Buko Cream

Dear family and friends,

 

If you want to know what the best food in the world is then you need to find your nearest shop that has coconuts, sweetened condensed milk, and cheese. Oh and you'll probably need a someone from the Philippines! It's like frozen heaven... 

 

Anyway, it's been a great week so far! We finally had an investigator come to church this week! His name is Tom, and he said he wants to try and come every week from now on!!! It works our pretty well too because we'll be teaching his Sunday school class for the next few weeks! For all you Sunday school teachers out there, I feel your pain.

 

My favorite thing I learned from the week was when I was looking over the Christ-like attributes (Chapter 6 Of Preach My Gospel) and I loved the part on diligence where it says "diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and an ENERGETIC effort in doing the Lord's work" (emphasis added)! I like the part about energy, (maybe it's because I have too much) because missionary work isn't meant to me boring its supposed to be engaging and fun!

 

Elder Escabarte is awesome! I think we're still figuring out each other a bit, but it's been really good! I think the transfer is going to be AWESOME!

 

I went and got myself some fingerless gloves for the bike rides! I'll tell ya, the weather is more bi-polar here than it is in Utah!  Well except the whole lack of snow thing.

 

I love you all heaps!

 

Love Elder Gibb

The GRIM!

Dear Family and Friends!

 

So for those of you who aren't as familiar with Harry Potter, the Grim is a big black dog.  It is used in fortune telling to predict death. Story to come later.

 

Well this week has been full of mixed emotions! Last week a family was broken. Elder Watts has officially left the Kellyville First Ward. The ward was totally heart broken since he has bonded with them so much and to have him stay with us for only one transfer seems like a cruel joke! I always hate writing about transfers because it makes it sound like they die! So to finish Elder Watts is enjoying a happy life now in the Penrith Zone as a Zone Leader!

 

My new companion is Elder Escabarte! He is from the Philippines and I've only been with him for a couple days so far so I don't really know all that much about him yet. More to come on a future date! So far I think he's awesome!

 

Guess who is coming into the flat? Elder Kamoto! (He was in the MTC and in Cali with me but had to go home for knee surgery) Elder Keefer, who is also our new district leader, will be training him so I'm pretty exited about that! 

 

STORY TIME!

I think this one will count as the miracle for this week, so on Sunday Elder Watts and I were walking down the street to a members home. As we were going along we heard a bark from ahead of us. I looked up to see a large black scary looking dog eyeing me down (like I'm talking as tall as my waist, big rippling muscles and teeth that would make Chuck Norris cry). So in my head I'm like remember all that training you've had with animals? (none) You can handle this! (yea right) So what do we do?We simply step out of the way. I'll tell you that took some faith and quick thinking!! The dog simply ran by, looked back at us for a few seconds really confused and conflicted (I was still tensed and ready to battle if needed) and then just kept going along. I know a boring end to the story, but if it had gone any other way, I wouldn't be writing this!

 

HAHA

I love it out here!

Another 6 Weeks to get some miracles in Kellyville!

 

Love you HEAPS!

Elder Gibb

The Final Week

Dear Family and Friends!

 

What can I say? We see miracles everyday! I'm loving it out here! Sometimes you feel like you should be discouraged, but then you're like,"mmmmmm better not", and then BOOM miracle! It's so good!

 

This is the last week before transfers and I'll tell you, it feels like some game show where the lights just did their color change and you feel this anticipation and then they leave you on a cliff hanger till next week!

 

Love you Heaps!

Elder Gibb!

Let's Get Down To Business

Hello Family and Friends!

 

What a crazy week! We had three trade offs in a row, and if you know anything about trade offs it is the equivalent of a miracle day! It totally was! We taught the most lessons this week that has ever been taught within the Kellyville ward boundaries. I wish I could share all the miracles that we had but I'll suffice it to share just one

 

Elder Keefer, from Kellyville 2 Ward, had been out finding all day and had met so many people but no one who had been willing to continue to learn from us. We ended up at a fairly busy bus stop on the T-Way and we decided to go and talk to the two people there, The person I met was named Joyce, she is from the Philippines and has a very strong Catholic belief. As we were discussing the gospel, I asked if she had seen missionaries before and she was like "yea, I know two who are out right now!" These are the sweetest words for a missionary to hear! We discovered one of the missionaries had actually already come home! She said she would love to learn more and would send him a message!

 

I came home so exhausted from each day this week, but rather than being groggy the next morning you always just put a smile on your face and get ready for another beautiful day! AH I love my mission!

 

The weather is starting to cool down a bit, I finally had to put on a jumper today! But I guess that's ok, seeing how June 1 was the start of winter anyway! (feels more like fall, but whatever!)

 

Till next Week!

Love

Elder Gibb

 

P.S. Did I mention I love it here!

Infiltrating Hillsong

Dear Family and Friends

 

This week has just been incredible, and shocking! We had heaps of miracles. It started off on Tuesday when we went to the home of one of the less active/ part member families in the ward and we caught her just as she was about to go inside! We were able to set up some service opportunities and later that week we met her 12 year old son Zach who isn't a member yet. We'll hopefully see them again this week!

 

Then we went to Pale and Karen's home and the lesson went really well. One of the young men in the ward, Ashton, came with us and bore his testimony on the Book of Mormon. I tell you that kid is gonna be a good missionary! The real miracle though is that they invited us over for dinner that Sunday! We always struggle to set up appointments with them and often they dodge us, but this time they invited us over! YAHOOO!

 

The next day, Sister La'ulu had us (well Elder Watts) come help her with her net ball team's shooting! We found out that one of the girls was less active and so we will be helping them out a lot more in the future and Sister La'ulu might even have one of the families over for dinner for us to teach! Miracle!

 

Finally on Saturday (and if you've just been skimming through the email this is the part to see!) we got to go to Hillsong's church. The YSA had an multi stake extravaganza with heaps of performances and it was really fun to watch. The best part was that we had 10-12 missionaries, all over the building talking to the staff, non-members and the less actives who came, and then Elder O'Rirden of the Seventy came in! Moral of the story it was awesome (but I'm not going to lie, it was really uncomfortable watching the performances with all the music, I don't think I've seen so many 18-25 year olds look so squeamish at a church performance).

 

AHH and there is so much more I could say about this week, but that will suffice for now! I love you all HEAPS!

 

Elder Gibb

Elder Haleck

Dear Family and friends,

 

Australia is just gorgeous! I don't know what it is about this place but it just make you feel happy inside!

 

Last week was really neat. Elder Haleck a member of the seventy was down so we had a special conference with him, and it was smashing! We talked a lot about aligning our visions with the ward and all the people that we work with! Our zone was able to perform a musical number and he asked us to sing again that night for all the stake and ward leaders. It was really neat!

 

The ward is really starting to progress. Our last ward council was really good, and after applying what we learned with Elder Haleck, and because of our phenomenal bishop, I know this ward is going to start moving forward! Super excited about it!

 

Miracles happen everyday, and I love it out here!

 

Keep the Faith!

Love all you heaps!

Elder Gibb

 

 

Look Into My Eyes

Dear family and friends!

 

What a great week this has been!  Ah man its been so crazy and full of first it's insane!

 

Ok so first off, I had sushi for the first time this week...and I've also had sushi for the last time in my life.  It was pretty horrid. I definitely almost barfed over the member's table, but hey, the rice was pretty good!

 

Now to explain the picture. This woman in our ward Dorthy Decorso is some sort of eye person. I don't know what it's called, but anyway, she basically uses this little magnifying glass and can tell, just from your eyes, almost anything about your body. She talks about your heart, kidneys, blood, shoulders, back, and it's pretty creepy but really cool at the same time! Anyway, then she gives you this all natural herbal medicine to take and it'll help you sleep or cure acne or clear out your bowels, and it only tastes foul so no worries! Not sure how I feel about it yet, but we'll see if it actually makes a difference!

 

Also had the opportunity this week to speak in sacrament meeting about my mom. It was only 3-5 minutes and it was the hardest talk of my life! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ONLY SPEND 5 MINUTES TALKING ABOUT MY MOM? I definitely didn't do her justice up there on the stand for being so amazing! LOVE YOU MUM!

 

We were asked that morning to give it so I didn't have a chance to really write anything down but I can give you the bullet points I used.

 

-Story about how in District Training this week we talked about why we were out on missions, and I definitely said because of my mother

-I remember waking up on the weekends and listening to her sing church songs and playing the piano.  I would stay upstairs longer just so she wouldn't stop

-She bore her testimony through her music as she sang on Sundays. Sometimes I just would stop to listen as she sang, but then she would gently elbow me to get me to start singing! She sang louder that anyone else in the congregation and I know other people didn't sing just so they could hear her as well!

-Story about when Grandma died, being at the hospital even though mom was scared to let me see grandma in this state, because she wanted me to remember her in her celestial way, when we were in the car up to the office, and mom got the call, and mention the music theory you had (statement about work ethic here)

-I love you mom! I miss you so much, and you've done more to help me in life than anyone else in the world! I use your teachings daily, and I'm so grateful for the person you shaped me into!

 

For all the other mothers out there, I hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day, and that if you have a missionary out there know that they love you more than they know how to put into words!

 

Love ya Heaps!

Elder Gibb

 

 

Family History

Dear family and friends,

 

Well we had transfers last week, and let me tell you some crazy stuff happened! So first off, I haven't moved. I'm still in the Kellyville 1st Ward which I'm really exited about because the members are just phenomenal here. The bishop is so motivated to do missionary work and his fire is finally starting to catch on!

 

However, Elder Han was transferred. I'm going to miss my third mission father! I'm officially no longer a trainee for the first time on my mission. I think that means I actually have to do something now!

 

My new companion is stellar! Although I guess you can't say much less about your companion when you're related to him!!! Explanation: Elder Watts is my cousin by marriage. His Aunt Jane married my Uncle Jake and now we're serving together here in Kellyville. This is why family history is important! Anyway he's awesome! He's the district leader and just came from serving basically in the bush. He likes Broadway and music, so I think we'll get along just fine!

 

Super stoked about this transfer. Kellyville isn't going to know what has hit them!

 

Love ya Heaps!

Elder Gibb

 

P.S. Hope you're all enjoying the warming weather. I finally succumbed to the humid chill and had to get a sweater!

 

 

Camping Out......On A Mission!

Hello Family and Friends

 

Last week was a blast! We finally were able to meet with the Loesio family for the first time in five weeks, but I guess when you have nine kids you tend to get a bit busy! We taught them the Restoration again, this time using a movie. They are definitely visual learners and hopefully they'll start to progress a bit more now that they're starting to understand! It helps that all the movies have Tongan translations!

 

We had a very unique opportunity this weekend, Elder Han and I got to go up to ward camp! We didn't actually get to stay overnight, but still. It was really weird to drive 40 minutes out of the area, but it was super fun! There were a few non members/less active members there and so we were allowed to head up, and it all finished with a fireside (puppet show) that ended the night! We played some footy (don't underestimate two Elders just because they're in church shoes. They THRIVE in those babies!!) ate some food and taught a few lessons. Overall it was a blast!

 

Unfortunately I didn't see any wild life other than birds. However I did taste some sort of New Zealander fruit.  It was pretty good, but I don't remember what it's called.

 

Anyway! Transfers are this week and nobody knows what's going to happen!

 

Love you heaps!

Elder Gibb

 

 

Easter

Dear Family and Friends

 

Just in case anyone was curious, in Australia, Easter is a four day holiday.... so that means the shops are all closed on Friday, and Monday, hence the really late letter!

 

It was an incredible week last week.  The Bishop's son brought his friend to church! This has been quite a long process, but it was so good to see this young man come, and to feel the excitement of the ward about the work. Now we'll just get the rest of them to bring people!

 

This week should be really fun. We're going up to the ward camp on Friday, doing a fireside, and helping with the activities. Should be a blast! There will be heaps of non-members and less-active members there. Can't wait!

 

Our training we had yesterday was really good too, (even if it was an 8 hr meeting). We talked a lot about having visions for ourselves out here, and as we gain our vision, it will give us the energy to keep improving! We also talked a ton about why exact obedience is so important.  It was really powerful, it coincided with the impressions I had during General Conference as well, so it was really good!

 

Finally finished my first study of Preach my Gospel! I've been tearing up that book since I've been out and drinking it all in. It is such a phenomenal book! Tf you struggle with studying the gospel, sharing the gospel, or anything else, give it a look. Tt may be based mostly on missionary stuff, but it focuses a lot on your own conversion as well. It's super good! I can't wait to start it again this week!

 

Hope all is well wherever you may be.

 

Love you heaps!

Elder Gibb