March 29, 2016

"How wonderful it is to be able to write someone a letter! To feel like conveying your thoughts to a person, to sit at your desk and pick up a pen, to put your thoughts into words like this is truly marvelous."

- Haruki Murakami

This week’s miracles and important occurrences:
1. A lady came to us and asked or a Book of Mormon
2. A lesson with a less active
3. My 2nd companion left to finish his mission. 

This week I ran out of time because I poorly managed my time by misreading a clock, but I want you all to know that miracles do still happen. This is just a VERY short and abbreviated list of everything. I love you all and hope you enjoy this week. I promise I'll write more!

Elder Gale

March 22, 2016

"Sometimes we let life guide us, and other times we take life by the horns. But one thing is for sure: no matter how organized we are, or how well we plan, we can always expect the unexpected."

- Brandon Jenner

Here's the list of a few miracles this week: 1. our recent convert came to church again!, 2. her son listened to us for the first time!, and 3. we had exchanges with the assistants to the president.

We have a recent convert who wasn’t able to come to church for a few weeks because she has to be on absolute rest for a full day. Even though she is way over her head in debt and has to work a lot, she decided to work from Monday to Friday, rest Saturday, and then come to church on Sunday. It went really well for her this past weekend. She said that she hasn’t felt as great as she did on Sunday! That was definitely a miracle!

This recent convert has a son who is my age. Last night, we were able to get him to stay for a while and listen to us. It was awesome to see that he was listening. He doesn’t quite understand so much because he claims to be atheist and doesn’t believe in God, but, we had a pleasant chat and were able to hear him ask us to come by again and tell him more by the end of the contact. 

In the mission, we have a supervisor of sorts who helps us with our work and is known as the mission president. This week, two of his assistants came to our area, and we did exchanges with them. We had a great time as we were tried new things and saw many miracles in our sector.

Well, time came and passed quickly. I have to go, but I love you all so much!!

Elder Gale

March 15, 2016

"Samuel the Lamanite identified five basic elements in becoming converted unto the Lord: believing in the teaching and prophecies of the holy prophets as they are recorded in the scriptures, exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repenting, experiencing a mighty change of heart, and becoming 'firm and steadfast in the faith.'"

- David A. Bednar

We had a lot to do this week! Things really picked up, and we saw a ton of miracles which is not too out of the normal for missionaries... but, to sum up:
1. I saw one of my converts;
2. I had an investigator from heaven;
3. I walked through some small city streets; and
4. I had a recent convert make some big decisions.

1. In this mission, our mission president does devotionals! This means that, depending on where the devotional will take place, I can be a part of a choir. (Yes, I am very aware that I don’t sing well.) I got to participate, and as we were starting the devotional, we sang the hymn "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today." As we were watching the devotional, I saw one of my converts come in that I hadn’t been able to see since I had left my first sector! I was so overjoyed to have seen him! His wife caught sight of me and began to cry... it was a little funny. After we had finished, I spoke with him and his wife! It was such a great experience to see them again and see his great spiritual growth! I included a photo below of the family. 

2. Even though I’m still slightly sick, I’m out working.  As my companion and I were working diligently this week to find a less active member who we haven’t seen in a long time, a couple came up to us, and the lady says, "I'm a member; he is an investigator. He has a baptismal date, and we just moved here TODAY." (all in Spanish obviously) We just were a little overwhelmed, so we took down their information and set up an appointment to go and see them for today. Talk about a miracle!!!

3. I attached a photo below of this next one. We are walking behind the apartment building here (they are called "blocks"). I’ll have to send a picture next week so you can see what a block is, but it was cool because it was just a little tiny street that we were walking through to find references from other missionaries.

4. On to the last miracle of this week. We have a recent convert here who has been going through some rough times. She just had spinal surgery just before we knew her. She was doing so much better but found out that she has to get operated again in a different part of her spine. She has been struggling with the first one due to debts, stress, and her new job. She hasn’t been able to come to church because of her need to take a full day of rest, meaning no moving or anything. She has now made the decision to take a day off of work (Saturday) so she can rest that day, and then go to church on Sundays! I’m so proud of her for putting her faith in the Lord even though it is a huge decision and a difficult one especially when we can’t see the blessings in the moment. But, I know that the blessing will come for her. 

This week was full of many things. I can’t begin to describe all my many blessings this week such as still being sick and being able to go out and work which is a great blessing for me!!! I’m here to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim that Christ lives and that He paid the price for our sins, that he loves us, and that He died and was resurrected for us. I know it, for I have learned it for myself, and the Holy Spirit of God has made it manifest unto me. I invite all of you to hear this glorious message of truth and love. Christ lives! Come unto Him... He is waiting for you.

https://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_SU_3-13-2016_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_

Elder Gale

March 08, 2016

"Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."

- John Wooden

This week was interesting. We were working, but it just seemed like we weren't getting any results. Last week, we went to an appointment that fell through, and we contacted them to no avail. The next day, we were with the zone leaders; the day after that, I felt incredibly sick. Then we had planning and therapy. We had an appointment the next morning, and the people were there. Later that day, we couldn’t find anyone to contact until late and had stake conference part one. We then went home after practicing for the choir. The next day, we had stake conference part 2. Then, we had an appointment at night that worked out well, and then another to finish the day. Yesterday, we had district meeting, therapy, and then two appointments that night. Yesterday was a good day actually, but we couldn’t find any new investigators the whole week. I felt like we were failing because we are, but we are also working. Yesterday, we left to go and work even though I felt like junk, and we had a really good day, and were able to see someone accept a baptism date! As we were walking, I was throwing up a bit and felt like junk, but it all worked out in the end.

So, that was the quick version:

I’m still sick but getting better though. The mission is still amazing, I don’t regret anything, and yes, I AM THE HAPPIEST MISSIONARY IN THE WORLD!! 

We had stake conference this week, and we found out what each of the ward names means because some of them are in a native Chilean language that a group of Indians here called the "mapuche" speak. We are in a stake called "Alicahue" and that means "hot place." We are situated in a ward called "Macul" which means "oath and promises" according to what we were told. So if someone learns that the translation is something different, don’t get mad at me. Anyways, in the stake conference, we learned a lot about several things such as; enduring to the end, baptism, repentance, temple attendance, faith, the Book of Mormon, service, joy in living the gospel, Sabbath day observance, the Holy Ghost, and coming unto Christ. The meeting was filled with the spirit. I was so glad to be there. It was a real testimony builder.

This week, we had a lot of time to work. It was great. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out to be what we wanted, but, I know that the Lord often makes something better for us than we could have ever wanted, even if it isn’t exactly what we wanted. I know that. This place and the experiences aren’t all what I wanted, but in the end, I know it is the best for me!

Elder Gale

March 01, 2016

"And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do." 

- 2 Nephi 31:12

We had another baptism this week! It was in my second sector and for a young man that I had never taught, but I got to know him really well. He asked me to baptize him, but then I moved to another sector; I got to travel to go baptize him! It was a great experience to see him again and to have been able to help him take this important step in his life. I was so glad to have been there!

This week was a slow one for me because I was sick and had to stay inside my apartment for the most of it. I’m sorry that this email is so short, but the four of us missionaries who are living together are sharing one computer so there's much less time. If I wasn’t able to respond your email or write you, I will do so this next week. I love you all, and I’m so glad to be here in the service of the Lord. It doesn’t matter where I am. I can share the gospel in a bus, in a subway, walking down the street, waiting in line to buy medications... anywhere. Isn’t the gospel just so great? It is something that could only be created by our loving Heavenly Father. How could something that can change and benefit the lives of someone anywhere from Mongolia to Chile, the US to China be created by a man? It is impossible. I am a believer of this. I know it to be so. I ask for all of you to ponder this week and throughout your life about how you can further follow our Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all, and I hope that you all have a great week.

Elder Gale