July 28, 2015

"But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through."

- Francis Chan

This week was amazing! We had a baptism in the ward, and through crazy circumstances, I was able to teach the young woman who was baptized! I felt included in everything, and I felt even better to watch her get baptized!! It was amazing, and she is truly an amazing convert to the church and living proof that God prepares souls.

This week I said goodbye to my companion, Elder Lima, because he had to go home to Brazil. It was sad to say goodbye because he is such a good friend, and I will miss him. He helped a lot in this ward to help it grow and become stronger. He will be missed.

We had an activity this week called "cine Mormon" (Mormon movie theater) which was a great hit in the ward! We had such a large amount of people come and enjoy the movie "17 Miracles" and be able to feel the Spirit. It was great. All the members and investigators that came loved it and were able to share their feelings with us. This activity was just one of the many activities that we have planned for this ward to become more unified.

I also had a great lesson last night! We were expecting to receive our calls about changes last night, and it was really crazy in our apartment. Everyone has been telling me that I would be training, and I really don’t want to because the idea of doing that scares me. I was so nervous, and the other elders would call me every now and again to scare me because I was so anxious. So, I began to pray. I was praying for peace in my soul and in my heart, and strangely I found myself beginning to pray saying, "Everything following thy will" (translating from Spanish). I was actually really surprised that I had said that in my prayer, but I took it to be what I needed because after I said that, I felt the peace that I needed. I still don’t know if I’m training, I assume that I’m not, but who knows? I am so glad that I learned the lesson that when we put the problems that we have into the trust of the Lord, He will carry us. I am reminded of a Mormon message that I saw a little bit ago called "The Will of God" (http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/the-will-of-god-2), and I really begin to remember that everything IS following the will of God. Even when what happens to us may be hard, when we put our trust in God, He will guide us and help us.

I love you all so very much, and I hope that you all have a fantastic week!! I’d love to hear from y'all again! And did I mention these 2 important things?? 1- Our day to write in now on Tuesdays... and I completed a year in the mission a few weeks ago?

Elder Gale