Mucho

Family!!
Hey a lot happened this week! The most exciting news I'll save for later on in the letter. But it's mostly for Ben. And before I forget, we ran into a member this week who happened to serve with David Holladay in Hong Kong. Her name then was Sister Lisa West. And I think she already sent David a comment on facebook. Small world eh?
B-Mac is now an RM. That's terrific news. Tell him I admire him. He's a good man :)
So Tuesday night (transfer meeting was on Wednesday) we got a call from the assistants informing us that we are moving apartments! Ten months in the same area and then I have to change apartments. Actually we already made the move this morning, and the house doesn't look very good. We're gonna have to do some cleaning today. But it does put us more central to our area...our English area! The call from the assistants was also to let us know that we now cover two English wards. So after thinking that our world had come crashing down on us, we realized that it's gonna be pretty sweet. Ever since I've been here, we have had to pass off to other missionaries any person that wants to hear the Gospel in English. But now we're the ones who cover that area in English too. It's a pretty nice set-up. I'm excited for that aspect, and, based on our interactions at church yesterday, our ward members are awesome. We were introducing ourselves to everyone at church and everyone gave us a warm welcome. I stopped one member of our ward and asked his name, and he asked for mine. Then he said, "Hmp. I knew an Elder Gathro once." Freeze! I've been waiting 14 months to hear someone say that, though he didn't give it a second thought. I said, "That was my brother!" The member didn't seem as sure and said he would text his wife to ask if the Elder Gathro they knew also had the first name Ben. Sure enough. The member is Eric Housel, one of Ben's converts from 11 years ago. Eric came back to me after his wife responded to the text and started thanking Ben for how much he changed this guy's life. He told me all about how Ben and Elder Gauke came to visit Eric and Eric told them, "You guys can come in. But I do not want to talk about church. I just want to get to know you." He said that they got to know each other really well, and Ben and Elder Gauke were absolutely hilarious, with random humor and all-around fun personalities. We also talked to the then-elders quorum president Scott Duncan who also remembers Ben. It was a priceless moment. I figure that's why God kept me in Chandler for so long. I'm excited to get to know this guy a little better. He had so many good things to say about Ben, and actually wants some way to get in contact with him. Ben, what contact information can I give him? He's eager to chat with you. Just let me know :)
So basically those are the biggest pieces of news and I'm out of time to share the rest. But things are going well. It's a bit crazy trying to coordinate with 3 wards but we're seeing success every day. I love you all. Thank you for being such a wonderful family!

Elder Joshua Gathro

PS- Thank you for the letter Jessi, I'm glad your birthday was a blast. Be sure to give yourself time to pray. Like really pray. Sounds like you could use a little more direction these days with so much to figure out about your future. You'll be ok :)
PPS- Mom, thinking about your lesson for Sunday, I started getting thoughts of following the prophet and keeping the commandments. One of the reasons that I treasure the words of prophets is because they teach us what and where our priorities should be, especially with regard to the family. And I know that all the blessings we desire as latter-day saints come because of our obedience. All the power and strength that we receive come by keeping God's commandments. It's not much of a thought, but good luck in your lesson! I love you!