July 3rd - THE MISSION WAS SPECIAL AND I LOVED EVERY MOMENT!

President Adams and Elder Batz

 Yo fam,

I'm literally filled with so much emotion right now, I'm overwhelmed to the MAX! I cant believe that the mission is really coming to an end....I never thought that it would come and go this fast. I'm filled with so much gratitude for my mission presidents, leaders in the mission, companions, non companions, members, converts, but most IMPORTANTLY Heavenly Father for letting me become stronger to the person I am today. He must love me because he gave me the best comps, areas, food, and people I could ever have imagined. I never would have guessed that when I opened that mission call for the first time that I would experience the things I have......THE MISSION WAS SPECIAL! I LOVED EVERY MOMENT....how could someone like me not be grateful. My mission was hard....it wasn't easy, but it was WORTH IT. I now understand a little more of how it all came to be....what he wants me to be. The gospel is perfect, but the people are not...but thats what makes it soooo great!! With the hope to become more like our Heavenly Father and live in His presence, thanks for all the love and support you all show me!!

Well, pretty much I spent the last couple of days just crying of knowing that I'm finishing, I gave my last testimony in the last multizone and in sacrament meeting as well. I cried both times, hahaha!! Whats wrong with me, I'm such a baby....but one thing I know for sure is that, the tears are real and I loved the mission so much...thats why!!! 

It's because I was fully immersed in saving and blessing the lives of others....I have felt the love of God more fully in my life by serving Him. I'm going to miss being a missionary. Knowing that I was in a dangerous country, known for violence I felt that God was with me at all times! I never was worried....because I was obedient, not perfectly but the Lord and I both know that I gave everything for HIM!! It was all about standing up inside and being all in......I testify that even though I wasn't a perfect missionary I was ALL IN! 

I have a huge testimony of the repentance progress and the Atonement. I'm so grateful for seeing that in other people, it has changed my live and testimony forever.

Well, good news, the whole family Mendoza came to church......IT WAS A MIRACLE!! The all came and loved it. Even though I won't see them get baptized I'm sooooo grateful for the opportunity that I had to know and teach them.  I'll miss them greatly! They are so special to me! I'm so grateful for Him sending me to baptize their daughter.  I now understand why I was sent to Armenia, when before being upset of leaving the Cima and Chris.  I'm so grateful for Pres. Adams and his revelation for seeing something in me that I couldn't see....holy crap I'm tearing up right now, hahaha! 

I'm grateful for all my comps especially the one I have right now....his a good missionary that will continue the work here and finish where we left off!! I know that Armenia will flourish soon!!!

Well fam, you all know that I love you to bits and pieces!!

Can't wait to see you all soon...just promise you wont laugh if my english sucks and I'm looking skinny!

Elder Gee

Also, I did a baptism for the sisters to finish off the mish...perfect ending!

This is the bishop in the area

                                                                     

June 26th - THE LAST WEEK!

Yo fam,

Hey whats up everybody, hows it going?  Sounds like everyone is doing good because right now its summer and no one is in school!  I'm sure the weather is hot up there but not as hot as it is down here!  No, but for real how's it going up there?  I hope to hear from all of you today while I'm on!  

Well, this is the last week in the mission......thats messed up, where did the time go?  It flew by.....its crazy how that happens.  Why do you think the old timers of the church always say, "Enjoy every moment because it goes like that! " I testify that it does go like that!  This is the last week meaning, so little time and so much to do........well here it goes!

Things are going good for me and my comp, we focused a lot on progressing of our baptismal dates that we currently have right now. We have 4 right now, 2 of them are for the other missionaries that come in September.  Our investigators put a date for the 9th of September, which is the day they are gonna get MARRIED! I'm just grateful they at least have a date for us to work with even tho I WONT BE THERE!  I'm grateful to know that I worked my hardest with them and they are starting to bring forth fruit.  Our other dates are for the 7th of July.....again I won't be there, but that's not what worries me.  I think the old me would have said, "Well, that sucks because I won't be there....but its not about that.  Every Child of God has their own due time and I have to respect that. This is the Lord's work and not mine. It was a good lesson on humility for me. 

V. is doing good, she couldn't come to church yesterday because she had to wait for her papers to work to go thru...and apparently the office only works on Sundays.  But we will see her next week!  Her parents are doing good, its funny every time I visit them, I just want to cry because I know that I will miss them a lot, but its all good...it's normal to cry I guess. 

Its funny, everyone that ever talks to me here in this country will always ask me 2 questions.  First, "How much time do you have left?"   And, the 2nd "Are you pumped to go home?"   The answer to the 2nd question is, "No.  I'm not pumped" and they would respond "Why aren't you happy? You are gonna return to your nice house, car, iphone, a better life than us, why?" The answer to that question is simple, if they would have been in the places I've served, the people I have been with, the places I have seen......then they would know that TRUE HAPPINESS DOES NOT COME FROM MATERIAL THINGS!  The world always is constantly trying to confuse us of what makes us truly happy, and trust me its not those things I have listed. President Eyring has said,  "When you walk with the Savior long enough you change.!!"And that's what happened to me....I am completely different.  I think different, talk different, act different but its not a bad different, its a necessary different.  It's a different that changed my life forever and I am eternally grateful to my Father in Heaven for it.!!! 

I love you guys, you already know that!  I gotta grind this thing out to the end!!! Love this work, nothing better!

Elder Gee

Giving my all for the Lord!!!!

PS...Happy Birthday Syd and Happy Father's day Dad!!!!

June 19th - THE GOLDEN FAMILY!

Yo fam,

Hey everybody, what's going on? There is so little time and so much to do! We had some cool experiences that happened this week. I have a feeling this last two weeks are gonna be super stressful because there is so much to do! Well it goes like this.....

Well, V. is doing great. She just found a new job meaning that she's always busy and we can't visit her as much as we would like too....that's great tho. Because in El Salvador its super hard to find a good job that pays well....the economy sucks here...like really bad. It breaks my heart to see some people starving and out of work! But we are currently working with her Mom and her dad, they are super positive but aren't going to church to really progress, so we are gonna work super hard with them!! 

L., is doing good, he is progressing for the 1st of July which is my last Saturday. We will see if we can baptize him!! It would be a perfect ending for me...we taught him the word of wisdom and he loved it...he has a problem smoking and drinking coffee....the double wammy! But he committed to stop to prepare for his baptism.!! His family is doing great and we are committing them all to church!!

Alright now for the Golden Family!!! We found a sick family that is perfect in all aspects.....they were a reference from a member in Izalco, which is another ward in the district...named Family Melgar. We started teaching them Friday and committed them to come to church Sunday....and they came!! The brother called me in the morning and said ¨Brother Gee, we are coming to church be out side waiting at 8:45!!!!  Alright sounds good! They came and they loved it...they love everything about the church. We invited them for a baptismal date for my last day in the mission and they accepted! So if all goes well......WE WILL HAVE 3 BAPTISMS TO FINISH THE MISSION! Alright, not too bad!

Did I not say the Gospel is perfect???

Elder Gee

Helping L. nail his roof together

With our new investigatores!

June 12th - EAT, TEACH, SLEEP and REPEAT!!

Yo fam,

Hey, whats up y'all? This week was pretty average, I'm not gonna lie...all we do is eat, teach, sleep and repeat everyday!!! It's the best, everyday I come home more and more tired. Its cool because I come home knowing we are doing the best work possible, we are doing the Lord's work and it feels so good. 

Well, to start ya off, we had the goal to find 8 new people, we have a lot of progressing investigators but they are not all progressing like we want them to, So me and Elder Batz did a lot of tracting...like ALOT!  A couple of hours everyday. We found 13 new this week, and about 5 or 6 are really positive. The rest are like.....I believe all the churches are true and teach the word of God, hahaha, sometimes you just shake your head! But its cool because there are new people to teach. 

I also went on a interchange with my zone leader Elder C., he's from Guatemala and he's a straight up G! We went ham in his area and taught like 7 or 8 lessons. Which is a lot, it was cool. He s a great Elder and will continue to make miracles in his mission. His area Sonzacate, it is super small with a lot of houses, there has been missionaries there for years and pretty much they have contacted all the houses. Kinda funny, but miracles will happen there soon. During this interchange my companion and the other zone leader Elder A., found 9 new in one day.....thats pretty sick! It was raining and a family invited them in, and they taught lesson 1 and have a return appointment with them next week. So I guess will see if they are a golden family. 

Vanessa got confirmed yesterday, it was pretty awesome. She's now a member, and now all we need to do is work with her family and baptize them as well. Probably not when I'm here but for sure for the next Elders. Planting seeds is cool. 

Also We have investigators named M., J, and L., who are not married. So we visited with them with the Elders quorum president, who is a convert as well. It was cool because he testified so strongly about his conversion and how the gospel has changed his life. The spirit was so strong we invited them to baptism again and they said, next time you come we will have a date for you guys.....dude thats sick. I hope its soon before I leave!! 

Well that's about it, the gospel is perfect and so fulfilling!!

#Livingthedream

#echandofuegoportodoslados

#MissionaryLifeIsGreat

Elder Gee

Some of my favorite peeps!

June 5th - "BUDDY LET ME TELL YOU!"

Holy crap!!!! 

I'm freaking out right now because the first thing I saw when I got on was the stupid itinerary for my flight home......THAT JUST RUINED MY DAY! hahaha. Alright enough of that, it goes like this.....

Yo fam, 

SO this week was pretty cool I'm not gonna lie, we had a lot of success finding people to teach, that never is the problem the problem is.......when they are just too freaking lazy to read, and go to church. Hahaha typical, but ya know that never takes away the happiness, hahaha, ok just a little!

The cool thing that happened this week was that we found a new investigator named L, he's 17 and his mom is already a member who has gone through the temple and everything but fell inactive due to some problems she had with some members.  L. is super positive and wants to get baptized so bad, in fact the first thing he said to us is what are the first steps to being baptized????  "BUDDY LET ME TELL YOU!!", hahaha!!   I told him he needs to come to church a certain amount of times and read the Book of Mormon to find out if what we are teaching is true or if its baloney...hahaha!  He read it and he thinks its true and he came to church as well.   Not just one hour but all 3 hours!  He loved it I gave him one of my ties so he was looking pretty Guapo!!   

The only bad news the happened this week was Vanessa didn't come to church because she fell sick with Chikygunya....a sickness you get when the mosquitos bite ya....its nasty and its painful.  Soon as we found out we ran over to her house with the 1st counselor to give her a blessing and the sacrament.  The meeting we had with her was super spiritual and she said,   "Don't worry Elders,  I will be there next Sunday!!  So everything is good there and hope is not lost.....so ya bro!!

I love this gospel, its true, its a way of life, and its the only way we can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father, 

Follow the Creator, not the crowd!!!

·Livin the dream....always!

Elder GEE

Some members made homemade pizza for V. baptism

My new friend, L.

"Making pupusas with family Chavez....a family we helped reactivate!"

May 29th - 3RD TIME IS A CHARM!

Yo fam, 

Hey what's up everybody, hows it going? This week was super sick......

This week was super good, not really much to write about because everyday was like the same and not very interesting, but this week we basically taught and taught and TAUGHT! Lessons after lessons after lessons....it was super sick, we were progressing V. our most positive investigator, she didn't come to church last week, so we couldn't baptize her this Saturday, so we pushed it back a day and told her we could do it Sunday after all the meetings and she said, "yeah." So that's what we did, she got baptized.....it was a special baptism. My comp did the ordnance, he was super nervous because my comp is smaller than she is and she didn't think my comp could do it. But he did it...after 3 times, the first 2 times she didn't go down completely under but you know what they say the 3rd time is the charm man! It was super cool and she was so happy after, now we just have to wait to confirm her this upcoming Sunday. Now we are planning a temple trip to go with her to do baptisms for dead, so right now things are looking really good! Right now we are teaching her family as well. Her mom, A is super positive and so is her dad, R.  I remember one lesson we taught the word of wisdom and guess what.......they have dropped coffee and beer for good. It's amazing to know that they are willing to follow the commandments! A. was able to be at her daughters baptism and she loved it as well....so this week we are going to place a baptism date with her as well. They are amazing!!!

A funny story to tell you all, is that one day it was raining super hard, and I forgot the keys in the house so what did we do.....climbed the roof and hopped down to get in...it was super ghetto but we did it. Kinda funny because we got super wet. My comp was kinda bugged because we got super wet but what can you do right...hahahaha

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Gee

Pics of P-day that a sister just sent me!

Pics of my b.day cake!

May 22nd - STAYING WITH MY HIJO!!

Yo fam,

How's it going......well this week is changes and I don't have any! I will be staying with my hijo in Armenia, so that was pretty cool to hear because we have a lot of work to do. We have to finish what we started, and with our 12 fechas we have a lot of work to do, definitely got my work cut out for me! Trying to finish strong, giving it everything for the Lord! This is the last transfer which means we have to go harder than we ever have!

Well, this week was super good. We have been working super hard with our investigators, and have one that is super positive named V, and her family. She is awesome and is ready to get baptized, we had a fecha with her this Saturday, but she didn't come on Sunday so we have to push the date a week. Kinda of a bummer but we just have to keep working with her and her parents. Her parents are really positive as well......We had a lesson with them that was so spiritual I wanted to cry because the spirit was sooooo strong! I was on Interchanges with Elder Henriquez, my DL, in this lesson, They expressed how they didn't feel good in any church and their daughter lights up when she talks to us, it was super cool. We are teaching them both and their daughter, hopefully this change we can baptized the whole family! 

We need to work super hard and be 100% obedient! This week was kinda ugly to see in the sacrament meeting, we had 66 people show up when it should be like more than 100. The ward needs a lot of help and support and its hard when nobody really knows what they are doing! But thats good because its taught me a ton of patience! I love Armenia

Well, I love this gospel, I have seen so many miracles happen because me and Elder Batz are obedient. I believe if we were not obedient than we couldn't have seen these. The lesson in the mission is to always be obedient even when we don't understand, the Lord doesn't want us to understand, he just wants us to be obedient. Because we are not gonna understand everything, but thats where faith comes in! A cool lesson that I have learned! 

Well the mission is coming and going super fast, so right now I have to make every moment count, and give it everything I have. I want to finish saying I gave it everything I had!! Love you guys and I hope you have a great week!

Elder GEE