:)

hey family!! including ryan now! president said i could add him to the list :) sweet, that means you're officially part of the family now, ryan. welcome :) so thanks for all your wonderful emails! it's kind of cool to get emails from ukraine! it just seems like such a wonderful time for our family doesn't it? i get to preach the gospel 24/7 in beautiful washington, dad's having amazing experiences in ukraine, annie's practically the whole work force at mantyla & mcreynolds (is that what it's called? i totally could have made that up), josh is getting standing ovations at concerto night, abby and ryan are planning a wedding, jenny and jonathan are in their own place with great jobs and new hobbies and a sweet little boy, and mama's keeping track of everyone including grandma and all the yw in the stake. i just feel like the Lord is blessing us so much right now. it's kind of random, but i'm just like tearing up in the library thinking about our blessings. we have the gospel! it reminds me of alma 26 when ammon says "i cannot say the smallest part which i feel" or something to that effect. anyway, i love you all so much! thank you for supporting me here and keeping me in your prayers. i'm having such a joyful, growing season of my life and i'm happy that you all are too.

well our week has been great! there's always so many experiences to share and i just don't have the time it seems. hehe. There just seems to be less and less time to do things...i'm still writing in my journal every day but sometimes they're really short entries and it's sad because i want to preserve all these memories!! so here are the updates:

**T is still doing awesome! we moved his date to March 20 so he has more time to talk with his dad about it. we technically don't need his permission, but of course we would love him to be supportive. T was so cute about it when he asked if we could change it: "don't worry!! NOTHING has changed! i still want to be baptized" hehe. he's a joy to teach. we taught tithing yesterday and he just has so much faith to accept whatever the Lord asks.

**D is getting so close! (I know I've said that a million times before but it's true). we had stake conference yesterday with an area authority, and they had a special meeting for new/returning members and investigators. ah it was awesome! elder brinkerhoff just had a bunch of the recent converts stand and tell their stories. it was great to have D and T both there.

(random aside...there are two older men sitting at a table to my left playing chess together and it made me think of the good old days. you know what i mean. love it)

we had a great lesson with a former investigator this week too and it seems he just got lost in the bustle of missionary work. he seems so golden and we are hoping to commit him to baptism this week!

it seems when i think back on the week to give you the update i can only ever think to tell you about the people we're teaching while i'm sure there's other fun stories to share. did i tell you about my embarrassing moment in the underground parking at the airport? i hit a curb when the assistants were driving right behind me. it wan't bad at all...just a higher curb than normal so the underside of the car got scraped a little. but of course the assistants won't let me live it down. haha good times. i'm normally a good driver i promise.

we also had a wonderful meeting on tuesday. president and the assistants instruct all the new missionaries and trainers. it was wonderful! the spirit was powerful. i had specific promptings on things i can improve to be a better companion and missionary. we also had a powerful testimony meeting together.

i've had a couple really intense doors recently with people trying to challenge my beliefs to the very core. they pretend to be kind by hinting that we have good intentions but have been brainwashed and follow blindly. they turned out to be cool experiences though because as prompted by the spirit, i was able to cut them off and boldly tell them that i am not following anyone blindly, but that i KNOW for myself that what i teach is true. i know joseph smith was not a phony, but a prophet called of God to restore the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. This church is the Lord's kingdom on the earth. Baptism and temple ordinances performed by proper priesthood authority (found only in our church) are ESSENTIAL to gaining eternal life. you know how i can be pretty stubborn, well i do not like it when people try to tell me that i've been misled or that i don't know what i'm talking about. whenever i have had a question posed to me that i didn't KNOW for myself by specific witness of the Holy Ghost, i have studied it out and taken it to the Lord in prayer. I have received personal confirmation each time. I know that this is the Lord's work. When i humble myself and realize i can't do it all by my own knowledge or talents, the Lord uses me as His instrument to teach his children.

i love you all so much! words can't really express it, but i love you so much. keep on keepin' on :)

sister gibbons

ps - i have a feeling my emails are quite random...i hope that's ok :)

ah i love this new email!

oh family...i've been living in the dark ages with myldsmail.net and now that it has upgraded, it's AMAZING! now i don't have to delete any emails cuz there's tons of storage space and you can send me all the pics you want! i almost feel too worldly now :) haha love it

popsy!! you're in ukraine and you almost died in transit! i'm glad you're there safe and sound. have good rest tonight. be careful! it's so weird because i'm always apart from you, but i feel REALLY apart from you so i miss you and hope you have a wonderful time! keep me updated on all the to-doin's and goings on. don't take pics of sacred objects in the subway like last time :) you're such a brilliant writer i love your blog entries that mom sent. remember you're my best buddy forever even in ukraine.

jukie! thanks so much for the newsy emails...i always feel in the loop :) thanks especially for keeping the tabs on josh for me since i never hear from him (hint hint...haha dooty i want to hear about the girl drama! tell me how your song went. i apologize on behalf of our gender and the drama we create. keep on keepin' on. you're a champ....GOOD LUCK ON FRIDAY!! i loved getting an announcement! you look so shnazzy. my little dude's all grown up. if you can mom, send me short clips of his performance so it'll let me open them. you're gonna be amazing dude). sounds like life is super busy as usual with fam, grandma, trek, etc. do what you can and can the rest (as elder shumway my district leader likes to say...it's my new favorite phrase). oh i also got a phrase for you mama: when life gives you scraps, make quilts! that was on sister morriss's apron yesterday and i thought of you. love you!!

annie...mom mentioned you wrote but i didn't get one from you this week, so i hope it didn't get lost somewhere. how's the new job?? i'm glad jury duty got postponed. i love you so much!! i think of you often and now wishing i'd talked with you more about your mission. i didn't really get it before i experienced it. we'll have some good chats when i get home :) love you a million x 75

jenny...your hair cut is cute, your little boy is cuter and your photography is getting so good!! you're such a great example to me...when i grow up i want to be the kind of mommy that you are. thanks for the blog pastes. i love it. jonathan! thanks for saying hey!! you're a champ with the grave shifts and all...good luck figuring out life. you'll be good at whatever you decide. it'll all work out and be amazing :) love you bosters

abby and ryan...yay for a photographer! you're going to send me lots of pics right?? and PLEASE send me an announcement :) sister hughes' little sister is getting married on saturday and she's 4'9"! CRAZY huh? one of her engagement pics, she standing on a chair kissing her fiance haha. good times. you surviving school? can you focus?? love you both!!

dooty...see mama's paragraph...i ended up lumping you in there :)

well it's been a great week!! sister hughes is awesome. everyone comments about our height, i love it. i feel right at home because she about the same size as abby and annie i think. maybe a tad taller. she's a natural at teaching! tracting's not her fave, but i'm breaking her in :) she's really easy going. it's been cool because it's made me reflect on my first few weeks as a missionary. i really did love it from the beginning, but looking back makes me realize how much i've changed! it's crazy! i've learned so much and come to LOVE this work and these people so much. have you heard that intense talk by elder holland that he gave in the MTC? he said so passionately "my mission means EVERYTHING to me" and i wondered if i would ever feel that way...cuz at the beginning you look ahead 18 months and kind of think "wow that's a LONG time...i'm trapped here" haha but now it has just zoomed by and i don't want to leave. my mission truly does mean everything to me. anyway random ramblings, but i've reflected about that this week.

kind of a bleh week because literally 5 of our investigators moved away. we sent in referrals so missionaries can pick them up on the other end, but that means we need to find more people to teach!! we're getting to teach lots of recent converts and less actives, so it's good. they're all progressing and we're improving our teaching! T is still solid and on date! he is SO great. his mom told him she'd support him and who knows, she may be interested later. he's a joy to teach and i'm learning a lot about baseball haha. he turned 18 this week and we called and i sang happy birthday in kiribati like sister eria taught me haha. good times. well that's about it, i'm going to send another email with a bunch of pics. LOVE YOU ALL!!

sister gibbons