Weekly Email # 86 - Don't survive the day, SEIZE the day

Hey Everyone!

Well like I was telling my mom, the stress has begun. Haha that is because I started working on classes and registration and all those wonderful things that bring college students happiness. Haha so that means I don't have a weekly prepared for today. Hope these pics are cool! I'll try and make up for it next week! Love you all!

Elder Galbraith
The Great OCM
"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." - Lloyd Jones

Pics!

1. Hoover Dam! Sorry Utah, Ohio has one too!

2. You know you're on OSU campus on a friday afternoon when the bars start getting crowded! Elder Harward and I got invited over by some girls who were there. So we walked away and I took this sneaky pic of them. Haha #MissionaryHungry

3, 4, and 5. Pics of the District!
Top : Elder Parkinson, Elder Forster, Elder Clement, Elder Miller, Elder Evans
Bottom : Elder Thompson, Me, Elder Jepson, Sister McClellan, Sister Nielson

Weekly Email # 85 - Don't survive the day, SEIZE the day!

My weekly email header is what happens when you go to bed one night, can't sleep AT ALL, and you start thinking about what you want for the rest of the mission. Let me tell you that was a long night. Haha and maybe I needed to have that. I still have quite a bit of time to go, and now I am slowly realizing that there will come a time that I won't be able to wear the name tag anymore. Anyways, just thought I'd throw you into the mind of Elder Galbraith for a split second, and that probably was too much. Haha let's get into the week!

We had a lot of stuff go on this week. Tracting for days, Getting New Investigators, Interviews with President, Service at My Very Own Blanket AND moving out a member, Attending a Family Discovery Day with an investigator, and a missionary fireside with the youth of the Ward! Constantly busy with a lot of variety, which means a lot of good stories for the journal! I'll share a couple with you.

With Jonathan leaving a couple weeks ago, we've been trying to find some solid people and we found a cool couple a few days ago. Their names are Kari and Patrick! Kari has been taught by missionaries before because she is a referral from her member neighbors, the Davis's, who befriended her. She is dating Patrick, who became interested in the church when he met with Kari's member neighbor's. We had a quick sit down lesson this week and taught about the Book of Mormon and Prayer and also answered their questions, which was awesome. They weren't able to make it to church yesterday for a number of reasons, but they want to come to church together and we'll continue meeting with them to learn more about their needs and concerns. Yay! The teaching pool isn't as dismal anymore! Haha

We also had a youth fireside yesterday night at Brother Varney's home, who is a counselor in the Bishopric. We went downstairs into their basement where the youth sat together around and on the couch, while the leaders sat towards the side of the room and us three sets of missionaries sat in a row as if we were doing a panel. It was a way cool experience! The youth sent us questions and the one that got a lot of attention and concern was, "Do you have someone waiting for you back at home?" Hahaha man, that was quite the conversation. Don't worry, there was some spiritual stuff in there too. Haha I got to share Sarah's (one of my recent converts) conversion story and how grateful I was to be apart of that great experience. The youth are freaking awesome, I really love being around them and helping them out with all the crazy stuff they deal with.

That's it for me this week! Keep in touch! Love hearing from you guys! Keep being awesome! Have a great week!

Elder Galbraith
The Great OCM
"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." - Lloyd Jones

Pics!
1. Mission Pic of Elder Stevenson's recent visit!

2. Peanut butter noodles and orange chicken! Sister Smith is an angel! 😇😇😇

Weekly Email # 84 - Elder Stephenson, Conferences, More Sickness and Roast for Breakfast

What's up?? I feel like last P-day was yesterday. I wanna tell you about the a couple of amazing things that happened this week!

We had Zone Conferences this past Wednesday which was actually really good! President Daines and our other leaders in the mission have been getting better and better at these meetings, which I really appreciate because meetings can get boring sometimes. Haha but nevertheless, I learned quite a bit this past Wednesday! We talked about urgency in the work, President Uchtdorf's, "Fourth Floor, Last Door" talk, and much more!

One last thing about Zone Conference. Since we had the conference in the New Albany church building, the Relief society from our Ward made a lunch meal for the 40+ missionaries that were there. After everyone had finished their meal, Elder Evans and I were asked to introduce them to the three zones that were in attendance. So I get in front of everyone and make the announcement and realize, hey, I can only really see one row of missionaries. That's because I am too short to see the other Elders and Sisters in the back because #ShortElderProblems. Haha but we pushed on and the Relief Society got a standing ovation and a special musical number from all us missionaries. That made a couple of the sisters cry and I think I can attribute that to them having sons and daughters on missions. Cool experience for sure!

As the week progressed, I was still feeling stomach aches and pains so we were inside more than we wanted to be. Those naps were great, don't get me wrong, but at this point in the mission, you just want to do the best you can, so we tried doing a mix of tracting, seeing Potentials and less actives, but didn't get too much success. I feel much better now and we'll be looking to improve the area A LOT this week! We'll keep pushing on!

The big highlight of the week was having Elder Stevenson come and speak to the missionaries Saturday morning! Apostles generally don't take pictures with missions due to how long they take, so we had a practice at Zone Conference and showed up Saturday morning 45 minutes early so we could set up for the picture. To prepare that morning, they lined every Elder and Sister up on opposite sides of the gym from Tallest to Shortest, which meant I was at the end of the line. Yep, everyone (myself included) found out I am the shortest Elder in the mission.... 🎉🎉🎉😢😭🤧🤧🤧 Good thing at least half Sisters are shorter than me, otherwise I'd get #ShortElderProblems trending everywhere. Hahaha so when you go to see the mission picture on the Facebook page, I will be one the 11 Elders sitting on the ground, cross legged, in the bottom left corner. Nuff said.

Well Elder Stevenson came in just as we were finishing up the set up and its crazy to think that me, Elder Galbraith, another Mormon from Provo Utah got to watch him, listen to him, and shake his hand. Talk about power. I just shook the hand of an Apostle of Jesus Christ. We then funneled through into the chapel where we heard Sister and President Daines bear wonderful testimonies, Elder Bennett, a general authority from the Seventy accompanying Elder Stevenson spoke and then Elder Stevenson followed after. No one could deny the flooding of the Spirit in that meeting. Like many others in attendance, my favorite part of the meeting was Elder Stevenson bearing his POWERFUL testimony. He is dedicating the REST of his life to the Savior, and I couldn't be more thankful for his encouragement, his love, and his deep desire to share the Gospel. Let's just say that I will be thinking about that meeting for a long time.

Missions are hard. But when you have a week like I did this past week, you can't help but accept the challenge that that statement brings, and strive to improve. The Gospel is so true, it is simply impossible to deny that.

Have a great week, everyone! Your thoughts and prayers are very appreciated. Keep being awesome!

Elder Galbraith
The Great OCM
"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." - Lloyd Jones

Pics!

1. Another pic of us at My Very Own Blanket. Elder Evans, Elder Esplin, Elder Lamb, Me

2. You can't tell how rainy it was in this picture, but we got DRENCHED!

Weekly Email # 83 - Saying Goodbye, Still Small, Stake Conference, Apostle Meet Up

Hey Everyone! A lot happened this week! Here we go.

We did quite a bit of contacting and finding the first few days. There's quite a bit of less actives in our part of the Ward so we are continuing to see them and work with them. One in particular was the Godwins, a family that originally was marked active in our AreaBook, but we quickly realized that they aren't active. We taught a lesson to them and then learned that they were on and off with activity and with the boundary changes, they fell out of the loop and didn't really know anyone in the new ward. They also have a 12 year old granddaughter living with them that isn't baptized. We hope to continue to keep working with them and their home-teachers and bring them back into the fold.

I had to say goodbye to Jonathan, Kelly and Riley. I have talked about them several times in past emails because they are just that awesome! This past weekend they moved out of their home in our area and into their new home in Pickerington, about 20 minutes away from us but in an entirely different Stake and Zone. I'm glad we can use email as a way of staying in contact with people like Jonathan and his family, otherwise this would've been a WAY sadder day. Their family has made a great impact on me and has built in me a new desire to do better as a missionary and as a person. I'll always remember that, "When life punches you in the face, punch it back!" Good times man. I know Jonathan and his family will be in good hands.

We continued to do more finding and building up our teaching pool. We have some cool people right now and I am excited to keep working with them! Also, we have been in the process of moving apartments, so we've had absolute zero success looking for one because they are all rich homes and neighborhoods that don't have any apartment complexes. Maybe one day we'll find one. Hahaha living at the VERY bottom of an 8 mile long biking area takes its tole on you after a while. Hahaha

Also, Stake Conference was this past weekend which was freaking sick! We weren't able to go to the Saturday Session, I guess missionaries weren't allowed to go that day, but we went on Sunday. Since I have been in the Stake for more than the past year, I got to see some members in my former areas! It was so awesome to see the Mount Vernon and the Zanesville peeps again! And not only did that happen, but the talks/testimonies were some of the best I have heard! Elder Calderwood, an Area Seventy, was the concluding speaker and offered some great insights into the Book of Mormon that I never had thought about before. Sadly we weren't able to get any investigators to enjoy it with us. We did get a couple of less actives which was good at least.

But I forgot to mention, the Zone got to perform a missionary musical number in Stake Conference. We had one practice session during the week and then one more practice an hour before Stake Conference. So we get there early and I get the seat right where the camera would catch the speaker and the few choir singers, aka me. I remembered Elder Halverson doing it last Stake Conference, so I had to follow in his footsteps. Haha but as choir practice was going along, the sisters filled the row in front of us and I couldn't see Sister Hall, the choir director, because #ShortPeopleProblems. Well, Sister Hall noticed this too so in the middle of the practice with people starting to fill the pews in the chapel, she stops the practice and says something to the effect of, "Elder I can't see you, you are too short. Let's have Elders and Sisters move around so I can see you." Thanks Sister Hall. Haha don't worry, she is still one of my favorites and she gave the congregation and the missionaries quite a good laugh about it. I am basically famous for being 5'4, its great. Haha it was a fun time.

Love you all! Have a good week! Here's me trying to do a better job at sending pics!

P.S. - We have Elder Gary E Stevenson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles coming to the mission this Saturday! Finally, after being a missionary for 19 months and reading everyones weekly's about meeting different apostles, I finally get to meet one! Super pumped for that! Sorry, I have to rub it in :)

Pics!

1. Making Pizza with the Young Men!

2. More Pizza and More Young Men.

3. Contacting in the snow! It only really snowed one day this week and we didn't even get 2-3 inches. Thanks Utah.

4. Me, Elder Miller, Elder Jepson, and Elder Evans were some of the people that helped Jonathan move this past weekend. Good good times.