Weekly Email # 16 Thanksgiving Time!

Happy Holidays everyone! I think it finally hit me that it's getting colder and that means Christmas is just around the corner! But even before that, Thanksgiving!

Kind of a interesting story. On Saturday night, Elder Liu prayed during one of our studies that when we passed out our meal calendar on Sunday during church that someone would feed us for thanksgiving. When Sunday rolled around he made sure that we went to every quorum to hand

out our meal calendar. Haha he dragged me around for the most part. But for all that effort no one signed up for Thanksgiving.

And then this morning we got a call at 7:30 from an older lady in our Ward! She offered to feed us this Saturday a thanksgiving dinner because she will be out of town on Thursday. We graciously accepted and I think Liu jumped around for about 15 minutes in glee until he realized that his rice has been cooking for 7 minutes too long. Hahaha! I was laughing so hard. It's been a good P-Day so far :)

Speaking of Church on Sunday, guess what I did? Gave my first twenty minute talk, that's what! And might I say, I think it went pretty well. I didn't even use a computer to help me out! There was quite a

lot of people that told me how great of a talk it was. And also how humble I am!

I had my first Zone Conference this past weekend. Elder Cardon from the Seventy came and he gave an excellent couple of talks. Elder Cardon uses a variety of scriptures when he speaks and I'll share a

couple with you guys that I found very applicable to my life. He even used my mission scripture, D&C 42 : 6!

I was pretty proud.

D&C 88 : 84,85

84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be

perfected in your ministry to go forth among the Gentiles for the last

time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bind up the law

and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of

judgment which is to come;

85 That their souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of

abomination which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the

world to come. Verily, I say unto you, let those who are not the first

elders continue in the vineyard until the mouth of the Lord shall call

them, for their time is not yet come; their garments are not clean

from the blood of this generation.

2 Timothy 2:1-4

1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the

same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others

also.

3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this

life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

I don't think I have mentioned this before but the week before I got

to Ohio, Elder Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to

speak to the mission. And EVERYONE was talking about it for weeks. Now

my friends from some other missions are getting the opportunity to

have Apostles over and I'm sitting here, listening to my Mission

President tell all of us, "that was a once in a lifetime opportunity."

:(

Did any of you who previously serve missions ever have a General

Authority come to your mission?

Love you all! Pictures to come!

P.S. - Just a reminder if you could send Elder Liu a Happy Thanksgiving email, I would very much appreciate it. He is my favorite companion by far and he truly tries to do his best 24/7. I think it would really help him to see people support him in his journey. Thank you! 

We burned Elder Liu's tie for his 6 month mark he hit a couple of weeks ago! Then there is Elder Anfinson, and Elder Eason, they both came out with me from the MTC. Cool dudes!

Brad and us. He is an investigator and is dating Sis. Staley from the pic below.  He's freaking great!

A less active family named Staleys! They are really nice and crazy.

Couple of pics of downtown Columbus. 

We got a found a Christmas tree in our closet. It truly is a Christmas
miracle. And it's like a foot tall. Awesome.

UNCLE RANDY Speaks Spanish?? Wow.

UNCLE RANDY IS IN A MORMON MESSAGE??? When did this happen??

Elder G

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Weekly Email # 15 - Starting Over Again

For the 15th time, hello everybody!

So there's been some changes..

I got transferred for the first time last Thursday. When I received the news that I'd be leaving and Elder Bunker would be staying in Canal Winchester, it hit me really hard. I didn't want to leave Canal. Haha! Like I've said a million times already, that ward is freaking spectacular! I'm sad to be gone, but at least I'm not too far away in my second area.

Ladies and Gentleman, I'm in the realms of a new arena. Yep. The famous metropolis known as Marble Cliff...... Yes, I too can hear the crickets in the background.

This area is a neighboring town of Canal Winchester, about 15'ish minutes away from it. Here are some of the Pros.

Pros
- Nice Ward! Not as nice as Canal, but the people are so friendly and loving, I can't possibly say anything bad about them. Yet.
- This is the only area, other than on campus, that missionaries get to serve in downtown! We went into Columbus yesterday after church and it was cool to be able to take all the sights in! I can't wait to go back soon!
- This is a FULL TIME CAR AREA!!!! YES!! No more biking down 60 mph roads in the down pouring rain for the next 5 weeks! The Lord truly answers our prayers. The church is true.
- We got Wifi from a neighbor so that means we don't have to McDonald's every morning to check our emails!
- We go to the Stake Center that is sitting side by side to the Temple! So the three meetings we have throughout the week means I get to see the temple that many times! I'm so glad!
-New Companion! Yes I'm sad to be leaving Elder Bunker but I'm excited for this new companionship!

My companions name is Elder Liu (pronounced Loo)! He is twenty six years old, the oldest missionary in the Columbus mission! He's from China (who could have guessed) and he's the same height as me! He became a member of the Church 4 years ago and decided to go on a mission. He's been out for 6 months and he's quite the stereotypical Chinese man. He makes me laugh and he's the hardest working missionary I've been around yet. These next 5 weeks will be good! He's basically the Chinese version of my dad. Hahaha!

Since he and his family are from China, it's hard for them to send him packages and letters due to the expense. He is the only person from his family that is a member from the church so they don't understand how to communicate with missionaries.

I was thinking you all could send him some emails this Thanksgiving. He doesn't know I'm doing this. It doesn't have to be a long email but I'm sure he will appreciate any remarks you give him. Like I mentioned before, it was hard for me to leave Canal, but he helped me feel comfortable and he's helped me out so much in the four days I've known him. He's a great example to me and I feel bad that while I'm emailing family and friends that he is not.

His email is  Jiannan.liu@myldsmail.net

Thank you all for your love. This has definitely been the hardest week of my mission so far due to everything that has been happening. I've been trying to get used to change and it's been getting better, as long as I continue to rely on the Lord. Oh and your emails and letters are great too :)

Colby,

Hey bro. One more thing. I have an assignment for you. Read the talk,
"The Question of a Mission" by Gordon B. Hinckley. It's an awesome
talk, I know you'll like it. For me it helps to listen to the talk
rather than read it.

Have a good week bud!

Elder G

Shout out to Aimee Boshard for the sweet new tie! I HAD to go and get
Taco Bell and celebrate. Let's hope I don't spill any Cool Ranch Taco
on it! Keep me in your prayers! Love you all!

Last day with Elder Bunker

Me and Elder Liu. After we are done with planning, every night he pulls out his 'victory cigars' to celebrate a hard working day. Don't worry, it's only a vanilla wafer roll. They are DELICIOUS!

GAY Street???

I'm gonna miss this crazy family. The saying is true that you create relationships
and memories with people that will last forever when you go on a mission.

Weekly Email # 14 - End of Transfer # 2

Hey all!

I want share with you a very powerful testimony from President Monson.
I forget which talk he gave this in but it is so great I had to share
it.

      "My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and
honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with
gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven.

    As I close this morning, it is my prayer that in addition to all
else for which we are grateful, we may ever reflect our gratitude for
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His glorious gospel provides
answers to life’s greatest questions: Where did we come from? Why are
we here? Where do our spirits go when we die? That gospel brings to
those who live in darkness the light of divine truth.

    He taught us how to pray. He taught us how to live. He taught us
how to die. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the
downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved.

    Ultimately, He stood alone. Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed
Him. The Roman soldiers pierced His side. The angry mob took His life.
There yet rings from Golgotha’s hill His compassionate words: “Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

    Who was this “man of sorrows, … acquainted with grief”? Who is
this King of glory, this Lord of lords? He is our Master. He is our
Savior. He is the Son of God. He is the Author of Our Salvation. He
beckons, “Follow me.” He instructs, “Go, and do thou likewise.” He
pleads, “Keep my commandments.”

    Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His
words. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude."

-President Thomas S. Monson

As I've looked back on these last 14 weeks, I'm grateful for all the experiences I've had, both good and bad. Now onto some of the many highlights! Time to catch up!

Elder Uchtdorf said something that stuck out to me in one of his talks.

"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed.

Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness."

When I read that it I realized how much it applied to me and my past life experiences.

Today, I find out if I'm getting transferred out of Canal Winchester.Personally, I want to stay. My companion is becoming a District Leader! That's crazy. He was hoping he would become junior companion haha but we both knew that wouldn't happen for a second. We are both thinking he will leave and I will stay here in Canal.

- UPDATE!!! 
 I will be getting transferred tomorrow. My companion is staying
here in Canal. I'm sad about leaving, but I'm excited to explore more
of Columbus! I've made a lot of friends here and I'm glad this was my
first area.

That reminds me, I'm officially done with training as of two days ago! I'm no longer a greenie! YES! I'm so pumped. No longer will missionaries look down on me as a newbie..

They'll just look down on me, that's all.   :)

We've been getting a few new investigators, it's just a matter of teaching them all the lessons and seeing that change of heart. I've been working really hard on using the scriptures more and building my testimony.

I need to start taking pictures of the unique places I go. One weird thing about Ohio is that people put Chili on top of spaghetti. Even though it's weird, I like it! 

I'll have to bring you and mom over here so we can explore everything. 

             Asian Chipotle....... Omgosh!

#MissionaryMomentOfTheDay

More pics with the Seagars! Can't get enough of them.

We got to go with Matt and Ashley Seagar for his first temple trip last Friday!
 Such an awesome experience and such an awesome couple.
 Shout out to them for dealing with 8 kids every day!

Us and the Seagar family! They are crazy, fun and energetic!
 Love them to death because they remind me of family back home.

This is Anita! She's been a member and hasn't gone to church in over 40 years. She's been through a lot and when we had our first lesson with her she was crying. It was a very spiritual experience. Good news though, she's been coming the last month and is taking the missionary lessons again! She's awesome!

As a mission, we are reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover and we are supposed to be finished on Dec 22. This has been really great for me personally, because of my lack of scriptural knowledge. I stumbled on Alma 26 and there was a couple of really good scriptures that I love to death. Ammon has become one of my favorite heroes because he's so passionate and humble. 

Here are verses 11 and 12.

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in
my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with
joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak;
therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for
in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles
we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name
forever.

Another cool thing that's been happening in the mission is a mission wide photo sharing thing. We can post pictures to our Columbus, Ohio mission group and other missionaries can see them. It's awesome to be able to see how my MTC buds are doing in different parts of Columbus.

This last weekend, one of our former investigators, Benjamin, got baptized by some Sister missionaries in a nearby ward! He is from Liberia and had moved into Canal Winchester with his family. We found him and ended up teaching him 3 lessons before we lost contact with him. Then just a couple weeks ago, the sisters surprisingly found him in their Ward because he had moved back a while ago! We were invited to his baptism and got to share a wonderful experience with him. It's crazy how the Lord finds a way for these lost children to come unto Christ.






My testimony is strengthened day by day. I hope you all try and do that for yourselves as well. This is a glorious time that we live in.

Thanks for your positivity and your encouragement. The work continues!

Have the time of your life!

Elder Galbraith

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Weekly Email #13 - Happy Halloween!

Yo Yo!

Happy Belated Halloween to you all! My Halloween was great and I hope all of yours was as well! They celebrate this holiday really weirdly here.

Each city celebrates Halloween on a different week. You aren't allowed to trick or treat on the actual day of Halloween, only the week you are assigned. It's really weird. Ironically, this year I probably got the most candy. Haha I say it every week, but these people are so amazing and so caring.

These emails are turning into apologetic emails. Sorry for this short email. Thank you for your constant support. It means the world to me.

Love you all! Elder G

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