Week 20: Cut-up Cards and Indexing

So I'd like to start off this email by reassuring all of you that we all make mistakes, but that there is a way back. For example, I accidentally cut up my MSF card that is used for all the normal expenses on my mission. I meant to cut up another card, and I guess my brain just didn't register that that wasn't the right card to cut. The good thing is, now that I've made that mistake, I probably won't make it again.

Secondly, I really tried out indexing this last week, and it is AWESOME! I may sound lame, but it is actually really cool. It's almost like a video game, except it's all real. I did a bunch of batches, and I almost couldn't pull away. The Spirit of Elijah is real, people. There's no escaping it.

 

We taught a lot of lessons this week. There was one less-active member that we've been teaching that we've committed to come to church. He's a dispatcher, so he often can't make it to church, but we are trying to get him there when he can. We were teaching another less-active family this week, and my companion ended up getting really bold with them, which was awesome. Missionaries need to be bold, and it was just what this family needed. The mom ended up coming to church, though the rest of the family didn't, but we've all got them committed to personal goals that we will be following up on.

 

We had ward conference this week, and the bishop gave a wonderful talk about doing the things that strengthen our testimony like scripture study 15 minutes a day. The stake president talked in combined meeting and really made it personal. He talked about hastening the work, and showed a really cool video (link attached). He then brought up 4 people out of the congregation and asked them how they were doing with the things the bishop had brought up. They all admitted they lacked in at least one of the areas, so he committed them to a goal to change that, as well as to a goal to hasten the work. It was really powerful. I always love combined meeting.

 

I've been reading Jesus the Christ a lot, and I have come to the point of our Lord's earthly ministry where he is betrayed and illegally brought before trial. All throughout his mortal life, he had the choice to turn back and not go through with it all. When arrested in the night (which was illegal under Jewish law then) and forced to testify against himself (also illegal) on the eve of Jewish feast (illegal), he chose to allow them to condemn him, even though they needed more evidence, and only had conflicting witnesses. They voted unanimously for death, which under Jewish law should have let him go, because it would have meant He had no friend in court. They went to Pilate and charged Him with a crime that they have not found him guilty of, or even tried Him for, in their blind rage they broke the laws that they so meticulously followed. He gave His life willingly, all because He loves us and loves His Father. Never forget just how willingly He sacrificed Himself for us.

 

Until next week, remember: We are all enlisted till the conflict is over.

 

--

The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Jacob C Tibbitts

 

Embark in the Service of God - 2015-theme-song

Week 19: When One Family Leaves, Another Returns

We helped a clean up a member family's home the day before they left, and the mom ended up saying that we were their favorite set of missionaries so far. Great, now my pride is all puffed up again. Usually I'm near perfectly humble, so much more than anyone else I meet, just because I'm better than them, especially at being humble. ;)

We went biking this week, for the first time in my mission so far. It's come to my attention that perhaps I am not as physically fit for biking as I had previously assumed. It looks like I'm going to be doing a lot more biking now.

 

A less-active family spoke in Sacrament Meeting the other day, and I was so happy! I was very pleased with the bishop for asking them to speak, and I'm sure he was guided by the Holy Ghost to do it. They gave incredible talks, and I was beaming from ear to ear for the rest of church. They are really wonderful people. They are returning to activity, and this is the second week in a row that they've come to church!

 

We were able to teach P and T, the investigator family we've been working with, this week, and we mostly had a refocus lesson before we teach them about the Plan of Salvation. We won't be able to teach them next week, but they invited us over for chicken and dumplings.

 

We weren't able to teach too many people this week, but this next week already is filled with appointments, and I have been receiving so much revelation on how to help each of these people that I can't help but thank God for the blessings he's given me!

 

This morning the Holy Ghost told me something that I'd never really though of before: Justice is just as necessary to our salvation as mercy is. Mercy may provide us the chance to repent and come clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, but justice demands that we do so. Mercy allows us the chance to change, but justice requires us to become more than we currently are. Both are necessary to help us grow. Mercy allows us that chance, but justice pushes us to do it. I am eternally grateful for the chance to grow and become more like my Father in Heaven.

 

Until next week, never forget that God loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

 

--

 

The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Tibbitts

 

 

These are pictures from me hiking on Red Rock Trails right near Garden of the Gods (or as we Utahns call it, Little St. George).

 

 

 

  These are pictures that were sent to me (Mom) from a member where he was having dinner Saturday night :)

 

 

 

Week 18: The Home, the Church, and the Temple

I had the chance to eat schwarma for the first time. It is delicious!

A bunch of missionaries from the zone helped somebody move this week. Afterwards, she asked one of us to dedicate the home. I had never done it before, and I stepped up to it. It was one of the most incredible experiences. It was like my first Priesthood blessing: I had no clue what I was going to say, but as soon as I began, the Spirit started speaking for me. Most of the words I said felt like they weren't my own. It doesn't require the authority of the Priesthood, but it is a privilege to do it. It was just another testimony to me that the Church is true and it is guided by Jesus Christ.

 

Moving from the subject of home to church, this Sabbath Day was incredible! Two less-active families that never show up to church decided to come this week! On top of that, an investigator who's part of a less-active part-member family also decided to come! This week we had invited him to figure out why everything he was investigating was all so important, and perhaps he decided that in order to figure that out, he'd need to come to church. Our Gospel Principles class was fantastic from all the insight each of these families provided. I felt the Spirit so strongly during Sacrament Meeting that I actually felt tears in my eyes several times. As I looked at those men blessing and passing the Sacrament, I thought about what a privilege it is to do such a thing.

 

Moving from church to the temple, there is a member who has returned to activity who just had her interview with the bishop to receive her temple recommend again. She was in Nebraska that morning, but got up at 2 AM and drove all the way back to Colorado Springs just for the interview! She is so excited to go to the temple again that it makes her giddy just thinking about it. She is fully dedicated to the cause and to going to the House of the Lord once more. Her dedication and eternal joy makes me happy beyond compare. I wish everybody was as excited as she was to go to the temple and perform ordinances for the deceased. But wait, there's more: We are probably going to be able to go to the temple with her and perform baptisms for the dead, too! I am so excited to go to the temple again. It feels like decades since I've gone and taken part in baptisms for the dead!

 

We as Latter-day Saints are a covenant people, just like Israel of old. We have entered into a special promise with the Lord, and we are bound to Him. With those promises we make, He promises greater blessings than we can imagine. It is practically a one-sided deal. The blessings we receive are infinitely larger than what we give. I am so grateful to be able to serve my Master on a mission and be His representative. I am grateful for the opportunity to enter into the House of the Lord and help others enter into a covenant with Him. For those who have the opportunity to go to the temple, I urge you to not delay the salvation of your kindred dead, and to always look to the temple as a beacon.

 

The Lord loves you and so do I. Until next week, remember who you are and what you stand for.

--

The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Tibbitts

I'm guessing this is schwarma.



Cover he made for his mini Preach My Gospel book using the He is the Gift Ensign supplement.

Week 17: New Year, New Investigators, Old Trainers

We had our first lesson with P and his family, who we invited with our ward mission leader to take the lessons last week. They were very receptive, and I they already have a very strong faith in Christ. I love them. Sometimes people will keep their opinions and questions to themselves during a lesson, but they speak up! I love it when people ask questions! It means they truly want to learn. They are already Mormons, they just don't know it yet. :)

Then came the shock. I got a call from one of the other elders' phone, and it was Elder (or should I say Brother) S, my old trainer who just went home three weeks ago (four now)! He was back in Colorado to visit everybody! At first I didn't believe it was him on the phone, but then he said, "I'm Jango Fett and you are Boba Fett," and I knew it was him.

 

My little sister's birthday was on New Year's Day, so I made sure to shout out, "Happy Birthday, Ashley!" at the top of my lungs outside. Luckily, I had a left-over piece of cake from a member's home, and so I had a little cake for her birthday. I'm probably going to have to buy some sushi this week so I can celebrate it right.

 

I finally moved into the member home we usually stay at. We've had to move around last week because their house was full of relatives, but we are back and now I am officially settled in. Elder H's birthday was this week, and all the missionaries that saw him made sure he knew it. We have so many treats now.

 

Speaking of treats, I got to eat some Tres Leches the other day. I haven't had that since junior high, and I was actually thinking about it this week before I even had the chance to partake of this most delicious Latin American confection.

 

I haven't had Sacrament Meeting in a pew for 4 months now, until this week. It reminded me of home, even though I sat on the opposite side my family usually sits at.

 

The most incredible thing happened yesterday. I less-active member came to church with her two unbaptized 18-year-old twin girls. Elder H had been trying to reactivate her since literally day two of his time in this area. He had received a prompting then that he need to keep her on his spiritual radar while he was serving here. She just decided to go to church, and she slammed open the door of her daughters and said, "We are going to church today." We taught the girls the first lesson right there at church! I felt the Spirit in the lesson, and I knew they could too. They have not been able to take the lessons because their father was extremely less-active and wouldn't let them, but now that they are 18, he has allowed it. For all you missionaries out there, never give up on somebody if the Spirit prompts you to stay with them and if they show even the slightest glimmer of hope and interest.

Many Christian religions look at the Fall of Adam and Eve as one of humanities biggest mistakes, or perhaps the biggest, but the beauty of the Restored Gospel is knowing that this is not true. It was a necessary step that allowed Adam and Eve to have children and to let humanity come to Earth. I am glad to know that the first moments of mankind were not a mistake, but a necessary step, and that a way had already been prepared by which the Son of Man would atone for our sins and enable us to return to our loving Father in Heaven. I am grateful for Adam and Eve, the first mortal parents of all mankind.

 

Until next week, stay strong... missionary strong.

--

The Lord's Soldier,

    Elder Tibbitts

 

BTW, me and my companion handed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon in less than 30 minutes. I feel so successful!