well last week has been pretty good and went by fast of course, i havent had a slow week yet since i have been here which suprises me.. its been getting harder to stay focused as time gets closer to leave for argentina. yesterday i coulnt focus and study it was tough my mind was all over. i got my flight plans i will be flying out from salt lake city the 21st, i must report to the travel office around noon.. than they take us to the airport and we fly out at 2:50pm and arrive in dallas texas at 630pm and i leave dallas texas at 735pm and get into buenos aires argentina at 755am haha thats gonna be a long flight.. but i am so excited i fly america airlines, my first flight number is 1392 to dallas than 997 to buenos aires.. incase you would need to know that for any reason.. i dont feel confident with my spanish enough to be speaking it daily but each day it gets alot better. we have gone thru almost all the grammer principles besides subjuntive wich i shard to learn i hear. we learn so much so fast its tough to remeber it all. i can read and understand the preach my gospen in spanish very well tho and study from it. no funny or exciting stories this week sorry, ohh although we did have another apostle come speak to us it was elder Hails he gave a really good talk on the spirit.. i cant believe how many apostles have came and spoke to us. i am going to be sending a box home of stuff that i dont need and a box of letters that poeple have sent me i wanna keep cause i wont be able to pack them all. i barely have any room i dont know how i am gonna back all my language study books and all, and i dont have my mom mark and em to help me haha. thank you everyone for the dear elders and the packages i have received here while at the mtc it was nice. i cant beleive i only have 1 week and like 3 days left here. i have seen alot of freinds here at the mtc weston dutson and scott montez i went to school with since junior high it was fun talking with them. love you all and thanks for all your support. elder Gabriella

this week has been a good week as usual. i only have 2 or 2/12 weeks left which is awesome. i am so excited to get to argentina but at the same time dont feel ready at all. im excited to get some good food tho. i hope you are right mark about the food down their cause i am looking forward to it. im getting sick of this mtc food haha. we are the very last lunch and dinner so the food is always cold and sometimes they run out of the good stuff haha. but its all good. we meet with the consulant this week and he was a cool guy. he is a roman catholic but when he walked in he wanted us to sing called to serve in spanish and only a few people had hymn books but we did ok still. he told us alot about his country and what to expect and things to watch out for. so it was neat being able to ask him questions and talk with him. we signed a paper that has to do with our visas. but i believe that i already have my visa which is good. they lady said that if you werent one of the first 10 called up that you have your visa and i dont htink i was. or at least hope i wasnt haha. but im sure i got it. something else that was pretty exciting this week is that we built a bunk bed that was three levels high haha. we dissambled the bunk beds and stacked them. it was pretty funny i have pics to send home of it. it was hillariouse because it was tuesday night and we got a new district that wed and the room was torn apart and their was a bunk bed that was 3 levels high that was in the middle on the room that was only like 3 feet from the cieling and the new elders that were in that room walk in and they had this scared look on their face like what is going on here haha. they looked so confused. and the hosts that showed them to the room just started laughing. that was the highlight of this week atleast lol. not a whole lot else has happened. we went to the temple today, and what stinks is everytime i walk thru the parking lot i see all the motorcyles parked together and just makes me wanna go riding haha. spanish is getting a little better each week . but the more i learn, the less i feel i know because i realize how bad i actually speak the language. but they can understand me and thats what matters. me and my companion made a goal next week to only speak spanish allday for at least 3 days. so that well be intresting. and if anyone happens to run across a pocketsize spanish to english dictionary thats small that would be very helpfull. cause they ones we have here are kinda big. it sounds like everyone is doing good at home from what i hear, or from at least what i have been told anyways. but im glad to hear that. i hope that everyone has a good week and i love you all hasta pronto!



Love,

elder Gabriella

Hola familia, i cant belive its p-day again already i know i say that everyweek, but its crazy how fast time flys here at the mtc. when people would say that i would always laugh and dint beleive them. but they keep you so busy here you lose track of time. its nice how they have the days layed out to. pretty much my week starts on wed cause thats when i got here. and than i look forward to friday p - day. and than i look forward to sunday cause sundays are great at the mtc. and than i look forward to wed again. and than its already been week again lol. so their is always something to look forward to thru out the week which is good. we had the oppurtunity to hear from todd christofferson from the qurom of the 12. we have been very lucky. we have heard 3 apostles talk on tuesday night devotionals. and we have a good chance of hearing another apostle. that would make number 4 for us. today people came and finger printed us for our visa's. they took our finger print of every finger on both hands lol. than next thursday we meet with the consulant from argentina we have to have a meeting with him. and we sign our visas in front of him. i had no idea we had to do anything like this. but it seems that everything is on track and looks like i should get my visa on time. im praying for it at least. their are some elders that have been here for 15 weeks waiting, and they may get reasigned missions. my departure date is june 22. so i only have like 3 1/2 weeks or so. so i cant wait to get to argentina although i dont feel ready at all. spanish is very difficult. alot to remember. everything has been going good tho. i have gained at least 10 lbs since being here. and the food isnt even good so i dont know why i eat so much haha. gym has been really fun i found 3 other elders that played competitive volleyball in high school who are all really good. so we get some intense games of 2 on 2 going. so i look forward to gym everyday now. i feel like i can play volleyball better now than i could in high school. dont know why tho. well thats about all the news for this week not a whole lot else has happend. thank you everyone for the letters and for all you do. i love you all so much and hope that you have a great week and a awesome day. a quick quote i like that my teacher always says to us in class. "in all that you do work like it all depends on you, but pray like it all depends on god and you will achieve your goals in life". hope everyone is doing well and i love hearing from you all. love you all and thanks for the support.

Letter #4

I cant believe its P day again already. time is continually flying by. its awesome i cant believe I am already on my 4th week here at the mtc.

Before i know it i will be in the field and than home. I am beggining to realize how much i need to take advantage of the time here at the mtc. i have been teaching alot this week i have taught lesson 2 alot. i cant believe how easy it is to just talk about the dicussions and teach them for 30 mins. we have a progressing investigator now that we teach each week and they act as someone they know and we must teach them each lesson and try and get them to be baptized we well start that next week so that will be cool. this monday we are transitioning to spanish completly. we will no longer be able to speak in english in class. we must pray read and talk spanish. this monday is the last trc in english as well than we have to teach 30 minute lessons in espanol. thats gonna be tough haha. this monday i have to talk and get to know them and help them clean and teach a 5 minute lesson on prayer and teach them how to pray all in spanish. i hope i will be ready for that. it gets tough cause my compaion just has be do all the spanish conversation he is to scared of messing up so i have been trying to work on him with that. i saw chase boyed on thursday. we were in the cafetaria i was sitting eating and he walks in and we both look at eachother i stood up and we both walked super fast and just gave a huge hug people prally thought it was weird haha. but it was awesome. it was good to see someone i knew a good freind from back home. we talked for awhile he is having a tough time adjusting but he will get in the swing of things in a few days. the first 3 days were the hardest. today we went to the temple, we got all the way their and than i realized i forgot my recommend so i had to all the back to our room and get it than walk back. its about 15 mins both way. once we got their they asked us to do sealings. that was really cool to be able to do. than as we were leaving a man stoped us and sayed. Elders have u heard of Martin Harris, and we reply ya of course and described briefly who he was. he than said my grandfather spoke to martin harris in utah face to face and he bared testimony of the gold plates that he has seen him and that he was a true witness of god and how the book of mormon is true. and he told us how his grandfather when he was young pulled him up on to their wagon and told him that hey spoke to martin harris and his grandfather bared testimony to him about the truth of the book of mormon. And than he said elders you have know heard a testimony of martin harris just two mouths away from his own. and we both looked at eachother. it was such a spiritual experince and we could feel the spirit so strong it was awesome. but i want to bare my testimony that i know that martin harris was a witness of god and that joseph smith did translate the book of mormon and that through it we can receive many blessing in our life and come closer to god as we read it. So you have know heard a testimony of the book of mormon only 3 mouths away from martin Harris.



The time here at the mtc has been great, their has been some tough times cause i miss home and my family, but i love it here. . Have you heard from David, I havent received one letter from him yet. i am kinda sad i wanna here from him soon. i dont have his address so i am gonna send it to the house and have you call him to get it. Thats crazy about the weather that its been so up and down. but i bet you dont mind not having the heat haha. its begginning to warm up here its not snowing anymore but it will rain in the morning than stop than be clear skys and sunny. the weather here is weird haha. but its warming up its nice. i dont need anything sent to me like a sweater but thanks tho. . im running out of time but thanks for all you do.. Only 102 weeks like you said and before you know it i will be home. I love you and will write again next week. :) :) :)





Love you



Elder gabriella

A special request

Elder Gabriella has requested that we send him letters on www.dearelder.com as well as emailing him. This way he already knows what has been emailed and will have more time to write people as he only has 30 min. of computer time on friday's. His MTC address Elder Michael Anthony Gabriella
MTC Mailbox #281
Arg-Ros 0622
2005 N 900 E
Provo, Utah 84604-1793
is the following if anyone would like to send him something.


I am still trying to get his letter from friday up and posted as soon as i can get access to his letter i will post it. Thank you to everyone who is supporting Elder Gabriella during this speical time.

Letter #3

well two weeks down already on to my 3rd week. I cant beleive its P-Day again already. its awesome. i am so anxiouse and excited to get to argentina, but the mtc really is alot of fun. this last week not a whole lot happened it was a normal week for the most part. on tuesday we usually have all our meetings. these week we had a qurom of the 70 at our devotional, elder gibbons. he gave a really good talk about 10 questions investigators will most commonly ask and how to answer them without doctrine but with simple reasoning and logic. it was a great talk. and very helpful because im sure we well get alot of those questions in the field. wednsday and thursday were really good. we had tons of study time. after lunch on thursday we had 5 hours of straight study time it was awesome. i had lots of time to study the language and doctrine. we are now moving on to teaching lesson 2. so we are making outlines of the lesson and practice teaching them with one another. its alot of fun and extremly helpful. its funny you will have people come up to you and just start teaching you a lesson haha. and they do it in their language they are learning so its always fun. its cool tho i hear so many diffrent languages through out the day cause people use it as much as they can and speak it to who ever. i hope that my pictures that i sent home made it if not please let me know and i will print some more and send them. I have had lots of people ask how the language is coming , its coming but very slowly haha. their is so much to learn and remember its crazy. my whole vocabulary right now is basically gospel terms cause on week 5 we have to teach a 35 minute lesson on the first discussion in spanish so that will be intresting. especially cause my compainion is quiet so i do most of the talking. i have a tough time getting him to speak in the lessons haha. but each week he does get better. my companion is from alma arkansa so he has a strong accent but its awesome. we get a new district possibly next weeek so that well be cool to great them and have another disrtict come in. its weird not being the newbies anymore. we have had 2 more sets of missionaries come in since i have been here. and its always funny to see them walk in cause i know exactly how they feel. lost and confused haha. my stomach is finally getting used to to food here. it only took 2 weeks haha. before my stomach would grumble almost every 10 minutes and that finally stoped. and im suprised i weighed myself this week and i weigh the same i havent gained any weight i have been eating alot too. but we get an hour of gym everyday which is awesome to play basketball or volleybal each day. well it sounds like everyone is doing good at home and thanks for the letters they always make my day i love hearing how everyone is doing and whats going on thru out your week. Love you all

Letter #2

i cant beleive i have already been in the mtc for a whole week and 2 days now. time really is flying by i am suprised. most people say that the first week goes by slow. the first week has been great. its been cold here it has rained a couple of days and snowed alot off and on. i really miss the arizona summer right now. many of you know i hate the cold lol. i have some pictures that i will send home during the middle of this week. it takes more than a day to develop them so ill have to wait. i cant receive pictures over the email so you have to send them to me in a letter. i want pictures of the family tho so please send me some to put on my desk. mom your letters arent going to me thru der elder they all show up on my email account i dunno why. but if you can get them to send to me as a letter with dear elder please try to thanks. i received the packages thank you soo much they were great. thanks mom and don. sandy sent me one as well with some goodies in it. i know have a junk drawer full of drinks and goodies. the soda made it just fine and thank you it was nice to have dr pepper with caffeine for once haha. im saving the coca cola for a special occasion. today friday is our p day and we had the chance to go thru the temple which was awesome. mom you asked what church was like on sunday pretty much we wake up get dressed and go to sacrment with our zone and the talks are all in spanish and its random who he calls on so you must always have one prepared. than after we have lunch and than priesthood meeting and than classes and than later we have a district meeting. and we find time in between to walk the temple grounds. o ya and that night around 8 o clock we watch a church movie. so sundays are always good. when i went thru the temple today i ate at the cafetaria. it was nice eating some real food for once haha. tasted good. i think i might putting on weight i may have to watch what i am eating, because of this all you can eat buffet and all these sweets im getting in the mail. but its good ill loose it all when i get to argentina im sure. o i almost forgot we had a devotional tuesday or wed night and we had L. TOM PERRY give us a talk it was awesome listening to an apostile give us a talk. he talked about the book of mormon and how its our greatest missionary that we have. and he beared his testimony of it. we also heard from his wife. i look forward to devotionals. we have a district in our zone thats leaving this week so we wont be the youngest any more and we will have another diratrict come in a week . so wont be the youngest. my companion is going to the same mission as i am rosario argentina and we leave the same day. our whole district besides one companionship is going to the same mission they are going to puerto rico. a kinda funny story me and my comp after class were heading back to our room and we made a wrong turn and walked to the top floor of the sisters building before we even realized it. so we both just looked at eachother and booked it down those stairs haha. 2 sisters saw us and was probably very confused we felt pretty dumb. my companero is starting to open up we are getting along alot better and he isnt so shy so thats been great. its funny tho he followes me in the cafteria and will get the same food as me everyday. although i tell him everyday he dosnet have to get the same thing as me haha. he is a cool guy. its funny since i have been here im not as shy. and i think thats what mark drew and zac were saying how once your called as a missionary your no longer the same your not affraid to just approch people and just talk about what ever. thank you everyone for the letters and packages i have enjoyed them. my district laughes cause i got 3 packages in 1 week and a handfull of letters already. i truly feel blessed with my family and friends. mom im gonna give you davids phone number can you call him and ask if he got my letter or ask for his apartment adress for me thanks. 4802092337. thank you mom for the emails and keeping me up to date on everyone i appreciate it. im glad that daniel seems to be doing good from the resuilts. i love you all and thank you for everything cant wait till next week mom my scripture for plaque is d&c 133 7-8. so for doing that so late. and next time you write can you give me my account balance thanks love you all

First Letter

it was so great to hear from everyone i dont have alot of time to write but i will go thru my week very quickly. i flew in to salt lake city i meet a cool elder farnsworth we hung out at the airport and caught a shuttle to the mtc. their was 5 elders from arizona so we had a fun time talking. once we arrived at the mtc we went thru a quick orientation they gave us our name tags and our cards that we needed. it was a bit overwhelming. we than went to our classroom and meet our companions. my companion is elder waid he is a cool kid but very shy its tough to get him to tell me what he wants to do and to open up and talk to me so its been a little tough but in time i think he will come out of hes shell and talk. i will start and tell you my typical day i wake up at 630 am than put on my basketball shoes and i have gym time for an hour than we come back to our rooms and shower and get dressed for the day and go to breakfast. the food isnt bad its all you can eat but its not settling to well with my stomach lol. im getting use to it tho. than we go to class around 845 and were their untill 1pm for lunch than we have a few hours of missionary directed time to study. than we have more class till 6pm and we have dinner than back to class and than sometimes we have zone activities. they diffintly keep us very busy. we get back to our rooms by 930 and get ready for bed which is lights out at 1030. the days havent been to long they have gone by fairly quickly i have already been here for 4 days. it wil go by quickly. i am beggining to get on a routine which is good i am getting ahang of everything. i am learning alot. gospel and spanish. out teachers are awesome they are young hermano toro is 23 and served in argentina mission and hermana smith is in her 20's and served in puerto rico. my district and zone are all awesome. everyone treats eachother like brothers its awesome. mark you are right about the hymns they are so cool you can feel the spirit so strong. i have trc on monday where we must teach fake investigators and we must carry a conversation in spanish for 5 minutes. and than teach discussion 1 for 35 minutes it will be good for me and my comp to do i am excited. thank you everyone for your letters they make my day when i read them. mom im so proud of you on achieving your goals with p90x and your diet thats awesome . i began to cry when reading the letters haha. i miss my family so much but i wanna thank everyone for all their support and love. my p days are on fridays its the only days i can email and write letters i want a family pic of everyone that we took with the jump house please so i can hang it at my desk. i only have 30 mins on the email so if i dont have a chance to write evryone i apologize. i am so grateful for the oppurtunity i have to serve the lord my testimony has built so much. even with small things i play volleyball and basketball in the morning with elders and i havent had any knee problems since i have been here and normally i cant jump without being in pain. well i love everyone and i will send another email next friday . LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

yo se que jesucristo es nuestro salvador y podemos saber por medro del espiritu santo que el evangelio es verdadero yo se que dios ama a sus hijos he sentido de su amar y yo se que de le ama.

CALLED TO SERVE

Elder Michael Anthony Gabriella was called to serve in the Rosario, Argentina mission. He reported to the MTC on April 21st and is expected to arrive in Argentina in late June, his P-day is on friday's he only has 30 min of computer time so he might not write everyone and i will post his weekly letter either friday or saturday at the latest. You can email mikey at www.dearelder.com and they will print the letter out and place it on his bed every day, the P.O. Box number for Michael for this website and I told him he didnt need it. My emails went thru without it but just so we are sending them correctly the P.O.Box is 30150. When it asks for the expected departure date it would be almost exactly 2 months from the time he left so you can put June 21, 2010. I have had alot of people ask me what he likes:

He loves beef jerkey, brownies, cinnamon rolls, choc chip cookies, m&m cookies, sugar cookies, snicker doodles. Mark Adam suggested anyone wanting to send something he would love , he would love a 6 pak of Regular Coke or Dr. Pepper as he can't get that at the MTC.

Thank you for all your support, thoughts, letters, emails, phone calls....it has been much appreciated.

michael.gabriella@myldsmail.net
www.dearelder.com

Pouch (Letters Only)
Elder Michael Anthony Gabriella
Argentina Rosario Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

Packages Only
Elder Michael Anthony Gabriella
Argentina Rosario Mission
Blvd Argentino 7935
2000 Rosario
Santa Fe
Argentina