May 25, 2015

"Never be so busy as not to think of others."

- Mother Teresa

Another great week, as before. I can never get enough of a kick out of it, but I love it here! The mission is amazing. We have so many people rapidly approaching the waters of baptism and growing closer to their Father in Heaven; I’m too excited!! It’s amazing to watch people change and grow. 

Well, we had a rather splendid week as we were able to find many new people to teach and bring to the waters of baptism. It was really awesome. The best things of this week were 1- when our mission president surprised us with a call telling us that he was coming to our apartment to study with us... YIKES!!!! 2- Doing divisions with my zone leader who is a cousin to the guy my sister is going to marry... we are going to be related!! YIKES!! 3- I have ANOTHER ingrown toenail... the pain never ends with this one. But, I still love it here in the field. I am so glad to be here in Chile in a time where many people are willing to listen to the restored gospel of Christ. This week was really fun as we were scrambling around from place to place practically running everywhere, trying to get everything done as missionaries and finding new people. 

Time has come to a close. Sorry that it is so short this week, but I hope that you all have time to read and study your scriptures and pray. If you find yourself to be too busy, you are more busy than God ever intended for you to be. I hope that we can all be able to grow to be like the Stripling Warriors of the Book of Mormon who, by the small and simple things, were able to bring to pass a great miracle for their people. Strengthen your testimonies, stand firm, and know that God loves you.

I love you all and am so grateful for your support. Hope this next week is even more amazing! 

Love,

Elder Gale

May 18, 2015

"My trust in God flows out of the experience of his loving me, day in and day out, whether the day is stormy or fair, whether I'm sick of in good health, whether I'm and a state of grace or disgrace. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am."

- Brennan Manning

Well, another week has come and passed so quickly. It is crazy to think of all that has happened. We have had so many sad and happy moments this week. It was really sad as we had to drop a bunch of people from our teaching lists, a lot of people who have not been able to keep the desire to learn and to progress in the gospel. It was a really sad thing, but we had to do it. Oh well, everyone has their own time when things will finally become clear and the need to come unto Christ will be made known. 

We had some happy moments as we were able to continue teaching our investigators who are rapidly approaching their baptismal dates, and it is amazing to watch them progress and continue to grow. I love watching the spirit work within them as we help them in their path towards baptism and, eventually, the temple.

I am so glad to be out here in Chile. I love this work as a missionary, and I am so glad for this opportunity I have to teach my spiritual brothers and sisters who are searching for the truth in a world of lies. How great I am to be a messenger of the truth! It is a great time to be a missionary as there are many people who are searching for the hope and peace that his gospel brings. I testify that Our Heavenly Father loves us and is always there to help us. I testify of the great love that He has for each and every one of us. I know because I have felt it for myself, and I am so glad to be able to spread this love to all those who come into my path.

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week and continue to grow personally in your testimonies of our loving Heavenly Father.

Much love,

Elder Gale

May 12, 2015

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."

- Haruki Murakami

I decided to talk a little about a personal conversion. I have been out here now for almost 10 months. Time has just flown by. I can’t begin to describe how amazing this short time has been. I have grown and changed from the time I first came out here. I love it! I am more comfortable in the scriptures, and I have a firm and unbreakable testimony in them. I have an unmovable testimony on the powers of the atonement of Jesus Christ and how it has influenced my life and the life of all those around me.

But, it didn’t come all at once; it came little by little. I can’t testify to you that a testimony comes and grows based on the amount of times we stretch ourselves. Every time we read the scriptures, every time we pray, every time we testify of the truths we now... that is how it comes. At times we feel that a testimony is a big huge thing that takes forever for us to acquire. But really, it is acquired little by little. That is how testimonies grow. To quote President Thomas S. Monson:

"The tree that never had to fight
for sun and sky and air and light,
but stood out in the open plain
and always got its share of rain,
never became a forest king
but lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
to gain and farm his patch of soil,
who never had to win his share
of sun and sky and light and air,
never became a manly man
but lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:
the stronger wind, the stronger trees;
the further sky, the greater length;
the more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
in trees and men good timbers grow."

The same is true for our testimonies. We can either grow and become greater, or we can become a small little terrified person with no foundation as the winds come. (See Helaman 5:12) I am sure that days will come, indeed they will, where your and my testimony will be put to the test. May we be able to hold firm in that day. 

I can promise you all that I love it here. This work is amazing. It is hard. But if it wasn’t, it would not be worth it. How grateful I am for "the road less traveled" so I can grow even more. 

This week, like all the others, has been full of amazing things and miracles. So much happens that at times it seems impossible to take a snapshot of what happens. All our investigators are progressing, and it is amazing to watch them grow. I love it. We are able to be the guides to people who do not know where to find the truth of the gospel and a fullness of joy. We have had success; we have had people laugh in our faces. But, we are still here, and the Church is still true. It always will be. I hope that you all have a great week! 

Much love,

Elder Gale

May 4, 2015

"I have often said that one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. Work, work, work--there is not satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work."

- Ezra Taft Benson

We have had a great few weeks together, Elder Valdez and I. We have completed our third transfer together, and it looks like we are going to be together for our fourth as well! That means that I will be in the same sector for almost a full year! It’s crazy, but it doesn’t even feel like that long! 

This week was amazing! We were able to open a part of the sector that has been closed to missionary work for a long time. It's been closed since we can’t get in without an appointment. Plus, without an investigator in there, we can’t enter. Well, with our new investigator, we have been able to see him and his girlfriend progress so much! We went on Tuesday and taught them about the restoration of the church and invited them to read and to pray. They basically already know all about it and have a little bit of a testimony about it. We wanted to give them a baptismal date, but we can’t because they aren’t married. Well, we came back on Wednesday, (yes, the next day) and they say they have a gift for us. So, we teach about the Plan of Salvation, and it was taken so well! They had a lot of questions, which is awesome, and we were able to share the entire lesson with them! At the end of the lesson, they show us the gift. It is a piece of paper that they had done so that they are able to get married. NOW, THEY ARE ABLE TO GET BAPTIZED!! So we placed a date right then and there! They accepted! It is so awesome!

This week was amazing as we were able to work and also to enjoy the cooling temperature. It makes it a lot easier to work when you aren’t getting super sunburnt. I had the "great" opportunity to enjoy getting told by a member to put on a sweater because it was getting cold, but I didn’t need it. I’m so glad that the temperature is changing and that we can work even more.

I’m not sure if you've all heard, but there was some massive flooding in the north of Chile, and a few volcanoes in the south. If you have heard, I’m fine; I’m not affected. And if one of you hasn’t heard, forget I said anything.

Thank you all so much for everything, I hope that you all have a great week, and I’ll talk to you all next Monday!

Elder Gale

April 27, 2015

"A man who is full of the love of God is not content with blessing his family only, but thinks about all of the people in the world, anxious to bless the whole human race."

- Joseph Smith

This week was truly a week of miracles. Except for right now, because this computer is super slow, and I can’t type fast... so, I will have to wait for that miracle next week maybe..

A miracle that happened this week was with our new investigator. We were able to get to his house, which is at the farthest part of our sector and also the most difficult to reach because it takes about an hour of straight walking, but we were blessed with him coming and picking us up to take us to his home. They fed us (a definite miracle as any missionary knows), and we were able to start teaching him. He is so prepared by the Lord that he has already started reading the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true. He is currently reading in Jacob. He and his wife have had experiences recently which are causing them to know that the church is true and of their need to be baptized! I’m so glad for the opportunity that God has given me to be entrusted with his children to teach and to guide them.

I also ended up having divisions this week where I change companions for a day so as to learn more and work in a different sector. It was with the cousin of my sister´s fiancée... really weird how that all works out down here in Chile. But, I was able to have the opportunity to teach people about the Plan that God has for us and how there IS hope in the midst of struggles. I’m grateful for the opportunities that I have to be able to feel the spirit testify my words are true.

There is so much more that happened this week that I want to tell you all, but I have to go now because of this slow computer. I love you all, and I hope that you all can strengthen your testimony of the plan of salvation that God has for us.

Yo sè que esta iglesia es la iglesia VERDADERA en le tierra. Dios vive, y nos ama. 

(I know that this church is the true church on Earth. God lives and He loves us.)

Elder Gale