Triangular Sandwiches (5/20/2019)

Dear friends and family,

There's so much to talk about this week. We'll take it in sections.

• Basic updates from this week

I went on exchanges with the Nepali elders. Always lots of fun. Something pretty cool happened: I got a Nepali name! Fun fact, Nepali people like to give non-Nepali-speakers nicknames that are easier for them to say. (I may have already gotten a Nepali name in the past but never wrote it down and forgot about it, to my shame.) My Nepali name is: Prakas. It means "light", so I was told.

We taught a nice Nepali family and as we did, a realization came to me... I need to marry a Nepali girl. Good golly I am spellbound. Please wait for me, Bhima! It can work. I'll get over my oversensitivity to spicy food if it means we can be together! 😭 <-- (Spicy tears) 🤧 <-- (Yet another of the millions of tissues that my nose requires at the slightest provocation, be it spicy food or springtime air)

Okay, yeah so stupid jokes aside, I met a really attractive young Nepali woman. But don't worry, I am keeping my cool with the opposite sex (now that the sisters got transferred out of my district). 😥😥😥 #PresidentKnows #PresidentPrevents

Alright now that I've thoroughly embarrassed myself, I'm really putting the stupid jokes (mostly) aside. I promise.

Other than that we taught some lessons, one to a super Catholic couple who we are meeting with again tonight. They aren't really willing to change but they're friendly and willing to talk. It's weird talking to people who don't believe priesthood authority was lost. I've almost always only taught protestants of one variety or another, or else non-Christians. We'll see how it goes.

We had a good visit with a recent convert named Tanya whose husband isn't a member and kinda resents how much time the church takes away from their lives. Tanya was telling us she didn't want to be a member anymore, which was why we suggested the visit. It was a very positive dinner-lesson, though I don't know when she's going to start coming to church again. Either way I like her a lot, we had a great time. She was really happy we came over.

• Cooking mishaps with Chef Gallagher

This was both a successful and a sad week. First I made rice pudding from a recipe on an app I discovered we're allowed to download. It took half a gallon of milk (among other ingredients) and an hour of frequent stirring to make. I made it last P-day. Technically I made two things at once: the rice pudding and a huge mess while I made the rice pudding. It turned out super good though so I guess it was worth it, clean-up notwithstanding. Rice pudding mk. 1 (part success).

Then there's rice pudding mk. 2...(total failure). I read a review of the rice pudding that said they successfully made the pudding by cooking it in a crock pot for three hours. This took longer, they said, but it didn't require constant stirring! Literally perfect for missionaries--I could start it as our dinner hour ends, work the evening, and come back three hours later to finish the recipe and have it chill overnight to eat the next day. What could go wrong?

Well, the crock pot didn't work. It made the half-gallon of rice warm alright. But that's about all it did. Set on "high". For three hours. I got sugary rice soup after three hours.

So that's the story of how I wasted a half-gallon of milk. Now that's a big dairy-err. (Puns)

Distressed, I said to myself "By George, I'll craft a confection this evening if I have to crack every egg and blend every baking mix in all 50 states!!" or something dumb like that and made cornbread muffins instead. They were a success.

• I'm so desperate for some variety to break up the monotony of my daily life that I'm cutting my sandwiches diagonally instead of horizontally

I think the title says it all. Triangular sandwiches. I'm really living it up here guys.

Wow, I really am wasting all your time aren't I? Who even reads this?

• A helpful tip

So I'm glad President Nelson made "Mormons", "LDS Church", etc. not okay to use anymore because it makes it really easy to see who cares about what the prophet says and who doesn't. Not to condemn people for mistakes or anything because we all make mistakes, especially in our speech. It takes time to un-learn something we've used all our lives. But all I'm saying is when you're reading something from somebody claiming to be a Latter-day Saint and their opinions seem a little bit suspect, check if they're trying to use the right name for the church and its members. Kinda helps you divide the wheat from the chaff a bit in my opinion.

Luke 16:10
"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much."

It's very true. We must make an effort to follow things the Lord's prophet says are very important even if our own cultural beliefs/habits would not deem them important. If you actively won't make God's words a bigger priority in your life than your personal or cultural habits, we have just found where your heart lies. Repent ye, repent ye!

• A scripture that moved me from this week's Come, Follow Me:

John 12:33-36
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
I really like this passage... Jesus doesn't answer their question. They're asking, "How can you be our Savior if you're going to perish and depart from us?" And all He tells them in response is to hold to His light while they have it, that His light may ignite their faith.

Beautiful.

• Human agency affects the future

Something I've been thinking about... I always thought of the world's events as being essentially predetermined. I knew that people have agency and can choose to obey or not, but the fact that God knows everything that will happen in the future caused me to see it as a set-in-stone timeline of fated events that will occur regardless of what we try to do.

Turns out that isn't really true. God does know everything that will happen, but He also knows everything that could happen, and He will prompt His children toward the best outcomes regardless of whether we will in the end choose them.

Now, we know that the forces of good will win in the end. But as has been said, though we know who will win, we do not know the final score. There are things that human agency will determine, important things, vital things that me, you, and everyone should be striving towards. Here are a few scriptural examples to prove that I'm not crazy:

Ether 4:6-7

6 For the Lord said unto me: They [the sealed plates] shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

Doctrine and Covenants 35:17-18

17 And I have sent forth the fulness of my gospel by the hand of my servant Joseph; and in weakness have I blessed him;

18 And I have given unto him the keys of the mystery of those things which have been sealed, even things which were from the foundation of the world, and the things which shall come from this time until the time of my coming, if he abide in me, and if not, another will I plant in his stead.

3 Nephi 26:9

And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.

Joseph Smith--Matthew 1:20

And except those days [the Last Days] should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened.

The lesson I've learned here is: don't just sit back and watch the church and the world flow on their prescribed courses. They will indeed flow, but how comfortably they flow, and who will receive blessings, depends very much on whether or not all of us choose to do good. If almost nobody is righteous from now to the time Christ comes, not only do I think it will be longer until He comes, but more suffering and wickedness will prevail upon the earth than there could otherwise have been. It is up to us--the elect according to the covenant--to shorten the time until Christ comes by striving to make the world a better place however we can.

And finally...

• Some things I've learned the past several weeks:

These are bits of random wisdom that have come to my mind or that I've recorded from others on notes I store on my device. I felt like I should share the ones from the past several weeks.

(date not recorded)

Because we know God is perfect and loving, we have the perfect assurance that He will enable us, if we continue to exercise trust in Him, to do everything that will be required of us. That is what it means to hope. Hope isn't some shaky, yet-to-be-proven thing; the grace of Jesus Christ will change you as long as you press forward resisting the temptation to give up.

(date not recorded)
"Nothing worth living for is easy."
- President Stratford
4/28/19
He knows you. You must know that.

5/5/19
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Living the gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to a happy marriage.
Eternal marriage and exaltation are one and the same! [Thanks a lot, Carl]

5/9/19
Satan's tactic: make me wallow in the past and then bring temptations from the past to my mind.
Satan wants to use you as a tool to bring others down, to ruin them. Do not let him. [This one kinda scared me.]

5/12/19
[Mother's Day advice from my family:]

Dad: Try as hard as you can to turn the negative things into positive things.
Mom: Be ALL IN.
Jacqueline: Remember that though you should strive to improve, you are enough for the Lord's love.
Silas: Remember that what seems critical and heavy and life-destroying now probably won't even be remembered later.
Eden: Failing doesn't make you a failure.

This has been one of my weirdest emails yet, probably. I hope all of you are entertained. One day I'll meet someone who believes I'm as funny as I believe I am!

Love,

Elder Gallagher

PICS:

- Our now-sisterless district photo (my trainee is on the far left)

- My notes taken from my latest listen-thru of the Belief Window talk by Hyrum Smith. So good...