Elder Joseph Gibbons Mission: 1/22/12

This has been quite the week!! We got to enjoy some good quality time with Joseph and loved every minute of it! Joseph is the peacemaker in our family and he is always so happy and fun to be around so he will be greatly missed. But we know he is just beginning a great service that will change his life forever. We are happy for him and grateful for the example he has been and will be for the next two years.

There are a few highlights I would like to share with you. The first one began several months ago as I tried to think of what I could give him as a gift that would be meaningful, inspire him and give him comfort on his mission. My mother made beautiful picture quilts for each of us when we served a mission, so I knew I wanted to put together a quilt. When I thought of what would inspire Joseph, I thought of the scriptures. He has been so diligent in his study of the scriptures, so I asked him to give me his "top ten" favorite scriptures. The idea came to me to embroider his favorite scriptures on quilt blocks, but I also thought how cool it would be if I could get his grandma's, sisters, and some of his aunts and cousins to each make one (the people who weren't so busy or had small children), then he would feel all of their love as he looked at this quilt. Well, I actually needed 17 blocks to finish the quilt, so my husband, Mike, thought he could do one. And I thought, if Mike could do one, so could my Dad!! (I gave him the shortest scripture in the Bible..."Jesus Wept".) I just have to say, I had NO IDEA the time, effort and perseverance this project would end up taking!! I am so grateful for each person who helped to make this quilt more beautiful than I ever could have imagined!! Most of us took about 10-20 hours to complete our scriptures, but some of my sister-in-laws took 50-100 hours!! It makes me cry every time I think about it...AND look at their blocks on the quilt. Joseph was so overwhelmed by the love of his family! The night we gave it to him, we read "the quilt" for our family scripture study! :) Unfortunately, he loves it too much and is fearful of damaging it in any way, that he did not take it with him on his mission. Instead, it will be hanging up in his room until he can take it with him when he gets married. :) I cannot express my gratitude to each one who helped, especially my beautiful mother, who has ALWAYS been there for me when I seem to be over my head in something!!! I love you all!!

The second thing was his "farewell" and open house on Sunday. Again, he was overwhelmed by the love and support he felt from so many people. Thank you so much for being there for Joseph and sending him off feeling so loved. The singles ward had record numbers in attendance that day! :) I also have to thank my sweet family and friends who helped me prepare the food for the open house. My son really wanted to serve Thai food so people could get a taste of the country he will be serving in. But what I didn't realize (my husband tried to tell me and I promised him I would listen next time!) is the preparation and time it would take to make this possible. A SPECIAL thanks to the "chicken women" (I lovingly call them!) for cutting chicken for 6 hours on Saturday!! Thanks to my mom Kay Holker, my mother-in-law Donna Gibbons, Trisha Gibbons, Angie Vaifanua, Danielle Brownelle, Brenda Connolly, Claudia Da Rocha, and Donna Heninger) who helped me, and Joseph - who also helped and provided the Cutco knives!!! :) And my sweet friend Brenda, my sister, Angie, her daughter, Jaeden and my daughter, Anna for cooking more chicken on Sunday morning (another 3-1/2 hours!!) I don't think any of us want to look at chicken for at least a month!!

The third wonderful thing - Joseph was set apart as a missionary on Tuesday night by our Stake President, President Fenton. He has been a family friend for many years and it was a privilege to have him give Joseph this special blessing. Mike was unable to be there for it because he was out of town, but we got him on speaker phone so he could be there with us in spirit. My father also got to stand in with President Fenton. It was kind of funny because after he was set apart, Joseph asked President Fenton if he could still use his phone and he was told no...cuz he was an official missionary now! I got to be his first companion!! :)

Lastly, we woke up early yesterday morning and finished packing his suitcases. As we were leaving, Anna, Joseph and I knelt in the hallway for one more prayer. This was the first time we "lost it". It seemed real and final this time. He was so cute as he touched my truck and the house on his way out as he said goodbye. We met several family members for brunch at Magleby's and got to spend some great quality time with them before going to the Provo Temple for the traditional photos. Now they only allow you one vehicle to drop off your missionary at the MTC, so we packed my parents and his Grandma Gibbons in the van with us. A woman volunteered to take a photo of all of us together. She asked us where our son was going to be serving his mission and we said Thailand...and she said, so is my son!! So, it was pretty neat to actually meet 2 missionaries that were at the temple to take pictures with their families who were also going to be serving in Thailand with Joseph!! One was a very beautiful sister missionary...let's all pray for Joseph that he can focus!!! We were all doing fine until my mom grabbed the camera from me and said to stand beside Joseph. I hugged him and that's all it took! We were both sobbing into each other's shoulders. Then, each of the kids (Megs, Kenzi and Anna) and his grandparents did the same thing. It was a very emotional time for all of us.

As we piled into the van and drove to the entrance of the MTC, Joseph gave one quick call to his Dad, who was speaking in Kansas City at that very moment, so he left him a sweet, tearful message. We pulled into the entrance and were quickly energized to see many missionaries waving and smiling - ready to greet these new missionaries entering the MTC. Joseph's great friend, Elder Nick Alvarez, from our ward was there to meet him! He was all smiles and so happy to welcome Joseph. It was an amazing thing that happened, because once we pulled onto the MTC grounds, Joseph was so ready to go!! There were no more tears, just excitement as he gave us all one more quick hug, he and Nick grabbed the suitcases, gave a wave and a smile, and walked up the hill to enter the MTC. We KNOW Joseph is happy and ready to learn and serve. As for Kenzi, Anna and I...we went to the Provo Creamery and had to get ice cream!! :( Anna and I slept in his room again last night and its a little hard because we really miss him, but whenever we think of him, we just say a prayer and sometimes write a quick letter on "dearelder.com" (cuz its free while he's in the MTC and you can do it every day!!).

We love each of you for supporting Joseph (sorry...Elder Gibbons now!) and keeping him in your prayers. He is doing great!!! :)