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