Maria de La Paz is getting baptized!!

Maria de La Paz is getting baptized!!  This Saturday at 3:00 pm! BOOM! Yeah!!  I am going to have a baptism in my training! She is going to be sooooo happy! I am sooooo happy! 

Jose Luis is good, he left the hospital just barely and he can't leave his house, so they haven't come to church in a little bit... but we will keep working. 

I am getting pretty sad, Elder Parker leaves real soon and it sucks having a comp that’s getting ready to go home, because all they talk about is home and I just got here.... Also cause I am going to miss my friend. 

I have learned we just need to love, we can't judge either, love unconditionally, like Jesus would and does. If we continue praying for strength and it will come, continue praying for help and it will come. I pray every day for things like that and I can honestly testify that I receive so much help from God.  I am so blessed, and I know that you guys back home are being blessed too! The blessings and miracles from God are sooooooo real, and soooooo awesome! We as Latter day saints are blessed. God loves us, and I love him back! This life rocks, LDS for life! 

Anyway, my week was good! We went to Socalo in the center of Mexico City again.  We just barely got back.  We went inside the great and abominable church today. It's huge. Pure gold everywhere, tons of weird people in robes and stuff, and the weirdest part, the spirit isn't there.  My whole life the spirit has been inside the churches of our church, but it wasn’t there in this one. 

I had divisions with my buddy Elder Smith, the other Zone Leader, and Elder Santos.  Two divisions in one week, and they were both awesome! 

Worked hard this week, just like usual, contacted a whole bunch of people, and did a lot of good! 

I know that things can be rough now in this life, but we know that the way we act determines a lot.  We always have a choice to act like Jesus even if we aren’t treated like he would treat us, but he wasn't treated very well either. So nothing should weaken our faith! We act like Jesus and we will receive blessings, simple as that.  We will get so much happier as we go too.  Life will make sense, and we will see life in a whole new perspective. Because we know that there is something much greater prepared for us AFTER this life, much grander and much more important, and how we are now determines what we get after. 

I love you guys all so much and I look forward to your emails all week!

Life is good here, and just keeps getting better.  Keep praying for me.  Keep praying that I will work hard.  Keep praying for my investigators especially, and keep praying in general! 

I love you all so much! 

The Church is true! 

Elder Galbraith

July 4th in Mexico, Zone Meeting and McDonald's

Hello to my amazing Family and Friends! 

Your letters this week were absolutely awesome! It was so good to hear from you all!

 I am currently reading in the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon about Ammon.  He is definitely one of my favorites.  I just started the part about the Sons of Mosiah.  These stories are rich with teachings and lots of good stories and stuff I absolutely love. It’s so awesome this stuff! I love the Book of Mormon.

Right now I can’t help but feel so full of the spirit and so good!  I feel so happy for you guys back home, my life here in the mission, and for the Church. It’s wonderful this Iglesias, church, I love this church!

My July 4th was a lot different this year.  We worked all day, but at night we had a family night in the chapel.  All the Americans and even some Latinos stood outside and sang The National Anthem and My Country, 'Tis of Thee.   I decorated my agenda all red, white and blue!  Life is great, ha-ha! I missed fireworks though... cuetes is how you say fireworks, don’t know how to spell it all that good. 

None of our investigators came to church yesterday.  Jose Luis and his family were in the hospital for his chemo, so that’s a pretty good excuse.  Who knows about Maria De la Paz.  We'll see. 

Today we had a zone meeting and President Crickmore showed up! He gave a powerful message about faith and talked about the family in the barges crossing the ocean in the book of Ether and how much faith they had. Afterwards he played a game of horse and a little basketball with us, and then took us all to McDonald's!! I freaking love him.  He sat right next to me at McDonald's and talked with me personally. He's a very spiritual and very funny man.  He really loves the missionaries too. I have been so so blessed here.  I was thinking about it and I was made for Mexico, for Mexico, Chalco even more!

My Amazing Zone

I looked at my family pedigree thing and I am actually a fourth generation Mexican (on the Galbraith side)... 2 of my Great-grandparents were born Chihuahua in the colonies! I have realized that I can eat spicy food, and it doesn't bother me, AT ALL, it actually tastes good. My Spanish is good, and although it’s frustrating to learn, a lot of Mexican families have told me how good my Spanish is for only having almost 4 months! My Patriarchal Blessing was perfect! 

My good friend Elder Hernandez and I

We all have blessings and gifts from God, we just need to find them and use them to expand his church, and to help our prójimos, our fellow man.  I am super glad to hear how good the family is doing. That makes me happy. I love that. 

I want you to know that I know the Lord can help us with anything, and if we turn all our weaknesses and faults to Him, He will take them, make them strengths and make us better, but we have to be willing to do a little in return. And its work we will want to do.  It’s not even work, really it’s just opening your heart and serving to make the world better. Being a genuine person! Being like Christ. 

Thank you so so much for your packages! The shirts, ties, socks, and all the treats literally make me so happy.  All the people in the office keep saying how great my family is. Elder Galbraith they say, your family sure does love you!  I have the best family in the world, end of story. You guys rock! I love you all so much.  I almost cried when I saw the paper of the drawing that Erin made that was sent to me.  I almost cried of joy, not of sadness, but joy because I know you all love me, she loves me, and God loves you, me, her, and everyone.  I have never felt closer to all of you. 

I love you all so much.

Thank you all so much for everything, I have learned so much and grown so much in just this short time! I love Mexico.  Not as much as the USA still, but it’s growing on me. Ha-ha!! 

I love you!

Elder Galbraith 

We have seen many miracles!

We have been seeing many miracles here in Mexico!

Well this week we had a multi zone conference and I had to teach in front of eveyone! 3 different zones and the Mission President! I thought I sucked but my Mission President told me after that he was super, super impressed, that I did amazing AND that my Spanish is amazing for only having 3 months. So that was really cool! President Crickmore is an amazing man, I love him. 

My companion Elder Parker and myself 

I have a really good relationship with my MP, and with my Zone leaders too, they’re some of my best friends!

So this week was pretty normal, working every day, hot in the mornings and rains hard as turf in the night!!

The weeks feel as if they go by pretty fast.  I only have 2 weeks left in my training! 

We had about the same amount of people come to church this week, Maria de La Paz came again, and the  Guerrero Sanchez family came again.  Oh and we helped activate 1 less active member and are close with one other family! The work is good!

I am really praying for Jose Luis!!  He has Leukemia and I feel very close to his situation as we all know.

Elder Palascios and me

Thank you for the advice about anger, it is very true, I have been trying so hard to leave it behind, because I don’t want to kill someone!  I have come a long way.  I can already see and feel a very large difference! 

Life is good here, I still wish I could listen to music and watch TV and stuff, but I am trying hard to remember that this is the Lord’s time and I need to respect that. 

I actually have a member now that washes our clothes... ha-ha I don’t want to wash by hand anymore, that stuff sucks. 

We get fed everyday here too, mostly by members but occasionally one of our investigators will feed us. 

I miss my family, but I love being a missionary too, and I feel like the time will fly by, and it will all be worth it!  

Your Spanish words this week are Vale la pena, which means it’s worth it. Vale la pena. 

I know that we aren’t together right now, but I still feel like that we are in spirit; I have your courage and determination down here all the time!   I have seen miracles here.  It’s very true, that the Lord is with me, and he can be with you too, just invite him in. 

 I love you all so much!

Love,
Ted

 

Elder Parker and I playing tazzos

Happy Fathers Day and a miracle!

Well Happy Father's Day to all, my Dad, Ty, grandpa and my various uncles and others.  Sounds like you guys are keeping busy, this is good, because I am super busy down here too, ALWAYS. But this is a good thing because if I wasn't the time would never go by. 

Life is good here in Ixtapaluca, we tear it up daily, contacting and teaching and praying and all that jazz.  We had a miracle this week, we had 15 investigators total in the chapel!! It was awesome! We found a family, a big one, and they all came to church!  They have a grandson, Jose Luis, who has cancer and he left the hospital for a weekend and just the perfect one to come to church. He's awesome!! That whole family is awesome. And another miracle, Maria de la Paz came for a second week in row! That has not happened yet! So I am pretty stoked about it! 

Anyways today was good, I gave all my laundry to a member and so I have been wearing the same pair of garments for 2 days.... Didn't really think that one through! Oops...

We played a very competitive game of soccer today with a bunch of other missionaries, and we also went bowling oddly enough!! P-Days are great, just a little time to relax before the hard grind starts up again. 

Well I was thinking about my life and my mission one day and I realized how right, or how correct my call is. I have thought sometimes that they got it wrong, like all other missionaries, but as I have grown and spent a little time here, I have realized how correct it is. I am starting to be Mexican, and I am starting to like it.  The spicy food is becoming normal, and I no longer fear contacting or working, I look forward to it!  I am growing more and more comfortable here.  The work was made for me, my Mission President is perfect for me and just the way they do things here is perfect for me.

My Spanish is getting pretty great, I can almost read everything out of my Spanish scriptures.  The food is really good, but sometimes, every once in a while, I get something simply horrible, Like real fatty pig skin, or mushrooms, or chicken feet. And I have had to force myself to eat a bunch of mangoes, peaches, and apples.... Life is good! 

So after we met with the family with the grandson that has cancer (Jose Luis), Hermana Raquel who was with us, a member, told us their story about her daughter who had cancer, and afterwards Elder Parker said I don't how anyone could imagine what it's like to go through that.  I said, “Actually Elder I can.” So I finally told him about Erin.  It's was kind of hard telling someone about her, but I feel like I should do that more. I miss her so bad sometimes! 

I have been trying really hard to change myself, because I have a temper, and I am so tired of being angry, I don't like it so I have been pleading with the Lord to help me. And he has! Already I have seen improvements! 

I love you all so much! You are the best!  Keep on keeping on and never forget your reason for being here! God and Jesus Christ!

Love,

Elder Galbraith

Life is Good!

Things are going good for me!  Life sounds pretty normal there at home, normal stuff. Well my life is anything but normal.  What the flip is normal? I don’t remember...

You guys seem very, very happy, which puts my heart at ease, I pray constantly for my fan section (you guys) and I know the Lord is with you.

Well this week was good, we work hard every day, contacting, teaching, walking, studying, and praying. Work is consistent and tough but it’s easier than I thought it would be. We have a bunch of new investigators, Maria De la Paz, Daniel and Miriam, Jesus and Modesta, Juan Carlos and a few others, and FINALLY we got one of them to come to church! Maria De la Paz came through! It was awesome! She seems so happy and sooooo in tune with the spirit.  I haven’t seen someone take to the church this fast. You can’t find a person here that hasn’t had a rough life, especially Maria.  She lost a son, a finger and her husband over the past couple years, but she has always remained faithful in Christianity and hopefully The Church of Jesus Christ from now on.

Painting with Elder Rodríguez from Spain

We were able to do some service and paint a member's house.  

Me eating some really spicy Mexican food! 

We had lunch with a bunch of mechanics that always scream good morning and good afternoon when they see us. They’re awesome! We ate the biggest torta’s I have ever seen! I feel kind of sick because I ate so much. A torta is basically just a big sandwich, but they’re good stuff! 

Me gettin them good ole shoes polished

A drunken dude hugged me yesterday!  Oh and speaking of drunks...last night on the way home from reporting with our zone leaders some drunk dude stopped us in the street and started cussing up a storm of profanities and stuff. It was bad, and knowing me, I got pissed, and I can’t even tell you how close I was to starting something!  I know the spirit was with me because all I said was goodnight and kept walking.  Later I realized that was my brother, and that I would have felt really horrible if I had knocked him out like I wanted to.   I know that the spirit guided me, because he just needed a little help, that’s all anyone needs. It takes a strong person to turn the other cheek.  Fighting which results in violence is the easy way, and more often the wrong choice.  Don’t get me wrong every needs to fight for stuff in their life, but we just need to be a little bit smarter about stuff.

MI español esta mejorando can cada día y yo puedo hablar casi todo el día en español ahora. (Translation…My Spanish is improving every day and I can speak most of the day in Spanish now.)  I actually really enjoy Spanish and I feel super grateful that I have this opportunity to learn this language, because it’s awesome!! I can’t wait to show you what I know someday.

Our view of the volcanoes every morning!!!

I grow happier with my life everyday here, and I am learning to love.  I guess loving wasn’t really one of the gifts I was given, or maybe it was, not really sure because either way I need to exercise this gift or attribute in order to use it properly.  I have been humbled so much in my short time here!  I have had to learn to be humble because you need to be humble to learn a language and to serve a mission and if you can’t be humble you will go home real fast.

I want to share a scripture with you that I found this week that I really love!  Words of Mormon 1:7 really puts it into perspective, that we don’t need to know all things, we don’t need to be all knowing, because our Father in Heaven does that for us.  We need to listen to his counsel and serve him.  Knowing all things or at least trying to can interrupt out relationship with Him.   All he asks is that we listen, that's all.

I love you guys so so much, keep fighting the good fight!  

Love,

Elder Ted

Happy Missionary Monday!

Happy Missionary Monday! 

This week was a blast, we had 20 lessons total which is awesome, but none of them came to church.... again. But we keep trying,

I have officially completed my first cycle, six weeks, in the mission, We had changes just barely and I am staying in my area with Elder Parker for another six weeks, and I get the wonderful opportunity of killing him... Haha, now that you have recovered from your heart attack, That just means that I will be his last companion, and then he will go home. I'm already kinda sad about it, he's like my best friend right now, and will be after too. But things are so good here, I am working super hard, and it's starting to pay off. 

Anyways, the rundown…

It has rained flippin hard every day!

I had interchanges or divisions with the Zone Leaders this time, and I was in another area with Elder Cardenas from Oklahoma, he's a great guy! I love my zone! The sad part is that with changes a couple of my friends are leaving and going to other areas and one is going home. But for the most part it's staying the same.  I don’t know how I feel about that last 6 weeks flying by, they felt like... well 6 weeks, but I have been told many times your first cycle sucks and after that it just gets better and better. I KNOW this is the case.  I may not have that much time here but I’m not the new kid anymore, 7 new missionaries came today, so I don’t have to be the new guy anymore, and it just gets better from here.

I gave my first blessing in Spanish.  We found an old lady lying in the street and we started teaching her and then she asked for a blessing and I had to use a cheat sheet that Elder Parker gave me to use, but I gave it in Spanish.  The spirit was very strong! We gave her a Book of Mormon and will go back to teach her this week.

Yesterday we couldn't work because the whole country had voting for mayors and political stuff, so after church we were stuck in our house, which isn't fun. There's not much to do, we just talked, ate, watched some D&C videos and ate some more.

We did some service this last Saturday, finally!  We painted the house of a member.  I ruined a pair of shorts and a shirt but it was super fun! 

My Spanish is growing every day.  We talk in Spanish 80 percent of the time, which is how it's supposed to be.  I've been told many times how good my Spanish is for how little time I have been out, but I try not to let it go to my head.  I have to learn a lot more before I can function properly here.  I am talking to the people more and more every day.  I am slowly diminishing the time that Elder Parker has to talk, which makes me happy, I want to be FLUENT!!!! 

Your Spanish word for this week is Nuestro Querido Padre Celestial this means our dear heavenly father, so you can try praying in Spanish! And you end with, En el nombre de Jesu Cristo, Amen.

I found a scripture that I really like, that has helped me, Doctrine and Covenants 84:88. I love this scripture, in times of trial just remember that the Lord will always be in front of us, and he will always have our back, we just have to let him do so.

I just want to let you know that I am doing great.  I am protected, I am safe, and I am working hard. The Lord will protect me as long as I am obedient and work hard, and this is what I want to do.

Keep the faith, keep your head up, keep fighting!!

Love you! 

Elder Ted 

Life in Mexico City is Good!!

Hello My Dear Family and Friends!

¡Le amo! 

Which means I love you! 

As I am here in Mexico I am realizing, everything I do is out of my comfort zone, but Jordan shared with me this quote a couple weeks ago, there is no growth in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone. The only way that we can do the Lords work is by leaving comfort behind us (for a time) and doing what he has asked.  It may be hard and we may hate it at first, but as we go, our lives will change, for the better, and we will GROW so much. I am talking a lot about myself right now mostly because this is exactly what I have been learning down here. I grow more and more accustomed to the life here, and am becoming more like a missionary every day. I am forgetting English, I cannot remember how to use a phone, or a computer, I cannot remember a lot actually, and I think that’s a blessing in some ways. I love this church!

I heard about Elder Perry, truly a spiritual giant he was, he will definitely be missed, but the thing is that he is en un mejor lugar. which means he is in a better place, his work was done, and the Lord needed him for something better. 

Anyways your Spanish word for the week is... luchar which means FIGHT.

And that may sound bad, but this life is a fight, a fight to choose the right. Normally fighting is frowned upon, especially in lacrosse games.... haha! But seriously we need to fight every day to get up and work, work to serve, work to help, work to make others’ lives better, and you want to know what? This fight does not end. Satan is not going to give up, cause he has nothing better to do, he blew his chance, so he has to do everything he can to tear us down, and I will not live another second in his grasp, I am so sick of him hurting my loved ones, which is why I am here, FIGHTING to end his power. This concludes my spiritual thought for this week, Love you.

Anyways, my area is interesting, it is all hills... I walk up and down steep hills all day, it is getting easier every day but it is a struggle for sure, there is trash EVERYWHERE, there are dogs and poop everywhere, and there are drunks everywhere too. But there are good people here too; we have found 7 new investigators this week!! And they are good people; they just need a little direction. 

The apartment is small, but it does the job, we have a shower and to get hot water we have to heat up a boiler and the water pressure is kind of lame, There is no such thing as carpet in Mexico either, it is all tile or cement. 

The bed is better than the one in the CCM for sure.  I do not have a sheet with the elastic part so I have been using a normal sheet, so that’s a little weird, but I love my bed, not as much as my bed at home but I love it just the same. 

My Mission President is awesome!!  President Crickmore is super cool, I love him!  He actually cares about me, he checks on me, and he is such a genuine person, I love it. If there was a person I want to be like when I grow up, it is him, and many others, but he is just one.   I do write him every week.

Funny or interesting experiences hmmmmm well we taught a lesson to a man and his son who love death metal music so we had to listen to a couple songs first, so that was weird, I ate a mango... I do not like them that much but my comp told me that I will learn to love them. We found an investigator that only has one eye, and loves to drink... and swear....

Highlight this week was this, my eye has been bugging me for like 2 weeks, it was hurting and I was constantly tearing up.  It just wouldn’t stop tearing, so finally I asked Elder Parker for a blessing and ever since then I have been completely fine, no pain in my eye. 

I cannot believe how true this church is, I love it. 

This is the life down here, that’s all I can say, I am trying so hard to love it down here, and it’s getting better. 

I still need your prayers, you still need mine.  That’s just how the church works. 

I love you!! 

Elder Galbraith 

I got my first authentic Mexico jersey today!