3/21/11

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Gallego

3/14/11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Gallego

3/7/11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Gallego

2/28/11

alrighty, so i seriously have no idea where to start!! I havent stopped smiling since yesterday and i just love it out here!! THere is so much happening out here it is crazy! So ill start off with last monday, i forgot to let you know that the picture of all the alcohol and the cigarettes and coffe and all that stuff is from an investigator that we had taught the word of wisdom to and we took all of her stuff from her, so yeah just so that you dont think that it is form me! and last tuesday, we ate the foot of a pig!! It wasnt all that bad! A little gamey but not as bad as menudo!!

So this week we also had zone training and it was a great experience! We focused on really becoming more unified as a companinonship and elder kerouac says hi, and anyways i was saying, that zone training also taught us a lot about being willing to accept critisism and how it will help us be better missionaries! I realized that i need to be more humble and willing to accept the fact that i dont know everything and that there is always ways to learn more! Elder Kerouac and i are both working on this very hard and humbling principle of being a missionary :) After zone training, we had exchanges and i was with Elder Perry! He looks just like Brock Perry so scary!! I keep asking him if he is related to him and he keeps saying no, but i swear they have to be!! We had a blast together! We played futbol that night (thursday) and we did pretty well! We had about 30 non members in the capilla playing futbol! It was incredible! I got kicked in the face it was so awesome! I like didnt even know where i was haha i was laughing about it too so it made all the blood rush to my face and hurt worse! But it was so worth it!! All my teeth are still here, and my nose is only a little more crooked :)

On friday, we went out and taught a bit in the morning, keep in mind that Elder Perry was an english speaking missionary so he has no idea what was going on but i was able to teach him a little bit and that was really fun! He met edgar and his family, and we had a blast with them the night before, but back to friday, we went out to try to teach carlos, but his phone got shut off and he wouldnt answer his door, so then we had an appointment with Jacob and Nicole! We taught them the plan of salvation and they committed to a baptismal date!! the 27 de Marzo is their date, it might be pushed back a little though because they both have to stop smoking and drinking so we are praying hard for them and hope that all will work will with them! We also did a lot of contacting and talked to some guys on the street and one of them started to roll a joint of weed infront of us it was kinda awkward, but ii just kept teaching him and acted like it wasnt even there! It was pretty funny, because around here, thats not even a big deal to see it, even with little kids. We also got rained on like crazy!! We were just out contacting and all the sudden the skies opened up and man it poured like no other! I was bookin it full speed in my suit back to the car haha it was so much fun though!! It rained for quite a while and it rained a lot! Its starting to get warmer already :( today its like 60 and raining so i guess winter is throwin in the towel here!

Saturday was hectic trying to get all the things in line for the baptism on sunday, but all of our appointments fell through that morning, so we ended up taking the time to study some of the new church movies that our mission has and man they really are awesome! They have all these study activities and charts and different methods of teaching in them it is really an awesome teaching tool! Now we just need them in spanish!! But the spirit was so strong, and it strengthened my testimony so much of the profeta jose smith and all that he went through. DyC 135. That night we had the baptismal interviews with Florencio, Isaac and Fanni and they all went great. Isaac and i had an experience that i will never forget! He is like another little brother to me! It really is amazing to see the change the gospel can make in someones life when you help them realize that they have recieved an answer. It is so cool how the spirit works and how incredible life can be if you exercise your faith in Christ.

Now yesterday, simply put, the best day of my mission so far. The spirit was incredible!! To start out with, we had 146 members in the chapel!! That is the most members that the branch has ever had in the 7 years!! It was so insane elder kerouac and i were like is this really happening right now?!! Totally a blessing from the lord!! We also had 21 investigators in church! Holy cow the crazy blessings of the lord when you do what is right. Oh and to add to that, haha there were members handing out juice boxes and kit kats to kids and members before sacrament, but thats just how hispanic people are! They dont find anything wrong with going and gettiing things from the store on sunday, haha oh man i love em :) They are some of the most humble and sweetest people i have ever met! Ok so then the baptism, President Shaefermeyer and his Wife came and i totally forgot that i had asked them to be there, but it was awesome! Everything went as planned, the baptisms were filled with the spirit of the lord and it was just all smiles with all that were participating. I was so nervous at first because, with hispanic people they all have really long names, so Isacc was first and his name is Alfredo Isaac Rojas Cisneros, yeah i know its insanely long! It took me three times to get his name right haha but i got it :) and then Fanni-her full name is Erika Estefania Retana Rojas, and yeah that was difficult as well, but i got it in one :) It was so crazy, just how much the spirit hit, oh man i cant even explain it in palabras!! They are totally going to be a family i come back and visit. I got pictures of everything, so next week i will post them up bc i left my cord in the car and i am too lazy to get up and get it! SO you gotta wait for those :) Oh, and dad just so you know, Florencio and you look like almost exactly alike :) Except he is a little chaparito (short guy) and yeah, he is awesome!

Anyways, after the baptism, we taught Elia and she is still going strong for the 24th de Abril for her baptism and she is really fun to teach! She was already asking questions about the temple and getting sealed and all that it was awesome! We then went and ate at Isaac fanni and florencios house, and had gorditas and they were super good! We taught the brother of erika (isacc and fannis mom) and it was a great experience we talked about the apostasy and a bunch of the things that are different that the catholic church believes in and got in pretty deep i love those kinds of lessons!! After that, we went to Edgars, his wife, Karen, had her surprise pachanga (party) and of course they made us eat and i was about full to the rim. My stomach has grown so much out here haha but im staying in good shape! We are starting to go running every morning as of today and im sure that will really help out :)

Well, mi familia this is all! I am learning and growing so much out here, but one thing to do, increase your testimony of the gospel of jesucristo and the profeta jose smith! I testifty that when we really search the scriptures diligently and always are looking for ways to improve, then the lord will pave a way for us to accomplish our goals! ALso, make sure to get your patriarchial blessings! We taught 2 lessons on those this week, and the spirit was so strong, it really made me think of how important and helpful mine has been in my life! Read it often too and learn all that you can from it! I  know that this gospel is true, and i kow that i have been called by god to carry out this work! I love you all and hope all stays well with you! Se cidan!

Elder Gallego

2/22/11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Gallego

2/14/11

Que pasa mi familia y amigos?! Como estan?! Espero que todo esta bien en Arizona!

Ok so to start off...this was a really busy week!! Man i have so much to say! Ill start with yesterday and work backwards..So yesterday i gave a talk in church!! Yeah i know right it was wayy sweet!!! It was all in spanish and i messed up a couple of times but its all good! I got called on Sat. about 2 en la tarde that they needed me to give a talk on gratitud!! It went really well, and like they say, sometimes the person giving a talk or teaching gets more out of the people he is talking to...well that definately happened! It was such a great spiritual experience for me to bear my testimony on all of the things i am grateful for. First off, the savior. He gave his life for me, and i will be eternally indebted to him, but i am so grateful for the atonement and the opportunity that we have to  use it every day and repent of our sins cada dia!! What a blessing that is, and now all we need to do is use it! The savior will always forgive us if we just come to him humbly in prayer and ask for forgiveness, and then do the things necessary for complete reopentance. I testify that the power of repentance is real and that if we truly do repent of our sins, then the adversary will no longer have any power over us. It is so worth it, and i am so grateful for this eternal principle! Also my family, without them i wouldnt be here. Mom, Dad y todo el resto de mi familia, thank you all so much for your hard work and sacrifice for me, for all the things i have put you through, and for everything you have done for me. I really have a special family that i cant wait to share all these experiences with! It truly will be so much fun when i can sit down and talk to you all about all the stuff i am learning!

I wish i could just explain all of the feelings that i have!! Its so hard as a missionary to write all these things that happen in a week in an email, because i just cant focus! I have so many things that i want to say that are changing my life, but then again i dont want to run out of stories to tell you when i get home!! But also yesterday, we had a baptismal service! It was great and a great blessing! There were a mom and her two ninas that were baptized by the other elders in our branch. Florencio, isaac and fanni were all there though as well as Victor! It was such an amazing experience! Victor is getting close to getting a date for his baptism, and florencio isaac and fanni are all still good to go for the 27th of this month! I am so excited!! Crazy thing that happend, remember how florencios grandmother was on her death bead...yeeah she is totally fine now! :) and now his brother who lives in virginia wants to drive up here and be taught the lessons and become a member!! It is insane!! THe bendiciones that are coming right now to our area are just unreal!!

Saturday we had exchanges, and i was with elder hall! We were doing some serious work!! We contacted 30 people, taught 7 other lessons, 10 total lessons, and got some new investigators!! I was just going at it man it was a blast! I love when i get the oportunidad to go out and contact new people! It was great!!!! We have a couple new families that we taught and have return appointments with as well, so this next week we are going to be really busy!

Zone Conference was on Wednesday, and man it was so good!! THe main focus of it was on prayer, and how we can make our prayers more sincere. It taught me a good lesson, because sometimes i am really tired and i really just want to get done with them, but that is the time where we need to pray the hardest. When christ was in the garden of Gethsemane and he was taking upon himself the sins of all the world, he prayed more fervently. Now if christ himself, the only perfect being that will ever walk the face of this earth prayed more fervently, i know i sure can! I am so grateful for prayer, and the oportunidad that we have to communicate to our father in heaven with whatever we need!! I challenge you all to really be more sincere with prayers. Especially when it comes to the book of mormon. In the second to last parafo in the intro of el libro de mormon, there is a promise made to everyoone who reads that book, and prays with faith tha not only will you receive an answer, but you will recieve an answer that the book is true. What a blessing that is! THat is a promise! REad it and pray about it and you will recieve an answer that it is true.

Until you have a testimony of this gospel, lean on mine. I know without a doubt in my mind that this is the true gospel of jesucristo. THat the blessings that come from living this gospel are eternal. If this church wasnt true, then the missionaries would have ruined it a long time ago!! How can it not be true?! The bible testifies of it in countless ways, and if you really do pray for an answer that it is true, you will recieve one!! Pray more fervently. Be a better example, and always remember who is watching out for you. Your heavenly father always will be with you no matter what. WHat a great blessing this is!!

Well thats about all im gonna say for this one, i had a great week, im learning so much spanish, and im kind of picking up a chilango/dominican accent hahaah even when i say english words it is really freaking me out!! But i love it! THis gospel is so true! Keep praying for me and for my investigators! We got back in touch with Hitamar!! His phone got shutt off and he has been busy he says, but he has a lot of doubts and we are going to start teaching him and his novia otra vez! SO please keep them in your prayers, as well as Carlos Escobar, who we havent gotten in contact with for almost 3 weeks now :( As well as Florencio, Isaac and Fanni. They are doing great, and it is really starting to get crazy out here! We had a full capilla yesterday! Thats chapel by the way sorry haha, and the spirit of the lord is working within my companion and i like never before! I love you all, and Happy Valentines Day Mom and London!! I love you all my family and friends!! Se cuidan!!

Elder Gallego/Venancilo-levanta la pata te que machucas el callo-hahaah this is what they all say to me when they see my last name. It is a really funny joke that i will explain when i am home :)

2/8/11

Hola mi familia como estan?! Bueno, ayer estuve no pudi enviar en correo de electronico a ustedes porque la bibliioteca no estuvo abrio! No se exactamente porque pero su pongo quizas de el Super Bowl?! Pero todo esta bien con mi! Este semana fue loco!! ijole estuve bien preocupado con muchas cosas entonces yo necesitaba un descanso! Gracias por su paquete!!! Me encanta las naranjas y el corbato rojo que era en el paquete! Y por fin!! Mis libros por mi mision!! Gracias! Ya tengo empezado con el Libro Nuestro Heritage (no se como decir eso en ingles) pero si!

Ok so that you can all understand me now, I hope everything is all good back at home and wherever you all are! I am doing great here, and we had a really sucessful week again! I read the email de Nyal y it sounds like he is going to be in for a new one! Send him my best wishes and im sure he will do great! He needs to have more Faith in mimself!

Ok so to start, i love this place. I am learning so much every day, and every day i freak myself out with something cool that i learn it is so much fun!! :) I cant wait to come home and tell you all of the stories that i have!! The spirit this week in church was so amazing, and it really has finally hit me, that i am a full time missionary and that i will not be coming home until 23 de Octubre 2012!! I was really brought to a reflection moment this past week, reading all of the letters that were in mi paquete and it hit me harder that i have ever felt the spirit, how important my family is to me. I have really learned out here, that i took a lot for granted back at home. and that the things that i have learned now, i wish i learned them before, but i have learned my lesson. I am so grateful and so blessed to have the family that i have in my life, the parents to guide me in the right path, and that i have an amazing older sister and brother in law, both people who dont realize how much i look up to them as well as my own parents, and 2 brothers who i miss more than words can explain. I have been given so much, and this past week has really made me think, when the going gets rough and i think i have it bad, count the blessings.

I really love having this opportunidad en mi vida to leave my family for two years to help others be with theirs for eternity. What a great blessing that i have, to be one of the chosen ones of the Lord. I love these people, i have been able to really humble myself and realize how prideful i am, and how much i have to work on. A great scripture that explains this is Ether 12:27. It talks about Humility and how if we come to the lord, he will show unto us our weaknesses! So the way i interpret this scripture, is is i go to the lord he will show me how weak and how little i know...sounds like a good idea right?! It is a great idea! I truly have a tesimonio of this principle. we have to humble ourselves first if we expect to learn anything in this life. THat was a hard thing for me but i am now starting to really work and strive to take critisism and learn from it. I know it will help me become a better missionary!

So elder kerouac had his appt with the doctor on martes and the doctor told him that his foot still has a small fractura in it so he will have to wear this ugly flat shoe for like a week! But he is now back into his normal shoe today, for the first time in a month! ALso this week, we really focused on speaking more spanish between the two of us and we are doing pretty well as of right now! :) The language is coming to me and i dont know how i would ever be able to learn like this if i didnt have the spirit of the lord with me. Heck when we were on exchanges on thursday, we got called to the hospital to translate for spanish people, and of course it had to be a puerto rican! Man they talk so dang fast!! But i did really well and was able to get everything across just fine! It was wierd the woman had like 4 inch long fingernails and they were painted blue!! Very nice lady though!!

Florencio, Issac and Stefanie are doing really well! Florencio is having a couple of sturggles, but we expected that for sure. Especially with the kind of answer that he recieved. His grandmother is on her death bed all of the sudden now so it has been a really hard and trying week for him. He started crying in front of us on sunday, it was so sad. He asked me to give him a blessing and man the spirit really uplifted us all at that moment. It is so great to be able to use the priesthood power to bless the lives of other people i truly do have a testimony of the power of the priesthood. He also decided to tell us yesterday that he had a dream about a week ago, but was too scared to tell us. As he was going under the water in the baptismal font, he looked to his right and saw satan sitting there telling him that he was doing the wrong thing....pretty intense huh? He described him as a normal man, with big eyes and really long fingernails, and he was just sitting there with his hands on his knees shaking his head at him. Now of course satan is going to tell him no. He got such a strong answer, he is going to get oposicion in the same strength. But he is doing well. We are just really focusing on making sure that we make daily contact with him, because this is the most vulnerable time for investigators. Keep them all in your prayers please as well as us so that we may be inspired on what to teach!

So we have zone conference tomorrow! I am way excited because i learned so much de el primero reunion! Other than that, i dont really have much else that happened that was really big. I am just happy as ever and i am so glad to be out here serving. I know that i am being blessed continually for my efforts, and i am going to keep trying my hardest!!! I am learning so many food recipies too!! i cant wait to make some food when i get back for all of you!! We ate a lot of enchiladas, real enchiladas, and things called sope's and empanadas last night and a ton of other stuff!! Oh man i just love this area!

Anyways, i hope all is well with you at home, and all my friends, hope all is well, oh i need dereks address please so i can get him a letter before he jets out of the MTC!! He will be such a good missionary!! and i also hope all goes well with trevor and alyssa and with everyones health! Quit getting sick!! This church is so true, our heavenly father lives, he loves us and wants us to return and live with him again. Do what it takes to make sure that you are on the right path. DOnt let go of that iron ron, and always keep your eye on the prize. And when your are going through rough times, and you need someone to comfort you, Did you think to Pray? Always go to the one who knows you best, Your Father in Heaven. He will show you the way, and he will make your burdens light. I love you all and i am so grateful for all that you have done for me.

Les Queiro!

Elder Gallego