Week 23 Opening a new area in Los Altos.

Hello Everyone!

Wow what a crazy eventfilling week it has been! So Hermana Hamblin and I are opening an area in Los Altos but we are still in the same zone )Xela Oeste.... Sorry if my typing is weird, this keyboard in jank. We are in a trio with my hija Hermana Rodriguez. She is from Lima, Peru and so adorable. Shes super sweet and laid back which is really nice. WE are having a lot of fun. And we are teaching her english too. We are also opening this area with two other sisters who are super cool. They had to look for a new house so for the past week so they stayed with us in our house. So we were 5 sisters, 4 beds, and 1 bathroom.... but we had a blast! This week was fun contacting a million people and trying to figure out where the heck we were!

For my birthday we partied hard, missionary style! Hermana Hamblin was super cute and woke up early to make me french toast and turned off my alarm so that she could surprse me, so I had a delicious breakfast in bed! Then we went and did some service and helped this random family fill a hole with dirt. It was quite fun! Then one of the members invited us over for lunch becasue it was ma b'day. Then when we got back to the house the other hermanas had a cake ready and lit candles and sang happy birthday! So we had a little party. Also there is a resturant here thats like the guatemalan Raising Canes and they had a huge firework show so we went to the roof to watch! Overall it was an excellent birthday!

For thanksgiving, i apologize for writing out of order, we went to the market and bought sparkling cider, tortillas, sliced turkey and a pie and celebrated! So that my friends is how you celebrate Turkey Day guatemalan style :)

Oh last thing, last monday night we went and said goodbye to people. Then when we went to the last Family Home Evening, all of the lights were off but the mom still told me to go in. and when i did the elders had lit a cake and everyone sang happy birtdhay and it was an awesome surprise!

So overall this week was super awesome and eventful. Thank you for all of the birthday wishes and I hope that everyone had a super awesome thanksgiving week!! 

Love, Hermana Gibson

P.S There are more pictures to come!

Week 22- Called to Train!

Hola!

Yet another super fast week has passed by in the mission! This week I was pretty much sick all week long so that was a bummer. Two nights in a row we had to do divisiones. I went and slept at a members house and my companion went out with one of the daughters. So at least work was still getting done here in Garibaldi! But being sick made it a little hard for us to get a lot of stuff done. 

Friday our ward had another Noche De Hermanamiento which is like a giant family home evening. We played some games and one of our investigators came so that was fun!

 Oh, good news, WE ACTUALLY HAVE INVESTIGATORS NOW! One of our miracles this week was that we found this family that had listened to the missionaries about 2 years ago and then the dad ended up chasing the missionaries out of the house... Well we went there and the dad was actually super nice and wants us to come back so thats super sweet and we are excited about that! And we also contacted this other girl who works in a icecream store (I know, smart of us right? )and she is SUPER pilas! Seriously she actually understood the Restoration and wants to learn more and go to church and read the Book of Mormon! Shes like a huge miracle, but her husband is going to be the problem.... But we are going to do a lot of praying for her. And she also gave us free frozen chocolate covered bananas, so I already love her even more :)

Another cool thing was that Mathias´s family invited us to Burger King with them because we are always over at their house helping them and teaching Mathias. So when we were there, I taught them about the tradition we have in my family when we all eat dinner together called "High-Low" Where everyone has to say the worst part of their day (if they had one) and the best part of their day. I love it because it helps us be more involved in eaach others lives. And they loved the game too! So that was pretty cool!

About 2 months ago I contacted this guy who owns a little store and he was actually pretty rude to us, told us he was a Jehova´s Wittness and that he didnt want anything. Well, this week we went into his store to buy stuff and guess what...... HE WAS WEARING A BYU SHIRT. LOL I just told his that I liked his shirt and that it was my university, and laughed so hard inside.... Good ole testigos de jehovah!

Other funny thing, I am personally inviting all of you women whoi are reading this email to the relief society activity Thursday at 3. We are going to learn and the proper way to breastfeed!!! lol #onlyinguatemala

Well thats about all that I have for this week and I apologize if none of this makes sense, my computer is super slow so Im just going for it typing wise! Well I love you all and thank you for all of the love and support! tthe church is true!

Love, Hermana Gibson 

1. We were teaching these cute little kids the other day
2. Also I got to see hermana woods and hermana tomphonson at the training meeting! It was super fun :) 

Week 21 OH no, pretty sick this week. But still a very cool week

Hola!

Yet another super fast week has passed by in the mission! This week I was pretty much sick all week long so that was a bummer. Two nights in a row we had to do divisiones. I went and slept at a members house and my companion went out with one of the daughters. So at least work was still getting done here in Garibaldi! But being sick made it a little hard for us to get a lot of stuff done. 

Friday our ward had another Noche De Hermanamiento which is like a giant family home evening. We played some games and one of our investigators came so that was fun!

 Oh, good news, WE ACTUALLY HAVE INVESTIGATORS NOW! One of our miracles this week was that we found this family that had listened to the missionaries about 2 years ago and then the dad ended up chasing the missionaries out of the house... Well we went there and the dad was actually super nice and wants us to come back so thats super sweet and we are excited about that! And we also contacted this other girl who works in a icecream store (I know, smart of us right? )and she is SUPER pilas! Seriously she actually understood the Restoration and wants to learn more and go to church and read the Book of Mormon! Shes like a huge miracle, but her husband is going to be the problem.... But we are going to do a lot of praying for her. And she also gave us free frozen chocolate covered bananas, so I already love her even more :)

Another cool thing was that Mathias´s family invited us to Burger King with them because we are always over at their house helping them and teaching Mathias. So when we were there, I taught them about the tradition we have in my family when we all eat dinner together called "High-Low" Where everyone has to say the worst part of their day (if they had one) and the best part of their day. I love it because it helps us be more involved in eaach others lives. And they loved the game too! So that was pretty cool!

About 2 months ago I contacted this guy who owns a little store and he was actually pretty rude to us, told us he was a Jehova´s Wittness and that he didnt want anything. Well, this week we went into his store to buy stuff and guess what...... HE WAS WEARING A BYU SHIRT. LOL I just told his that I liked his shirt and that it was my university, and laughed so hard inside.... Good ole testigos de jehovah!

Other funny thing, I am personally inviting all of you women whoi are reading this email to the relief society activity Thursday at 3. We are going to learn and the proper way to breastfeed!!! lol #onlyinguatemala

Well thats about all that I have for this week and I apologize if none of this makes sense, my computer is super slow so Im just going for it typing wise! Well I love you all and thank you for all of the love and support! tthe church is true!

Love, Hermana Gibson 

Buenas Tardes! Week 20

Buenas Tardes!

Another great week in the mission field has passed and wow we worked hard. We started the week with only 1 investigator because we ended up having to drop almost all of our investigators because they werent progressing at all. So we did a lot of contacting this week and got rejected a lot haha but it was all good. We had high spirits all week and ended up finding some really cool people. So we are excited to start visiting all of them some more. We even have a goal to contact about 100 people this week, but i´ll let you know how that all works out!

So remember when I said that I was super sad because my convert Brenda moved and her husband didn´t tell us where they living? Well BOOM, another miracle this week. We were walking out from a lesson and we ran into Imer (the husband) in the street and he showed us where they live. It was so cool because I had been praying all week that the missionaries would be able to find Brenda again and help her with her newborn baby girl (whom i´m trying to convince her to name her baby Katie.) I laughed a little bit on the inside because I never thought I would be the missionary to find her. But it was really cool knowing that I was in the right place at the right time. And Brenda was really happy to see us and was asking about church.

A little update on Mathias, the less active. This week he started reading the Book of Mormon again which is so awesome. In the lesson he was asking difficult questions, just to be difficult, but finally the Spirit touched him and he asked us how he can have faith so that he can know if God really does exist. Last night he called us and thanked us for helping him and that he loved the chapter and is reading it again. It was really cool, becasue we hard a long week, worked hard, and right before we returned home we were able to seem some of the blessings from our work. It was also another blessing becasue lately it has been really hard to have baptisms in our mission, so it is cool to see that we are still changing people´s lives. 

This week I have been studying a lot about chairty and what it means and how I can apply it into my life and WOW I learned a lot. Charity is such an amazing thing. I used to think that it was just about service and love but it is so much more. Like the scriptures say, without charity, we really are nothing. There are a list of scriptures in PMG ( 2 Ne 26:30, Mosiah 2:17, Mosiah 28:3, Alma 7:24, Ether 12:28, DC 88:125, 1 Tim 4:12, 1 Peter 4:8) and really teach us what charity is. I could talk all day about chairty, but I think it is better is you all study for yourselves and see what Charity really is. Read the scriptures and ask what they teach your about charity, and I promise that you will want to be a better person :) 

Thank you all for your prayers and weekly encouragement. The mission rocks! Love you all.

Hermana Gibson

Oh, and about the pictures, There are some seriously short doors here, I´m not exactly sure who fits into them. And yesterday was one of our investigator´s birthday. Her name is Dariana and her parents´work didnt pay them this month, so we bought a cake to surprise her. She´s super cute!

Week 19- Happy Halloween and Day of the Dead! 3/11/14

Wow! It´s already November! What the heck, time is seriously flying by, and another great week in the mission field has passed!

Honestly, this week went by super fast and we were super busy all week. We actually ended up doing a lot of service which was cool. One of the members ended up moving houses, which was super sad, but it was fun helping them move! 

Speaking of moving, my convert Brenda moved houses and she didn't even tell me!! I was super mad. We literally visit them on Wednesday and Friday night everything was gone! So I was pretty bummed about that, and her husband (who is a pain in the butt and he knows it) won´t tell me where they moved to, so I pray that the missionaries find her again!

Okay on a more fun note, we celebrated a Quinceñera this week! Her name is Jackie and she is a member. We helped cook and serve and decorate the place and had a BLAST! I´ll make sure to attach more pictures. 

So they don´t celebrate Halloween here, but I made cute little pumpkins to pass out to our investigators and members. They loved it :) But they do celebrate the Day of the Dead which in Nov 1. I guess everyone just goes to the cemeteries and party and eat this disgusting cold meat plate called Fiambre... But hey a fiesta is a fiesta right? We were a little nervous to be out that night because everyone was saying that kids were going to chase us down and throw eggs and paint at us..... but it was actually really calm. But that would have been a funny story to tell.

Also Julio, our investigator gave me a present. It´s a hart shaped box with a little doll inside.... and said it was a barbie just like me. haha man He´s the best! One of a kind that Julio. And before we left his mom was saying how she loves us and Jesus and the started dancing and said that we should dance for Jesus! LOL

On the more spiritual side of things, I was studying about the Spirit and I was reading in DC about gifts of the Spirit and WOW we are blessed. Honestly every talent that we have comes from the Christ and the Spirit enables us to excel at our talents. I want to say it´s in DC 46:11-33 but I´m not sure. But the scriptures say that we aren´t all going to have the same talents because we are commanded to share the talents that we have! So this week I challenge you all to read DC and your patriarcal blessings and find what your gifts are and use them to bless others this week.

Thank you for all of your love and support. Hope that this is a start to another great month! I love you all.

Love,

Hermana Gibson 

Week 18 Fun week in Garibaldi!!!

Hola Everyone!

Wow what a fast and super fun week it has been here in Garibaldi! Honestly, I can´t believe that it is already Monday again! This week I was super sick and I felt that I should ask for a blessing so I swollowed my "i´ll be fine" pride and asked for one, and WOW I am so glad that I did. I basically cried through my whole blessing (silently) because so many of my worries and fears were taken away and all of my recent prayers had been answered. It was an amazing experience. It also made me realize how much stronger my faith in Christ is now, because I was always able to feel the Spirit when I was given a blessing, but this time, I was really able to feel Christ´s love for me and in that instant, I really came to know that Christ really loves me and knows me personally and through His faithful Priesthood holders, I was able to come to know that love personally, and what turned into a strong belief became a knowledge for me.

Another thing that I realized through my blessing is how inspired parents. During the blessing, the elder said two things that my dad had recently said to me in an email. And in that instant, I became to realize that the advice and counsel that my dad gave me what the same counsel that my Heavenly Father had also. So parents, you rock, and kids, listen to the advice of your parents.... They know everything!

Yesterday we felt inspired to visit Julio and his mom, which was awesome because they were actually home. We had knocked their door everyday and they hadn´t been there, but we finally got them! Just incase you dont remember, Julio was one of our miracles last week that contacted US in the street and wants to learn more. So he wanted to know who Joseph SMith was so we taught about the Restoration and it was great! He´s praying to see if he needs to be baptized! I already loved them instantly, but especially more when they kept saying that i was cute and kept calling me Barbie. They might just be my new favorites :)

Okay so another super awesome thing that happened this week has to do with the less active amigo that we are visiting. His name is Mathias (also another miracle from last week.) So we had been visiting him a lot and finally we go the idea to write our testimonies in the Book of Mormon and highlight our favorite scriptures. Then Preach My Gospel had a section called "The Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul." so we tabbed a few of the chapters that would answer his questions, if God exsists, does he really hear our prayers, why bad things happen to good people, so on and so forth. So we gave it to him and he sent us a but text thanking us for all that we had done for me. It was really rewarding. And Sunday he couldnt come to church because we had work, but we had a ward activity and watched the Testaments and HE  CAME!!!!!! I´m pretty sure that was his first time going to church in a long time. So it was awesome!

Today for P-day we played soccer with some of the members in the morning, and then played again as a Zone later. Then we went to this store to go buy soccer jerseys becasue it is a tradition here where the Zones all buy a jersey and we get our names on the back and it says our Zone name!! So i´m super stoked for that. And tonight we might be carving pumpkins for a Family Home Evening! But I´ll let you know more about that next week!

Any I love you guys and I love the mission. I hope this week that you all can come to know that Jesus Christ knows and loves you personally. (and I do too!!)

Con amor,

Hermana Gibson

Week 17- Miracle Week 20/10/14

Buenas Tardes!

So this week I got a new companion. Her name is Hermana Hamblin and she is from Nampa, Idaho. She is super sweet and has 15 months in the mission. I´m going to "kill" her in 9 weeks, because she is leaving early to go to...... BYU!!! YAY (Go Cougars!) So I´m super excited to spend this time with her and we are really excited to work hard these last 9 weeks. 

On Wednesday we had a District Meeting and this week the Zone Leaders challenged us all to find 2 miracles this week. Challenge accepted.

Miracle #1: On Wednesday morning we contacted this lady in the street and gave her the Restoration pamphlet and she thanked us a ton and said that she was going to look for a bag to put it in because it was so beautiful haha So that was cool, but then the next day we were walking to a cita and I recognized her 30 year old son and he told us how he read the pamphlet, loved it, wanted to come to church with us, and wanted to learn more!!!! WHAT THE HECK THIS NEVER HAPPENS! AKA, Miracle #1.

Miracle #2: One of our inv. Lilian (who is the daughter of Thelma) because another miracle. We had taught her the Restoration and she was able to recite it back to us and then told us that she knows its true, we just have to get her husband to come to want to come to church and then she will.

Miracle #3: A few weeks ago we were in Lilian´s house and her friend (Matilda) was there  and told us that she wants to meet with us, but before we could ask for her number or where she lived she left. Well Sunday, while we were waiting outside Familia Gusman´s house to pick them up for church, Matilda came out with her husband and they want to have lessons with us!!

Miracle #4: Since my first week here we have been visiting this member family and their sons are all inactive but the daughters are awesome! Well they wanted us to stop by yesterday and when we did, I texted Matias (one of the inactive sons) and told him that we were at his house and he told us to wait for him cause he was coming. And then he actually shared a thought with us and usually he doesn´t want to be there. So It´s cool to see him changing and his desire to come back to the gospel grow!

So these miracles weren´t that crazy big, but I haven't really experienced things like this before so it was super cool! Also a mini-miracle: Grecia (the RM from Costa Rica) gave us lunch and we had grilled chicken, broccoli, carrots, and cheesy funeral potatoes!!!!! I felt like I was at home for a second haha

Well one thing that i learned this week is that miracles happen when we have faith in the Lord, work hard, and are humble to the Lord´s will. Man, I love this gospel!

I hope you guys all have a great week! In the pictures I attached, there are just a bunch of cows that are always on the side of the road here and people are always just walking their cows down the street haha yeah, no big deal. And today we ate a Pizza Hut and went to Walmart, and the other one we made a sign for this movie night that we are having as a ward that hopefully everyone will bring an investigator or less active to! 

I love you all and thank you all for you prayers. I hope that you can find a miracle in your life this week too.

Love,

Hermana Gibson

Week 16- Attitude of Gratitude 13/10/14

Hello Everyone!

Wow another week that went by super fast! Let´s see, Monday night was Amilcar´s Birthday so when we were at the Terminal (which is where all of the buses meet and its like a giant swap meet) we bought him a hat that says Los Angeles because he always asks if I am from there. Then we had cake to celebrate. It was really fun and he was super happy! Also last night Amilcar tried telling us that he has 10 girlfriends and they all live in Miami haha Good Ole Amilcar

On Tuesday we cooked dinner for Family Gusman (our new investigators) and taught them The Restoration. It was a really fun night and I really love them like they are my own family already. The family wasnt able to come to church yesterday because they already had other obligations, but their daughter Gaby (who is 10 and a little shy) came with us. But she is super cute and she absolutely loved church and afterwards she ran up to me and gave me a big hug. It was awesome!

Thursday the Hermana Leaders called us and we had divisions with them again and I went with Hermana Rubio to her area again. But it was cool because some of the people there remember me! That was a fun night and I really learned a lot about how I can become a better missionary. 

Friday Night our ward had a ward wide Family Home Evening. It was their first ever and it was so much fun! The Bishop gave a talk about one of the talks from COnference and then we played "Never Have I Ever..." Just incase you dont know what that is, Everyone sits in a circle and one person stands in the middle and says something that they have never done. Then everyone that has done that in their lives has to run super fast and change chairs becasue the last person standing has to say something that they have never done. So it was super funny to see the Bishop and the other people in the ward fighting over the same chair. 

Then Sunday we were asked to be a part of the Primary Presentation in another Ward and we got to sind "I love to see the temple" with the missionaries from their ward and the primary. It was super cute. I just love Primary Presentation because the Spirit is so strong when the kids bear their testimonies about the Savior.

Also, this morning we found out that Hermana Sanchez and I will be having transfers. I will be staying here in Garibaldi and I will get my new companion in the morning. I´m excited but really nervous to see who it is. Also today for our last P-day together as a Zone we had a devil piñata haha 

Well this week I have been thinking a lot about gratitude. Here are some thoughts: "Gratitude," like President Utchdorf said, "is the catalyst to all Christlike attributes." It can take away feelings of bitterness, and our life is sweeter, more joyous, and glorious when we are grateful. When we are experiencing herdships, we should express a prayer of gratitude to our Savior and our souls will be lifted. I read the story in Job chapter 1 where he loses everything, but in verse 21, after all is lost, he still offers praise and thanks to God. What an example. Also I was reading Amla 34:37-38 and was thinking that we need to be that type of saint, a saint that constantly lives in thanksgiving daily. We should always remember to count our many blessings and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all that we have. 

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week.

Love,

Hermana Gibson

Week 15- #LDSconfisthebest 6/10/2014

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had an amazing week and an even more amazing general conference weekend! I would say that my week was pretty spiritually amazing. On Tuesday was got to go to the TEMPLE!!! Ahhh it was so amazing. Honestly I don't think I have ever  been more excited to go to the temple in my life. The Quetzaltenango Temple is absolutely beautiful and honestly might just be my favorite. I´ll make sure to attach i a picture. The session was amazing and I was luckily able to understand everything. But there I learned that the Holy Ghost only lets me understand the things that HE wants me to. So I was really blessed to understand the session and wow I want to go back everyday!!! The peace that is in the temple is truly a peace that can´t be found anywhere else. Sorry Disneyland but the temple is the happiest place on earth. My favorite thing about being in the temple is getting to wear a white dress, because honestly i just feel like an angel! Also, this session was so amazing for me because it made me so excited to be sealed to my family when I get home! What a blessing it is.

Speaking of families, October 1st is Day of the Child and all of the kids have a big party here..... So I think we need that holiday in the States. But to celebrate we brought ice cream ha. We are just some big kids.

This week we found Family Gusman, who was a reference from our other investigator Themla, so we are really excited to teach them. We had to drop Family Martinez for a while because they always have an excuse and won´t come to church. So that was pretty sad for me. 

Okay Well honestly I could talk about conference forever, but I´ll just stick to one talk of the many that i really liked. It was from the Saturday Morning Session from Elder Lynn G Robins. I´m pretty sure its called, "Which way do we face?" He talked a lot about courage and since I stole The Jacobs Family´s idea of choosing a "word of the year" and my word was courage, I figured this was a good one to tlak about. Elder Robins defined courage as the combination of all Christlike attributes when we reach the pressure point of life. There is no better way to describe courage than that. It´s to stand up for what if right when faced with adversity. And since we all have adversity, courage is something we must all strive to achieve. I was reminded of the scripture in Joshua 1:9 that says, "Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou ghost." What a blessing that truly is. The Lord, Jesus Christ who was the greatest example of courage, promises us to be with us always. WE just need to have courage to stand and do what is right. No matter the circumstances, if you have the courage to do the will of God, you will receive an amazing amount of blessings. So let us all press forward with Faith is Christ and great courage that when we get to the heavens, we can stand spotless for him. 

Thank you all very much for all of your prayers in my behalf. Truly I could not thank you enough for all of the love and support at home. I hope you all have an amazing week.

Week 14- Called To Serve: My Companions 22/9/2014

Hello Everyone!

This week went by super fast! But I took notes of some meaningful things that happened this week:

My spanish is getting so much better! For my language study I have been reading the Book of Mormon out loud and when I do, I feel like my spanish improves so much! I am albe to talk with more confidence and understand more. It is such a blessing! Someetimes the Book of Mormon is even easier to understand in Spanish! Soo it has been a fun experience.

My comp and I have been praying to learn the Lord´s visoin for our areea and what he expects us to do and it was really cool because we both recieved revelation that we need to work with the members and have them invite their friends to church. Because we as missionaries can´t do it all. But its really hard to have lessons with members because either they get off work here at 8:00 or they forget and cancel our lessons. So we need to do a lot of praying to have lessons with members. 

Speaking of work, Scott Jacobs asked what kind of work people have here, and I can successfully narrow it down to the Three T´s: Tienda, Tortilla, and Terminal. A tienda means a store and let me tell you, Guatemala takes convienent stores to a whole other lever! Basically there is a store every other house and people live above their stores. The second T is tortillas because almost every house vends tortillas. and the Third is the terminal where all of the buses are. People sell EVERYTHING there!

This week we tried working with our investigator Themla to get her to come to church. The always has an excuse everyweek as to why she cant come. So this week as helped her do chores around the house to prepare her for church Sunday, but sadly it didn´t work. So I think we are going to have to drop her this week. :(

So my companion has been super baggy/trunkie the whole time we have been together. She has lacked motivation to work and frankly doesnt want to be in the mission anymore. She only has 2 months left. Well, the other day she emerged from the bathroom and started calling other missionaried and was bawling. She was bawling. She told me that she doesnt have the Spirit and shouldnt be here and she scheduled a meeting with President to go home this transfer. She even told President that she was pregnant so that she could go home. Luckily the Spirit prevailed and helped President realize that wasnt true, because if she was pregnant, I would have to pack my bags, go home, and probably be disfellowshipped from the church!!! But he convinced her to stay and finish her mission. So that was some crazy stuff. But what I learned as I have been praying about what to do is that, no it is not an obligation for sisters to serve, but once you accept that mission call, it becomes an obligation. We are called to serve for 18 months and work with all diligence to do everything that we can to build the Lords kingdom. Jacob 1:19always comes to mind. That once we are set apart, we will carry the blood and sins of the people in our area. But when we serve with all diligence we will be found spotless in the last day. Daunting but motivating at the same time! So we have to work hard and fulfill our callings. 

Anyway, things are getting better here! Still rains every day haha and rainboots are a huge blessing! I hope you al have a wonderful week!

Hermana Gibson

Week 13-Feliz Cumpleaños Guatemala 15/9/2014

September 15, 2014

Good Afternoon Everyone!

In case you didnt know (which you probably didnt) today is Guatemala´s day of independance! As a zone we went and watched the parades in the street, which consists of a band from every school in Xela and a lot of traditional dress! It was pretty cool to watch! One of the bands was playing Wrecking Ball and Safe and Sound. And some bands sounded reminded me of Disneyland.... Needless to say, I was a little nostalgic today! After we played soccer as a Zone and I got a ball straight to the face haa but it was worth it beause our team kept winning. (Dont worry, we werent keeping score.)

On Thursday we had divisiones with the Hermana Leaders. That means that for 24 hours I was with Hermana Rubio in her area and Hermana Sanchez was in my area with the other Hermana Leader. It was actually an AMAZING 24 hours. Hermana Rubio is so awesome and I learned SO much from her. When we were teaching together, the Spirit was so strong and all day my desire to be a missionary kept growing. Being with her made me want to be a better missionary. It was a really rewarding experience. I even got to teach a little in English because two of their investigators can speak english! It was so cool, but honestly, I like teaching in Spanish so mmuch better. And sometimes its actually harder to teach in English now that I am used to spanish. But divisions with Hermana Rubio wasso great and I really hope we can have htem again.

Then guess what happened on Saturday... MY FIRST BAPTISM!!! It was with Brenda. We have been teaching her the whole time I have been here. SHe`s 23 and has two babies and a third one on the way. She´s super awesome because her husband tried convincing hjer not to get baptized, but she insisted anyway.It was really awesome to to watch her be baptized and confirmed the next day! It was a rewarding experience to know that my work is paying off.

Well, in all honesty, this week was the hardest week of my mission. But when I was with Hermana Rubio, she shared a scripture with me that really helped me alot. It is from DC 121:7-8. It talks bout how our trials will be but a small moment and if we endure it well, God will exalt us on high. We all have trials and afflictions in our life, but it is a promise from God that if we Endure it well and choose to take the high road, we will recieve countless blessings in heaven. What a blessing.

I love you all and I hope you are all happy! Have a wonderful week

Love,

Hermana Gibson

Week 12- Electric in the Air Sept 9 2014

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! And to answer your question, yes that was a "Kicking and Screaming" reference. This is why; Tuesday we had some CRAZY weather here. We were in the house after lunch because lunch made us sick and then BOOM! A massive lightning storm hit Xela. Seriously the thunder was the loudest I have ever heard it in my whole life!!! And lightning was striking everywhere. It even struck one of the houses right next to us and our whole door light up! It was crazy scary. Hermana Sanchez and I were standing in the kitchen when that happened and we were away from the door (good thing!) but we were shaking and so scared. haha But it was kind of a cool experience.  This week we did a lot of service. We helped one of our investigators move her stuff from the first floor of her house to the second floor, which was rather difficult.But we had some DELICIOUS apple juice afterward! Then we also were street contacting and this lady answered the door and said she was busy and doing laundry so we offfered to help and she gladly invited us in! But she wasnt in her house, it was like a church kind of building, not really sure how to describe it. But after we finished, she gave us a tour and its like this place that this group of 20 meet and hangout and it is also their church. Well the lady invited us to tour their church and HOLY PRIESTCRAFT! Seriously this building was soooooo sketchy. There were a ton of swords and who knows how to describe it. But honestly, there are some secret combinations going on in there! And they meet Wednesday and Thursday from 8pm to 5am..... We had really bad feelings about being in there so, we wont be going back anytime soon! Thursday we had a Training Meeting and I got to see all of the people in my group from the MTC! It was SOO cool to see everyone and I miss them all a TON!!  Oh and something exciting, we are having a baptism next weekend with Brenda! I´m so excited about that!  I am loving the mission! It is hard, definitely hard, but it is amazing! I hope all is well back at home and everyone is enjoying the new school year! Love, Hermana Gibson

Mom asks questions everyone wants to know...

Why do you have to take Spanish Tests? Does it count towards something?

The test is a program for missionaries to see how their Spanish is improving throughout their mission. Not all mission have it but we do. And BYU created it.  

Does anyone speak English there for you to communicate with or is it strictly Spanish? 

The Elders in my area speak English and almost our entire zone speaks English but the main form of communication is Spanish. But in the Mission office, everyone is from North America and so i can talk to them easily, but rarely ever need to

Hows your new companion? 

Shes so awesome! Super nice and super funny. I am learning a lot from her

 What is your apartment like?

we live next to and below members. Its two rooms, one for our beds and one for our desks and kitchen-which mainly consists of a sink, fridge, portable stove top and food- and then we have a tiny room in the back of our house that has the bathroom and a sink to wash our clothes.

Where do you do your shopping?

There are a ton of little stores around here where we can buy clothes. which are like the DI of Di haha and today i bought a corduroy grey skirt with pockets!! It's perfect. There is also a little grocery store we go to once a week and there are all kinds of stores on every street that sells stuff.

How much do they give you to live on monthly?

I get 1800 quetz which is plenty

Is it enough to cover your food and living expenses or do we need to add money into your bank account?

That's enough to cover everything. The senior companion gets extra money to pay rent and the lights. Anything extra we buy comes from our own personal money. Which works out because its not like home where we get fed by members all the time so we purchase alot of food. Also, can you send easy healthy recipes that I can cook in microwave for meals? I can print them off from my emails. 

Are you doing well budgeting your money?

good. we get our money the first of every month and i divide it out for the weeks 

What is the best thing you have been fed?

This awesome lasagna, a soup called caldron i think which is like a bunch of veggies and roast!

What is the grossest thing you have been fed?

cow intestines....

What do you love about where you are living?

I love being in Xela because we are so blessed to have everything so close to us and have clean water and a shower

Tell me about your companion.

shes from Peru, super short, and really loud and funny! she has a super caring heart and really loves our investigators

Do you have things in common?

ummmm yeah mostly mish stuff but shes also a convert so that's cool

Do you drive a car? or have a cell phone to communicate with members?

no car, but a cell phone yes. in fact my first day our cell phone got stolen out of hermana woods bag by an investigator. how she did it we have no idea but she took like 20 quetz too

What is the biggest thing that has impacted your life so far on your mission?

just realizing that these are real people with real problems and the best thing i can go for them in pray and help them come to know Christ

Have you received any cards in the mail?

one the ones i already told you about. No one gets cards here. Its super rare. The best thing to do is send them in a big envelope package and then they come but individually, no.

Are the people of Guatemala as welcoming as you thought they would be?

they are more welcoming than i thought. Something they are even too nice to say that they don't want to hear our message haha

Week 11- Heartburn... The Holy Ghost... or Cow Intestines? 25/8/14

Hola Everyone!

Hope all is well at home and everyone is enjoying the heat. This week was a little harder than most but it was still super great. Monday night we had a meeting with one of our investigators and let me give you the DL on their lives: We have been teaching Familia Martinez and Three months ago two of their sons were travelling to the coast and they got kidnapped. The family hadn't heard anything from their sons for three months and they did a police search and everything. We have been teaching them for 3 weeks now and they are so awesome. They are so nice and have so much faith for the terrible situation they are in. Well, Monday night we had an appointment with them and they finally got news about theirs sons and were told they had one week to get their ransom money: Which is good news because that means their sons are still alive. So we have been praying for them a ton and visiting with them. And one of the Daughters (who is 17) told us that we have been such a great blessing in their lives and she knows its because they have been coming to church and visiting with us that they have received the great blessing of knowing their sons/brothers are still alive. So it was an amazing experience to hear that and to be there for them. So please put Familia Martinez in your prayers.

Tuesday we were told by the Zone Leaders not to put any appointments for all day Tuesday, because we were going to have a surprise activity. Well this activity was a full day of street contacting. We had about 6 hours to knock on doors and teach lessons or schedule other citas (appointments) with them. There was also a point system and we had to keep track of our points all day long. Honestly I didn't really like this activity, because it made me feel like the people we were contacting were just for numbers and not to actually preach the gospel, but we participated anyway and tried to get to know the people personally. We contacted 38 people and got 3rd place in our Zone for the activity. And that night, to end the activity, we had a campfire as a Zone and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs and had a testimony meeting and played some games. It was a super long but fun day.

Wednesday we went to visit some of our investigators and their lights in their house have been out for 3 days, so we went and bought them candles and shared a message with them. It was pretty funny because it looked like a sketchy ritual that was going on haha but never fear, we were just preaching the good word. 

So Morgan Lane told me that I will see 10 years of growth in the next 18 months.... Well I think I've seen 10 years already! This week I've been having some serious heartburn! or maybe the Holy Ghost is just so strong that it´s literally a warm/burning feeling in my chest haha yeah we will go with that! And on top of that, i ate cow intestines for lunch yesterday! I repeat COW INTESTINES!!!!!!! I literally almost died and felt like vomiting all day! Elder Muse (The other Zone leader in our area) was also suffering just as much as me. And finally once I was able to gulp down the last little bit, Elder Dalton loudly asked me if I would like more. And sadly I had to accept because its offensive to say no here.... That was just cruel and unusual punishment.

Here´s a list of other random things that are going on in the life of Hermana Gibson:

Last Monday i saw SIMBA in Xela!!! This little girl was walking down the street with a brand spanking new Simba. the Same one!! It was insane. I almost wanted to ask her to take a picture, but I probs would have scared her.

I have come to the conclusion that I am too tall for Guatemala. I have to duck under Everything and bugs are always flying in my face because they aren't used to people being this tall. But I like being tall because it gives me added protection when sketchy men are whistling at me and I'm like a foot taller than them. Speaking of being hit on, my comp and I play a game where we subtly punch each other every time someone whistles or saying something flirtatious to us. Its quite fun! 

We had a contest on who can eat a chiltepe and can go the longest without drinking water. I was fine but Elder Dalton was crying and sweating so badly hahaha I was rather proud of my gringa self!

Also there are three wild dogs that live outside of our house and I have named them Quet, Zalten, and Ango. Clever right? I´ll take a picture one of these days!

Well yeah that's all I've got for this week! Thank you all for all of the love and support you constantly give! Have an AWESOME week!

Hermana Gibson

Week 10- Everything Has Changed!

Hello Everyone!

Wow this week has been CRAZY!!! Thursday morning hermana woods and i got a call saying that we had to be at the mission office at 3 because we were having emergency changes! We were SO shocked because we only had 3 weeks together and now we were being separated. So we packed H. Woods´s stuff and said bye to some families and then we had our interviews with President and his wife. Which was good because I got a new pillow, but really hard because we were having transfers. So H. Woods went to train a girl in my group and now I have a new companion. Her name is Hermana Sanchez. She is from Peru and only has 3 months left in the mission. Shes super awesome and a really good missionary, so I am really lucky to have her. And my Spanish is already improving a ton haha Probably because I don't have any other choice. But The first two days after transfers were seriously SO hard!! I basically had to be the senior companion and do daily planning, weekly planning, and  hold the correlation meeting with our ward mission leader all by myself. So it was hard but the Lord knew that I could handle it, and honestly I feel really blessed.

This week we met with one of our Investigators named Yomara. She is seriously so awesome. Her husband is a member but inactive, and won´t listen to our message unless we know what the Seven Capital/Deadly Sins are (which im pretty sure are just subjective to him) and unless we know what GWR is from the Bible, that might be in spanish, idk.... but I'm you know them, please send them my way! AnywayYomara was saying that all of the other missionaries before kind of annoyed her because she felt like she was being pushed into baptism. So I told her that that is not why we are here. I told her that we loved her personally and we are here to help her gain a testimony of Christ and help her in every spiritual matter that we can. We would love for her to be baptized, but most importantly, we want her to have a strong relationship with our Savior.I also shared my mom´s experience about feeling that same way and thatYomara wasn´t a number or a quota to us And her attitude totally changed about listening to the lessons. She´s awesome and I´m excited to go back and see her!

Also we have 7 of our investigators come to church Sunday, like WHAT THE HECK!?! I literally couldn't believe that happened, it was seriously a miracle. We also have two baptism dates set for Jennifer and her little sister Gladys. I´m so excited for them, they are so pilas. (pilas=stud.)

On Monday we had a few FHEs with The Elders because it was elder Browning´s last day and we were invited. In one on the Fhes he shared Enos 1:27 and it has been stuck in my head all week. The scripture says, "And I soon must go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him, I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure and he shall say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father, Amen." This is my goal: To work as hard and diligently as I can in this life so that when my time comes, I can stand before Christ and have him welcome me with open arms and allow me to enter into his kingdom. How beautiful is that thought! I invite all of you to make this your goal too, because a mansion in the kingdoms of god truly is happiness. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Gibson

Week 9- If you aren't being rejected, you aren't trying

Hello everyone!

I can´t believe it is already monday again! Time is seriously flying by! This week was pretty fun. We worked super hard with all of our investigators and had a lot of laughs! It rained here a lot this week, but nothing too crazy. I now understand why P-days are on Mondays.... That´s because Sundays are SO hard! Its a bummer because we work so hard with our investigators but they still have their agency to act for themselves. So when they don´t come to church, its so frusturating and really sad! But we just need patience right? I mean it took my parents 3 years but they eventually came around haha (love you guys!) So at least I know that no time is wasted here.

But the best part of Sunday was when we were teaching our investigator Thelma. She had taken the leccons years ago, but I really feel that the Lord has prepared her now. Her husband was in a motorcycle accident because he was drinking and now he has the mentality of a 12 year old but hes seriously so loving and happy! Its such a blessing. We retaught the lesson about the Plan of Salvation and the Spirit was so strong. And she agreed to be baptized.

So some random things that happened this week, we have rootbeer floats which here delicious!!! And then there was a Xela wide blackout the othernight for an hour, but it all worked out. We had this new investigator and we were trying to find his house for 30 minutes and finally when we did, i started laughing so hard because his name was written on the door... liike we should have known all along. His name is Noe and he may be a little crazy but He{s awesome. And he calls us the iglesia de MORMONES de los Santos De Los Ultimos Dias. He´s so funny. Also today we hiked this mountain thing andit was crazy!! There were all of these people having like spirit rituals at the top and like bowing down and burning stuff. It was CREEPY! But the view was beautiful!

I love being a missionary!

What a blessing,

Hermana Gibson

Week 8 *** 5 hour bus ride, but I'm out in the field***

Can you believe it? I'm already out into the field!! The bus ride was about 5 hours from Guatemala City to Xela and I'm pretty sure I was nauseous for 3 of those hours... it was pretty rough, but the scenery was beautiful! We got dropped off at a chapel where we met our president and our companions. We had a little meeting about the rules and such and then we went out into the field at 4! My new companion is Hermana Woods. She is from Idaho and has been out for 7 months. She is super awesome and I'm so lucky to have her as my trainer (or Mom as they say)! 

The first couple of days were a little rough because it was just such (and still is ) a culture shock. But the people here are really nice. There are two elders in our Zone too and so its just 4 gringos walking around preaching the gospel. We also are surrounded by a million churches! Every street has a different church, so we have to make sure people realize that ours is the one true church. We mostly contact people but our appointments never follow though. But eventually someone will recognize the importance and truth of the gospel. 

My spanish is getting so much better. My companion said that she is amazed with how well I speak so thats pretty cool. I'm able to speak and teach the lessons which is nice. On Sunday I was able to understand EVERYTHING!!! It was literally so insane. I knew really have a testimony of the Gift of Tongues.

One thing that I've noticed is that when we have to the opportunity to read and study the scriptures every single day, our desire to learn more grows. And our testimonies are strengthened. I love it here in Xela. What a blessing

Hermana Gibson

Group Photos from the CCM

These are pictures sent from the Guatemala MTC sent on June 24th:

Week 6- About to break out of the CCM

It's my FINAL WEEK HERE!!! Time has gone by so fast and I can't believe
that I've alredy been gone for a month. It's literally insane. Its
hard to believe that next week at this time I will have a new
companion, new president, and will be taking on Quetzaltenango all by
myself (and my comp) Needless to say, it's quite terrifying!
This week has been pretty great! Last P-Day we loaded up on a bus and
went to see this relief map of the country of guatemala which was
pretty cool and we went to the HUGE mercado which sells the food and
items like a swap meet. It was so cool and made me really excited to
see more of the country... which is absolutely BEAUTIFUL by the way!
Also two days ago we escaped again and got out visa paperwork all
taken care of, so now I have permission to stay (look out guatemala!)
    One day during deportes (sports time) we had the most MASSIVE
rainstorm!!!!!!!! In a matter of 5 minutes I was completely soaked
through! And did I run for cover? absolutely not! We just kept playing
in the rain and yelling and jumping and basically kept having the best
time ever! But I'm a little nervous since we are in the dry season here
and it only took 5 minutes to be soaked through, the wet season will
be a whole new adventure! The hardest part about this week was
when both of our CCM teachers got switched! It was so sad because we
absolutely LOVED them and were really close, but I also love our new
teachers! The thing that I learned is that the Lord knows what we need
and he knows who will teach us the best. Even when we don't understand
why things happen, we are instruments in the Lords hands and we need
to have faith in Him and trust in his judgments. I love being a
missionary, but it's hard.

Talk to you next week, 

Hermana Gibson

Week 4- #breakingheartsinguatemala

Well we don't really have much time to write this week, so please excuse ahead of time for  my random jumble of thoughts! 

First off, the first happy meal was created in Guatemala City, so that's pretty cool!

2) My morning teacher (hermana alvarado) served in the Las Vegas East mission. She's the sweetest girl ever! And shes moving to Utah to go to college, so basically we are going to be BFFs forever!

3) The fourth of July here was pretty fun! We didn't have any fireworks,but we did sing the Start Spanglish Banner, and an American flag sheet cake and had HAMBURGERS!! It was so much fun!

4) I experienced my first earthquake here!! Apparently it was a 6.1 and it was shaking everything.I felt like i was on a boat! But apparently all those years of earthquake drills in school didn't do anything because i didn't run for cover. I just decided to go back to sleep :)

5) Last week marked my 3rd year being a member of this wonderful gospel! I got up  to bear my testimony in sacrament, and before hand i prayed that the lord would help me with what i wanted to say and even when the Latinos didn't understand me, they would be able to feel the strength of my testimony. Well  when i finished, i couldn't believe all that i just said everything that i wanted to in Spanish!!!! And the spirit was so strong!! I was awesome!!

6)The moment you have all been waiting for, I´m already breaking hearts here. Last night after dinner, one of the Latino elders tapped me on the shoulder and asked for my email. Then in my broken Spanish i tried to tell him that it is against the rules and we can't. Then he asked for my info for AFTER  the mission...... Not sure how that relationship would work out. Then after I kept trying to say sorry so, one of the teachers came over and yelled at him for asking and then for not being with his companions, even though his comp (along with 10 other Latino elders) were all watching him through the window. hahaha Lock your heart elder!

7) I would just like to share with you guys my testimony about our prophet of the restoration Joseph Smith.We watched the movie about his life and the restoration, and this time when I watched it, I kept thinking, why would God allow so many bad things to happen to him? I mean his children died, he was tarred and feathered, held in jail, and murdered.These things are truly terrible to happen to a prophet of God. But then I realized why it was necessary. If this church weren't true and Joseph Smith made up the first vision, he would have given up long ago. He wouldn't have wanted to suffer through all that he did. Therefore, his perseverance  through all of the trials shows how true this church is and that he really did see God the Father and Jesus Christ and the the fullness of the gospel is on the earth today.I know these things with all of my heart.

Until next week,

Hermana Gibson

P.S.Here's a joke from my night teacher Hermano Bonilla

What do you call a sea with alot of spaghetti?

a-pasta-sy

Week 3- HalfWay Through the CCM

Wuddup Everyone!

Due to my lack of information shared with you last week, I carried around a little notebook to write everything down this week. So this week went by SO fast!! And overall is was a pretty awesome week again! I love how small the Guatemala CCM is! We get to know everyone really well and we get to talk to the CCM president and his wife on the daily! They are so sweet and always check up on us to make sure everything is going well in our lives.

So my mission is getting a new mission president and I GOT TO MEET THEM!!!! They came to the CCM before going to Quetzaltenango and I got to introduce myself. They seem super super nice and awesome!! (Sorry for my overuse of awesome,but that pretty much sums up life.) They also have served as presidents in Guatemala before so thats really cool. I was nervous that they wouldn't know much about the culture and since I know nothing, it would have been a rough start, but they are well experienced so thats super...awesome!

I love Sundays here because your spiritual battery almost gets overcharged here and you just feel so inspired all day long! Sunday night we had a district testimony meeting and it was one of my favoirte things. I came to realize that everyone here has a trial in their life and has given up SO much to be a missionary, but all of us are choosing to put our faith in Chirst and serve him. Hearing everyones testimonies really helped me strengthen mine.

The saddest thing that happened is that our investigator broke up with us..... (background story,our teachers act as investigators they had while they were on their missions and we get the opportunity to teach them.) Well our investigator was progressing really fast and told us that she had a testimony of the BOM and Joseph Smith and knew our church was true,but decided she didn't want to take the lessons anymore and didnt want to switch churches.When she told me that, my heart broke!! I almost cried because I felt so much love for the investigator. But it was a good experience to know that even when people recieve a testimony, they still have their agency and we have to respect it.

On a happier note, I learned how to sing Let It Go in spanish and now we secretly try to translate all disney songs into spanish. Its really they best!

Talk to ya next week!

Hermana Gibson

Week 2- Week 2 in the CCM

Heyy everyone! First i would like to apologize because my enter button
isnt working, so this is going to be one long email! So this week was
definitely harder than the first. The food is making me sick and the
language is getting harder, but i still love it here. So what i said
about naps, is a lie!! Our president told us that we could nap all
P-day if we wanted. So im gonna go nap right after this. :) We
finished our lessons with our first "investigator" and he gave us some
really awesome feedback. He said that we had taught every lessons to
his needs and felt the spirit so stringly which was really awesome to
hear! We now how two new investigarors (aka our teachers that pretend
to be someone from their missions) and we teach some less active
members. Its so stressful because i know what i want to say in spanish
but its SO hard to understand what they are saying. So i pray for the
gift of tongues every single day... multpiple times a day! During
sports time, we do workout videos with the president and its so fun!
On a different note, our room was so gross this week!!! The Latinas
were sick so they were throwing up a ton and they clogged/flooded our
sink!!!!!! It was so terrible. But they just left this morning and we
will get new hermanas tomorrow! There are 30 more notres (kids from
the states) coming and only 2 of them are sisters. haha I feel so bad
for them! Too many boys to handle

     I dont really have much to say about thi week. Everything is
just running together but there is an experience I would like to
share. Sunday was a REALLY hard day for me here. I was just feeling
really inadequate as a missionary and didnt feel like i would ever
been good enough, which also made me not want to be here. We had a
lesson in relief societs about the Atone ment of Jesus Christ. Not
only was the Atonement made to save us from our sins, it is also there
to strengthen us in our weaknesses. As I thought about that and then
partook of the sacrament, I realized that Christ wants me to be there
and he wants me to use his Atonement so be strengthened. So I think
that is something that we should alwayd remember. The atonement is
ALWAYS there for us and we should never be afraid to rely upon it.

                                            Talk to you next week!
Hermana Gibson

Week 1- IM A MISSIONARY NOW!!!

Hello everyone!

Well this week has been super awesome but also really long. My flight to LAX was a little hard not to cry the whole time but once we landed I was really excited. I saw some teenage dude in a white shirt and dark suit and knew they were elders. By the end of the night, we had i think 40 people flying out to the Guatemala CCM. It was so cool to see that many people want to serve the Lord and we have like 12 sisters i think! Its really so awesome! My flight to Guatemala was hard because I had the middle seat and the people next to me didn't speak any English... but every move I would do, the old sweet lady next to me would smile and do the same haha. I'm going to like these people.

The first day in the CCM was SO long! But we were allowed to take a nap until 12 and then have lunch and start our day. So that was a HUGE blessing! But we got our name-tags!!! That was the best part!!!! It made me feel so official and totally AWESOME!!!! (Just in case you haven't noticed, i am really excited)

The 2nd day was a little overwhelming when they told us we all had to prepare a talk and discuss lesson in Spanish and be prepared to teach our investigator that night! Needless to say, I was praying for ease that whole day. So first, I am in a group of 12 people and we are a district! I absolutely love all of them. I'm so grateful because Hermana Call and Elder Hales are in my group with me. So its really nice to have some familiar faces around, and it feels a little bit like home. We also have an investigator names Daniel. We have been teaching him the lessons everyday and tonight is our last time. I always thought it was a little silly to pray and beg to have the spirit with us as we prepared to teach our investigator (since he was only acting) but I realized that as I prayed to know his needs and how I can teach him, I really did learn to love him want want to strengthen his testimony of the gospel. He is also committed to baptism. So again, it was awesome!

I have some bad news, they took all of our cameras the first day in the CCM so we aren't allowed to take any pictures here. So You wont be getting any pictures for 6 weeks.... But don't worry, ill make up for it in the field. So my Spanish is getting alot better, I am studying really hard and trying to talk with all of the Latina's during meals. They are really funny! Our favorite word is chiste which means joke. So you can tell, there are a lot of laughs around here.

Today was our first PDay and we had the opportunity to go to the temple. Usually when I go I can really feel the difference in the Spirit that I have but going today, the difference wasn't as big. It was a cool testimony builder to see how much stronger the spirit is when you are a missionary. I feel really blessed to have a member of the Godhead with me at all times. I really took it for granted, but in last nights devotional from Elder Holland (which is the devotional. from may 6 in the Provo MTC) he put it into perspective that the Holy Ghost is the closest thing that we have to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. What a blessing that is.

Well I love you all and I'm so excited to keep learning how I can serve the Lord.

Hermana Gibson

She made it!

Hola Familia! We made it safely to Guatelama. Im having a lot of fun
here. I am officially wearing a name tag!!! IT IS SO AWESOME!!! My
next P day will be on Monday. We don't have much time to chat today but
just wanted to let you know we made it safely. Love you guys a lot.
P.S. they pretty mich told us we were gonna get sick. Also they took
our cameras and we aren't allowed to take pictures at the CCM so maybe
they will take some of us. Well, love you guys
           Adios, Hermana Gibson

I've Been Called

Hello Everyone!

So if you are reading this, then you probably know that I have been called as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have been assigned to labor in the Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission. I report to the Guatemala MTC Wednesday, June 11, but most likely will be heading out Tuesday the 10th. While I'm gone my sister or mother will be updating my blog with all of the letters and pictures I send out. There will also be an email list. If you would like to be added, just email me and let me know! My mission email is kaitlyn.gibson@myldsmail.net. Most likely I will be emailing on Mondays but that can change. I would also LOVE handwritten letters, I will have more time to respond to those than emails.  My mission address is:

Quetzaltenango Guatemala Mission
5A Calle 14-35, Zona 3
09001 Quetzaltenango
Guatemala

I can't wait to go forth and serve! See you all in 18 :)
Sister Gibson