He's got our back

Family, I loved talking with you all last night! It was pure joy to hear your voices and see your faces (for some). I don't know about you all but I enjoyed it a lot more than the Christmas phone call and being able to talk with you more individually. You all bring a lot of happiness into my life. Thank you. There are several things that happened this week that I didn't tell you all. First off, we had a few minutes before a lesson so we decided to knock just a few doors. The eighth and final was answered by a sweet lady who invited us in the moment she opened the door. She said that missionaries had come by a long time ago and now she feels far from God and a bit angry at him because of family situations. But she was very friendly and surprisingly interested. Although she works a lot she says she wants to learn more and committed to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon. She works two jobs and on the day we knocked, she was only home between 2 and 4pm; we knocked at 3pm. It was a miracle encounter that we hope will go all the way to baptism. Wednesday afternoon we were visited some people in a trailer park when rain actually fell from the sky. And the rain also stirred up a huge dust storm that blew through Chandler. A man saw us out there and called for us to come inside while the worst of it blew over (the Lord is protecting us, Mom :). We had to leave his house a few minutes later though for an appointment and we jogged to the car as a huge dust cloud in the sky seemed to get move closer. It was pretty exciting, we caught our flee on foot on film. Then we found out yesterday that the other Spanish missionaries' investigator had prayed for rain Wednesday afternoon, just before the storm and when the weatherman hadn't predicted it at all. Pretty cool, huh? That investigator has decided to be baptized. Our investigator from Puerto Rico is facing some hard times with her daughter and wants to wait a bit longer before getting baptized. We are a bit worried but believe she'll take the step in the near future. Friday night was seeming somewhat action-less but we got more than we expected. While walking down the sidewalk we ran into a man who claimed to be the richest man in the world (he was carrying groceries just purchased from the corner gas station). He also asserted that he wrote the Book of Mormon, and purposely included errors in spelling to get a good laugh out of it. He then said that this was his planet, and welcomed us to it. My companion asked him why he had stopped us, and he said "Because I choose the appointed time." It was probably one of the most wild street contacts of my mission. After that we started heading back to the car, cruising the sidewalk of a main road. We heard someone from one of the cars shout something at the same moment that my older companion was hit with a 40mph water balloon! I told him that it barely missed me; clearly an act of God, haha. Aside from being a little shooken up, my companion was fine. The balloon had bounced off and splashed on the road. Fun friday night. We're having a blast down here. I love the people and I love the work. I love each of you as well. Best of luck this week with all your many activities. Don't forget to give sufficient time to scripture study and prayer. Adios! Elder Joshua Gathro

Taking life by a yard may be hard, but by an inch it's a sinch

Hello, hello, hello, I'm reviewing my week chronologically to know what to share. First off, I now have a Mexican soccer jersey! Vivan las Chivas! It was a dream come true. My birthday was wonderful as well. Thank you again for cards and letters. I'll write you each back in the coming weeks. For lunch we went to Del Taco and the cashier (he and I have become friends) gave me a birthday churro on the house. The family that fed us Tuesday night made a birthday cake with candles and had a candy gift for me. It added even more flame and sweetness to the day. Wednesday was transfer meeting. Even though none of us were leaving, President asked us to be in attendance. It turned out to be a strong source of spiritual strength and unity. My visa-waiting companion was asked to say a few words because he is leaving in 2 weeks, and he called me out on my 6:30am wake-up smile. He isn't sure he wants to leave for Mexico just yet because he loves it here too much, but he knows God will place him where he belongs. Wednesday night we taught a couple who are friends of our recent convert and the husband is a hoot. In Spanish, Sunday is "domingo" and sleep is "dormir". Well the husband said that to him Sunday is "dormingo". Then later his wife was offering a prayer over some food and she said, "Oh Lord, thank you for this food." The husband interrupted and said, "You're welcome." We fought to keep from laughing. There is an investigator we have that can't get baptized right now because she can never get work off, it's a terrible work situation. We visited her this week and another lady was there with her whom we had yet to meet. It turns out that she is our investigator's former LDS neighbor who visits regularly. It was so relieving! In ways we felt all alone with this situation - in continuing to spiritually feed our investigator as we wait for the miracle. When we realized that there is someone else who cares for this lady it gave us more energy and excitement to maintain faith. Don't forget that often we're not the only ones working to better the lives of others. They have family and friends and always a Father who is caring for them. He has a plan. Friday we had a mission-wide Book of Mormon readathon. It was spiritual, unifying, uplifting, faith-instilling, and too quick. We were asked to look for a few things and one thing that amazed me was the priority Nephi gave to doing the Lord's will. They were always talking about the Savior and motivated to please Him. A good lesson was how Nephi never complained, he was faithful in everything. Such a man. There is a lot for me to learn from him. This weekend was great, and we've seen real progress with a particular investigator from Puerto Rico. She had a dream of wearing baptismal clothes and it's been weighing on her mind for a couple weeks. An absolute miracle!!! She wants to be baptized this month. We're not without gratitude nor excitement :) We are good to go on Skype next Sunday. Due to your church times and ours, as well as the time difference, it seems that the best time to Skype will be around 4:30pm AZ time, which is 7:30pm FL time (we don't do Daylight Saving). I hope that works well. Send me a letter if it doesn't and I can call at 2pm FL time, but not by Skype. If there's no letter I'll plan on calling you around 7:30pm to ask for your Skype info then we'll get going with face time. If you want to do a sibling conference call with Skype that's fine, but I believe it costs some money. Otherwise I'd at least like to give each sibling a phone call. I'll leave that for you all to arrange, sorry. Tyler, congrats on graduation! You must feel pretty accomplished, and you are! Same to you Carrie, way to go! I love you all and "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel" (Alma 26:16). Have a great week, all! Elder Joshua Gathro

My family loves me!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! For each birthday wish and comment! I couldn't resist opening the CD and scripture case, or the ATM lapel pin. I love em. And the Dove chocolate didn't stand a lasting chance. Ben's little riddle I thought would never end, classic. Thank you all. I love you! I don't remember a lot of little happenings this week but all in all I feel good about it. An investigator of ours was baptized on Saturday and confirmed yesterday (the confirmation in Spanish was a spiritual experience for me). She is sooo happy and excited about the Gospel. She loved every minute of it. And after the baptismal service, 5 of us Spanish missionaries went to Village Inn with our now recent-convert and her member friend. It was quite the treat, just a lot of fun to enjoy the food and company. She will be a solid member. We actually have a lesson set up tonight with her non-member neighbor. She's already doing missionary work :) Aside from that, one of the biggest miracles this week would probably be finding Pedro. We planned in some time before a lesson to go tracting in a certain area. We didn't put a whole lot of thought into it (which may have been the trick, so that we didn't interfere with the Spirit by our own designs), but we pulled over and walked to an apartment complex that looked good and just knocked a random door. A man opened the door and warmly greeted us. We told him who we are, what we do, and he wanted to listen. We had to set a return appointment, but we talked with him a bit there at the door. It was the only door we knocked during that time and it was as if we knew exactly who to visit. In reality we had no idea, but Father knew who to have us visit. When we went back for the lesson, he was waiting for us outside and was attentive and interested throughout the entire lesson. He asked us great questions and when we invited him to read in the Book of Mormon, he was ready to read a chapter right there, even though we had already taken 45 min. We stopped by him yesterday and he said he felt really good after talking to us on Friday. He seems to be well on his way to progressing in the Gospel. It was a miracle we found him. We could each feel that God gave us a bit more divine help in the lesson. Transfer calls came last night...I'm staying! My companions are too. Oh yeah, the companion waiting for his visa got word this week that he'll be heading out in May. But God's giving me another chance to make a difference here. It was a relief for me. And that means for sure we'll be able to Skype home in two weeks. I'm not sure what time will be best; we have church(es) from 12:20 to 4pm, and we're 3 hours behind Florida right now. But I can give you a call before Skyping, and I'll have more info next week. For Jessi, mostly on preparation day we play sports like football or basketball. Soon we'll probably have more inside activities because of the heat. And today we're chilling in our apartments to pack for transfers or write letters or make videos for our soon-to-be-airing sitcom "The Zone". Our apartment is actually pretty nice, two bathrooms and showers is pretty luxurious for missionaries. Although, we had a knock at our door at 2:20am this Thursday from our downstairs neighbor because our water-heater broke and water was leaking into his house. We got it all fixed but it was something out of the norm. Well, I love you all! I know Jesus is the Christ. He is the One we follow and represent. Have a great week! Elder Joshua Gathro PS- Mom, you should have a photo sent to you by Amy Hansen, it's just one photo that has me and a lady and gentleman, and I think her son. It would have been from March 25. Do you have that one?