From Vigo this week

So I don't have a ton to write, and when I say that I literally mean it unlike Isaac who says he doesn't have time but still writes 15 chapters worth of an email. Jk homie yanno I love you, I just need to spend an hour a night for the rest of my mission reading it to finish it  

Anyways, on important things.... 

SAVE THE DATE!! 

No I am not getting married but we have a Fecha!(baptismal date) We've taught Ana every other day for two weeks and she wants to be baptized on the 14th! Ahh it's a miracle and we're so excited for her. She's seriously a golden investigator and I know the Lord put her in our path after years of preparation. She's accepted everything and is so fun to talk to. It's nice being with her because I feel comfortable and my Spanish is understandable with her lol. 

We also made 32 burritos this week (@benditlikebcca) and froze them, so every time we need a quick bite we just nuke them in the microwave and chow down. It's dope. Except something about a tortilla in the microwave that long makes them hard... But I heard if you put a cup of water in the microwave with it, the evaporated water will be absorbed by the tortilla (@mommaheidi @whateveralexasnameis) sike it doesn't work, don't try it. 

What else happened... We went to the bar with two other investigators Saturday night and had a good conversation with them (we only drank a little bit mom, no worries) so that was an interesting time hahah. 

Other than that not much else happened this week. I've walked more in this past week than my whole life combined lol. Sorry this isn't too exciting of an email so here's a spiritual thought. 

I was reading an Uchtdorf talk from this past conference, the one titled It Works Wonderfully. In a nutshell it's about simplifying the gospel. I've learned in these 9 weeks that the Spirit works in very simple ways. So why feel the need to make it more complicated than it needs to be? The Spirit testifies of simple truths, so simplify that stuff! "Tell a man there are trillions of stars in the universe and he will believe you. But tell hi, the wall is wet with paint and he'll touch it just to be sure." Retweet of the week <<. So yeah, SIMPLIFY. K cool. Also watched the Mormon message from New Years about Not Looking Back, it tells the story of Lots Wife when they left Sodom and she looked back with mourning and was destroyed. What's in the past is in the past..so why worry about it? Look forward people, and control what you can control. Stop wasting time trying to fix mistakes that can't be made better, and focus on the next decision and the next day to make sure you don't make more mistakes. 

Well, hope all is well in the str801 and to my peeps around the globe. You're in my prayers every day. Stay trill️

-Elder Gearig 

Pictures from Vigo

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks, Kyle is serving in a place called Vigo, right on the coast of Spain and the border of Portugal.

Vigo so far

JUST A QUICK EXCERPT FROM EMAIL TO HIS MAMA:   

Laundry is great the clothes are all fine hahah thanks though. Fun hearing from grandma Sorensen about the farm, makes me happy. Brushing my teeth twice a day! Also send the long letter from Becca to the Beardens, I think they would enjoy reading about Adrian. Love you mama 



Well this week was definitely better than last. After PDay last Monday, we were passing by some old investigators homes. Elder Jones and I got talking and didn't even realize we had passed three of our addresses. By the time we realized it, we decided to keep walking to the ones far away. We found this woman, Ana. Ana....is literally addicted to the bible. We would start reading a scripture and she would quote it from memory before we even finish. It was quite amazing so we handed her a bom and said "hey get addicted to this" so we've taught her thrice since and we committed her to church last time, so we'll get a date to be dunked tomorrow night  it was a little miracle in the life of ours for sure.

 My second miracle happened later that same day. We got a call from the AP's after we got home and we're thinking "uh oh what did we do." It was nothing, but they wanted to talk to me. They tell me they taught my friend and his whole family is beginning to accept the gospel. I'm like Wait what friend? My pal Adrian was in my ward in SoJo and was a foreign exchange student that is from guess where? Yup, MADRID! How cray is that? Fetching nuts. I gave them his address when I found out he wasn't in my area and I'm pretty sure he's gonna get baptized so I told them the story and they were like "Yup that sounds exactly right. He asked about you and where you were at. We taught his family and it was amazing. Elder Gearig, you made quite the impact on him back in Utah" I'm crying at this point because it was so amazing to hear about and I couldn't even remember doing anything impacting for him. But needless to say, our actions that we may think go unseen are actually being seen, so remember that next time you're about to do something stupid. Integrity is doing the right thing when you don't think anyone is watching. It really touched me to hear that and drove me all week. We finally got some investigators and things are finally getting rolling here in Vigo. 🏼

I've also been reading a conference talk every night before bed and watching a bible video right after. Although I've seen all the talks, I've found we miss a lot of things. So by reading them again I've learned a lot more so I challenge you to rewatch or read the talks. 

Tuesday night we had a comida with a Dominican family. First of all let me just say I've been cured of my hatred for pasta thanks to this lady. Absolutely amazing. But after dinner we were having fun and making beats on the table and I was free styling for them and we're dancing and having a good time. I get up and start hitting my whip and that good Nae Nae for everyone and I look over and the mother was just watching and staring so I got embarrassed and sat down, then she stared at me and starting dancing too it was hilarious. Gotta love the Dominicans. So we shared a spiritual though and went home with more pasta which was also a miracle because elder jones and I don't have money because they lost my debit card in transfers and he used all his money for stuff in our Piso since we opened it up. So we've been living off 37 cents this week and straight oatmeal. No lie. So it was nice to have good healthy food. Well until next week amigos. Stay fresh.🏼

I'm bringing planking back..just on top of the highest mountain in the area. Eat your hearts out at the view 

We found an old tractor 

The Dominicans 

Just a few sidenotes.  Elder Gearig's companion is Elder Jones from Rigby. (Idaho, it must be, I didn't ask though)   and I thought I'd share part of a personal note from him to me .... Love Elder Gearig's momma

 Momma tonnnnnnnaAAAAA. 
So I'm in a city called Vigo. About 300000 people smashed into a 
 City in the mountains next to the ocean and Portugal. It's sooooooo so
 pretty. Add it to the list if we ever come back. We're helping open
 the area so we have no investigators yet. Lots of contacting in the
 street and working with the members. It's raining a lot. Like a lot a
 lot. They say it doesn't stop for four months during the winter so
 that's cool. I love the rain how are you though? I thought about you
 during elder Hollands talk Saturday night. Mothers and sons... Nothing
 quite like it. Thank you for being the best example in my life and
 making me the person I am right now. I love you so so much️ 
 Hope sojo is treating you as well as Spain is treating me.



 Finally got our apartment today. Since we're the first missionaries in it we had to go buy all of the stuff necessary to live lol. Spent about four hours cleaning and sanitizing the whole place #WifeMeUp. Seriously though it's hard not having my mom around but it's a good experience. Elder jones is a great guy. Really fun and we get along pretty well. Vigo is absolutely beautiful. I said I didn't want to go to the islands because it'd be too hard to stay focused because of how beautiful it would be, but from the other missionaries, Vigo is the prettiest place in the mission so I got what I asked for. It's unexplainable. Pictures don't even do it justice.  We walked about 4 miles on direction and found out it covers about 1/10 of the mission in that direction so our area is pretty big. We bought a pet crab for a day to raise for dinner tomorrow. His name is Larry also here's a funny story. So we had a lunch appointment with a member. We arrived (Howard, müller, jones, and myself) and met them. They have two beautiful little kids and I was playing with them while the others talked because their Spanish was understandable lol. So elder Howard tells me that we're eating a Venezuelan dish made of potatoes and Dog. Yes, I said dog. So I'm getting nervous and he proceeds to tell me that they get offended if I don't eat the food. So now I'm freaking out he then tells me it's a custom to eat in a circle on the ground. So we sit in the circle and the father brings a bowl of raw, bloody meat into the circle. He tells me that during the prayer, my hand is in the bowl, holding the meat. Super weird. If you know me, you know I h8 raw stuff. So I'm manning up lol they pray and after he tells me I have to eat it. So I was Afraid to hesitate out of fear of offending them, so I eat the raw bloody meat. I hide the look on my face and proceed to the bathroom. We gather at the table to eat the cooked Dog now. He tells us to eat and so I figured the longer I looked at it the less likely I'd be to eat it, so I went for it. I took a bite and the father says "welcome to the mission elder Gearig." They all pranked me. 😑 on my mission...psh. The bowl of meat was pieces of bread in tomato sauce, and the dog meat was straight rabbit. We laughed for about 10 minutes straight. I'll try sending the video later. It was hilarious. #initiation. The rest of the week was good. We gave a blessing to a member in the hospital and another one later tonight to another member. General conference was absolutely amazing. I've never gotten that much out of it before. Pres monson didn't look too good though Sunday morning  

So yesterday started the rainy season here in Vigo. 

First week down and many more to go. Thank you to all who send prayers and love. Love you all and am praying for you! Keep it real🏼