Estar al tanto

Hey family,
I haven't heard from Brandon yet, but WOW! He sounds like he's become twice the stud he was before the mission. I'm happy for him. And glad to hear that you were able to Skype a bit yesterday. I heard from a member about some civil unrest in Egypt. I'm glad Tyler's out of there and chilling in Bethlehem for the holidays. In some ways it hadn't really felt like the Christmas season yet for me, but I've been wishing everyone I meet a merry Christmas and I can feel the excitement in the air. And tomorrow we're having a mission Christmas party, temple trip on Wednesday with half the mission in my session. Our ward Christmas parties are also this week, and I'm looking forward to meeting all the friends of members that come along. I feel like good things are soon to happen in our areas. Our talks a week ago in sacrament meeting were bomb, and then yesterday one of the members gave us a huge compliment. It was a high councilman who came with us to a lesson this week and at the start of priesthood meeting he kept going on about how impressed he was with our teaching skills and whatnot. Some members are starting to get things going with their friends, which is wonderful. I hope I'm one of those members who's always inviting my friends to church, firesides, FHE, activities, to read from the Book of Mormon, etc. "Fear not to do good."
So last night we had a mission president's fireside at the institute in my area, so my companion and I got to translate the fireside into Spanish. It was my first time officially translating and it was actually pretty fun. We just sat back in the corner and switched back and forth. Occasionally another Spanish missionary who was listening would look back at me because of how I translated it. Haha it was fun.
We kinda had a rough week with the church attendance. We invited so many people and got several commitments that we felt were solid, but only one lady showed up. And she can't be baptized right now because she's not married and her husband doesn't want to get married any time soon. It's a sad situation that unfortunately has happened a lot on my mission. And there's only so much we can do. But I know that God is working with us and our investigators. A friend of the investigator who came to church has a lot of depression, so the investigator told her friend, "Well come to church! It'll help you." Amazing! She's already a missionary.
Yeah, we can Skype at the time that you mentioned, Mom. That'll work. I'm looking forward to it. You can see how much my hairline has receded...just kidding, it's not too bad :) I pray that you will all be safe and well. I love you all!

Elder Gathro

Life at the "Table"

Hola hola!
Wow, it always seems like a load of news when I read your emails. I pray for the family, Grandma and Grandpa included. It's always fun to have the Rich and Kathy gang over for the holidays. That'll be a blast.
Some of the biggest news from this week is the mini mission tour that we had. Elder Quentin L. Cook, Walter F. Gonzalez, and Gary Stevenson came to visit our mission this past Friday. We all got together at a local chapel and they addressed just our mission. It was really cool. And they had great things to say, of course. And what they said actually wasn't anything new. Bishop Stevenson talked about Preach My Gospel's counsel to extend an invitation, promise blessings, and bear testimony. Then Elder Gonzalez (who has a funny Uruguayan accent) talked about the power of the Book of Mormon as a tool in finding, teaching, baptizing, and retaining. Elder Cook talked about removing foolishness from our lives, especially as younger missionaries enter the field. Then he said more about making powerful invitations to help people progress in the Gospel. And he also commented toward the end about how we are in the right place in our lives right now. Our family now and in the future will be blessed as a result of serving a mission. And actually typing that just now reminded me of a verse I read this morning in Mormon 3:1-2. As all the people were preparing for war and trying to make sure they were ready in every way possible, God tells Mormon that if they people will live the Gospel, He will preserve them. It's like saying, "I know you're guys are busying yourselves for war, and now you really need to give emphasis on religion." Seemingly they don't have a relation, but God will bless us in every aspect of our lives as we live the Gospel.
My companion and I spoke in our English ward sacrament yesterday and had a terrific response from the ward. A convert also shared his conversion experience and it really made sacrament meeting spiritual. All in all we had a decent week. Oh check this out: A few years ago, the Spanish ward I'm currently in had 68 baptisms in a year! This year it didn't get close to that, but it's crazy to think about the potential it has. I hope to be here for a long while.
Well, I love you all. I hope I answered your questions. Good luck with work and school and merry Christmas!

Yours truly,
Elder Gathro

My 3rd Area!

Family!

Whoa, what a change! I don't know if you got the letter from President Howes yet but in case you didn't, I'm now serving as a zone leader. And even cooler, my current companion is actually the same elder who trained me when I was a greenie. He's a much better companion this time around, which is probably just because my attitude and perspective is more mature compared to a year ago. This is his last transfer before he goes home, so he'll have to train me how to be a zone leader before he ends his mission. And we'll be spending Christmas together again. I'm excited for the transfer!
There are some really good pockets of Hispanics here which is fun. The members have had bad experiences with missionaries in the past so we're trying to build up the trust and I was doing my best yesterday to greet everyone and make a good impression. I told everyone at the pulpit that because my last name sounds like "gato" that they could call me Elder Gato (Elder Cat), which they all loved. And they already tell me that I have good Spanish. Hopefully I can make a difference here. And weirdly enough, this could be my last area if it's anything like the time I spent in my first area.
So I'm still adjusting to the area and catching on to locations and names, and I don't have a whole lot of stories yet. BUT, last night we had a pretty cool experience. While walking through an apartment complex we started offered to help a young guy with some groceries from his car. We actually let us help, and even invited us to eat dinner with him. We respectfully declined but he invited us into his house either way so we went up and met his fiance and 11-mo-old baby as well. At first we were a little weary of the guy because he seemed unusually friendly for a street contact. But it turns out that his soon-to-be-wife has a best friend who's Mormon, and she has been thinking about converting but wants to get her life in order before getting too involved. We asked more about their family, experiences at church, testified of how the Gospel blesses families, and they agreed to have the English elders stop by. After the visit we passed the referral off and the other elders gave the family a call and set up an appointment for Wednesday. It was a miracle contact and a family that seems really promising. I know that God's hand is in this work. He's closer than we think He is. And He will help us. I'm excited for the Christmas season as more people will be thinking on Christ. I hope each of you may feel closer to Him as well. I love you all!

Elder Gathro

Transfer Calls...

Hey family!

Just for starters, I love you all! Like a ton. You're the greatest family I've ever had :) Thank you so much for your support and love and Christlike examples. You each add a lot to the sweet memories I have of growing up and to everything I learned from home. I appreciate you all and pray for you daily. It's great to hear that Thanksgiving was such a blast! Sounds pretty perfect actually. What a blessing! Sorry to hear about Parvo, but he'll be in a better place. Though I'm not sure if Tyler will be in a better place after tomorrow :) Just kidding, but be safe. I'll be praying for him. And yeah, Mom, I'll be in the Christmas name-picking. Thank you for asking.
So this week was pretty amazing. Really stressful at parts but otherwise full of blessings. The biggest news is that Sis B. Johnson was baptized this Saturday and confirmed yesterday. She's an older lady that was being taught by the missionaries in the English ward before we got there, and she's a bit crazy (funny because she's a professor and doctor of mental health), but she's a great lady. After she was baptized she danced her way out of the font. Then after being confirmed, she stood up from the chair and starting singing one of her little jingles to the entire congregation about love and unity for like 20 sec. Everyone was frozen. It was priceless! But I guess it's been done before (Alma 5:26 and Mosiah 18:11).
So, last night I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life, right up there with the baptism of Abraham and Daisy. Back in April we baptized Maria, a single lady in her 20s, whose mom is an excellent Christian who loves having us come over. She thinks I'm a hoot because I always make her laugh, and we've also had some very spiritual lessons with her before. One night I even had a vivid dream that Maria's mom had decided to be baptized. So for the past several months we've been working with the mom, but she doesn't like making changes at all. Well yesterday after church we went by to see Maria, in case I actually got transferred, and we took some photos, with the mom as well, then I asked to share a scripture. Well the scripture turned into a long discussion. And I kind of struggled a bit, because I knew that she has felt the spirit with us before but we hadn't hit her real concern. Eventually we committed her to ask God if she should get baptized, and to pray with us right there and ask. She didn't want to but we were persistent. It felt really important that she did so. Finally she started into the prayer, and when we said "amen," no one lifted their head or said a word for about 30 seconds. Silent. Then the mom asked us, "What did you feel?" We told her we had felt the Spirit. She said, "I did too. I felt Jesus' presence." It was so powerful. We asked her if she would be baptized. "Yes, but I don't want to pick a date yet." I almost could not believe my ears. I had to ask her again just to make sure I understood. Absolutely amazing. It was a miracle. God felt so close. And it's an even greater blessing when I think about all the time I've spent her working with her and on my last visit with them she received her sign. She is willing to draw closer to Christ. I really can't explain how I feel. It's the greatest feeling ever!
So I kind of hinted at it already, but we got transfer calls last night, and....YES I'm leaving the area! It'll be 11 months tomorrow that I've been here. And actually, President called me last night to tell me but before he did, he said, "Elder Gathro, we want to ask you if you will run for mayor of Chandler?" Haha I might as well. But I'll be leaving on Wednesday for sure, possibly to Yuma. I'll let you know next week where I am. I'm stoked for the next stage of my mission! And my greenie companion is too, because he'll be a trainer. He's kinda freaking out because he doesn't feel like he knows Spanish, but he'll do great. He speaks it pretty well. It's gonna be a fun next transfer :)
Well, that's all I've got. Thanks for everything. I'll send you photos next week. I love you, all! Talk to ya later!

Elder Gathro

Chilly

Hey family!
It was a great week, we really picked up on our efforts compared to the past couple weeks with our new wards. We got a new ward mission leader last Sunday who is a recent RM and he's so fired up. We're actually at his house right now using his laptops but he leaves for work soon so this will be a short email. Thank you Mom and Dad both for your emails. I pray Mom will have a speedy recovery. I'll let you know about that list next week if that's alright.
Well yesterday we also had stake conference by satellite  Elder Eyring and Elder Holland spoke to all the saints in Arizona. It was hilarious to hear Elder Holland accuse Arizonans of not liking Utahans so much that they dug a ditch (the Grand Canyon) to keep them from crossing the border very far :) Aside from that, really inspiring words concerning missionary work and being more faithful disciples.
We had a really great lesson this week with one of our investigators named Jessica. She referred herself a couple months ago but only met with the previous missionaries once. They invited her to come to church on Gen Conf weekend and she couldn't make it but she watched some of it online. She's pretty interested and is actually "investigating" in the real sense of the word. And she was asking us such good questions! It was just a lot of FUN to teach her. I think it made the lesson more thrilling to see that she was being active in her learning, seeking to understand and willing to make changes. Missionary work is fun :)
Yeah we're having a good time down here. We're working with one of our investigators to help him stop smoking. He really wants to quit but is struggling a bit. We went over a stop-smoking program with him and he got so excited! Even his grandsons we're eager to help out and tape little reminders around the house. Pray for him, please. His name is Phil.
I got to do two baptismal interviews this week for my district. They are really neat experiences. Mom, I should let you know that I quote you a lot out here. Remember that you used to tell us, "Sorry means you won't' do it again"? I feel like that is pretty much the most basic way to describe repentance. I love sharing it with people to help them understand that repentance means change. And don't worry, I give you props as well. I feel like quoting Mom always adds more credibility :)
Well, I love you all. Enjoy the cool weather and have a great week!

Elder Joshua Gathro

Gathro Gang,
Mom, this is the first mention I've heard of any surgery. How're you doing? What's the surgery for? And yes, I already sent in my vote, although I don't know anything about the politics going on right now. I just found out yesterday about a huge hurricane that just blew through the Atlantic. Any updates?
I'm still covering the Spanish ward here in town. This transfer they also gave us two English wards and put us in an apartment 2 miles away so that now we're right in the middle of our area. The elders who lived there previously are now in my former apartment which happens to be their area. It was actually the most convenient arrangement. And since the move, we have played tennis every morning in our complex. It's way fun. My companion played tennis in high school and it's my goal to beat him this week. I almost had him this morning...so close :)
This week was terrific! Yeah we had some low points, but looking back and counting my blessings it was actually pretty good. For one, the weather has been gorgeous! This is the reason why so many people put up with the heat, because the winters are perfect. And the members here really are great. We had a trunk or treat activity this weekend and members kept telling us, "If you EVER don't have a dinner, you call us." And they're busy doing missionary work as well. The only challenge so far is being organized to stay on top of the work. I feel like Time and Satan are our biggest enemies. There's never enough time to do everything we want. But we're getting better. Oh, and I told the member at dinner last night that I would let you know, Mom, that they're making sure I'm eating my vegetables. We had a "health fair" this week as well where they gave us shots, so I'm invincible against the flu now.
Thursday night our Spanish ward went to the visitors' center in Mesa and we brought an investigator with us. He and his "wife" (we have to help them get married) are our leading Spanish investigators and are amazing! She had to work but he came with us and loved the Restoration video. He said he felt like it was a "recharge of batteries", aka The Spirit. He and his wife loved church yesterday as well and said that they are definitely coming back next week. Please pray for them!
Missionary work can be frustrating or overwhelming at times, but I know that it brings us sweet joy and happiness. It's a blessing to serve the Lord and help Him bring blessings to God's children. I love you all and pray that you're doing well!

Elder Joshua Gathro

"Fasting is a very strong feeling"- Primary Child

Hola hola!
Thanks so much for your email, Dad. Its incredible to hear about recent events in worldwide missionary efforts. Four thousand applications?!? That's incredible! Jessi, you should join the team when you can :) I was in somewhat of a slump this week but I was thinking just this morning about how a main purpose of the mission is to help you become more like Jesus Christ. And to help others become great disciples as well. You can be an instrument of the Lord for the greatest good in the world. 
So happy late Halloween! We spent 8am to 4pm reading in the New Testament and then from 5 to 9pm we had to be in our apartments. It was a pretty refreshing day and studying in the New Testament really helped me appreciate more the words of the Bible. At night we managed a few prank calls to other missionaries :)
So in one of our lessons earlier this week with a recent convert, we were talking about God's plan for us and he asked, "So when we die we won't be like this anymore? with our bodies?" - "Sorry, Michael, but no we won't." - "Auhhhh!" It was actually really funny. But he seemed so disappointed to have to suffer a time without our bodies. It made me appreciate more the good news of a resurrection.
So we had some troubles with our progressing investigators this week. We found out that our investigator with a baptismal date is still struggling to quit smoking. And  the other couple progressing toward baptism is having a hard time making the decision to get married or to separate in order to live the law of chastity and be baptized. Our mission president made a promise that if we contact a certain number of people a week that our investigators will continue progressing toward baptism. So as of Saturday morning we still had a lot of contacts to go to reach our goal, and it looked pretty daunting. But Saturday night after dinner we starting our fast, hopped on bikes, and went to visit an investigator that we haven't been able to contact for a few weeks, but that was at first looking to be the most promising. He lives 2.5 miles from our house, and over that distance we managed to talk to 55 people! That was huge for us! God just kept putting people in our paths and several of them actually seem like good potentials. So by the time we were approaching our investigator's house, it was pretty late, and the owner doesn't want us knocking on the door. I really didn't know what we'd do. But biking up to the house, our investigator was just walking out into the yard. I think my jaw dropped. Miracle to find him! We ended talking for about 15 min, although we seemingly had no idea what to say. He's really struggling and has given up a lot of hope to change. But God guided our words and we set up a return appointment. Both Elder M and I know that the blessing of finding that investigator again came because of our fast and faith. When we got back to the house, my companion said, "It's kinda freaky seeing God's hand so clearly." I don't know if I explained it well, but it was a great testimony to us of the power of fasting, and as well as how much God is involved in our lives.
I love you all and pray for you. Thank you for everything. Get well soon, Mom, and good luck with the new program, Dad. Have a great week!


Elder Joshua Gathro