Re: Buenos Dias!

Buenos Dias everyone! This week has been a very good and interesting week! Being zone leaders has already started taking its toll on me and Elder Johnson. And we've only been official zone leaders for about 24 hours! But we have to be the ones to go around and say goodnight to everyone, make sure no one is roaming the halls after quiet time, and turn off all the lights. So we are usually out and about until 10:30 or 10:40! So that's going to be a task. But it's good seeing every Elder before we all go to bed, I know it helped me feel remembered and thought of when we were first here. So this week we were supposed to be getting a new district, but that got moved back a week! So me and Elder Johnson have a whole extra week to prepare for welcoming the new Elders. I think it's good, but I was also excited to do all the fun meetings with them and get to know them the first day! So I will keep you updated on that. But other than that, the responsibilities aren't much different from District Leader, except we go to the front desk 4 out of the 7 nights and call President Ricks and update him on the events of the day! And we're SO EXCITED about that part at least :) Because our zone leaders on the last night of their duty to call, Elder Russell M. Nelson walked right past them!! So we have two shots this week until Wednesday, so we're crossing our fingers :) But we'll be doing that and then we just have a higher level of authority, since District Leaders report to us. But other than that, it's not hard at all!

 

I'm glad Nathan gets to go to Scout Camp and NOT do anything. I think I would enjoy that so much more than if I had to go and do those classes. I'm glad I got my Eagle Scout and everything, don't get me wrong. But I never said I loved that place! There were good times but I'd just as soon go as a counselor or a help like Nathan! I hope they have a good time, that sounds like a really fun experience, and they can bond a little bit!

 

Again, I'm sorry about the letters! You are so much more faithful about writing me and I get behind and usually end up writitng back after I've received two letters from you or dad! It's not by choice, I just don't have a lot of time to write back even on P-days! :/ But I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed that lesson on the missionary work pillars. I thought that was way cool! Go ahead and use it for anything, I don't feel like a copy-right infringer since this is straight from a General Authority :)

 

Okay so Chris asked me and Jalen to meet him outside in the hall after the devotional Tuesday and we did, so he got pictures of the three of us! So if you want to talk to Sister Hall she could probably show you if he sends them home! But we are still planning on meeting this Tuesday possibly so me and Jalen can get pictures on our camera as well! And I know, I know, I'm sorry I haven't taken enough pictures :) We've just progressively become busier and busier and even temple walks aren't as relaxed and calm as they used to be. But I will get better pictures I promise. That will be one of my personal goals this week.

 

We have not met with the Argentine Consul yet. That is this next Monday. That's why we are worried about staying here extra weeks, since they can't get the visas until after that meeting, but after next Monday we still have about 2 and a half weeks. So in best case scenario, we could get our visas right on time and leave with the rest of our district! But that's absolutely best case scenario. I'm excited to leave here, but I would rather be leaving and going to Argentina! But I will do what I'm supposed to obviously! :) I'm just way stoked to get down there and start learning and growing.

 

I love all the talks we have here, all the speakers are amazing! Even when we all expected an Apostle last night and it turned out to be a Branch President and his wife. But they did an awesome job and I really enjoyed their talks. And then we watched the Character of Christ by David A. Bednar after for the movie. I really liked it! He is probably one of my favorite Apostles to listen to, not that I have a favorite! They are all wonderful speakers. I'm excited for General Conference in Argentina! It will be interesting but a really cool experience. I do miss Brother Delange as a teacher though! He was always one of my favorites, and I always enjoyed his lessons.

 

How come we haven't done any ward pool parties recently?? Oh well, I'm glad dad was able to talk to Ben and Jessica. I hope they are a little more open to things since three of their good friends are all on issions now. Hopefully Chris is keeping in contact with them too! They all sent me a combind Dear Elder that was about three sentences long, and it was pretty weird.. But other than that I haven't heard anything! Hpefully they had a nice little chat. If they aren't getting these emails, try and get their emails if you can! I'm sure they wouldn't mind a weekly email from a friend!

 

Well this week like I said has been interesting. There's some big shoes to fill after Elder Kevesdy and ELder Robinson did an absolutely astounding job at Zone Leaders. So we can hopefully measure up to them, if it's possible! We've been doing everyting we can to get these new Elders comfortable and settled in, and I can tell it's helping them, so at least we are doing something right! It was sad to lose Elder Hilton and Elder Roach from the 2nd to newest district this last Tuesday. I think it was this last Tuesday... I can't remember. But we've still gone and played soccer in the afternoons and my district and their district really enjoy that, and it's always a really fun time! And from now on, Tuesday mornings are beach volleyball time so we're going to do that with their district as well. Since the inside gym is closed due to the MP seminar, everyone has to go to the field or the free weights gym, so it's going to be a little crowded. Oh well, the more the merrier! (Except on the soccer field... those kids who don't know how to play the sports can be pretty rough sometimes.) But I have survived this long and I've been tripped and kicked and everthing! I'll try and be careful though. :) But you know me, every year and about every game I was just a foul magnet somehow. Maybe it's my long legs and clumsy balance :) But this next week is a "Special" Devotional, and no one here knows what they mean by special! So we're hoping to get someone big to come speak to us! But if not, that's okay. As I said, I enjoy all the speakers. But our schedule for the next 4 days is pretty wacked out. Everything is different because of the restrictions in 1M and how we can't go in there for anything. Or 18 and 19 M. But oh well, we'll figure it out. But I CANNOT BELIEVE June is pretty much over! Time is going by so fast, I like it but I also don't. I guess that"s life I suppose. But I'm way excited for next week too, with the 4th of July! Apparently our building is the best one to see the fireworks at BYU or Provo city go off, so maybe we'll get a good show :) We all tried to convince (jokingly of course. well I was joking, some of the others honestly probably weren't!) President Ricks to sneak us out to go see the show and then take us to dinner, and he was very funny about it but of course he has to refuse. Oh well! And the schedule for new missionaries next week is crazy too. They can't come in Wednesday, because it's a holiday, so they are coming in Thursday and we have to have all the same meetings we have planned for Wednesday and Thursday, but all on Thursday. So that's going to be a long night and probably pretty hectic. But that's okay, our coordinating sister does help out a bit too. Elder Johnson, since he can actually express himself in English, tends to go ON and ON and even further ON when he is talking to them, and I don't blame him! He's definitely frustrated about the difficulty of expressing how he feels, Because he really does have something good to say about everything. But I usually end up standing and watching and listening because well I'm not that much of a speaker. But the Hermanas ( President Ricks calls them perfect, apparently they're better at being obedient? Go figure! Sorry Mom and Kelly and all the other girls out there, you just have to be patient with us. We're guys :] ) are good at keeping things on task and on schedule. But I'm really excited to get the new district, yet scared that their wellbeing and welcome is completely on mine and Elder Johnson's shoulders. I will definteily be practing what I'm going to say, I don't want to mess this up! wELL MY TIME (whoops caps lock). My time is just about up, but I suppose I should tell you what would be nice in a package to be dropped off! Honestly, no more treats!!!! I have so many and I honestly think what I have now is going to be almost gone but not quite by the time I leave. But really seriously thank you all SO MUCH for all the care packages :) I am very comforted to be able to eat normal snacks along with our costco bought mass production food every meal :) I'm still trying to get it all down and make sure not to waste any of it! But if you are dropping off a package, could you just include some pringles ( I really need something salty!! and they just sound so good right now :) ) and maybe some more gold fish? Yeah those went fast. But other than that, just come up with anything honestly. I'm going to love it because it's a package and it's from the outside world and my family :) Use your imagination, even if it is hard! :) I love you Dad, Mom, Nathan and Kate. And I love the rest of you too! Too many names to put though :) And I miss you all! But I'm really enjoying my time here, and I'm way excited to be out in the field teaching and serving and helping other people find the blessings that I have had in my life in their own lives! I cannot wait to have those experiences, because I know they're going to strengthen me as well as them, and it's going to bless their lives forever. As David A. Bednar said in his talk last night, " The power of the atonement and is application in our life is not reserved for higher-up officials or members of the church only. It is for every righteous, faithful, enduring person and member that EARNS it and continually applies it in their life, always trying to better themselves." Now that's not exactly what he siad, but that is what I got out of it, and that's what matters! Just remember, no matter what hard trial or struggle we are facing, we will ALWAYS have the Savior there to turn to. He can be our best friend, and we need to make it that way and keep it that way because only He knows exactly what we are going through.

 

Elder Tyson Gibbons

 

P.S. I will try and write you all back as fast as I can, I promise! Don't get mad at me por favor!

Re: Hola again!

Buenos Dias familia y amigos!

 

Well we all are pretty tired of saying Hola to everyone as well, but when we asked what else to say, they said it's either hola, buenos dias, buenas tardes, or buenas noches. Maybe como le va? No se! So sorry if that limits your creativity!! This last week has been crazy. Lots of things to talk about. I feel like I am going to just talk about all this stuff going on here and you will all be mad that I don't comment on anything you told me, but there's just no way to answer all your questions and tell about EVERYTHING that goes on here, so I will answer letters if you absolutely need to know something! :) But I can answer these ones at least. I usually only see Chris on Sundays now, and I think he's doing alright. We haven't had a long sit down converstaion since that first sunday, but he seems to be adapting well enough. But I have not seen Jeff! Well I've seen the back of his head but he didn't see me and Jalen waving to him so I will try to talk to him next time. I think that will only be on Sundays as well. And I will ask him about his mother's recovery for sure!

 

Okay the visas. SO this is going to take a good while to explain. We had that meeting just before now where the visa agents from the travel office of the Church came and talked to us. They had a bunch of forms and had to get all our fingerprints as part of the applying for visas process.. And two weeks from now we have to have a personal visit with the Argentine Consul! So that will be exciting. But the bad news is that that meeting with the consul is MANDATORY before they can apply for our visas for the last time, so two weeks from now they can put in the final paperwork (I know what you are thinking, I was hoping us turning in our visa info way early would help. Apparently not! :/) So yeah, they said it takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks after they apply, so in two weeks from now we will have about 3 weeks until we're SUPPOSED to leave, but if we don't have our visas, we might end up staying here for another 2-4 weeks. Since tha'ts not long enough to be sent to another mission! So us five in this district have pretty good timing I think! I'm not looking forward to staying here ANY LONGER THAN NECESSARY but I would like to get straight to Argentina. There were some districts that were actually supposed to leave this next monday! But since the consul meeting is the Tuesday, and they can't apply for visas until that meeting, they will all for sure be sent somewhere stateside for a transfer before their visas come. I'm crossing my fingers and praying we won't have to do that! But Argentina is WAAAAAAAAYYYY behind on their visa work, so if it happens, then it happens, and I will serve in any country I may be in. But I'm still hoping of course :) So yes, that is the news on the visas! I think we all got pretty lucky with our timing, it will just be sad if our half of our district going to NEw Jersey heads out on schedule and we have to say bye to them. :/ oh well. We'll miss them, but we all plan on keeping in touch.

 

This past week has just flown by! We got to yesterday and Sacrament meeting and Priesthood meeting and it felt like we were literally in that room the day before. It's so weird how time passes here, when there's nothing distracting except the people around you, and occasionally a car honking outside as they drive by! (Jason, I'm just assuming it was you! I'll keep listening ) Anyway, so the weather is getting way nice. Really hot sometimes but we've gone to the field at our 6:30 gym time and it's perfect, as the sun is coming up over the mountains. I love it! And it's fun to be the only district there and throw a frisbee or play ladder golf (which i COMPLETELY DOMINATED at :) ) not to be prideful or anything, because everyone else in my district has at least two things that they are better than me at. So that is good to keep me from being prideful. It's crazy all that we have learned this past week as well. Hermano Snyder had a busy week so we didn't see him at all this last week which was sad! But we loved all the substitutes we had, so I think it went okay :) Hermano Stewart, Hermano Voss, Hermano Dushku, yeah they are all the best :) But I am way excited to see Hermano Snyder again tomorrow. He brightens our day any time we see him. That''s definitely a blessing here! As days tend to get dull after oh probably 4 weeks (almost 5!) of doing the same thing :D But things are going good. Any issues our district has had are starting to be improved and resolved, and I don't take any credit for it being District Leader, because I don't feel like I did all that much, just encouraged!

 

Oh and about District Leader, yeah I did a really bad job apparently. I don't know what I didn't do that I was supposed to, or what i did do that I wasn't supposed to, but yesterday I was released as District Leader! Definitely humbling........................................................ :) But yeah, I guess I am Zone Leader in training now so I think maybe I did something right! haha sorry if I scared any of you. Me and Elder Johnson are REALLY humbled to be called to the most responsible calling here that a missionary can attain, and still with about 4 weeks left! We were expecting a break! :/ Apparently we still need to learn how to work harder, maybe one reason we were called to be the new Zone Leaders until we leave. So that will be fun. All those things I've said about learning to love my district as District Leader, well now I've got another 18 missionaries to love! Apparently I have a lack of love and compassion for my fellow man, and that is one reason I'm now in this postition. So we attended probably 4 meetings yesterday and it was a really long day! But we are both excited to be the best we can be, and get to know everyone even more, and plus we get to have some part in making the new misisonaries for the next two weeks feel welcome! My zone leaders were definitely one of the main reasons I felt comfortable here the first couple nights, so Me and Elder Johnson are going to do our best to make them feel welcome and try and break any tension they may have. We have to role play a bad example of companionship inventory (ask Dad about it, it's too long to explain) to break any tension, because that was honestly the first time I laughed since I got here, and that's a whole day in! So we're planning on really helping them open up and enjoy their time here. :) I love 'em already!!! This wil be tough, lots more to do every day, but it will be worth it.

 

We've played soccer as a district for the last two weeks on the gym times in the afternoon, and that has always been really fun. Elder Waite (most of you have probably seen him, he's a pretty small guy) was tearing it up wearing his Aviators the last couple times, so now whenever he stops the ball or defends well we all scream "Waite, SMASH!" (reference to the Avengers, if you haven't seen it, DO IT. It's worth it. Sorry, not getting distracted or antyhing!) He's not quite the Hulk, but it's really funny to just go out there, run your heart out, and have a fun time. I enjoy playing defense and defending Elder Hardy in the goal, last time was very fun. They scored about 6 goals in the first 10 minutes, then I decided to play defense, and they didn't score or get close for the last 40 minutes! Me and Elder Hardy were just having a blast. Oh and Elder Romrell too! You know how he broke his hand? Well, he played soccer and basketball one handed and still schooled everyone (He's so good. He could play for college) But this last week a different trainer came and told him hey sorry. You can't play soccer or basketball of four square or volleyball or anything. So he was way upset. So he sat at the goal and chucked aerated dirt clogs at me the whole time I was defending. The nerve! haha just kidding. I feel really bad for him. Sports are his life. (apart from our daily life here of course :) )

So last night Sheri Dew, not sure what her position is but she's very high up in Deseret Industries, came and talked to us. She was AWESOME. She wasn't a normal talk given by like the President of Relief Society (nothing wrong with those! Don't think that. They're just sweet and nice :D) Sister Dew was in our faces! It was intense. but she talked about spiritual gifts and their role in missionary work. I thougth it was probably the second best or third best talk I've heard since I've been here. I'm really going to miss the Sunday and Tuesday devotionals! But hey, if I'm here for another 3 weeks past my due date, I have a better chance of hearing an Apostle possibly. Just thought of that!

Awesome :) So I am content. She talked about the role of prayer, and how by that simple act of humbling ourselves to God and speaking with him, we can receive answers, promptings, knowledge, help, strength, courage, whatever it is you name it! And even spiritual gifts, but those are the ones that you need to pray for in order to receive, and you need to have the right intent while praying. God will not bless us with these if we don't intend to actually USE them! Our district prays for el don de lenguas almost every calss period, but we are going to be using it for two years, and we have definitely seen some divine help there, as long as we do absolutely EVERYTHING that we can and then ask for a little more help to reach our goals. I really enjoyed her talk! And I wish we had been in the gym instead of the over flow! Me and Elder johnosn were in a zone leader training meeting until 6:40 and by that time, there are no seats left. So that was disappointing. But then we got front row seats to the movie, and we saw Mountain of the Lord. That was a really good movie! I really really really really want to visit the Salt Lake Temple again, and maybe go inside! Someday, we'll see :) It was just amazing the story behind that amazing building. It's definitely one of my favorite temples!

 

Oh dear. I sent Kelly a letter on Thursday night, hopefully she got it before she left to come down here? Well if not she'll get it eventually. No don't worry, you didn't ruin any surprises! I have been excited about today's mail since Friday night :) Since we only get mail on Saturday morning and none comes that afternooon! You'd be surprised how hard it is to not get mail for a day and a half. but I manage just fine :) Thank you all who have written me by the way! If I haven't answered I am sorry, I get as many as I can done every p day! So today I'll be writing a lot. I'm really behind though and I feel bad. So sorry! But Dad I am glad you got my letter, I forgot to write Don't Open Until Sunday on it, so sorry if you opended it on like Tuesday! Well I need to get going, but it's great to know all the fun things that are going on at home! I would comment on all of them, but I just don't have time!! But thank you so much for the pictures!!! :)  It's nice to have pictures from the outside world (*COUGH HINT*) so send any you want! :) I'm glad the fundraiser went well, and I hope the three of you who got pies in the face are doing okay now. Nathan and Kate, hopfeuly you weren't too rough on Dad. And Dad, well you wouldn't hurt a fly so I'm sure Sarah and Lynn are fine :) haha that's a joke, don't worry. You could beat me up for sure. I would need Jalen and Nathan with me to maybe take you on. Happy Fathers Day again! I hope it went wonderfully. I can't wait till next week and hopefully I'll have some more news on the circumstance concerning what I will be doing instead of leaving the MTC! If not next week, then the week after! I love you all! Things are going great here however so don't worry about me. Just keep doing what you're doing, and enjoy your time! It really flies by fast, so don't waste it.

 

Elder Tyson Gibbons

 

Oh and P.S. Kelly I need your new address!

Re: Hola!

Hi mom! I can't belive it's been almost a month either! It's crazy. But I'm still so stoked to get out and start learning all about the Argentine culture! I'll glady stay here for another five weeks to get mail all the time and eat enough food and learn more Spanish, but after five more weeks I'm going to be kicking and screaming to get out of here! I saw Chris on Wednesday not even ten minutes after he got here! Which was good. I think it was a comfort for him, he looked pretty lost and dazed to be honest! Poor guy. I had a chance to see him every meal yesterday though. I ate dinner with him last night and we just talked about all that's happened and what he's going to be experiencing for the next few weeks! I feel so old and advanced knowing all this extra stuff. Yet I'm only in the middle of my time here! He's not in either of our zones unfortunately. But he has a good companion and I think he'll survive. I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures! I'll make sure to get more when I can, different things probably, there's only so many pictures with districts and companions that you can take at the temple or here on campus.I forgot about the baby shower! I hope it went really well! That sounds like a blast having all those friends and family there! and I'm really glad Kelly and Tammy were there too. Hopefully they weren't overwhelmed by the Gibbons! All together we can be a rowdy bunch no doubt! But all in a good way of course :) It really snowed on them at the father-son campout???  That is ridiculous. We've had freezing days here in the middle of June but nothing terrible! Really windy though. It feels like home sometimes! I'm glad all the cousins get to spend some fun time camping and everything with each other like that. I was super glad when us Tres Primos went to the Jamboree with Chris! That was a really fun time.

 

Wow that's crazy that there is a mormon message about Ogaards' cousin! And Natalie Bush was in it? That's crazy. What a small world! I had forgotten that Bishop Youth Council or whatever they are had been called firesides previously. I was about to wonder why I had never attended one of those?? I hope it went well. That sounds a lot like the fireside we had last night! Stephen B. Allen (the guy I told you about before) came back again and had probably 15-20 old Mormon commercials from some series called homefront. And he showed us all of them and talked about each one. Probably one of the coolest firesides I've ever attended for sure! And afterwards we stayed and watched the Testaments movie. Gets me to tear up every time! But the rest of the Elders in my district did too so I didn't feel so awkward. Good movie, I recommend it for whoever hasn't seen it! ;)

 

Dad told me about the church schedule, and that sounds like a very awkward talk (on dating) for a 13 year old indeed! And the fact that Blake had just come home from his mission and it was about marriage and dating makes it all the better! Too bad I wasn't there. Oh well. There are plenty of good talks and speakers here to cover me for 2 years I think :) And I'm glad Kate has someone to enjoy shopping with! I enjoy shopping every once in a while but it's true, it's much nicer to go with friends than parents who don't want to be there (no offense intended!).

 

I'm glad to hear you are having missionary opportunites! And I'm glad you have been treating the missionaries to food and thing every once in a while. Hermano Robinson, one of the teachers in the zone who doesn't have a district right now actually served in Mendoza so we had an appointment with him and he told us all about it! So yeah, that was really cool. And he said during his mission he ate at a member's house every night! So keep feeding them :) and hopefully they'll feed us! If we get our visas anyway. Fingers crossed!

 

Good, i'm glad you're inviting Kelly over for dinner before she goes! It's going to be even weirder having her five minutes away for the next 4 weeks or so. Oh well, hopefully I don't run into her on the way to the temple or anything. That would be pretty tough.. Elder Christensen in my district ran into his mom in the temple, since he lives five minutes away. I don't know if I'd be able to handle a situation like that. Anyway, I should probably get going! I hope all is well on the homefront! Keep looking for opportunities to talk to people and thank you so much for your prayers. Some days are hard but I've gotten through them all so far! Only 23 months to go. Wow that sounds weird to say! But I'm so excited for those next 23 months! Miss you all but again don't worry about me. I've got plenty of help here and for the next 2 years and I'm grateful to be here serving and sacrificing my time and my hobbies to be serving the Lord.

 

Elder Tyson Gibbons

June already

Hola! I can't belive it's June already, let alone June 5!! We keep thinking all during the day how long it seems we've been in here, but every night as we go to bed we just think Wow, its already been three weeks! (Almost anyway :) ) It's crazy. And Chris comes in tomorrow! That's what I'm super excited for tomorrow. Hopefully I can see him, but I didn't see Alex until about a week after he got here. Oh well I'll make sure to be looking for him! Alex said that his zone was getting a district going to Carlsbad speaking Spanish, so me and Jalen and him all think he'll have Chris in his district! That would be good for Chris. Alex seems to be doing well here so that is good news too. Haha I can picture Chris using that reasoning with his mom, to convince her to bear her testimony. I bet she is very sad and excited for Chris, seeing as he he is the last one! I wish them all luck today as the last day together! I know ours was pretty fun :) Kelly was wearing her mionion shirt??? Good I'm glad!!! She needs to send me a picture of her wearing it because we didn't get one together before I left! Well wait, Kelly you will read this, so send me a picture in your minion shirt! :) haha.

 

Anyway,  I was just in my classroom emailing you guys because yesterday was so busy and I didn't get much time so I didn't email. Sorry if you were worried!! But in the middle of this email the fire alarm in our building went off, so I just spent the last 5 minutes outside not knowing if it was a drill or some immature missionary who was dared to pull the fire alarm. Who knows? Guess we'll find out if the fire department shows up! Haha anyway, that was pretty exciting! It's a beautiful day.

 

I think that's awesome you are doing that missionary challenge! It's pretty comforting knowing my family is trying to do missionary work along with me! Although right now it's more focused on learning Spanish and teaching with the Spirit to my "investigators" and you guys can just speak English :) lucky! Count your blessings! But I am blessed to be learning Spanish as well, since I took so many years of it. I am very grateful!

 

Well the food isn't too bad, I haven't had any problems really, besides a constantly grumbling stomach since sometimes the food just isn't good, so I end up being hungry, especially if it's the dinner that's no buena. I am getting to bed on time everynight, but falling asleep is what takes another 30 minutes usually! So I am in bed and out of bed and in my room when I'm supposed to be (our Branch PResidency has us doing a 7-7-7 thing where we put our accomplishments of getting to bed at 1030, getting in the room at 1015, and waking up at 630, and we report it every week, hence the 7) and sorry that schedule was pretty much backwards haha :) but you get the idea. I'm 100% on that just like most of our district. I just someimtes lay there and think about everything. Literally EVERYTHING. And eventually that wears me out enough that I finally pass out. It's getting better though! I've only woken up about two times a night recently instead of many many times. So hopefuly it keeps improving! But I haven't dreamed in Spanish yet :/ Some of our Elders have slept talked in Spanish, which I think is hilarious! So it's good for them. I think in Spanish about everyting I try to say before I say it in English, but there's a lot of times I just have to switch to English. But today is All-Spanish day, so no English unless absolutely necessary! I hope we do this a lot more often. It's going to help a lot I feel.

 

Anyway, exciting day today! The devotional is tonight and who knows, it could be an Apostle this time! Haha but I won't get my hopes up to be disappointed. But every speaker that has come so far has been awesome. We, well at least me and Elder Johnson, love the devotionals and firesides, it's the 3 hours of class then two hours of study time (twice a day, almost every day haha) that sap us most! But we're making it through, no matter how rough! But today in gym Elder Romrell apparently broke his finger playing basketball so he's been gone for the last 3 hours, and none of us have seen him or Elder Hardy (who felt responsible for breaking it, since he smacked him or something) so they've been gone and we're starting to get a ltitle worried! Hopefully everything will be okay and we're all praying that he won't be like Elder Harmon, who stayed an extra 8 weeks when he punched a door and broke his fingers 3 days before he was supposed to leave. Haha hopefully the next 6 weeks are long enough to heal! So that was an exciting morning.

 

Its been a very interesting day so far. Can't wait for the next half of it! Only 12 more hours :/ haha That seems like so long saying it like that but it's really not that long! It's going to breeze by. Yes our district got the new Elders and Hermanas. They all seem to be adjusting pretty well, and they're all very nice. One of them is from Samoa so he bore his testimony in Samoan on Sunday, that was way cool! So now he gets to learn a third language. I have to respect people like that. I'm only learning a second language and it's tough enough for me! Oh and yes, I got the package from Jill and Jason and from you guys! So thank you very much!! I love seeing that blue or pink slip in the mailbox with my name on it. It means I have a package! It's a good feeling, you have no idea! Well you missionaries do, but yeah! its the best :) I have not seen the Elders that greeted us three weeks ago since. I think they might be long gone by now, but I've always looked for them! I hope they are doing well. This last week on sunday Dr. Donald Doty, head of health services for missionaries, talked along with his wife, and he talked about the life and ministry and health miracles of Jesus Christ. That was a good talk! And last Tuesday it was Elder Zwick from one of the 70's Quorums and he was really cool! I don't have my notebook with me though so I do not remember everything he talked about. But this last Sunday as well as Dr. Doty, President Brown and President McHiff spoke along with their wives, and they were very interesting talks! President Brown talked about our two names that we are representing as we go out into the mission field, Elder Gibbons and Jesus Christ (Jesucristo for me anyway:)) and he said that what we do and say and act and think all goes towards how our name is remembered by those that see us, even if we don't know if they see us. And just like President Ricks said in his testimony this last sunday, we're also being watched by people that have passed on, so that's some more support and encouragement! But President Borwn spoke about a missionary while he was a mission president that was not very obedient. One day his mom called President Brown and immediately asked " Is my son an obedient missionary?" and he didn't want to answer that so he said "he is a fine young man..." And she said "be honest, I want to know. Beacuse he has sent home pictures of him in his swimsuit, swimming, running around on the shore, not something I thought missionaries were supposed to do" and ever since that phone call, President Brown CAN NOT remember that Elder's name, because it is forever engraved in his mind as Elder Swimsuit. So he challenged us to not be an Elder Swimsuit! And I plan on being the exact opposite, beacuse if I ask for a letter of recomendation from my Mission President or somewhere else, I want them to be able to say that Elder Gibbons was hard working, dedicated, and a great addition to the mission. So I took that very personally, but I think that applies to everyone not just missionaries. It can happen to any of you as well! Make sure you're not remembered as "that" person or "this" person or Swimsuit guy or something. Give everyone who is watching a reason to remember you in the best way possible! There's my little thought for this week. I really enjoyed that talk.

 

I hope Abby's baptism was very fun! It is weird to think that the next major family gathering will be when Logan gets home! I can't help but think every once in a while about how awesome that is going to be to get home and have everyone there to greet us. Wishful thinking, since it's only been threee weeks! Don't worry I'm not getting super homesick or wish I was going home already :) It's only just begun, and I haven't even experienced Argentine food yet! I have to at least do that :D

 

Well good luck Nathan and Kate with all your many sports camps and activities! Live it all up, I only played soccer and I love that more than anything, but I do wish I had at least messed around and played other sports more, because I only have two opportunites a week to play soccer, and I have to convince my companion who has never played soccer to come with, so I end up playing basketball (like this morning, and I got elbowed in the face a couple times haha). Yeah, enjoy all the different sports! It will help you out here Nathan! You could school everyone here if you push yourself and work hard to be the best. Well I should probably get going! Hopefully you don't hate me for not sending my email yesterday! I felt terrible when I realized again last night in bed that I hadn't emailed back! So I apologize! But I love and miss all of you! Keep doing what you're doing, and remember who you are, and remember to leave good impressions, because you never know when someone is watching you!

 

Elder Tyson Gibbons