Loving it over here (October 6th, 2014)

Hey Everyone,

Things are going well over here in Spain. I am not sure what to talk about with you guys hahaha. Sorry.

Well, one thing I really like about this country is how every day the Spaniards get out of their to bread shops or places that sell bread, and buy their bread right before "Medio Dia." I love the bars of bread. They are always hot and ready. I love eating them with my meals at home. 

On the missionary side, I got to do inter-cambios with Elder Bohne, our Zone Leader. My companion Elder Parkinson was with the other Zone leader Elder Schwenke. Man, Elder Bohne is a hard working missionary. He also speaks real good Spanish. I learned so much from him when we were working with our appointments and contacting people.

It was also awesome to watch General Conference in Spain. We all saw it at the Temple Square are. which is where the stake center is for the Madrid stakes. There were so many people there and it was great seeing other members from our church there.

As for our investigators, Gisela is getting baptized this Saturday. Paul and Fernanda have baptism dates for the 18th of October. And, Sebastian has one for the 25th of October. We are looking forward to teaching them more about the Gospel and helping them understand the doctrine. Its fun stuff and so humbling to be able to teach about Christ and religion.

Anyways, I hope you all love the pictures I sent to you guys. The mission is freaking awesome, I am getting better at Speaking Spanish with the Spaniards and its is an awesome experience. 

The mission life still feels at times different, but, I am adjusted to it. Wow, 2 years feels like a long time of how long I wil be living here in Spain. I'm not sure what else I should say. You are welcomed to ask me anything that I have not shared.

Well, take care everyone. Love you guys!

-Elder Galvan

pics (September 8th, 2014)

Hey guys,

Well, here are some pictures of the mission. Enjoy!

Love,

Elder Galvan

2 Year Anniversary (September 29th, 2014)

Hey Family and Friends,

Today two years ago, on September 29, 2012 I was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so happy and grateful for my decision to choose this church. Besides that, it made me sooooooooo happy to hear my Brother, Isaac Galvan's, Missionary Farewell Talk. That was like a gift to me today to hear him speak. As I listened to his speech it made me think to myself of how sharp he is and how smart he is as a person to be able to give such a spiritual talk. I hope he heals his knee and is able to make it on time for the mission field. I love my brother and it makes me happy to hear about how he is going to serve a 2 year mission.

Besides that, out here on the field in Leganes, Madrid I have noticed these posters that say G-Star Raw created by Pharrell Williams. What is that??? Is that like some kind of TV show or some kind of movie they are coming out with? I was just really curious because I have no idea what that is hahaha.

In addition, this week my companion and I got sick. I don't know what kind of sickness we caught, but, we were both out on Wednesday. We noticed how the sickness was building up earlier in the week. On wednesday, that was when we woke up and could not get out of bed. I bought medicine and let my companion use some of pills I bought. We are 100% right now. That day really messed up our plans with investgators and it also affected the following day. Man, it really sucks getting sick out here in Spain. Especially as a missionary.

Also, it is such a huge surprise of how expensive fast food places are in Spain. Seriously, they really suck. It can cost you like 10 bucks to get a good meal out of a Burger King, McDonalds, etc. I miss Denny's. That place is where you can really get more for your buck. Anyways, out here in Spain for food we usually get fed by members or cook the food ourselves.

Another cool thing I wanted to share was how I am able to work out in the mornings. Every morning for 30 mins I do a high intensity work out using body workouts and weights. Its awesome, I really release a lot of stress and keep my physique contained so I can come back and weightlight when the mission is over over at the good old 24 Hour Fitness on Adams and Harbor.

On the spiritual sides of things, I had the opportunity to give a blessing to Hermana Catalina Cancho Martin who is member from our ward. She invited us over to eat and fed us this soup like food with plenty of beans and patatas. She also fed us bread and chicken. She too is a convert to the church and is originally from the West part of Spain near Portugal. It was so hunbling to act in the priesthood and give her a blessing, in SPANISH!!!! I am so happy I gave a blessing in Spanish, that was totally my first time hahaha. She is such an awesome woman and we love her a ton.

More on the spiritual side of things, my companion and I were able to reactivate an inactive member of the church. She is a young girl named Nicole that joined the church when she was 14 years old. I met her at the English class I was teaching in the church last Friday. My companion and I talked to her and invited her to more church activities that were happening. We had a lesson with her on Saturday and we talked to her about how much potential she has for the chuch and our ward. She came to church on Sunday and a fireside with us. She wrote a note to my companion writing about how she is grateful for the missionaries and feels loved by us. So, that made my day for the week. Seeing a member regain interest in the church and appreaciate it all in the end. We all see her as a little sibling to us that we watch out for. 

With our investigators, Paul and Fernanda have fechas for this 18th of October to get baptized. We are hoping they can make it to that fecha and continue growing. One thing that helps our 2 investigators is how awesome my companion is and how I am a convert to the church. Paul brings it up to us and asks me about how it feels to change and have the courage to get baptized. Things are progressing with them. I need to find that picture of my baptism and show it to them of how it looked for me.

Things are awesome here in Spain. It is definitely a privilege to wear a chappa and represent the church.

Thanks for reading this guys. I love you. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Sal Galvan

Transfer 2 Looking Sweet (September 22nd, 2014)

Hey Everyone,

So, today is the official two month mark since I arrived in the Spain CCM. I guess you can say that time flies by. It feels slow, but its all good. I don't really worry about how long I have been here in Spain.

I really have liked what has happened with the 2nd transfer here in the mission. Man, I wish I would've planned out stuff to write to you guys. So sorry if this email is just random, I am trying to recall the week that gone by.

First off, I managed to get my SD card fixed from the virus which allows me to use my Canon Rebel T3. I will not be able to send pictures of myself for a long time since I may have to ask a member to transfer all my SD card data in my storage device. The computers we use here are public computers at these places called locutorios. There are viruses and stuff in these computers which is the reason how my SD card got infected. One day I will send some pictures of me on the mission. It makes me sad that I can't share my time here in Leganes.

Besides that, I want to talk about our Ward Mission Leader in the Leganes Ward. His name is Jeison Ramirez, 24 years old. He is originally from Colombia and has been such a great ward mission leader by working with the ward and coming with us to meet all of the investigators. The cool thing about him is that he opened his mission call yesterday on Sunday. He is going to serve in the Barcelona mission on the 15th of January, 2015. We are all so happy for him. I hope I stay long enough in the Leganes area to see Jeison go off to Barcelona on train. He is such an awesome dude.

Since the transfers and how Elder Tanner left from our piso and getting Elder Larrea. Since Elder Tanner taught the English class, he passed the baton to my companion and I. My companion let me guide the lesson last Friday with the small group of people we had come to practice their English. I am looking forward to some more service and helping the people who come learn some English stuff. Its really funny and cool how we get to teach English classes in the church.

In terms of our investigators, they are still in the process of learning about the church. So far we have Gisela waiting to get baptized sometime in October. I am stoked for that and seeing her progress. 

I don't know what else to write. Next time I will make points/notes of stuff to share with you guys. 

Well, I hope all is well and I love you guys. Take care!

Un abrazo,

Elder Galvan

Beginning of my 2nd Transfer (September 15, 2014)

Hey everyone,

Well, this week was pretty chill. We are still visiting with our investigators, so far we don't have any set dates.

The cool thing about this week was how we got invited to eat dinner with members this week. I am so grateful for them and love them a lot.

I also got the SD card virus thing fixed. I don't think I will be able to send any pics this week.

In our piso, one Elder left and another came in. We got a Native named Elder Larrea. I am excited to have someone not American in our piso with us 3 Elders.

Other than that, sorry to end this email so short. I spent too much time individually writing to people.

Take care guys, I will write to you guys next week. Wow, I can't believe how fast time goes by in the mission.

Good Stuff.

Love,

Elder Galvan

Day 42, Beg. of Week 7 (September 1st, 2014)

Hey everyone,

Gosh, I am so sorry about last week for not being able to write to you all. Well, the mission work is awesome as usual and I am so stoked to be able to work with people and get to know them and stuff. Well, I don't remember much about how last week was. I only wanted to just talk about all of the investigators we are teaching right now. So, I'll start with that and then talk some more about how things are going out here in Leganes, Madrid. 

With that said, my companion/trainer, Elder Parkinson and I have 6 investigators and 1 that is not yet one and another we had to drop. So, Paul and Fernanda who are about 30 years old plus or minus, with a little girl that is 4 years old named Angye, they are awesome! They were the first people I met with right off the start of my mission back in August 7, which was on a Thursday and I had entered the mission field officially on August 5th. Anyways, Paul and Fernanda are in the Spanish military and really love my companion and I. The awesome thing about them is they are always so generous by feeding us dinner and that's something members do. Most of the time investigators just listen to our lesson and then bye. So yeah, Paul and Fernanda are definitely progressing and are working towards getting baptized in the church. The only thing holding them back is how they go out of town for miltary stuff and can't come to church. 

Next, we have this other investigator named Edil. Edil is originally from Ecuador and has recently been reunited with his daughter Genesis in Spain. Genesis is not an investigator, but, she is interestedin hearing our lesssons since she sat in on the most recent one with Edil. Edil is awesome too! We are just trying to get him to come to church so he can get to know the members. He too is working towards the goal of getting baptized in our church. 

After that, we have another investigator named Sebastian. Sebastian is a 23 year old fighter for Spain, born in Colombia and his father is from Colombia and his mother is from Spain. Sebastian and I have a really good relationship and he calls me his little brother. He is a tank and is really ripped. He comes to church and other activities we invite him to. He is doing things at his pace with getting to know the church. I have high hopes for him.

Moreover, we have this other investigator named Gisela. Gisela goes to chruch in Barrio 5 and belongs to Barrio Leganes. She told us she wants to get baptized, but, in Barrio 5. So, I think the leaders in the stakes are talking about her and what to do about the whole baptism thing.

Lastly, our other investigator is a girl named Carina. Carina is 20 years old, born and raised in Getafe, Marid. Her parents are from Portugal and its pretty cool being able to have that blessing of getting to know her. Carina is the only investigator that I have been able to contact successfully from scratch. The other investigators are people my companion and his previous companion contacted or someone passed to us from other missionaries. So, its really cool Carina meets with us. My companion gives me credit for contacting her. And she has only been taught La Restauración and came to church yesterday. She is also friends with a family in our ward and comes to Family Home Evening activities every Monday. So yeah, we'll see how it goes with Carina.

And the other two poeple, James and Bryan. James is a 20 some year old kid that uses a wheelchair and his parents are from Africa. Its really cool how he speaks Spanish and is an African. I have never seen that in my life until I got here in Spain. James is not yet an investigator because he has only come to activities and does not want to come to church. Because of that, we are going to share the message of La Restauración and keep inviting him to church. Bryan, we had to drop because he claims he is atheist and keeps fighting with our lessons or doctrine we share with him. We have to drop him because he chooses not to progress and hopefully he'll change his mentality.

So, that's all the people we meet with during the week. Other than that, we have dinner apppointments with members or are proselyting on the road.

Besides all the investigators, this past summer there is this song called, "Bailando," by Enrique Eglesias, and has been pretty popular out here in Spain. I don't know if you guys know of that song, so that's why I am asking. 

I also love my personal study time. I have been learning so much from the Book of Mormon. Man its amazing how that is working out form me on my mission. And, I am also still learning the Spanish language. An interesting fact I thought you guys should know is that apparently, when people get married in Spain, the wife does not take the husband's last name. That is so cool! Shoot, I like that hahaha! That would be cool if I can marry a Spaniard from this country after the mission. Anyways, some of the people here refer to the Spanish language as Castellano. There are times when I am speaking English and some member from church catch me and tell me that I need to practice speaking in Castellano. I don't know the difference between Spanish and Castillian Spanish, but, I have been learing their kind of vocabulary lately. And, it sounds so cool to hear a Spaniard speaking Spanish with the theta and all. And, where you hear the Andalucians speak, you know its an Andalucian. They speak with a weird accent and eat the letter "s" in their speech. Imagine someone saying España, well when they say it it sounds like Epana. Weird hahaha, but, I still love it.

I also ate some Paella last week and Spanish tortillas. Man, paella is one of my favorite foods. And, the tortillas they call tortillas out here are nothing like the Mexican tortillas we use for burritos in So Cal. Its like this think tortilla made of patatas and other stuff. I can't describe it, its just different hahaha. Oh yeah, and potatoes here are called patatas.

And, I have not been able to take new pictures with my camera lately. My SD card got messed up and I am in the process of salvaging it. Due to that, since I need a SD card to use my camera, pics are inactive for now. However, I still have plenty of pics I have taken here and will still send them. As of now, when I fix the SD card or buy a new one, you will hear from me saying something about new pics. 

Well, thats all for now. I hope this letter is chunky enough for this week and makes up for last week hahaha.

I love you guys, hablaremos el proximo semana!

Un abrazo,

Elder Galvan

More Pictures from the Mission!!!! From, Sal Galvan (August 25th, 2014)

Hey guys,

Dang I am so sorry. I have to sign out of the internet. I will write back next week about this week and the new week. I am sorry, next time I will make sure to write the big email letter first. Hope all of you are doing well. Hope you like my pictures hahaha. Love you all, take care. I will write next Monday. Talk to you guys soon then :)

Love,

Elder Galvan