February 23, 2016

"When we understand our baptismal covenant and the gift of the Holy Ghost, it will change our lives and will establish our total allegiance to the kingdom of God. When temptations come our way, if we will listen, the Holy Ghost will remind us that we have promised to remember our Savior and obey the commandments of God."

- Robert D. Hales

This week was amazing, and we had a miracle happen. Actually, we had several miracles. There was a baptism this week in my ward, and the lady we had been teaching asked me to baptize her. Dang! Did I have a "best two years" moment of, "Wait, you want me to baptize you??" It was so much fun to have it this week. The miracles with the baptism were, first off a baptism itself... it’s a miracle to see someone with the desires to be cleansed from their sins and enter into a covenant with our Heavenly Father. Second, we had the miracle of the person who wanted to do a special musical number get sick before the baptism, and then go from losing her voice to having it again and singing wonderfully to then losing it again right after... talk about a miracle. Then, we had the miracle of having just everything go smoothly. We were stressed out because as we were setting it all up, it seemed to go horribly, but then it ended up perfect; there were just a lot of miracles that day. 

This week, I was saddened to watch two members of my district get sent home as their time here in the mission finished. They were great missionaries and finished their missions with honor. They will both be missed. 

It was great to have a random stranger in the street ask us what planet we were from and that turned into a contact which turned into him asking us to enter his home. That then turned into a lesson as he asked us to help him overcome his feelings of sadness from having murdered someone in an act of self defense. I’m so glad to have the word of God here on the earth today to allow us give and receive peace and save those who need it. I invite all of you to read the scriptures more often so you can receive the peace that you need. That peace will come. I tell you this as a representative of Jesus Christ. 

I love you all; have a great week!

Elder Gale

February 16, 2016

"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny."

- Paulo Coelho

This week sure was a great week for change seeing as how my companion and I had to make the long journey to the mission office. Then I got tortured with something called "therapy." For anyone who reads this, I'm sorry for what I've said about therapy. I always thought people were being over-dramatic about how therapy hurts and makes one so tired. I had a great time with the doctor. During therapy, I get to have an ultrasound machine passed over my knee to help me heal of the muscles in my knees, and then we do some stretches and exercises. It is pretty rigorous but worth it because my knees are feeling better.

We had a great baptismal interview this week, and she is going to be baptized this coming Sunday! She is such a wonderful lady and was so prepared to receive the gospel and make changes in her life! She is a wonderful lady and is doing so much as she sees the hand of the Lord in her life! 

Other great things that happened this week:

1: I have the coolest district of missionaries ever! 

2: We have a dryer in our pension (something I haven’t seen since the day I left home in 2014).

3: Crazy anti-American who was drunk, high, and crazy go off and insult us (always a great classic).

4: Therapy.

I sure love the mission with lots of miracles everyday and lots of blessings that I see in my life and the lives of others.

Elder Gale

February 09, 2016

"The hastening of the Lord's work requires His followers continuously to learn, to change, and 'to press forward with faith in the Savior.'"

- David A. Bednar

This week was so great! We were able to have many lessons and talk with so many people. We had a great time trying to put something to the test: talk with everyone. We left for one hour to contact, talked with literally everyone, set four baptismal dates, got seven new investigators, and had a few references sent out! It was really cool! We preached repentance and baptism, and it went really well. We found those people who are really prepared to receive the gospel. All the people we set a baptismal date for are references who we are sending to other areas. The work of God moves forward unhindered!

It was great to share the gospel with so many people and also so many missionaries! For those of you who don’t know, I am a district leader which means that I help out other missionaries who are right around my area. I gave a presentation yesterday along with six other missionaries to a group of about twenty missionaries. I felt so great in the presentation. It was truly a great week! 

Elder Gale

February 02, 2016

"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 had a great adventure as we went to get my legal papers done for me to stay legal here in Chile. It was, as always, a long trip. We had to leave early in the morning, and we came back after being in lines all day long and traveling for at least an hour to get there. But it was fun! We had some good experiences there. 

While we were waiting in line for one of the steps in getting the papers done, a young man sat down next to me while I was reading the Book of Mormon. As I read, I could see that he was reading it as well. So, I asked him if he had seen it before, and if so, what he knew about it. Come to find out, he had spoken to missionaries before, and he was VERY interested in learning more about how he could come closer to Christ. We wrote down his address, and I gave him the copy of the Book of Mormon. I'm sure the missionaries there will be able to find him. It was a great experience to have been able to talk with him!

We also had a great experience where we were teaching an investigator about the commandments that God has for us to bring us joy. We challenged her to be baptized, and she accepted!!! She will be baptized the 13th of February. It will be great to see that happen! 

The church is true. I have had so much time here to ponder, think, and meditate it. No one can tell me that it is false because I know it to be true. I know that this is the church of God, the church of Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope that you all have an amazing week!

Elder Gale