"I Am Glad to Have Shared in Your Perils" (1/7/2019)

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Dear friends and family,

Something I forgot to mention last week--we went to tract a country road that we hadn't been on before. We didn't see a close place to park so we parked and walked a bit of a distance. Weren't a ton of houses on the street, it turned out. We knocked maybe four of them before we decided it was time to turn back. When we get back to the main road, a sheriff's car pulls up and stops in front of us. He gets out and tells us that somebody called them about two suspicious people in the area, and he guessed that it was referring to us. So yeah, I had the civil authorities called on me for the first time! I'd heard of that happening to other missionaries but this was a first for me. He was really nice though; after he ran our IDs he gave us a ride in his car back up the road to our parked car. Pretty crazy.

So, this week's big news is that Jon passed his baptismal interview yesterday and the baptism will be on Saturday! Jon has grown quite a bit and is doing really well. The ward has done a good job of welcoming him into the ward. By next week he will be a member of the Church. So expect pictures! Please pray that it all goes well because our Ward Mission Leader is out of town and neither of us is too experienced at setting up a baptism.

Something I have been thinking about lately... I think it started from reading a letter my brother sent me wherein he said he remembers being spit at and called "deceived" while he was on his mission, but that he is "confident those attacks were directed toward Christ."

So that got me thinking about a line from The Hobbit. (It's a favorite book of mine, you've probably never heard of it.) Don't worry, I'm going somewhere spiritual with this. Now forgive me, I don't remember the difference between the movie quote and the book quote--it's been too long. Anyway, in the scene Thorin is on his deathbed and the main character Bilbo comes to see his dying friend after they've been through a number of adventures and escaped multiple dangers together. Thorin apologizes for putting his friend through such peril. Bilbo responds with something like this: "I am glad to have shared in your perils...it is far more than any Baggins deserves".

"I am glad to have shared in your perils."

I rejoice that I have been counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ's name. I am glad to have shared in the perils of Jesus Christ, just as I know that He is glad to have shared in mine.

It is definitely far more than I deserve.

Love,
Elder Gallagher

Pics: - Way back in Vegas with my trainer Elder Knowles c. January 2018
- "Satan Says..."

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