February 7, 2012 and a few journal excerpts from his first week…
Now, the 1st day in 8 minutes: Dropped off (felt like leaping off the high dive) to meet Nick – I mean Elder Alvarez. He showed me around everything, helped me get my stuff (which was A LOT) and sent me to Thai class. I have Brother Jenkins for Thai and he is awesome! He looks kind of like Syndrome from the Incredibles, but he’s super nice and speaks super well. We kind of got a slap in the face with Thai which was crazy. Then we went to orientation, and dinner where I met Elders (Chase) Reavley, (Lars) Overson, (Austin) Johnson, Joe Van Durren (from Lyceum Festival), (Jordan) Fry, (Brandon) Davies (who is half-snoring right now in my room), and probably others I’ll remember later.
Then we got to teach 3 investigators: Daniel, Mark, and “Chicho”. Daniel was a bit standoffish, but he felt receptive when one sister gave him a heart-felt testimony of the hardships in her life. Then Mark, who is very religious and believed in Christ, had some questions that our group could’ve answered. But we learned with Carlo “Chicho” Bomba who felt “fireworks” inside after we had a discussion. That’s where I’ll end for the sake of time. We all went to bed and now we’re gearing up for supposedly the hardest day of the MTC. [Day 2]
So it’s about 10:18 p.m. and I just got done being assigned a piano part where Elder Strong gave us a tip: Make it til Sunday – “but if you rely on the Spirit, you’ll never have a long day.” Then the humble, quiet Elder who’s heading to Oakland, CA turned around and silently left the room. That pretty much summed up how I felt. I was super nervous that I was eventually going to have a bad day because I had no choice – but Elder Strong gave me the reassurance that this really IS possible – that we really CAN do this with the Spirit if we put our mind’s to inviting the spirit into our own lives. Oh, and when I wanted to cry the most, that’s when I worked the hardest – and had the best success.
(Jan 27) Happy 256th [Birthday] Mozart! Disclaimer: If I could play “Eine Kleine,” I would. But music is forbidden here…such is life, but let it be known that I tried… Ha ha, Oh Bryce [Chamberlain]! He wrote me a great letter that’s definitely going to help me on my mission for sure. The language is rough and I needed some encouragement for sure…
(Jan 29) It’s been two days now (felt like 2 weeks), and I can’t believe how [many] awesome, hard, humiliating, comforting experiences I’ve had. I get about 5 letters a day and all the other Elders flip out at me, but I’m so grateful that I’ve got awesome family (including Bryce Chamberlain, Jason Eldredge, and Danielle Brownelle who are practically family) who cares for me.
Awesome day today (Feb 6) – Elder Martin said how much I looked like my Dad – his [Rich’s] picture with Robbie and me are up on my wall, and it made me feel awesome. :)
(Feb 7) We got not only a few new investigators, but a new teacher – Aphiwat! Er. I mean, Brother Day… He played his character so well that it was hard to adjust to him as a teacher (and even harder to adjust to him speaking English – I’m more comfortable with him when he speaks Thai anyway just because I’m used to his Thai voice, which IS different than his English one). He’s now playing an investigator called Beer. Yup. It was super funny when Elder Creer thanked Heavenly Father for Beer during our lesson. It was actually a really cool lesson…(except from journal: I also just realized Elder Creer and I just put together a whole lesson for someone we’ve never met, who was Catholic, and then hardly followed it at all and taught a completely re-organized lesson using the Spirit of the Lord – and in Thai! Its’ just nothing short of a miracle that in three weeks, we could organize a gospel lesson, meet someone for the 1st time, and then switch up or lesson as directed by the Spirit – All in the Thai language. What wonders does the Lord work by. I’ve been trying really hard to be a better-focused missionary. As I have kept the rules and went forward with faith, I’ve seen blessings I would’ve never imagined!)
Anyway, I just wanted to say how thankful that I was blessed with the coolest companion at the MTC. Elder Creer is one of the coolest people I know. I don’t even know where to start! In school, just for example, he was Chem Club President, a SBO, and took 7 SP tests – four of which he scored perfect 5’s. At home and at BYU, he skis and rock climbs. While living in his native Las Vegas (although he lived in UT, MT, and NV before BYU), he was a super stalwart example for good. What I like most about his example though is his diligence amidst distraction. When our class/district socializes a little too much, I often cut my laughter short with a glance to my right when I see him completely submerged in his TALL book or his PMG, or whatever it is. “I can see why four perfect AP scores were achieved,” I often think. But I lied. Perhaps the BEST thing about Elder Creer is his laugh. Being so genuine, he can talk/laugh with anybody. He’s so chill that he can get along with anyone, but he’s super focused. He skis, he blows stuff up in chemistry club – I’ve met few Elders as awesome as my companion. I TOTALLLY lucked out, and I thank God every day for his stalwart example of goodness. I could go on about Elder Davies, Tatton, and Harley [roommates], but it’s time to go to bed.
Well, thanks again for all the love, letters, packages, love, prayers, love and more prayers. Until next week!
Saawaadii! (Khap)
Elder Gibbons
