This week in Atahualpa with Elder Galloway

Andrew's email address is: andrew.galloway@myldsmail.net.  Looks like you can write him directly now.  (JG) 22 Apr 2013 This Week in Atahualpa That´s quite the experience from Elder Hugh Bates... I haven´t been hit or abused by any way for my religion while here in Ecuador, I think the people are very nice, although it is frustrating when people don´t really want to hear anything but they agree to a return appointment and... aren´t there for the appointment. I´m glad that your play is going well, Dad. Theater or fine music isn´t appreciated here nearly as much as it is back home, so take advantage of it when you can. E-mail rules have changed, yes: we can receive/send messages to nearly anyone back home, missionary friends (in other missions), and converts if our same gender. Speaking of which, Andrés C, from Ibarra, wrote me! He is doing super well, has gone to the temple, and enjoys being with the YSA. He says he´s looking for an "eternal companion" and hasn´t found one yet. The girl he likes is... waiting for her mission papers. The work goes forward, but not without inconveniences, right? Haha. Sure, pass my email address along. I´d love to receive communication. I think the rules have changed because soooo many young, new missionaries will be coming in, and the forbidden is more likely to be a temptation, in my opinion. Elder Rodriguez (Andrew's current companion - JG) is the only member of the church in his family. His father is a leader of a Catholic cell, "Juan XXIII," but supports him in his decision to serve a mission. That´s good. Elder Bramall is not in the gringo room photo because he came here from Zona Quito the day after the conference. For your information the elders (and sister) in the gringo room are, from left to right: Elder Brunner (Las Vegas), Sister Harris (Lindon), Elder McKay (Utah Valley), Elder Maughn (SLC?), me, and Elder Murphy (California). Hooray: I always knew my mom had super powers! Happenings of the Week: Gmail launched a new message-writing format. It will take some time to get used to. No, really, this week was a pretty good week, and kind of slow. We are super happy for the baptism of Agusto P on Friday; his mom came to support him. He was baptized with an 8-year-old boy from the ward, and it was a nice service. Many of the ward members were in attendance. Finally we had a piano lesson! I´ve been offering piano classes to ward members since a little while after I got here, and we finally got a time to jive! The Familia D (who gives us lunch on Tuesdays) came down on Saturday at 4:00, and I printed out a few pages from the church´s learn-the-piano book and started them on how to read the notes. Here they use solfeg, so we´re learning do-re-mi, etc. I gave them homework and I hope they practice on the little harmonium pianos they have from when they were in school. I hope to have more students this next Saturday. It was great fun. The ward is all abuzz because this Thursday night they embark on a voyage to the temple in Guayaquil. This time around about 70 people are going! They rented two buses and half are going to stay in the temple´s accommodations, and the other half is going to have to find a hotel close. It´s even more special because there are about 5 families that will be sealed, including the daughter of the bishop, and the Familia B. Sealings of the Week: The whole ward is pitching in for the wedding of Gaby B -- Sister Tigre is helping with the cake, Sister Menendez is making the dress, etc. Everyone is excited. In the same vein, we visited the Familia B yesterday, becuase they have a son that is less-active. The mother of this family is incredible, Marisol. She has been a member for more than 20 years, and has been true and faithful all along. She raised her 5 children in the Church, and managed to send her oldest daughter on a mission to Guayaquil (Maribel, she´s cool). Even though her older sons had drifted off when they grew up, she always kept them in line, and her second son, Bolívar, has returned and is now a counselor in the Elders´ quorum. They are all so dedicated. Recently (I don´t know how recently), her husband got baptized. He had always been in the street, drinking, neglecting his family. But something noble about him is that when they had their first child, they promised each other that he started his life with her, and she with him, and they were never going to separate. They achieved this goal, the father got baptized, and this most recent stake conference, received the Melchezidek Priesthood. He´s a serious guy, and is dedicated to his promises. Now they are going to get sealed as a family this Friday morning. What a special day. As Maribel said, "We have fought so long for this moment." It´s true. They wanted to include the less-active son, too. He knows what he needs to do, and, if he goes, it will be the jolt he needs to return to full activity. They bought his seat on the bus, reserved his bunk in the hotel, and have planned to include him so much, even though he can´t actually be in the sealing. I really hope he goes. It would mean so much to this family to have all their children there. They are an inspiration for me. Thoughts of the Week: All this talk of the family, of sealings, and of the temple, turns my thoughts to YOU, my wonderful, wonderful parents. I remember, even though I didn´t understand the impressiveness of that moment, when we were sealed as a family to Grandpa and Grandma Galloway. How simple yet how profound the sealing ceremony is. I will always remember that moment. Thank you for waiting until I was big enough to be included in that act. That memory will always be associated with a sacred feeling. What a miracle are our temples: beautiful places where sacred things are performed. Aaaaaand that just makes me want to tell you how much I love you. I love our family. It´s small, but it´s LOVING! Doing things with you, playing the piano with you, making New Year´s hats, playing Scrabble, reading from the Pearl of Great Price around the kitchen table. I couldn´t wish for a better family. We talked with the Bs about how God knows each of us and the place, time, and family we need to be with to grow and learn. Each of us has a different world-view, a different attitude, and different gifts, and God knows how to mix up all those things into loving and caring families. Really, the members of our family should be the absolutely MOST important thing in the world to us, because that´s who we´re going to spend eternity with. I can´t thank my Heavenly Father enough for sending me to you two. New Member and Investigator Updates of the Week: Well, the bishop has taken Elder Cornish´s theme, "He who serves grows" to heart, and called Luis E, who got baptized three weeks ago, as our new Gospel Principles teacher. It´s kind of a risk, because he´s a reserved and timid man, and, being a new convert himself, it might be hard to teach other members; but he has a loving wife who has been a member forever and who attended seminary and institute, and is willing to help and support him. We gave him a copy of "Teaching: No Greater Call," that should help him develop his teaching style, with activities and interest. We help in the lessons when he needs it, too. The other Sunday I came in on Martha Q faithfully paying her tithing. She hasn´t missed a Sunday since we met her, and I know she has a grand future ahead of her in the Church. Karen, too; she wants to be a missionary :). Ivette came by herself to church this week, which made us so happy. Her sister was visiting from Esmeraldas, so that could have been an excuse not to come, but she came WITH HER! What a wonderful missionary she is already. She´s passed some difficult moments recently, but I know she´s finding happiness in the Gospel. The Familia A met with us, agreed to get married (they aren´t married) and baptized, and came on a tour of the chapel with the Familia Tigre. How great THAT was -- the Tigres basically directed the entire tour. We missionaries got to sit back a bit and enjoy the moment. I love the Tigres. Mayra is going to the temple with the ward this week -- Diego has to work. But they are steadily preparing for their own sealing in August! Teaching Experience of the Week: We had contacted a family last week, with whom we arranged an appointment. We went to the appointment, but they weren´t there. We called them and arranged another one Sunday. I didn´t have too high of expectations. When we got there, the dad was working on his taxi, because he works every other day of the week, from 4am-10pm (or so he says). The mother works with him, somehow? So.. it didn´t look to promising. He was working, but let us in his house. He called his wife, a kind of unsmiling lady, and kids down. She had been sleeping, watching a movie. Her other kids were watching a movie separately. It was raining, and the whole atmosphere was kind of blah. We talked about Elder Perry´s talk "Becoming Good Parents," and talked about how important the family was -- time in the family, worship in the family, love in the family. The father... didn´t really pay attention. But something miraculous happened with the mother. At the end of the lesson, she was smiling! She liked what she heard! She looked actually happy! But, even though they weren´t willing to fix a follow-up appointment, we´ll try to call them, or drop in on them. I know a seed has been planted. I hope it grows. This is what I like to talk about as "the Gospel glow," the change and hope that comes across a person´s face when they hear, digest, and apply the gospel. It comes from a perspective a whole lot bigger then the one they had. I love this work. We´re saving families. I wrote in my conference notes, from Elder Cook´s talk, "World peace happens one home at a time." That´s what we try to do. That this week brings you many opportunities to spread peace! Love, Elder Galloway Reply Forward