Joseph left the Mission Training Center yesterday (April 9th) about 4:30 pm with a group of 16 missionaries for the SLC Airport! They went through customs then boarded their plane for Los Angeles at 8:10 pm. We weren’t sure when he would get a chance to call us before he left the country, so of course Megan, Kenzi, Anna, Mike and I waited (im)patiently for his phone call from 4:30-7:30 pm. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to call from SLC, so he finally called us from L.A. about 11:10 p.m. By this time, Megan and Kenzi had gone home. When Joseph called, we patched Megan into the call, but Kenzi had gone to sleep. (I told her she could be the first one to talk to him when he calls on Mother’s Day!!)
Good news is JOSEPH SOUNDED GREAT!!! We weren’t expecting his voice to be deeper! We’ve never gone so long without talking to him, so it was kind of weird to hear his voice so low! He talked a million miles a minute and could hardly get everything in that he wanted to tell us. He spoke a little Thai for us and he did pretty well! You could tell there was a buzz of excitement around him at the airport, as all the missionaries were trying to talk to their families. He LOVED the MTC and the missionaries he has met. They are already life-long friends. He said it was strange not to have an “adult” leader around. He said Elder Bennett (the missionary we met at the Provo Temple right before he entered the MTC) was their travel leader. And he thought it was hilarious that Elder Bennett had never been on an airplane or out of the state of Utah before. (He has been to the states that “touch” Utah, but only by car.)
He didn’t even know where to start with his experience at the MTC. The main thing he said was there were “lots of miracles, everyday!” He started writing them down in a journal because there were so many. He loved being in the choir and he got to stand next to one of his best buddies, Elder Engle (he stood on Joseph’s left side, if you go to LDS.org and watch it again…Elder Archuletta is in the front row, 2nd Elder from the middle!!) He got to be a “host” for new international Elders that entered the MTC last week. He said that was awesome. He used some of his Thai grammar with a missionary coming in from another Asian country (skipping some of our little English words) and he said he was able to communicate effectively! His last Sunday devotional (the night before he left) was the best because Elder Packer called up the MTC and said he wanted to come speak…I guess you just say SURE!! Then, (you can totally hear Joseph say this!) as he entered the room for the devotional, he saw “risers” set up, so he got really excited knowing it was going to be a choir, but when the director of the BYU Men’s Chorus walked in, Joseph was beside himself!! For him, to hear Elder Packer AND the BYU Men’s Chorus was the greatest treat before he left for Thailand. I guess he and his friend Elder Engle got their pictures in the Church News too! We never saw it, so if anyone has a copy of it, we would LOVE to have one for our scrapbook!!
About midnight, Joseph quickly said it was time to go and he was so ready to be on his way! He didn’t think he was even going to sleep on the plane!! (14 hour plane ride to Hong Kong!) But, I am assuming he made it to Hong Kong then they had one last 2-hour leg to Thailand. He said it was like “Tuesday never happened for him!” He just went right from Monday to Wednesday!
He wrote me a letter on March 27th and I forgot to post a few things from it:
“I got Grandpa’s letter (I’m not done with it) – PLEASE TELL HIM THANK YOU – AND also thank Barry & Lucie and Lee & Annette for the treats [I also forgot to thank Aunt Heather & Uncle Marty from Joseph too!]. And let Lee & Annette know that I met a very wonderful Irma (Portuguese for ‘sister’) Tingey! Kind of related, I guess?! Ha Ha! She’s a beautiful red-headed sister who is companions with Whitney – a blonde BYU student who had Portuguese language with me in back in school.
Thanks to ALL of you who have written him and/or sent packages!! I know he has appreciated every one of them. Please keep writing, as he will be on his own now and will need the love and support. He is VERY happy and anxious to get to know and love the people of Thailand…which he says he already does!! He won’t be writing this week, so the next letter will be from him next week!
He says, “Best wishes till Thailand! (Then after that, BETTER wishes!! I’ll keep you posted as best as I can about the orient.)”
Love, Elder Gibbons
