September 30, 2013

"And now, O my son Helaman, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

Alma 36:3

This week was incredible! I was looking over my planner this morning deciding what all to write about, and I realized that there was so much done this week that I thought was last week. The weeks truly do begin to blend together!

We had two trainings this week. The first one was about pushing through the “No's” at the front step, and that has helped Sis. Hyer and I out a lot. We have a lot of people that say that they are already religious, and we literally just say "Perfect!" and then proceed to tell them about the Book of Mormon. We have gotten five return appointments by doing that! 

Glow in the Dark Chairs that Sis. Gale Found!

The second training was a new one that they have never done before. It was great! There were some scriptures that we needed to have memorized like Moroni 10:3-5, James 1:5-6, JSH 1:16-17, D&C 4, and then there is something for our mission called My Commission. It is great and a good reminder that we recite every morning. I am glad to report that I had all of them memorized and passed off :) Also, this training took place at the OSU institute building, and the last part of the day we went onto OSU campus and street contacted. I went with Sis. Arnell (one of the sister training leaders), and we totally ran into someone, talked to them about the gospel, and then gave them a chapel tour of the institute building. We also got a return appointment for the OSU missionaries! It was a great experience, and it truly showed me that there are people out there who God has prepared for the gospel; we just need to be willing to open our mouths to everyone and anyone and then be unafraid to teach them of the things we know. It is awesome, and I hope for great things for that young man! 

The OSU jersey that a less-active member in Erin's area bought for her... it's a XXL!

So the members of this ward are amazing! They always sign up to feed us dinner practically every night. Even those who are investigating the church sign up to feed us! So this week we have one couple in our ward who are millionaires... you think I'm being sarcastic, but I am not kidding. They took us to the New Albany Country Clubhouse, and the cheapest meal was $25... Let’s just say I ate dang good that night! Also Sis. Erikson (our neighbor) cooked me my favorite meal last night: Steak, baked potatoes, and corn. It was delicious! 

RaeRae and I Feeding the homeless

Broadcast was amazing and super helpful! Our ward put on a dinner for all the women beforehand, and the men were serving us. It was great to go because there were a lot of nonmembers there, and we got to converse with many of them and are meeting with one today at 5! We have a member to go with us and everything. This non-member believes in the gospel but doesn't want to give up smoking. WELL, that's coming to a stop real soon!  

So yesterday was eventful! In our mission, we wake up every Sunday morning and take breakfast to those we invited to church. It helps to motivate them to get out of bed and get going in the morning. Usually we try to do breakfast at a member's home, that way they can’t get out of not coming to church. This week we had three people that we wanted to take breakfast to and not enough time or members to feed them. So we went to Emerald and brought her cinnamon rolls. We got her out of bed and ready for the day. She is from the Caribbean, and it takes her a year and a half to get ready, so we visited her first and got her up and going! That was fun! We then went to Sis. Youman’s because we were making breakfast for Dustin and Ivy who live across the street. They agreed to come, so we started making pancakes and sausage and went over to get them and they backed out again! Dustin got called-in to work, and Ivy found a job and had to work during the church time. So we fed Sis. Youman (who is a recent convert), so that was still good for her. Afterwards we took some of the other cinnamon rolls and some pancakes to Cornell who we met with this week. He is progressing rapidly, and we even put him on date for the 26th of October. He came to church with us and loved it so much! I introduced him to the bishop and they got along really well. Cornell said, "I want to go to General Conference". Well hallelujah! We said that he could totally come, and he was very grateful! We meet with him tonight at 7:30 and are going to finish teaching him about the Plan of Salvation. It is so exciting to find and teach those whom God has prepared to hear the gospel!  

We found a lot of ducks!

There were a few more great things this week: I got our board all organized, which lists our referrals for we are teaching and what area they are in. It’s a helpful way to budget gas and be more effective in teaching. We also got bikes from the members, so we ride bikes around most of the time. We park in the middle of an area and ride around and talk to everyone we can. We have found that that saves gas, and we have more of an opportunity to talk to people. I will say that Sis. Hyer is insisting that we wear helmets, BUT I dunno about that one yet.  

That was pretty much our week. We have some important appointments this week that will set the standard of whether they will continue with the lessons or be dropped (I hate doing that), but it is worth it because I know that I am not wasting the Lord's time.  

As in... A LOT!

Thank you for all the letters and support. I know the prayers are helping because we have met many people who are interested in learning about the gospel! I gain a deeper understanding and love for this Gospel as the time moves forward. I know there are the hard days, but they make me stronger and help intensify my testimony of missionary work. Every seed planted is helpful not only to the missionaries, but also to the person that you spoke with! 

I love you all very dearly and hope that everything is going well back home! :) 

Love,

Sister Gale 





Questions/Answers with Sister Gale

What has been the hardest challenge so far? How did you overcome it?


The hardest challenge I think is not talking to my family every day. Sis. Hyer and I talk about this all the time. There are times when I am doing my hair, and I want to ask, "Mom, does this look good?" But I know that I can't because you're not there. Or I want to call dad and ask him a question, but I can’t. It’s difficult to have the phone in my hand (because I am the one in charge of it) and not call home. There are so many times where I have been tempted to do so. Not particularly because I need to, just because I miss talking to my family. But how I get over it is by knowing that you guys support me even though I am a few miles away. My favorite hymns are 'Because I Have Been Given Much' and 'I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go.' The two lines that help me the most are "because I have been given much I too must give." The Lord has helped me so much in my life; he has given me the greatest family, and giving that up for 18 months is hard but worth it because I know by me being gone, it is blessing them in more ways than if I were home. There is also the line "I'll do what you want me to do." There are rules set in place, and I know that they are there to magnify this calling and make it more effective. I have been able to put more trust in the Lord everyday when I go through these struggles. They make me stronger! I read in Alma 36:3 the other day, and that helped me so much! :)





What are you doing to meet your companion's needs?


Sister Hyer hates doing dishes, so I do those. Haha! She also doesn't really know how to be organized and has asked for my help in that area. So, I help her with that. I think the best thing that we do is we ask each other questions. We get to know each other, and we are completely honest. We laugh at stupid random things, and we sing children hymns. We say goodnight to each other, and there are some nights where we say something great that the person did. I have found that one to be a huge help! She is really good at leaving random sticky notes everywhere for me, and in return, I write her a letter and send it to her ;) Those are always funny!





What new recipe have you tried? 


I haven't really had to cook for myself yet. I already bought myself the George Forman grill. It was like $17. I cook Tilapia, and I made Hawaiian Haystacks for us the other day. We get Panera bread all the time (it's like Paradise Bakery). So I am going to cook a Panini today and see how that turns out! 





What are you doing to motivate the members to do missionary work?


We are actually going to start a class. We are going to use the book 'The Power of Everyday Missionaries' (so if you could send me my copy that would be great)! That is going to be the "textbook" of the class, and the Elders and us are going to switch off every week on teaching the members how to participate in missionary work. Until we get the class set up, we share a message about missionary work and sit down and talk to members individually who are talking to their friends about the church. We usually give them the pamphlets and explain how we use them and teach investigators. By doing this, they usually invite us to come to an appointment! 

Thank you for the new skirt and the gift for Sis. Hyer! She was really grateful for it. I think her mints are already gone haha! It was super sweet of you and super helpful! I love getting letters from home. Tell the boys thank you for their letters! I love reading about what they are doing and how everything is going.

I love and miss you all every day. I know I say it every letter, but you don't know how much of a struggle it has been. But it has been a good struggle to have. I hope that everything continues to go well with work, school, and whatever it is that you guys are doing! Have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Gale 

P.S. Next week P-day is going to be on Thursday, October 10th because it is our temple day, and we get to go to the temple. Then it will just be like a normal P-Day from then on. I think the week following will be different because it'll be transfers already. I love you all! :)

Erin's New Address

For anyone wanting to write Sister Gale, here is her address:

Sister Erin Tiffany Gale
5191 Cambria Way
New Albany, Ohio 43081-6646

She loves hearing from you guys! Keep the letters flowing :)

Thanks everyone for supporting her!

- Lauren

September 23, 2013

"Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world. And now, if the Lamb of God, he being hold, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!"

- 2 Nephi 31: 4-5

Well this week was awesome and depressing all at the same time. The only depressing thing is that we had 4 people lined up to come to church. We called them Saturday, and they said they were coming, we took them breakfast, and then they no-showed... UGH!!! I already called them though, and we have a meeting with them this week to discuss what happened. :) 

It was great because on Tuesday we had interviews with President Nilsen, and that is always a great time! We also got trained by the assistants to the president, and they are so awesome and give so much information. They gave us a lot of cool ways to approach people at the door, and that was very helpful. :) Later that evening, Sis. Hyer and I had exchanges with the sister training leaders. I got to learn a lot from Sister Webb, and we came back that night with 2 new investigators! We also met with Ivory and her mother who fed us dinner. A 36 SLICED PIZZA... Ya! We still have leftovers in the fridge... But I found out a lot about my companion and that we needed to have more fun, so we have been working a lot more on that. We have a lot more potentials because her spirit has been lifted! 

On Wednesday, Sis. Hyer and I found this trailer park and met with 5 new people who became investigators. We have an appointment to meet with them again today, so I am really excited about that! We also met a less active man whose name is Bart Katsenbach. Apparently, nobody in the ward has heard of him, and the few that have tried to meet with him, he wouldn't open the door for them. But he did for us! He gave us some OSU shirts and is buying us OSU jerseys. He told us to come back because he wants us to teach him the lessons. He's coming to church this next Sunday! 

So Saturday... I'm definitely skipping days but this is the most important! Sherri got baptized!!! It was such a great experience! 

She came and we had a difficult time all week making sure that the dress fit her... That's a whole different story, but we got it to fit, and then at the baptism she began to have a panic attack. She is terrified of water and because she is on the heavier side, she was worried that she was going to be dropped and drown. Well, she asked for Melissa, her daughter, to get Sis. Hyer and I, and to talk to her and pray with her for comfort. It was a great blessing to sit in the bathroom all holding hands and praying that she would feel comfort and peace. We were able to have 4 missionaries in the font at one time to help her. All of them were previous missionaries who have taught her. She wanted Sis. Hyer and I on the side of the font, to be there with her. It took her 3 times before she was fully submerged and then it was like a race getting a chair in the font for her to sit down. We had to get her oxygen to her because she has a very hard time breathing, and then once we got all of that done, we talked and she just cried because she felt so close to the Savior. 

Afterwards, we talked to her because she was feeling a little embarrassed that it took 3 times to baptize her, but we reassured her that we are all brothers and sisters and she could have gotten baptized 100 times and everyone still would have loved her regardless. She got dressed and I was lucky enough to be asked to speak about the gift of the Holy Ghost. I did that and then we had refreshments. It was a great day and then to see her confirmed on Sunday was just awesome! 

Speaking of Sunday, Sis. Hyer, Elder Peterson, and I were asked to bear our testimonies, and that was a fantastic experience. Sis. Hyer and I also taught Gospel Principles, which was on tithing and fast offerings. It was a great lesson, and the investigators that the Elders brought are having financial situations but were all for starting their tithing and fast offerings. That was a neat experience. 

Bishop asked us to work with some specific people yesterday in the ward after sacrament. Some of the families have some children that aren't yet baptized so that's going to be exciting! :) We have a list of people to work with and the ward members give us referral after referral so we are pretty busy! But it is awesome! 

Nobody yelled at us this week or slammed the door in our face, so I would say SUCCESS! :)

I will testify to you that I know this church is true and I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I get the opportunity to read it everyday, and it truly does help me in whatever situation I am in and whatever conflict may be going on. I have a testimony in Joseph Smith. I get to testify of him everyday, and I know that he was called of God to be the first prophet of this dispensation. Don't let anybody tear you away from what you already know about the Gospel because this is the true work on the earth. I know it because I live it, and I most definitely love it! 

I miss you all everyday and pray for you daily. I love you and love the letters! :) 

Love you, 

Sister Gale 

Questions and Answers with Sister Gale 

Tell us more about your companion, Sister Hyer. How are you getting along and what are your companionship goals? 

Sis. Hyer and I are complete opposites! We honestly had a rough start, and on Wednesday she just laid everything out on the line. She is my trainer but she doesn't feel up to training yet, and feels that I am more of a leader, so we kinda switched roles... She thinks that in the next 2 weeks I am going to be training, so we shall see. I've realized the importance of having fun because she was not having fun, and fun to me is being organized and knowing the plan. Sister Hyer hates that I always want to “get to work”, so I have to work with her, but help myself at the same time. She loves the way I do my hair so she’s starting to use my hair stuff.... But I just breathe it off! Proud of me? :)

During your personal or companionship study, what is something new or interesting you learned/discovered? 

Umm... we are working on that still... I am trying to implement more discussing what we figured out for ourselves, but she just likes to ask questions. And I am trying to show her the importance of planning a lesson rather than just showing up to a lesson and going with the flow. So we are still working together! :) 

When is your next Zone conference/training? How often do you have them? 

We have zone conference/ training once a transfer, and it has been going super well. The last one they had, I won the best door approach contest. Don't know how I won, but I beat the sister training leader who I was going against! :) That was pretty legit not going to lie! 

What are you doing personally to prepare for General Conference in October? 

I can’t wait to get spiritually fed, and we are working on bringing an investigator. I am reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and let me tell you... I am finding new insights everyday! It’s crazy that you can read the same book over and over and get something new each time. And really, it’s been helping me in what ever situation is going through my mind. 

How are your investigators progressing? Any neat insights? 

We are having a difficult time with our investigators, but we have an appointment today and this Thursday with people who only listen if you are blunt.. Well welcome Sister Gale over because that is my forte! :)

September 15, 2013

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Ghost:"

Matthew 28:19

Well hello!!!! I so look forward to Monday's because I miss getting letters, but I know every time that I open my email that I have a lot of emails to read and catch up on :)

So this week was great! We had some really cool experiences. 

The Elders in our area and me; Elder Peterson (closest to Erin) was in Erin's MTC District, and he and his companion are serving in the same ward with Erin and her companion.

We have been teaching a lady named Emerald who is from the Caribbean. She was a former investigator but was dropped, so I told my companion that we should start that again. We have an appointment with her tomorrow, and we are going to be teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. I think that she is going to be very receptive to it! :) I'm excited! 

Another cool experience was with a lady named Sherri. Now, she is on date to get baptized next Saturday, and she has been taught for about 6 months by the Elders. She is the lady that we took to the baptism last week, and when she was at the baptism, she asked to get the date moved up because she knew that this was the right thing for her to do. Last Saturday my companion and I were driving to our next appointment, and I was like: "I need to use the restroom now. Let's go to Sherri's". So we walked in, and after I used the restroom, we stayed to visit for a little, and she told me that she had prayed just earlier that morning that we would stop by because she wanted to see us and ask us some questions about baptism. It was such a humbling experience to know that she had been wanting to see us all day and that when we got there, she was super happy. We were able to answer some questions of hers and teach her. She had questions about a still-born son of her's and what happened to him. When we told her that he was in God's presence, she got all teary-eyed and was super happy. It is times like that when I just want people to know that this Gospel is so true and that there is a God. It was a precious moment. 

Everyone in my MTC District is going to Ohio

Last Saturday, we spent most of the day feeding the homeless. There is a lady in the ward that goes out with a group of her friends and visits homeless people sites and gives them clothes and a hot meal. We were lucky enough to go out with her and talk with the people and see what all they go through. It was a fantastic experience! The Elders tagged along too. But we were able to get a potential investigator out of it. Her name is Roshay, and she basically lives with this member family. The Elder's have met her a couple of times, but she was really receptive to us sisters so we get to teach her :) 

All the sisters in the van heading to the Mission Presidents' house in Ohio

Yesterday, (Sunday)... there was a stake conference, and all the full-time missionaries were singing the medley of 'Called to Serve' and 'Bring the World His Truth.' It was great, and we got to meet the 3 Amish families that converted to the gospel. They are SOOOO cool and SOOOO cute! I just wanted to pinch their cheeks! The stake conference was super good and made me just want to get out and work and teach people. All day we had been knocking on doors and people just weren't answering, saying no thank you, or shutting the door in our faces. So, I was getting frustrated and was saying (in my head), "I have been called to bring people unto God, and NO ONE is listening to us. Heavenly Father, I will teach anybody that you will put in front of me." After saying this, 10 minutes later, we met some people from Indiana, named Sweeta and Augustya. They soaked up all the information that we gave them, and we have an appointment to meet with them on Saturday. Sweeta lives in Indiana but flies down here every weekend to be with Augustya. So we are going to teach them together, and I invited them to church. They said that they wanted to come, so hopefully that works out! I have high hopes for them! :) 

Us on the plane heading to Ohio. All these guys ended up in my Zone

All in all, it was a great week! I love this area. Even though the people are filthy rich and not really receptive to the Gospel, we are still moving strong and talking to everybody and anybody that will hear the Gospel. I hear many conversion stories, and I get the opportunity to bear my testimony everyday... I feel myself growing and I know, in turn, I will be able to guide more people unto God through the Holy Ghost. Thank you for all the support and help! I love hearing from you guys! :) 

--Sister Gale





Question/Answers with Sister Gale






What is your companion's name, and where is she from? 



My companions name is Sister Hyer, and she is from Washington. The little town she is from is called 9 Mile Falls.







Do you need anything?



I don't think I need anything... you might want to send the winter stuff a little bit earlier than you might be planning... it is starting to get cold, and today I am going shopping for a jacket.

Do you have time for exercise? 



I do a lot of running and crunches. All the sisters are doing a fitness challenge; I think I'm going to win ;) 







What kind of food are the members feeding you? 



The members feed us all kinds of food: soup, chicken and rice, spaghetti, meatloaf, Mexican food... it varies, but they always send us home with the extras :D Our schedule is filled for both lunch and dinner for the next month. I feel very blessed!







What are the names of your Bishop, RS Pres, and Ward Mission leader in your area? 



Bishop Griffiths- he is retired and has served a mission in Germany and then a couples mission with is wife in Germany as well. Sis Reffitt is the relief society president and is AWESOME!!! She is a police sergeant, so she gets the work done haha!... and then Bro. Jacobs is the ward mission leader. He is super awesome and so helpful with missionary work. He is actually meeting with an investigator with us next Saturday.







What is the coolest experience you had this week? 



This week I will send in my letter ;)







What was the worst? 



2 doors slammed in the face and probably the funniest is when one guy was telling us what he believed (which was exactly what we believed) and then called Sis. Hyer a liar. That was pretty funny.

September 8, 2013

"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant."

Matthew 23:11

Well I was going to send a lot of pictures, but I don't know what is wrong with my disc... it won't go into the computer. Anyways, the flight to Ohio was great. It was awesome calling home and talking with everyone. Sorry it was so early. Just think, I am 3 hours ahead of you, and when I called I was 2 hours ahead of you. Thanks for picking up though! 

We got to Ohio in one piece, and when we got off the plane we saw President and Sis. Nilsen. They are a fantastic couple and super sweet! President Nilsen carried one of my bags, so I didn't have to put up with that for too long. We all got into vans and then headed to the mission home. There we ate dinner, met with everyone, had a talk with the president and his wife, we had a brief 1 minute testimony given by everyone, and while that was going on, we were being interviewed by the president. I truly believe that mine was the longest interview. One because he goes, "Is there anything you can't do?!" I just responded "I'll take that as a compliment." Then we got on with our conversation. We talked about a lot of things and then it led into horses and guns and things that I don't think we're supposed to be talked about in an interview, but I think we are going to get along just fine. We ended up staying the night at the stake president's house, and let me tell you, going from sleeping on the MTC beds to this bed was like a night and day difference! This bed was like the memory foam ones... Ya, I will definitely invest in that when I get the chance! 

The next morning we went to the church. There we got assigned our companions and where we would be serving. I am in the New Albany area, and I got 'doubled-in' which means that there are 2 sets of missionaries in one area. God truly blessed me because Elder Peterson and I are serving in the same ward. To make things more better, 3 other elders are in my same zone, so I didn't have to say bye just yet. But since we are new and my companion hasn't served in this area, we had to start from the bottom of the ground. We didn't have anybody to teach, nor did we have any investigators to pick up, so the first day out we got straight to work. I did get food on the first day... not enough but thank goodness we are going grocery shopping right after this! 

We have 5 potential investigators. Most of them we are meeting with this week to see if they are more serious about learning about this gospel. We taught one lady last night about the restoration and have another appointment this Tuesday with her. She knows a lot about the gospel, but we will see how everything goes. 

So something new that happened: since we are serving the same area as the Elders we had to split the area just so that we would be more efficient when it comes to proselyting. So on Saturday we all sat down and decided which area we were going to be taking. We sisters took more of the RICH community... now let me explain rich - serious like white fencing around every property, and the houses are mansions. And the mansions are castles, and the castles are like kingdoms. It's outrageous! I will say that the rich people aren't very receptive to learning about religion, but that's going to change! The Elders took the ghetto. And when I say ghetto I mean I saw a drug deal DURING THE DAY my second day out. So I decided that we were only going to be talking to the single sisters in that area during the dayish/morning. (You're welcome, dad!). 

Since we are serving with the Elders, we actually had a rare opportunity to have both sets of missionaries teach one family. The reason we sisters came is because they are on date to get baptized, we wanted them to feel the spirit that is present at a baptism, and we were going to take them to one. So we took the family this last Saturday to a baptism, and the mom felt the spirit so much that she began to cry and moved her baptism date up to next Saturday! I am so excited for her! The family is awesome, and they are so special and dear to me. The daughter is 19 and pregnant, and I think the gospel has helped her for the better! :) 

Well my companion isn't super organized, so we have a trade off... I am going to help her organize and she is going to attempt to teach me the piano... I told her that she is going to have to start super simple, so we'll see how that goes! Other then that, there isn't much to say... we are working super hard to get this area up and running. We went through the ward list, and there are more inactive members than there are active soooo there is a lot of work to be done and different things to do. I honestly wish we could start earlier than this and that I didn't have to train until 11 am because I want to get out there and talk to people. I will say that this work is difficult. I have had doors slammed in my face, been yelled at once, and then have had people only talk through the door because they didn't want to "open the door for missionaries". Its quite an  interesting crowd but I know that the Lord has people here for me to talk to, and I can't wait to teach those that are in need of the gospel. Thank you for everything! 

-- Sister Gale

September 1, 2013

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

-- Matthew 5: 14-16

So our computer time is taking place in the laundry room as we are waiting for it to finish. 

Anyways, this week has been awesome so far! Wednesday was really great getting to know everybody, and not going to lie, I think I scored with the best companion and the best roommates. They are really chill and we are all exhausted once 10:30 hits, the lights are off and we are all asleep right on time. It has been really nice getting to know my companion more and helping her with the lessons. We actually are helping each other. The first day we had a really great experience that I wrote about but for everyone back home: We were in a room with about 50+ missionaries teaching volunteer investigators. I found out that some of them are active and others are true investigators. 

Well, the last guy we got to talk to was a real investigator who lost his wife and son. His son died 3 days after birth and his main concern was that his son wouldn't live with God because he wasn't baptized before he died. There were 3 of us that got to speak to him about the gospel and how those who don't reach the age of accountability before they die are perfect in the sight of God, and I was able to testify to him that his son was with God. He got misty-eyed, and after the whole lesson I had the prompting to go up and shake his hand. He asked me then if I truly thought that his son was with God to which I responded that "I know that he is with God". He got this joyful look in his eyes and proceeded to talk to me and my companion for a little bit. But we couldn't talk long because we had to hurry back to our rooms to get to bed on time. 

Thursday was super busy!!! And when I say busy I mean like no time to do anything but get to where you needed to be next. My whole room wakes up at 6 in the morning, and I haven't had a hard time getting up yet. By the time we're all ready, we head down to breakfast. We started yesterday working more together as a district so that we would become more comfortable with each other. We do this by eating together and making sure we sit together at every meeting. It has really helped up open up more in spiritual experiences, and we all learn from each other so much! We were sitting a lot yesterday, and being a Gale, if you've been sitting for too long you start to get a little sleepy. Well, about 8 hours into sitting down, I started to doze off. Finally our teacher allowed us to get up and walk around. I definitely needed that and honestly think that he gave us that opportunity because I was getting tired. Oops... 

We met our Branch President yesterday and got our District Leaders assigned to us. We were also told that on Sunday's, each person had to have a 5 minute talk prepared because when we walk into church, our branch president will ask us randomly to give our talk. So that is what my P-Day will consist of on top of preparing for the rest of the week. I got to see Sister Yazzie yesterday and also Sister. McLean (Debra). It is so great to see familiar faces! It's like a personal joyful experience. That was basically it yesterday. 

Erin and Debra McLean

Today we woke up and only had 30 minutes to get our breakfast and eat. We had to rush over to our next class and we were there since this afternoon. Now I am doing laundry, writing back to Charlotte, and then going to study with my companion. We have a service project at 3:30, and we get to go off campus and clean a chapel. (I cant tell you how great of a feeling it is to wear jeans by the way!) ;) 

Its been raining all day today, so it's a little chilly outside, but that okay. I think I am starting to get used to it.... NOT!!! I'm freezing!!! And all my jackets are at home! :( But I'll manage! 

Oh, yesterday the elders in our District - I will say I've trained them well! They make sure that there are seats saved for us when it's time to eat, they ask our opinions in conversations, they tuck in our chairs, and the sweetest thing was we didn't know that we had to take our Preach my Gospel manuals to this meeting, so all of us left them in our classroom. Well, they were so sweet and went back and got all our PMG's which were about 15 minutes away. It was so sweet... You kinda had to be in the experience to truly appreciate it. 

Well there are a lot of missionaries that need the computers, so I am going to get off but I wanted to share with you that I know this Gospel is true. I know that us missionaries are in the right place and learning from the right teachers. They are all inspired and I know that they were called to help us and that our companions are inspired. Our personalities are totally opposite, but it makes it all the more fun to get to know each other. I know that I am supposed to be here, and it is made manifest every day so far! Thank you so much for the support and continue to write me! I love getting letters :) I love you all and hope that all is going well at home!

Love,

Sister Gale

Message from Mama Gale

Hey everyone! 

Erin will be leaving to Ohio this Wednesday the 4th early in the morning. She will be traveling through Georgia, with a stop over there. Those who want to write her a note before she leaves the MTC can use this great website called dearelder.com. Just log onto the website and select "Write a Missionary". Also select "Provo MTC" . They fill in their info in the upper left corner. Erin's info is:

Erin Gale 

SEP04 OH-COL 

2007 N. 900 E. Unit 94 

Provo, UT 84602 

If the letter is written by 10 am, she will get it the same day by 12 noon. It is a free service while in the MTC. They can also mail her this way after she gets to Ohio for the cost of a stamp which is also paid online if you so desire!

Thank you so much everyone for supporting Erin through her decision to serve a mission! She is really enjoying it out there!

August 30, 2013

"Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

-- James 5: 7-8

Okay so there is a lot to write about, and I'm taking things from my journal because I am trying to obey all the rules. I love all of the letters, but I can only write back on Fridays. So the reason I haven't written back yet is because we only have time on our P-day. 

August 24, 2013

We mainly learned how to teach the apostasy and that was very interesting learning the different ways that you can teach that without going into too much detail. It was a really trying day because I found out that my companion hadn't read Preach My Gospel, so it has been a little slow with that. We made some different studying plans to help her out. I also got the package of doughnuts which was soooo needed and Sis. Blair (the other girl that I share a room with ate) her first doughnut ever!

Erin's MTC District... three of the Elders are named Brandon, Jake, and Joshua, and they act just like my brothers!

August 25, 2013

Today was Sunday, and it was really weird but great at the same time. We had sacrament meeting in a classroom, and I got called to be the Branch music coordinator. Only for this Sunday so all I have to do is pick out the music and also get someone to play the piano... not that hard. I also had to come up with a special musical number for the departing districts - which is us. We are singing "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing" with a piano and violin accompaniment. Later today for Relief Society we had Sis. McConkie who came and spoke to us. She is the 1st counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency or whatever... she gave a great talk about laboring with all you heart, might, mind, and strength. Also about obedience. We also attended music and the spoken word which was awesome! Later that night we had a devotional with Bro. Allen who taught us that we are never alone and that Satan will do everything in his power to push our buttons. It was really a great talk. And then later that night, we went to another devotional that was video taped by Elder Bednar who talked about the Character of Christ. I will try later to write more about it.

Erin's roommates at the MTC- Sisters Blair and Chadburn

August 26, 2013

Monday was sooooo fast! I got the homemade treats which were delicious, and I loved all the notes that were in the package. Letters are the best... let me tell you!!! Today all the girls in my district had a breakdown moment and got blessings from the Elders. I can't explain the Spirit or the feeling that goes on when they gave those blessings. It was amazing!!! They all felt a lot better afterwards and you know, always talk to me about how everything went or what is going on in their brains. We taught a new investigator today which gave Sis. Little and I a lot of experience and also taught us what we needed to learn more about.... Which is basically everything to say the least haha!

Erin with her companion, Sis. Little

August 27, 2013

"WOW" was the first word in the journal. I started the day off breaking my silver watch (so mom if you could send me a new one that would be great!) I spilled chocolate milk down my skirt and had to take it to get spot cleaned, then I forgot to put perfume on. While I went back to go get it, I dropped my jewelry box and everything went flying everywhere. There were a couple other things that happened, but I remained calm and got through the day. It helped to just laugh about everything honestly! But I also had some time to go running so that let off a lot of steam. And that was just the beginning of the day. Sis. little has had a hard time and has had the feeling to go home. We did a lot of talking the night previous, but she said she prayed about it and had the feeling that she needed to go home. Well, after breakfast we went and called the branch president, and she ended up meeting with him later that night. (Don't worry she is still here.) We also had a devotional at the BYU campus tonight which was great. Neil L. Andersen came and spoke to us, and then we sang a lot because it was pouring outside. After 30 minutes, they told us to walk home safely, and all the elders in my district gave us their suit coats so that we could stay as dry as possible. It was so sweet! And now they have this thing where they walk us home at night "so we don't get mugged," so for the past week they walked us the whole 100 yards to our dorms. It's quite nice.

Erin saw Nichelle Yazzie from the home ward at the MTC. Nichelle said, "She's loving [the MTC]! She is the mother hen of the district . She has amazing confidence, and she is anxious to get to work!"

August 28, 2013

Today we had class a lot, and then when gym came around, our district had a 4 square competition. I won ;) hahaha! After gym, we went and practiced our special musical number for Sunday and then went to class. That night was a great night. We had a new teacher come in, Bro. Christensen, and he taught us the importance of teaching people, not just lessons. So for the role play, we were going to be teaching our companion and not a fake investigator. I had the opportunity to talk to my companion about some problems that she has had. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I will say there was a point today where I was done with her... she wasn't wanting to teach anybody, and we have to teach a certain amount of people before we leave the MTC. She was not up for it. I got really frustrated because she is just not as prepared as I would have liked... I was reading my scriptures and again had the prompting to read my patriarchal blessing. In it, it told me what I needed to do whatever my responsibility was, and that was to teach. Well, I didn't know how to do this until Bro. Christensen told us that we would be teaching our companion. Long story short, I got to see my companion through the eyes of Christ, and it was a humbling experience. There were a few scriptures that I shared with her that really helped her out, and I'm grateful for the Spirit in guiding me on what to say. 

I had the same experience just last night with Sis. Blair because we did the same thing but with someone else. I am pretty good at reading people, but apparently God gave me the same opportunity to see her as He does, and I was able to say some things that she needed to hear. 

I want some more time because the Elders are going to show me how to send pictures to you guys. So I need to leave for now, but I want to say that I love you all so much and am grateful for every letter and gift that you guys send me! I know that the Holy Ghost is there to guide, lead, and comfort us. I know that this is the true gospel and that the Book of Mormon can help us no matter what situation we may be in. I know that Christ is our Savior and loves me and you! I am so grateful for this knowledge because I don't think I would be at peace without Him. I love you all so much.

-- Sis. Gale