March 23, 2015

"We are surrounded by those in need. We are the Lord's hands here upon the earth with the mandate to serve and to lift his children."

- Thomas S. Monson

It is finally getting colder! I’m so grateful. Today was wonderfully cloudy, and it was great to have a good, comfortable temperature and no need for sunscreen today. We have a total of four elders in our tiny apartment, and one left today for another part of the mission. It is sad to watch a fellow Arizonian move away from his first area, but he had been here for about a year. It seems like Elder Valdez and I will be together for another change!!!! WOOHOO! I’m totally excited for it! 

A crazy fruit called a Kiwano (Horned Melon) that supposedly has all kinds of health benefits. Elder Gale is pretty sure it's just a crazy fruit though.

It has been a great week as we begin to near the time of the Easter season. Where we get to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. On March 28th, the church will release a short video called "He Lives," and it will be amazing for all of you to watch. I have already seen it, and it is amazing! The Spirit can be felt so strongly testifying of the resurrection of Christ. I hope that during this season, we can all grow closer to Christ to remember of His resurrection, and because of Him, we can live again.

Elder Gale's short version of his notes on the Atonement,

Well, it was a really slow week because everyone is returning to school and work, so we hardly saw anyone... no one in the streets, and no one home. It was really weird. But, for the people that we were able to find, it was amazing to share with them the message of Christ`s resurrection and sacrifice for us to be able to return with him. We found a guy in the streets, completely drunk, who stopped us and tried to tell us how what we do is meaningless because no one around here listens. (That’s what he said.) We shared with him how we have found people who are willing to listen. We were able to connect with him and help him to be more friendly, and he offered us his house. We can stop by, and he said he’d be willing to have us live there and everything because he knows that what we teach is true. He just doesn’t want to change because he loves to drink. It's sad, but I feel like we can help him in the future.

Elder Gale's shoes before and after dusting them off.

I love you all. Thank you for all the support and help that you all give me back home. It is 100% needed here in this work. I couldn’t do all this without your support. I love you all, and I hope you can take the time to appreciate this season of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Elder Gale

March, 16, 2015

"Don't shine so others can see you. Shine so that, through you, other can see Him."

- Anonymous 

Eight months here in Chile have already gone by! I can’t believe that I have been here for so long! I’m really sorry that I am sending this so late tonight, but we had lessons before we got here and we are late so I don’t have much time to write.

Eight months… I feel old here in the mission field. I have had so many experiences, and I have had the pleasure to work with so many of my spiritual brothers and sisters. I feel so privileged to learn from the missionaries all around me. I feel like I have been able to learn so much more here than if I had stayed home. I made a good decision. We can really only see the effects of our decisions after a little ways down the road. I am able to read from the scriptures every day. I can learn from the experiences of those in the scriptures, so I can continually make better decisions and have to worry about making the same decisions because I can already see the consequences.

I love the mission. We are working with so many people here! I can see them growing in their desire to follow God and be baptized. If the people here really desire something, they will do that which is necessary to obtain it. Those things are able to be found by reading the scriptures, attending church as frequently as possible, and praying to our Father in heaven. I have been able to see that one CAN NOT do the big things in life if they have never done the little things first. One cannot come to a knowledge of God unless they have done the three previously mentioned things, and I, as a missionary, can truly be with people through the process as they begin and as they grow.

I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart that these 8 months have been the best of my life. I have nothing else in my life that I would trade this for. I would love to be with my family, I’d love to be with my friends, I’d love to further my life and go to school, but I am doing so I can go back home in many more years. I am growing and progressing in my life so much faster than before. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be out here. I know this is short, but I love you all. I truly hope that I haven’t misspelled anything too bad. Thank you for all the support from back home.

Elder Gale

March 09, 2015

"The gospel is not weight. It is wings."

- Jean A. Stevens

Well, a great week can be determined based on how it starts off which will happen immediately after I sign off and go back to work. After we had gone through our plans on Monday, my comp said that he was feeling a little sick. He felt like we needed to get to the house as quickly as humanly possible, so we did. He immediately began to be sick. We started to try and get him to bed because he wasn't doing too well. I ended up passing the night rather peacefully as did my comp. In the morning, he didn't wake up until about 12ish when I went in to wake him up.

Drinking chocolate milk and ice cream that a member bought.

Fast forward this same thing for 4 days, and we leave to buy him crackers at about 9:30 at night. It was really a hard week because I was inside our apartment the whole time. However, I did have a great time to studying my scriptures and pondering a lot. 

My comp looking like a drunk chileano... he finally  left his bed after 4 days!!!

I have been studying about the atonement of Jesus Christ, and I can't even begin to describe all that I have learned or even how grateful I am for Christ and all that He has done for me. Suffice it to say, I cannot wait for the day when I get to see Him and can personally thank Him for His sacrifice.

Because not much has happened, I don't have much to say, but I invite all of you to read the scriptures and to take time to truly ponder what you have read.

Elder Gale

March 02, 2015

"For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost."

- 2 Nephi 31:17

The best part about this time of year is the fact that it starts to get colder here! I love the mission, and I can’t believe how fast everything is happening! It is weird how fast these last few months have passed so quickly. I have never really been able to comprehend how amazing it is out here. I have times where I will be just about to float off to sleep, and then I realize that I’m down here in CHILE!!! It actually doesn't seem possible at times.

Elder Gale using the light from his window to do some scripture study.

Before I continue my letter, a quick shout out to my sister Erin who will be returning this Friday the 6th from 18 months of service to the Lord! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, ERIN!! Also, to my little brothers who are doing so amazing in their school and sports! 

We have our investigator with a baptismal date who is doing a great job and is becoming a part of the ward family down here. He is a really smart and intelligent young man who will be a great member in the future. We have been teaching him still, and it will be amazing to see him in the future when he is all grown up. It was amazing to watch his mom who hasn't been to church in about 12 years come back to church with her son. I love this work as we are able to unite families.

A good day to wear a rain jacket.

I guess I will share two short experiences about what we have been able to do as a missionary force here to unite families. We are helping reactivate a family to help them return to and attend the temple. It is really awesome to watch the change in people! We are helping a family get married. To do this, we are helping the wife get baptized, so they can get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity! AND, a lady was baptized this past Sunday. She was baptized by her husband, and they will be able to go to the temple in a year now.

Well, it is an amazing opportunity to be a servant of the Lord. I have been more than privileged to know the people here and to help them in the way that the Lord would. It has truly been amazing these past 7 months.

I want you all to know just how glad I am to be out here. It is truly amazing, and I don’t know how to explain it. I try week after week, but I can’t. There is just a feeling that is indescribable in missionary work. I want you all to know that it is impossible for me to deny that which I know to be true, that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored by Joseph Smith here on the Earth and that everything that has come as a result of the restoration is because God, our Heavenly Father loves us. 

I hope you all have a great week, and I love you all!

Elder Gale