this way again. i have felt more tempted to do just the stupidest little things in life like watch the tv, play games, relax, go chill wit the members, anything but the work of misioneros! and i was wondering why that was. It is cuz i was not able to read el libro de mormon every day and i know now and tell you that that little blue book, it has the proteccion power that we need to keep our mind clear, hearts pure, and our acciones sanctified to the lord. I have such a big testimonio of that book, it has changed my life forever and i will NEVER again stop reading at least one chapter a day....now i know there are people that say, "that what you say now, just wait till you are really busy and have other things" i dont care if i have to lose sleep to do it, i cant ever go another day without it. I hope that as our investigators hear our message that the libro de mormon is something powerful to them. even our friends will be there and ask us what we are smiling about or why we are so peaceful, but i know that we will have happiness in our life if we read it EVERY DAY! :)

ok, we are teaching un monton de personas!! so Martha, wow, what faith she has! we had our first two lecciones with her, and her desire to know that the libro de mormon es verdadero is so BIG! i have never seen one greater!! i am so greateful that the lord make it possible for us, as young adults to teach people that are older,......there is always something to learn from them. She has been getting anti mormon stuff from people she know, and her boyfriend in colombia has tried to bat it all away, but as she was explaining what she wants in her life and the life she has already had, it make me think of the great plan of salvacion :) it is for the children of God! she just lost her sister two months ago, she has a little daughter, who is like my little sister i never had! she is the biggest ball of energy i have ever seen! including myself or my brother!! YEAH!! :D her name es Isabella :) so so hilarious! when something goes wrong, she just say in her little cute voice, "Oh Cheezits!" JAJAJAJA! if that dont make you laugh, i dont know what will. she is so so funny. anyways, they are happy. Yesterday martha had a headache for like 2 days, and so we gave her a blessing after sacramental and RIGHT after, she was perfectly fine :) her face didnt hurt, she could open her eyes, move her neck, everything was so normal! :D that is faith of her right there!! with tear in her eyes she says, "elderes, i know the power of god is on the earth." wow, what a strong testimonio to me that our heavenly father loves and wants us back! she is doing great, as well as Yolanda, who is getting married to Hno. Reyes in a week, Yanela is reading and progressing very well, Amalia and nicole are reading, they didnt come yesterday, so we got to get over there and help them get ready for their baptism by coming to church. also we are helping Gian, who is progressing SO FAST! that is Jeny Becos husband. Jeny was less active but after Martin got baptize she start to come now :0 everything in that home has changed, and Martin has been so blessed with work that we have only been able to sit down with him and have one lesson since his baptism! Crazy! tonight we will get another chance! anyways, life in the mision is great, we will have a "White-Out" on the 2 septiembre....5 people will be getting baptize and it will be so great!! but. my comp is ready to leave! so we is out! Mosiah 4:9- Believe in Christ :) amor y saludos a todos!! 

-- 

Elder Gallego

8/13/12

HEY!! wow this week went by so fast and there are so many miracles that have happened!! i know that this is the work of the lord and he is definetely in out lives, his arms are always extended towards us, but we are the ones who dont want to accept him! After seeing so many people change their lives for doing what is right, is the best thing that you can ask for! i know that as we stay good examples and help others ar all times, we will be able to see that light of cristo in their lives! everyone got it, we just have to dig down and find it! then act on what we already chose to do before we come here!

so we had a good baptism yesterday, Anaya Miranda got baptize and she was very very excited. there was a very special spirit and she definately was so close to the spirit. Heck we miss the sacrament yesterday cuz my comp forgot to take his pills for his siezure and he cant miss any so we had to go and get those, and by the time we got back they already pass it, but we were able to have the young men prepare it for us after that and it was a very good experience! i was so anxious and worried about not being able to take it and then we asked the presidente de rama if we can take it and he say yes. that is such a big blessing, the santa cena because it is the only cleansing ordinance that will keep us clean as long as we take it weekly and worthily! that is the key!

Like presidente Eyring say, we have mountains to ascend and the personal integrity of all of us is what will help. The atonement is the great act of love we will ever know of in our existencia but we sure need to use it! it means nothing to be a member of the church if you dont go to church. heck, life is worse if you do that. The most important things that people say to us as elderes is that the reading, praying and going to church make them feel good. its not money and not friends. those are only some "feelings" that we think we have about what is importante. i learn that i have to always be an example to those around me cuz at no other time in my life will so many eyes be on me at one time. as we work together, it make life much easier! we have to make Jacob 5 part of our lives! verses 70-the end of the capitulo are directly at us. we are the servants that have to bring the rest home! :) and Zion has to be something that we establish in US before we try to establish it in others. Moises 7:18

so as we teach this week, we found 3 new people that want to be baptize! Gian is the husband of Jeny Beco, the daughter of Martin who just got active again. Gian has change very much and this week, as we talk to him he tell us that he want to make a change in his life that will never give him deseos to do wrong again. we testify that the gospel can Help with that but it wont change him. HE will be the one who makes the change, and our Heavenly father will be the one who helps him. he is dedicated to being a better father, and a better example to his wife and two little ninos :) he is reading el libro de mormon and is doing all he can to show his familia that he really want to change and that he is going to do it! the baptism yesterday help a lot and Martin is being a great help with him! of the 15 members in that familia, 13 are members and Gian is next :) after that, we plan to help Onasi, Martin son that is locked up, get baptize in octubre and that will do it :) MILAGROS are REAL! we also met a new colombian lady and she is SUPER excited to recieve the gospel! looking for a church that has good values and unity and love...welll we tell her that she found it :) the spirit was so strong yesterday, i know that as we are willing to help those around us, GOd will continue to put those people in our path :) with Amalia and nicole, the two grandaughters of Maria Perez, they are reading and praying and coming to church, they are very willing to keep the commandments to get the blessing they need! with them, they will be a great light to their parents so that they accept the gospel! also, we met an old investigator, Lidia Cristobal, and she just has to stop smoking and get herself married to be able to get baptize! we have taught her everything, but we will see what she is willing to do.

so i tell you what, going on an exchange in ingles was WAY diferente. but the spirit was very strong, i ask one of their investigators, ryan, if he would prepare to be baptize the 14 of octubre and he said yes!! i dont think i say the invitacion right but i sure did finally ask him! i had the thought to do it like 3 times and got scared cuz i have never done it en ingles but i didnt want to ignore it! i was with elder smith, and it was a great experience! always invite when the spirit is there! we also met with some less actives, a member took us in his Cobra SVT and wow....that car gets UP! so sick!

so anyways, the work continue, i know that it is going to be a great week, always always always listen to the spirit. it will ALWAYS tell us what to do in the right moment :) 

-- 

Elder Gallego

8/6/12

SANTA VACA!! i cant believe it is already AGOSTO!! this is so not good! the time is going by way too much! but, i tell you waat! we is workin like the mision end tomorrow! i think that my companion, Elder Wright, is the GOOFIEST dude on earth. every other second i look over at him and he has like the most hilarious face put on and i just die laughing. We sure do have a lot of fun and are really gettin into the HEAT! SANTA VACA it is hot here...summer just start?? jajaja, it sure seem like it! but anyways, Allentown is AWESOME! we set record yesterday with 90 people in sacrament meeting! THAT is how its DUN! it was super chido! we had 10 investigadores there and everything was just awesome! a familia from Norristown, the converts of Elder Wright came to visit us, they had some issues and Presidente Schaefermeyer let us do that, so it was a great sunday. We were able to talk about the importancia of the templo and the preisthood! OHHH!! DUH, yesterday we had 2 confirmaciones! Juan y Martin ask me to do it, its rough doin everything, since i want my comp to be able to do it, but that just how it is! He was chill about it anyway and it was super drawn man! Martin y Juan both came with White shirts, Juan must have forgot his tie, jaja but Martin didnt! his wife took a little kids klippy tie and put it on him, came down to like the top of his belly jaja!! so funny, they were both very excited to be members and to have the Holy Ghost with them! it was a great experience! i will never forget it!

We also picked up 3 more investigadores, 2 are the grand-daughters of a recent convert, Maria Perez and the other one is Yanela! it is going to be good! Yolanda is getting married this week, but wants her hermanos at her bautismo so she cant get baptize this sunday, but we have the baptism of Naiya Miranda! she is 9 and is super excited! we just got her mom active again and it was very good! she now has calling, the second counselor in the Relief Society and it is AWESOME! we have activated about 25 people since i came, and have been starting to get the members more converted to the gospel! it is going well! remember, there is a big diferencia between going to church, and being an ACTIVE, CONVERTED member to the GOSPEL of Jesucristo. the church and the gospel are two diferente things! We have to be part of the Doctrine of Cristo and really be converted to it. The love we have for God and others will help us with  this! i was able to share my testimony yesterday after i help Ansolny, one of the first kids we baptize here, wanted me to translate for him cuz he dont really speak espanol, so that was a very cool thing. He bare his testimonio of the importance of the temple work. Heck the kid has 11 years and was talking about helping the dead recieve the gospel and how it is our job...i was just amazed! such a strong testimonio to me that we have to be the ejemplos para the other peoples! it is so importante!

So something i realize this week, the Eternal Life and Everlasting Life are two diferente things! Eternal Life is with Heavenly Father and Jesucristo, Everlasting Life is a gift to ALL people, who dont get eternal life...pretty cool! 2 Nefi 31-20. that is what it is! it is so drawn that we are able to have eternal life, as long as we keep the commandments! lets keep them!! :) i know this is the work of the lord, having two Gallego out, that is crazy! la obra misional es INCREIBLE! learn all you can! the time is far spent, and we need to prepare ourselves :) the lord is calling, Will we answer? just remember, it is ALL about LOVE!! Moroni 8:16

--
Elder Gallego

8/6/12

SANTA VACA!! i cant believe it is already AGOSTO!! this is so not good! the time is going by way too much! but, i tell you waat! we is workin like the mision end tomorrow! i think that my companion, Elder Wright, is the GOOFIEST dude on earth. every other second i look over at him and he has like the most hilarious face put on and i just die laughing. We sure do have a lot of fun and are really gettin into the HEAT! SANTA VACA it is hot here...summer just start?? jajaja, it sure seem like it! but anyways, Allentown is AWESOME! we set record yesterday with 90 people in sacrament meeting! THAT is how its DUN! it was super chido! we had 10 investigadores there and everything was just awesome! a familia from Norristown, the converts of Elder Wright came to visit us, they had some issues and Presidente Schaefermeyer let us do that, so it was a great sunday. We were able to talk about the importancia of the templo and the preisthood! OHHH!! DUH, yesterday we had 2 confirmaciones! Juan y Martin ask me to do it, its rough doin everything, since i want my comp to be able to do it, but that just how it is! He was chill about it anyway and it was super drawn man! Martin y Juan both came with White shirts, Juan must have forgot his tie, jaja but Martin didnt! his wife took a little kids klippy tie and put it on him, came down to like the top of his belly jaja!! so funny, they were both very excited to be members and to have the Holy Ghost with them! it was a great experience! i will never forget it!

We also picked up 3 more investigadores, 2 are the grand-daughters of a recent convert, Maria Perez and the other one is Yanela! it is going to be good! Yolanda is getting married this week, but wants her hermanos at her bautismo so she cant get baptize this sunday, but we have the baptism of Naiya Miranda! she is 9 and is super excited! we just got her mom active again and it was very good! she now has calling, the second counselor in the Relief Society and it is AWESOME! we have activated about 25 people since i came, and have been starting to get the members more converted to the gospel! it is going well! remember, there is a big diferencia between going to church, and being an ACTIVE, CONVERTED member to the GOSPEL of Jesucristo. the church and the gospel are two diferente things! We have to be part of the Doctrine of Cristo and really be converted to it. The love we have for God and others will help us with  this! i was able to share my testimony yesterday after i help Ansolny, one of the first kids we baptize here, wanted me to translate for him cuz he dont really speak espanol, so that was a very cool thing. He bare his testimonio of the importance of the temple work. Heck the kid has 11 years and was talking about helping the dead recieve the gospel and how it is our job...i was just amazed! such a strong testimonio to me that we have to be the ejemplos para the other peoples! it is so importante!

So something i realize this week, the Eternal Life and Everlasting Life are two diferente things! Eternal Life is with Heavenly Father and Jesucristo, Everlasting Life is a gift to ALL people, who dont get eternal life...pretty cool! 2 Nefi 31-20. that is what it is! it is so drawn that we are able to have eternal life, as long as we keep the commandments! lets keep them!! :) i know this is the work of the lord, having two Gallego out, that is crazy! la obra misional es INCREIBLE! learn all you can! the time is far spent, and we need to prepare ourselves :) the lord is calling, Will we answer? just remember, it is ALL about LOVE!! Moroni 8:16

-- 

Elder Gallego

7/30/12

que lo que mis amigos/primos/familiares/compadres!! MAN!! this week, well yesterday was INCREIBLE! we had 2 bautismos, Martin Beco y Juan Villegas. Such a special spirit there, the whole branch stayed for the service! over 80 people!! ORALE!!

so just like always, there is always something that satan try to put in the way of people who going to get baptize and this week he sure threw a curva at Juan! so saturday night we call him and he tells us that he has a HUGE (and yes, it is HUGE) hernia, but the sports kind...sorry to explain, the ones that make the testicle swell like no other...well yeah that just came to him out of nowhere, and he was super depress and was callin off the baptism for sunday, but as my companion and i talk to him on the phone, we ask him if he has the faith to be healed...he say si and so we went over there at like 10 pm (we told the zone leaders) and we gave him a blesing, i tell you on pure faith, it was so awesome! the blessing did not tell him that he be healed....yet :) it basically tell him that the pain will be relieve and that he will with his faith NEED to get baptize sunday. it was very clear and very powerful, as my companion gave it i could feel the great love our savior have for each of us, and really, Satan not have any power man. He is NOTHING! he can try but if YOU have faith, and if it be the will of the Lord, the healing will happen.

so yesterday....he came :) it was still Super swollen but he said the pain was not all that bad. he stuck out the 3 hours of church and the hour or so of the bautismo and the food after and went happily home :) as i baptize him, he came out crying...man a 60 year old Dominican man, so humble and willing to recieve what God has for him, what a feeling i can not describe but it was amazing. After him i baptize Martin...now he is the one that everybody tell me since i get here that is imposible...Nothing is imposible if we have the faith to let God take control :) that is what we did, and Martin, at 6' 2" and like 200 step into the font and my eyes were fill with tears, ahh it was so AWESOME! when i baptize him he just came out and said en ingles, "WOW"!  i feeling clean :) it was so amazing, what a day for us! my comp was super stoked, it was his first bautismos since his first area in Norristown where i served for a transfer. he is awesome, and has great faith and love for everyone! i surprised everyone by telling Elder De Leon to come to the baptism....he was the one who taught Martin wife, Yaquelin and he stayed here for 6 months and everyone was super stoked to see him! it was a wonderful day of milagros and the poder of God is real.

this week, we have many things to do, we did not get transfered...so i got at least 6 more weeks here! i hope to finish here! distict meeting was great, the district is geting along better, there is love and we focus on faith and hope! it was great and the spirit testify over and over that we have to have hope for what we really have faith in. It is pure hope that we see god again, it is faith that leads us to Know without seeing, but it is hope that give us the desire to keep with that testimonio that we have and perseverar hasta el fin! i had a great exchange with elder Fennell as well, we talk a lot about the 10 Gifts a misionero should take home with him, when you get chance, look it up. By presidente Hinckley and it is great talk! also, we have Yanela who is awesome, Mario who need to quit smoking, Yolanda who has to get married, Naiya who will get baptize the 12 Agosto and Emilisa who we are still work with and Solanlly who we are super close to get permiso to teach her again and baptize her! things are going great, this gospel is so true, el libro de mormon is the word of God, and is the clave to us getting the fullness of the gospel!  2 Nefi 22:2

i have been able to see so many things happen in this area, in my life and in the live of others that there is no reason, no way, no other answer for what Jesucristo need me to do. i cannot do this alone, and like the profeta says, We need to live what we pray for! nothing work to just sit and pray and do the oposite of what we want! We have to live what we need, and by doing that Heavenly Father will bless us and will make our testimonio grow so much! i know that as we chose to live and work everyday for Eternal Life, we will be blessed :)

Alec, te amo! 2 Nefi 4:15-35- read it, live it, love it, BE IT! Seras un GRAN MISIONERO! 

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Elder Gallego

7/23/12

ay q lo q! so this email going to be kinda quick...we got to go hit some BP with Miguel Barrientos in like 30 min!!

this weeek was SUPER bien!! we are going to be baptizing MARTIN! he stopped coffee :))) gracias por the prayer and everything! also JUAN is ready!! so they ask me to baptize them, i want my comp to baptize at least juan but juan says he wants me to so i got to get wet 2 times! it will be a gran privilegio to do this! i know that the lord works in many great ways, and the prayer and fast is what has help us with these two. Yolanda did not get married yet, and we are still waiting to see on her!

so we went throught the rest of the area book and saw all the old investigadores that the elderes were teaching the past years, only 2 were living there, and the rest dont so we got rid of those, but we had great lessons with both! one, Mario Mendez is ready to be baptized!! he stopped smoking, has been more than 20 times and is reading the biblia, el libro de mormon y doctrina y convenios at the same time!! so crazy!! he is ready and we got to teach him a couple more things y YA!

so with my district, there were some issues in the other companionships with unity and well, just really to get to it, they were being little ninos when it come to telling eachother what it really is that bothers them. so in the district meeting i hit hard on it, and we read 2 nefi 1:21 and it says to be HOMBRES and have ONE heart and ONE mindset...so it worked :) to make it short, they had their sit down, laid it all out, and now things are good :) so the spirit was my guide on that one, i love the elders so much and have so much BAD experiences with comps that dont say anything that they feel, think, or do that it just is hard to work together if you dont talk, dont get along, or are pridefull. i read the talk beware of pride, and have made new goals to not be so prideful in situations...we all suffer from it so dont dare say you dont...that would be prideful jaja. 

I was able to have an exchange with elder rogers, and what a great misionero! he told me that he before looked at me as the most prideful misionero en la mision, which was prolly true, but that now i have become more teachable, more humble, loving and calm...i dont know about the calm one though...im still crazy as all but he say to me that my example and the example of love to the other elders helps him to progress and it made me feel like i was able to teach to my best. Not by what I know, but by what the lord needs me to do. i know that it is hard at times, but we have to give our will up for his! Period. itss all about LOVE!

something i read was really cool, "lets put our hope in the Lord, because his Blessings are eternal, not temporary". means that if we look to him for the real blessings that are EVERLASTING then we will be alright, if not, the world can only satisfy us for a period of time if that! my companion had a siezure this week, pretty scary thing, and well, it last like 5 muinutes, he chewed up his tounge bad, but i tell you what, in the end it was all good. i know he not going to die or anything, but yesterday we gave him a blessing in PEC and it was amazing. he ask me to do it, and as i gave him the blessing, this feeling of overpowering love for him came into my heart, and almost made me cry, and i realize in that moment, that if I, elder gallego, can love someone to a point that i want to cry, How much greater is the love of our Heavenly father for us?! AMAZING EXPERIENCE!! i love this gospel, the spirit is a great tool, lets use it! and remember! Firme, impavidos, Obedientes! firm, undaunted, obedient! that is what it is!! Hermanito ALEC, te amo meng...suerte en tu mision....Para Siempre Dios este con Vos....God be with you till we meet again little brother...i love you :) 

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Elder Gallego

7/16/12

Hola q lo q mis amigos/primos/familiares!

okkk so this week pass by SUPER Rapido! it was so intense! Rain, windstorm, getting soaked, MIRACLES, and many blessing of the Lord! First off, we had a BOMB leccion from presidente Schaefermeyer on Repentance and the gift that it is! he teach us about the principle of it, how the lord will always forgive us as many times as we repent, but that do not mean that we can keep making the same mistake over and over. and just saying that we can repent later, that is Apostasia. we have to be sincere with the lord, and i know that it is hard, and takes much time, but the lord will bless us in our efforts!

so to think back, this week was just Busy man. We are teaching Yanela, she is a friend of a member, and as we teach her the first leccion on tuesday about la restauracion, she feel the spirit very strongly, and we were able to testify to her about the greatness of god and how Jose Smith was only a tool in God hand to help us have these very special blessing! she had tears in her eyes, and was very impacted by the spirit. She wants to get baptize and we will be setting a date with her soon, she has been to church 4 times now and love it! she is making other friends as well, and Taty (the member) is being a great example to Yanela. It is increible how FAST sometime the lord prepare people to accept the gospel of jesucristo! i love it! my companion and i were so amazed!

also, as we have been praying for a familia to teach and baptize, we found one! :D it was so cool, they are guatemaltecos and they are SO ready! edwin, marisol and Alex :) edwin is working to support the familia and his wife is sick with a rare muscle problema that is making her muscles be all tense ans stuff, and has been in hospital por like 2 month!! so we are going to start teaching them there, and it will be great! Edwin was telling us about the desire he has to be an eternal familia and we testified of the plan of happiness and that familia eterna is part of that plan, and i tell you the spirit hit SO hard, i was grateful as my companion in that moment testify of the familia and how he knows that God loves us and wants us all back to him, FOREVER! i was able to share my testimonio of the sealing of the familia, and how i still remember the feeling that i had as we were sealed as familia. Edwin got SO hooked, and we are going to help them progress, and pray for Marisol that she gets healthy to be able to come to church!

I was able to do an exchange too with elder Allen, he is from utah and is very excited to be out here, just super quiet, i realize i have SO much energia jaja. We talked about the importancia to be unified as companionship and have the love for them at ALL times. he is super quiet so his comp feels like well, i imagine Bored, so he make a goal to be more alive and fired up! it was great!!

Yesterday we went after sacrament to do visits with Hno Moore and Presidente Payba and Hno. Romero, we were able to visit Miguel Barrientos at his All-Star Game just down the street, and when he see us comin up after he Roped a hard line drive for a triple, his face lit up like a lightbulb! it was awesome!! even though he has not been the last 2 weeks cuz of baseball, he LOVES the church, and commited to be there next sunday. so we will see, it was raining and stuff so we were able to stay for just a short bit and i played some catch with his kids, that could have come but didnt so they watch him! but we will get that familia back in church, we need them!

The work continues, Martin Juan and Yolanda are preparing for the baptism on the 29 so pray for them, that martin can stop drinking coffee, and that yolanda will get married!! i know that prayer works. it is our biggest tool!! we have to use it and we have to have faith. I know that this work is true, the preisthood is real, and the power is there. We just have to be worthy to excersize our authority worthily and the lord will make miracles :) Alma 32 :) 

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Elder Gallego

7/9/12

MANN!!! allentown is NUTS on the 4 of julio!! so they be lightin off fireworks for like 3 weeks here, but on the 4 they LIT THEM OFF COMPA!!! ORALE it was so tight!! they lit off so many that they started a huge fire but i think it was put under control!! but that was really cool!! so Feliz Cumpleanos Alec!! espero lo pasaste bien :) preparate para cumplir anos en la mision....jajajja :) ESTILO HISPANO!!

so i have think a lot lately about misionery work and the importancia to really serve your hear out, but then you can forget to do what you learned out on the mision! it is so importante to apply what we learn for the rest of our lives! the lord has chosen us to be his servants and we have to really be dedicated for the eternidad!! i have had many experiencias that have help me to really appreciate my savior, my familia and the friends that i have. But i tell you what, i will give my life for my religion. that is not to say that i am numero uno and nobody else could do that , and to say look at me....no. simply i just feel so deep in my heart that i can do this the rest of my life, and have my familia and friends with me :) but we have to think, in the last day, we have to stand firm and strong and withstand all the temptation and it will be much stronger becuase satanas will be locked down for a thousand years, so make sure you know on who side you on. There are no middle grounds. I know that the savior lives, and through him, we live. he is always there for us and will always guide us a love us no matter what we do, he always has his manos extended to us, and WE are the ones that push him away!

in 1 Nefi 21:14-17 it talks about that. Jesucristo will NEVER forget us, pues, he has us engraved on the palms wrists, and feet of his body. How can he ever forget us? he did that for you, and he wants you back. but how bad do you want it? it is personal the salvacion, claro, pero we are more than one person so we can help out one another! so be the good example, Do your best in everything and the lord will bless you eternally. i testify that through the atonement we are cleaned of our sins and we are then able to look up and walk strong and have much faith in all that we do. the lord is our light and our love!

as familias you have to read, DAILY of el libro de mormon, pray DAILY together, and obviously go to church every sunday! the sacrament is what cleans us from the sins we commit during the week, so as we take of it, it is literally a re-baptism. so for those that want to be baptized again, just be worthy and take the sacrament and that is seriously the ONLY ordinance that can continually purify us and will save us in the last day. The taking of it Worthily makes us pure and we renew those covenants we made at baptism. i know the cleansing power of the sacrament. it is REAL!  also, young men, do the Duty to God. i know and have a testimony that it works and changes our lives. you have it easy. heck i had 3 diferente pamflets to do, yours is all in one! you can do it all right now if you want! (i think) and you have it easier! but the blessings are obviously much greater! so be the priesthood holder you should and go out there and GIT-R-DUN! and the young women, well i dont know much about it, just complete it as well, becuase i know that watching my sister Alyssa do it, i saw how much she changed and the many things she learned :) she is a great example of the virtuous woman that is made from that program! i love you sis!

i am so glad to be a misionero! we were able to have a branch picnic and well, the young men got the best of me....i nailed them with water balloons, and me with my bum leg couldnt run in time to get a HUGE bucket of water JUSTO in the back...so it looked like i peed my pants for like 2 hours...that was interesting! jaja, but we had many activities this week, painting the house of a member, interviews with presidente, i had an exchange with elder Schneider and he is AWESOME! and the district meeting was awesome! i taught about the importance of the language as a misionero and how we have to BE HISPANIC to understand truly what it is like and to really grasp the great meaning of the reason we are learning a new language :) and then we ate Arroz con leche y canela to finish :) so AWESOME! the elders teach me so many things and i am so bless to be here at this time :)

When you read tonight, read 2 Nefi 2 together and study how special we are :) we (human Beings) are the only ones of ALL the creaciones of God that have the ability to Act and not be Acted upon....ONLY if we follow the commandments. in the end, if we dont choose the right now, our agency to Want to go to the celestial kingdom is taken, and we get put out one of the others. and there we have to choice but to except it for the rest of eternity....which means NO END! so think before you act. that is what my parents always tell me and it works :) if ou have to think about whether or not you should or should not do something...you prolly should not do it :) now if it like about college, your future wife, and serious stuff, obviously to think is very importante...but you know what i mean :) i love you all, and just remember, if you dont think positive...nothing good will happen :) 

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Elder Gallego

7/2/12

ORALE! Por FIN tengo 21 anitos!!! :D pues, i want to thank all you for the birthday wishes and the love! you are all (nacho voice)..."De Beeesss :)" Man, i have so much things to say in this email! this week went by SO SLOW and it was so AWESOME!! time has not slow down for a long time, and so it was nice to finally have week like this one that we could get out and work our buttocks off! it was so fun!! we got tan, walked like every place on earth, had some super sweet miracles happen, i got cake smash in my face 2 times, and it was simply awesome!! so i am going to just get to business cus there is a lot!

ok, so last sunday, we were ask to give the priesthood class about helping the youth COMPREHEND the importance of the Gospel. i look back and can truly say that my padres teach me how to comprehend but seriously, i dont feel like my brain was near close to be able to do it. i know it is funny to think about that, but with ADHD life is hard sometime and we just lost like 3 screws in the existencia premortal. so the comprehend parte is very dificult, now with youth that are learning, Are they really understand what they learn? it is cool because as we think about it, the answer is found in the acciones. the acciones that we take as people, really help us answer that question. not with just youth but as adults too! (i can now say that cuz i have 21 years) :)  thats wierd..

anyway, our branch is really focus right now on getting everyone back active! Hno. Moore from the high counsel spoke last sunday about how importante es to share the gospel with our friends and families that are not members! as a misionero, he went to Boliva. it is a pais en South america and when he got there, they not able to wear ties, nametags, not able to carry scriptures, backpacks, NOTHIN! because a week before 2 misioneros had been killed and Elder Ballard went down there to tell them they could only wear dress shirts and slacks blets and shoes. No materiales to teach. so they had to memoriziar everything! scriptures, questiones, answers, everything. and then he tell us that during the 4 months they need to do all of that, they become the Highest baptizing mision en the WORLD! with 150 misioneros, they baptized over 1,000 people a MONTH!! Ridiculo right? (our mision not even baptize 700 last YEAR) just so you can see the diferencia que hay entre ellas. so is it about numbers? absolutamente no! but, it is a milagro that happen becuase they had nothing! they COMPREHENDED i think the gospel to such level the spirit could help the members, and misioneros teach the people. they didnt knock ONE DOOR either. that is how it got to be dun! GIT-R-DUN!!!

so as we apply this leccion to our live, if we truly comprehend the gospel, we will try to share it with everyone! so we have to preach, no. "share the gospel at all times, and if necesary, use words" . so how? our EXAMPLE! the example the youth see is the one they will follow. i know and testifico that this is true. no matter how much you teach them with words, it all has to do whith what you DO! and it has to be out of LOVE! i love my savior. i love my familia so much! i know that we ARE an eternal familia. through the time i been a misionero, i have come to understand a bit about the gospel. i am not perfect, so i dont say that i Know it, but i understand many parts, and they are the simple parts. The principles are what is important. Faith, Repentance, Bautismo, Holy Ghost and Persevere to the End. everything you can think about goes under one of those. I know that this is true i know that as i apply all these things, i become happy and i feel the love of Jesucristo en mi vida.

so how do we get faith? we have to pray. Read Eter 3:9, the brother of jared was very favored of the lord. Why? Eter 1:33-37; eter 1:43- HE PRAYED! Eter 12:6- you cant recieve witness until you have your faith tried. we do that through prayer! and like it say in eter 1:43 it was after a long time that the brother of jared was answered by the lord, and it was because he did it! he didnt just do it once, it was a long time! so Alma 37:36-37 or maybe it Alma 36:36-37? i cant remember it is the one alma say to consult the lord in all thy doings....anyway, we have to do that personally and AS A FAMILIA!! that is something that really make my testimonio of pray real!! my familia always do it, and i know that it really help me in my trials, and it is so that as you pray together, you can hear and understand what is really on the mind of the others and how you can help. i know that this brings much love and much blessings from out father heaven! Just remember, Miracles dont produce faith, but Great Faith produces Miracles :) It is always Better to Look Up :)

This week, we had many tough time getting to our investigators, but many are progressing so well! Martin is for sure good to go on 29 Julio 2012, and we are rollin wit him! he is reading with his wife and praying with her EVER DAY! we has come to church the past 2 weeks, and loves it! he also has ask me to bautizarlo so that will be so cool :) yesterday i was able to share my testimony, on my birthday, like one chance in a life thing! it was so strong and the spirit really was my guide. as i see him sitting there, i started to almost cry and i was able to hold back, but i see that their familia is so much more united, the love you can SEE in their eyes, they really are becoming an eternal familia. I am so grateful for my companion and i to be able to help them in this. We are working so hard with the spirit and my companion and i just look and smile becuase the great change Martin has made. Everyone tell me before that it would never happen when i say to them that before i leave martin will be bautizado and well look what is happening! (it not because of me) the Lord has help Martin know that now is the time, and he is sharing the gospel with EVERYONE! Remember Jeremias and Rosalyn? well their dad, Guzman, is not a member, and we have been trying to teach him, and sabes que? Martin and he are GRAN AMIGOS! they are both Dominicanos, that is really good just so you know, and Martin is going to brind Guzman this sunday to church, and soon Guzman will be a member, with a great Familia that we just baptise like 2 month ago! i tell you, it so amazing the miracles that come from prayer :) i tell jeremias and rosalyn all the time that their dad WILL accept the gospel soon, and they all say ahh no her is not like that he doesnt like church, well now look :) Martin is the MAN! the Lord is ready to make things happen, so Are we Prepared and worthy to make it happen? that is the key!

Also we were able to make a coneccion with Julio y Nora, our other investigadores that have baptismal date for 29 Julio. for the first time Julio open el libro de mormon and read Alma 32:16 and the espiritu just fill the room. he say, wow this is very interesting. we left him with chapter 32 and when we came back we brought Hno Orellana, he own a pizzeria and always give us free cheesteaks :) anyways, we get to julio house and come to be that they are like awesome amigos! crazy right!! so now we have an amigo for julio and nora, and they are getting the ball rollin and will hopefully be at church this next sunday! we talked about repentance- it is a decision. the decision to repent is deciding to close the doors of all other direcciones, with the determinacion to follow FOREVER only ONE WAY, the ONLY way that leads to Eternal Life. I know that this is true. Repentance is a proccess, not somthing we do just once. there is no such thing as 10 hail mairy and accepting the savior and being forgiven. it is not that easy. Jesucristo didnt get it that easy, so why would we? he is the example, he suffered everything your little brain can possibly think about, he has feel it! he know how it is and i know that it is true. to be like he is, we have to follow the Only way that give us eternal life...Jesucristo! La Iglesia de Jesucrist de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias is the only true church on the faz of the earth. i testify that you can also know that through prayer and faith! Alma 32:21- i dont know about you, i never seen God, Jesucristo or Jose Smith, or the plates, but i KNOW without a doubt, they live, the plates are real, we are part of the gospel restored to the earth by Jose Smith, and that it only takes a desire to Belive, in order to Know :)

As a district, we have been focusing on the spirit a lot and my district is awesome. i really do love all of them and i know that they are great misioneros. i learning so much and they are a great example to me. i was so amazed at the great dedicacion they put in to their work. we are getting better as a district in getting investigadores to church, the lord is guiding us through the Espiritu Santo and the Miracles are coming from the Excersizing of our faith. i know that God loves and lives. He is helping me guide these misioneros, and they are guiding me :) when we pray for inspiracion en our prayers, it is necesario to also ask for a confirmacion of our answers that we get. the Holy ghost is the testifyer in all that the lord and God have set out. we have to pray and realy desire that he is with us 24/7. i know that as we do this, the lord will bless us and the many struggles that our district has will soon become a little better :)

i want to tell mi hermanito Alec Gallego how proud i am of you, i love you more than you even imagine. i am so excite for you to go to the templo and recieve the great blessing the lord has for you. You are a chosen one, you have been called, and you have to give it your all. dont worry about comprehending the things you learn in the temple, that will come over time, trust me. just sit back, and FEEL the great spirit in that place and really just soak it all in bud. you will be a great misionero, i know that as you put all you have to him, he will take care of you. no matter how long it is before i see you again, just always remember that you have a big brother here, always ready to listen and help if i can. i cant explain how deeply sad i am to not be with you, but i can explain how deeply proud i am to see it from a diferente side of view, i am super happy, and i know that soon you will feel the great spirit the lord has bless me with for this mision i am serving. just always remember, LOVE EVERYONE, stay humble, and have fun cuz if you are not having fun, You are not doing it right. :) 3 Nefi 5:13 :) te amo hermanito. ya pronto te vere y podremos compartir el gran Gozo y felicidad por ser misioneros a la vez, en otras partes del mundo :) hechate galleta y tenga presente Siempre Mosiah 3:19 y Mosiah 4:9-12 :) Camara banda!

Los quiero mucho!!

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Elder Gallego