Que milagro!

Hey family and friends,

A lot went on this week. And right now there are 3 elders behind me waiting to use this computer so I'm gonna have to skip some things. I had exchanges with another companionship this week which was really fun. That was all English work which was different and I was more outgoing, but I managed to start up some chit-chat with two Mexicans. The Spanish continues to get better. I understood a lot yesterday at church, which is the real testing grounds. Three hours of native Spanish :)
Friday we had the mission tour and it was absolutely wonderful. We talked about simple things but took them deeper. Things like prayer and church and the scriptures. Those three things are so critical for us to give our attention to. The Spirit was really helping me learn from that conference. With all the missionaries that met up there, our mission vehicle coordinator gave us a brand new 2011 Corolla with 43 miles on it. Then on the way home, we got in an accident with a 60-yr-old woman. It was more of a side-swipe so no one was hurt. But it took a while to sort out and now we're on bikes. But bikes I think are actually more excting. Saturday was a blast on bikes. There are more opportunites to stop and talk to people. One lady stopped us and asked for a pamphlet. She and her daughter are trying to get on the right path. She would be taught by the English elders so we gave her their number. It's exciting to see people ready and eager to learn the Gospel. Which brings me to my next exciting note. There is a family we're teaching that came to a cultural fiesta Friday night (with hundreds of people and tons of Latin American food) and had a great time. They also came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it. They helped teach us during Gospel Principles by sharing testimony and explaining principles on tithing! They are so ready and humble.

In the MTC I set a goal to read the New Testament in 40 days and I finally finished it last Saturday. That was exciting for me. Also exciting was the two dreams I had this week in which I participated in conversations in Spanish. It was nice :)

Someday this week we had an appointment with a new investigator. Usually his huge rottweiler is locked up in the backyard barking like no other, but when we pulled up, he was roaming the front yard...so we didn't dare go inside the gate. But we said a prayer and stepped out up to the gate. The dog wasn't barking at all and was just mozying around. We saw the backdoor light turn on so I shouted out, "Eduardo!" A minute later he came outside and talked to us. Unfortunately, his Jehovah's Witness brother who owns the house won't let us meet with him. But it was helpful for us to make contact with him. And the moment we stepped away from the fence the dog started up barking like he usually is. It may not sound significant, but in reality it was an obvious miracle. God is guiding us in His work. May he do the same for all of you.

Much love,

Elder Joshua Gathro

P.S.- Happy Halloween!!!

Amados Hermanos Mios

Familia,

We had a solid week esta semana. Ups and downs of course, but we finished out strong with 4 investigators at church and 3 teaching opportunities last night, one of them being a new investigator. It was awesome after having three days of our lessons getting dropped. At first I was a little nervous about multiple investigators at church, but it went really well. Unfortunately for us Spanish speakers, the sacrament meeting was in English yesterday because of the Primary program. The man I sat with yesterday didn't understand anything they were saying, so I showed him the scriptures they were reading a tried translating a few things that I felt would be helpful for him. It was nice experiencing a different part of missionary work, because yesterday was my first Sunday with having those that we're teaching at church. The work is getting better.

The Spanish is continuing to improve. Sometimes I have a really difficult time understanding, but other times I'm practically a native. Last night was incredible. We were in a lesson and the girl was firing off in rapid Spanish and I just sat there thinking, "She is going so fast but I'm actually catching most of it!" The gift of tongues is real and the Lord watches over His children.

Well of course I'm low on time. But we're working hard and having a great time. We have a mission tour this week with Elder Wilson and his wife. I'm not sure who that is but it will be exciting. Health wise I'm doing well. I've only gained 5 libras desde Augusto and I made a new personal record of 20 pull-ups. Oh, and they sell Darigold chocolate milk down here! Best mission in the world :)

Much love,

Elder Joshua Gathro

P.S. - Mom, sorry I couldn't reply to your email other than this one. But I read every word :) Best of luck to my team in Florida.

Fooled by the weather

Hola todo,

It turns out that all the perfect weather we had was just a cold front. Temperatures this week have been up to 100 degrees. But it's really not the bad yet. 100 degrees in Florida is much worse, in my opinion. But next summer I'm sure I'll be sick of the heat.

The Spanish is coming poco a poco. It's still really hard to make out everything the people say, especially when they talk for an extended amount of time. But I'm learning and trying to be obedient. The Lord is mindful of His children. We bike about every day, but so far we haven't biked for more than 2 hours at a time. We usually use the car because our area is a little bigger and our appointments are spread out. But my bike is working fine and she's treating me well.

We had several lessons fall through this week, which was disappointing, but we have a lot lined up for the start of this week. We currently have around 20 investigators, and our most solid married couple were planning on coming to church yesterday but a water pipe in their trailer park broke, so as managers they had to fix it. They are really humble and I believe they have felt the Spirit, or at least the husband. We invited them to be baptized and the wife was hesitant, but the husband said, "If I receive my answer before she does, I can get baptized before she does." It's exciting to see him feel the Spirit and decide to act on it.

A lot of people here don't want to talk to us. It's amazing how bitter people can be. I think it all boils down to the fact that we have the truth. Alma 24:30 sums it up well.

Funny story and then I have to take off. Last night we were driving around looking for a street and my companion said, "I have NO idea where we are. Where are we?" Then we look up at the street sign: "Escondido," which means "Lost." Yep, haha, but we soon found our way. Things are progressing, I'm learning, my companion is awesome. Please pray for the people we are teaching. And thank you for all of your prayers already.

Best of luck in your missionary efforts. I love you. Romans 13:9-10

Elder Joshua Gathro

Estoy en Arizona!

I'm finally here! I made it! The flight out here was terrific. Before I even sat down I started talking to the man seated next to me and we talked for the whole hour and a half long plane ride, minus about ten minutes. We just talked about life and I asked a lot of questions. We chatted about the mission, and a little bit about the Book of Mormon. I asked him for advice for my mission and he had some good things to say. When we landed, the mission presidency and assistants were there to welcome us. We had a brunch at the chapel next to the mission home and there was a lot of orientation to go through. There were 19 missionaries who entered the Arizona Tempe Mission this week, 4 of which are Spanish-speaking. It turns out we have almost 200 missionaries here and only 32 are Spanish-speaking. So we're the minority but there are a lot of Spanish speakers in Arizona. My Spanish is coming along slowly but surely. I have a hard time understanding everything that is said during the lessons but I can catch a bit, and my companion helps me to know what is going on. I can understand his Spanish perfectly. I think the reason is because his Spanish isn't as fast as the natives. My companion is awesome, by the way. He's from Pocatello, ID, has been out on his mission for 9 months, has great Spanish and a solid understanding of our purpose and how to accomplish it. We get along really well and can joke and tease each other. He's a pleasure to work with.

I'm over at a member's house right now using their computer. Mondays are our preparation days. I'm not sure what you all would like to hear. We do similar things everyday, visiting less actives and investigators. The members here are sweet. The first night, our branch mission leader told us that because he's out of work right now, he only had 16 dollars in his bank account when we was supposed to pick us up from the mission home that morning. Because he was concerned about using gas, he suggested to his wife that he ask someone else to pick us up. She told him that God would provide and not to worry. After dropping us off at our apartment (which is way nice, and we have a car, but we use bikes too), and arriving back home, his neighbor starting talking to him and offered to loan him $7,000 so our mission leader could pay off his truck payments. I couldn't believe it. How awesome is that!

One more quick story and I have to go. Last night after dinner we were walking in the street when a little boy about 4-years-old called out to us and said, "No one will play with me." We stopped and started talking to him. We told him that even when he's alone, Christ can help him, and we gave him a pass-along card with a picture of Jesus. Then he asked how Jesus could help him. We told him that he can always pray and asked him if he knew how to do that. After he told us that he didn't know how to pray, we taught him in a couple seconds, and had to take off. It was so cool to feel that we were going "about doing good."

Oh, I should note, the weather here has been beautiful! The day I arrived was the first day of cooler weather, and it has been so nice since. The cactus are huge! Twenty feet, some of them. I'm loving it here and I'm stoked for the work!

Elder Joshua Gathro

Final Week

Well I'm in my final week here at the MTC. It does not feel like 2 months have gone by. Just so everyone knows, I fly to my mission next Tuesday, Oct 4.

I forgot to email a funny line from Elder Nelson last week. He said all the Authorities are in town for General Conference and that they're excited for it. Then he said, "We're excited that 2 weeks from today it will be over."

Rachel I listened to the talk on Tolerance and Truth by Elder Oaks. You're right, that was really interesting. I thought about it several times this week, actually. And Carrie and David, thank you so much for your paquete de amor. I loved the taste of my Provo home :) Thank you so much for advice about goals. I really appreciated that. I'm becoming more collected in my purpose, especially after this week when we've all given more thought to the fact that we'll be in the field in just a couple days. Best of luck with your play Erin. I can't wait to hear about it!

As always I don't have much time. But I'll try to type everything I have planned to say. Last Friday Elder Jose L. Alonso, a recently sustained member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from Mexico, was doing a tour of the MTC and came to our classroom. He listened to us in a teaching exercise for a few minutes then spoke to us for about 5 minutes in Espanol, and we understood almost all of it. It was the coolest. Then we saw him in the lunchroom and he and his wife and a district president came and sat with us and we talked more in Espanol. It gets better - He will be speaking in General Conference this weekend in the Saturday morning session. When you see him, you can remember that Elder Gathro had lunch with him last week. I think he's my favorite General Authority now.

I've been meaning to share this for a couple weeks. I was reading in Alma 7 and verses 19 and 22 really stuck out to me. In verse 19 Alma says that the people are in the paths of righteousness. Then in verse 22 he says "I speak unto you to awaken you a remembrance of your duty to God." The lesson it taught me was that even if we've been members for 10, 20, 50 years and are walking in the paths of righteousness, we have a duty to God to strive for improvement and look for ways to be even more faithful. How does that scripture apply personally to you?

So I came up with a quote this week, or I think it's mine: "This is a spiritual work. And we're doing it as family."

Repentance means there's always a better tomorrow. "Repentance is a positive experience that brings joy and peace." PMG, 8.

I'm learning a lot here. The MTC is a wonderful place and is one of the brilliant ideas of the Father. I feel prepared to hit the field. Thank you for making home a Pre-MTC.

I love you all. Thank you for everything. The missionary life is the life for me, and I'm stoked to leave for Arizona next week :)

Elder Joshua Gathro