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!

hello!

hey everyone!! sounds like everyone is settling down in their new surroundings :) crazy how life changes huh? mission time is really crazy...at the same time, i feel like i JUST got here, and then i also feel like i never lived before haha. i'm sure once i get home, it will all seem like a dream. but i'm trying to drink in every minute!! it's been a little rough this week because i've been SO congested. i can't decide if it's a cold or allergies...because it's been like 2 weeks...which makes it appear like allergies...but sis larkin checked the pollen counts and they're not high...and my allergies have been minimal my whole mission so you wouldn't think they'd act up unless the pollen counts were high! anyway...so that was a little frustrating. so hopefully that goes away soon. but it's just been an amazing week! C is doing so great! we made her a quit smoking gift bag with pics of Christ (we got to go to Desert Book when we went to the temple on Tuesday), scriptures to hang up in her room and car, gum, jolly ranchers to suck on, and my ipod to borrow so she can listen to inspirational music in the car (she usually only smoked in the car when she's driving around for work. so yeah, she LOVED it and she's doing great! her kids are doing great too and would love to be baptized, but their dad is not in favor yet. we're praying for that. if i hadn't decided to stay another transfer, i'd miss her baptism! so i am so grateful. i know it was the right thing.

we just found out that elder kikuchi is going to speak to our mission on monday morning, so that'll be awesome! (speaking of...next week is transfers so p-day is tuesday...just a heads up) i have no idea what president will do at transfers. i doubt he would move me for my last transfer, but i'm not sure if sister M will stay. we'll have to see!

well i feel REALLY lame, but honestly i can't think of anything else to tell you! sad huh?? SO much happened it seems but sister M can't think of anything to say either haha. lots of crazy tracting experiences. last night this guy went ON and ON about how God is just energy and when I pray I'm not actually talking to him. I made sure he knew that we really DO talk directly to God when we pray. there are some crazy ideas out there. I'm so grateful for how simple the gospel is. even children can understand. yet there is SO much to learn. whatever level we're at, we can learn more.

well maybe i'll think of something in the next few minutes. sorry i feel like my letters are more and more lame haha. LOVE YOU ALL!

sister gibbons

hello again!

hey everyone! the weeks are zooming by so fast i can hardly believe it! it seems like every week there is some kind of big news from home! popsy, i'm so excited you get to go to ukraine again! you wouldn't believe the huge ukrainian population in this area. they have these big ukrainian churches with thousands of members. in fact, the other day, we discovered a whole neighborhood of ukrainians! they all bought their lots and built their houses together. it's hard with a population like that because they want church in their language and we don't have a ukrainian branch. although if we could just get a few to listen, we'd have enough for one! also (sorry random mission news haha!) our zone leaders baptized a marshallese family and now their teaching all of their friends. 10 committed to baptism on sunday! it's so cool to see the diversity in the church here. i love it. (oh random comment...josh, that's so cool elder B is in your chem class! he's hilarious. he was my zone leader and then an assistant to the president. tell him hi for me! you should ask him about the time i tripped in front of the whole zone conference and he wouldn't stop laughing. good times) (oh ps...dude, so cool that you're going to go on your mission sooner! i think that's AWESOME. i can't wait til you get your call. we should have companion study together over christmas break to get you ready haha!)

well as for our week, it's been awesome!! lots of success. C is still on track. she's down to 2 cigarettes a day (she was smoking 12 a day a little over a week ago!) we're going to have a big party saturday night (with cupcakes) because that's when she's going to be completely off! it's so fun to see her family grow. keep her in your prayers...she works full time (more than 40 hrs), is pregnant, and is a single mom taking care of 4 kids. i don't know how she does it! it's so cool though, she had spiritual experiences, couldn't deny it, wanted that spirit with her always, made up her mind to get baptized, and isn't turning back. i feel like we're just moral support...she always makes up her mind before we even ask!

I also got to do 2 exchanges...the first was with sister G in maple valley! it was so weird to be back. just walking into the apartment brought back so many memories! and driving down maple valley highway brought back 10 1/2 months of memories...essentially my whole mission flashed before me. we were able to have a sweet lesson with the S’s. i walked in the door and burst into tears very unexpectedly! D had come home early from work because he heard i was coming. mama S was sitting in her pj's on the couch, recovering from cancer surgery. i think that's what brought the tears initially. oh how i love these people...the S’s and hundreds of others. i've already planned like 4 roadtrips back to see various temple ordinances, etc. i hope some of you will get to come with me and see this beautiful place. in fact, this morning i was reading in mosiah 18, about the waters of mormon and how beautiful they were in the eyes of those who came to know their Savior there. and i think that's the reason this land is so beautiful to me. ah shoot, now i'm starting to cry in the library and i'm getting some funny looks. in an hour we're heading off to the Seattle Temple for my last time as a missionary! another beautiful place to me. i've decided that in my future home i will have pictures of mt rainier and the seattle temple, to remember what i've learned here. anyway...

i also had an exchange with the puyallup sisters. (speaking of puyallup...have i told you that the puyallup native americans used to own my whole area and now parts of it are a reservation? we have the puyallup tribal housing complex and that's were we found some of the investigators we're teaching now! they are sweet people) anyway, i was in bonney lake with sisters L and F yesterday. it was very sweet to be with sister L again and sister F (japanese) is always a joy . . .

i should start bringing my journal (ps, i haven't missed a day yet! grandpa gibbons would be proud...although i do have to write the next morning sometimes, but at least i have every day recorded) to the library to remember the awesome experiences we have. when i'm here typing i can't always remember. well i'm going to send this off and type my president’s letter. if any ideas come i'll write again in a minute.

i love you all so much!!

sister gibbons