Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Nov. 30, 2011

How are you? and the rest of the family? It sounds like you guys are all enjoying the holidays so far! It sounds like the family is doing well, glad to hear about Great Grandma, 'im sure there is no way she remembers me! Thanksgiving was a ton of fun. We started the day playing some good ole Turkey bowl with some ward members. One of the running backs from the red skins actually showed up and started playing with us it was really cool. Then after that we returned to the apartment and wrote letters and stuff because we weren't allowed to proselyte. Then we had a thanksgiving lunch with a member were we had chicken and rice. Then our Thanksgiving dinner took place at one of the Elder Edwards' recent converts named Lorrenia. We had lamb, pork, duck and then some other Hispanic food. But overall it was a great experience and a lot of fun. Other than that we've been teaching a ton of lessons, we definitely have a ton more to do in this area. There are about 10 times as many Hispanics in the area. So this Saturday we had a baptism, her name is Carolina. She's twenty years old and is amazing! She loves the gospel and cant wait to go to the temple. I had to give a talk about baptism at her baptism and had to translate for President Matsumori. I swear I always have to give a talk or something when President is there! Then the next day was church and she was confirmed, she said it was the best day of her life. I had to give a talk in sacrament meeting about the light of Christ in sacrament meeting and I think I did alright. Ive gotten over my fear of public speaking now I just need to work on my Spanish! The weather here has been ridiculous the last week or two. Its been in the seventies!! I'm loving it but I think it will probably start getting a little more chilly this week. Its almost December! I cant believe it! December means things around here are going to get super busy with the lights and everything! We have to take over the sisters areas because they are going to be at the Visitors center practically all day so we are going to be swamped with appointments! It should be fun! Ill take some pictures! yesterday we had a lesson with Carolina at the VC about Temples and she is so pumped to go through one day and to serve a mission. She is hoping to serve in Utah which I am too because that would be sweet if she could meet all you guys! We all took pictures of us touching the temple, she is definitely one of the "elect" that we missionaries dream about teaching. Some background info about her. She is from Peru and she wanted to start looking into the church a couple of years ago but her parents wouldnt let her. but now that she is 20 her parents have decided she can make her own decisions and so she started to take the lessons and felt an overwhelming feeling that it is true. Her family still didn't want her to baptized but she did it anyways because she knew it was true. She's incredible! I have an other Investigator named Fernando who is going to get baptized on the 11th of December who might be going to Utah for Christmas break, he is 14 years old and he reminds me of Dillon. he is going to try to hook up with Elder Edwards and maybe stop by you guys and meet you all! Ill keep you updated on that! I hope everything is going well for you guys and that you are all enjoying the holiday season! I know I am! I don't know if Ive ever been so excited for Christmas music and lights before in my life!! During this holiday season there is a change in everyone that you can see. I believe its because everyone stops thinking about themselves and begins to think a little bit more about others. They begin to put the Christ in Christmas which if you break that apart you have "Christ" and "mas" which mas means more in Spanish so that just shows we need to think more of Christ in our lives. If our attitude is constantly centered on Christ the adversary will not be able to take us off the straight and narrow path that leads to the Savior. "Doing the things that matter most, will lead us to the Savior of the World" --Uchtdorf. I hope your all doing well and I cant wait to hear from you soon. I love you and don't forget to smile!!
Elder Gleed

Salvation Army Dinner Nov. 2011





Nov. 23, 2011

Hey family!
How's everything going? Today for me has been a very long and busy day and unfortunately I don't have a ton of time to write again (sorry) But for today we had a big service project with the Salvation Army. We made food and then served it to around 5,000 people the last two days. My responsibility was over the gravy and mashed potatoes. Man do I make some mean mashed potatoes! It was a ton of fun and a lot of hard work as well but definitely worth it! Sister Matsumori took a ton of pictures so make sure to check on her blog. After Elder Edwards and I made our way to the Holocaust museum which was super interesting! It was really cool to see and learn more about the past with World War 2 and everything but really sad as well! We spent about 3 hours there just walking around and reading all the stuff. Were still planning on a baptism this Saturday which we are super excited for and it looks like ill be giving a talk on baptism so we will see how that goes! Another thing that happened this week unfortunately was that a member in our ward got in a really bad car accident and passed away Friday night. So we had the funeral and viewing and everything earlier this week. The family is doing really well though and they have amazing faith so they will be fine. She (the wife of the man who died) said something very profound in her talk about the atonement that we thought was really cool. She said "I'm sad that I lost my husband but i'm not suffering from it, the Lord Jesus Christ already suffered for it so there is no need to it again" Pretty cool eh? We all need to have that mentality when it comes to situation like that. It would definitely make things a ton easier. We also had dinner with this really interesting man who works for Homeland security. His job is to plan out the opperations to find terrorists pretty much. So after 9/11 he helped plan how to take out Bin Laden after. Crazy job right? He teaches at John Hopkins University and is a super smart guy and has been giving Elder Edwards and I a ton of tips for the future. By the way I think im narrowing down what I want to do in the future by the way! But I dont want to say anything yet because I still have a while to think about it. ha Yes I did receive the package and everything. Thanks so much! I appreciate it and enjoy the food! So about Thanksgiving yes I have a big meal planned at 6 tomorrow night with a lady named Lorennia. Ive never met her before so we will see how it goes! I also have a Thanksgiving dinner next week so don't worry about me not getting fed! Sounds like you all are doing well and having a great time with the holiday season! Continue to enjoy this time of life! Take advantage of every moment, tell each other you love each other. Why? Because the prophet said so that's why! I love you all and am thankful for your support and prayers. Let me know if I can do anything for you and yes mom i'm still working on your letter ha. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to smile!
Elder Gleed

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Nov. 16, 2011

Hey Familia,

How is everything going back at home? The weather has been amazing up here for the last couple of day,s on Monday it was 75 degrees. Crazy! but the name of the city I am in now is Kenzington, the living quarters are way nicer than my last area. The only bummer is I have to pay for laundry now and we have to walk the street to do it. My companion is way cool and we get along really well. My area is a car area so it looks like ill be spending the winter months in the car so I'm pretty excited about that Whoo hoo! the work is going well and we have a lot of miracles going on, its a ton of fun. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be super fat by the time I get home because of all the food I eat. Today for P day we went to the city and played football again even though it was pouring rain. It was so much fun. then we went to a seafood buffet which was apparently really fancy (yes we did go in our muddy clothes) I tried mussels and clams for the first time. And apparently the place is closed for emailing so they are kicking us out. So I'm sure your going to be ticked t but i promise I will get a letter out today. I hope your all doing well and i cant wait to here from you soon. I love you and ill talk to you soon. Don't forget to smile!
love Elder Gleed

Nov. 9, 2011

Well hey there Family!
I got transferred! I am now in the area where the temple is at and I'm with Elder Edwards. This is his last transfer and he is from Draper. He was one of the zone leaders i went on exchanges with earlier on during my first transfer if you remember. Things are going well here. The weather is super nice its like in the 70's and I'm loving it. This week we've actually done a ton of stuff we painted an apartment, we did the rock part of a fireplace ( i don't know what you call it), I ate a ridiculous amount of food (Ive never felt so stuffed in my life), we had stake conference, and I drove 100 miles per hour in a 55 in a members car. Cool eh? I took some more picture this transfer but I don't have my camera with me because of exchanges so sorry! Maybe next week and I don't have a ton of time to email again but ill try and write a letter home and tell you more! But things are going much better than last week, I'm excited for this transfer. Sounds like the family is doing well and staying busy. Are you guys ready for Thanksgiving? I'm excited but I don't know what were doing yet I'm sure we will eat at a members house or something. Elder Valdetano cut my hair today and now I have a bald spot above my ear so I'm looking pretty good right now! SO here is a little more detail about my week: We had an investigator almost lose his thumb because a ladder fell and almost sliced it off. We had stake conference and Elder Cardon, a member of the seventy was there and I listened to the whole thing in Spanish and understood it all. Not bad eh? So a lady was cutting down some branches on her tree and then just decided to cut the whole thing down with a hand saw, so now there is a huge stick in her yard pretty much, ill have Elder Valdetano take a picture. But she lives in a town house where every one has a big tree in their yard and now she has a stick. I'm sure the land lord is going to love it when he finds out! Well i have to go unpack my stuff at my new apartment, but I hope everyone is doing well and is happy, I had to say goodbye to Hermano Paz last night and the change that the gospel has brought to him and his family is incredible you guys will have to meet him one day. But The gospel is incredible and its super important that we strive to study it everyday. We need to be constantly learning and growing so we can become more like Christ. I love you and I hope you have a great week! Don't forget to smile!
Elder Gleed

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Nov. 2, 2011

Hey family. Hows everyone doing? Honestly I don't really remember last week, it just kind of flew by! ha nothing really exciting happened unfortunately but Ill share what little stuff did later. Sounds like the blog is pretty sweet, no dad I was not here for the baseball game but I guess its something they do every summer so Ill be doing that soon. There shouldn't be too many pictures of me on there but maybe in the future, maybe after the Christmas party which is going to be like in the middle of December which is kind of lame. ha but oh well. I cant believe its already the end of the transfer, its super weird! I think Elder Valdetano and I are going to stay here for another transfer and if not then I will go somewhere else but I have no idea, Hopefully not a bike area especially in the cold! We will find out on Monday! Glad to hear you guys had a good Halloween. Halloween over here doesn't even feel like a holiday when your a missionary ha the only thing that really changes is that you have to be home by 6 because they don't want you knocking on doors and such. We had our first big snow storm last Saturday, there were some pretty big wrecks that happened but that only lasted for the day, its pretty warm now again. Elder Valdetano and I finally busted out the bikes this last week. and Yup you guessed it Dad, I'm hurting in some places I'm not going to describe haha. It was a lot of fun though. I'm excited to go to a bike area...just not in the cold ha. Sounds like Dillon is getting pretty active with school and the dating life style. Which is good, for the most part ha. I don't have my camera so I cant send you the one picture I took this week (sorry Mom it just doesn't seem like there is anything worth taking a picture sometimes ha) but its a picture of my new blanket I got from Tommy. She is a member of the Derwood English ward and is known as Grandma. She is just this big happy black lady to sum everything up haha. She is way funny I will get a picture with her soon, she feeds us every Saturday. My blanket has elephants, giraffes and zebras on it so you can tell its pretty legit. My Canadian roommate always turns the air conditioner on so its freezing in our apartment (like 58 degrees) The Christmas carol, Did I see that one? That should be fun to go and see that, let me know how it goes. Any exciting plans coming up for Thanksgiving? Hmmm Glad to hear that the family seems to be doing good. Do you guys remember Jake Walton from the MTC? He went to Columbia and I got an email from him today. he sounds like he is doing really well and having a great time in Columbia. he said its normal for them to hear gun shots during their lessons and he eats some super gross exotic food. Man that sounds pretty sweet to me! ha
Things have been going pretty slow here In Olney the last couple of weeks. We've been getting dropped by our investigators and have been struggling with finding new people. Hopefully that will change soon. I am kind of hoping I get transferred this transfer so I can change things up a little bit. We had the John Schmidt concert this last Sunday and it was way good, Man I wish I could play the piano so bad. ha. Other than that our normal day usually consist of: Personal study, companionship study, language study, lunch, then a bunch of appointments/service/knocking(usually knocking more than anything) and sometimes we don't get dinner. then we return to the house at around 9:30 and then plan for the next day. sweet eh? ha the days are a lot more fun when you have appointments or service planned. Its always fun when something unexpected goes on during the day ha. Its crazy that by the end of this next transfer it will be like a week before Christmas! Time seems really short when you divide it up into 6 week segments ha. Unfortunately I don't have anything and I'm in a rush or else I would write some more but Everything is going well here and I'm glad to hear everything is going well there as well. I don't know how much more to tell you about my life ha so let me know what you want to know. I'm hope you guys are happy and continuing to show love for one another. I can wait to hear from you next week! stay safe and don't stop smiling!!!!!
Elder Gleed

Oct. 26, 2011


Hey! Como esta todo? Sounds like Mom and Dad have been super busy with their trip. Sounds like it was a pretty fun trip! I'm jealous, you guys can take me somewhere like that when I get back if you'd like....Just a thought.. Sorry to hear about the race Dillon, better luck next year right? Elder Valdetano and I have been running a lot the last couple of days trying to be on time for appointments and such. (which we've been having a hard time with lately for some reason...ha) Shacie sounded like she enjoyed her birthday and is still waiting for some presents and surprises. Sweet! Did you guys have a chance to check out Sister Matsumori's blog? She told us to tell our parents about it but I guess were not allowed to look at it though so I have no idea what it looks like or anything ha. Someone said that grandma came over for a couple of days, how was that? I wrote them a while ago but haven't heard from them yet. How are they doing? Hows the overall family doing, both sides? I'd like to know! This week has been a pretty lame week numbers wise which pretty much means that according to our numbers it doesn't look like were working very hard. Hopefully things go better this next week! Mom said its seems like its been forever since we last talked but man every time I get on here to email I feel like it was just yesterday I was sitting here writing! Time is going by pretty fast! Your right Christmas will be here super soon and by then 6 months will have gone by! Crazy stuff!
Well this week I had the opportunity to meet a member of the first quorum of the seventy. Jose Luis Alonzo he is from Mexico and came and spoke to the Spanish members here in the Maryland/D.C. area. It was really cool to meet him, I took a picture so ill send it to you later. This week we also had something crazy happen to us. So about 2 weeks ago we got a phone call from a member asking if we would come over and give her friend a blessing. Her friend had just finished with a 6 week hospital stay and was still having a lot of problems. She had a shattered ankle and some stomach issues. Next to her she had a bag full of medications she had to take daily. It was a sad situation to behold but you could see the little happiness that she had as we discussed our Father's plan of Happiness for us. After a few minutes of conversation Elder Valdetano and I anointed and gave her a blessing. We blessed her with comfort during this time of grief in her life and promised that she could be healed if she had faith and if it was our Father in Heaven's will for her to be healed. We shared a little bit more about Faith with her and then it was time for us to leave. When we got to the car we felt prompted to go back and give a book of Mormon and ask her to read some chapters that night. The sisters met with her a couple of times during that week and taught her more about the gospel of Jesus Christ and what she needed to do in order to live with God again. Well this last Sunday we received a phone call from that friend who had called us to give a blessing, Maria had died the night before due to a heart attack. The reality of this hit me like a brick wall, this sister who I had talked to just a week or so before was now no longer with us. Its crazy how a life can end in the blink of an eye. But its amazing how our Father in Heaven didn't call her home until she had heard the gospel. We taught her everything she needed to know: faith, repentance, baptism by water and by the spirit, and then enduring to the end. Now all she has to do is accept it which I'm sure she has done on the other side. Our Savior knows us and knows what we need in our lives and when we need them. I challenge you all to be worthy at all times and to be prepared so when the Lord needs you to "run an errand" for him, you can do it. Its amazing how the Lord works in our lives!
Id also like to share a little more about Hermano Paz because I don't know how much you know about him. Hermana Paz (his wife) was baptized about 4 years ago along with her oldest son and daughter. Hermano Paz refused to listen to the missionaries and discouraged the baptisms of his family. In some of the area reports of Hermano Paz it describes him as rude and mean. Earlier this year another one of their sons turned 8 and decided to be baptized. Hermano Paz still had not interest in the church. Even as we finally were able to begin teaching him he didn't like the idea of being baptized and wouldn't commit to a date. He has completely changed since then. Last night we gave them a call to see how they were doing and ask if we could do anything for them. Hermano Paz said "yeah, you can come over tonight" So we went over and kind of just figured he had some questions for us or something. When we got there we were pretty surprised. He didn't have any questions for us but only wanted to share with us the things he had been reading and had learned. He teaches us instead of us teaching him. He is truly a follower of Jesus Christ. This is why we need to serve missions and help our friends and family find the gospel. Once again its amazing how the Lord works in our lives :)
I hope everything is going well at home and I cant wait to hear from you next week!
Love Elder Gleed
P.S. Don't forget to smile!

Oct. 19, 2011

HEY! So Denmark eh? What language do they speak there? I'm excited to maybe go to some Spanish speaking countries when I get back. I hope you guys are having a fun time and managing to stay safe! I didn't receive a package from you but I did receive Angels and the food was still good and I ate it all ha. Although I have to apologize if there was a letter attached to it because if there was I didn't find it. I thought I saw letter when I was first opening it but I never saw it again so hopefully there wasn't ha. How long are you guys going to stay in Denmark? Sorry about the pictures there just really isn't too much to take pictures of in my opinion ha. There is just a bunch of trees in my area but I will see what I can do for you. And whenever I have someone take a picture for me its just super blurry because no one knows how to work a camera here or something. ha. Yeah I don't have Shacie's email but Ill write her a letter I told her to send me an email if she wanted me to send her anything but she didn't so I guess we'll wait on that one. Glad to hear your got to see Brooklyn this week. Sounds like she is doing great. Braden was saying he is not sure about being Oscar anymore and that he is learning about Ancient Egypt in Mr. A's class. Man I loved that class! I hope he is enjoying it as much as I did! Any news on how Dillon did at his race? I went running yesterday for the first time in a while, Like almost a month ha. I decided I'm to skinny and I need to thicken up a little ha. I weight 148 right now so I'm definitely heavier than I was last time you saw me! There are some crazy weight loss stories here on the mission! There is an Elder who lost more than 200 pounds! Elder Fawcett (lives with me and is from Canada) lost almost 150 I'm pretty sure on his mission! Shows what riding a bike and eating a little less food can do! Unfortunately there are also the Elders that were like swim captains and super buff that are now just fat ha. Mostly because people don't work out in the morning like they should but I love it! So a little about my week. Well today we just got done with our Zone activity which was Laser tagging. It was way fun! It was kind of like that place in Provo but a little better (in my opinion) My code name was Darth Vader (just thought Id let you know) and it was a blast. We are going to play basketball today with some investigators today so I'm looking forward to that. A lot of people have been coming up to me after we played basketball after our temple trip saying that they didn't think I was serious about basketball so now everyone wants to play against me and we keep getting invited to play with other Elders ha. A counselor in the bishopric wants to play me too ha. But this week Hermano Paz received the priesthood and the Holy Ghost and you can see the joy its bringing into his life and the lives of his family. The other day we were over there for dinner and we mentioned patriarchal blessings and asked him if he had heard of them and he said:"no.....but tell me about it!!" He has a pure desire to learn and grown in the gospel and its amazing, we love teaching him! Other than that things have been pretty normal, were still working on the roach situation and apparently Elder Valdetano has bedbugs. Oh and about Elder Valdetano remember how you asked me last week if you guys should send him stuff because he doesn't get very much and I told you yes? Well scratch that! ha He got like 5 letters this week and I got nothing haha. I'm just kidding. He is a great companion. Glad to hear things are going well at home! So I'm actually at Montgomery college right now emailing and its kind of weird being back in the college feel but as a missionary ha Well this week during my personal studies I read a talk by President Uchtdorf titled "you are my hands" I don't know if you have read it but its a great one. In his talk he shares a story that took place in Europe after the second World War. There was a statue of Christ that was severely damaged due to the bombing and devastation's of the war. The community did their best to restore it to its original glory but parts of it were so damaged that they couldn't be repaired including the hands. Instead of bringing in a professional to fix the problem the town decided to leave it how it was and later a sign was put on it that read "you are my hands" I love the idea of us taking upon ourselves the name of Christ when we are baptized. Not only is it a great blessing to be counted worthy for this honor but also to be blessed with the trials and burdens that come with striving to become more like our Savior. In Preach My Gospel there is a chapter entirely about Christlike Attributes where we can learn more specifically about each one and what we need to do in order to obtain it. In Elder Uchtdorf's talk he continues to go on and say when the Savior left a room he left a feeling of peace and people felt edified by his presence. As followers of Christ who strive to be more like Him everyday, shouldn't we do the same for others? I challenge you along with myself to be Christlike in all that you do! I promise blessings of happiness, strength, peace and so much more will begin to flood into your life as you make this commitment. I am sincerely convinced that It is so much easier to be Christlike when we have a smile our face :) So never forget to smile! I love you and pray for you all every day, stay safe and choose the right! Talk to you in a week!
Elder Gleed

First Baptism

Oct. 12, 2011

Hey familia!
How is everyone doing? It sounds like Ive led you to believe that its cold here ha We've had a cold day every once in a while but its still pretty warm here, its cooled down for sure but still warm. I'm just making sure I'm prepared for when it does get cold ha. I did receive the package with the shirts gracias! I don't think I really need anything at this point so I think you will be able to finally hold off a little on the packages ha Sounds like the you guys are all staying busy with school and work. Glad to hear that Dillon and Braden are still alive and the house is still in one piece. ha That's weird that the stake split, so does that mean there is a new stake center around? The stake center up here is super nice. Definitely the nicest church building Ive seen. I'm not going to be able to recognize home in anyway when I get back it sounds like. ha Let me know how the big trip in Denmark goes! I'm excited for you guys! Ive been thinking, Dillon better go to some cool Spanish speaking country for his mission so I can go over there after his mission and practice my Spanish skills! I think that would be way fun!

So there are 3 other Elders in my apartment Elder Valdetano (my companion from Mexico but he lived in New York for about 3 years before his mission) then there is Elder Vanaa (English/French speaking Elder from Tahiti) and Elder Fawcett (English speaking from Canada) Yup so that makes me the only American in the apartment sweet huh? ha They are all doing really well and great Elders. Its funny to listen to Elder Vanaa and Elder Valdetano talk to each other English because they don't really make sense at all but they understand each other and they think they are pretty funny. Especially Elder Valdetano. ha If you guys would like to write Elder Valdetano im sure he would love it! He wants to practice his English and he doesn't get very much mail. Like once or twice a transfer ( 6 weeks) So go ahead and send him something

This week Jose Paz got baptized! I sent you the pictures so hopefully you are able to see them. Sorry they aren't the greatest pictures. But it was a great baptism, almost the whole ward was there! We filled up the chapel and there was a ton of food after. Got to love food! Yeah maybe you could send me a simple cook book or something because I'm kind of getting sick of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cereal everyday ha. Anyways it was a great day for the Paz family and they were all super happy and excited to begin there 1 year wait for the temple. Elder Croft and I can go with them when they go through so we are way excited for that! Hermano Paz is going to be a great member and priest holder, i called him 2 nights ago to see how he was doing and to invite him to a concert at the visitors center and when I asked him what he was doing he said that he was reading the priesthood manuals so he could get ready to receive the priesthood. Pretty sweet eh?
So a little bit more about this concert: its called la noche de musica y inspiracion (Night of Music and Inspiration) where the talented missionaries(so no, I did not participate) sing and play instruments and then others give talks about the theme of the night. And then those that have 0 talents like yours truly do things like give the opening prayer. :) (although it was a pretty darn good prayer might I add) It is a really neat night and such a blessing to have in our mission. but since it is all in Spanish those people that don't speak Spanish (like President Matsumori) need someone to translate for them. So after I gave my super impressive opening prayer, President came and sat by me and said: "you can translate for me right?" and then I said:"uhhhhhhhh, sure?" Probably not the response he was looking for but I ended up translating the talks and commentary for him. I just remember offering a silent prayer and then hey I did alright and he said he was impressed so he will probably make me Junior companion district leader this up coming transfer or something like that ha. (you guys probably wont get that because you don't know too much about missionary stuff but just laugh anyways because its funny) So those were probably the highlights of the week. Unfortunately we are not going to have a baptism this weekend because she didn't come to church this last Sunday but were hoping for the week after. Elder Valdetano wants to bust out the bikes this next week so I will let you know how that goes, hopefully its somewhat warm still.
I would like to share a scripture with you before i get off. Its in Romans Chapter 8 and i think its verse 30 and 31 but not sure, its the last 2 verses of the chapter though. Anyways it talks about the love of God and how there is nothing in this world that will separate us from that love. Although we sin and draw ourselves away from God, His love for us is the same. As well when we are going through hard times that we don't think we can handle we can always pray and find that love. Our Heavenly Father loves us and if we would only look around us and look for that love we would find it. Its everywhere! I hope you guys have a fun week and that you continue to choose the right and hold to the Iron rod! I love you all very much! Everyone be safe, be happy and remember to smile :)

Los vemos!

Elder Gleed

Saturday, October 8, 2011

October 5, 2011

Hey! How is it going? I'm going to try and get some pictures sent this time so let me know if you get them and I am not going to be able to write as big of a letter because I don't have a ton of time. Way to go with cross country Dillon! Just run 20 seconds faster and I think you'll have beaten my best time. Keep up the good work. Things are going well with Elder Valdetano and I. He does speak English actually pretty well, he learned off the streets (he used to live in Brooklyn for 3 years before this) He doesn't really like contacting English people on the street so I do all the contacting. But its all good its good for me. Elder Valdetano has been out for 10 months and yes we are still having our baptism this Sunday. Pretty sweet eh? I got the shoes and im actually wearing them as im typing this thanks! I'm sorry to hear about the loss of my black and white nikes....I have no idea what happened to them. Sorry to hear about the sickness that's been going around! hopefully everyone gets better soon. We have been doing pretty well out here health wise anyways. We had to bust out the winter coats a couple of days ago but today and yesterday have been perfect temperature wise so im not complaining. Conference was great! I watched it from the Visitors center and from one of the stake centers around here. We just invite all of our investigators to conference instead of teaching them lessons. Its 100 times better anyways. Sounds like you guys have some pretty fun trips coming up, let me know how those go. And are you sure Dillon is old enough to stay home alone with Braden?? Ha that's weird that everyone is getting so old. Let me know how school is going and everything. I love to hear about it!

So ill tell you a little about me. Our area has been struggling a little bit but were still doing well. We are trying to find people to teach but no one wants to listen. But here is my funny story for the week: So every monday we have district meeting and after that meeting we go to Cafe Rio, EVERY Monday. (Man I love Cafe Rio) Well Elder Valdetano and I didnt go with the district because we had to go visit a member (which ill tell you about later) but we went to Cafe Rio after we were done. While we were eating this lady comes up and is just staring at me. I asked her how she was doing and everything and then just to show you how weird the conversation was this is what she said to me: "Where's my pink bunny?" I was like "uh...what?" "your the Mormons right?" I said "yeah...." "so...where's my pink bunny?" I listened to this lady talk for almost 20 minutes while Elder Valdetano ate his food. At some points im not even sure if she was speaking enlgish, and my spanish abilities are telling me it definitely wasnt spanish either. This lady talked about everything possible to talk about im pretty sure and I just sat and listened giving the occasional nod to show I was listening (or at least trying) She told me about everything from her 3rd husband who was an FBI agent to something about Angelina Jo Lee being Jesus. Everyone at the store was looking at us. Unfortunately I did not have her bunny and I had no idea where she could find it. I wish her the best of luck in finding that poor bunny. ha Got to love being a missionary

On another note I have also had some pretty sweet experiences as well. I loved the song the choir sang at conference "I feel my Savior's love" There are so many ways in our lives that Jesus Christ demonstrates his love. This week we had the baptisimal interview for Jose Paz, I was able to feel my Savior's love as I watched a Father and his family take one more step towards the temple and to Eternal Life together. I felt his love as the wife expressed her gratitude for the missionaries for our persistance with her Husband and the happiness it brought to her when I told her that Jose could baptize their 2 year old son when the time came. Although there are many time i have felt his love there is one more time this week I was able to strongly feel the Saviors love that I would like to share. This time in the room of a hospital as we gave a member a blessing of healing and comfort. Her eyes were filled with tears as she thanked us for coming and once again as I testified to her of the Saviors love and how he is aware of her. The Savior lives! For Joseph Smith saw him on the right hand of God and I myself have seen his blessings that He provides to those that have faith in Him. Continue to have Faith! Continue to have Charity and Hope, for without them we are nothing. Thank you for everything! I cant wait to hear from you again! I pray for you everyday and think of you often! Ill talk to you in a week, have fun this week, be safe, and dont forget to smile :)

love Elder Gleed

p.s. enjoy the pictures! if you have questions ask

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Sept. 28, 2011

How was meeting Elder Croft's brother? Thats kind of weird! I'm sure the whole family is a bunch of good kids though. I have sad news though! Elder Croft and I are no longer companions, he was transferred to the city today. Kind of sad huh? We thought we were going to be together for another transfer for sure but nope I guess not! My new companion is Elder Valetano. He is from Mexico so maybe this means Ill start getting better at Spanish! I don't know if I told you this but I haven't been able to drive this whole transfer because I'm classified as a class B driver. Pretty much means im not a good driver. So Elder Croft has been driving the whole time but now Elder Valetano doesn't have a license so im going to be doing all the driving. Wish me luck! I just barely met him like an hour ago and he seems like a pretty funny kid. Mom's gonna be ticked but.....I forgot my camera so i cant send you pictures this week. But hey! Something to look forward too right? Ill try taking more pictures too, I just forget that I have a camera with me sometimes. I have not yet received the package with my shoes but maybe soon.

Well a little about my week.... We have two people on date for baptism! Cool huh? Jose Paz and Silvia. Jose Paz we have been teaching for a while and is going to be baptized the 9th. Silvia we have only taught once and she is getting baptized the 16th. We are pretty excited and are looking forward to it. Conference weekend will be exciting. I think we can either go to the stake center and watch it or go to a members house. I probably wont get too much out of it since ill be watching it in Spanish but we will find out ha. The weather has been great here. The leaves are starting to turn orange and its going to look super pretty because there are a ton of trees out here. Ill see what I can do about taking some pictures for you ;) This transfer is going to be way different without Elder Croft. He was a good missionary (well he still is, he isn't dead) I learned a ton from him and im excited to learn from my new companion. I'm glad to hear about the success in your individual lives and I encourage to keep up the good work. Make sure you pay good attention to conference. Have a particular challenge or question in your mind before it starts on Saturday and I promise you will receive either some help or and answer. The words of the prophets truly are scripture and we can learn so much if we would only heed to their counsel. Ill share with you some things I learn from conference if you share with me what you learn. This life is an opportunity for us to become like our Savior Jesus Christ I challenge you to always remember this in everything you do. "Will this bring me closer to my Savior or take me farther away from him" The Savior suffered for all of us and he will lessen our pain and take away our grief and sorrows if we would only repent. We got the easy part of the deal :) I love you all and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Remember the Savior in all things! and Dont forget to smile!

Love Elder Gleed

Sept. 21st, 2011

Hey family


A little about my week. Well first of all it doesn't even feel like a week, it feels like a day or two since I last wrote you guys. Time has been flying out here, which is both a good and bad thing. The people in my mission are great, Ive been able to meet a lot of them throughout the time Ive been here. Elder Croft and I have been working hard, we have been trying to do a lot more service and member work this week and its actually pretty fun! We have been running low on people to teach this week so we have been knocking a ton. Yesterday we went knocking and we knocked on about 6 Jewish houses in a row! They don't really like us too much just to let you know ha. Other than that we usually just have people tell us "I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and nothing you tell me is going to change that" and then Elder Croft and I say "Sweet!" People really have no idea what we believe and its fun to explain to them our beliefs. We have had a lot of downer days but they definitely pay off in the end! For example yesterday we totally just got owned at this apartment complex (which means we just knocked on a ton of doors and talked to a ton of people and every single person rejected us pretty much) and its always moments like that where after we find a sweet contact. Diligence! Its a true principle! Jose Paz is still doing awesome but he just wont get baptized. He will get baptized on October 2nd probably, he just doesn't know it yet ha. Were excited for him and his family to go through the temple after he gets baptized! Today is what we call "death temple" Its where all of the "dying" Elders and Sisters (Elders and Sisters whose missions are coming to an end) go to the temple and anyone else is invited to come as well. So we just had a temple session with like a hundred missionaries pretty sweet eh? After we play "death basketball" (catching a theme here?) for the rest of the day. Should be pretty fun! Well that's it for the week pretty much. Its good to hear from you guys every week! One thing i have particularly noticed this week is that the gospel truly brings happiness to peoples lives. As well that the Lord really has prepared his children to accept the gospel. One thing we have been challenging our members to do throughout this week is share the gospel with their friends and families. They have written their testimonies in a book of Mormon and then we give them two weeks to give it someone. So.......I think it would be great for you guys to give it a shot as well! Its pretty intimidating huh? But whats the worse that people can do? Say no right? Its not that bad and its actually a great experience to strengthen our testimonies. So get out there and share those testimonies! I love you all and I cant wait to hear from you next week! Have fun and enjoy life! Remember to smile! :)

Love Elder Gleed

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sept. 14, 2011

Well how are things going for everyone? Everyone enjoying life? Sounds like things are pretty busy over there from what I'm hearing. I got the package, muchas gracias. There isn't a specific day I get my mail it just depends on when it comes and how long it takes the mission office to get it to me so it changes all the time.So good news...................................................My backpack was found! ha So what ended up happening was Elder Hansen who came out with me, his companion grabbed it thinking it was Elder Hansen's and then when they got to their apartment it got thrown on the couch and pretty much just sat there for 4 weeks. Everyone just figured it was someone Else's bag ha. But now I have doubles of everything pretty much its sweet haha. So I have my journal again so I don't have to rewrite stuff. I'm sorry to hear about Dillon's Cross Country. You got to work if you want results. Elder Croft is super big into cross country and he smokes me every time we go out for a run. I'm at the point where I don't even care anymore, Ive accepted it as a part of life ha.
One day it was super cold and now its been super hot ever since then. ha It rained almost every day last week though.
Well Ill tell you a little about my week now. Well this week has been a pretty tough week, we have had to drop a ton of investigators because they don't have the desire to change or do the things we ask them. And we haven't taught very many lessons either. Kind of a bummer but were working on finding more people! I focus has been on Jose Paz this last little while. We have extended an invitation to be baptized twice now but he still doesn't feel ready but were pretty confident he will get baptized soon. I guess I'm improving on Spanish a little bit. I can now talk on the phone with Spanish speaking people so that's improvement right? ha The only Spanish food I have been getting is from the Salvador family. But so far its been super good! I'm actually suppose to be having some Peruvian food next Tuesday. Elder Croft says its raw fish........hmmmm. Ill let you know how it goes ha. On Friday last week we spoke to about thirty people on the street and pretty much every single one of them rejected us in some rude way, its super sweet. Sometimes people just yell at us through the door without even opening it. This one guy was sitting on his porch and we had just gotten done knocking on his neighbors door who is one of our investigators and then we were going to talk to this guy and he just yells "Dint even bother wasting your time here" But even after that we still told him that we know our message is true that's why we would like to share it with him and he just stood up out of his chair and starting heading towards us like he was going to beat us up ha. He stopped about half way though and was like "You boys get out of here" pretty fun stuff! The next cool experience was pretty intense as well. So I think I told you about this a little while ago but after the hurricane we stopped by this one house who had a tree branch fall on their car and bust it up pretty bad. They weren't home but we cleared up their yard and everything for them and then left a note on the door. Well we never heard from them so we decided to stop by on Monday to see if everything worked out for them. They were home and the guy was super nice invited us right in and he knew exactly who we were. He introduced us to his kids and then we were just having small talk on the couch and he was way nice. He grew up in an LDS community and a lot of his friends were Mormon so he knew quite a bit about the church. He is a member of this super huge church/school called Covenant LIfe. And he was telling us how he really respected us and was jealous of our "zeal" is what he said. The next thing he said was "I wish that we (the people of his church) had the same zeal for the truth as you do for a lie." He just flat out told us how we were wrong and was trying to prove us wrong the whole time. He called us blasphemers and all this junk. It was super crazy! All we could do was bear pure testimony to him and just hope that one day he changes his mind or that the spirit will soften his heart. Some super crazy experiences though!

Well on a happier note! Last night was the night of music and inspiration. Its a concert that is put on by the missionaries. It was super good and the spirit was way strong. Elder Croft played the piano for it, he is way good. This kid is just loaded with talents. Today was Fall sports day which is a mission wide activity. We all get together and play a ton of games. One of the games is called hero ball, its a mix of dodgeball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, and capture the flag. It was super fun unfortunately we lost both of our games though ha. I was the goalie for my team and not to be prideful or anything but nobody scored on me all day, impressed much? I thought you would be ha Well everything has been going pretty good here, currently our apartment is all torn up and a mess because were trying to kill all the roaches and mice ( got to love it!) But hopefully we will take care of that soon. Ill try to get pictures to you all soon. Did you get my last ones I sent? I actually haven't been able to go to the city since my first time, its been a bummer but hopefully soon! We were going to go on a dome tour of the capital today but Fall sports day got moved to today instead. Oh well I guess!

This week we have been teaching a lot about adversity especially to the members and its helped alot of them out in so many ways. Everyone goes through adversidad and some go through a little more than others. The scriptures promise us in D&C 54:2-4 that there are always blessing after trails IF we do our part. Our part is to remember the Lord during those trials, to put him first and not last, and to humble ourselves. Like the Lord promised Joseph Smith when he was in Carthage jail, If we endure our trials well we will be blessed beyond our imagination. I testify of this truth because I have felt it and seen it in my life. I hope everything is going well for you all and I cant wait to hear from you again. I love you all! Remember the Lord in all that you do and don't forget to smile :)

Elder Gleed

Friday, September 9, 2011

Sept 7, 2011

La familia Gleed,

HOLA! How is it going everyone? I appreciate all the packages and letters I have received. All of the Elders were super jealous of me because I got all of the packages in one day. It sounds like you all are doing very well. So Dillon is going to homecoming huh? Reminds me of when I went to homecoming for the first time my sophomore year when I was....15 *cough cough* Anyways! Im sure Mom remembers that pretty well! How is School going for everyone? Hopefully great! Lots of homework yet? Make sure you let me know whats going on in your lives! By the way im trying to write as many letters as I can on Pdays so be patient ha. There is hardly anytime to do anything on Pday so I try to write as fast as possible to everyone.

Well I will tell you about my week. On Thursday We had a big Spanish meeting/Workshop thing for all of the Spanish speaking elders and sisters in the mission. It was pretty good and I learned a lot about teaching specifically hispanic members and how to use my time more wisely when studying Spanish. Hopefully it pays off! We have been teaching a ton of lessons the last couple of weeks so we have been really busy! We pretty much just taught all day both members and investigators on Friday and Saturday. Up here we are able to use the Visitor Center at the temple which is super cool! We bring our investigators here and the Sisters teach them with the resources here at the VC. We also had a ward Mission Activity on Friday. The members were able to learn more about the Kindoms of Heaven through different rooms we had designed to represent each of the 3 kingdoms. It was really cool! Francisco(got baptized 2 sundays ago) has been doing great, he actually got confirmed this last Sunday and I am the one who confirmed him....IN SPANISH! ha can you believe it? It was super intense and a really neat experience! Francisco is a great kid and he really has that desire to change his life and follow JesuCristo. He has been looking up all the Missionaries on facebook trying to figure out our first names and I guess he found Elder Croft and I ha. On Sunday we also had a special Spanish Noche de Hogar (family Night) at the Matsumori's house. It was super good! We have a lessons games and delicious food made by Sister Matsumori. Delicious! We actually had one of our investigators, Jose Paz (he is a Dad with 4 kids, his wife and kids are baptized and go to church but he is not a member) to go. He went without his wife and with all of his kids so it means he really wanted to go! and He had a great time! Then everyone showed up for the Combined ward BBQ on Monday. It was raining all day but we still had a blast, everyone was soaked. We played tug of war and ate a ton of food (of course, its the spanish way) Hermano Paz and his family had a great time! Were going to be teaching him again soon and we are going to give him a baptisimal date. Cross your fingers he says yes! Also on Monday I went on with exchanges with one of the zone leaders, Elder Edwards. He is a really good kid from Draper he will be going home in December. It was a ton of fun, we went to a members house and ate delicious food and then just went and did missionary work. He is a really good kid and I learned a ton from him. yesterday (tuesday) was kind of tough actually. First of all it rained all day so we were soaked. And it was cold! Elder Croft let me wear one of his sweaters ha. And then Im pretty sure we talked to every chinese person in the state of Maryland yesterday. We knocked forever and the only people that answered were chinese. Ridiculous! We only taught one lesson and that was with Francisco. We are preparing him to receive the priesthood and he is super excited about it! Hopefully in a couple of weeks! As for today, its still raining and we havent really done a whole ton except shop. I bought a sweet calender with some cool pictures of the temple that I think I will just send home or keep for the pictures because its a 2011 calender. But hey it was only 2 bucks!

I hope everything is going well at home and that you guys are enjoying life! Last night we had dinner at the Bishops and we talked a little bit about adversity and how sometimes life is just tough and gets you down. Elder Croft and I found this awesome scripture in D&C 58: 2-4. It says something like after much tribulation comes the blessings which is true! The best thing you can do during tough times is get on your knees and pray for help. And then after get up on your feet and get to work! Keep working hard and making the most out of everday, read the scriptures, in them we find so much hope and guidance! I started reading the new testament the other day and I love it! I figured if I want to become like Jesus Christ, I need to do the things he did, and if I want to do that I need to know what He did! ha So I started reading and im loving every minute of it! When you guys get the time I would love to hear your testamonies! Just send me an email or letter if you can! You guys are amazing and I love you! I know your striving everyday to do whats right and as you continue to do your best you will only receive blessing from it! I cant wait to hear from you again! Have a great week and remember to smile! :)

Love Elder Gleed

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

P-day in down town DC


Elder Gleed & Elder Croft


First Baptism


Well hello!
Just to start off with your questions: I can go buy a pillow and a camera case but I will need money. Were pretty much flat broke out here. Ive eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches pretty much everyday this week ha but its all good.
So how is everyone doing? Schools started now right? Hows that going for everyone? That's cool that Braden got Mr. Amendola, he is one of my favorite teachers, he will like him! By the way my address book was in that backpack that was lost so I don't have any ones addresses anymore. ha So if you would like to get me some that would be awesome!
Well, Francisco was baptized! It was pretty awesome to see! And he has already come with us to some teaching appointments because he wants to be a missionary. We took some pictures so I will try to send them. Francisco asked me to give the talk about the Holy Ghost for his baptism. It was good I think for the most part. I did it all in Spanish without any notes! In front of a pretty good sized group. So hopefully you can say Spanish is getting a teeny bit better. That was the highlight of our week though! Other than that its just good ole missionary work. We have had some pretty sweet experiences as well with some pretty weird or discouraging ones. For example Elder Croft and I were called Satan 2 days ago. We decided to talk to this one lady that was sitting on her porch and at first it was looking like it was going to be a pretty good contact, well it went down hill super fast. She started talking about how great she was and it was almost like she wasn't even listening to us or anything we were saying. And then out of no where she started calling us Satan so we just decided to leave. Interesting people out here! Well the hurricane wasn't too bad. At least not around our apartment. There were some areas that were hit pretty bad. We were driving and we saw this car with a huge tree branch on top of it. The windshield was shattered and the car was pretty dented, it was sad. And then we have been helping this family who house got torn up pretty bad. Trees fell over and tore down the power lines and started a fire. So we have been cutting up the wood for them and sharing the gospel at the same time, multi-tasking, got to love it! We have a couple people in our teaching pool that we think we can get baptized if we work hard enough. There is this family, la familia Paz, and everyone is a member and goes to church, except for the dad. But were going to take them to the Visitor center and have a sweet lesson about the Plan of Salvation so hopefully he will see the importance of baptism and eternal families! I am definitely learning alot out here, especially during personal study. I wish we had a full day of personal study sometimes ha. I have read so many general conference talks its ridiculous but I love them! One of the coolest things Ive been learning about the gospel is how simple and straight forward it is. There are no areas in the gospel that don't make sense or that we can slack off on. Its perfect! One of the things Ive been working on having is charity. And i found this sweet quote during one of my study's. "How we relate and interact with each other is a measure of our willingness to follow Jesus Christ." It just shows how important Charity is and loving everyone no matter who they are because we are all Heavenly Fathers children. Even when people call you Satan you have to remember that Heavenly Father loves her so i should too. Look for the good in everyone because its there, some people its just harder to find it! Be the person your Heavenly Father needs you to be! That's what I'm trying to do and Elder Croft and I have definitely seen blessings from our obedience so far! I know you will find blessings even miracles from your obedience and diligence to live the gospel as well! Well hopefully next week I will have some more exciting and fun experience for you! Next P day we have "Fall sports day" its a mission activity and I hear its pretty fun! Well if there is anything I can do for you all let me know! Id love to help. Until next week Alma 34:41! Have hope! Its a commandment! Love you all! Hasta luego!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

  • HOLA

8/24/11

Well Hello!
How is everyone going back at home? I think school started this week so I'm sure its been a super busy week for you all. So today has been a crazy day and I am actually sitting in a library next to some guy who is looking up treatment for some super gross rash or something on Wikipedia. We went down to the city today and its pretty cool! Its weird seeing all that stuff on movies all the time and then actually being there! Alot of people from our mission played football in front of the Washington Monument today for Pday. Elder Croft and I took some pictures in front of the Capitol building as well that I don't have time to send today so sorry! Next week por seguro! (for sure) So I have some bad news.....So my backpack has gone missing! After we stayed the night at the mission home we put all of our overnight bags in the back of the van and then we went to the stake center and somehow during that process my bag was misplaced. Its a bummer because it had my deodorant, toothpaste, some clothes, garments, English scriptures, English preach my gospel, my journal and my camera in it. And then my back pack is gone so I have to carry everything around in my arms. The AP's are trying really hard to find but have had no success. So cross your fingers they find it! President Matsumori might buy me some new stuff I guess but I feel bad making him do that. So you might not be getting as many pictures as you hoped for because I am camera-less! Sorry! Alright so about my week now: Well I am in the Olney part of Maryland which is the most northern area in our mission. There is a good mix of Spanish and white people and black people. Unfortunately a lot of my lessons have been in English so its difficult to practice Spanish when everyone speaks English. My companion and I live with 2 other English Elders. Elder Stallings (from Idaho) and Elder Vanaa (from Tahiti) they are pretty cool. We live in a pretty nice apartment but its kind of a dump because some of the Elders are messy. Oh and we have Roaches, sweet eh? But overall pretty nice. Lots of pictures of Jesus that's for sure and we jam out to church music all the time! ha So my first missionary appointment was with La familia Salvador. They are from El Salvador and only speak Spanish. They are an awesome family and what we call Golden Investigators. There is the Mom and Dad and then they have 2 little girls. They were married in May and then soon after baptized and now they are working towards the temple and they love the gospel! She has her baptismal certificate framed and hanging on a wall, that's how awesome she is. The food wasn't too bad they call it Papoosa's which is just life a stuffed tortilla with whatever you want on top of it. That's about all the weird Spanish food I have had unfortunately! Maybe next week will change. But here is my miracle story of the week which Elder Croft and I are very proud. So we got a referral from the Missionaries down in Mexico to go visit this guy named Francisco on Thursday at 4. So we went and visited him and it turns out that its this 18 year old kid that met the missionaries down in the Mexico and talked to them like once. When we get there he says to us "so the missionaries gave me this book and I read it and I got an answer that its true" "I really want to go to your church but I cant find it, I really want to go to the temple too" Well Francisco is getting baptized on this Sunday how crazy is that? And he wants to serve a mission and has already began to save up money. This kid is awesome! That is my miracle story of the week. I hope you enjoyed it! About the Earthquake it was pretty intense! I was just standing in our apartment and then all of sudden the whole building started to move, probably not very safe since it wasn't that bad here but yeah I heard it did some damage to the temple so hopefully they get that fixed up soon. But it was my first legit earthquake and some one said we have a hurricane coming our way. Bring it on! ha I don't know why stuff like that gets me excited. Reminds me of back when Dad and I were in San Francisco during that big earthquake in Japan. Now about that Spanish....I don't know what to say. ha Its going alright I understand the lessons and what everyone is saying and I put in input and help teach the lessons. The hard part is when they are talking directly to you. Man do they talk fast! And some of them have super thick accents and they use words I have never heard before but I think I'm going to be alright, hopefully I get some more Spanish lessons in. Ive been to some Spanish family nights and those are crazy. Way fun but crazy. Man the city is awesome but its just difficult with everything because of money, I swear we have zero money as missionaries ha. But its all good no worries. I don't really have anything spiritual for you at the moment because I left my notebook home but I've been learning a lot about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how it actually is a Covenant. Testament as in the Old testament and new testament means covenant in Greek. So it just makes it so much more important for us to continue to read it. Our ward up here (our Spanish ward, they only speak Spanish, that was interesting for sure) is challenging all the ward members including the missionaries to finish the book of Mormon by the end of the year. So I'm going to finish the book of Mormon in Spanish. Wish me Luck. I hope you guys are all doing great and continuing to choose the right you guys will have to write me and email me telling me about everything. Its definitely different here how you don't get letters in stuff in the mail. Its been more than a week since I got mail! Dang ha Oh well I love you guys! And I pray for you everyday! Choose the Right, Stay safe, stay positive and Smile! Ill talk to you in a week! Hasta Luego! Les amo!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hey!
Well I made it and its great! The flight wasn't too bad actually, I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep at all but I pretty much slept the whole flight. ha I haven't stayed up that late in forever, although I did wake up and my whole left side was numb because of the way I was sleeping. It was awesome talking to you guys, it sounds like your all doing great. Its weird that next time I call you I will have been out for 6 months! Loco! When we got to Georgia we didn't really have much time between flights and I ended up sleeping that whole flight too. When we got here we met the Mission President and his wife along with some of the Presidents assistants. They are all super nice and it was great meeting them. We then headed over to the temple which is the most beautiful temple in the entire world, definitely my favorite and the pictures you have seen don't do it justice! When your driving down the interstate the Temple towers over all of the trees and is impossible to miss it. I will get pictures soon. As of right now I still haven't even unpacked or seen my suitcases. ha. We were able to make a commitment to the Lord within the temple grounds. It was really neat and was suppose to be our own personal "sacred grove". I felt really great and I am already in love with my mission. I am glad I am here in D.C. When it comes time for me to come home I am suppose to go back to the temple grounds and have a followup meeting with the Lord about my commitment I made. I cant wait for that! After the temple we headed over to IHOP where I had the Breakfast Sampler, which isn't a ton of food but a decent amount. I was super surprised that we were able to take a nap! I was expecting many things but definitely not a nap that's for sure. I was out right when I hit the bed and slept the whole 3 hours. They tried to wake Elder Clapier and I a couple times before we actually woke up. After that we went over some of the mission rules mostly about cars and health. Which I am a class B driver so as of right now I'm not allowed to drive any mission cars, bummer eh? I have to pretty much do traffic school again before I can start driving but I'm not really sure if i want to start driving ha its been a while! Then after we practiced contacting each other within the mission home. The mission home is awesome by the way and has super comfortable beds. its a really nice home. That is when I had my meeting with President Matsumori, He is great and I am excited to get to know him better over the next 22 months. He will actually be heading home the same time as me so that will be neat. After that we had a delicious dinner made by Sister Matsumori herself. It's great to have real food! After that we played a little ping pong and had a great testimony meeting. There are so many great missionaries here and I am excited to get to know them. After that there was dessert which was awesome once again. Then it was off to bed. This morning I met my trainer or my Dad, Elder Croft from Sandy Utah. He has been here 8 months and he is a great Elder. I am excited to start working with him, He said we will work hard which I really want to do. Then we went to a temple session which made me love the temple even more. They said i should be able to go once a transfer so that will be great and I will definitely take advantage of that. My P days are on Wednesdays so expect to hear from me every Wednesday. I still am only suppose to be on the computer for 30 minutes so I think it will be best if you either write me or email. either or works but I wont be able to see any emails until Wednesday. My area is called Lonely I think which is suppose to be really big, its not part of the city but I can go there every Pday if I want so Elder Croft said he wanted to go next Wednesday so I will be there and I will take lots of pictures. About the address so just send my stuff to that address I sent Dad (my mission home address) but Just make sure to put Elder Austin Gleed on the envelope when you send it. Simple as that! I will have so much more and pictures for you next week!I was thinking, I'M going to need a raincoat probably soon and then they said it doesn't really start getting cold until after conference in October. I cant really think of anything else at the moment but I will probably in an hour or so because I will be unpacking then. My bike made it fine but my area is not a bike mission right now so I have a little while before I will actually have to use it. I am excited to get out and start working. Elder Croft said we are going to a families house for dinner tonight. They are from El Salvador and only speak Spanish, wish me luck! We should get some knocking on doors out of the way tonight as well. Let the fun begin right? Its crazy that I'm finally out here! I cant wait to hear from you! I love you all!
Elder Gleed

Aug. 11, 2011

HOLA!
Como estan? It sounds like you guys are doing great from what I've been hearing! What have you been up too? I feel like my life isn't too exciting sometimes because all I'm doing is learning and studying for the most part. But somehow I seem to enjoy it. \
Happy Birthday Dillon! I think your at scout camp right now so you'll probably get this at the end of the weekend but how do you feel about turning the big 16? It is definitely weird for me ha. Its probably even weirder to think that your going to be a junior in high school this upcoming year. My junior year was my favorite and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.
There always seems to be something that I think of that I need throughout the week but I can never remember when I'm actually on the computer. So I guess we will have to wait and see if I remember. Sounds like you have been pretty busy though. I'm just barely starting to get sick but i have been taking medicine, I'm hoping it will be gone by Monday! I haven't sent anything home because I want to start packing and maybe send home some stuff that I don't need so I will just sen everything home in a box or something. Thanks for everything I love you!
Sorry about the busy week with work I'm sure going up to Idaho will be a nice break! That's cool you guys started reading La Doctrina y convenios how far are you? That will be good for you guys to do for sure. I'm pretty excited about my red eye flight or whatever you called it. Its much better than waking up at 4 and then heading out. I just leave at 8:30 at night so I think its pretty nice! I am in a travel group of 10 people. I know at least 3 of them are for sure going to D.C. but I don't know about the others. I think 2 might be going to Dominican Republic. I am flying Delta though. It will be exciting and its really weird to think how much things will be different by this time come next week eh? It will be fun though and cross your fingers that I can understand the people!!
Well now about my week, Its been pretty normal for the most part. Other than that we received flight plans and received a new companion. Our new companion is Elder Jensen, he went to High school with Elder Chugg but he recently had surgery so he had to stay an extra week in the MTC, He is going to Panama and he was supposed to leave last week. He is a pretty funny kid and way good at Spanish. He leaves on Monday too. This week we went out to the Real World again. We went to the Hospital for Elder Jensen to get cleared to leave. It was a lot of fun and we talked to a ton of people just about random stuff. This one kid just came running up to us and wanted to talk to us, it was cool to see. Its great being a missionary! ha Other than that its been pretty normal, Alex Forsyth came in yesterday and it seems like he enjoyed his first day. Jordan Rupp has been here for a while now and he is enjoying it as well. I wish I could have been here in the MTC when a lot of my other friends were but its been a lot of fun meeting new people. Tomorrow we have in field orientation all day long so hopefully that will be fun! Well next time you here from me I will be in the Airport! Crazy eh? That will be awesome to hear from you guys! Stay busy and Ill talk to you in 4 days! I love you guys and remember to smile!!
Elder Gleed

Saturday, August 6, 2011

August 4, 2011

Hey!
How are things going over there in Eagle Mountain? The other day I was talking to some old guy while I was walking back from the temples and he got mad at me when I told him that I was from Eagle Mountain, because I said it like Eagle Mountin instead MounTAIN. I need to be careful next time! How is everyone doing?

Thanks for the packages! I could never get sick of food are you kidding me?? ha Sorry I don't have a ton of pictures lately, things get repetitive here so nothing new really happens to take pictures of. Lo siento! (I'm sorry) Thanks for everything Mom! I love you!
I should be getting my flight plans later today! I'm pretty excited, I should be the first person from my district to leave but I'll let you know for sure later. Yup Jahde and Parker left on Monday I guess they were on the same bus to the airport or something so thats cool. It was funny because Jahde was all worried about being on an airplane by himself. I'm glad I have some experience since I went to San Francisco by myself. It was nice. I hope I at least know one person in my travel group but we will see! It was hard saying goodbye to Jahde but definitely easier to say goodbye here in the MTC. I just told him "well, see you in a few months" which is pretty much true. Thanks for the updates on the world events everyone is clueless whats going on out there besides what we hear from our families.
So my weeks are all jumbled together and I don't really know exactly what went on this week ha. But we continue to have great firesides, this week the guy that wrote "the work and the glory" spoke to us. We've learned a lot about Charity and service over the past few weeks. Its amazing how the Lord seems to always find a topic for the speakers to speak on that specifically helps me in one way or another. Blows my mind. Yesterday i was teaching a lesson and I just let loose on Spanish and I was super shocked. Sometimes it just comes so easy. There has to be some sort of gift of tongues because I have been here for less than 2 months and I'm speaking ten times better than I was when taking those three years of Spanish in High school. Its ridiculous. But in a good way of course. So i recently memorized the first vision in Spanish. Chido eh? Well not much time but I found my favorite quote on LDS.org so I want to share it with you before i Get off.
"our promised blessings are beyond measure, though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith. --Thomas S. Monson.
I had an interview with my teacher yesterday and she had this prompting to ask me if there was something going on in my head about my mission. I just told her that I don't want to be the person who I came her as anymore. I want to be better, I want to be that person that people think of when they think of a good example. So I hope I can change and that you can see that change in me when I return home home. Thanks so much for all that you do. I miss you and love you so much and hope that you guys are doing well. Well I'll talk to you in a week Hasta luego!!
Elder Gleed

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

July 28, 2011

Hola!
How is everything going on at home? It seems like you guys are just continuing with normal life, which is good! Hopefully you guys are staying busy instead of just lying around all day! So this time lets see how much I can write you before the computer that is not suppose to kick me off, kicks me off. ha So weeks here in the MTC are pretty repetitious, nothing really special that changes. Jordan Rupp came last Wednesday, it was good to see him because I haven't seen him in a while. He is going to Texas, Spanish speaking so he still has a little while. Do you guys remember T-Cap? Or Tyler Caprio? The Lehi basketball team manager? Well he is here too, I think he is actually leaving this week. Its funny because I hardly even recognized him. He is a great kid though, he will be serving in Fresno California. I will see if I can get pictures with some of my friends here. So I have a friend that went up to Utah State with me named Stephen Lew he is serving in the Tapai, Tawain mission. Well he left on Tuesday and he has the most messed up flight plans. So he left early Tuesday morning so he could fly to Michigan. Then from Michigan he will fly to Taiwan. Seems kind of counter productive doesn't it? ha I thought it was pretty funny when I heard that. Jahde leaves on Monday so that will be different. It is definitely easier to say goodbye to friends here in the MTC than it was back at home. Probably because we don't really get to hang out or talk a whole ton here at the MTC. I think he is a little nervous about the Spanish but he is mostly excited. Elder Chugg had his wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday. Some of the things he was doing were pretty funny. It kind of made me wonder what kinds of things I was doing when I was drugged up. Oh by the way the dentist that helped us out has a sister serving in the exact same mission as Jahde is right now. Small world eh? Jahde, Parker, and I took pictures for you. Things are going pretty good here in the MTC, I think Spanish is coming alright, not too bad. I love speaking it that's for sure, sometimes it just gets a little frustrating when I don't know how to say a certain word. Thanks for the package by the way! I enjoyed the little picture album! Sometimes I wish I had my yearbook or something like that so I could show everyone what people look like when I tell them stories. I don't know how but somehow we always find stories to tell each other. I don't know if I told you this but Elder Spear, One of my roommates is not the District leader, which means things are a little more relaxed now. ha Elder Wright is a good guy but he takes everything a little too serious and gets mad really easy. Elder Chugg got a letter from a friend yesterday and they couldn't believe how fat he had gotten, ha I hope that doesn't happen to me! Its crazy how time flies while your out here on a mission, already two months almost crazy stuff! So this last little week I had a little low point where I was just getting fed up with myself and all the lessons and Spanish and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to speak Spanish. Its amazing how the Lord is aware of each and every one of us, especially in our times of need. I swear every single lesson, fireside, or talk was all especially for me. They all were about motivation and things like that and its just awesome how things work out like that. So I've been able to participate in a couple more priesthood blessing and its AWESOME! I haven't given one yet but maybe soon! I started a missionary journal this week and its going to be pretty sweet by the time I get back, I'm excited to show you guys. Its got great quotes and talks, answers to questions of the soul, my own personal topical guide and some other sweet stuff! I hope you guys are keeping up on your study of the gospel and continuing to be examples in all places and in all things! You guys are awesome and I cant wait to talk to you guys on the phone in a couple weeks to hear about everything that has been going on at home! You guys are constant examples to me and I hope you know that I love you guys! Hasta Luego! Les Amo!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Friends from school, they were at the MTC together

Elder Gleed and Elder Jahde Clark

Elder Gleed and Elder Parker Miller

Elder Gleed and Elder (Tucky)