Hello family!
So exciting with talk of missions, conference and with everything! AND TO JACK [Vawdrey]: "Eu adoro a lingua de Brasil! Boa Sorte, amigo!! (especially cuz it's the 2nd best foreign language out there) Where are you going exactly? Have you been to Rodizios or Braza Grill? Get ready for a whole lot of Samba and rice!"
Thank you for your letters. This week, I'd like to share some experiences from some letters I wrote for my Mission President and my dad:
"Dear President,
"This week has been spectacular; Elder Terry is nothing but spectacular as he had the opportunity to exercise his "commission" of Jesus Christ, as Elder Holland so zealously described in conference, by baptizing Somsak Utamagoon and his two daughters Biw and Ribbon. It was a very special time and a very special service. We also felt what it was like to receive direct revelation from the Lord concerning an investigator. We didn't want to do what we felt like we needed to do, but we followed the spirit, and truly our faith has been increased as we strive to follow the Spirit in all that we do. We're not perfect, there's much room for improvement, but we've especially been edified this special weekend." Note: I got to play "I love to look for Rainbows" on my viola for the service too :)
In answer to some of dad's questions. Thanks dad. I love you so much:
"I live in a neighborhood with a huge front yard on a secluded back-road. Ma Supit's house is ติดกับ (stuck) to our house - so she occasionally
shouts at us from her kitchen and gives us treats. Elder Terry is probably one of, if not my
favorite companion. He's 20yrs old from Brigham City - yep excited with the
temple - who was pretty inactive until he had a feeling to just go to church
again. After that he decided to go on a mission which got his girlfriend and
his older Brother activated (who followed his example and is speaking the 2nd
best foreign language in Portugal right now too). He's super easy to get along with - our
companion studies are a riot (spiritually) and every day is a blast. He's also
a great singer and sometimes we just sing at each other about things in opera,
Broadway, hymns, or just whatever. Funny
thing is, he was super into weight lifting (I mean he counted calories), and
really not much like me but we're so similar and get along well. The only
struggles is he's been in his area for 3 transfers now and I'm his first new
comp so he's getting used to a new comp's way of life (as everyone does). But even this isn't a problem too much (just
when planning isn't as good) - which is my fault as I'm the Phii - or Senior
Comp [So, that word meant “Senior Companion”, NOT Trainer! Sorry about that]. But we just had three baptisms and was so awesome
as he DID stand in a baptismal font and said "Having been commissioned of
Jesus Christ..." just one day before "The Jeffery"'s sermon (I
refuse to call that a talk, and my trainer had a comp who refused to call Elder
Holland anything but THE JEFFERY because its like THE JERICHO missile in Iron
Man. So if the church ever needs to just
DESTROY something, they send in "THE JEFFERY") so the whole time we were
just dumbfounded. We Tim Tam slammed to
our investigators who got baptized and we saved one wafer and slammed (an honor
equivalent to a toasting here in the Thailand Bangkok Mission) to
"Jeffery" as well. Trees and
leaves? Did I mention that I encounter a
new fruit about every transfer? We pass
a large spirit tree on our way to church every day with large but faded banners
and little statues and sanctuaries. I
once ate an entire meal on nothing but banana leaves - you have no idea what
they do, eat, and worship around foliage around here. But it's super fun."
PS: I get letters from Elder Worthington and Sister Snell and it's the best. [These are two of his cousins serving missions.] I love imagining Bates [Elder Worthington, serving in Siberia] out talking to people in a funky language with a funky alphabet probably wearing a funky hat in the snow while I'm out here talking to people in a funky language with a funky alphabet being a funky white guy wearing a white shirt and pants way too long for the October heat. McKenna's [Sister Snell] experiences at the MTC bring me great memories and I would love to send her Thor's hammer or a machete for those alarm clocks... Missionaries like these and others I serve with are great examples of where this Church is heading. I support all that has been said in General Conference as I just barely watched it out here in a little clerk’s office at the church. Elder Nielson is right. If there is anything you need, "Talk to the Missionaries – They can help you." Go talk with your missionaries. Find out who you could go teach with them. BRING them to someone you can teach or introduce. So many of God's children are starving from burdens of guilt of sorrow that can only be relieved by the atonement of Christ. At the very least, do yourself a favor and go serve with the missionaries somehow so that your friends and family who haven't tasted this gospel can at last quench their thirst and the Well of Living Water, even our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Well? What are you waiting for? Stop reading this computer, and put what you feel like you need to do on your to-do list TODAY! Take President Monson's and Uchtdorf's advice and follow the spirit - no regrets.
So exciting with talk of missions, conference and with everything! AND TO JACK [Vawdrey]: "Eu adoro a lingua de Brasil! Boa Sorte, amigo!! (especially cuz it's the 2nd best foreign language out there) Where are you going exactly? Have you been to Rodizios or Braza Grill? Get ready for a whole lot of Samba and rice!"
Thank you for your letters. This week, I'd like to share some experiences from some letters I wrote for my Mission President and my dad:
"Dear President,
"This week has been spectacular; Elder Terry is nothing but spectacular as he had the opportunity to exercise his "commission" of Jesus Christ, as Elder Holland so zealously described in conference, by baptizing Somsak Utamagoon and his two daughters Biw and Ribbon. It was a very special time and a very special service. We also felt what it was like to receive direct revelation from the Lord concerning an investigator. We didn't want to do what we felt like we needed to do, but we followed the spirit, and truly our faith has been increased as we strive to follow the Spirit in all that we do. We're not perfect, there's much room for improvement, but we've especially been edified this special weekend." Note: I got to play "I love to look for Rainbows" on my viola for the service too :)
In answer to some of dad's questions. Thanks dad. I love you so much:
PS: I get letters from Elder Worthington and Sister Snell and it's the best. [These are two of his cousins serving missions.] I love imagining Bates [Elder Worthington, serving in Siberia] out talking to people in a funky language with a funky alphabet probably wearing a funky hat in the snow while I'm out here talking to people in a funky language with a funky alphabet being a funky white guy wearing a white shirt and pants way too long for the October heat. McKenna's [Sister Snell] experiences at the MTC bring me great memories and I would love to send her Thor's hammer or a machete for those alarm clocks... Missionaries like these and others I serve with are great examples of where this Church is heading. I support all that has been said in General Conference as I just barely watched it out here in a little clerk’s office at the church. Elder Nielson is right. If there is anything you need, "Talk to the Missionaries – They can help you." Go talk with your missionaries. Find out who you could go teach with them. BRING them to someone you can teach or introduce. So many of God's children are starving from burdens of guilt of sorrow that can only be relieved by the atonement of Christ. At the very least, do yourself a favor and go serve with the missionaries somehow so that your friends and family who haven't tasted this gospel can at last quench their thirst and the Well of Living Water, even our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Well? What are you waiting for? Stop reading this computer, and put what you feel like you need to do on your to-do list TODAY! Take President Monson's and Uchtdorf's advice and follow the spirit - no regrets.
Love you all dearly and deeply,
Elder Gibbons
Elder Gibbons
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| These are the Tim Tam cookies he "slams" when he's happy! :) |
