Week 22

Hey all!

It's been another great week here in South San Francisco! Here's the skinny:

Cool Thing Number One:

Today on the way to write emails, a car going the opposite way crossed over the median into our lane, swerved, and hit a bus. It was awesome, because nobody was hurt.

Cool Thing Number Two:

We went on back-to-back exchanges this week. It was super great! Working downtown in the zone leaders' area was great, and the next day another elder came into our area. Exchanges are always fun.

Cool Thing Number Three:

We found a new investigator named Walleena. We were just walking around the projects and she was out in front of her home siting on her porch, and she said we could come back later. Her family is way cool!

Our investigators are coming along well. We've really been working on teaching powerful lessons and focusing on commitments.

Cool Thing Number Four:

We love getting called on Saturday afternoon to speak on Sunday. And by "we" I mean Elder Vance. It was awesome.

Not Cool Thing Number One:

My voice has been gone for like the whole week, and it cracks whenever I talk loudly to people on the street, which is every day. It's really not cool, but it's funny.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, folks, and when we look to our Savior, He brings us happiness. Roll tide.

Elder Gillie

Week 21

It's been a really great week. Serving a mission is lots of fun. Here's some cool things that happened this week-

The mission has been making a huge push on talking to more people. We have a new key indicator called OYMs (open yer mouths) and we're asked to get 20 a day. Elder Vance and I have not been great at talking to everyone, so we decided to repent and start talking to more people. On Wednesday we had lots of time, so we walked 6 miles and just talked to people. It was great. As we did that, we felt the Lord giving us greater desires to serve, and we got more excited. Opening our mouths is fun! 

This weekend we had stake conference, which was a blast! TheSaturday night session was focused on Hastening the Work of Salvation, so we were really happy to hear members speaking on how to bless others. And we got fed too, and that was nice.

Real bummer about the Niners last night. We tracted a little bit near the end of the game and we even got invited in to watch it. Too bad we couldn't...:(

The last few days have been super sunny! It feels like Alabama in May, sans the humidity. I'd be happy to stay here another few months.

One thing I've been thinking a lot about is faith. Faith is great because it leads us to make changes in our lives to bring our lives in line with the Lord's will. Even small and simple decisions (like choosing not to speed) can help us gain access to the great power of the Atonement, and the peace that comes into our life from the Atonement is greater than anything else we could find in life. The Gospel makes us happy!

Have a good life.

Elder Gillie

First Full Week of January

Hello all!

2014 has been a great year so far. Here's some cool and not cool things about this week.

THE GOOD

Transfer calls came Saturday night...we're both staying in South City! The sisters in the ward are staying too, so we're going to have one awesome transfer.

The Lord gives us like tons of blessings when we obey. When we have the faith to do what Heavenly Father asks, we have the Spirit, and we can be happy.

We got fed this week. I really like food.

The weather in San Francisco is perfect right now. Sunny, slightly breezy, warm...happy winter :)

Yesterday, Lona and Jesus spoke at a fireside called Why I Believe at the temple in Oakland. It's a testimony meeting where recent converts speak about how their lives have changed since they were baptized and why they decided to be baptized. Jesus and Lona were both awesome! The Spirit was super strong. It was awesome.

THE BAD

We've been teaching a less active, Brother Hamilton, for a few months. He's been battling cancer for a number of years, but he passed away this week. We're really sad to see him go, but he's not in pain anymore, and we'll see him again. Thank goodness for the Plan of Salvation! He's probably doing donuts in his spirit world Lambo right now.

THE UGLY

Elder Vance borrowed my clippers to give himself a haircut this week. He learned the difference between 3 mm and 3/8 inch...after the haircut. Good thing hair grows back...

THE TRUTH

The Gospel is true. Jesus Christ has restored it to the earth through a prophet, Joseph Smith, just like He did many times in the Old Testament. God wants our families to be happy, so he's provided a way for us to become clean from sin and find peace in this life.

Love,

Elder Gillie

Happy New Year

Hey friends! Happy new year!

This week has been terrific! On New Years' Eve we got to watch Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University. It was awesome! After being movie-deprived for 4 months, Despicable Me seemed like the funniest thing I'd ever seen. I really thought my sides might explode from laughing.

On Thursday we went to Oakland for some follow-up training for Elder Vance. Training meetings are great. The Spirit is always there, we learn tons, and we get pumped for missionary work. It's great!

We're struggling to find new investigators, but the ones we have are fantastic! One of our investigators recognized the Spirit while we read 3 Nephi 11 with her, and we were super excited to hear that.

Elder Vance and I are super pumped for the new year. We've been praying hard over our goals, and we know the Lord will pour out miracles on the South San Francisco ward over the next couple months. The Gospel is true, even though Alabama lost. There is so much happiness to be found in the restored Gospel! When we have faith in the Savior enough to keep His commandments, He reaches out and brings us tons of joy!

Have a great week everybody!

Elder Gillie