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