Week 24: We Shall Be White as Snow (A LOT of Snow!)

We were able to meet with M again this week. He was a little sleepy from Botox treatment, but he was awake enough to listen. He asked some questions about how our church meetings go, which always makes me happy, because I know what is coming next. He said he wanted to come to church, and that made us excited! Unfortunately, church was cancelled, on account of the foot and a half of snow that we received on Saturday through Sunday, and the inability to plow the parking lot in time for our meetings. But I'm confident he will come this next Sunday.

We had specialized training, and the Spirit taught me many things. The most important and impressionable thing I was taught by the Lord in prayer was this, "If you want to be cleansed, be consecrated. Consecration leads to sanctification." The APs asked us all to figure out how we can be more consecrated to our missions, but I guess the Lord wanted me to learn part of why before I learned how. Those words came to me in the midst of my prayer to the Lord to find out what I need to do. Since then, I have made myself more committed to devoting all of my thoughts and energy to my mission and my service to Him.

 

The snow came down really heavily, and we decided that we should walk instead of drive. So there we were, two missionaries walking through the middle of a snowstorm. There were little to no cars on the road, and we were the only ones outside. People must have thought we were crazy. We are crazy, crazy about the GOSPEL!! I had a blast, and it felt like quite the adventure. I wish we'd gone tracting, because we might have met some success as people looked at us covered in snow and ice, committed to the cause.

 

We've received our transfer calls, and Elder H is going over to North zone to be a zone leader. My area and Oakwood's are getting combined into one area. Elder C is going to be my new companion and district leader. He's a great guy, and I'm excited to work with him.

 

I want to give you two scriptures, based off of what I learned in Specialized Training. The first one is Isaiah 1: 18 "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." As we consecrate all our time and efforts to the Lord, He will cleanse us through His Atonement. We will become more than we are now. We will work harder, and become humble. When Paul was converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he couldn't help but give his very soul to the work. He said, "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)

 

I have felt myself working harder than I ever have on my mission, and it is because of the grace of God, not myself. I am nothing, but with God I can do all things. As we all continue as devoted disciples of Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves being strengthened as we give everything over to the Lord.

 

Until next week, give your all to the Lord, because He gave His all for you.

 

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The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

 

 

 

Week 23: Valentine's Day and Christianity

This week started out looking really bad, just because we had several people cancel on us, but this turned out being an INCREDIBLE week!

 

First off, we had interviews with President Rehm. He had to rebuke me pretty strongly... just kidding, it was wonderful talking to him.

 

We had dinner with a less-active family who's dog recently had to have his leg amputated due to bone cancer. The mother has had to stay with him 24/7, and her husband got deployed to Germany the day after dinner. We are going to make sure the Relief Society is heavily involved with her. She is such a wonderful sister, everything going on has been difficult for her. Perhaps this is what she needs to realize how much she needs the gospel in her life.

 

After dinner with them, we met with M, the referral from church. B, the member neighbor, was there with us. We were only able to get through half of the first lesson, because M had so many questions about the church. That made me really happy. Some people ask questions just to bash, but he asked them because he was genuinely interested. He is a very intelligent person, but he's humble enough to not assume our beliefs and to take our word on what we believe. Sometimes you get those people who TELL us what we believe, and won't take any other answer we give them, despite US being the members of OUR church. B was very impressed with how we handled ourselves and his questions, which touched a lot of subjects that the Church is being noticed for, and he told everybody that during church. I am looking forward to meeting with him again this week.

 

So, Valentine's Day was this week. It is a difficult day for almost every missionary, whether they are in a relationship or not. If they don't have anybody back home, they are reminded of the fact they are single. If they DO have somebody back home, they are reminded of the fact that "they are still single" (said another less-active family we had dinner with). Despite the notoriety of Valentine's Day among missionaries, it was actually a pretty great day. You get a lot of candy from people. A lady who was drunk waved us over while we were biking, and she told us, "I know you guys don't believe in Jesus Christ, you believe in 'John' Smith." We let her talk for a little while longer, then we explained that we DO believe in Jesus Christ. She didn't believe us, and asked who Jesus is to us. Elder H said, "He is the Savior of Mankind and the Son of God." Her jaw dropped. Then I added, "He is our Lord and our Redeemer." She was awestruck. It's true, people think we don't believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that we worship Joseph Smith, despite the name of our Church. She may not remember that conversation now, seeing how she was drunk, but there is always hope that she did.

 

We also got to have a "practice" lesson with the members who's house we live at, but more importantly with the non-member who lives with them, B. We bore powerful testimonies, and we gave him a Book of Mormon. He reads the scriptures with them every night. He is a great kid.

 

This next week, I want to challenge all of you to find out who your hero is from the scriptures, and to figure out why they are your hero. Then I want you to find one attribute you love about them, and try to work on that attribute in your life. I promise you that as you do, you will grow and become more capable to handle the trials in your life.

 

Until next week, continue on the path of discipleship.

 

--

The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Jacob and his companion giving a blessing to this little girl. The second they walked into the hospital room and she found out they would be giving her a blessing, she jumped out of her bed and pulled a chair over to sit in :)

Week 22: Biking, Tracting, and Referrals

First off, I got my new MSF card, so now I'm not penniless anymore, though I do owe some missionaries some money now, so I'll just need to avoid them... joking, I'm an honest man.

 

We have been doing a lot more biking in our area, just to save miles for driving. We have a bendable reading light that we wrapped around the front of our bikes for make-shift lights, because here in the Springs, we ENGINEER our solutions! A year at Utah State really pays off. :P I guess the light wasn't bright enough, though, because I still got hit by a car. I was able to swerve out of the way enough that they just barely nudged me, but they had a look of fear on their faces. I started to bike away, but they parked the car and asked me if I was okay. I told them they were fine. Afterwards I realized that would have been the PERFECT opportunity to hand out a Book of Mormon. I think my subconscious wants me to get hit again so I can have another opportunity. :)

 

We also made a goal as a companionship to tract at least 5 houses EVERY day. On our first day of trying it out, we handed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon! We weren't able to set any return appointments, but we were able to give one person our number, and she seemed interested.

 

We did some service for a less-active family this week, and they ended up coming to church for the first time since I've been here in this area! S, an investigator of ours, also showed up! But wait, there's more! After Sacrament meeting, we found out that a member had a neighbor who wanted to investigate the church, and we have an appointment with him and the member on Wednesday! He met an LDS girl through online dating, and she asked him to investigate the Church (flirt to convert, ha ha). From what we've heard, he's had some hard times, and he sounds really genuine in his search for truth. But that's not all, folks! Some of our ward missionaries gave us a referral as well for somebody who wants to check out the Food Storage Center in Colorado Springs! This next week is already packed with appointments, and I am so excited! We put forth just a little more effort in our work, and the Lord has blessed us in abundance!

 

For those of you who are trying to help a wayward sheep return home, or help somebody come to a knowledge of the truth, and feel like there isn't much progress being made, and that you aren't making much of a difference, I give you this quote from President Spencer W. Kimball (given by my mission president this week): “There may be someone who will say, ‘Well, we know a man or a woman who can never be touched.’ Of course he or she can be touched. He or she can always be blessed and helped! There is the promise of scripture. It reads, “Charity never faileth.” (1 Cor. 13:8.) Never! Charity, applied long enough, never fails to work its miracle either in the individual, in us, in both of us, or in others around the individual.” (Ensign, Jun 1983, 3)

 

I love all of you! Remember, "Charity never faileth." Until next week, improve the shining moments, don't let them pass you by. Remember, "A day is never over if it makes a memory."

 

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The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

 

Also, here's me taking the Big Bad Wolf Challenge at Crave Burger. I may never love pork again...

 

Kind of looks like he's praying. Not sure if he's praying for the strength to not throw up, or he's praying for the strength to finish it all, or what. Maybe he's just deep in thought. Your guess is as good as mine (The Mom).

 

Week 21: SCRIPTURE POWER!!!

I chose this week's title for one reason, but realized it has two reasons, which I'll get to in a sec.

First off, I went on exchanges with the zone leaders, seeing how my companion is the district leader (and the zone leaders are in our district). I got to the zone leaders apartment, and I looked at him and said, "Elder B? I don't think I'm ready." He said, "Ready for what?" I gave him the most serious look and said, "I just don't think I'm ready to go zone leader. I've only been out for 5 months..." He cracked up. But seriously, exchanges were awesome! We had a full day of teaching, and I learned a lot. We gave a blessing to somebody in the ICU, and we weren't able to touch them, so we gave a priesthood blessing without touching them.

 

We visited a less-active family this week that we saw last week. They have made a lot of progress, even just over the last week. They've had family scripture study almost every night, and we challenged them to have family prayer every night. The daughter has been marking her scriptures like none other. She is just soaking in the personal revelation! Now we just need to get them all back to church.

 

I got a new set of scriptures this week! It is so cool to look back at my old scriptures as I transfer some notes and markings over. My old scriptures are old, at least to me. They have 11 years of studies in them, and I can tell who I was then and who I am now just by what I marked in those scriptures. I'm ready to begin a new journey with these scriptures, especially in my mission. I hope to have them full of notes by the end of these two years.

 

I recently saw a video the Church put out with the 2013 edition of the scriptures. It is called Scriptures Legacy. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend watching it. It made me think about the sacrifices that were made to preserve the scriptures, and WHY people sacrificed their lives just to preserve these records. People used to risk all that they had just to get their hands on a copy of the written word of God in their language, and continued to risk even after they had them. Martyrs were made. Satan did everything in his power to stop people from knowing the truth. But truth has been restored, and we are blessed today to have scriptures so readily available, that all we have to do is go to our personal library or pull out our tablet or smartphone. Don't take the scriptures for granted. "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32: 3)

 

Scriptures Legacy

 

My challenge to you this week is to read every day from the written word of God. Make it a priority. Don't let anything get in the way between you and your study of the scriptures. Until next week, peace be unto you.

 

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The Lord's Soldier,

   Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts