Sawatdii dear Family and Friends,
Thanks sooo much for your love and support. I get Kaiden's and Kenna's letters (Elder Worthington and Sister Snell respectively), and it boosts my morale and keeps me going in many cases. They are such great examples to me and I'm honored to labor alongside them in this great work.
This IS a great work. Work. Such a word. It is a word that embodies how faith is used to create results - in any field - art, sports, and especially out in the field.
But one example of work that I'd like to mention is from that of my family and their work that inspires me. The following is an excerpt from my dad's email to me this past week about the Schlappi Family Adult Retreat (S'FART):
"Wow, we had an amazing few days. We spent the past 3 days in Fairview with all my siblings and their spouses...completely remodeling Tyler and Tilly’s house [my Aunt and Uncle].
This is very Gospel related so hang tight.
"Uncle Scott took the lead and we got projects and tools and teams of workers all lined up to do dozens of major projects like repair roofs, repair floors, paint rooms, clean like crazy, and build dog sheds etc. Well, we all showed up ready to go and really make a difference.... Fortunately, we all rallied for a great cause, got our hearts and attitudes in the right place, and went to work. Joseph, I have seldom seen such a miracle take place as all these people working their tails off and then pitching in wherever possible. Your great Mom spent two days with a shovel digging around trees and building a rock wall and painting and remodeling an entire bathroom [which I must add my thanks and love her my great mother here who has ALWAYS been a great worker].
"This was service at its finest....
"This brought us together like no beach vacation could ever attempt to do. The fact that Tyler and Tilly allowed us to serve them was a great example of humility and willingness to allow us to show our love back to them for all they great things they have done for others. They were so grateful as you can imagine having 4 young kids and Tilly is expecting again....
"I only hope that our family (with your help of course) can find ways to serve each other as the years move on. I know that families are and need to be a great source of strength in times of need. I know that a bit of planning and some hard work coupled with the right approach and attitude can get good people through anything. We all felt the love of our Lord as we worked side by side."
I love this story and am sad I didn't have an opportunity to be there, but did have one here. Brother A called us one morning and asked if we could help him out - in "work clothes" so we knew it was big. His house flooded from the CRAZY rain that's been happening here lately, it being rainy season. We bailed out buckets after buckets after buckets of mucky water, killed a pair of scorpions, and really just helped him out. Super fun, as I am grateful the Lord allowed me to be in on the Schlappi service in a very small way.
As for investigators, we have been working hard and Sister Ple (Bun) came to church for the first time with her husband, X (who calls himself Pat now) whom we've been working with. Their little son, Buster, is a terror but loved church too. Raugh came and is coming next week with Gaeo his Ό (or "fan" which means crush, spouse, lover, husband, wife, boyfriend, and girlfriend), who has not yet tied the knot legally - which is keeping Raugh from getting baptized. We are in desprate need of a miracle this month for them to find the money to get married legally which takes her all over to do paperwork because she is Laotian. She is great and a new investigator. We've giving her BoM in Lao that I stole from the office before I left... Hehe... And they live 12 kilometers away (a fun bikeride at 7:30 in the morning). That's sort of all that's happening here besides our biking 12 kilos in the opposite direction to the nearby city of Kamalasai where we found a miracle at the last door we came up to in the pouring rain. More on Dii later.
Lastly, this picture is another miracle that happened outside of Kalasin that Elder Wilamas just sent me. Here's the story...
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| [I think this is Beem, who was baptized, and her cousin, Sister Waan...at least that's my interpretation of the story!] |
Sister Waan from Asoke couldn't meet with us on this one day when we usually could during my service in the Office. Weird, so I asked her why. She responded that she would be up by Chaengwattana - the same place I was going for zone conference a few months ago. So, I just asked her, "Well, could we stop by and have dinner?" She said sure and I went on a 3-man switch-off with the Pakkret Elders to introduce this family to them. We had a great dinner-lesson and I even took pictures. We left with a return appt, but shortly after that I left the office. This is Min's and his wife Beem's baptism photo, with Beem standing next to her beloved cousin. The Pakkret Elders kept going and this family has come to know the truth of their cousin's message for themselves. The Gospel is true and it is spreading to all the world - to all those ready to hear it. I just am so humbled to have been apart of it here.
Love you all as this WORK rolls on.
Elder Gibbons
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| Bro Gob (Investigator) racing his son Owen (RC) in a cookie-eating contest at FHE. [I believe "RC" means recent convert] |
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| Elder Martin and I doing service in the countryside. [Even though Joseph is not in the photo!] |
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| Our new hoppin' ride round Kalasin (at invesigators' Dtaan and King King's house who is now 2 RCs). |
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| LA's house with friend, Pepsi, Fodi, and Bay. We're working with Pepsi lately. |
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| Dtaan and King King's baptism. The Sisters played a great role in helping her get baptized. |
