Well I Am In North Sacramento Now!

March 30, 2015

Saying goodbye to Elder Padilla

Dear Family & Friends,

Well I am in North Sacramento now and I am loving it so far. It is cool to meet and be around some new people. My new companion is Elder Ward. He is from Farmington Utah. Ha, it is so funny when people ask where we are from and we both say Utah. They always say, "of course, all missionaries are from there." hah. It is so different from Lodi. Lodi was so calm and here there is always cop cars racing everywhere. It’s kind of ghetto here, but its fun. We are living in a little apartment now. It isn't near as nice as our house was but its all good.

This week we had an awesome service project at Cal Expo. It was a dental service where they set up tons of stations in a convention center and gave people free dental work. It was awesome. So many people needed it bad. We worked there for 12 hours! There were like 60 missionaries there so we basically were everywhere. It was cool on the first day when we were leaving they gave us a bunch of pasta from the volunteer lounge and when we were walking out we gave it all to the people waiting in line for the next day. They were so happy and grateful!! They were going be there in line for like over 16 hours. It was a great service and we got a lot of missionary work done there at the same time!!

We had some great experiences this week. Just yesterday we ended up talking to this guy named Luis. We talked to his wife the week before and left her with a plan of salvation pamphlet. It was weird because when we talked to her she didn’t seem interested at all! But talking to him yesterday he said she read like the whole thing and she told him we were stopping by yesterday but she had to go to Fresno. But I guess she told him that she was kind of having a bad day and we kind of turned it around for her. So anyway we talked to him and he was way cool. We taught him the plan of salvation and he liked it a lot. After the lesson he asked us to say a prayer for his grandpa in Mexico. He is sick. So we did and after the prayer he was like tearing up and he said he could feel something. We were like YES!! Hah, but not out loud. We went outside and talked to him a little bit more about cars and stuff. We definitely got off to a good start with them.

This is going to be a great transfer. Can't wait to keep this work going. I am loving it out here.

Hey everyone go watch the new video the church just released for Easter. It’s called, “Because He Lives.” It’s so good. We are showing it to as many people as we can out here.

Love you all!!

Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Gammell

Here is a picture from

my last day in Lodi.

Transfer Calls This Week!!

Behind our house on the running trail.

March 24, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

I will be leaving Lodi and heading up to North Sacramento. My new companion will be Elder Ward.  I am really excited for a little change and to meet new people. I have loved it here in Lodi. I am kind of sad to go but change is good. I am going to go out tonight and say goodbye to some investigators and members.

We had a great week this week!! Elder Padilla and I set a goal that we were going to talk to as many people as we could out in the streets. So we did and it was awesome. We met so many people. We only added a couple people as investigators but it still was cool to talk and get to know some different people and kind of what they are going through in their lives.

We added a new investigator this week named Sinai. She has had a really rough life. We are trying to help her out. She accepted a baptismal date for the 4th of April but it is conference so we will probably move it to the 11th. Hopefully I can find a ride back down here for that.

Sorry I didn't leave myself a lot of time to write so it is kind of short today. But there will be a lot more news more next week.

Love you all,

Elder Gammell

Our District Meeting the other day.

This Week Was Incredible!!

March 16, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

This week was incredible!! It was crazy busy but I've seen so many blessings this week.

So on Friday we had a mission conference with Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Lynn G. Robbins. It was so good! To start off he taught us about taking notes. He compared them to the large and small plates in the Book of Mormon. Most people take notes on large plates. He wanted us to take notes like the small plates, just the most spiritual things that the Holy Ghost teaches us. Not just write down everything he says. I liked that. So after he told us that it was basically it was a 3-hour question and answer session with an apostle. He asked us questions and we could ask him questions. It was cool to see how he taught us all things by asking questions and really kind of let us teach ourselves. His main focus was on faith, action, learning and the importance of the spirit in each of them. The spirit is the real teacher in everything. Then after the conference we all got to go up and shake his hand really quick. It was a great experience. We got a picture with him and all the missionaries in the mission. When I get a copy of the picture, I will send it home. Oh and I saw Elder Jensen there too. That was cool to talk to someone that I know. Hah

Elder Jensen & Elder Gammell

We baptized Maria on Saturday!! It was such a good baptism. The whole room was full and she was so excited. She had a big smile on her face when she came out of the water. Now her whole family is baptized and they are going to work on going to the temple in a year! It has been cool to see their whole family grow together through this. It has strengthened my testimony just seeing the light that they have now.

Elder Padilla, Maria, Elder Gammell

My Spanish is coming along good. I am learning more and more every day. We have added a couple of families in the past two weeks. Hopefully they keep progressing. A lot of good things are happening out here in Lodi.  I love serving the people here.

Scripture: Romans 8:31

Love you all!

Have a great week,

-Elder Gammell-

Elder Behan Got Shipped Off To The Mission Office.

March 9, 2015

Our 'Family' picture before Elder Behan left.

Dear Family & Friends,

Well to start off this week Elder Behan got shipped off to the mission office because of his concussion. So we got him all packed up on Tuesday.  He might come back in two weeks though. Since we have extra space in the house the Zone leaders moved in with us. Elder Soper and Elder Wendt. They are really cool guys and its fun having them around. I am glad I live with a bunch of missionaries instead of just with my companion. It keeps it interesting hah.

We were supposed to have a baptism this week but we had to move it back a little bit. She needed permission from her mom and her mom wants to wait a little bit longer, so it’s all good. We do have a Baptism this Saturday though!! Maria Gutierrez. We are getting everything all prepared for that.  We are so excited for her! Then in a year her family can go to the temple and be sealed! That's what we really want to happen!! Because baptism is just the first step and going to the temple is where they will find true happiness in knowing that they are going to be a family for forever.

I hear Connor is getting baptized!! That's awesome!! Congrats man!! It will bless your life so much!

Well we have a mission conference this week with Elder Bednar so I am pumped for that!! It will be awesome to receive some guidance and training from him.

Love you all,

Elder Gammell

Read Ether 12:6. It's a good one :)

My new pair of football cleats
I bought for .49 cents at Ross

This Week Was Kind Of Crazy!

March 2, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

This week was kind of crazy!! One of the Elders we live with was in the shower and slipped somehow and hit his head. He got a pretty bad concussion and had to stay home all week and rest. So we had to take turns watching him. So tons of exchanges this week!!

I went on an exchange with the zone leader Elder Wendt. We went out to Lockeford and saw a girl that they had found. Her name was Elizabeth. It was kind of funny we were going in the backyard to teach her and they had a little bunny in a cage and it died right before we got there and they didn't know until we went back with them. Hah it was kind of funny. They just bought it like 2 days before. They were like oh well.  Anyway, she had so many great questions for us and she told us that she knows the book of Mormon is true. We taught her the plan of salvation and it went so good. At the end of the lesson we invited her to be baptized and she said yes. Then the spirit just came over all of us and she started crying. That was the confirmation to her that baptism is the right step for her. It was so awesome!

This Sunday was amazing!! I think it might be one of the best fast and testimony meetings I have been in. Everyone that got up had the most powerful testimonies. You have to fight to bear your testimony here in the Spanish ward. Right as the president says the time is now yours everyone rushes up the front!!  I have never seen anything like it before.

My Spanish is getting a lot better!! I am working so hard to listen carefully to native speakers and speak as much as I can. It will be a great day when I am fluent in Spanish!!

Everyone look up this quote or story. Its called A Man, A Rock, and the

Lord or something like that. Its a great motivation and boosts me every time I read it.

Love you all!! Talk to ya next week!!

Elder Gammell