Can't Believe It's February Already!

February 2, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

Can't believe it's February already! This past month has by far been the fastest of my mission. We have been working so hard and that makes it sped up as well. I turned 20 this week! I had a great birthday. Haha not really any different from any other day of the week but it was still really good. Mostly because I got a ton of beef jerky in my birthday package ;) haha. I was also able to look back on the past year of my life and think about all the amazing things that have happened to me. I know I have grown so much through all the experiences I have had. I have felt such a huge change in my heart that I know only comes through truly living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Lord has placed certain people in my path to change my life forever. It's crazy to think about all that I would of missed had I chosen not to go on a mission. I know that I made the right decision and I'm so grateful for the time I have been given here in Sacramento. Glad I still have a lot of time left. :)

We were able to have some really amazing lessons this week. We met with that part member family again. We followed up on their reading and praying and it turns out the only one that read was the youngest boy. We were so proud of him haha. He still hasn't been baptized and he's 9 so we are really hoping he keeps it up! We then taught a lesson about the atonement and repentance. The spirit was so strong! We read about Alma the younger in the Book of Mormon and they all really liked it. The boyfriend really enjoyed it as well. We committed them to pray to know what they could change in their lives and also to read and pray again. We are going back this Tuesday to follow up again.

Well, I was admitted into the mental hospital several times this week... Just to go visit. :) We had several people call us requesting visits from there. It was actually a really cool experience. We were able to give away 3 copies of the Book of Mormon. We met this lady named Shawna and also a guy named Zack. Elder Michie talked more to Shawna and I talked to Zack. He had been through so much. A lot of bad decisions had led him down the path he was on. He was baptized in a YSA Ward several years ago but fell away right after. I bore my testimony to him and taught about the power of the atonement. We talked about how we can change and receive forgiveness if we truly change our hearts. It was cool to see the hope coming back to him. We read out of 2 Nephi 4. He started crying and told us how good it felt to feel the spirit again. It was an awesome feeling being able to help them. I am actually pretty excited to go if we get called back again.

This next week is going to be awesome! We have MLC in Rancho Cordova and Zone Training this Friday. So it's going to be really busy planning for those. We hope to see our investigators take big steps forward this week too. Anyway I'm doing great! Hope you all have an amazing week!

Con Mucho Amor!

Elder Gammell