Week 5

I should stop putting week numbers on these emails because it feels like I've been out way longer than 5 weeks. I'm doing a lot better from my concussion. I've been cleared by the doctor so I should be all good now. I realized this week that singing in Spanish is way more fun than English. The words just sound so cool. Elder Brockbank's ankle is much better. He is emailing his right next to me and he just turns to me and goes "What, my sister is getting married. She makes me sick to my stomach." Hahaha it was really funny. You'd think that by 5 weeks I'd be sick of the food here, but I'm not. It's still super good. (He said he's gained 5 pounds!!)

Nothing crazy exciting happened this week. We've still been teaching people. A few new people. They want us to talk to people from outside the United States so we taught this one sister from Mexico City over Skype. It was way cool. She was also an English professor at the college there so she understood us pretty well. We also taught a girl from El Salvador. She is here at BYU learning English. It was a very good lesson.

I've been watching lots of old conference talks in preparation for General Conference next week. I'm very excited for that! Plus my birthday is next Sunday! (In Argentina, the birthday child receives a pull on the earlobe for each year they have been alive.) And then we leave for Argentina the next day. I only have one full week left here. Our flight is so long. It's 3.5 hours from Salt Lake to Atlanta and then 10 hours from Atlanta to Buenos Aires. I'm not looking forward to that. I guess I'll have a lot of time to study Spanish before I'm thrown into it. I'm not prepared to go to a place where there is no English. Oh well though, I just have to keep studying.

I'm glad to hear that some of you took my challenge to read Ether 12! That is one of my favorite chapters and it has definitely helped me here.
I'm looking forward to finally leaving Utah. I've had a ton of fun here. I saw one my good friends from school here! Elder Skabeland aka Gibby! It was great to see him! Love and miss everyone!

Yo soy el Elder Gygi

Elders Gygi and Gibby

The Problems with PE at the MTC

Buenos Días! I had a good week this week, aside from a bunch of doctor’s appointments. Last Saturday I was playing soccer in our zone tournament and I had the ball on a fast break but someone stole it and I tried to get it back but he kicked it away. As he kicked it, I jumped to block it and took the ball straight to my face haha. I had a pretty bad headache after that. But at least I blocked his kick. On Monday I was still having headaches so we went to doctor and he told me that I definitely have a concussion. He gave me some medicine for the headaches and a muscle relaxant to help with some neck and jaw pain. It's been hard because with a concussion I'm not allowed to study Spanish, read scriptures, or participate in gym time. On the bright side, I have a lot of time to watch talks on LDS.org so that's good. My short-term memory is so bad right now. Everyone in the district keeps joking with me saying stuff like "What? You don't remember that?"  I'm slowly recovering and doing much better.

This is Elder Morgan. His mom's side of the family are all Gygi's. We found out that we have the same great-great-great grandpa, Rudolf Gygi. So we are 4th cousins or something.

 Elder Brockbank was playing basketball on Monday in another zone tournament and he fell and rolled his ankle. We went to the doctor and got it x rayed and he tore a ligament. So Elder Wilson is the only healthy one in our companionship haha.

Our Tuesday night devotional was given by Sister Rosemary Wixom, the general primary president. She gave a good talk about missionary work and listening to spirit, which I had an experience with the other day. We were teaching a new investigator, J. We had a whole lesson prepared but Elder Brockbank felt prompted to ask her the question,” Have you experienced any difficult trials?" J. then told us about a time in her life when she was very depressed and on medication. She took too much and ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks. She asked us why God would allow this to happen to her. I then felt an impression to open my Book of Mormon to Ether chapter 12. I did and I was looking for what I was supposed to say. Verse 6 caught my eye, it's all about faith and trials. I asked her to read it for me. She did and just started crying. I bore my testimony to her that we need to have faith in order to endure our trials and we will receive blessings. I want to challenge you all to read Ether 12, and keep in mind while reading it, a trial that you are going through. I know that if you do, you will receive an answer to what you are supposed to do. I know that God is real and loves us because there is no way that I would have been able to give that entire lesson in fluent Spanish without His help.

Sister Ellis and my mom are on Argentina Missionary Moms Facebook page. She noticed my name tag and introduced herself. She returned from Argentina BAW mission 2 months ago. 

I just got back from the Provo temple this morning. We were eating breakfast in the cafeteria and I saw a few elders sitting at another table. One of them looked to have some sort of medical condition that gave him a pretty bad limp and his hands were constantly shaking. I've seen him here on campus before. He and his companion were just eating. A few minutes later, an older man walks in on crutches and he was struggling to hold his tray of food. He set his tray down and started eating by himself. The younger elder with the limp stood up, walked over to this man, and asked if he would like to join him and his companion at their table. The older man said yes and went to pick up his tray of food to move it. Before he could pick it up, the young elder grabbed it and took it his table, very slowly, so his hands would not shake, and the older man could use his crutches. For some reason I was just amazed at this tiny act of service. This elder didn't let his condition stop him from serving a mission and helping people. That, to me, is the exact definition of charity. Just pure Christlike, selfless service.

Thank you mom and dad for the packages! IBC Root Beer is my favorite (way to call that one, Dad!!). I love all the letters you have sent me!

Yo soy el Elder Gygi

Weekly Tie Trade! 

The Church is True!

Good Morning!

This week pretty much just flew by. Our investigator Señor G accepted our invitation to be baptized! I'm so happy for him. I don't remember if I’ve told you about him or not. He is a nice 60-year-old Chilean guy. He's pretty funny because if we can't remember a Spanish word for something I’ll just say it in English and he'll just tell us the Spanish word haha. During our last lesson with him, we felt that we should ask him if he has had any experiences with prayer. He then told us this story about how his oldest son has cancer and was in the hospital for a while. Due to his treatment, he couldn't sleep for a long time. So Señor G and his son said a real, sincere prayer asking Heavenly Father to let him get some rest. Immediately after saying amen, he fell asleep. We told him how grateful we were that he shared that with us and bore our testimonios that prayer will strengthen his relationship with God. Those are the moments that I know I made the right choice to serve a mission. I love hearing people share personal moments like that. I love feeling the spirit and watching other people feel it too.

Last Tuesday at our devotional, we heard from President Gerald Causse, of the presiding church bishopric, and his wife. They gave fantastic talks all about missionary work. And to end his talk he walked over to a piano and played an arrangement of the hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints." It was so cool and unexpected. 

Oh I’m getting better at volleyball! I play it everyday at gym time. A few of the elders I play with are going to go BYU for volleyball so they're really good and I’m not haha but it's still way fun. Also p-days are awesome. And so are Sundays. We have Sacrament meeting and then priesthood meeting, too. Our tripanionship taught the lesson last Sunday. Luckily it only had to be in English, though. I've been having dreams in Spanish for like 2 weeks now! haha

Red Mountain High School graduates Sister Boren & Elder Gygi

I'm going to send out some letters in the mail later today to friends. I love it here at the MTC. It's hard but worth it. Joseph B. Worthlin said, "Come what may and love it." I believe that the way we react to adversity is a major factor in how happy and successful we can be. My high school marine bio teacher put it best: life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. My companions and I had some tough moments this week. We were all kind of annoyed because we had a ton of lessons to prepare. But we got everything done and talked it out and now we are all good again. 

Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadero.

Yo soy el Elder Gygi

Teaching Week 2

Hey Everyone!

This week felt like it went by so fast! I have been so busy with all these Spanish classes. Sorry if my grammar or spelling is messed, I’m not really in English mode. 

Our district and zone are doing great. We all get along so well. I'm amazed at how fast we can learn the language. Our companionship has taught two investigators already. We had 5 lessons with a girl named Lizbeth and 2 with Gabriel. All in Spanish. We had a great spiritual experience with Lizbeth. As we were teaching the last lesson to her, I was using words that I didn't even know that I knew. 

Last weekend we got to go the temple and we will get to go again today. Sunday was great as well. We got to watch a video of a devotional given by David A. Bednar to the missionaries a few years ago. It was all about Christ and how we can become more like him. In the video, he says that we need to stop thinking of ourselves. Christ never thought of his own needs over someone else's. That made me realize why I really want to serve a mission. This mission never was, is, or will be about me. It's all about the people that I will get to go help. 

Oh I joined the MTC choir! My one companion Elder Wilson was happy to go with me but our other comp Elder Brockbank doesn't like to sing haha but we dragged him along too. We got to sing at the devotional on Tuesday night. Every Tuesday a general authority or someone from the church gets to come and speak to us. This week we were so lucky because we got to hear from Dallin H. Oaks and his wife. They gave fantastic talks all about how to teach by the Spirit and also why we should use the Plan of Salvation is our lessons. One impression that I felt while listening to Sis. Oaks talk was that we should always be an example and act righteously because we never who is watching and looking up to us. 

Our branch is so lucky to have an awesome branch presidency. President Swenson served as a mission president in Chile a few years ago back when the earthquakes happened there. He is such a rock solid guy. Thank you everyone for all of your emails (jared.gygi@myldsmail.net) and letters (Elder Jared Gygi, OCT06 ARG-BAW, 2005 N 900 E Unit 121, Provo, UT 84604) and packages! Every time I get something it feels even better than Christmas. One of the elders in our hall said he'd rather get a package than have his birthday hahaha. I'll try and take more pictures this week! Love everyone.

Yo soy el Elder Gygi