Email rec'd 10-28-10

Mother,

Everything here is going pretty good, slow but good. it snowed the other night, the biggest snow flakes Ive ever seen crazy huh? yeah and now we have to wear our suits everyday which sucks because were only one suit elders. So idk how they expect us to get them dry cleaned when we have to have another one to wear. Its getting cold here, not too overwhelming but it was cold enough to snow haha the weather is weird here but I need to soak it up before i get to the heat.
THE box was sooooo great and greatly appreciated, i needed more clothes so that I could wash the other ones i always wore on p day haha. THE blanket has also come in handy seeing that there is a doucher that lives in our room that turns the thermostat down to 55 everynight when everyone is sleeping. But the best part of the package was definitely the pictures. Im not gonna lie i felt like a chump not having any pictures of you guys because we did an activity in spanish where we were supposed to have pics and describe our families. But its great to see all of your beautiful faces again, apparently some people forget what their family looks like after so long haha. But yes next time i print pictures I will get the cd for you. Yes mackenzie looked very pretty in those pictures and yes I got a few comments but i set them straight. Thank you so much for my blessing as well, i re read it and noticed many things i never picked up on before so that was awesome. I cant believe The giants and the Texans! Ive heard the sports world is just in a weird place right now. anyways I love you guys! I have to go finish my laundry haha. Oh yeah we had Richard G Scott come the other night!! 2 apostles of the lord in 2 weeks thats unheard of! it was crazy the stuff he said to us to. He put a protective shield by the power of the apostleship upon all of the sister missionaries and then by the same power bestoweed the gift of tongues upon all those learning a language, how crazy is that!!!!! it was so great. The spirit is so strong here, ive never learned so many spiritual lessons in my life, in fact i was humbled by the spirit just the other night. We had a task to teach someone in spanish, our teacher, and we go to teach he invites his "family" our other class mates to join in the lesson. So in full spanish we had to teach this family, and they were not feelin it and neither were we it was so hard. And to be honest it was the worst night ive had here so far, i really had thoughts about weather or not i was ready to be doing this. But then we watched a talk given by elder bednar the next day that talked about how the spirit will sometimes slap us down when we need to learn a lesson. and it spoke to me literally and said to me that i have a lot to work on and that the experience i had with the family was so that I could break myself down and work to build myself up into a better missionary. Yo se que jesucristo vive. yo se que jose smith fue un profeta. Me encanta el evengelio de jesucristo y me gusta la iglesia. Yo se que soy an missionero de la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ultimas dias para una proposito en esta dia. I love all of you guys. stay strong and keep praying.

Elder Galvan.

Letter 10-23-10

Week 3, rations are low, food is repetative, and health is declining haha. Nah, but it's going pretty great! How's everyone doing? I hope everything is going well down in the Z. My friend Elder Ward from G-town (gilbert) got a letter from his mom throwin a shout out to me (his words exactly) haha. I guess his parents are good friends with the Plowman's. Small world huh!
He's a cool kid, but no Dad I don't think I will get to serve with him. I hope I get a native companion! Because I will learn Spanish faster and I will get to teach him English, think of how much it would benefit one of them to know English.
Anyways I have some very good new for you peeps. Apparently we get to call our families at the airport when we go to Nicaragua! How awesome is that? I guess we fly to Texas then to Miami then to Nicaragua, not sure but that's what I heard and I guess we get to call somewhere in that time when we have a layover. I don't have details yet, but when I get them I'll email you to let you know when to be home. so you get to hear from me then, and then 1 month later at Christmas!!! I thought that was pretty cool.
I told Elder Ward I gave him a shout out in this letter just now and he threw up a gang sign he's such a great kid. I would encourage you to seek out his family because from what I've heard and seen, his family is pretty cool and would get along with you guys! He also has a little bro for Mack... haha j.k. but seriousely... anyways I hope all is well. tell everyone that Im doing great doing work like a champ haha. I will be writing MacKenzie with some info so let her know she will be getting a letter as well.
C.J. I hope everything is going good. How's sports? Doesn't basketball start soon? I miss you guys so much but I'm doing good on my own for once haha, hard to believe but I make my bed every day and do laundry once a week! I grew up! finally! haha alright well stay good and keep writing! Love you guys!
Elder Galvan

Email rec'd 10-21-10

Mother,
First off happy anniversary to you and dad! congratulations on 20 succesful years of marriage thats awesome! haha there are some cutie pies here I must say but yeah Im sure JC's got my back on that one too. Ive been waiting for my package to arrive for ever!!! haha send that beast! i need that stuff. also i might need some extra shower soap/shampoo the gillette stuff i like. and another razor and some deodorant. I shower at least twice a day and have to shave every day so rations are getting low. So please send that package like tomorrow or saturday. Thank you for the cookies they were pretty good, i actually enjoyed the fruit snacks and the fruit bars more than the cookies haha we eat sooo much crap in here. Ive been running more than i have been playing bball to try to stay fit but its tough when all we do is eat poo haha. I swear weve had cordon bleu like 5 times in the last 3 weeks. But things are still going great here. We lost 4 good men on monday they left for Chile. The champ, miller time, raybans and Teskey. haha They were the oldest guys in our zone but were like our Best friends cause they took us under their wing when we got here theyre great guys. The champ is the one who told me I was going to have a hot girlfriend haha. Anyways i have some pictures to print out today but they probably wont get devoloped till monday so Ill send them when they are done.

Theres been some crazy stories that have happened in these past 3 weeks but I can never seem to think of them when the time comes to write them to you haha. oh wait..... i forgot to mention that at our devotional the other night we had a special guest... Russel M freakin Nelson!!! I sat probably 15 yards away in the 3rd row from an apostle that spoke to us about missionary work and told us how greatful he and the apostles and the prophet pray for us every day and not to worry about our safety because not only do they pray for us, but so do 14 million other members as well. This truely is a great work that I am apart of and I am so happy to be here. Its funny cause before he came into the gym where we have our devotionals this guy got on the mic and said "we only stand if one of the bretheren were to enter..." so we knew something big was going down. I guess they had Holland like 6 weeks before I got there he's the Man when it comes to speaking about missions. Go to google or something and search for the talk he gave in the MTC like a while back. he pretty muchs slaps missionaries in the faces and says WAKE UP! haha its so awesome. anyways that was a great experience, probably my favorite so far. We also got some newbs in the zone today 3 out of 4 of them are from utah haha yeah so many kids from utah down here its nuts, theyre all a bunch of BYU fans too its annoying haha. Alright well i have a few more emails to respond to that i didnt get to last week. I love you guys and I hope all is well. I pray for you every day! tell everyone i said hey.

Elder Galvan

Letter 10-16-10

Family,

I'm sorry I suck at getting personal letters out, we have like no time to write so I figured I'd write one to all of you, but keep the letters coming because it's really nice and uplifting throughout the week. If any hot girls want my address don't hesitate to give it to them either, haha. Everything here is going great.

The MTC definitely has it's moments, but I got lucky and have a great district. There's a kid from Highland in my district going to the same place, crazy huh? He's awesome though, I think him & I will be pretty tight when we get back. My companion is pretty sick (awesome) too, were very close. He's from Utah, but is a Utes fan so it's great to not have another person on BYU's jock. Speaking of BYU, I heard Max Hall played? Is that true?? Send me some scores & what not, if you get a chance, also some MLB & college football.
We found a Big 5 add in the trash the other day and that was our sports fill for the week, haha.
My basketball skills have come back!!! I play with the big dogs now, there's a group of about 7 or 8 of us who are all pretty good and we play every gym time, the cool thing is they're all like my zone leaders and other older guys, so I feel accepted now. I'm the only one in my district who can keep up with them.
Well, things are great, life is awesome & I absolutely love being a missionary. I really hope that I can bring some closer to Christ, even if I only baptise 1, I will love it! I love you guys! Stay fresh! Tell the Honda & Nixon I said hey!
Elder Galvan

Email rec'd 10-14-10

Mother,
First off yes I have the book haha!! but id also still like the blanket, my blue topsider vans, my eon shirts & my camo shorts. I only have these jeans and i havent been able to wash them. haha anyways yeah I got all the letters, were not allowed to write unless it is P day and that is every thursday which pretty much sucks but its all good. Me and my companion are doing great, we get along so well and i know Heavenly father put us together for a reason because without him id be going nuts in this joint. Tell all your woman friends I said hey and i hope theyre families are doing great. Be expecting pictures next week sometime, i have to get them printed cause i dont have a cord for the computer so ill take some more this week then send them hopefully next week. But everything else is going pretty great here. My spanish is getting better day by day and i can fully contact and testify to someone on the street in complete spanish its crazy how fast we learn things in here. I have to admit, it does get pretty rough in here. The food is repeated like every other week and the food is so fattening,ive resorted to just eating salad and cereal most days. They have a chicken wrap station which also comes in handy.I hope everything is going well for everyone there. I really miss you guys but at the same time dont haha i dont mean that in a bad way its just when your here and your doing the work you literally get lost in it and im glad i have a language to focus on becuase if i didnt id probably be not focusing and thinking about other things. But I really do love you all. Please get that package out as soon as possible! I love you mother. Stay strong and just focus on preparing the girls for their futures. I will be fine. I am in the Lords hands and I keep you guys in my prayers every night. I love you,

Elder Galvan

Received 10-8 to sisters

I added these pictures of Val with his sisters--they remind me of his sense of humor & his sweet personality with them. The letter is sooooo sweet.

Mi Hermanas!
How is everthing going? I just wanted to write you two a quick letter before I head off to bed. We don't get alot of time to write so I don't know how many personal letters I will be able to send to you guys. But I just wanted to let you two know how much I love and appreciate you. I know I didn't do a good job of showing it before I left but I really do love you both so much.
MacKenzie, you are one of my best friends and I always can count on you for an opinion because weve always been close like that.
C.J., I know I may give you a hard time, but it's only because I love you and I want you to be the best daughter and sister you can be. I love and miss both of you so much, but just know that I'm doing the Lord's work and not only will I be blessed for it, but you will be blessed too for giving the Lord your brother to serve.
If you're going through a hard time, hit your knees, that's what I did, the first night because I was missing you guys so bad! But I prayed and had faith and Heavenly Father has lifted my burden.
Well, Buenos Noches, be good and faithful and I will get to talk to you guys at Christmas!
Take care of mom, be nice and loving. She deserves way more than any of us ever gave back to her. I love you guys.
Elder Galvan
P.S. write me back on dearelder box #313 it's faster & free

Emailed rec'd 10-7-10

Whats up fam? Today is my official first P-day and I am currently waiting for my laundry to get out of the washer and they have computers down here for us to email which is pretty nice. Just thought id email you guys and first off thanks for the cookies!! they were soft and everything when they got to me!! haha and thank you to CJ and Nana for their letters. I forgot nanas email back at the room so tell her I will write her back. But I also wrote the girls and sent it before I got Cjs letter so the timing of everything is kind of weird but its all good. I love all you guys!! Later today were going to the Temple as a district which is going to be great I can already tell. Everything here is going swimmingly. I love being here. I will admit I was missing you guys and the bafoons pretty bad when i got here but as of right now Ive forgotten the world and become a waaayyy better missionary because of it. The Lord truely does love us all and I know that by making sacrifices and putting forth all the faith we have that he will bless everysingle one of us for me being here doing his work. He has already helped me a ton with my spirituality and the language too. I think that if any of you are having trouble adjusting to the new life we have for 2 years, hit your knees and pray every chance you get and have faith and he will help you so much.It sounds corny, just like i thought Blake sounded but it truely is the only way. through Him we can do all things and everything. I love everysingle one of you so much. Mom................ HAPPY BIRTHDAY:) sorry i didnt get a letter out sooner but this is the only time i have haha and I dont really have anything to send you but I have some things that I would like sent to me.... I need some P-day kicks so I was hoping you could send me my blue top siders vans and also some other t shirts like some of my EON T's. All i brought was workout clothes haha. but if you could send those and some pictures and some more goodies that would be greatly appreciated. Also if you could remind some other peeps to write me like the Bashas and whoever thatd be awesome cause everyone else gets like 5 letters a day haha Im the LOSER...jk but I love you mom, so much your the best and I know Im not the best at showing it but I do love you. Tell dad to keep his steeze up and tell the girls to keep working hard and that I love them all very much. Alright well they time our comp sessions so I have to go so ADIOS AMIGOS!

Sincerely,

Elder Galvan

Letter 10-4-10

Dear familia!
Como Le Va Gringos? How is everything going back home? This place is poppin!! Ha ha. I really never thought that hotties went on missions, but boy was I wrong. It's like Heavenly Father is just dangling them in front of me to test me, but I know better!!!
Conferencia General was pretty much amazing. I got 3 main things out of the 10 hours that I saw (yes, all 5 sessions), those 3 things were a way stronger testimony, 25 whole pages of notes, and a sore back. I actually paid attention during conferencia which I must admit is a first. It honestly felt like I could apply every single talk to being a missionary. I teared up a little during Priesthood session thinking about how dad was watching the same session & probably watching for me in the choir (I wasn't in it) But anyways I enjoyed concerence very very much.
Things here are going pretty great! I have a great district & an awesome companion. I swear God picks specific compeneros for a reason because me & Elder Weight are pretty good buds now.
Classes are also going great, spanish is pretty difficult but we pray as a companionship (in spanish) like 6 times a day and always ask for help. The power of prayer & fait is tremendous. We are actually learning & retaining info & getting better every passing day, but you have to have faith that He will help you or else He wont. God truly loves us as His children & wants us all to be happy.
I don't know if any of you are going through a hard time, but if you are, hit your knees and pray pray pray & exersise your faith and he will surely lift you up. I'd like to share with you my purpose as a missionary in my new language:
Invitar a las personas a venir a cristo a fin de que la reciban el evangelio pestaurado mediente la fay en Jesu Cristo y su expiacion, el arrepentemiento, el bautismo, la recepcion, dei clon dei espiritu santo y el perserverer hasta el fin.
I know my savior lives and he can work many miracles in our lives if we let him. I love you and miss you all very much! Write me back on dearelder.com my box# is 313 & my departure date is november 29th. I love you guys!!! Buenos noches.
Elder Galvan

Letter 10-2-10

Dear Familia!!
Como Estas? haha they already have us trying to pray in Spanish? It's kind of crazy how fast they throw us into everything. This is my second day here and I can say that it is way better than my first. Yesterday was so overwhelming with everything that happened. Watching mom & dad drive away was probably the hardest thing Ive done in a very long time. I immediately realized how much I love you all & how much I am going to miss you. I think the language is the only thing keeping me focused right now but the spirit is very strong here! My district is actually pretty awesome, something Im happy about. My companion is Elder Weight from Salt Lake UT and he and all the others in my district are serving in Nicaragua as well. We share a room with 2 other Elders. (were not allowed to say "guys or dudes") and there are secret compartments where other past missionaries left gifts such as christmas tree and about 15 empty bottles of sangria. This older gentlemen took our christmas tree away for who knows what reason (it's a good thing the sangria was hidden!)
Sleep last night was very minimal but not bad overall. The travel pillow is in the pillowcase with the provided pillow so thats a plus. I really hope that it doesn't snow till after I leave cause Im not one to like the cold! But anyways I hope all is well at home I want you all to know that I love every single one of you and that everything here is going to go great! I have a card that says Oct 2, 2012 is the day I come home! I can't wait to get to Nicaragua! I love you all so very much!
Buenos Noches!!
Elder Galvan
P.S. write me back Gringos!!!

Arrived safe & sound

I am writing this as Val's first official post. We delivered him safe & sound to the MTC in Provo UT on the 29th of Sept. We are so proud of his decision to serve the Lord for 2 years, in Managua Nicaragua. We know he will be watched over & protected. We are so excited for him to get over there and get to work. I cant wait to get his first letter so I can get it posted on here & let everyone know how he is doing.

Here is the picture of him standing outside the Provo Temple where he will probably be spending alot of time over the next couple months.