Weekly Email # 41 - Conquering Roadblocks and Loving Rejection

You know that saying, "There's no comfort in the growth zone and there is no growth in the comfort zone"? 
Yep, there has been no comfort this week. Haha!

How's it going everyone? This week has been a difficult one in terms of getting over fears, growing a lot 
and dealing with things that you simply don't want to deal with. In my last email, I talked about how
much I disliked driving and how now I am the designated driver for our companionship until Elder Blanchard completes a test and our vehicle coordinator gives back his driving privileges. It's funny how these
things work.

Well this can be one of those, "I told you so" moments from my mom and dad, who have been... Encouraging me to start driving and getting comfortable with it out here. And it honestly hasn't been that bad. Truth be told I was so freaking nervous when I found out that I had to drive basically halfway across the mission to get to Zone Conference (116 miles round trip), and then travel quickly to our dinner and then to our lesson which are on opposite borders of our area. 170 mile day. No big deal.

And I have been driving ever since. I don't write this to brag, but it's good for me to reflect on it. I have prayed really hard this past week just simply because I was scared. I remember saying, "Heavenly Father, I know this is really stupid, but will you please help me feel comfortable in getting over this fear?" Ever since I said that prayer,
and the many more after that, I have never felt more relaxed, yet focused, behind the wheel. This was a confirmation to me that God cares about EVERY particular thing in our lives, regardless of how
ridiculous they may appear to be.

Investigator Update- Again, no one came to Church yesterday. I personally think we didn't do enough this week to get people to Church. But we have a few solid investigators that can be baptized and we need to help them to take the right steps. Those right steps include us teaching, the Law of Chastity, Word of Wisdom, Keeping
Commitments, and exercising faith. Let's just say it is going to be a busy week!

While I have been here in the Mount Vernon Ward, we have started a monthly tradition with the youth. That is, every first Wednesday of the month, the priests, teachers, and deacons come out and do missionary work with us. And every single time they have come out with us, they only remember one thing. The tracting. Haha so it doesn't
really matter if we plan lessons for them to come with us, they always remember the 10-15 minutes we spend with them doing tracting.

Elder Blanchard and I took Matthew Scoresby, a 17 year old priest that is preparing to go on a mission next year. We went to a local street, parked the car (very precisely and parallel, I might add) and started knocking doors. Due to the limited 8 minutes we had to knock, we were only able to knock on 6 doors. Every door answered, except for the one that Matthew knocked on. Haha I felt bad, because you could just tell from looking at him that he was SUPER nervous. But he probably wasn't complaining that the door he knocked didn't answer. Haha

We get to our last door and I get the great privilege of knocking on this door so that I can set an example for Matthew. A lady named Lacie answered the door and I honestly can't even tell you what went on in
the conversation. That's probably the most comfortable I've ever felt in a door knocking scenario. As I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, you could tell that she definitely was denying the feelings that she was feeling. We spent the next 15-20 minutes at her door step just talking to her about the Gospel.

Even though we ended up dropping her just yesterday because she wasn't interested, it still was good to try and get a little bit more comfortable with tracting. Haha slowly, but surely.

It's been a hard week. But I'm grateful for the fact that I don't need to face these challenges and trials alone. If I take anything away from the mission, it'll be just that. Since I first entered the MTC, I've recognized the Lord's hand in my life so much, that it would simply be inexplicably impossible for me to deny such experiences. I
hope you all can do the same. To look for the Lord's hand in your life. It's brought me much happiness and I know it can do the same, if not, more for you.

Have a splendid week! Love you all, thanks a bunch to you lovely people!

Elder Galbraith

Me and Elder Walker (Zone Leader) went to Whits Ice Cream on exchanges!
Best Ice cream in Ohio!

 Blanchard and I making some breakfast.

Weekly Email # 40 - Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the awesome moms out there! Because of you all, all us missionaries are safe and can focus on the work out here. I'm grateful for all the moms that I have met out here for their love and friendship. And of course I can't forget my fantastic mommy. :) Thank you for all you do.

Our Skype call was the best. It was good to see all the familia and their smiling faces. I can't believe I only have two more Skype calls now. During our Skype call, we talked about driving and how since I've been out, I haven't driven yet. And anyone that knows me knows that I do not like driving. Well just a few minutes ago, Elder Blanchard got his driving privileges taken away for at least until Zone Conferences which is this Wednesday. That means.... Well... Yep. I'm driving. Haha. ugh. It's a good thing I guess. Just freaking nervous, that's all. Haha

We had no investigators at Church yesterday. Three of them cancelled at the last minute because of family reasons. Hopefully they'll come this next week.

This'll be a shorter email this week. Just worn out a little bit. See you all next week! Thanks for all your encouragement. Missionary work gets hard!

Elder Galbraith

Sent from my iPad

Weekly Email # 39 - 9 months!!

Holy Moly, I'm not a greenie anymore.

Wassup! Another week in the books for Mount Vernon. And with transfers being tomorrow, it turns out I will be staying in Mount Vernon for another 6 weeks. 

I hit my nine month mark tomorrow.. I can't use the, "I'm too young for this question" response at Zone Training Meetings anymore. Haha not that I did anyways.... :) But really though, the amount of studying and knowledge I have accumulated over these last 273 days has been an eye opener.

Something that has really intrigued me is my study of modern day apostles and prophets. I didn't realized how freaking awesome Church history is. I'm hooked more than most of you are on Facebook, Netflix and Instagram combined! I love seeing how these messengers of God live their lives, especially when they were around my age. I marvel at all the stories they gather together after their periods of time on Earth. I've certainly been intrigued with President Woodruff and his journal writings. Just the fact that after joining the Church, he NEVER missed a day of writing in his journal after that. Simply amazing. I'm sure some of you have read this experience from Wilford Woodruff when he was serving as a missionary in England, but I can't help and not share it with you.

“I will here relate what took place in my own experience. I was in Staffordshire in the year 1840. I was in the town of Stanley and held a meeting in the City Hall. I had a week’s appointments out in that town. Before I rose to speak to the people, the Spirit of the Lord said to me, ‘This is the last meeting you will hold with this people for many days.’ I told the congregation when I arose what the Spirit of the Lord had manifested to me. They were as much surprised as I was. I did not know what the Lord wanted, but I saw the purpose of God afterwards. The Spirit of the Lord said to me, ‘Go south.’ I traveled eighty miles; went into the south of England. As soon as I arrived, I met John Benbow. It was clearly made manifest to me why I had been called thither. I had left a good field, where I was baptizing every night in the week. When I got to this place, I found a people--some 600 of them--who had … formed themselves into a sect called the United Brethren. I found that they were praying for light and truth and that they had gone about as far as they could go. I saw that the Lord had sent me to them. I went to work amongst them and ultimately baptized their superintendent, forty preachers and some 600 members. …
Altogether some 1800 were baptized in that field of labor. … I name these things to show how we have to be governed and led by the revelations of God day by day. Without this we can do nothing”
-Wilford Woodruff

Sweet, huh?! The mission has helped me understand a lot of the doctrine of the Church and I'm excited for the many personal studies to come!

Investigator Update - Dimito came to church this past Sunday! He enjoyed it, he was sorta quiet but said he'd like to come back with his family, which is exactly what we wanted. We are going to extend a baptismal date this week and hopefully he will continue to progress. Also, April and Vicky, two of our investigators, accepted a date for the 28th of May. They have a couple concerns that are... Well.. Concerning. Haha but we have faith they can push through them. We received a couple of referrals from other missionaries in different areas and these people they were teaching are very promising so I'm excited for the future. Plus, the Ward has expressed their support and has aided us quite a bit!

That's it for me this week! Can't wait to Skype the family!

Elder Galbraith

Sent from my iPad

Weekly Email # 38 - Baptize all the children!

Hey Ya'll :)

Zayden got baptized this past Saturday. Cool story with him. He just turned 8 a few months ago, and he goes to church actively with his grandma. His father was a member who passed away a few years ago, and his mom is not a member. He's got an eagerness for the Gospel, which is something you don't see too often in youth or younger members. I know when I was his age that I didn't enjoy and envelope Church or anything that was a branch of it. I mentioned all of this and more last week, but I just think it's really good for him to receive these lessons so that he can look back on this experience as he grows up. He's going to be a very strong youth. Man, I sound like an old fart.

Clothing Update - 85% of my stuff remains in tact... I don't want to talk about the other 15%. Haha nothing is quite like shopping at Good Will's or Salvation Army or Dollar Tree. There are a few Nordstrom Racks in the mission so whenever we go on a temple trip or something, we find ways to make.. detours to get to those places :) #penguinties

Weather Update - Absolutely awesome right now. Mid 50's to 60's this past week and a half. I think we are going to celebrate and do some fishing this morning!

Investigator update - With the Mount Vernon area having boundary changes in a couple of weeks, most likely 40-50 percent of our investigators will go to other missionaries. It stinks but it helps us out a lot because we have the 3rd or 4th biggest area in the whole mission. That's a lot for two companionship's.

We are working with a man who lives in the south west part of our area. It's a 50 mile round trip every time we go and visit Dimito. But he's awesome. He's recovering from a gambling addiction and wants the best for him and his family. We told him we got the best thing he could ever want and that really sparked his interest! Haha he's committed to coming to church with his family next Sunday and he's reading the Book of Mormon on a regular basis.

I'm sorry I don't go into too much detail with these emails. Emails just simply can't get the story across as much as I would like it to. There will be ALOT stories to tell when departures come around.

Have a fantastic week! Here's a cool quote I read the other day.

"Prayer keeps us ever mindful of our dependence on God. It is so easy to forget our present blessings as we pursue new blessings. In our Church meetings we recount our own blessings, and as we hear the blessing of others, we both feel and see the accumulations of affection from God to his people." - Neal A Maxwell

Elder Galbraith

Sent from my iPad

Weekly Email # 37 - Service. Lots of it.

Heyo!

This weeks been crazy in terms of service and helping out others. I
know Elder Blanchard and I have done at least 18 hours of service
since last Monday. On top of that, we are planned on doing even more
this week! So pumped. And it's gotten to 84 degrees as of yesterday,
so I've gotten a little bit of a tan and some additional muscle!
👏👏👊👊💪💪🙏🙏

Just yesterday, actually, half of the mission went down to OSU campus
to plant 400 trees! It was a ton of work to get done in three hours
and I was surprised that we finished in only two hours! I'll be sure
to send pictures once President and Sister Daines get them out to us
missionaries.

We have a baptism this Saturday! His names Zayden, who just recently
turned 8. He lives his grandma who's a member. This is a very special
case scenario because his father was a member who passed away and his
mom is not a member. We talked to President Daines about whether or
not this would be a convert baptism and if he needs to take the
missionary lessons. President took this situation to Salt Lake and
told us to not teach him.

A few days later, he gives us a call and apologizes and says he is
actually a convert baptism and he needs to take the lessons. Haha so
in only a week and a half, we have taught him four out of the five
lessons so he can be baptized this Saturday. Our first lesson
consisted of the first three lessons and ALL of their principles. So
we basically taught the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, and the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in 45 minutes. Not too shabby :) he's a great
kid, and I'm excited for this weekend.

This will be a short email, so I'll send some pictures to make up for
the lack of words.

Love you all!

Elder G

Sent from my iPad

This is in Newark, Ohio. A golf course was made on top of these Indian

burial mounds. I've been told they might come from those crazy

Nephites and Lamanites.  Don't know for sure.

Some good ol' fishin

Stahle family and missionaries

Weekly Email # 36 - The week after GC

Hey Everyone!


I will be in Mount Vernon at least until May 5th. I hope to stay longer though. These people are so great and awesome. I have said that in my past two areas though. Kinda scared I just jinxed myself again. Haha!

My comps name is Elder Blanchard. He's a cowboy from southern Idaho who only has a few months left on the mission. but he's a good kid.

Just a quick update, every Amish in this Ward loves BYU :) Go Cougars! Haha.

And also, Elder Pike who used to serve here in Columbus, is now on the BYU Volleyball team and he's basically famous over here. The Amish's favorite sport is volleyball so since they get BYUTv for General Conference, it's a win win and they can also watch them Mormon boys spike their opponents! Okay, enough of that soap box.

I hope you were able to enjoy General Conference and take a million pages of notes, and not fall asleep for a single session because that's the first time I have ever accomplished such a feat! Of course my favorite talk was Elder Holland's! But President Uchtdorf, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Christofferson has been moving up on the "Elder Galbraith Ladder". Even though that's not much of a ladder... I'm still grateful for inspired prophets and apostles who create unique messages for us to listen and apply in our own individual lives. You might have liked Elder Bednar's talk or Sister Oscarson's talk, (I'm going to be using that one with some less active's. Time to get bold.) but that's the great thing about this Semi-Annual gathering. It caters to what YOU need in YOUR life. As it says in the 2 Nephi 26:8

"But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all persecution--behold, they are they which shall not perish."

I hope and pray we can all do just that. Not just listen to them once and call it good but really think, ponder, and DO the things our beloved apostles have instructed us to do. Also, I give a shout out to President Monson. He continues to be the inspiring leader that we need in this Church. It strengthens my testimony to see him testify of that which he knows will benefit us.

I was able to watch General Conference at multiple Ward member's homes and I'm very grateful for them all. They've definitely helped me out A TON out here. Mount Vernon is definitely my favorite area so far and I consider it a home away from home.

Question for you all. What is your FAVORITE quote from General Conference? I'm interested to see. Mine would definitely have to be,

"My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength--that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength"

But wait, it gets better!!!!!!!

"He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth “that all things work together for good to them that love God.” So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." - Elder Holland

See look! I even have a beautiful picture quote!

(I know, I know, I have Beiber Fever for Holland. He's just that good.)

I think I've made my point clear. Love you all. Thanks for everything you have done and continue to do. As I try to as much as I can in every weekly email, I love you and I thank you for your continuous support for me, a little missionary trying his best to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Elder Galbraith

Sent from my iPad

Weekly NOT Email # 35

Sorry mom, no weekly email this week. I'm going to create a bunch of
time to email you and the rest of the family instead.

Hope you had a good conference! I know I did and it's been a great experience
over here in Mount Vernon.

Love and miss you.

Elder G

Sent from my iPad