Transers!

Hi Everyone!

This past week has been a great week! Do I say that every week? That doesn't mean I'm never discouraged or stressed or really tired but it does mean that what really matters was really great! For some reason this week I've been so so tired at 6:30 but luckily the 20 minute run really helps me wake up. It feels like I've woken up at 6:30 everyday for two years....oh wait. 

This week is going to be very busy for me. We are still working on transfers and we need to have everything done on Thursday. Every six weeks there is a transfer. President Tew, Elder Sturgell and I pray and figure out who needs to go to another area, with what companion and it takes quite a bit of time to figure out. Elder Sturgell goes home a little early (July 1st) for West Point so he will be released and I am getting a new companion! My last companion! His name is Elder Taylor but he has no idea that he's coming to the office yet. He'll find out on thursday. In my setting apart it said to love my companions, for I shall have many. That has come true. I think he'll be my 17th companion which is more than usual. 

Right now I am teaching two really great people! Brad and Joey. They were actually friends in high school and we didn't know that until we introduced them to each other. Brad is the brother of a return missionary in the ward. He said he was pagan but was interested in the Book of Mormon so we read Alma 32 with him. He loved the comparison of the word and a seed. The next time we came back he had read the first few chapters and now wants to be baptized. He's a really cool guy I like him a lot.

Joey is doing really well. He is getting baptized on the 22nd of this month. He is excited! Possibly more excited than anyone I've ever taught. He has changed the most of of anyone I've taught to. He had to quit his job, quit smoking and drinking coffee and tea. It's been great to see the Gospel really change his life and help bring some peace. His father died when he was twelve and he was told that because his dad wasn't baptized he wasn't in a great place to put it nicely.

There is a speech that was given at BYU by one of the church leaders that has really helped me to work hard and understand when I am feeling down. http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=869

President Tew taught the new missionaries this month about being others oriented. Being selfless and forgetting about yourself. He shared that Jesus taught the plan of happiness in 12 words. John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. It's only when I've applied what I've learned in my life that I have felt good. This life is hard and I see too many missionaries and people who struggle because of mental illness or depression. I know that no matter anyone's situation they will be blessed as they follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Love

Elder Gallagher

June!

I had a great week this week!

We just picked up a new missionary today who came back after a year of being home. He's happy to be back! It's great to be on a mission. It's so strange to me that it's June and in July I go home. Luckily it's at the end of July. I am excited to come home but It's very foreign to me. It's really interesting to think about possible goals for school and work. I hope to keep the good habits I've started on my mission. I know I need to keep waking up early. Luckily I have a little bit of time to figure that out! I'm glad I can see Chloe, Eden and Noah in their play!

On Saturday we had Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles here! It was amazing to see all of the missionaries in this mission in one chapel. Normally we don't get everyone together so It was the first time I saw everyone. I really love the missionaries here. I was sitting on the stand with President and Sister Tew when Elder Ballard, Elder Schwitzer and Elder Acosta came in they came through a door onto the stand. Elder Ballard walked up to me and asked if we were the assistants and I got to be the first one to shake his hand. He's a funny and powerful man. We all stood and shook everyone's hand. I had never shook over 200 people's hands in a row...your hand gets pretty tired. I felt the Spirit very strong as he testified of Christ and answered some of the questions we had. One missionary told him that he had always been put with strong companions and he felt like he was worthless and not able to really pull his weight. Elder Ballard told him that he was worth just as much as his companion. That he is a son of God. He answered a lot of great questions. I thought it was funny when he said that they're doing all they can to get members to do missionary work. He said, "I've given my last two conference talks to talk about missionary work!" One of the things he said that I really liked was "you've got a message and you've got a mission!" After the meeting I went on a date.....haha President and Sister Tew were going on a date and sister Tew asked if we had dinner and then invited us to eat with them. We went to a tiny little place that makes Pupusas. I had never had any before but they were really good!

We taught Joey at President Tew's house this week. It is such a blessing to be able to teach someone at my mission president's house. Especially Joey! He is becoming so converted to the Gospel. He loves the Book of Mormon and church. That's what happens when you actually read it and experiment upon the word. Everyone I've taught that has really tried to read the Book of Mormon has been baptized. It was a great lesson. President answered a lot of his questions and he's not working on quitting smoking. 

Happy almost birthday Mom! The rest of your birthdays I'll be able to give you a hug and a present! One thing Elder Ballard said really seemed like he was talking to me. He said think about how many months you have left and give 100% of it to God. Thank you for supporting me with all the things I have been doing.

Love

Elder Gallagher

Better letter than last week

Hello!

I've been having a lot of spiritual experiences and I better share some with you. I should also find some time to write them in my journal. I've been pretty good about writing in a journal until I was transferred here. The other morning I decided to text all of the missionaries that are in our area asking if they had talked to any YSA aged people lately. Usually it's a lot of "no sorry" but this time I had a few text back with information on some people. So Elder Sturgell and I went by this guy named Joey. A week earlier the Spanish speaking elders knocked on his door looking for someone else but he invited them in to ask them some questions. He saw the musical and wanted to hear what they had to say about it. They gave him a Book of Mormon. So a week later we stop by and he sits us down and one of the first things he says is, " I can't explain this book." He said he had read the first two books and immediately I was pretty sure he meant chapters so we clarified. He's about to start Jacob. He just applied to be a Jesuit priest in the Catholic church and was denied. He's easily one of the most knowledgeable and open minded 23 year old I've ever met. 

We taught one of the best lessons I've taught on my mission. We were so excited after leaving his house that we went the wrong way to our car. We decided to keep going and just circle around. On the way we talked to a man who's niece was in the hospital. She's 16 and was playing in a construction area and fell off a three story building. Crushed her leg and her face. We prayed with him for her. He said it was funny that we came to talk to him because he just came out for a minute and really needed that. We told him we went the wrong way but that we knew why! Joey came to church yesterday and told us that normally at church he stares at his watch but that he didn't even think about how long he'd been there. He met the Bishop, plans to come back and knew two people from church that he went to high school with. Miracle! 

Leia, who was baptized a couple weeks ago is doing really well! She's going to take pictures at all the ward activities. That's her calling or responsibility in the church. I thought I 'd update you on that.

President is doing really well. He's recovered much faster after being home. He's already having interviews with missionaries again. We met with him last night to talk about the upcoming meetings and topics. Elder Sturgell and I will be training on obedience. Forced obedience does not bring lasting fruit. You have to do something because you want to do it. Especially when it comes to serving a mission. Missionaries who come here because someone else wanted them to come will eventually go home or find their motivations out here.

I went on three more exchanges with zone leaders this week. They all went really well. Elder Sturgell and I have been able to find a new person to teach on every exchange we've been on so far. I think we've been on a total of 16 so 32 new people to teach. It has been pretty incredible to see God work according to my faith. Most of the people we find on exchanges is not because I did anything special, God just put us where we needed to be. It happens because I pray really hard and I work for it. I'm hoping I can apply that to life when I get home too.

https://www.lds.org/church/leader/m-russell-ballard Elder Ballard, an apostle of Jesus Christ, is coming to the mission on Saturday. I'm really excited for that! I think it's pretty cool that God works with men. He takes ordinary men and does great things with them.

Well I promised pictures but my camera hid in the trunk all week. Hopefully this week will be different! Love you!

Elder Gallagher

Short and Sweet : )

President Tew is finally home!!! After 17 days he's back and recovering more at home which I think will help it go much faster. I can't imagine spending that much time in a hospital. Elder Sturgell and I felt a burden lifted after meeting with him about a few problems. It's nice to have him back. Sister Tew is really an amazing person too. She is a great example to me of someone who lives the Lord and keeps working with faith and hope that things will work out. Before he came home he gave us permission to leave the mission and visit him! It was fun being in Newport (which is very nice) and seeing a place I haven't ever seen before. Normally we don't leave the mission boundary for anything for the whole two years so it was pretty cool. It's funny that I'll be able to go wherever I want pretty soon! 

This week I went on three more 24hr exchanges. I've also been studying faith. I gave a talk yesterday which was fun. I talked about being a disciple of Jesus Christ. It's hard to be trying to follow Christ and be a good person but I know it's worth it. Love you! I will have pictures next week.

Love 

Elder Gallagher

Happy Mother's Day (letter to Mission Presidient)

Here's my letter to president. It's not really blog material but I figure you might want to read anything I write since I don't write much!

Dear President Tew,

Elder Sturgell and I were able to go on three exchanges this week.

First I went with Elder Taylor. It was great to work with him in his area. They do a great job getting members out with them which seems to be a struggle at times in Spanish congregations. We went with Hector, a recent convert who now wants to serve a mission from going out with them. I think Elder Taylor would be a good assistant. He's a very hard worker. He wants to do his best and help others achieve their goals. We found a new investigator named Rebeca. Her whole family has potential to be baptized. We were not able to reach our daily goals.

My second exchange was with Elder Jacobson. He came to our area and we had a night full of miracles which led to us achieving our daily goals. We taught two member present lessons, one other lesson and found two new investigators all in three hours. Everyone we planned to go by and teach led us to someone. We took out Ian, a return missionary who was able to bear testimony to the people we taught. Elder Jacobsen is a good missionary! We were companions at the very beginning of our missions and we reflected on how much we had grown. I talked with him about the mission culture.I asked him what his zone's strengths and weaknesses are and helped him make plans to help them. I talked to him about studying more for his zone than the things he wants to learn about. 

My last exchange this week was with Elder Komarek. I think he would make a good assistant too. He handles situations with love and seems very mature. Also...I trained him so I am biased. We did not achieve our daily goals but we did find on our exchange. He feels that his zone can do better with talking with everyone. I encouraged him to make that a focus with the exchanges he has with his district leaders. 

On Thursday we went to the HBN zone meeting. I thought someone that has great potential for leadership is Elder Menser. The Spirit is with him and he is very mature. 

I miss you President! I hope you're recovering at the pace they hope. We have the mission praying for you. Thank you for everything you do.

Elder Gallagher

Good Week

Hey Everyone,

Today and tomorrow will be VERY busy for me. In half an hour or so Elder Sturgell and I are going to pick up two new missionaries that are coming from the MTC in Mexico. We're going to take them to the top of Signal Hill. You can see a lot of the mission from there. And we'll go and contact some people then take them to lunch. Tomorrow the rest of the new missionaries are coming in and we'll do the same thing. 

Last night we had a baptism! Her name is Leia and she's a very nice girl. Elder Sturgell and Tewksbury have taught her for a few months now. She is very happy going to church and hasn't missed a single week the past three months. Her mom came too and said that she's noticed a big change in her attitude. She's great!

​

President Tew has been in the hospital waiting to get surgery for a problem with his intestines. It's been hard not having him around. We've had to run a lot of meetings we wouldn't normally run. He should be back in about two weeks. 

I shouldn't have this info quite yet but since I'm in the office I saw the email haha so here's my travel itinerary.

DELTA AIR LINES       29 JUL LONG BEACH CA  SALT LAKE C UT 700A    949A

DL 4640             TUESDAY LONG BEACH     SALT LAKE CITY

V ECONOMY                                  TERMINAL 2

Looks like I get to SLC at 9:49 AM on Jul 29th. Thanks for writing me about your week! Great to hear Hunter is going to Germany! That'll be awesome. I also hope Aunt Katie's treatment will work.

Here's my letter to President Tew this week:

I'm really glad I remembered to write you this week. I apologize for missing so many weeks. Things have been very busy with transfers and MLC and the new missionaries. I've felt God's hand direct us as we have prepared for the new missionaries. I've learned so much the past five weeks. It would be hard to put into words exactly what. I feel more comfortable with speaking in front of a lot of people and I feel more love for the people around me. It's a privilege to be able to minister to and think about the whole mission.

The departure fireside had me reflecting on my mission so far. I have come to know that Christ is right when he said, "he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." I could not be more certain that this is true. I want everyone to know that when you give yourself up and work hard for him you are changed. I've never been happier and I've never given of myself so much in my life. Thank you for being a great example of this for me. Feel better President.

Love

Elder Gallagher

Hey!

Hey I know I write an email every week that doesn't really do it justice but I'm also 

interested in how all of your weeks went too! It's hard to believe that it's been so long since I've seen you. Even harder to believe that I'll be back so soon. 

I finally remembered my camera! So here are some of the pictures I've taken lately:

The Smiths! I baptized James and Ava (the little girl)

I was on exchanges back in my old area and we went to visit them and the feeling in their house was great! It's amazing what has happened to the feeling in their home. It is now more peaceful and like they said, "it feels more like home." The feeling of a spirit filled home is certainly real. I've loved spending time in President and Sister Tew's home as we've met the past few days about meetings and transfers. It feels peaceful and very comfortable. I have a really nice apartment which feels pretty good too.

This is my view from the desk I'm at in the mission office. There are a few senior missionary couples that work here and they're great! This week we got to go to the temple! We went to a pretty early session and on the way to the member that was driving us we hit a skunk with our car. I don't recommend it. Hah it was Tuesday when we hit it and it still smells a little bit. It was great to have some time to just sit and think in the temple. There were a lot of missionaries there and I thought about all the great people I've met here.

One spiritual experience I had this week was when I was on exchanges in my area with an elder from Canada. We were walking and trying to talk to everyone. A lot of people don't look like they're going to want to listen but time and time again on my mission they do. We  offered to say a prayer with a girl and her mother outside of their house and they said that we could pray for their friend in the hospital. After the prayer they gave us a few minutes to share our message. It was amazing how the questions we asked helping them understand what we were teaching. They wanted to come to church and get baptized. All from just talking to someone we were walking by. God really places people in our path that need the Gospel.

Email me back I'd love to talk to you! Hope you have a great week!

Love 

Elder Gallagher

silas.gallagher@myldsmail.net