Hello Family and Friends,
This week has been great with two baptisms down in
our 17 Miracles! We also had 68 people at church - which was amazing seeing
that we had 39 when I first came in. I feel your prayers and your thoughts.
At 5 in the morning on Sunday, we woke up to pouring rain. We knelt there
in our beds and prayed for the rain to stop as we were going to have a baptism
with many people who most likely wouldn't come if the rain was bad, like Sister
Nupe who got baptized had to ride Brother Jamnong's three-wheeled motorcycle to
come to church. It was very special to wake back up at 6:30 and see it had
stopped.
Sister Bah almost didn't come, but she did and got
confirmed. I translated for that Sacrament meeting with the District President
(like the Stake President) and actually cut him off on my way over to church
(taught me a lesson for sure!).
I helped translate a piece we're playing for the
Christmas program and even helped a girl come back to church by doing so. Ja
was less-active until she came to an activity and found out I played the Viola.
"I'll bring my violin to church tomorrow!" she said! That was 4 weeks ago and she’s
been ever since and is now playing for the event. But there was one passage
that was hard and she couldn't "shift up" or move your hand to a
higher position. So I practiced with her and got a glimpse of her playing
for Sister Sowards. She heard it in the high register and I saw a sneeky peek
of her getting so excited. Ja caught my glance and smiled, knowing that we had
accomplished that. Sister Phon also came back when I invited her to hear me
sing. Now SHE has a part in the program. President Satid (the District Pres)
actually acknowledged the both of them in Sacrament Meeting as coming back
strong. The Work is great and it keeps coming. I love ya all and I'll leave you
with a story my mom sent me about the 500 grateful things before I finish my
mission I asked everyone to do. At least 50 before Thanksgiving!
“O Remember, Remember” Elder Henery B. Eyring,
October 2007:
When
our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what
happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from
a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us,
surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a
load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work
clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream
below us up to our property.
He
smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with
his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing
for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own
voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write
them down.”
I
went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper
and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my
mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future,
how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to
do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have
done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant
disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew
that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the
memory someday when they would need it.
I
wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how
tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would
write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out
to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it,
something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see
evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the
busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized
that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.
More
than gratitude began
to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our
Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the
softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus
Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can
bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay
attention to when they happened.
The
years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will
surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when
…” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped
him notice something God had done in his day.
My
point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It
will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share
whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will
be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we
sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will
surprise you what the Lord has done.”2
Tonight,
and tomorrow
night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message
that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my
children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory
for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God
loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us,
more than most of us have yet recognized. I know that is true, and it brings me
joy to remember Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love ya'll and I'll be here all week! Another thing from my
dad:
“I find when we focus on what we have instead of what we
don’t have that things go better and we are happy.”
Love Elder Gibbons
