WEEK 5

Hello, everyone.

 

Time does indeed fly and every moment should be cherished. This past Saturday marked a month since I left. I hope that all is well with everyone back at home and everyone reading this. It has been getting a little colder here and I have seen snow on some of the mountain tops, but I have been able to keep warm. Quiet a few people got a laugh out of me as we went to help one family move on Saturday. I was wearing shorts as it was all that I packed to do service with. I was cool, but they would say things along the lines of, "Sunny South Florida eh? Were you expecting Sunny California weather? Hahaha."

 

Well this week has been really slow and I attempted to read and reply to a lot of the e-mails I was unable to last week. Tuesday was a good day. We had dinner at the Kear family home. It was pieces of meat and potatoes, but the most interesting parts were the desserts. The wife of the Kear son is from the Philippines, she is from Cebu. Well they were talking about food and whatnot and eventually asked if I would be interested in trying balot. If you do not know what it is, I advise that you look up a description rather than an image. I politely told them I would pass though. However, she did offer me pickled mango slices and a piece of mango cake. The mango cake was good while the pickled mango was a bit too bitter, but I still finished it.

 

On Wednesday my companion and I did an exchange with other missionaries and I got to go to another place in the middle of nowhere called Middletown. I met a couple interesting people there. One was named Samantha and the missionaries there were teaching her, but she was packing at the time. She's thinking of moving to Sacramento or Arizona as she wants to try and get her life in order and provide for her one-year-old daughter. She told us a bit about her life between the ages of 16 and 20 and I've definitely seen the improvement in her.

 

We also stopped by a home to visit a lady named Nela and Pam. Pam actually use to live in Dania for a period of time, but she said that the people and things in Florida drove her back to California. There we met a friend of theirs named Mike. He's a buddhist and the conversation we had with him may have to be saved for next week. He was definitely an interesting guy though and the conversation my temporary companion (Elder Montandon) and I had with Pam and Nela was good.

 

There were a couple other appointments, people, and experiences I would like to share but I am short on time. I did get to help a family on Thursday. They invited us and a couple sister missionaries to pick walnuts. The lady who invited us is named Sister Cabrera. She's not a member, but is taking lessons from the sister missionaries. It was definitely enjoyable and I will probably never look at walnuts the same. I took a few photos and will hopefully be able to share them next week.

 

I want to wish those who celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving. I'll be fed well so don't worry about me. Just know that I'll remember you all as you all are what I'm thankful for. Have a great time, treat one another kindly, take care of yourself, and eat good, but not too much. I can and should use that advice as my companion put on about 40 lbs. while he's been out here. I'm going to try and watch my portions. :) Until next week!

 

Love,

Elder Anthony Gallegos

Week 3 & 4

Hello everyone! :)

I am glad I have a chance to get you all up to date. I flew into California last Monday and we got right to work so it was a bit hard to write an e-mail. We left Utah at around 5:30 AM and our flight left at about 8:00 AM. We landed in Oakland, California and met the President of his mission, his daughter, and his assistance as we arrived at the baggage claim. We had a sack lunch and then took about an hour and a half drive to the mission home in Santa Rosa. We watched a slide show of the mission and then were assigned a temporary companion, which we were to go knock doors and talk to people on the street with.

Mines was named Elder McCoig, he is from Texas and was only a few days from finishing his two years of service. He's a husky guy and has a sense of humor and can wear a smile. So we worked for about two hours and while we had little to no success it was an interesting experience. We came back to the President's home and were able to relax with some pizza and Oreo ice cream pie.

The next day (Tuesday, November 9th) is when I met my actual companion and knew what area I would be in, which I will be with for six weeks at the very least. My companion is named Elder Millet -- the youngest of eight children and he has 16 nieces and nephews. He is from Arizona and has been out here for a little under 18 months. He is a nice guy and is teaching me a lot and I try to teach him all that I know. For instance, as we were shopping today I saw natural kosher Muenster cheese allbeit for around $5. He asked "What's kosher cheese" in which I had to explain. Haha! Well he helped to realize that I maybe didn't need the kosher cheese especially since we are given a budget to work with. I ended up buying another brand for about $3; things are really expensive here. Regardless, I think that I have everything I need for the next couple weeks and I believe Michael sent me an e-mail where he said he would deposit 15% of his check into my account so that I can eat and live well. He's so kind!

Speaking of e-mails, I seen quiet a few which I am thankful for. I don't know if I will be able to read and reply to them all since I have about 40 minutes left and I have to pay my loan and would like to also send a few pictures of what I have seen and done within the last four weeks. If you are anyone knows how to put them on the blog you're more than welcome to. Also, I should get any mail that is sent to the address I wrote in my hand written note. However, for faster delivery, anyone could write me at:

Elder Anthony Gallegos
9707 Fairway Drive
Kelseyville, CA 95451

It's a very rural place and we were teaching some girls and I could hear sheep baaah and chicken sounds within feet from us. I was also lucky to be part of a baptism just a couple days from coming into the area. A girl named Angelica Lopez committed to be baptized. Her father, Jose or Chuey (sp?) as he prefers; her sister, Savonna; and her mom Lily are already members. Her dad was able to baptize her and the family felt good all around about the whole thing. Her story about how she decided to be baptized is an interesting one and may take a bit of time to write.

Again, I write you freely, which takes a bit of time. I hope to fully have something written out by next week so that I can relay more in a shorter amount of time. The people who are receptive to our lessons are pretty nice here. There is an 82-year-old lady named Dotty Watts and she's just the sweetest person. She's going through a lot health wise, but she still can make light of everything. We are also teaching a guy named Rich Scroggins. He knows in his heart that the things we are teaching him are true, but he says that something is holding him back. I pray for him as he's a great guy and has a unique sense of humor. He reminds me of a mix between Michael and Brother Torsok (back at the Hollywood church). We are going to teach him tomorrow.

I am doing well health wise and the members here are pretty humble and helpful. We have had a dinner appointment just about every day thus far. We also have plans for Thanksgiving so no worries. I am going to send a separate e-mail now with a few pictures that you may all be able to share. I might send them in as many e-mails as I can since the size may be a bit large. They may range from sights around the Utah temple, a Korean missionary that I grew to love while in the MTC, my classmates and I around the MTC, and my current companion with Elder McCoig and I.

I hope that you all are doing well. I think about you all constantly. Know that I love you all and wish you the very best. Until next time!

Sincerely,
Elder Anthony Gallegos

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential

WEEK 2

Hello everyone!

 

How are you all doing? I have been busy, but doing well. I apologize for not updating you all as I should have. There was a couple inconveniences last week in using e-mail. First, about four other missionaries and I came to the computer room. I had forgot to pack jeans so I came dressed up in slacks and a white shirt while the rest of them came pretty casually. An instructor then paused us in the middle of our e-mail writing to tell the other few to go back to their residence and dress in proper attire and they can then come back. However, they were pretty upset and decided not to. Later in the day as I was doing laundry, all of the computers were used up. Not only were my clothes done but we were about 25 minutes already into dinner before I finally got to sit down. I thought I would have had the chance to send the draft later that day, but that wasn't the case. I had to take the remaining time to study with some new companions as we had a scheduled appointment to teach a role player named Alyssa.

 

That appointment went well, but there's always room for improvement. I am just coming from lunch now so I am hoping when I send my next e-mail, I will have my notebook with me and I can relay impressions and whatnot about the people I have taught thus far. In my first e-mail, I mention how my companion had to get his appendix removed. He's back and doing well though. :) We have been helping one another when we have the strength to. Because of his surgery, he cannot do any real heavy lifting and he sometimes tires easily because of the pain medicine he is on. I have woken up with migraines at least twice thus far, but thankfully they're short lasting. I do not know if it is camp-like bunk beds or what, but I am doing great.

 

Aside from teaching we have been able to visit the temple a couple of times, which was a really nice experience and the walk there is just as good with the view of the mountains and the trees with all different colors of leaves. Speaking of sights briefly, I had the pleasure of waking up to snow but it had already fallen during the night and it melted pretty quickly. Regardless, it was still a pretty sight and I hope to send pictures by the time I get to California. We received our travel itinerary and we are to prepare to leave on Monday, November 8, 2010 at around 5 AM. Back here, they feed us really well although I feel as I eat a bit too much at times out of fear that I might be living off nothing more than Ramen when I get out to California. Also, the ice cream (and toppings) are pretty delicious to deny.

 

The classes go great. I am lucky to have good classmates with unique personalities and when we come together we form a pretty great team and create some good class discussions. I touch briefly on my classmates in my first e-mail, but I will have to go back and read it another time in order to fill in any gaps or missing bits of information. Our instructors are good at what they do. They teach effectively and are still helpful even when they know they are teaching someone a few years older than them. :) Well I have about four more minutes to finish my e-mail time. This is just a small bit of what I have been doing here. We've been overworked more than most missionaries since they get to go back to their residence by 9 and we finish class at 9:30, but I believe the extra studies have paid off.

 

I hope to write more of my impressions on paper so that my future letters are more thought out and so that I can relay more in the short amount of time that I have. I hope that you all are doing well and that you are all in my thoughts and I love you all in your own ways (even the pets). 'Til next time!

 

- Elder Gallegos

WEEK 1

Hello everybody!

 

I am writing you after five days in the MTC and I only have 27 minutes as I write this sentence. I hope to get everything I want to say in. We have been rather busy the last few days, so busy that I have been unable to jot down my thoughts. Well as you're reading this you can guess that the plane ride went well, which it did. I was fortunate enough to have a window seat on the plane ride from Atlanta to Utah. Flying above the mountains and seeing the various sizes, colors, and ridges were pretty great. Once I landed, I caught an Xpress Shuttle Bus with some missionaries to the Missionary Training Center.

 

I received all of my necessary things (lunch card, residence key, etc.) and went straight to class. I was immediately paired up with my companion, Elder Robey. Most of his family decendents are Irish, he's knowledgable in many things and provides humor from time to time. The rest of my fellow classmates are pretty cool -- four of us are headed to Santa Rosa, California and five others are going to Chicago, Illinois. The people in my class are Elder Fa'aliliu (a cuddly Samoan teddy bear), Elder Winchester, Elder Franks (he looks a lot like Jack Swagger the wrestler, but is a cool guy), Elder Kearl, Elder Tomoser, Elder Montandon (very quiet type), and Elder Steadman. They're all pretty unique and we as a group benefit from all their individual personalities and experiences.

 

As said, they have been working us quiet a bit and we have already had two scenarios where our instructors roleplayed as every day people. The meetings went good, but there is some work to do for them to be great. My companion and I are still working out our teaching kinks, but we are certain we will get there. We have yet to find the positives in both of our teaching styles and use those to effectively hold a good meeting. I am certain by the next time I write, we will be much improved.

 

Unfortunately, my companion, Elder Robey, had to go to the hospital and I was with him most of the day. The doctor said he believes that he has appendicitis. He decided to have his intestines removed and he should be back tomorrow with the exception of partaking in gym activies, which can be dangerous at any time for any one. I played volleyball the second day I got here and my ring figer bruised a bit as I went to hit the ball and the finger bent back a bit. It is much better now though. :)

 

I am going to have to end this e-mail on a rather short note! I hope to hear from you all soon. I love you!

 

- Elder Gallegos