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

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

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!