First P-day

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January 8, 2018

Dear family and friends,

This first week has been everything you'd think it would be. It was crazy and spiritual and exhausting and stressful and amazing.

The first person I ever talked to on the street took a Book of Mormon! She had waved us down while we were biking. She asked for a book, so we gave it to her, and then she told us she didn't want to talk because she was intoxicated. Welcome to Vegas!

We've been doing a whole lot of street contacting, ministering almost exclusively to the black community. I've been amazed by how many people are even willing to listen to us or to have a conversation about God with us. It's cool to see what happens when you try and connect with people instead of closing off. People really aren't that bad; those who reject us are never even overly rude. We've already met our fair share of crazies, though. One guy tried to educate us about how Jesus never actually existed and he's just a knock-off of Horace [Horus] or something. (He didn't really give us any chances to respond or I'd have said plenty.) Another guy whose door we knocked on kept talking about "personal enlightenment" being the path to godhood, I think. It was pretty hard to follow, like he didn't even have a point, and that may be because he was smoking a big fat joint the whole time. It was a long conversation, and by the end of it his joint was mostly gone. Did the fumes affect us? Quite possibly.

But I've enjoyed most of my time. It's definitely stressful. I have infinitely more respect for missionaries now, and I understand why many go home. I don't really blame them, especially when many of them also have to learn a new language and may not get as good a trainer as I have.

My companion is Elder Knowles, and he's great. Without him I'd be utterly and completely lost. Missionaries going out by themselves would be a disaster, and thankfully that isn't how things are done. Elder Knowles is a farm boy from a small town in the Logan area and as I said, he's been a great trainer whose attitude I admire. I wish every missionary could have a trainer like him.

My family will be amazed to know that I survived for a whole week without having any cereal! We actually had to eat OTHER THINGS for breakfast! (I'm guessing that, growing up on a farm, Elder Knowles didn't eat as much cereal as my family does.) By my family's standards, I am now hardcore.

And for those of you who know him, I did get to see my friend Elder Taylor, though briefly. There's not much time for "hangin' out" here. We'll get some free time today, though!

I've found a greater testimony as we've conversed with some rather complacent Christians who don't (or won't) see the need for a "one true church". They like their easy gospel, where it's all in their heart. They've sadly grown to ignore the Bible's focus on prophets being sent to lead God's people. Without prophets, it's easy to see what happens--you get complacency, confusion, division, and apostasy. Prophets no longer existed after Peter's death, which was why there needed to be a Restoration just as there had been when Christ came and in times before. This is the church of Jesus Christ.

Love,
Elder Gallagher

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