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