Woohoo! Another notch on the old belt, goodbye transfer 4, hello beautiful 5. And i'm still in Parker with Elder Summers, which is fantastic because all of the crazy things that have been happening! It was way cool on sunday, our ward mission leader was asking about transfers, and said that if we left he would be calling our mission president and begging for us to come back. It's so crazy, this week was probably the best week I've ever had on my mission. And it was cool because it was the last week of my first quarter. That's right 6 MONTHS BABY. 1/4 done! It feels so surreal because it's gone by super fast, and I know that it's only going to get worse. Especially because we have a few baptisms now coming up.
So ya, this week was so crazy. In the Dove Valley ward (the one with 2 Elders Quorums) they announced on Sunday that next week they will be splitting the ward! That's going to be so cool, I've never been involved in the creation of a new ward before so it will be something to see. So now me and Elder Summers will be covering 3 wards. So 3 Ward Mission Leaders, 3 Bishops, and a whole lot of work to do! We'll barely have time to breathe. And so it's kind of weird, this week we are trying to find fellowship for all the appointments we have set up, and we are doing our best to guess where the split will be so we don't get fellowship from another ward. So crazy!
And this week was a great spiritual high. On Tuesday, we had 4 lessons set up, one after another, and not a single one of them fell through. I feel like i'm in Provo or something. It's amazing all the success the Lord has blessed us with, as we try to be as obedient as we can, and put in all the work we can. I've heard a saying, Work like it's all up to you, and pray like it's all up to God. Well, it is all up to God, so all we can do is put in the work and hope it all works out.
For some specifics, we taught an Active member's girlfriend on Monday night. He had been letting on that she was ready for baptism, and we weren't totally sure, but while we were talking about baptism, she started bearing testimony about how she knew the church was true, and has known it all her life, and due to circumstance hasn't been able to get baptized. How it was just like "coming home". And her son who is 13 who wasn't there at the time is also as ready as her, and so we have 2 people with baptismal dates for March 5th! I tell you, there is no spiritual experience equatable to that when an investigator bears testimony to you. It makes all the doors slammed in your face completely worth it. Because for that small moment, you catch a glimspe of what it means in D+C when it says "How great will be your joy" when it's talking about bringing souls to God. Sorry, i'm not a scriptorian and don't know the reference off the top of my head. But seriously, it's so amazing. As I reflect on the last 6 months, I know my life has already been changed. I've realized a lot of things don't matter. And a lot of things matter quite a bit. President Pfile has said, that in 2 years of a mission, you gain 40 years of life experience. So that means I've already gained 10 years. I'm 29 years old! and truly, I definetely can see how that all works.
Another awesome thing that has happened is we taught the less active we found off tracting and her daughter. She is way excited to get back into church and get her daughter baptized. So we set a date for that for the 26th of March. So right now, we have 3 baptisms lined up for March, PLUS the investigators the sisters gave us (as they are getting flushed and we've already met their investigators and made friends with them), and we still have a family that has been coming to church for the past 3 months and is ready to get baptized as soon as possible. We just need an appointment haha. But it's so awesome how much stuff is starting to explode in Parker. And it's awesome how I get to be here to witness it.
And shifting gears, me and some other missionaries were chilling outside the mission boundaries for a little bit. Haha, just jokes. We went on exchanges this week in the Grandview area, and their church building is actually located in the Denver South mission. And it's across the street from their house. So they go there for morning excercise, and we joined them. And while we were tracting, I looked out from this hill we were on and saw Denver. It was cool.
In other news, Elder Kilgore and Terry finished their missions on Friday, thus leaving Elder Summers as my only mission companion still alive. It was sad. I called them the night before and spoke a few words of farewell. Sad day.
And I believe that is all the news I have. Hopefully Canada doesn't get caught up in whatever the heck is going on in the middle east. I've caught Tunisia, Egypt, and now have been catching whispers of Bahrain? aye, wonder what this means for missionaries getting into those countries. Does it mean it'll happen sooner? If it's the more moderate generation of college students leading these things, then I would say we could get into a middle eastern country within the next decade. And yes. I am making political commentary right now. See, I mixed it with church stuff, so I could get it out there.
Also, Maryn Rolfson wrote me a letter asking for a shout out in the blog, but then she quickly recanted saying that would be embarrasing. Well Maryn, I like to embarass people. So here you go.
Love you all, keep the faith!
Elder Gibb
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