Hola! :)

Buenos días todo, ¿cómo andan?

 

I´ll start off first saying that I was hoping to get pictures on this email, but as of right now, the program isn´t working so... Sorry if it doesn´t work out by the time I´m done for this week! Hopefully it will. It's just hard when this camara has to install its own little program to do anything at all. Oh well! Guess we´ll see eh?

 

So, this week was a lot better than the previous! We got a lot of work done! Of course there´s still a ton we can improve on, I don´t think I´ll ever have a week where that's not true, but it was a very good week nonetheless. We found yet more people we want to teach and have set return appointments, but every time we went back they were doing something else. People here just don´t have a set schedule so it's usually by luck if you find them and can get in and teach. Oh well. That's just one of the special things about this area. We had a really good week and got a bunch of less active families to commit to coming to church! And then... none of them came, even when we walked 30 minutes before church to knock on their door and walk with them. That was the only annoying thing really. We left at 8 and got there at 8:30-ish and knocked on their door for 20 minutes. At B___'s house, we had committed her, her sobrina and another friend to all come and we were all going together, then B___ didn´t answer her door after we knocked for 20 minutes straight. It was pretty frustrating. And we got in with the F___ family for the first time these two transfers, and we felt really solid about them. They wanted to return and get their kids baptized and everything. They´re a very family oriented family, if that makes sense. We got in there and asked them what we could do to help them, and all they said was "help reactivate us," so... yeah we were pretty excited. Haha no one does that! So we gave them all the folletos and a Book of Mormon and were expecting them yesterday. But even they didn´t come. We were pretty disappointed, to say the least. It´s only because people have to walk so far, that's why people who came before don´t come anymore. I dunno what we can really do to help with that, any suggestions?

 

Anyway, we still had a lot of good lessons with a lot of less actives and some new people as well, so it worked out very well. It shows how much planning helps!! This last week was the first time we were able to have a good weekly planning session due to the Mendoza and San Luis trips and the guys being there for a week fixing things. So now that we recognize how it helps, it's going to happen in the future no matter what. Planning makes things go smoother! Not just on the mission either, that's for sure.

 

Anyway, Saturday we went and helped the Alaniz family with their garden. Since grass doesn´t really exist down here, they dug up a big square of the dirt and we basically sifted it through and took out all the weeds and then sifted it again as we filled in the square. It was really repetitious work, but it was fun! Mom, I´m sorry I didn´t help with pulling weeds or anything a lot before now. I´ll help when I get back! Anyway, we were there all morning and then they fed us, so we ate with their whole family including their daughter who is at college in San Luis. It's nice to have a family that actually likes us missionaries and always lets us in of course. With door after door not opening usually or getting shut in our faces, it's a huge relief. And what's more, they were really grateful that we actually knew what we were doing haha. It took us a few hours to do it right, so they said they´ll always remember us, Elder Day and Elder Gibbons. Except they can never remember my name, it's too difficult haha. Then President asked us if we wanted a ride back to the church, and we told him that we were just going to go out and work now, and he and his wife were awestruck, so that made us feel good too :)

 

Anyway, other than all that, we had some good experiences this week. For me, I had my first chance to speak in church since Mother´s Day almost 6 months ago (holy cow, how has it been 6 months???) and I hope it went well. I definitely had some divine help, because I spoke a LOT better than I normally do, when I do talk. And all the men told me I did really good, and Julián told me that if I make all my talks or lessons like that or better my whole mission, I´d go home satisfied. So that was very encouraging! Hopefully I can make it better, because I didn´t feel like it was all that great.

 

I sent my letters last Monday, so hopefully they get there this week, fast just like last time! Sorry it takes me forever to write back. I apologize! And I thank you for any letters I do get. I haven´t received the packages yet, but we´re having zone conference this Thursday, so hopefully I get the one at least! That would be awesome. :) There´s nothing like mail to keep a missionary working hard. And we have a mission-wide Christmas party in November, so don´t worry Mom, I think it will all work out no matter what. :) Hmmm Kenzie got me something already?? Wow she´s on the ball! And I found a couple things for Harrison. I bought them from a Hermana Z___, she makes them and sells them. So I bought him something. But you should get him something as well. There´s really not anything here sadly :/ I´m excited for the Christmas party though, and that transfer, although I´ll probably still be here in Justo Daract, so I´m going to have to find somehwere to go to be able to Skype. We´ll figure it out. Anyway, I´ll have to make my Skype account for the mission this next month and let you know so you can add it. Are you just going to use mine on my computer for you guys and I´ll just make another one? That should work. I´ll let you know about that.

 

Alright, well the picture thing isn´t working, it's being dumb. So I guess when I send a package home probably this next month I´ll include this SD card! It makes it pretty hard, but hey, at least you get to see some of my life down here for the last 2 months! Or I guess 3, since by the time you get it it will have been that long haha.

 

Well the summer ya viene, I´m not super excited! I hate being sweaty and gross, but that's just the life here. It's going to be weird being in summer right now, but oh well, it will be normal after a couple months.

 

This is unusual, but I don´t really have anything else to mention. Just three more weeks in this transfer, it's so crazy. We hope to make it a great three weeks, like this last week we had. I can´t believe it's been 6 months almost. Only a little less than 3 weeks. And Halloween is Wednesday!! Whoo hoo!!! They don´t celebrate it down here really, but I guess the little kids dress up and go to all the kiosco´s who give out little candies or something like that. But I guess they go to the panedería and they get like facturas and everything!! That's so much better than a bunch of candy!! Haha me and Elder Day are going to dress up and go around too ;) just kidding. But we told the Z___ family that when we go home we´re going to dress up as missionaries and go around asking for candy. And they just laughed and said something very true, that no one would give us anything and send us away because they aren´t interested. So we might have to rethink that plan... oh well. :) Happy Halloween all of you! Enjoy it, eat lots of American candy, and think of me while you´re doing it, down here surviving on the bare minimum and no American candy. :D But it's true, their candy just isn´t the same down here. It's all flavored like cough drops, because cough drops are basically the most popular "candy" down here. It's kinda weird... oh well. I´ll get used to menthol flavored tootsie rolls and starbursts eventually!

 

Also before I end, congratulations to Kate for making it in the musical play thing! That's awesome, you´ll do great. And Nathan, that's still awesome that you´ll have Chris as your coach if you make it. And to be honest, I don´t know why you wouldn´t, you´re taller than anyone else by far. But if you don´t, then you can hopefully be in the play too! Or both even, just make the best of whatever happens! And Mom and Dad, enjoy the temple tour! I bet it's pretty intimidating having to represent the church so perfectly yet with limited information, but just tell it how you know it is, and testimony is always the easiest thing to say! :) Trust me, I think I can relate to you in that aspect at the moment. That will be a great experience. And Dad hopefully you get to be more than an usher haha.

 

Well, now I do have one thing interesting to say. I was about to finish this email when the power went out and we got hit with a huge rain/wind storm. So we sat in the cyber for 30 minutes waiting and the power didn´t come back, so we went home after buying some vegetables for lunch--haha Mom I hope you´re proud of me. I´ve probably eaten more vegetables while I´ve been here than I ever ate for the last 4 years.  But I still won´t complain! At least I´m not starving since we can´t buy good tortillas or cheese very often, so there goes my idea of making quesadillas a lot like we did in college :/ Makes it rough for sure.

 

Anyway, it's still really windy but the skies are clear and blue without a cloud in sight. So I´m finally sending this email 4 hours later! Sorry if it freaked anyone out. I was worried I´d have to do it tomorrow, or in worst case scenario, next week. Thankfully not! Anyway, the rest of this p-day will just be the normal stuff. Except I´ll only be able to wash enough clothes for the next 5 or 6 days. It takes a long time to do more, and with two of us, it would take all p-day basically. So oh well. The disasters of having only a moshy-washy. Hahaha I´ll just have a great love for machines when I get back!

 

Well now I can officially end this email, since the screen is flickering on and off and shutting down. :) So again, I hope all continues to go well or even better for everyone! If it's not, figure out why and fix it :D A lot of the time we have some decent control over it, if we´re down or having a hard time, we just have to figure out how to change our perspective. I have done A LOT of that the last few weeks, if my emails haven´t made that clear haha. So I know it's possible! I´m not just preaching my own doctrine.

 

Again, Happy Halloween on Wednesday! I´ll be thinking of all of you as I see the little kids all walking around as zombies or dead people, since that's the cheapest and easiest thing to do down here. Flour and black paint hahaha so yeah, enjoy!

 

One last quote from Elder Oaks from the conference in April that I used in my talk, and that I remember hearing in one of the devotionals in the MTC but can´t find where I wrote it. Thank goodness for Apostles eh?? "A religion that doesn´t require the sacrifice of all things will never have the power to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation" And if I may add my own insight on that and change it just a little bit, "A life that doesn´t require the sacrifice of all things, time, money, effort, hobbies, interests, whatever it be, will never have the power to produce the faith or knowledge enough to be ready for the life to come." That's completely my own thought about it, but if there is ONE thing I´ve learned in these last 5 and a half months, it has been the necessity of sacrifice. Of lots of things. I´m here for two years sacrificing my time most of all, my time with family, with the people I love, my friends, my studying, my hobbies, basically my entire life as it was before. And I´m here living and doing what I have to do to serve the Savior and be a worthy representative of Jesus Christ in every aspect of my living, even if before there were things that weren´t bad, but weren´t representing my beliefs. It's a huge sacrifice. Yet I don´t see it that way, if I did, it would be too intimidating and I wouldn´t be here still. I understand the importance of sacrifice, and more important, the blessings that come when we sacrifice something that isn´t necessary in our lives, even if it's something we enjoy, to more closely follow the teachings and principles of the Gospel. So what I say is, bring on the sacrifice! Because whatever it may be, whatever challenges it may include, I know that I´ll come out in the end better if I do everything I know is right and trust in the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, and don´t succumb to the small yet insignificant struggles that may be included. Whenever we compare the sacrifices we make to the blessings we receive when we overcome them, not even just the joy we feel when they are over, we notice that the sacrifice was absolutely nothing compared to the joy and happiness that we feel now that it's done, and that we´ve learned so many new things that will help shape our lives for the rest of our time here. I know that's true. Not just for me either, for any of you reading this as well. Sometimes we get focused on other things that may not be as important as what we should be doing. I had plenty of those before my mission, and still have some while out here, it's a constant struggle! But if you will try as hard as you can to point yourself in the right direction, using whatever may be necessary as help, you can do it. That's why we are constantly told to pray. To read the scriptures. To study and ponder the word of God. To follow the commandments and laws of the gospel. All these "sacrifices" turn out in the end to be just the catalyst for the never-ending improvement that comes after we have learned what we needed to and done what was needed to be done. Don´t delay any change if that is something that you may be struggling with! It's so much better to change as soon as possible, and you will be all the happier for doing it! I´ve seen it change people´s lives while serving, and I´ve also seen the opposite when they don´t. Please, take the better option!!! It's just better. I don´t know how else to put it.

 

Keep on smiling, and doing everything you can to always be the best YOU there is. It's a daily goal that turns into a lifetime of improvement and change, but think of how great we can be after a lifetime of days of improvement! Sounds great doesn´t it? :) Makes me wish that my mission was longer than two short years. I feel like I could ipmrove myself a LOT. I still have time, we´ll see how well I take advantage of it.

 

I love you all and hope this week is the best week you´ve had for a while! It will be if you make it. Another quote from the movie "Invictus," I don´t remember it all, but I remember these two lines: "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

Your humble hijo, amigo, y siervo,

Elder Tyson David Gibbons

Chau!

¡Hola todos! ¿Como andan?

This week I have to admit that it's pretty easy to believe it's been a week. Its been a LONG one, too haha. Always plenty of surprises, and it's just been an interesting week. Sorry I say that every week huh? So to answer your question Dad, yes we traveled again this week. Thankfully only to San Luis for a zone capacitación, but that's still three hours on a bus, and we had to take the 6 bus, so we woke up at 5. And we didn´t get to shower. The guys fixing the church (I´m going to refer to them as the guys, because they´ll come up later :D trust me) had turned off the water or something. So that was a long trip, we felt disgusting. Other than that, the week was normal however. Well normal schedule, but still pretty crazy. We finally found Yamila again on Saturday, and found out she´s moving permanently to Villa Mercedes. So we had to send one of our golden investigators to the Elders in Villa :/ we were bummed. But it's okay, she´ll still get the chance! It's just frustrating because we were finally seeing potential here. And we haven´t got in with the Tolaba family again, which is probably alright since they tend to talk most of the time. and we´re really trying to teach lessons, because we haven´t been teaching nearly enough, so we literally feeled spiritually drained. The good lessons where people understand and the spirit is strong really fill your spiritual meter back up. And we´ve been seriously lacking those. We´ve spent the last week walking back and forth across town, one day in blistering heat and the next in the rain (the weather is worse than Utah, ¡¿que tal?! ) and no one has let us in, except a few random visits. It's, well, frustrating haha but we know we just have to keep on working. There´s a reason this is happening, and we want to figure it out and fix it. So we just keep going, don´t worry :) the problem is probably on our part, which calls for plenty of praying, changing things, repenting, and asking for forgiveness.

 

But that leads me to a quote that I heard last night on one of the talks that we downloaded. Again, it's from Elder Holland, the same talk as the other quote was from, but it's a different statement. "Surely, the thing God enjoys most about being God, is the thrill of being merciful." Maybe things are going rough here because of little things me and Elder Day are neglecting, and although we don´t deserve it all the time, God still gives us the little things each day that keep us going, whether it's a short visit with someone after walking for hours, or something one of us says to lighten the mood and dispel the frustration and disappointment, or whatever it may be. That is for sure Him being merciful. We as missionaries are supposed to be the best examples, supposed to be representatives of our Savior Jesus Christ in all that we do and say. But we are still mortal. To continue on from Elder Holland, "Mortals will always struggle to measure up to the immortal hopes placed before them." That hit me more than anything from that talk because, well that is talking directly about me. I am just a mortal, and I´m definitely struggling to measure up to all I am supposed to be, I have been my whole life. And that's why his other statement hit me even harder, because I felt like a failure, and then as Elder Holland always does, he gives hope. He said that Surely God loves being merciful, and I felt so much better, it helped me focus on the small things that have kept me going instead of the big things that were holding me down at the moment. It's just a great relief to know that God loves being merciful, "to those who don´t expect it, and especially to those who feel they don´t deserve it." I don´t know which one of those I fall under right now, but either way, I am so grateful for the small things that have kept me going even through the rough times.

 

Anyway, to go to a happier note, yes Mom I could definitely agree that us Elders still need moms, because things don´t always work out as great as it could be :) Hermana Ávila does a great job, but she can´t pay attention to 200 missionaries at once, which makes me very grateful for Hermana Alaniz here in Justo Daract. She takes very good care of us, and she understands things to a depth that isn´t seen much here. She´s definitely becoming the same "mom" that those other elders have talked about in their blogs. I don´t know what we´d do without her honestly.

 

So the guys left Thursday morning, and left the place a pretty big mess. They cleaned some stuff, but not very thoroughly. So we did a lot of cleaning, and no thankfully they didn´t take anything. Although they did use basically EVERTYHING in our pantry and fridge. Remember how I told you I spent a ton of money at Carrefour to hopefully last me this transfer with milk and snacks??... Yeah that's all gone already. They drank all our milk and everything. We were pretty flabbergastered at that, for lack of a better word. But oh well, we just figured we´d ration our money out better and keep going for the next two weeks until we get next month´s amount. Since we traveled so much, we ´ve been pretty low on money, and it doesn´t help that we have to use cash everywhere here in Justo. But I just got the email today and they finally gave us our reembolsos for the trips and everything, so I´m doing just fine now. :)

 

But yes, the guys left and the place looks way better. SO much better. It's all yellow which is a weird color for a church, but they fixed the heaters, the sink, cleaned a lot of things up, and painted everything. So they did a good job. They painted our room too, which was GREAT. Our room hasn´t been painted or anything for years, and after having just missionaries, yeah you can imagine what it looked like. So that all turned out well! We were just short on food after that haha.

 

Wow, Christmas is coming up. It's so wrong, it's getting hotter here haha. I don´t like that. I´m going to love Christmas all the more when I get back! I´m going to Temple Square and everything :) Alright I have Harrison... I´ll think this next week and decide. Because to be honest, if I was in a different area I´d get him something from Argentina. But there isn´t anything here or in Villa mercedes... but I will think about it and let you know! Either way, he´ll get something for Christmas, it's the present that counts ;P Just kidding, it's the thought.

 

Wow, DJ is home already?? That is so WEIRD: I can´t even tell you how blown away I was to think Logan will be home in about 7 months. I´ll have a year by then, too. What the heck. I know I'm going to feel the same as DJ: I think I´ll take his example and carry the nametag around with me. I already am so used to having it there always, and it's comforting. I can´t imagine what life is like without it anymore, without the calling, the responsibility, the duty of representing the names on that tag... Man it's just weird. I am SO glad I still have a year and a half to make the most of my time. And Dad are you really telling me that Nathan is only an inch shorter than DJ? Well that settles it, he´s passed me up for sure. And it sounds like Kate is getting there too. WOW.... that kinda stinks hahaha. Oh well, that's still cool :)

 

It's funny you mentioned talking to Tammie (I feel weird saying that) Sis. Robins about the age change for missions, because that was something that I started thinking of this week too! I already told you I was wondering if like Sydney or Cara or anyone would go, but for some reason I just passed over Kelly just because she is in school or something, I don´t really know why. But it still is an option for her too! And I think either way that would be awesome!! I´ve always wanted my friends to know what it's like when our family has gone on a cool trip, and since I left for here I´ve thought about how cool it would be for my friends to just feel what it's like doing what I´m doing right now. And that is an option now! I have nothing against it, I hope a lot of my friends can experience this, I would recommend it for anyone who ponders and prays and feels like they should go! And it's funny how accurate she was telling her what Dad´s thoughts would be, and yours. That's pretty much exactly right haha :)

 

I´m glad to hear all the good news, about the jury and Kate doing better and them auditioning and doing things that I would never have done back home. I'm glad they´re living up to greater expanses than I did! But I didn´t know that Mrs Gilbert had passed away :( That's really sad. I met her a couple times, and Kelly had her as a teacher. I understand why the school would be sad. A lot of things were happening my senior year to try and help her out. I´m sorry to hear that :/ Things like that always make me feel sad. However, after being out here teaching about the plan of salvation, I realize how much comfort that gives us for situations like that. I hope her family can keep going strong. I´ll remember her family in my prayers. And I´ll remember Nikki and Zach as well! I´m excited for them, I´m gonna have another cousin! whoo hoo! haha :) And yes Brian Buckner looks very happy in his engagement picture. I feel like I might have met that girl before, she looks familiar for some reason. Maybe she was with him sometime when I saw him at BYU: I don´t know! Congratulations to him too though. Now I´m just expecting one from Kyle too :P haha

 

Anyway, I should get going, the weather isn´t great and it's not getting any better and we still have to go buy some stuff, so yeah. Another exciting P-day, spent inside the church doing nothing. Haha how fun :) OH and before I forget, Happy Birthday Kenzie, Blake, and Logan Olaso!!! I have your birthdays written in my planner haha I just forgot to send them last week before your birthdays, so sorry! But happy belated birthday! October is coming to an end, and Halloween is just around the corner. They don´t really celebrate that down here, I guess some of the kids do some parties or something. Nothing like a Mormon party though... can´t really do a trunk.or.treat with the two families in the church we have haha, guess we could try! Gotta love those Mormon cultural activities :D And to answer another question Dad, I´m not sure if they celebrate thanksgiving down here. They know what it is, but I don't know what they do. Guess I´ll have to take your advice and splurge on something special for the day haha :) Oh, wow I keep forgetting things, HAPPY ARGENTINE MOTHERS DAY MOM! :) and all you other moms. Yes, yesterday was their mothers day, and it wasn´t anything compared to the states. Except it gave people another excuse not to attend us :/ They didn´t really celebrate it, which is sad because they don´t understand how important moms are!! I wish I could´ve skyped home but I guess I´ll just wait til christmas :) Just kidding haha así es.

 

Anyway, I think that's all for this week! This week doesn´t hold any surprises or trips as far as I know (that was a dumb statement, they wouldn´t be surprises would they) so hopefully we can get some work going again! I love you all and hope you all continue to enjoy life, every day, every moment, and find the good in whatever is happening in your life. Sometimes, that's the only thing you can do to keep you going, trust me. Also, I would recommend going to that speeches.byu.edu place and dowloading all of Jeffrey R. holland´s talks. They are all REALLY GOOD. Anyway that is all, keep doing what you´re doing and remember there is always someone who loves you and cares for you. ME! :) And also our Savior Jesus Christ, who loves you infinitely more than I could ever hope to, He is always there for you.

 

Moroni 9:6 is the scripture for this week.  "And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."

 

It's a constant struggle against that said enemy of all righteousness, and we have to be more diligent than ever.  We have plenty of support from friends and family who love us and who look up to us. Do we dare let them down? I hope I speak for all of us when I say, I know I don't.

 

Elder Tyson David Gibbons

Buen día everyone!

Buen día everyone!

 

 I´m doing pretty well, just a bit tired. I´ll explain that later. This week is just like a big long story--haha you thought last week was crazy... well I´ve got plenty of interesting things to report, as promised! SO. Right after I sent you the email last week, we went to work, and we found this girl named Yamila. She studies in Villa Mercedes during the week, but I guess this last week was ANOTHER feriada, or holiday. I don´t even know what the holidays are, and honestly most the people here don´t either hahaha, but we ended up talking to her, because she is the daughter of this lady we´ve already talked to. Kind of an awkward situation, we were clapping at her door (that sounds weird) (in many South American countries you clap at doors and gates rather than knocking) and she walked up and asked who we were wanting, and we said the lady who lives here, then she went inside and told us no one was there. So we figured she lived there. We felt way awkward, but then she came out and said she had some time and would like to talk. So we taught lesson 1! And set a baptism date and everything. So often here, no matter how simply we teach sometimes, people just don´t understand. But she did! And it went SOOO much better, because she actually thought about questions and answered them honestly and seriously. It was a relief after such a long time preaching to brick walls, figuratively. So we have tried to get back with her, but we´ve had the worst timing this week. Everytime we showed up, she had left to go buy stuff, or was accompanying her grandma back home on the colectivo. So we didn´t get in with her again. :/ Hopefully this week we can! We also want to teach her family too so there´s another potential family to teach. So that was a really good end to a long Monday. And the beginning of what turned out to be a crazy week again.

 

So Tuesday we didn´t have district meeting but we went and got together as a district and the three other elders in Villa Mercedes and signed journals and things for Elder Summers and Elder Smith who left Wednesday to other areas. Then I spent a TON of money at Carrefour, but got enough for the whole transfer (hopefully!!), so yeah, I think I´m becoming a proficient grocery shopper :) I still hate it though. I shouldn´t be the one making decisions. Haha guess that's why I´m doing it, to learn.

 

Anyway, then Tuesday night we got another call from Elder Daybell our new District Leader and guess what he told us? That we were going to Mendoza again! :) yay!..... NOT. Another 12 hours of bus for ten minutes of paperwork I had to do to get my DNI or whatever that is. New process for the visas of all missionaries. It's getting way complicated now. I´m glad I got in when I did! But our bus left from Villa Mercedes Thursday, so we went to Villa and just spent some time getting snacks, and then went and downloaded about 50 more talks from the byu website. They´re all really good. Then we rode the bus there, Elder Day showed me around Mendoza a little since we had some time, and we ate at Subway. HOLY COW. Due to the circumstances currently, that was probably the best Subway sandwich I´ve ever had for at least the last 6 months. Haha it was sooo good. I still feel so bad spending $20 on a 6-inch sandwich, nothing mas, but then I remember that it's only like 5 bucks. So about the same price! It was really good. and then we got ice cream, so good. Then we actually got a bed in the pench this time. That was great. A new elder, Elder Gomez, had just arrived from Colombia, and we spent a lot of time talking to him. He was really cool. He gave me a 100 peso coin, which in Colombia isn´t much, but here it's worth about 2 pesos, so that was cool. But I´m not spending it. I have a coin collection comprising of... three coins! A 1 centavo and 5 centavo I found in the street here in Justo, and his coin he gave me. But I spoke to him by myself about Colombia, about my family and what I liked to do, and he did the same. It was surprisingly easy! I felt really good about it. Then yeah, we woke up, I went with one of the office elders to the migracion place and spent about 20 minutes answering two questions that I understood but didn´t know the answer, giving my fingerprints again, signing, and getting a picture. And that was that! So we headed back to here. So not worth the long bus ride. Blah. But we got back to the capilla and it always feels like home. It's so much nicer than any other pench I´ve been in.

 

OH but I forgot about Wednesday. So, we work in the mornings now which I wasn´t used to, but after we ate lunch Wednesday, three guys show up from Buenos Aires, saying they´re here for the next week or so to paint, replace stuff, and fix up the whole chapel. We were pretty worried they were scamming us... we called President Alaniz and he had no idea about it. But they ended up teling us they worked for the church, so we felt a little better. Anyway, yeah it was really weird. We locked our room and everything, and it was just interesting. And we went to Mendoza for two days and left them there with everything in the chapel!! It was pretty sketchy. Thankfully they´re not scammers or thiefs (so far....) and they´ve really made the place look a lot better. Although they cook for us every once in a while and it takes forever. The first night they were there we were up til 11:45 because the guizo that they made took FOREVER. Same with last night, except we made them tacos, and they weren´t even that hot, but they were all dying, it was actually very humorous. They aren´t used to anything like that. So we want to make tacos for them again tonight with the taco bell seasoning that Elder Day´s parents sent him. They´ll like that better! But we´ve become pretty good friends I think. They made me my first asado (Argentina BBQ)! And it was soo good. I got some good pictures. And we all cook together and it's actually really fun. So yeah, that was basically our week. We also went back to the Tolaba house and ended up spending too much time there, because we didn´t want to be rude and leave, sine they were celebrating his birthday, and their daughter´s who was also there. She has studied english for 11 years, since she was 11, and she loves it. She´s fluent, but she speaks with a British accent because she has studied British English. It's crazy, there´s no hint of Spanish accent when she speaks English. The head guy of the guys from Buenos Aires is a member, but he´s crazy. He likes to say Oh my gosh (but not gosh) in English because it's English and he doesn´t know any English. He also loves to say oh shoot (again, not shoot) and I crack up every time because he doesn´t sound English at all, plus it's the most random thing ever. But it's still way uncomfortable. But they´re all good guys, really funny at least. And they will only be here about two more days. They´re fixing up our room (which I'm still kinda nervous about...) but it will be a lot nicer, hopefully a little less cold too. Even though the heat is rolling in, it's still pretty cold in our room out of all of them. It's weird. Anyway, that was our week. we found some great new people, but so far all of them have fallen through :) Hopefully we find them again. But yeah, it isn´t as crazy as I thought, just lots of traveling again. And staying up late because of these guys from Buenos Aires.

 

The last week sounded pretty crazy for you all too! I had no idea the choirs were soooo small now. Has Mr. Olmstead returned to see any concerts or anything? He´d be pretty disappointed surely. I´m glad Nathan and Kate are keeping it going though. Although I´m still surprised with your descriptions of Nathan. He´s actually social now?? ;) I´m glad he´s not reading books all day, although I loved that too. People are in the long run a lot better. I´m glad things are going well, and I´m really sorry about the pneumonia Kate!! :/ I hope it goes away soon. I´m sorry you missed a lot of volleyball. It reminded me of when I sat out because of my leg for the end of the soccer season, and even though I played in districts, I didn´t do much. It's not fun, I know how you feel! But remember, you still have four more years! And it's going to get more fun, if you will let it. Didn´t I have pnemonia when I was like a couple months old or something? There you go, I know how it feels to have pneumonia too ;) just kidding. Don´t let it beat you down! You´re one of the toughest girls I know. Of course, how couldn´t you be after growing up with three numbskulls like me, Jalen, and Nathan? :)

 

I wish I could´ve been at Logan´s farewell!! That sounds like it was really good. I´ll be honest, I teared up a little just reading that. Sorry Logan. If you read this, don´t be embarrassed, crying is manly. The world better prepare itself, not just because of a bunch of 18 and 19 year old missionaries, but because our generation is going to be dominating the mission field for the next 2 years. Hurrah for Israel! And all my Mountain Home buds! "Shall we not go on in such great a cause?"

 

Anyway, I´m glad to hear that Cara shared her words of wisdom about missions with everyone, because that's definitely the best way to go about it. Sadly, although I was way excited for all the 18 and 19 year olds who can go, I was worried a little about people just rushing in, and that's not the best idea. But hey, I trust the prophet and the twelve, so I´m not going to preocupy myself with it. I am pretty curious as to who I know is going to go earlier now because of that announcement. If anything happens, let me know!

 

Alright there´s one more thing I´ve learned this last week, and it happened yesterday. So we stopped to talk to these people out in their yard, and ended up talking to them for about 2 and a half hours. Well Elder Day did, I didn´t really say much, because basically he and the son, and then later the dad when he arrived, were basically Bible bashing. I felt so uncomfortable. I didn´t feel good or anything. As missionaries we are privileged to teach with the spirit and testify to people, but in my case, I didn´t feel that at all. They just went back and forth on different doctrines. Oh yeah, these guys were Jehovah´s Witnesses. So that just made it even crazier, since there are the two different Bibles and everything. So yeah, I´ve just realized that as a missionary I´m NEVER going to just bash with people, it doesn´t bring the spirit, it doesn´t get either of you anywhere, and it's a huge waste of time. Since we spent so much time there, we didn´t find Yamila again, or get to the house we were heading to before. I´m not blaming Elder Day or anything, afterward he told me he was tyring to wrap it up so many times, and he tried to give them a Book of Mormon about 10 times, and every time they just said no. I take part of the blame because I didn´t say anything or try to end it or anything, I ended up just standing there feeling awkward and uncomfortable and honestly annoyed with these people and Elder Day and I. And that's not what a missionary is called to do!!! We´re called to love all people, teach with the spirit, bring the spirit into their lives, and plus get along with our companions too. So that was just a really bad experience. Never going to do that again, we´re not supposed to be in situations where people are basically trying to convert us instead, because that's just a waste of our time. Blah. I feel terrible just recounting it. Anyway, I´ve learned another valuable lesson, never Bible bash!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, that was my experience yesterday after a long day at church and everything.

 

Alright well I´m going to wrap this up, I don't have a whole lot more to report for this week. But we hope to make this week great! Our numbers haven´t been the best since we´ve gone to Mendoza twice in two weeks, this week HOPEFULLY nothing comes up! I hope all of you continue forward and that everything goes well with whatever you may have to do, in school, work, at home, cualquiera cosa! I love you all and hope you can find something every day to help you improve yourself or be motivated to do so, because we all have little things to improve on. And also try and find something every day to make you laugh and smile, because life shouldn´t be so serious every second of every day! "Men are that they might have joy" so make sure you are getting the joy part into your life! It's way important, especially during two years when you are called to be focused every second you are wearing the name of the Lord.

Elder Tyson David Gibbons

I love General Conference​!

Well buen día de Argentina, de vuelta!

 

How is everything going? I hope it's going great for everyone, because this last week was well, FANTASTIC!! Not really for the work, that kinda took a big blow, but it was adventurous and a different schedule than normal so we loved it! So, before I get ahead of myself, I´ll answer any questions first haha because I don´t have a lot of time today. Anyway, yes I absolutely LOVED Conference weekend. I don´t know if anyone believes me when I say it, but I paid attention attentively for every single session. I know, the Lord really can perform miracles huh? :) haha but yes, I absolutely loved it. For one, I just really enjoy listening to talks now. Elder Day and yo downloaded about 20 talks from byu speeches.org and have already listened to all of them, about five times. They´re hour talks because they´re all from devotionals at BYU, but we got like 15 from Hugh B. Brown, who I first found out about from listening to the Heber J. Grant talks by Truman G. Madsen, so Dad, thank you very much. His talks are absolutely AMAZING; then we got some from Jeffrey R. Holland, one from Ezra Taft Benson, and a couple others, like David A. Bednar. So yeah, there´s one more miracle I´ve seen on my mission: I can stand listening to talks fully awake and not get tired, because I really understand that this stuff can HELP ME!!! I feel spiritually renewed and ready to work for another six weeks here in Justo Daract, with Elder Day.

 

So that leads to another question, transfers didn´t affect us out here in Justo at all. It's still us, and only two elders left from our district, Elder Summers and Elder Smith. I´ll miss them, you always seem to remember the elders who are there with you for your first experiences, like the MTC, Albuquerque, and first time here in Argentina. So yeah, we´ll get two new elders and Elder Daybell is now the new District Leader, which is really good because he hasn´t been anything but compañero menor for his 14 months on his mission. He´s a really good elder, he just doubts himself someimes. Don´t we all?? Heck, I know I have, sorry for the language, but it makes me cringe when I think about how much doubt I´ve had in myself just in the last 5 months! And then I realize how blessed I've been and I feel like Ammon, who rejoiced in the Lord and not in his own strength. Because I know for SURE that I have nothing to do with the accomplishments that I´ve fulfilled. It's all the Lord. And I will be extremely grateful forever for that. Anyway, Elder Day is kinda disappointed not to leave, but it's mostly because he told EVERYONE he was leaving haha and now he´s still here. It's more of an embarrassment thing. It's pretty funny. But I´m glad to be here with him still to work even harder this transfer, now that we´re both settled in pretty well.

 

Anyway, back to conference! My favorite talk was, well there´s a couple haha, but of course Elder Holland´s was amazing. I loved it, and I loved one of the last statements he made, I´ve made it my personal motto, because I felt the Spirit more powerfully with his one sentence than the rest of conference, which is saying a lot since it's all really spiritual. But he said, for all of them and us in the audience, "We have put our hand to the plow, and WE WILL NOT LOOK BACK, until the work of our Lord is finished." I LOVE that. I don´t know why, but everything they say seems to apply to me way more now on a mission than it did back home. That's not a good thing by any means, and it was my fault it was that way, but I am really glad I´ve realized it, even if it is what 8 years later? I absolutely loved conference. I liked President Uchtdorf´s talk in Priesthood, and I really liked D. Todd Christofferson´s talk as well. I wish I had my notes with me! I took a ton (another miracle!). But I am just really thankful to listen to it in English. Huge relief haha.

 

Okay I think that's about all the questions really. My Spanish is doing just fine, and I hope it improves this transfer too so I can get fully to the point where I don´t think, I just say.

 

Okay, on to the crazy week. SO... Monday was good, we had two FHE or NdH, well we tried two, the second kinda ended... abruptly. Long story, basically Brenda was being her normal self trying to get her way and Elder Day wasn´t going to have it, so she started swearing, even during his prayer! It blew me away, I felt so uncomfortable... I didn´t like it. So we gave a brownie to her little brother because he actually listened which was a miracle, and Elder Day walked out of the house without giving her one. So she got really mad and tried to tell on us to her mom and uncle and sister, and they had no idea what she was talking about.. blah. I don´t like talking about it, I was really uncomfortable, and it's still going on beause Brenda ignored us both times she saw us. I just wish I could talk more and try and help out. Anyway, that was Monday. So Tuesday was really good, and we had a good talk with the Tolaba family about the Book of Mormon and families, and we read a lot of scriptures, which is unusual because they usually love to talk. So we were really excited, and they invited us over for dinner on Thursday which we were SUPER stoked for. So everything was picking back up a little from Monday... and then Elder Summers calls us and asks if anyone had told us we were supposed to go to Mendoza on Wednesday! And of course, no one had, so that came as a very big suprise, to say the least. So yeah... we spent Wednesday and Thursday in Mendoza, which was AWESOME!!! It felt so different being there after being in the small city. But it was scary too, because our bus on Wed. left an hour and a half late, so we got to Mendoza at... 1. in the morning. So we walked around at 1, scared of any people who looked mysterious. It was pretty freaky, but adventurous. Then we get to the office pench finally and, no one is awake. They didn't wait for us. So we knock/bang on the door, ring the doorbell, throw rocks at all the windows, and even call the Assistants. And no one lets us in for another 30 minutes. Elder Solano lets us in finally and we end up sleeping on the porch outside the top room I stayed my first nights in Argentina, with a couple blankets each. Needless to say... it was absolutely miserable, and cold. So that was a rough night haha, then we had a good day Thursday. We went back to Mendoza for another capacitación con Presidente Ávila, with all the elders from my district who had come the same time as me! So it was a great reunion, and a really good capacitación. It was a good precursor to General Conference, seeing as how Presidente speaks like a general authority, since he used to be part of the Seventy. It was really good. Then we got another bus at 5:40 back here, and had to pay ourselves, so we tried to get the suite haha but alas, they didn´t have them. We got full cama though, instead of semi cama. WAY better. But we didn´t get home until 11:30 again, so it was rough. Friday was a normal working day, and then Saturday we headed back to Villa Mercedes for conference! It was a really good weekend, spending a lot of time with all the elders in my district, although I hated staying the night two nights in a row at their pench. It's such a gross pench. they don´t clean, so it was pretty miserable. But fun I guess! It rained again, a lot, and I didn´t have my coat, again, and I always forgot my paragua. Umbrella, that's the word in English, haha I forgot. I love that! :) Anyway, yeah that was a pretty intense weekend. We all loaded up on snacks and sat in our little classroom watching it in English. It was great. I loved every session. We were all hoping for the announcement of the Mendoza Argentina temple ;) haha but oh well, in the future! But holy cow.... MISSIONARIES AT 18 and 19!!! We were all blown away. That is so crazy. We all started talking about our little siblings and girls we knew who might go, and I didn´t really have any haha since Nathan is only 14, but it was still way cool. It was a really good experience. and I´m so stoked for Kody!!! He should talk to Kelly´s brother in law since Skyler served in Sweden too. That's way cool, he´s gonna be nice and frozen for two years, serving the Lord. Kody, good luck to you! You´ll do awesome. and sorry about the ironic announcement the day you opened it haha. Just think about it this way, the Lord was waiting until you got your call to announce the 18 year olds! You were the last 19 yr old he was waiting for ;) There you go. So yeah, I´m really curious to see how this is all going to turn out. Just like you Dad, I´m pretty worried about what people will think if any young man waits until 19 still to serve, since many do judge quickly. Hopefully people realize that although it's an obligation, it's an obligation that they have to be prepared for. I certainly didn´t feel completely prepared, but I´m glad for the time I had to get used to living away from home and everything. Anyway, yeah that is just really cool!

 

Well, now that we´re entering a new transfer, I´m hoping to get even more settled in and let go of any preocupaciones or whats the word.... doubts I guess? that I´ve had because I just want to get the work going here again. Hermana Alaniz found a family for us, so we´re hoping that they will turn out to be solid. We need new people to teach, because we´re both sick of dealing with all these 10 and 11 year old girls and boys, and plus we´ve been counseled that we need to stop teaching only the kids in a family. We have to teach the whole family if we can, so the Zuchini family will have to be a back up plan for a while until they realize, like you said mom, that they could really improve their lives with what we have to offer. I pray that it is soon! Since we haven´t seen Mateo for three weeks now and Gloria keeps putting us off, we really are looking for new people because we can´t keep wasting our time going over there. It's rough, but we have to focus on the people that are progressing. Hoefpully we can help them start, or we´ll have to move on. So goes life, I suppose. Anyway, especially since last week was rather unproductive with all the traveling, we hope to make this week great. Although the weather may be a bit gloomy and rainy (this is the ONLY area that rains in our mission. It's ridiculous. It's rained so much!!) we don´t mind. Maybe someone will have sympathy for us and let us in their house. Haha I wish, the people aren´t that receptive here. Yet! I´m staying optimistic.

 

Anyway, I need to get going, but I hope all continues to go well! I love you all, and I echo Logan´s words in an email from a few weeks ago, saying that P-days really aren´t everything I expected, there´s just not enough time for everything!!! Oh that does remind me, I got like 8-9 letters from you Mom and Dad, including all the emails printed out and some personal ones, and one letter from Kelly. That's all the mail I have recieved so far, but let me tell you, I was the happiest missionary alive when I got all those letters :) even if they were emails I have already read haha, so thank you all. The next time I get mail will probably be.... end of this transfer haha so yeah, it's rough, but it gives me something to look forward to! :)

 

I love you all and hope everything continues going as well or better than it is! And don´t forget all the great counsel we´ve been given from the leaders of the church this weekend. Especially my favorite from Elder Holland. We´ve put our hands to the plow, we´ve started on this eternal path to perfection and exaltation, and we´ve accepted callings or duties and responsibilities, and I pray that we all take to heart his final words, when he says we will not look back. The past is done, we may have regrets or things we want to change, but if we take advantage of that loving sacrifice of our Savior, we can get rid of those feelings and focus on furthuring ourselves personally and as families and friends in this Gospel, eventually leading to eternal joy and happiness. May we never look back (like Lot´s wife from the Bible; another talk from Elder Holland), and continue to live for today and prepare ourselves daily for tomorrow, to better ourselves and improve our weaknesses and faults. I´m so thankful for that opportunity I have here to be serving so close to the Savior and I know I´ve improved myself and bettered myself, and I hope we can all continue to do so.

I know that my Redeemer lives, and I know He loves each and every one of us so much and wants the best for us! As President Monson stated, "The Savior is in every detail of our lives." I know that is true, and I know that we will be happy eternally if we continue to follow the guidelines He gives us, because He knows what we are to become. Let's not be like Peter who went back to his nets once the Savior was crucified; keep pushing forward and be who He knows you can be! Of course, we need to rely on Him to do so, because we are all imperfect, I know that very personally because that is me for sure. But through Him, we can do anything. I love you all, and I know the Savior loves each one of you as well. Until next week! Que te vaya bien,

 

Elder Tyson David Gibbons

 

P.S. Thank you for the pictures Mom! I promise eventually I´ll figure out a way to send pictures, it's just hard having a crappy ciber here. Don´t worry, I´m using my camara plenty! Oh and again that reminds me, can you send me a nice sweater? This one I got from an elder in the MTC is falling to shreds. So yeah.. that would be nice. A nice solid color one would be fine! Thank you very much. Sorry I am probably just making this package cost a ton, you can wait on any that aren´t urgent! I love you!

It's October!

Buen día a todos!! (Good day to all!)

 

No, I cannot believe it's october already. This transfer has been absolutely crazy and good all at the same time, and it has flown by. It's the one thing I haven´t adjusted to yet, and don´t know if I ever will! Since I already feel like the time is going by too fast, it's only going to get worse as I get even more time. I can´t believe it will be five months this month on the 16th. Wow. That's all I can say.

 

Yeah it's definitely weird going into summer right now. I´m DEFNITELY going to enjoy Christmas when I get back, an actual white Christmas, since that doesn´t exist down here. It´ll be weird seeing all of you wearing warm clothes and I´ll be dying of heat, since the summers here are just terrible. Yay, i get two of them! Whoa, that's right, my eagle project (I reminded Tyson about his outdoor Eagle project on October 1, 2009, when it was below freezing.) That was completely freezing. Wish it was right now! It's probably like 30 C right now, not super hot, but still enough to cause some uncomfort.

 

Well, I feel so lame that I have nothing to report really, but this last week was just as hard as the last. We haven´t had a visit with Gloria or Mateo for a couple weeks now. It really stinks, since they are pretty much the ones with the most possibility right now.The Zuchini girls have just been getting harder and harder to find, and it stinks because we KNOW it's because of the mom, who we found out hit two of them when they asked to do a family night with Loana and us. I hate all the hitting down here!! I´m never going to hit my kids. That's not how to discipline for sure, they just get used to it and hit everyone else, including us haha. Oh man... I feel like one of the Three Nephites right now! Only feel the sorrow of the sins of the world. I´m not ANWYAY near as spiritual as they are, and I¨m DEFINITELY not as high in status, but just being a missionary, down here, where things are different, I feel just awful seeeing all the things that go on down here that wouldn´t even happen in the US, and it really makes me want to teach everyone and bring them the gospel!! Becuase I know with all my heart that I´m the person I am today because of the gospel. There´s nothing else to explain it. I wouldn´t be like this if I wasn´t a member of this church. I may not have acknowledged that years ago, but there´s plenty of time to think about it here, that's for sure, and I really have realized that the gospel and the fact that I´ve lived the gospel, within a family, has made it possible for me to be here, along with the Atonement, because just like everyone, I was FAR from perfect. And I just want the people down here to realize that! That's why I´m here I guess, that's where we come in. So I want to work even harder. Because it's hard knowing what they need to be happier, to stop smoking, to stop drinking, to have a more solid family, but they won´t listen or haven´t had the chance yet. That's why we talk to everyone we can! Anyway, sorry for my little metaphor. Or was that a simile? Which one uses like or as? Sorry Mom, you probably are looking at me like a failure at language right now :/ haha.

 

But there are good things to report too! The people who usually let us in have continued to do so, some people that haven´t before have let us in, and best of all, my Spanish is really doing a lot better! I still can´t just talk like I wish I could, but I understand basically everything and I can actually take part in our lessons and conversations. And Elder Day is giving me more chances to, so there we have it. Things are still going very well! He thinks he is leaving this transfer, which means I would be the only one who knows what's up here in the grand city of Justo Daract, so I´ve been praying more fervently and constantly in my heart for help, because it will be rough being the one in charge, but not being able to communicate as well as I should. It's definitely a daunting thing. But I take comfort in the quote "whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies," so I know I at least have Him to trust in! As always. Don´t forget that, or don´t take it for granted, both of which are things I did too many times before now, when I could´ve overcome whatever struggle much quicker and easier. Don´t make the same mistake!! Or if you are doing it right now, then as President Uchtdorf said,¨"STOP IT" :) Love that quote. And of course, I take the biggest comfort in the talk by Elder Holland from last conference I believe. Elder Day has all of last conference on his mp3 player, and I love listening to Elder Holland´s talk on forgiveness and the parable of the workers. But the most important part is the last few sentences. Dad, you sent this to me one of my first weeks in the MTC at the end of one of your letters, and every time I read it or, even better, hear it, it just fills me with the best feeling, a feeling I´ve had more in the last 4 months than any other time in my life, almost to the point of tears because it means that much, and what Elder Holland says is basically this (I´m doing it from memory), " To any of you out there in the audience today who may be in need of this message of forgiveness, I testify to you that no matter how late you think you are, no matter how far down the path you think you´ve gone, no matter how many times you have fallen, I testify that you have NOT travelled further than the light of Jesus Christ's loving infinite Atonement shines." I love that quote. Since my version is not close to perfect, it's better to just look it up! But that has meant more to me than anything so far on my mission, because I´m here only through that same light that he mentions. It's the best feeling in the world, to feel that forgiveness, and that's why I am here in Argentina, to teach people that it IS psosible to overcome anything that has happened, and it's possible to be forgiven, but only through Christ, not by any physical or temporal means.

 

Anyway, things are still going good, and we are going to have a good last week in this transfer! Especially since it's going to end with general conference!! I don´t think I´ve ever been this excited for conference before, sadly. Even when we did conference jeopardy in Seminary, I still didn´t pay attention as much as I should have. Yes, I admit it. But now, it's SOOO exciting! I just hope I can listen in English. ;) Anyway, this week will be good, and you´ll have any updates by next Monday! Although next Monday will be a new transfer, and there will be plenty to fill you in on anyway! I´m super excited, as always!

 

I´m glad to hear that Mountain Home soccer hasn´t completely fallen off the radar. That is crazy, Nathan´s team has won more than we did freshman year. That is a really good sign for the future! And I´m glad Kate is having time to play, and hopefully it increases as she shows she has the skill! She´s already basically 6 foot 1 like me so..... she´s a really big asset to the team! I was thinking about it a couple days ago, and I´m really glad I get to get home before either Nathan or Kate graduate, so I can go to any games and try and make up for how lame and boring I was in high school. Plus it's different sports, not just soccer! That's really good to hear.

 

And that's crazy about the Elder Miller coming to Mendoza (I met a guy at Nathan's soccer game in Middleton last week who just got called to Tyson's mission)! All the missionaries who were in Albuquerque to wait for Argentina visas got an email today from Sister Miller, the Albuquerque mission president's wife, and she told us her grandson just opened his mission call and is also coming down here to Mendoza! How crazy is that? It's because of that grandson that she emailed us in the first place. It's awesome. So she hopes that one of us will meet him/train him/ serve with him/be a companion, which would be awesome! So there we go, I´ve got two people to look for. Let me know if there´s any more! It's the best msision anyway :) Just kidding, just for me. It does have the coolest symbol though. Don´t know how you´ll be able to look it up, but it's got the Andes Mountains, the Argentine sun, Angel Moroni, and just some scenery. It's awesome. I love this place!!

 

Anyway, today the activity I told you about for the sacerdocio (Priesthood) didn´t happen. Who knows why? They seem to cancel things a lot anyway, haha, sadly. Oh well, hopefully soon we get to go and do something like that. But today will be a lot more relaxing, and since I´ve had a cold for the last week and a half, I can catch up on some sleep and hopefully help it go away finally!!! I always get colds right before summer, which never made sense to me. Cold and summer don´t go together! And now I´m going into summer again, so I´m getting it again. Blah. I guess I have a really bad immunity to the common cold. Hopefully it goes away soon. I´m sick of having a runny nose every day. But it hasn´t impeded the work at all, just the communication. They have a hard time understanding me anyway since I´m so new, but it doesn´t help when I sound like my nose is plugged. Blah. The joys of the human body! All is well, all is well. Builds character! Haha this sounds really lame, but the soundtrack from "Holes" has been going through my head alot. And building character just reminded me of it again. Weird huh?

 

Oh man..... pizza. Don´t even bring that up haha. I miss real pizza SOOO much. We´ve made a couple pizzas ourselves, and they were way good, but we can´t do it all the time. The pizza down here just isn´t... pizza. I miss Pizza Hut, Dominos, Little Caesars, and brick oven haha. Man.. if you could send me a pizza somehow that would be awesome. But it's impossible so it's okay. Just the peanut butter and duct tape is good! :) Although I found a couple more things that I could use. Some pens! I don´t know what happened to all my pens, but they´ve all slowly disappeared. So some Pilot G-2 or Zebra pens would be great. And also .5 lead for my one pencil I have with me! I´m on my home stretch right now. Also just a pack of AA batteries for my camera. This camera blows through batteries so fast. It's ridiculous. And one thing I´d rather you send than ANYTHING else, is some 3D crest whitening toothpaste. I have always cared about my teeth. But down here, NO ONE does. And it's kinda sad, when people have rotting teeth or teeth missing. I´ve really come to appreciate my lovely teeth, so that would be great to get :) Funny the things you take for granted at home. How many times have I said that so far??

 

Okay this is a random thought, but I´ve never seen "Matilda," and Elder Day talks about it everytime we got to this less active lady´s house, B______. I guess she looks exactly like something called the trunchable?? I don´t know what that is. I feel pretty lame because multiple people have asked me if i´ve seen "Matilda" and when I say no, it's always the same reaction. " Are you SERIOUS??? You´ve NEVER seeen MATILDA???" :) Yep. So apparently yesterday was a scene right from that movie? We sat in her kitchen while she cut up some pastel flora she had made, and then she cooked up some membrilla fruit jam thing, in her old pan with teflon flaking everywhere. And when she kept feeding us this stuff, plate after plate, with the ash covered pastel and the teflon filled dulce on top, Elder Day just turned to me and started laughing and saying we were living "Matilda" right now. So that was pretty funny. Maybe some of you will fully appreciate what that was all about. I dunno. I actually liked the pastel haha, but I guess it looked awful compared to what it really looks like. She told us that the last elders who tried her food went home crying and stayed up all night in the fetal position holding their stomachs... so we were kinda worried, needless to say! But we´re both fine right now. Don't know why it was different, but I´m grateful! haha :)

 

WHOA--you and dad are going to be tour guides (for the Boise Temple open house)?? That is so cool. I don´t really have any advice haha, just be confident in what you know and believe, and always have a smile on your face. That's about all I could give you that I would know more than you. Just be confident, that's the biggest thing that people notice about us when we are talking about what we believe, if we aren´t confident, then they lose confidence. So it doesn´t work. Just be confident! :) Hopefully that helps. Anyway, that's really cool. I hope that all goes well! I am excited to go through that temple when I get back. Never got the chance before! I want to see how different it is. The Buenos Aires temple is three times bigger now, and it looked exactly like the Boise one before! Haha maybe they did some crazy stuff.

 

Anyway, I should get going, got plenty or laundry to do today! I hate having to hang things up. And only having a shaker, not even a washing machine. Haha yeah it kinda stinks. But it's hilarious to hear the members of the church speak whatever English they know. I guess the washing machine to President Ramon is Washy Moshy. ? Who knows where that came from, but it cracks me up. Anyway yeah, enjoy your laundry machines and everything! I hope all goes well and continues to go well for you all! I love you all and always think about you all! Thank you for your support, I couldn´t do it without all you either. Que dios les bendiga! (God bless you!)

 

Elder Tyson David Gibbons