The Grand Finale. The Climactic Conclusion. The moment my mom's been waiting for.

Well, this is it. My last letter home. The final tale to tell. And this has been a good week so hopefully I can finish off on a bang.

The week was somewhat injurious. I got stung by a wasp on Saturday while moving some big truck tires for a less active. I haven't been stung by a wasp in forever. Well, it hurt a little bit, but we still had tires to move, so we finished the job and then went back to get some first aid. It was pretty cool actually, the guy we were doing service for had some tobacco (well, that part isn't so cool) but he made a poultice out of it and put it on the sting, and the pain went away, the swelling went down and now it's barely noticable. So I actually used tobacco the way it's proscribed in Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. "For bruises and sick cattle". I thought that was kind of cool.

Had a funny experience while street contacting one day. We passed by this guy and he was on the phone, we tried to talk to him but he kind of shooed us away. Later on we were passing by that same spot, and there was another guy there. We talked to the other guy, and mentioned to the first guy, "oh yeah, sorry about catchin ya on the phone back there, we were just trying to share..." and he started getting really anxious going "shhhhhh" and putting his finger up to his lips, and said "you trying to get me fired?". I guess the 2nd guy was the boss, and he wasn't supposed to be on the phone at work. Woops.

Our investigator got baptized! Such an awesome experience, my last baptism and she basically was crying the whole time. I had to conduct and I did an ok job of it I think. The Bishop was giving me a hard time but that's alright. She was crying after coming up out of the water and just had a glow about her. Then the next day for the confirmation, it was an experience I hope I don't forget. A quiet, peaceful one, but as we finished and she turned around to shake our hands, she said simply, with tears in her eyes "I would be so lost without you guys". THAT'S WHY WE DO IT! She is well prepared for callings, commandments, and temple worship. So solid.

And then after church, we were visiting people trying to find more people to teach, and I invited a guy to be baptized on his doorstep and he said yes, and he would do it on Sept 8th. Return appt for wednesday. This is going to be tricky because Elder Wadsworth will be on exchanges in pueblo basically thursday to wednesday next week. But we'll just bring our WML to the lesson and he can watch out for him at church. But it was cool, I haven't "given up" or "checked out" yet. Some things are tougher to do now, but I just keep trying to think like i'm still "in the middle" of my mission and like this thursday is just transfers. I wish it was.

Oh! So this lady in our ward had to go to the hospital in Pueblo, and since we were in pueblo for exchanges we decided to stop by and visit before our big "zone meeting" on friday. Well, got in there, got to talking, and cow branding, chicken killing, pig slaughtering Elder Gibb passed out. Ya. And it made us 15 minutes late for the zone meeting and delayed the whole thing. That was pretty embarassing. I guess I can handle animals but not people. Yet.

Hmm....went to visit a less active, he wasn't home, so we talked to the neighbor and taught him, and at the end of our teaching the less active showed up. I love the Lords timing on things. We were all bummed that the less active wasn't home because we had assignment to contact him and we were in Las Animas so basically we only go there once a week, but it worked perfectly. Also on exchanges, we knocked on a door with a Romney sign (I always stop and knock on those doors because the people are usually pretty nice and open to talk. No politics of course, but they usually tell us to do everything we can to get him elected. It's funny) And actually found a potential off of it.

Well, I think that's just about all for the week. I've spent a lot of time reflecting, praying and pondering on my mission experience. I wasn't perfect, but I fixed the things I was doing wrong and I'm happy to say I have no regrets. I look at all the things I did wrong, or the stupid disobedient things I did, and I am grateful that I took those experiences and learned from them. And became someone better. The trials and experiences I've had on my mission is the best education I could have ever gotten. For only $10,000, the wealth of experience and growth is the best deal in the world. To get this kind of education through secular portals, I guess it would cost in upwards of around a million dollars. If you are deciding to go on a mission, go. It will redefine your priorities. It will help you find yourself. I wish to close with a scripture:

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

2 Timothy 4:6-7


and a Star Wars quote:

"You're all clear kid, so let's blow this thing and go home!"

-Han Solo


Well, with that, I close mine epistle. Love ya! See ya in a few! Keep The Faith! The Church is true and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I know now that God lives and loves each one of us, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world and can strengthen us in our weakness and truly make "weak things become strong" unto us. This Church is the only true and living Church on the face of the earth, i've seen that very clearly with mine own eyes. Love ya!

Elder Gibb