Family Letter 2/26
Dear family and friends,
It's been an interesting week. Before I say anything, if you read nothing else in this email, read this article I'm recommending. I just read it today and it's really great. The article is "The Temple and the Natural Order of Marriage" by Elder Bruce C. Hafen, found in the September 2015 Ensign. It is not just about marriage; it talks about Adam and Eve, temples, and sacrifice. Again, it's really good. I ask all of you to give it a read.
I've been thinking about missionary emails. We are supposed to keep our emails positive--refrain from complaining and trashing the area you're in, and I get that and I have no desire to do that--but it has the effect, I think, of making us look pretty good. Better than we are, maybe. I probably come across as some kind of spiritual guru who's on top of things. But really, I have many days sullied by difficulties, some external and many internal. It's really hard sometimes. My companion and I don't always get along, sometimes I don't know what to say during lessons, sometimes I just feel insufficient, et cetera.
But everyone who's been on a mission knows how it is already. For those who haven't, just be aware: it's not a walk in the park. It has its ups and it has its downs.
We were scheduled to have my first baptism this week. His name is Jaime, a guy Elder Knowles and I met during my first week out. We'd been working with him for nearly a month and a half and he successfully passed his baptismal interview. He was really excited after that interview. The baptism was to be combined with a father and son who the other Elders had found and were baptizing. Jaime's daughter, who he lives with, has never been very friendly to us, however, and so far hadn't seemed concerned with what her father was doing with us. Didn't seem like a huge deal. We stopped by at 2 PM the day of the baptism and Jaime was still excited, though less than he had been. Maybe a little frazzled from a busy morning. Later, at 6 PM, (an hour before the baptism,) we have our suits on and we go to his door to walk with him to the nearby church for the big event. We knocked on his door, he answered, and said "I can't go." We thought he was joking. He assured us he wasn't. He didn't look or act at all like himself. We tried to talk to him, but all he'd say is that he didn't want to cause contention with his daughter over religion and didn't want to see us any more. Turns out she sort of manipulates him a lot and in the hours between our visits told him not to get baptized. We had some concerns about her, but had no clue he was this afraid of conflict. Thankfully it was a combined baptism, so the whole event wasn't called off.
The daughter soon apparently had a surprising change of heart and for a brief time we thought Jaime might actually get baptized after all, but he didn't. It was discouraging, but it's not the end of the world. All I know is that Satan works really hard. We have to try and work hard too, even when insane things like this happen.
Suffice it to say, it's been a hard week. But at the end of the day on Saturday, I felt content that we'd done all we could. I didn't let it get me down. I'm resolving to do better, try harder, and keep going. We had a great Sabbath yesterday too.
Hope you're all doing well.
Love,
Elder Gallagher
Pic 1 and 2: Temple trip Friday! I look uncomfortable because it was cold and windy, I hadn't showered, and I had a headache. Great trip though.
Pic 3: Newest edition.
It's been an interesting week. Before I say anything, if you read nothing else in this email, read this article I'm recommending. I just read it today and it's really great. The article is "The Temple and the Natural Order of Marriage" by Elder Bruce C. Hafen, found in the September 2015 Ensign. It is not just about marriage; it talks about Adam and Eve, temples, and sacrifice. Again, it's really good. I ask all of you to give it a read.
I've been thinking about missionary emails. We are supposed to keep our emails positive--refrain from complaining and trashing the area you're in, and I get that and I have no desire to do that--but it has the effect, I think, of making us look pretty good. Better than we are, maybe. I probably come across as some kind of spiritual guru who's on top of things. But really, I have many days sullied by difficulties, some external and many internal. It's really hard sometimes. My companion and I don't always get along, sometimes I don't know what to say during lessons, sometimes I just feel insufficient, et cetera.
But everyone who's been on a mission knows how it is already. For those who haven't, just be aware: it's not a walk in the park. It has its ups and it has its downs.
We were scheduled to have my first baptism this week. His name is Jaime, a guy Elder Knowles and I met during my first week out. We'd been working with him for nearly a month and a half and he successfully passed his baptismal interview. He was really excited after that interview. The baptism was to be combined with a father and son who the other Elders had found and were baptizing. Jaime's daughter, who he lives with, has never been very friendly to us, however, and so far hadn't seemed concerned with what her father was doing with us. Didn't seem like a huge deal. We stopped by at 2 PM the day of the baptism and Jaime was still excited, though less than he had been. Maybe a little frazzled from a busy morning. Later, at 6 PM, (an hour before the baptism,) we have our suits on and we go to his door to walk with him to the nearby church for the big event. We knocked on his door, he answered, and said "I can't go." We thought he was joking. He assured us he wasn't. He didn't look or act at all like himself. We tried to talk to him, but all he'd say is that he didn't want to cause contention with his daughter over religion and didn't want to see us any more. Turns out she sort of manipulates him a lot and in the hours between our visits told him not to get baptized. We had some concerns about her, but had no clue he was this afraid of conflict. Thankfully it was a combined baptism, so the whole event wasn't called off.
The daughter soon apparently had a surprising change of heart and for a brief time we thought Jaime might actually get baptized after all, but he didn't. It was discouraging, but it's not the end of the world. All I know is that Satan works really hard. We have to try and work hard too, even when insane things like this happen.
Suffice it to say, it's been a hard week. But at the end of the day on Saturday, I felt content that we'd done all we could. I didn't let it get me down. I'm resolving to do better, try harder, and keep going. We had a great Sabbath yesterday too.
Hope you're all doing well.
Love,
Elder Gallagher
Pic 1 and 2: Temple trip Friday! I look uncomfortable because it was cold and windy, I hadn't showered, and I had a headache. Great trip though.
Pic 3: Newest edition.
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