The Close of One Journey, the Beginning of Another

Well, here we are, at my final entry. It has been a crazy two years, but I have felt incredibly blessed to be on this journey. I am grateful that the Lord chose me to be His representative here in Colorado Springs. I wouldn't give up my mission for anything in the world.

This past week was a great week, and I've got one more great week after it. I feel so blessed to be a part of such an incredible work.

I don't have enough time to share all my mission experiences. That would take two years to tell you. But let me tell you a few things I've learned from my mission, in brief. Jesus Christ stands at the head of this great work. He guides every single part of it. The Holy Ghost is the way by which the Work of Salvation comes to pass in the lives of each of God's children. We have been blessed to be on the Earth at such an incredible and exciting time. Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of Mankind, and the Eternal Judge of both Quick and Dead. He loves each of us with an infinite love. It is isn't earned or purchased. It just is. God loves us because we are His children. We don't have to fight to earn His love. He loves us right now, no matter who we are or what we've done. We love Him because we were first loved. The Book of Mormon is true. It IS the word of God. I know that, independent of any other person.

Let me share two scriptures found in the Book of Mormon, as my final spiritual thought with all of you on my mission. This first scripture has been criticized by enemies of the Church many times, yet it is in my opinion one of the most important scriptures of the Book of Mormon. It is Mosiah 18: 30: "And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."

That says Mormon quite a bit. I highly doubt the prophet Mormon was just egocentric. I don't think he wanted to just place "Mormon" in there as many times as possible in the Book of Mormon. But why was Mormon called Mormon? In 3 Nephi 5:12, we read, "And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression."

Now whether the Book of Mormon is called directly after the Waters of Mormon, or whether is is called so after it's author, ultimately, it leads to this sacred place where people "came to the knowledge of their Redeemer."

The Book of Mormon is where we we "[come] to the knowledge of [our] Redeemer". This IS Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is how I have come to a knowledge of my Redeemer. I know that if you study its pages and abide by its precepts, then you will too. I declare that most boldly in the sacred and holy name of the One of whom it testifies, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Until we meet again, never doubt your God. He will always be there.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

My homecoming talk will be at 9 AM on August 28th at the Rolling Hills Ward Sacrament Meeting at 2110 N Main Street, Centerville UT 84014.

I got to do service erasing a social trail at a park and restoring the landscape.

Never Forget Your Mission, Never Forget God's Love

So, we dropped off Elder A at the airport Thursday morning. I had dropped off Elder M about a month ago, but we didn't go inside with him (don't worry, he was an experienced flyer). This time we went all the way to the security checkpoint. The last time I did that was over 18 months ago when we dropped off Elder L off. That was different than now. I met him the day before, and I was only 4 months out. This time I knew the missionary, and I knew I'd be the next missionary going through that airport. Don't worry, I'm not trunky, it was just a fact I noticed, and it made that experience much different than the first. We keep on working hard, and we don't stop until they release us. For those of you who don't know, we sometimes call being released dying. We have a whole mission life lingo. But remember, missionaries never die; They just regroup at home.

The night before we dropped Elder A off, we got to go to Tucanos with President Rehm. I don't think I've ever eaten so much meat in my life. I gained personal insight into the Word of Wisdom that night when it tells us to eat meat sparingly.

We also had zone conference this week. My last one was supposed to have been two transfers ago, but because of rescheduling because of a mission tour coming up, they changed zone conference. That was actually a nice little treat for me. I really like zone conferences, so it was nice to have another one before I went home.

We taught C this week. He is the non-member husband of a member. They came to church a few times before that, and we started teaching them this week. Most of the questions were first about Church organization. The next time we met with them this week, we taught the Restoration, which I'm told they loved (I was on exchanges).

I realized today that this will be the second to last time I will be sending out emails as a missionary. I want to let you all know that my mission has changed me. If you have doubts about serving a mission, don't. It will be one of the most richly rewarding experiences of your life. I thank my God for the blessing of a mission. It's funny, we usually start off on our missions saying, "Now I'll finally repay God, or at least show my gratitude by giving something back." But the whole time, we aren't repaying Him, or even really giving Him anything, He's just showering more blessings upon us the whole time. We start out thinking the mission is our gift to Him, and we find out at the end that it was His gift to us all along. This is a true principle for any act of service, any calling we serve in, any assignment we accept from the Lord. I can't express my gratitude for Him and his infinite generosity. As President Uchtdorft said in the 2015 Christmas Devotional, "This is the One whom we worship. This is the Generous One." Of Him I testify, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next week, see the beauty all around you.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Missionaries never die. They just regroup at home.

Featuring... MY OLD AREA!

The Three Amigos in Paradise

This is my first trio that I've served in (not including the week that we dropped another missionary off at the mission office for most of the day). We've had a lot of fun. Elder A will be finishing his mission on Thursday, and when he saw how awesome this area is, he kept saying he wished it wasn't his last area that he'd only be in for a week. I love this area so much.

L was baptized this week! His dad baptized and confirmed him. The Spirit was very strong there! Our ward mission leader unfortunately wasn't able to make it to the baptism, and the member of the bishopric who was supposed to conduct was running late, so I ended up conducting the baptismal service.

G was at the baptism with his daughters! Then he came to church the next day! That's three times in a row now! We met with him this week, and we committed him to get back to the temple. He is going to meet with the bishop to discuss what it will take for him to get back to the temple. There isn't really anything now that would be holding him back, that we know of. He has no problem with tithing, and he keeps the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity.

Then we met with G and her family. They are a new investigator family that we started meeting with last week. She explained her journey, and it was almost identical to Joseph Smith's! We asked her what she believes about the Book of Mormon, and she believes it is the Word of God, and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. She wasn't quite ready to accept a baptismal date, but she knows what she needs to do, and I have no doubt she soon will.

I was asked to teach the Gospel Principles class this week, and at the end we opened it up for questions. A new person there asked the question, "Is God's love unconditional, or do we need to do certain things to earn His love?" This is a question that a lot of people have in this world. I want to testify to all of you that God loves us no matter what. There is nothing we can do to have Him stop loving us. Jesus Christ loves us unconditionally. He suffered for every sin we'd ever make, regardless of whether or not we would repent. THAT is love. God loves us because we are His children. Nothing can change that, and nothing can change His love. And that is one of the many reasons why I have faith in Him. As it says in 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." I testify that God is love, that He will never leave us. I know He is real. I know Jesus Christ lives, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next time, make your momma proud!

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

L's Baptism!

2 for 1, Still More Miracles

So Elder P is getting transferred out. Don't worry. I'll see him around. He's my zone leader. This zone and Springs Zone just got combined into one zone, mostly to free up more people to train. The mission almost doesn't have enough missionaries to train the new ones coming in in the next few transfers. In fact, there's a possibility that some might be double-training.

I am in a trio, so I traded one companion for two. One is part of my MTC group, but he will be flying home in about a week or so from now, Elder A. The other is Elder N. He has been out for 4 1/2 months now. I'm going to see if I can trick him into thinking I've still got 4 1/2 months left, and then one day I'll just tell him I've decided to go home early. I'm going to see if I can get the mission president in on the prank.

There are going to be some ward boundary changes in the stake on Sunday, and I suspect our ward is part of it. However, I believe we'll just be taking more land.

We met with G again this week. He shared some experiences from his mission, and he started crying. He felt God's love pretty strongly. He knows what he needs to start doing. The Lord is working on him in some pretty powerful ways. He came to church again, and he sat with a member he had connected with pretty well last week.

Then we went to a less-active couples home who we've been visiting with for a while. K, the husband, has been pretty uninterested in changing for a while, and we weren't sure what else to do with them. Last week we decided to just have a lesson about the Atonement, and he teared up. This week, during our lesson, he stopped us, then went off on an experience he had that week with prayer. Then, out of nowhere, he blurted out, "I'm coming to church this week. I'll walk if I have to." Elder P and I were speechless. And lo and behold, there he was at all three hours of church! He hasn't been to church in ages! God truly is a god of miracles.

We had a coordination meeting with our ward mission leader right before church, and he brought up D, a recent convert of about 4 months who hadn't been to church in a while. We said we've called and texted him, but he hasn't responded. Not kidding, less than two seconds later, the phone beeps, and it's Damien! He texted and said he is walking to church right now, but would love a ride. We quickly end coordination meeting with a prayer of thanksgiving and quickly organize a ride for him. He is such an awesome guy. He is currently without home. The comments he made in Gospel Principles class make him seem like he's been a member his whole life. He was quoting scriptures and making profound statements. He wants to get back on track with church again.

There are many more miracles that happened this week, that I don't have time to bring them all up, but things have been going great here. We have a baptism this Saturday, and we'll probably have one two weeks after that! On top of that, there are a lot of people that are getting a lot closer to full activity and going to the temple. Good thing my home is so close to this mission. I can come back and go to the temple with them!

Something I've learned a lot on my mission is that this is truly the Lord's work. We put in all our work, and yet without the Lord, it's never enough. It doesn't matter how good we are at finding or teaching, without the Lord, it'll always come up short. All these miracles I just told you, did they come because of my own ability and talents? Did they come because I've been doing this for 23 months? No, it was the Lord and His miracles. I couldn't get people to be converted if I wanted to. I can't convert people. Conversion is between them and the Lord. And ultimately, that's all missionary work boils down to, inviting others to come unto Christ, just inviting. We are merely instruments in His hands. It is the Spirit who speaks truth and brings people to a knowledge of it. It is the Savior who saves them from their sins and the burdens of life. It is the Father who answers their prayers and orchestrates the beauty that is their life. And who am I. A child of the Father, sent by Him to proclaim the everlasting Gospel and help others on their own personal journey. I testify of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. I know They are real. I know They love us. And I know this is true. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next week, be all that you can be.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Just Get Them to Church...

Just before I came to emails, I got to do a little fishing, and as a result, me and my companion both caught little fishies. We are eating good this week!

E has been a little stressed about coming to Sacrament Meeting, so we decided to do a building tour. She and her son were picked up by a member of the ward, and E had a wonderful time. She kept commenting on the paintings of Jesus. The member who brought her offered to give her a ride to church every week, and she is also a Family History Consultant, which is awesome, because E is interested in doing family history work.

Then G showed up to church randomly. He had told us he isn't ready to make that step yet, but there he was. Elder P and I had been asked to speak, so we jumped off the pulpit right before church started and talked to him. He just wanted to stay in the foyer, but he ended up coming to all 3 hours of church! He absolutely loved Gospel Principles, and he and our ward mission leader had a blast talking to each other. He didn't want to come to Priesthood, but we convinced him, and he had an awesome time there as well! Our ward had a linger-longer afterwards (which I thought was weird for a regular family ward, but we are pretty transient, so I guess it makes sense), and he talked to a recently moved-in member for most of the time. Everything just clicked together so perfectly for him at church! I am so glad he decided to come! He has also been immersing himself in the scriptures since we invited him to start reading them again. I am so happy for him! He is addicted to the scriptures now!

We live in an incredible time of the world, where technology and science are improving rapidly. This is part of the dispensation of the fullness of times. The Lord is inspiring people to create inventions that are revolutionizing our world and making it easier to share the Gospel. We should, however, be careful that we do not waste time on things that have no eternal significance as part of this great revolution. Now not to say that anything besides the Book of Mormon, Gospel Library, and LDS Tools apps should be shunned and treated as a work of the devil, but we should always be seeking to improve. Some technologies and apps give us the opportunity to connect with others around us and possibly share the Gospel. Others give us the opportunity to make exercise fun. But when we spend too much time catching Pokemon and not enough time connecting with the people around us that are doing the same, such technologies become a detriment instead of a help, Instead of improvement, misuse or overuse of certain technologies can lead to atrophy.

I love technology. As a missionary, though, with such a limit to it, I've learned that it has a lot more use in the Lord's work than I ever thought possible before. I am grateful that the Lord of the Vineyard has brought forth such things for us to progress and grow, and I know that He is the Lord of the Harvest, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Until next week, gotta catch 'em all! (Or as one member adapted it, "Gotta dunk 'em all!")

--

The Lord's Soldier,

          Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

St. Mary's Fall

I caught a fishy!

Baptismo!

Well, I had my first convert baptism this week! T is an absolutely golden member. He is going to be incredible! His baptism was fantastic! There were a lot of non-members there, as well as the mission president and his wife. The Spirit was really strong there!

We got to participate in a Fourth of July Parade yesterday with the rest of the missionaries in Colorado Springs. I had a blast being so patriotic.

I don't have too much time today, so I will list a few miracles that happened this week:

First, T's baptism.

Second, a street evangelist, JJ, who I met before, came to the baptism, AND to all three hours of church!

Third, after Sacrament Meeting, a lady approached us and said she wants to start being active in the church, and she has a 10-year-old who wants to be baptized!

I am studying my patriarchal blessing this week as part of My Plan, a program for missionaries to transition to post-mission life. I have learned so much this week by TRULY studying my patriarchal blessing. I've learned more about my purpose and what God wants from me. I invite you to earnestly study your patriarchal blessing. I know you can find more direction from it, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next week, remember who you are and what you stand for.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

T, the man, the myth, the legend.

Our mission president, looking pretty epic with his awesome hat.

America!!!!!

Marching in the parade!!

"...Not Be Room Enough to Receive It."

Well, I am now 21, so that means less than people who are not LDS (but at the same time more, because I've got more reason to say no). I do, however, now have the right to a landscape-style driver's license, be the adult supervising my sister who just got her driver's license, and get a concealed carry permit.  I was so busy on my birthday I didn't even have a spare moment to open my package from home until around 4 PM. THAT is a good birthday in the mission.

So you know how the Lord says when you pay your tithing, He opens the windows of heaven and pours you out more blessings than you have room to receive? And you know how people say that a mission is like tithing on your life? Well let me tell you, that ain't a false statement, and the Lord don't lie. I have felt so blessed this past week. Honestly, I don't know what to do with all these blessings. I feel like it's just one miracle after another.

So at church last week, a less-active member, N, decided to attend, and an awesome member came with her to the Gospel Principles class. She said she has an 8-year-old, M, that she wants to be baptized. That's awesome! She has already started coming back to activity, and the bishop feels that her child is ready for baptism!

The Assistants are in the area just adjacent to ours. We are actually in the same apartment complex. They were talking to people in a park in their area, and they came across G, a less-active member who lives in our ward boundaries! We set up an appointment with him, which ended up getting rescheduled to the day we had exchanges scheduled with the Assistants, so it worked out perfectly transition-wise. He understands pretty much all of the doctrines (he served a full-time mission), but he hasn't read the scriptures in a while, so his scriptural knowledge is lacking a bit. We are going to be meeting with him again this week!

We met with E again (our media self-referral), and we had a great lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel. He told us that it has answered some questions he's had for a while. He came to church, and before it started, we had a lesson with him and our awesome ward mission leader (who just got off his mission a few months ago). He told us that he felt that there was something more than just this life, that there was something before, and we happened to have planned to teach him about the pre-mortal existence that day! Totally incredible! He stayed for all 3 hours of church, and loved it!

We and over half of our zone had an awesome service opportunity this week. The town of Security has a contaminated water supply, and so Care & Share (a non-profit organization) put together a project to hand out water bottle to the residents. They got in contact with our JustServe missionaries, and we committed to 6 volunteers. That morning, we got a text from the missionaries going there, saying they needed 4 more volunteers ASAP. We quickly mobilized our district of 6, and we helped out. It was in a Catholic Church parking lot (#Inter-FaithForTheWin), and most of the volunteers (not including Care&Share employees) were us Mormon Missionaries. There ended up being news reporters there, so we are famous now. I was directing traffic, so I wasn't in any of the shots, but my companion got some air-time. We are going to be doing the same thing this week, but we might have almost all of our zone this time (because they need more volunteers than last time).

Mormon Channel just put out a wonderful new Mormon Message about living with mental illness, particularly MDD (Major Depressive Disorder, or "Depression"). It can be a very serious thing, that can affect a major part of who you are. But I testify that the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient. It is an Infinite Atonement. Christ knows EXACTLY what you are going through, and EXACTLY how to help you. You don't have to live in the darkness. MDD is a very real and serious thing, but there is help. It is possible to feel joy again, to feel hope again, to feel peace again, to feel the Spirit again. God loves each and every one of His children, and has prepared a way for each of them to achieve ultimate happiness. We can be healed. That is the promise of the Resurrection. All physical and mental illnesses WILL be healed because of Jesus Christ. I know that He stands supreme, and He has conquered the grave, and I so testify in His Holy Name, amen. 

Until next week, today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one who can be more youer than you. (Dr. Seuss)

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Wendy's set it up too perfectly to for us to not put an Angel Moroni on that.

Handing out them waters of life, Mormon-style.