Monday, March 14, 2011

No transfer for me!


Elder Morris and Elder Galbraith on P-Day a week ago. He says the reason we only see casual pictures is because they do not take pictures while they are proselyting. He says they really do work, not just play around in the snow.

Well, another week up North has passed away. The sun has shown a few times and it’s beginning to get warmer. It’s consistently just about freezing as daytime highs, which feels warm now.

Elder Morris and I are staying together for a third transfer! It’s really rare to stay with a companion for 3 transfers (4 1/2 months), but since we are like peanut butter and jelly, we are just hard to split. However, President did tell Elder Morris that he would be leaving after this upcoming transfer, which ends the end of April. So I will very likely be staying here for 6 months--at least, which I am happy about. I get all the perks of being in a foreign mission, with all the luxuries of being in the States--at the same time.

So I have a few funny stories this week. I got my Minnesota driver's license and saw my picture and thought that my neck looked thicker and I just looked a bit bigger. With that in mind: We visited a recent convert who has a 7 year old. After the lesson the 7 year old saw my scripture box and saw the picture of Brendin, Nate and I on it and asked if that was me (pointing to me). I said yes. She said I looked different. So I decided to exploit the brutal honesty of a small child. I asked her how I looked different...if I looked bigger, smaller, skinnier, fatter, different hair...She said "You look skinnier in the picture." AH! That is what a mission does to you. Now, I am not a chunker, but I am just filling out. Just filling out....Well, I wanted honesty, and I got it. I actually think its funnier more than anything.

But that is not the end of the story. The recent convert grabbed the box and saw the picture of my sister and I. She asked if that was my girlfriend--now, this happens A LOT. I laughed and said it was my sister. Her response was "oh, so how much younger is she than you?" I laughed again, because my sister is older than I am. Kudos to Kim for all the compliments!

Spiritual thoughts....2 Nephi 25:26, 29. Give 100% (on p.100 of BofM) of what we have. We must believe in Christ and act on that faith that we have. Can't you see how passionate I am about faith and works?! I run into a lot of people, and what I see and learn just reinforces that belief an hundredfold. Go and do, sort of thing.

From another short e-mail - "The ancient Jaredite transoceanic migration that lasted 344 days (Ether 6:11) ceases to seem so fantastic when it turns out to be exactly the length of time it takes the Pacific current to go from Asia to Mexico." ---John W. Welch

So I have a birthday gift idea for you. Elder Morris has this astounding book called "The Pocket Reference Book for Missionaries" by Adrian Parker Call Jr. It’s a small spiral-bound book that is so useful.

Teaching a lot of different people, and we have one person that is progressing. Her name is Geri and she is a Jehovah's Witness. She loves the concept of the Spirit World. Nothing much more to report about teaching really.

You mentioned work ethic. Wow, it is so important in the mission field too! Coming out, I thought all missionaries were perfect. I will be the first to tell you that not all are. A missionary's work ethic is very evident and is so vital to the work! I will leave that there for now, but it is something I am passionate about. I saw a great lack of ethic in the workplace at Bellevue Golf Course, and I think they liked me because I actually went out and worked. They would say, "you get things done quickly", when in fact all I did was get things done.

We went to Voyaguer's National Park this past week. The Cutlers took us. It was great! Everything was white, but it was still pretty to see. It was very relaxing just to get out into nature for that short while. Wow, do I miss camping.

That’s about it.

Love you,

Elder Galbraith

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