End of The Black Year

And a one and a two and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012 here we go! The "end of the world" year as many have been calling it. I guess that sad thing is I won't be in the field for the end of the world, so I guess I don't have that protection any more. Yep, remember last new years, I said something to the effect of "my black year begins", the year I didn't see my family at all, 2011. Well now, I guess it's over. During the course of this year, you will see me. Very interesting. It's a weird feeling, like now I can actually see the finish line. Which isn't a good thing, this is a race I don't want to leave.

It was a pretty good week here, had some good lessons, had some very tiring service, and some "let's beat the homesickness out of ourselves". It was a good week.

I guess the first thing was we had a VIP at our district meeting. Yep, I get a phone call from my mission president Wednesday night...It probably sounded a lot like this:

President: Elder Gibb, I'd like to attend your district meeting this Friday
Elder Gibb: Why in the world would you want to do that?

No I didn't actually say that. I was freaking out quite a bit, but I made some great plans and it went well. I got him laughing at least, and he helped out a ton during the role plays we did. I also gave him the assignment to speak on building trust with our ward leaders, and the things that helped him gain trust in the missionaries when he was a Bishop, Stake President, etc. He gave a lot of good tips. It seems like the biggest thing you can do, and this goes for pretty much everything is Return and Report. If you fulfill an assignment, report that to someone. If you have a cool experience, report it. The better your communication, the better that things will progress. I think it's safe to say that one of the biggest reasons for the apostasy back in the primitive church, and the people who apostatized in Kirtland etc. was probably lack of communication. And pride of course. But communication is huge. They didn't have texting back in the day. But yes, the District Meeting went good and president told me he thought it was great. Yay!

We also were helping that couple I mentioned in my last email with moving. It was brutal to say the least. Nothing packed, everything everywhere, heavy stuff, lots of stuff. But we got it done and they invited us out to dinner sometime this week, and they seem somewhat interested in the gospel. He wants to take us golfing as well haha! And my companion played on the practice squad for the BYU football team and is probably going to play for the team in a few years, and this guy loves BYU so he's all excited to see Elder Robledo on TV in a few years. We had a good connection. Service! Opens hearts!

Also, that old guy I mentioned that couldn't hear, he's bipolar or something. We went by this week and he was like "I don't have time for you!" and slammed the door very violently for a 90 year old. Then we went by on Sunday and he came outside and acted like nothing had happened. So we're not sure what to do exactly. I'm not sure if he's really accountable enough to baptize, because he has a lot of other issues.

And we had a way powerful lesson with one of our investigators. The one that was supposed to get baptized last saturday but we rescheduled it. It was one of those lessons where the Spirit was so thick you could cut it with a knife. One of those where you felt the power of what you were teaching. Even a couple days later, we met the parents of the less active who was there and they were like "whatever you did, you really made a dent in him" (in a good way). It just reminds me of the fact that we can "thrash the nations" by the power of the spirit, or that the word is "sharper than a two-edged sword" and it's so true. We as missionaries can't convert anybody, but the spirit sure can. A very powerful experience.

Well, I think that's all for now! Cheer for the Denver Broncos! (haha...everyone here loves the broncos, so even though we don't watch the games or anything, it's one of those "when in rome" things...And Tim Tebow (QB) is Christian and has been to New Life in our area a few times)

Love

Elder Gibb