WEEK 27

Hello, everybody!

 

Another week has gone by and a new one is beginning. My e-mail last week ended a little prematurely because of time restraints and while a lot has happened, a lot is staying the same. For one, I will be staying in Petaluma for another six weeks and I am still companions with Elder Weiland. I know that while we as people have our own unique personalities, we also sometimes share common interests or idiosyncrasies. However, I seem to find that while on the opposite coast, I am coming in contact with people who remind me of those I already know. While Elder Burns reminded me of Michael in some ways, I can't help but think of Greg after spending six weeks with Elder Weiland. For all I know though, it could be a mental thing where a separation from these people causes me to find the slightest thing and relate it to someone or something I am familiar with.

 

Regardless, Easter was good. Towards the end of the day my stomach felt like an inflated tire. I had a small soup in the morning for breakfast and we went without lunch, because we were invited to attend two dinners. Towards the end of the second one, I jokingly apologized to the family for cooking so much and us not being able to keep up with everything they had prepared. It was still a great day though and the church service was enjoyable. There were special musical numbers from the ward choir and from the younglings of the church and many people enjoyed it. We also had a very interesting class discussion towards the end by an instructor named Aaron Josephs. Aaron is just so full of knowledge and it was an enjoyable class discussion to say the least.

 

As I have about two minutes left of internet time, I wanted to speak a little bit on hope. As most are familiar with, Easter is a time where we celebrate life (because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ). One thing I have witnessed this past week was an investigator named David and how hope has impacted his life. I'll have to share more next week since I'm down to 20 seconds.

 

I love you all! Have a great week. Take care of yourselves and one another.

WEEK 26

Hello, everyone!

 

How are you all doing? I am well and things in Petaluma are going good. A lot has happened in the past week -- which I will review shortly -- and a lot lies ahead in the week to come. For one, we were hoping to have a baptism service for an awesome family (the O'Keefes) who we have been visiting with for the past week. The family is facing a few challenges that they want to address before they make the commitment to be baptized and they have not yet come to church. Three people in the family of four have a simplex in which skin blisters develop in response to minor injury. Basically, they have three layers of skin while the average human is said to have about seven.

 

They are an amazing family though and they came across the church through its website. The mom was searching for a church that her and her family could attend, which had similar beliefs to her. They then ordered a few materials and we have been visiting with them since. They love all that we teach and I know that they will be prepared in time to reach their goal of being baptized on May 7th.

 

Yesterday, my companion and I were actually able to watch two people be baptized. I cannot go into much detail about Della Mae and Cheryl since I did not teach them, but the services were great to be part of. What was most impressive was to see Della Mae's contribution to her own baptism. The service was at 6 PM and the people from the previous baptism ended up draining the font, which meant that time and preparation was to needed in order to prepare for the next service. Well, miscommunication happened somewhere and there was about 30 minutes to fill up a font that usually takes 45-60 minutes, chairs to set up, and a program to make copies of. While everyone was frantically working, Della Mae kept filling up a big bowl and running back and forth to the kitchen in order to help fill up the font. It was inspiring to say the least.

 

As for Jeremy, we are still working with him but we will not see him for a couple weeks. He is traveling to Ohio to spend a week with his father for the Passover celebration. We simply continue to challenge him to truly commit and be serious in "testing his theory" as to whether God is there and to assume that what we say (as ridiculous as it may seem to him at times as an agnostic-atheist) may conceivably be true.

 

And my time is just about up. I was hoping to share more, but I'll end on wishing each and every one of you a Happy Easter. I'm sorry that I cannot spend it with you all, but I hope that however you spend your time and those you do spend it with bring you much hope and happiness. Take great care! I wish you all well, have a great week.

 

- Elder Gallegos

WEEK 23

Hello, everyone!

 

So it has been four complete weeks in Petaluma and for once I have more than ten minutes to send a letter out and I also was able to include a few pictures. Petaluma has been quiet an adventure thus far. I told you all a little bit about Jeremy Cooper last week. We have met with him again and unfortunately he was not yet able to watch General Conference, but we did have a great discussion and I was better able to understand a little more about him.

 

Jeremy is a very intelligent young man. He speaks five languages, two of them being Hebrew and Greek. He is part of a musical band and during the day he is a White hat (computer security person). He wonders why God, if He were there, wouldn't give us an easier way to find His existence through evidence. I can continue to write about Jeremy and our interesting discussions, but that would take away from the many other great things happening here. Jeremy is making subtle progress though and he is showing a desire to want to know of a God. For he says that the time he would spend here on earth in worship is definitely worth an eternity of happiness.

 

We are working with David. David is a heartwarming guy that has been struggling with an addiction. When we go to visit David, sometimes he will not answer because he feels ashamed. When we do see him though, it always happens to be at the right time when we need him most. Recently, his dog of nine years passed away from an unexpected tumor and it has definitely taken a toll on David. He has been a wreck and doesn't really know what the next step is. We don't give up on him though and he greatly appreciates it.

 

On a more uplifting note, it was three weeks ago when my companion and I were going to check up on someone. When we knocked on the door, we were invited in and surprised to see that a bible study -- put on by the 360 church -- was going on. There was pizza, sodas and waters, and about seventeen people. We sang as one gentleman strung an acoustic guitar, we read a chapter out of the bible, and then went in a clockwise motion around the room sharing thoughts and comments. I enjoyed it but my companion had some different thoughts about it. I think what did it for him though was an unrelated experience at another denomination's service, which I may go into detail another time. I found them both to be great opportunities to better understand one another.

 

As my minutes remaining tick down to the final few seconds, I will summarize Petaluma as a great city. The city offers a lot in terms of people, ideas, things to see and do, and especially places to eat. :) There is a soup kitchen and a library here in which we offer service some times. I haven't yet volunteered at the soup kitchen, but we did work at the library a couple of times. I was able to be part of a funeral service this morning for a member of the church named Gerald Leighton Jr. And we're teaching many other great people I hope to tell you more about in my next letter.

 

My time is about done. I hope that all is going well for each and every one of you. I wish you all the best! Have a great week.

 

- Elder Anthony Gallegos

WEEK 22

Hello, everyone!

 

Well, I finally have more than three minutes to write so I thought that I would let you all know how things are going in Petaluma. This past Saturday and Sunday was General Conference. The messages were all very uplifting, inspiring, and thought provoking. I would like to share an experience from the Friday, April 1st, that made it all the more better.

 

I had the priviledge of meeting with an investigator named Jeremy Cooper. He's been taught for some time now. His hangup is that he considers himself to be an agnostic-atheist. Jeremy wants to know whether God is truely there or not. The problem is that he does not want to be "fooled" by his feelings or emotions. He has an experiment, which would take some time to explain, as to how he may come to know the truthfulness of our message.

 

As our appointment ended, we promised him that if he were to watch General Conference that he would receive some guidance as to how he can take the next step forward in coming to know God and that he may even receive some inspiration on what he may want to include or subtract from this experiment of his.

Three people at conference spoke on our relationship with God in one way or another. Some spoke on how a witness rarely comes instantaniously or miraculously. We will meet with him on Friday and better understand what might have inspired him. We are also meeting with some other great people I hope to tell you more about next week.

 

Again, my time is short. Those 11 minutes I once had are now down to 30 seconds. I love you all and wish you all a great week. Take great care! 'Til then.

 

- Elder Anthony Gallegos

WEEK 21

Hello, everyone!

 

Sorry about not e-mailing last week. I cannot promise much out of this e-mail either. I have about five minutes of library time remaining. If there are a few things I would want you to know it would be that Petaluma is a great area. Kelseyville was wonderful but you multiply it by 9 (because of the size difference of the two areas) and you have Petaluma. My companion, Elder Weiland, and I have many opportunites to talk to many interesting people each and every day. These people have interesting views on life, God, and religion. We are also teaching a few interesting people who I hope to tell you more of next week. Lastly, I have to unfortunately say that you will all have to wait for pictures until next week. My time is down to 30 seconds. I will be sure that uploading pictures is the first thing I do. :)

 

I love you all! I hope everything is going well with each and every one of you. 'Til next week!

 

Love,

Elder Gallegos