it's been a while...

well hey! i realized i never blog anymore...just out of the habit. also because i feel like i never have any time anymore!! well the big updates are that i found 2 temporary jobs before i go back to school! it's seriously been a miracle...no joke a miracle. i work at aeropostale and in the banquet kitchen on temple square. the miracle is that temple square will give me whatever hours i'm available and aero is giving me tons of hours even though i'm just a temp! i worked 52 hrs in the last 7 days! whew i'm exhausted but i feel like i'm actually contributing to the world again and that makes me happy :) i have so many new skills and so many funny experiences that i should share with you but i'm so tired. maybe i'll give you just a sampling...

new skills:

*chopping fruit...legit style

*peeling potatoes with a knife instead of a potato peeler

*making chicken parmesan for 75 people

*working a cash register

*folding clothes very professional-ly

*being fashion-savvy

funny stories:

*dishing up the honey butter wrong. "THIS LOOKS LIKE POO! DUMP IT OUT!" turns out it was for a dinner where the whole 1st presidency was attending...VIP...nobody told me!

*making cheese balls for 5 hours...they didn't turn out (not my fault...i was just the professional's little helper) and standing by the deep fryer for 3 hours sweating like a hot and getting burned on my arm

*not knowing how to fold up a ladder and my coworkers making fun of me...ok maybe you had to be there

*a lady calling the store saying she got home and 3 of her shirts weren't in the bag. "the short girl was helping me!!" haha that's me! i felt really dumb...how could i not give her three shirts but charge her for them? so she came back the store and we gave her three shirts. then the next day she called and she had found the original shirts!! she was very apologetic and i was very glad i wasn't that stupid :) maybe you had to be there for all of these...

anyways more to come! also i finally found housing! i'm going to live in the devonshire :) yay for not being homeless! it's fun cuz i'll in the same ward as my good buddies eric and matt. hopefully it'll be a fun semester. i'm getting pretty excited to get back to p-town!

and the winners are...

the occasion? Silver Country Western Polka at Dancesport last weekend...

the winners? Abby and Ryan Shawcroft!

They were totally legit...and I was a very proud sister :)

the semis...for your viewing pleasure

Josh's MISSION CALL!!

that's it! the white envelope :) i was in provo that day, so i picked up the dude and took him home to salt lake for the grand opening...

the whole fam was there...including the Bosters in Texas...via skype!

here's the big moment...

Mexico Oaxaca Mission! He enters the MTC on March 30, 2011.

I am so proud of Josh! I thought about him all the time on my mission and what a great missionary he will be. He is so prepared. Man, I wish I could go with him! It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

LOVE YOU DUDE!

I'm BACK!

hey friends! i'm home :) it's so crazy. leaving beautiful washington was SO hard...but seeing everyone again is SO wonderful. it's very much a bittersweet time. there are no words to describe how much my mission means to me. too much to express right now. but seeing the family again was AMAZING! so here's a pic of that. come to my homecoming! Nov 14th at 1 pm at the chapel on 6313 s. 2300 E. Holladay, UT. I'd love to give you a big hug and hear about all the exciting things in your lives that I missed out on. love y'all!

Liz is coming home!!

Liz arrives home tonight at 7:38 p.m. We are so excited to have her home!!

last words from sister gibbons!

Hello everyone! I cannot believe this is my last email home. It just doesn't seem real. I just have so many thoughts and emotions running through my heart and brain at all times i just don't even know what I'm feeling.

It's been a crazy, disappointing, busy week with some amazing spiritual highlights. S basically dumped us and T had a talk with his dad, and his dad doesn't feel like he's ready. So those baptisms are off. I still think there is hope for T...just pray for him. Also I got really sick this week. My cough is still lingering but I'm feeling much better. I only had to stay in one day (well we still went out for about 3 hours but stayed in the rest of the day) but i still just hated wasting time...it's slipping away!!

On a happier note, J and her two kids, J and J, will be baptized tomorrow night! They are AMAZING. they had their interviews yesterday so everything is set. They actually move to Salt Lake on Friday, so I'll get to keep tabs on them :)

We had some other disappointments that had me a little discouraged last night...but before I slept I just prayed...like REALLY prayed ya know? There aren't even words really to describe my experience, but I know that God is there, that He knows us and loves us. He knows our weaknesses and imperfections, but that's why he provided a Savior for us. I know that this is His work...that there's no more important work than the salvation of His children...and anything we do to bring about our salvation or the salvation of others brings REAL joy, not the temporary satisfaction of the world. I know there are still miracles to see this week! I'm going to put everything I have into the work...and when it is not enough, I'm going to pray my heart out :) i think faith is more powerful than any of us understand.

I am so excited to see you all on Monday!! I actually had a dream last night that I met ryan and he was really big and fat and it was really awkward hahaha. no worries ryan, i have no doubt that it will be brotherly/sisterly love at first sight :) mostly because I love you already! One last thing...I have to thank you all for everything. You have no idea how amazing it has been to always know that when i logged onto my email i'd see a whole bunch of emails. I'm grateful for your prayers too. in sacrament meeting yesterday, the speaker read a story told by that "other side of heaven" guy....oh groberg i think? anyway it was a cool story about how at a moment of despair he saw in his mind his family gathered in prayer on his behalf and how it strengthened him. I thought of all the prayers you've offered for me, and I know that there was a lot of power in those prayers. I've felt the strength from them in my moments of despair :) i love you all so much. I'm so grateful for the faith we share. I know that we have the fulness of truth, and consequently the fulness of joy at our fingertips :) LOVE YOU!!! see you in a week!

Sister Gibbons

ps - sorry about the crazy scattered-ness of this email....it's a reflection of the crazy scattered-ness of my brain these days :)

pics!

**fun at the halloween store!

**random car craziness

more pics!

**our flags hanging from the rear-view mirror

**exchange with sister k

**J's baptism

**bro mester's crazy hammer

and more pics!

**after sister wells cut our hair

**me and sister wells

**exchange with sister m!

**mini-exchange with sister s

**all of us

last pics from sister gibbons!

after we got caught in a hailstorm while tracting yesterday :)

howdy!

hello hello! i love hearing all the news from everywhere :) I'm sorry i don't have very much time to write today...it's a CRAZY day because we got our hair cut and we are going to maple valley for s. ganzorig to have a consultation with an oral surgeon about her wisdom teeth. so i don't have much time. but i'll see you all very soon so it's ok!!

I feel there are always so many miracles to share with you recently. I always knew this, but now I REALLY know nothing is too hard for the Lord. I am just so grateful for these last precious weeks of my mission. We have been richly blessed. We put three people on date for baptism this week: J.O. (the one who came up to us after Sunday School and asked to be baptized), her 11-yr-old son J, and 14-yr-old T.L. (son of a part-member family who has been hesitant to be baptized because of his non-member Dad and the word of wisdom). They will all be baptized in October! And really we didn't do anything, they were just gifts from the Lord. I still think there are more people we can invite to be baptized before i go home or shortly after. Our mission has had a hard year but we've seen some miraculous changes recently. i feel very blessed to have served with President Larkin. He's taught me many things that have expanded my vision of missionary work and how it is a work of faith and the Spirit.

This has been an amazing transfer with Sister L and Sister G. They've taught me so much. They are incredible women and have taught me (little sister gibbons from holladay, utah) about faith, humility, and strength. Sister G especially has overcome things i never even imagined. I wish i had more time but i have to go. i love you all so very much and can't wait to throw my arms around you :) thanks for everything!!

sister gibbons

miracle week!

miracle week!

Hello everyone!! Wow, it's been a miraculous week here! It started out kind of crazy: S kind of disappeared after we put her on date last week. It's very obvious that all kinds of opposition entered the picture. She wouldn't respond to calls from us or her member friends. Finally we caught her at home one day and knocked until she answered :) She said she'd been sick all weekend (she has MS) and that her phone hadn't been working (which may or may not have been true) and she started to dump us. But we just hugged her and talked with her and she felt the spirit again! She came to a RS activity on Friday and we had a church tour afterwards. She came to church yesterday and LOVED it! I'm still a little nervous because ever since she was MIA, she hasn't seemed as sure about Oct 30th. She says she's "waiting for her confirmation." We have a lesson with her tomorrow night at a member's home, so pray for her :)

Then yesterday, the biggest miracle! We'd been fasting for people ready to be baptized in October. After Sunday School, a woman (who I'd met about a month ago but assumed she was a member) came up to the teacher and said, "I'd like to be baptized. How to I got about that?" He directed her to us of course! She said she took the missionary lessons a year ago, she's been coming to our ward for the past 3 weeks (her sister-in-law is in our ward), she stopped drinking coffee a month ago, and she stopped smoking a few days ago!! Isn't that a miracle!?! Wow. I can't even explain how I felt. I knew she was an answer to prayer. She said she wanted to talk to her family about the date, but we have a lesson tonight so we will make it official! We are thinking October 23rd :) It' just amazing. There truly are people prepared all around us and we don't even know it.

Also, there is a 14-yr-old boy (mom is a member, dad is not) who has been coming to church for a couple months now. He's really active in scouts. I'd heard there was a lot of opposition from his dad and I'd never really gotten a chance to talk to him about it. So yesterday, I saw him sitting the row behind the deacons and thought, "he should be passing the sacrament!" So, after sacrament meeting, I said, "T, have you thought about getting baptized?" "Yeah I've thought about it a lot! I just really like my coffee and tea" "Would your dad let you do it?" "Sure, if it's what I want, he's cool with it." We talked about getting together this week to get him prepared for baptism. We're hoping to have a lesson with him this week and help him have the faith to obey the word of wisdom and get baptized :)

So yeah, lots of miracles just tumbling from heaven. These are the kind of miracles that are so humbling, when you realize it's not you...it's just the Lord blessing you. Oh, and J L (the Korean) is all set for baptism on Saturday! She passed her interview yesterday and she is excited!

ooh it's about to kick me off, so i'm going to log off but get back on and send some pics. LOVE YOU ALL!!

Sister Gibbons

happy conference weekend!

hey i thought i'd start with some pics. we had interviews on thursday and president was a little late so we took some pictures (we were really excited about the changing leaves!)

oh and the first one with sister L...i was so excited my hair is attacking me :)

to texas, utah and ukraine!

hello everyone! wasn't it a wonderful conference weekend? My heart was so full during each session. The spirit was powerful . . . I loved the messages about prophets, for we are SO blessed to be guided by living prophets. Because that means we're guided by the Lord...in a very real and living way. That's the light and hope that the world needs. I loved the talk about a consecrated life! I've been trying to consecrate my whole soul to the work these last few weeks. It's not easy...I think the times you're the most determined, Satan tries overtime to make you see your inadequacies. But I also loved the recurring theme of the importance of agency...and the power of it too. I can choose EVERYTHING. I can choose to withstand temptation and Satan can't do anything about it :) I also thought they talked a lot about the evil that's in the world (which is very real) and how we can guard against it (because we can!) There is great peace and freedom that come through obedience. I felt like I was listening to conference as 2 different people hehe. Sister Gibbons gained a lot of great insights about missionary work and Liz gained a lot of great insights about what kind of person I want to be in real life. It's kind of weird because I still feel like I'm going to be a missionary forever and the mission is my life, but occasionally (like during conference) i realize that in a few short weeks i'm going to be a normal person again. It's kind of exciting to realize that i can take all these lessons i've learned and apply them as a visiting teacher, friend, daughter, sister, aunt, student, wife, and mother. I'm excited. I'll be forever grateful that I got to labor in the vineyard with all my heart, might, mind, and strength for this short season of my life. Do whatever you can to prepare for a mission! whether you are Josh and you are about to receive your call, or whether you'll serve one day as senior couples. there is no more important work on the face of the earth. and i was really excited that president monson emphasized that right of the bat on saturday morning! mom and dad, thanks so much for helping us understand the importance of watching every session of conference! even when we didn't always listen intently, but made newspapers instead (haha remember those?), you taught me important lessons that make me who i am today. and thank you for all your sacrifices that allow me to serve now. i thought about you a lot during elder holland's talk. i can't wait to give you a big hug and say thanks :)

okay enough of this sentimental mumbo jumbo :) we had an amazing week!! S. H. has set a baptismal date of october 30th! She was the member referral we had dinner with 2 sundays ago. She is definitely elect :) we had a very spirit-filled lesson with her on Tuesday. we'd planned to invite her to be baptized, but of course everything tried to deter us. Lots of distractions and off topic comments, etc. but sister G was amazing! she bore this powerful testimony that brought the spirit back, and then i invited her (even though she had made several comments about "someday" "i want to keep learning" etc). the spirit was strong and she said yes :) it was amazing to see the powerful missionary sister G has become! just like you said annie, i love seeing the growth in people. S has a 10 yr old daughter that will likely be baptized with her on that day, although we haven't taught her directly, so she'll have a baptismal date soon. So pray for her! she's already experiencing a lot of opposition. I feel there are many more people that we can invite to be baptized before i go home. There is still SO MUCH work to be done! it is exciting.

other big news, we moved out of the H’s home into the A’s! another member family. we have a lot more room so it's really nice. it made for a CRAZY day on Saturday, but it's all done now :) i should've taken pictures but i forgot.

well i'm going to send this off, but i may be on for a little bit more...the other sisters aren't done. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! thanks for being so good at writing me. after having some companions without family support, i realize how blessed i am. who could ask for a better family? thanks for everything. and don't worry, i'm excited to see you guys!!

sister gibbons

ps - i may be mailing some boxes home...i have WAY Too much stuff. i'm trying to throw some stuff away but it's hard. you accumulate a lot in 18 months!

pps - yes popsy, i'm planning on staying in holladay through the holidays! it'll be so good to be home :)

surprise!

hello family! well the big surprise of the week is that we are a threesome! last tuesday, i got to transfer meeting to discover that sister L AND sister G would be joining me in Federal Way :) i think that was the biggest surprise i'd ever had at transfers. mostly because we are the only sister apartment without room for three haha. in fact, president hadn't even considered that when he decided. so all the couple missionaries were frantically trying to decide what to do. in fact they sent sister L BACK to puyallup for the night and we had to go pick her up the next morning. we are now crammed into this tiny room and i am now the lucky one on the top bunk! we're actually moving this weekend into a new home (still with members...this has been planned long before the threesome) and i think we'll have a little more space. so that has made it a CRAZY week with the office elders bringing bunk beds, etc. we're having a blast though and i think it will be a transfer of miracles.

speaking of miracles, C was baptized yesterday!! it was wonderful. it was actually kind of crazy...ALL of her kids had come down with the 24hr stomach flu a day apart this week, and then lucky me! i came down with it hours before the baptism. i had to pull the car over on the way to the baptism to throw up haha. (not funny at the time, but now in retrospect). i had the zone leaders give me a blessing right before so that i could make it through the baptism. I made it until the very end, but i didn't miss anything important so that's good :) i'll send pics! C also got really sick yesterday morning, although hers was just a bad cold. so we were an odd bunch! her daughters E and M were supposed to sing "did jesus really live again?" but they got nervous right before and asked sister M and i to sing with them (sister M received special permission to come to the baptism because C asked president about it in her interview!). it was fun, except we didn’t really know the words haha. sister S was doing the little actions on the front row (she's the primary chorister and the main fellowship for C) so we were watching her very intently trying to read her lips haha. it was still pretty cute though. we had a wonderful turnout from the ward! i think she feels very welcomed.

also another miracle, we got a korean referral for sister L! it's a member family that just adopted a girl from korea and she didn’t feel comfortable with the korean elders. she now has a baptismal date of oct 16! we also had a wonderful lesson this week with a woman named S. H., a member referral. the spirit was very strong and although she doesn't have a specific date, we talked a lot about baptism.

well i'm going to send this off and then send one with pictures. love you all!!

sister gibbons

transfer pics!

baptism pics!

a quickie!

hey guys!! i don't have very long since it's transfer day! Sister M is getting transferred :( We won't find out officially for a few hours, but i'm 99% sure Sister G is coming here with me! The only other option would be Sister L (no one else is getting transferred) so either way i'll have a repeat which would be fun either way! we had the most amazing experience yesterday, Elder Kikuchi of the Seventy came and spoke to our mission. The spirit was incredibly strong, and he made some profound promises to our mission. I felt so inspired to make these last six weeks the most amazing and fruitful of my mission. I know our area is FULL of people ready to accept the gospel if we just have the diligence to go find them. I am really excited to consecrate my whole self (Omni 1:26) to the Lord for these final weeks i'm here. I have random moments where tears start to come (like now! haha i'm such a dork) when I think about the end of my mission. Last night I laid in bed thinking, and heard a plane fly overhead. That was almost me! I know that I was supposed to stay. (but don't worry, of course i am excited to see you all again!!) C will be baptized Sunday at 7 pm! She is so ready, and i am so excited. the saddest part of the transfer is that sister M will miss it, but bro S (the member fellowship) is confident he can talk president larkin into letting sister M come back for it haha. we will see. I am finally going to send some pictures of the past few weeks (secretly i lost the camera and i was terrified to tell you and then i prayed like enos about it and no joke, the Lord led me to it, cool story actually...but no worries, i have it now!) since i don't have much more time, popsy - have so much fun in ukraine! i meet ukrainians daily and they are such kind people...jonathan - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! can't wait to have you give me an eye exam one day...everyone else - i love you!!! (oh mama, the allergies are still kinda bad....i think my PMG is growing mold haha seriously it smells like mold, maybe from the rain? and i wonder if i'm allergic to that...kinda funny huh?) ok i want to send pics so i gotta run!!! sorry this is the craziest email EVER! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

sister gibbons

pics!