Crazy Week, Splits, and General Conference!

Well this week was nuts. On Wednesday my comp said this week was going by fast, and I said it’s only Wednesday... And now look. I blinked and here we are in Monday....crazy right? Wow, time flies!

Well I am blown away that my Grandma and Grandpa Coleman are going to on a mission to the Washington DC Temple... That is crazy. They are going to be so blessed for that, I had absolutely no idea of their intentions to serve another mission. That’s so cool!! They will love it. Ha-ha looks like DC is going to have to adjust 2 big things when Grandpa gets there. 1 their obedience, 2 their softball program!! Ha-ha!! =)

Conference was awesome! We had to privilege to listen in English! I loved Jeffrey R Holland’s talk of course! And Devin G Durant! I will be starting my ponderizing with Alma 22:15. I love that scripture! I also really liked Vern P Stanfils, about biking in the tunnel. It was real cool! I felt the spirit very strong. I love conference!  It stinks that it went by too fast; it’s never gone by that fast for me before!  Speaking of Jeffrey R Holland, I just want to say how much I love my mom. I never said it enough how much she did for me and how she still continue to do so much for me.  There are two really important days for a boy, when he meets his mom and when he understands all she does for him.  I really liked the talk by Von G Keetch too, about the surfers in Australia, and the importance of the barrier, that resonated deeply with me.

This week rocked, we found 11 new investigators! That’s pretty crazy! 

I went on divisions with a Dominican...that was interesting. Elder Rosario is a good guy, we had a good time and worked hard but I missed by own bed. (In Ayotla, don’t talk to me about my bed in Provo)  We cooked steaks again today, all the gueros. It was good! After we played basketball. This week was very good; very spirit building and very good. I love the mission. Sometimes Mexico pisses me off, but that’s good because I asked to learn patience and the Lord said, here you go, have fun in Chalco! And that’s what I am doing! 

I just finished the BOM recently and have started doctrine and covenants!  I have taken the challenge to read Preach my gospel in 13 weeks. I am almost done with chapter 3. I have felt an improvement in my life since I started. 

Let me just say that although we pray for blessing and sometimes get challenges, we need to remember that just around said challenges there will be something super great, and sometimes we don’t recognize it. Then we wonder if we are broken, but if we pay attention and focus we will see it. Eyes to see and ears to hear! 

Keep going, keep working, fighting, being an example, being a light, being better than the world. 

Don’t you quit! 

Or like Sam says to Frodo, don't you let go! REACH! 

That’s all we gotta do! Hold on, and keep reaching! 

I love you all!!!

Elder Galbraith 

Working Hard and still Loving Being a Missionary!!

Well first of all Aranza from the family Monroy and Abimelec two of our investigators got baptized. YUP!  It is true.   We have been working like crazy. All day every day, without exceptions and it does pay off.  We had 2 baptisms in one day, it was super cool. 

Abimelec at one point said that God doesn’t exist.  He has made a great change, and now he is a member of the church, soon to receive the priesthood.  

Aranza is an investigator from one of our families and the rest of her family is dragging their feet, but said that they felt the spirit in her baptism and her grandpa and mom cried. 

We confirmed them on Sunday, so that was super cool. 

We had an activity with the zone doing street contacts and total in like an hour or 2 the zone contacted 273 people.  That’s pretty cool! 

Want to hear something super cool? We had to go to the mission offices to meet with this guy from the CCM and when we got there DHL showed up and said there was a package, but the offices were closed and the elder inside NEVER answers his phone after 3pm.  So we called the elder and he answered and said we could take the package… and guess who the package was for???? ME!!!  It was a pure blessing that we showed up when we did, and that the elder answered his phone.  That is pretty cool Huh?

We also had the opportunity to have a teacher from the MTC accompany us to work for 2 days to observe how we plan, work, and teach, to try and help new missionaries in the MTC.  It was super cool, he helped us a lot, and we learned some new stuff we can apply to our work. 

I heard about Elder Richard G Scott.  That’s crazy…3 apostles have died in like 3 months... that’s insane.  That hasn’t happened in a very loooooooooooooong time, but that means this General Conference is going to be super important! I can’t wait to watch it. 

I love you all so much, you are strong and you are dedicated and God knows it.  Keep doing it, and keep fighting and you will win. 

I love you.  Hasta la próxima ves mis queridos, cuídense. 

Elder Galbraith

6 Months in the Mission Field! Can you Believe it!!

Well I can honestly say that it is always a highlight to open up my email and write to all of you.

This week, it rained everyday... again. 

We had a ton of people celebrating Independence Day so we had to get in the house early on Tuesday.  This place is nuts on the 15th of September.

We did it again, another baptism. We baptized the mom of Luis, Elizabeth.  I don’t know why she looks mad in the picture…she is super happy all the time. Mexicans don’t like to smile for pictures. 

Our other converts are doing good, all active so far, none of them really have much time in the church but all of them are still coming and being active.  They don’t want to invoke the wrath of Elder Galbraith, so they stay in the church! Ha-ha!  We always fight on in the work of the Lord. 

We are going to sing in our mission conference so we have been practicing a lot, and you know how much I love singing...

It was a good week overall.

I really am trying hard to be a leader.  I work hard, and I give it a ton, and I know that there is still just a little bit that I can do to be even better to make sure that I am a leader, that people can depend on me and that I can help them. 

I work hard here.  We have had a baptism every week in September minus one, so far. So I feel pretty blessed, and I officially have 6 months! Is that crazy or what?

The mission is all about goals, it’s all about setting goals and doing everything possible to achieve them and make them happen. I am learning a ton about being dedicated and going to the finish. 

Went to stay with the Elders in our Zone and found a forest in their backyard

I was thinking about the talks from the Mexico City Temple rededication and It was something really cool to hear Jeffrey R Holland speak, and we had David A Bednar pass by my first change here and so that was real cool too, they are really powerful men. 

As for a turning point I haven’t had one real powerful one, but I am not a flake either, for me it’s hard work every day, trying and studying and working to put the building blocks that make me a better missionary that make me a champ. And I am trying hard; I spend a lot of time on my knees trying to better myself. Their words (Prophet and Apostles) are modern day scripture and they help me out so much. It’s really life changing. 

I just want to let you know that I know without a doubt that this church is the only true church of God on earth, and it’s the Church of Jesus Christ and he lives.  He loves you and he wants you to be successful. I love you all so much, and I miss you like crazy but it is worth it to be separate for a while so that I can grow and learn and you too.  God knows our pains and he makes them smiles, he knows our concerns and he makes them happiness, he knows our weaknesses and makes them strengths. 

Keep smiling and keep fighting on, good will come to those who are patient. 

I love you! 

Elder Galbraith

Mexico Rocks!I

Mexico rocks!! Ha-ha. 

Another week has flown by.  The time does that and I am going to have 6 months in the mission field on Friday.... that was quick! 

I had an awesome experience this week!  Yesterday we were able to attend the rededication of the Mexico City Temple! It has been closed for renovation for 2 years, and finally it’s open. We went to the first session at 9 and it was awesome! Jeffrey R. Holland talked!! Henry B. Eyring too! Those men rock! Jeffrey R Holland actually speaks a little bit of Spanish; he bore his testimony real strong in Spanish! Henry B. Eyring doesn’t speak Spanish but he definitely testified real strong of the gospel.  They talked about the importance of temples and how we gain a better view of everything when we go to the temple.  They also talked about why we need to be worthy and Elder Holland talked about the struggles of the pioneers and despite all of it they built temples!  It didn’t matter what, they did it. 

We saw President and Sister Crickmore sitting in the temple audience... they didn’t hook us up with tickets though...whatever. 

I have been reduced to using my first agenda/planner again as Mexico is having some kind of printing problem but I dropped it in the toilet and it got all ruined and stuff.   All the pages are blank... but it fell in the toilet.  Don’t tell anyone!! Ha-ha, you can, they’ll all laugh. =)

We found some mustaches!

We had some fun before divisions because I can’t grow a real mustache. 

Really I can see blessings in my life and it is an answer to my constant prayers. God loves us. I can testify of His blessings and His kindness.  Because he is a loving God, he wants the best for us and he has established the way that we can best achieve just that, and we know the way, so let’s do it.  Why not?  His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So it says in the bible, I forget the reference and plus I only know it in Spanish... 

This weekend was awesome because we broke our record of contacts and hit 157…that’s not too bad.  AND...

Isabel got baptized!

We worked so hard with her, and she was very happy! 

We were the only people that baptized in the whole mission that day! 

The water was FREEZING!!!! 

I feel very content right now, Isabel is awesome!

Isabel and Her Family

I love you all so so much. 

Keep working and keep up them covenants with the Lord because that’s how we do it here as Mormons. 

Love,

Elder Galbraith 

I Found Another Country to Love!!

My life is AWESOME!!   I am actually super happy here in Mexico! 

We work hard here, Elder Camacho and I work our little butts off and I am dropping them pounds quick, remember how my pants fit me when I left? Well they’re big... but don’t be worried! I am as healthy as 2 horses on steroids. I feel awesome! I climb them hills darn fast, and still have breath at the top. 

I found another country to love!! 

I am dang far away down here in Mexico, but I feel very close to you guys anyways! I don’t really feel far away, I feel like you’re just at the store or something, or i am just with some friends. It doesn’t hurt at all and that doesn’t mean I don’t miss you but it means that I am focused and that life is going good here in Mexico.  God loves me, and I want to show him I love him too, and for that I will see you all in March of 2017!

I am really excited to return and speak Spanish and translate for you guys!  I really have been blessed with the gift of tongues.  I shouldn’t be able to talk as well as I do for only having like 5 months.  God has blessed me.

I often compare this mission to life.  We leave our homes to serve a mission and to grow, experience pain, and learn and to be tested, and the mission and life are just the same.  I got on a plane to leave for a time and I will return someday.  We are born here on earth and leave God for a while and we will return.  I love it; it helps me to stay focused because really this time is a privilege.  Not many people can serve a mission and not many people choose to serve in the church and return to God, but we will try to help them. Beautiful no?

 Anyways…this week was pretty good! I just read President Crickmore’s email to me and he basically said to enjoy my time here in Ayotla because I might not be there another cycle. I still have 5 weeks here but it’s gonna be the fastest 5 weeks of my life! I am gonna have a new area soon! I am both excited and nervous! But mostly excited and overcome with the spirit. I love Chalco.  I love it. The mission is paradise!! I speak Spanish all day and I can’t speak English anymore, but I don’t care, Spanish rules!!! 

This week we had another interview for our golden egg investigator Isabel, she’s getting baptized this Saturday! And she asked this guy to do it! So were gonna baptize again, me and Elder Camacho worked our tails off for this one and I am super stoked for it!! 

We had a zone meeting today and they did an activity with copies of the Book of Mormon to see if I could set a goal of how many I could hold up with my arm extended straight out and to see if I could get 10. I was told to close my eyes and when the books finally fell I had held 18!!  It was heavy... try it. Anyways the point was that if we just trust in Heavenly Father we will be blessed and He will make us stronger than we ever thought we could be before. It’s awesome right? I won cookies too! 

You all celebrated Labor Day…well, I am gonna celebrate a holiday here too... the Mexican independence day... and all the missionaries have to be in their houses at 6... It gets nuts down here. Ha-ha but I ain’t scared.  They eat a ton of soup called Posole and it tastes awesome!!! I love that stuff.  All my comps say I am gonna eat so much I will hate it. Ha-ha oh Mexico. 

I love this mission and I love the Lord!  It is true that only the humble are like Jesus. I love what it says in Matthew 18 verses 3 to 5; we need to humble and teachable like kids. Because they are without sin. I gave a talk in church again and shared this scripture and felt the spirit a ton! 

Jesus lives and this church is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and everything that those two men taught is real.

Be obedient it’s the only way to be happy. 

I love you all so much.

Elder Galbraith 

This week was AWESOME!!!

This week was AWESOME!!! 

I didn’t have changes! I get to stay with Elder Camacho another cycle! 

Us and Luis

We had another baptism! Elder Camacho and I baptized a boy named Luis! I had the privilege of preforming the baptism.  He’s 13 and already knows the doctrine probably better than me! He’s a miracle for missionaries!  

Also the sisters had a baptism and the boy, Marco, asked me to baptize him.   

We had 5 baptisms in one day.  Us and the ZL's.  The spirit was so strong, it was wonderful.  I was wet, and cold, AND HAPPY!!! 

One of the best experiences in my life thus far.  I felt the angels there that day that’s for sure!!

This is for those of you who remember the jumpsuit I wore last time…Oh the white pants were wonderful! I loved them! And they fit me good!! 

Haha  that jumpsuit…suuuuuucked...... hadn’t been washed in ages.....

I am sorry to hear that some of you are having a hard time and feeling alone, that’s rough.  Something that we teach daily is that WE ARE NEVER ALONE. The Holy Ghost is always with us! I can’t remember the exact scripture but it says that not even a leaf in a forest falls without God knowing, so this means that anything and everything that happens on this planet is something God knows, our trials, our successes our pains and reliefs.  He wants the best for us, he wants to talk to us, he wants to help us and he loves us!  This love from God is 20 times more powerful than anything we can experience that comes from the world. I felt so distant from my family for a time, and from God but he has made it clear to me that we are never far away from God, and if we are far from our families we can feel their love through the blessings our God, our Heavenly Father. It’s something miraculous right? 

This is the true church of Jesus Christ, He is the Christ and He lives!  They love us and through them we are successful and happy and powerful. 

I love you all so much.  

You are the best.  You guys rock, thank you all for your constant support and prayers.  They keep me going.  You have no idea.

Keep the faith and keep smiling. 

Elder Galbraith

Us and Luis with his family

The Work Moves Forward!

Here I am down in Mexico… I have to express something to you, getting on that plane was easily one of the hardest things I ever did!  But I felt something, something good, something calming that kept me from throwing in the towel and not getting on the plane like I wanted to.  I felt something subtle and without a doubt the spirit testified to me that when we stick it out, something good comes out of it, always.  We just have to have the faith that it will! 

I can honestly testify without a shadow of a doubt, that Heavenly Father is with us every step of the way, Here in Mexico, it’s difficult being a white dude that sticks out like a sore thumb, and having to deny the language I have used for 19 years and talk in a language i have only used for 5 months! But HF has given me the power to talk in tongues and to interpret them, and it works! I struggle sometimes keeping my mind focused and He blesses me, Sometimes I get mad or frustrated with certain situations here, but all ya gotta do is have a prayer in your heart and apply the faith that we have, show him were willing and ready, and like it says in the scriptures, He will give us what we ask for. 

Selfie

It’s all about enjoying our time that we are given, and it doesn’t matter when or where we live.  I read in Helaman today and he was super upset that he lived in a time of such evil but he continued to preach and teach and please God and in chapter 7 verse 9 he says ¨these are my days¨ and that struck me, we need to enjoy whatever time we are given and make the most of it, because these are our days. 

This week we didn’t burn a single curtain, maybe a couple Jehovah’s Witnesses! HAHA! JK… nah, but we do teach them.  We have been teaching a kid named Luis who wants to get baptized, he’s only 13 so he needs permission and his parents want him to wait... we will see about that. 

We work hard, contacting, searching, studying, and praying. 

Life is basically the same almost everyday, but at the same time different. 

We have changes in 1 week... I dunno if I will get transfered or stay who knows. 

Pray for me. 

I love you so much. 

Elder Galbraith 

We went to the Mexico City Temple open house! Its gorgeous!