May rain in Redmond

Some variety in their diet, I guess.

Remember this basketball hoop surrounded by snow? Looks like he fooled us all!

It looks like the weather is much nicer in International Falls than it has been in Redmond. We had record rainfalls over the weekend.


So I am emailing a little earlier today than I normally do because Elder Bodily has some ear problems he is seeing the doctor for and his appointment is for today at 1 (normal email time). He has tubes in his ears and he feels like something just does not feel right. He said he has had this happen before and he does not anticipate this being too big a deal. Long story short: I don't see your email yet, but that is probably because I am emailing earlier than I usually do. Savvy?

Thanks Mike for the ties and funny shirt. I can sympathize with Kelly why she thinks it’s...strange. Those Value Village ties are something else. I can't decide my favorite: the thin brown one, or the really fat one that looks like couch material. Now with that said, I DO wear them! Missionaries love ties! I love ties. Having ties really (for some strange reason) is great, I mean, it’s pretty much the only thing I change in my daily wardrobe, so having good ties is like girls having lots of great outfits to wear.

Thank you Kim for that beautiful tie and thoughtful card. Your card is right, it does not matter what our ages are, but that we are loving siblings. I hope you all know that I love you so much and feel bad that I do not write you as many letters as I wish I would.

Thank you Auntie Sharon for your card as well. Again, it looks like a common theme that I am not able to write everyone as often as I would like. It's just that it’s difficult in the 9 hours of my P-Day to find time to write everyone, let alone just one person each week. Thanks to the Thompson family as well and their interest in me. Thanks for the cards - they are all very well appreciated.


This has been a strange (but good) week. Went to Winnipeg for Monday and Tuesday, and had District Conference Saturday and Sunday. Zone Meeting (in Winnipeg) was really uplifting and gave me a great spiritual boost and some great ideas for I-Falls. The Spirit sure does wonders, eh?

I have been thinking a lot about my general experience as a missionary this past week. Wow. I look back at the kid I was in high school and...I was a bum! I complained about emptying the dish washer for crying out loud! Stupid....I feel like my testimony of the gospel and my work ethic have really grown while I have been on my mission. No wonder the prophet has told all able young men to go on missions! I worry when I see lukewarm members of the church who are not actively working to keep covenants, or who are not actively working to be better. If we are not progressing, we are regressing! All of this sounded so cliche, so "unachievably perfect" to say 9 months ago, but it is said because it’s all so true! Wow! The gospel elevates thoughts, elevates desires and changes lives. I know this because it has done it to me. I feel I am much more prepared to be the kind of person I have always wanted to be now that I am on my mission and am trying harder than ever before to live God's commandments--which DO make me happy. It’s when people DO NOT live them and DO NOT really apply them to their lives that we are unhappy. It’s amazing the changes that come because of service to others. Back in high school I was that 90% kid who only shot for that 90% to get me that A, and then I would do nothing more than I had to, to make sure that I had that A. I wanted to do the same with God. I would have been short-changing the Lord. BYU kicked some work ethic into me, and my mission has kicked some charity and service into me. I am privileged to serve the Lord. I know I am becoming the type of person I have wanted to be all my life. While pondering all this, I thought to myself: "I knew that on my mission I would help to change others, I just did not know that my mission would change me". And, I am sure that my brother would probably agree with that. I cannot stress I strongly I thought that Returned Missionaries were "full-of-it" to a degree and that the changes they say they experienced were nothing more than hyped-up experiences blown out of proportion. NOT TRUE. What I am really getting at is that I have seen so much growth in myself while serving a mission that I otherwise would not have had, and that my testimony is stronger than ever before and that I am more sure of myself than ever before. To wrap this up, I was talking to Elder Bodily earlier this week and I told him that my 8 months at BYU were the most fun I ever had, but my mission (after pondering how it has blessed me and others) has been the best 9 months ever. It took me 9 months to honestly say it, but I can finally say with vigor that my mission has been the best 9 months!

Ok...I will step off my soapbox after that. But I feel a lot better, for sure. I had a lot of those feelings early in the week while driving back from Winnipeg, and then listening to President Paulson's talk at District Conference really reinforced those feelings. It feels good, really good.

Hmm. I didn't write down much other than that. Oh, on Friday night President Paulson came on 2 appointments with us and he was SO bold. Whoa. It reminded me of what I still need to become, in a good way. Elder Bodily and I plan on extending at least 3 baptismal invitations this week to investigators, so stay tuned. This week was great, we got 2 former investigators back (set up appointments with them) and they both have a lot of potential. Elder Bodily is a great companion to have because he is quiet, yet very bold and just wants to get the work done. Interesting combo, but I can handle that. Not much more than that, I probably have forgotten a lot of things but I need to attach some pictures before time runs out. What is the best part of the Gospel? It’s all true.

Love,

Elder Galbraith

PS--quick story...yesterday morning I was eating breakfast and I thought Elder Bodily slammed his fist on his study table, but when I looked back at him, he was standing up and looking out the window. He said "come look at this", and I saw a bird struggling in the grass. Yes, a bird flew full-speed into our window, broke his neck and died. We held a burial for him, and named him Speedy, because he must have been speedy to have done what he did, and then ricochet back as far as he did. RIP Speedy the Bird. Ha.


Poor Speedy!!