Come Unto Christ in Colorado Springs: First Week Out!

This has been a crazy first week out in the field, but I guess that's how it is with every missionary. After leaving the MTC, I got to fly to Colorado Springs from Salt Lake. That's the first time I've flown since I was very little. It is truly a breath-taking experience, to see the clouds below me, with the earth as their background instead of the sky. I could barely take my eyes off of the window.

Once I got to the mission home, I met President Rehm and his wife Sister Rehm. They are so nice, and it is rather easy to pick up on their personalities. All of the new missionaries (24 total, I believe, 2 from the Mexico City MTC) stayed the night at the mission home, except for the 4 sister missionaries, who spent the night at a member home.

The next day we all received our area and companion assignment. There was this one trainer in the back that kept popping up whenever a new missionary was assigned to the Pueblo zone, expecting to be their trainer, and he had to keep sitting back down because he wasn't assigned to that missionary. Lo and behold, when I was called up, I was assigned to the Pueblo zone, La Junta I area, with him as my trainer. I was a little scared that day. But Elder S, my new companion and trainer, is actually rather wonderful. I love having him as a companion, and our personalities mesh rather well.

The La Junta area is a rather difficult area. As my new bishop said during Coordination Meeting, "La Junta is the Marine boot camp of the Colorado Springs Mission." We've had very little appointments during the week, so we've done a lot of tracting. Elder S has only been in the area for one transfer, so neither of us know the area really well. When I heard that the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission (CCSM for short) was full of people with Christian backgrounds and family values, I thought the Lord had set them up perfectly, but La Junta is full of a lot of people who "know" about the Mormons, and are very "firm" in their religion. I'm still staying positive, though. I know that people have their free agency, and I still placed my first Book of Mormon!

I had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I should have seen that coming. After church, I saw all the members talking to each other happily, and I was filled with the Spirit. The thought came into my mind along the lines of, "This ward is like a stronghold of light against the forces of darkness." I felt like I wanted to have more people experience this. I almost cried tears of joy when I felt that fellowship.

The Lord's Servant,

Elder Tibbitts

PS, If you want to send me mail, President Rehm has asked that you send it through the mission office. Here's the address:

Elder Jacob Christopher Tibbitts

4090 Center Park Drive Suite #4

Colorado Springs, CO 80918

PPS, I get to drive the car! My companion never got his driver's license, so I get to drive the car everywhere. And he's only got 3 months left, two transfers, so I'll be his last companion since he'll be training me for two transfers.

PPPS, Also, I got to eat pig tripe (stomach lining) and Chinese food my first week here, so now my mom can laugh at me thinking I could escape Chinese food. The pig tripe was actually rather delicious, except the spice they put in it overpowered the rest of the soup. The stomach lining by itself was actually quite tasty.

Ok, NOW I'm done.