Yup looks like I need to send this again since my email is really annoying hahaha so sorry!
My Dear Family and Friends,
Wow a lot has happened this week! But I shall start on the day I sent out my last email. Ok so when I was emailing you all last week, I was on the train from Stamford to...... NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!!! We (including Elders Shurtleff, Hunt, Bailey, and I) went to the Manhattan temple :) It was seriously awesome! The train took us as far as it could to New York City and the place we were dropped off in, was the Bronx! Seriously.... I loved it. It was great. Anyways we then walked to the subway and on the way there, we got some SUBWAY sandwiches (idk why I emphasized it so much but I felt it needed to be... I'm so punny....) and I ate on half of it and I felt that I should just save the rest for later. So I did and we took the subway to Manhattan.... Coolest experience ever! My ADHD was going boinkers at this point, and I was staring at everything that was shiny and/or cool. Ok moving on, so on the way there, my comp and I decided to go
to get matching paisley ties! If you don't know this already.... I LOVE paisley ties.... Seriously they are the best ties..... ;) anyways, on the way there I gave my sandwich to a homeless woman and I gave her a calling card as well :) I felt good of course because well... Charity that's why. Anyways we went to the temple, and it is really soundproof! Ridiculously soundproof! And if you have never seen the Manhattan Temple.... I have already shown you them and that's why my email was all messed up!
Ok now this is a side note.... I had written a loooooong letter.... But half of it got deleted... Sooooo I will try my best to remember it.
Anyways, so my comp and I have been doing really well with obtaining referrals and teaching a lot of people. Also we have been biking a lot! Don't worry mom, I am being safe.... Well safe as I can be at least..... Anyways don't worry, I'm getting really good at riding my bike!
Ok I have a great experience that I would love to share. So my compañero and I have been working with an investigator named Johana. Here's a little bio about her: her husband (Jullian) is a member and they have two adorable kids. She has been working with the missionaries for a looooong time. She was asked to be baptized and she said yes, but then later on she didn't want to be anymore. That's when the missionaries lost contact with her. Then right before I came into the mission field, Elder Bailey (my papa) and his old companion, Elder Gamble, got in contact with her again. They learned that she only thought the Bible was true. They asked her if she ever prayed about it and she said no. So again and again they kept asking if she had prayed about it and she still hadn't. Then when I came into the mission field, we did the same thing.... And yet she still wouldn't... So when the events with Julian happened ( read the last letter haha ) she started to really follow our guidance and she prayed about the Libro de Mormón yesterday. She also wanted God to show her a sign if she needed to be baptized. She wanted the sign to be that we (the missionaries) come over to her house. Let me tell you this.... We did not have any spiritual confirmation that we needed to go to her house... Because we were already planning on it :) she just didn't know we were coming haha. And when we arrived she invited us in and shared what I just shared with all of you. And then she said ( in Spanish but I'm going to translate it ), "I want to be baptized as soon as possible." Soooooo we were really caught off guard but we expressed our excitement for her :) she will be baptized next Saturday :)
Speaking of baptisms, here's an update on Viviana :) so she left to go back to Argentina last week and she will not be returning til diciembre. My comp and I prayed so much for her to focus on her commitment and that her family (who are all catholic) would be supportive of her desire to be baptized. So we waited for her to reply on Facebook about how she was doing, and she replied:
"Everything is great. I shared with my parents that I wanted to be baptized. They respected that and they want to know more about it. Can you please tell me where the nearest LDS church is in Argentina and can you give the missionaries here my info?"
We were so happy to hear this! God had answered our prayers and I was so grateful. Tonight we will be teaching her through Facebook.... It's different I know but it will be great and Im excited for it!
Now some of you may think that I'm really sad that my comp and I will not be able to baptize her.... Here is my response:
So when an investigator says that they want to be baptized, sure it is one of the greatest things to hear. The reason being because they have decided to accept the gospel. I don't care about the numbers of baptisms that I have. What I do care about, is how many people that my comp and I teach. Why is that? It is because now we have planted the seed.
To the missionaries reading this:
In our missions, we may experience a trial of no baptisms... But then when you go home, you may have low numbers in baptisms.
I want to say this now... There is no such thing as low numbers in baptisms.
Every soul is great in the eyes of God. You are not judged for not getting a lot of baptisms. Do not think that you are a terrible missionary. I'm not saying that you shouldn't strive to help them be baptized, what I'm saying is that even if you don't have a single baptism... You have planted the seed for other missionaries to go to the "field [that] is white and [will be] ready to harvest" by the time they get into the mission field.
28. Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves--It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. (Alma 32)
What is the "word"? It is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We should not focus on the numbers, only on planting the seed in their hearts so that it can grow so that they can truly be converted in the gospel. Once we do that, it's up to them to figure out what they should do. I know that this gospel is true and that it has and will bless the lives of all that accept it. It has blessed my family and I know that because we accepted it, and us boys in the house have blessed the lives of many in our own missions. And not just us, but other missionaries are sharing the remarkable message to everyone that will listen. Had we not accepted it.... Idk where we would be. But we accepted it and I am forever grateful to have this knowledge. And the knowledge is that the Book of Mormon is true and it is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is not meant to replace the Bible, but to go hand in hand. And I know these things are true because I have prayed about them and I know it in my heart that they are true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Para siempre Dios este con voz.
Elder Gallego
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