January 26, 2016

"Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others. By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves."

- Gordon B. Hinckley

This week, we finally started getting to know more about the sector and area. It was really great to be less lost and surer of where all the streets finally are. We still get in a few rough areas, but it isn’t too bad.

We also had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a world-wide broadcast to all the missionaries in the world about how we can better teach repentance. It was a broadcast that hasn’t been seen for about ten years, and for the first time in ten years, we had a worldwide broadcast. I really liked we learned about simplifying the teaching process and taking everything down to the basics. The way Christ taught was simply that we must repent and be baptized. That's not a bunch more than the basics. I find it simply amazing to take part in this wonderful opportunity to be a missionary. 

I’m grateful that we have this opportunity as missionaries to talk to our families and do something I love which is talking about the truth. God is our loving Heavenly Father. He loves us and has commanded that all people repent and be baptized in the name of His beloved Son. I love you all, and I hope that you have a great week!

Elder Gale

January 19, 2016

"The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become--because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be... It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."

- C.S. Lewis

This week was a lot of fun. In fact, everyday has been an adventure! Starting off with last Tuesday, I found out that I was to be moved to a new area and a ward called Macul 1. I packed up, and the next morning, we went to the metro and changed areas. As we did so, we had a lot of fun trying to find my new companion and drop off old companions. It was a great adventure! We had to search for the metro right next to our new home because we had no one to tell us where it was. We eventually got there and walked in. 

It is a great place here in Macul 1. We love the work! We are in what is called a whitewash; this is where the missionaries that were here before us all leave, and the new ones (us) come in with basically no working knowledge of the area. So, we have spent this week searching for those who the sister missionaries before us were teaching. This has been actually a great delight. Lots of talking with people and walking up and down the same street a few times because we aren’t too sure where everything is yet. But, it's all fun, and we're loving it as we go. 

This week, we were privileged to have received the great blessing of having lessons which is the ability to go into someone`s home and invite them to baptism! I love the work here, and I love seeing someone change and how they accept baptism. It is amazing! The miracles have never ceased!

Elder Gale

January 12, 2016

"Coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him places perfection within the eternal journey of our spirit and body--in essence, the eternal journey of our soul. Becoming perfect results from our journey through physical life, death, and resurrection, when all things are restored 'to their proper and perfect frame.'"

- Gerrit W. Gong

This week sure was a great one. I was so happy to have been here in Nuevo Amanacer because I found out today at 1:00 AM that I am getting changed to a different area. I'm really sad, as always, since I have to leave an area that I've come to love. This sector has been my shortest lived one, but it's one that I've put a lot of love and countless amounts of prayers into trying to serve. 

I had the wonderful opportunity during the week to have a spiritual lesson where I didn't even feel like it was my words that came from my mouth. I was doing exchanges with an elder who I live with who actually came out with me. We had a great moment of teaching a family that hasn't gone to church in a long time because of simply being a little lazy. As we were talking with them, it became very apparent that one wanted to go back to church, and the other not too much. We asked as to why, and they told us that they always try, go for a few weeks, but then they stop. Then they go again.... and then they stop. And it just seems to be a never-ending cycle for them. We ended up talking about the temple. Both of these people have gone through the temple before. As we talked about it, they started saying the same things (we tried to go back... but it didn't work...), so we shared with them a scripture which is my favorite scripture in the whole world. It is found in Moroni 10:32 and reads as such: "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

As we were sharing this, a few things came into my mind to share with them concerning this scripture. The first thing was come unto Christ. This is an invitation. To sum it all up, it is an invitation that does not have any parameters concerning the distance to which you may be from Christ, but the direction in which you head to him. Christ wants ALL to come unto him, so it matters not if we are near, or far. All He wants is for us to come. The second thing I thought was for us to strive to be perfected in Him. This is a process. Becoming perfect is a long process, but He is always there, willing and ready, and He is able to help us as we try to come to Him. He always wants us, so it doesn't matter how many times we fall but how many times we continue to try.

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

Elder Gale

January 5, 2016

"I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul."

- Psalms 121:1-2, 7

We had a great time as the new year came along with a few surprises. At first, we couldn't believe that there were fireworks on the 30th, so as we were about to sleep, these fireworks start going off. We couldn't see anything. There were only really loud bangs and explosions. We thought that Argentina had come through the mountains and that we were about to be caught in a war zone! It was actually pretty funny when we all realized that they were just fireworks. We all were given a run for our money, and it was a really good laugh after words.

Today, we ended up going into the mountains to do a hike. Right in front of our apartment, we were looking directly at the mountains, and we started walking towards them. Fast forward about an hour, and we leave the smog levels as we are hiking up the mountain and leaving behind the "city suburbs." We had a great hike because we walked up during a cool breeze and nice, thick cloud coverage. Long story short, we walked about halfway to Argentina... just kidding! But, we walked probably a good 12-15 miles there and back. It was a lot of fun! There were a lot of beautiful sights, cleaner air, good company. What more could one ask for? 

I'm sad to report that there were not too many opportunities to share the gospel this week. With all the festivities, people were running (quite literally) everywhere, but it sure was a great time to learn about the application of the gospel in our lives. I have been able to learn a lot here in the mission. What I have learned is quite simple: that President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve said that basically, the end of everything we do in the church is to see that a man and a woman are sealed in the temple and are happy at home with their children. That first step involves the temple. I know that temples are an important part of our lives. Truly, the temple is an important center to our lives as it reflects the love that Christ has for us. I hope that you all are able to make the temple an important part of your life. It will change your life as it has mine. If you don't understand it yet, that's all right. It takes time.

Until next week! Love you all!

Elder Gale