Nothing Gonna' Stop a Baptism!

Well, it looks like me and my companion are staying in Westcliffe for another 6 weeks. By the end of this new transfer, this will be the longest time I've had a companion, and the longest time I've been in an area.

This week, we had a special worldwide missionary training broadcast. The theme of the broadcast was "Teach Repentance, and Baptize Converts". I think the most important lesson I learned, which is something I knew before, but was brought home in the broadcast, is that the Holy Ghost is not a tool I use in missionary work. Rather, I am an instrument in the Holy Ghost's hands to accomplish the Work of Salvation. It is our responsibility to make ourselves worthy tools to accomplish such a purpose. "Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."

We are preparing for the baptism of two 8-year-old children who are part of less-active families returning to activity. L, the girl, has asked me to baptize her. We have planned the baptism for this Saturday, but the devil has shown his disapproval. There have been many obstacles placed in our way to try to prevent the baptism from happening this Saturday. Our church building doesn't have a baptismal font, so we are planning on using the Rye building. Unfortunately, the 1st Counselor of the Rye bishopric passed away suddenly this past week, and his funeral is being held on that Saturday an hour before what we had scheduled. The branch president hasn't been able to get a hold of the building scheduler for any of the other buildings in our stake. We have finally decided to push the baptism back to later in the day in Rye. We aren't going to let anything get in the way.

A less-active family in our branch called and said that the wife's father (who lives with them) is passing away suddenly. We came over as fast as we could and gave him a blessing before he passed away. We weren't there for his passing, but the family was very comforted by the blessing. I am honored to be a vessel of the Lord in accomplishing whatever He needs me to do.

We were asked Saturday afternoon if we could both give talks in Sacrament Meeting in the absence of the speakers. You know us missionaries, always prepared with a talk. Except for this time, where I lost the emergency talk I had prepared. I had to rewrite the talk again.

My companion and I are focusing a lot on family history in this area. It is incredible to see the benefits that come from acting on the Spirit of Elijah. As I've said before, family history work is addicting. You will soon find yourself sucked into the work of salvation with very little effort. In D&C 128:15, we read, "And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect."

Brothers and sisters, I invite you to make family history a priority in your life. As you do, the Spirit of the Lord will be more fully abundant in your life. I have felt that influence in mine. I know that Jesus Christ stands at the head of this work, and that He lives, in His Holy Name, amen.

Until next week, be the best you can be.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Your friendly advice, provided from the mission office.

The Rough Roads of Cotopaxi

Well, I have decided that this area is not suitable for anything less than a truck. There is a part of our area in Cotopaxi where the roads have massive amounts of water damage. Somehow, we were able to get our car stuck sideways in the road by driving down it slowly. The wheels slipped in one of the ditches running down the middle of the road and spun our car 90 degrees. I talked to the vehicle coordinator and asked how our truck is coming along. He laughed and said, "It's still in the shop. You elders won't be getting that truck back for a while." (Just as a reminder, it was not me or my companion who crashed the truck. It was on exchanges that my poor truck was brutally beaten.)

We were able to meet with R again. He started out the conversation by trying to go into intelligences and light and truth. He had  finished the Sections of the Doctrine & Covenants that talked about that, and he had been reading some Skousen... I had to expertly redirect the conversation to a more simple one. My companion showed the 3-part Mormon Message, Patterns of Light, and with that, we were able to both answer his questions and move onto the plain and simple truths of the Gospel. We had a fantastic lesson about prayer, and how to pray. I feel we are starting to get somewhere with him, and his progress is really starting to show.

Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..."

This week, I have focused a lot on controlling my thoughts. I have tried to eliminate every thought not focused on the work of the Lord. I have attempted to purge from my mind, at least for this short time in Colorado, thoughts of home or of the past. Let me tell you what has come because of this. My prayers have become more sincere, my mind has been filled with peace, I have been able to fully focus on every aspect of the work, and I have felt more abundantly the influence of the Spirit in my life. Thoughts control our destiny. I know that as you try to focus on controlling your thoughts, and giving all your mind to the work of the Lord, you will find your mind uncluttered and clear, and you will have peace in your heart. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next week, be strong and of a good courage.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Some cars just aren't meant to be on some roads.

Homeless

Well, let me get straight to the title of this email. We had zone training this week. As previously stated before, we are not currently in possession of a vehicle with 4-Wheel Drive. It started to snow on the way to zone training, and by the time we finished, it was rather white on the ground. We were a little low on gas, but I figured we had enough to get home. We proceeded to drive through the uphill canyon back to our area. Our poor little car just couldn't handle the roads, and so we ended up getting stuck just a few miles away from the easy part of the drive. It just couldn't take another inch upwards. We ended up going into Neutral and going back down the canyon, driving 14 miles on empty because our gas had been expended in the strenuous effort to get through the canyon in a 2-Wheel Drive car. We ended up spending the night at the zone leaders' apartment. Stake conference was the next day, so we spent a few days separated from our beloved home with it's extra clothes and other necessities for exchanges. When we got back to Westcliffe on Sunday, I felt grateful for it.

Stake Conference was very inspiring. Let me just share a few highlights:

Elder K. Richard Scott, the Area Seventy presiding over our conference, got up after our stake president spoke, and told everybody that we need to listen to the holder of the keys for the stake, specifically for the invitations he extends. After hearing that, the next session that President Bertoldo spoke, I took heavy notes.

Elder K. Richard Scott told us that we are not here in Pueblo because of a job, or a marriage, or being born here. The Lord assigned us to a specific area to accomplish His work of salvation. That is easy to see as a missionary, seeing how we are only in an area because the Lord assigned us to that area, but it is just as true with any person. To paraphrase him, the Lord doesn't just throw His people about willy-nilly.

President Bertoldo said that we have a beautiful picture of the Waters of Mormon. He then referenced the unique water system we have set up here in Pueblo. Why do we have a beautiful image in our head of the Waters of Mormon? It isn't because of the place itself, but rather the people there. President Bertoldo wants the members of this stake to have a beautiful picture in their mind of the Waters of Pueblo. We can have that same beautiful image of our own stake wherever we live.

The last thing I want to leave with you this week is the most important message that was shared during stake conference. It was spoken of again and again. It is that of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, at church and at home. Last year, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve decided that our Church as a whole needs to focus more on Sabbath Day observance. The purpose of this is to increase our faith in BOTH Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It is absolutely integral. Elder K. Richard Scott said that Elder Russell M. Ballard came into his group while he was being trained, and said, "The Brethren are amazed at how quickly the world is going south in every possible way." He then explained that their purpose as seers is to look 5 to 10 years into the future and tell the people what they need to do to prepare. Out of all the solutions, they KNOW that the best thing we can do to prepare is to increase the quality of our Sabbath Day worship.

Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can save the world. We must listen to the counsel of His anointed servants. Elder K. Richard Scott had lived in the Philippines for a time as a child, and after General Conference in 1977, his family started making preparations for everything, including buying property inside a mountain in Utah, getting machine guns, and getting an escape boat. He will always remember what his dad said that ended the whole conversation: "All of this will mean absolutely nothing if we are not spiritually prepared." That is how we must live. Brothers and sisters, the work of the Lord is prophesied to grow exponentially, VERY soon. Are we prepared for it? I promise that as you seek to make the Sabbath Day more meaningful in your life, the Lord will endow you with the gift of enduring to the end. You will be prepared for the calamities soon ahead, as you follow the commandments of God. I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next week, stand fast, ye sons and daughters of God.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

A quote in the other elders' apartment from Elder Holland when he visited this mission.

The Miracle of Change

Well, this being the beginning of a new year, which many consider a chance for a new start, I would like to spend this email talking about the miracle that people can change their lives completely around. For evidence of the reality of this claim, I would like to submit before you the lives of several different people, some of them recent converts, some of them less-active members, some of them missionaries.

Let us start with B. She has now been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 1 year and 3 days. Before her life, she had made a lot of bad choices. She had almost given up all hope for her life. She had child out of wedlock, and she was heavily involved in drugs. Her friend M had been with her a large part of this dreary journey. M was a member of the Church. She invited B to a Sacrament Meeting. B accepted. That first Sunday changed her life. After getting over the shock of discovering that she had just spent 3 hours in a Mormon church, she started to take the lessons from the missionaries. When I came into the area and met her, she had been a member for about 6 months. Let me tell you, she is one of the most fantastic members I have ever met. She loves missionary work, she loves having a calling, she goes to the temple as often as she can, and she does everything she can to be more like the Savior.

Then there is B. He was a less-active member who was so entrenched in the idea that he wasn't worthy of God's love. We invited him to fast and come to church to receive an answer to his prayers, and he told us that was too big a step for him. So instead, prompted by the Spirit, in the closing prayer, I told God (B listening) that my companion and I would fast FOR him. During that week, he decided to fast as well, and he came to church every week except one that I was in that area after that experience. He is progressing in leaps and bounds!

Let's move on to A. A was baptized at age 8, and his family are converts, except for his dad who didn't join. A hadn't received the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood, but he never denied the truth of the Church. He is one of my favorite people that I've met on the mission. He has changed in so many ways. He comes to church every week now, and last I heard, he was preparing to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He loves home-teaching, and his knowledge of the gospel has increased in numerous ways.

Now I won't go into detail with any of the missionaries that I have seen make an incredible change, but there are many missionaries who when I first met them, didn't have a right attitude about the mission. Since I have had the wonderful opportunity to serve around them again, I have been blessed to see a huge change in their lives. They are the success stories of the mission. They are the ones who you can just look at and realize that the Gospel can change people and that we never need to give up on anyone.

Well, I usually end with a spiritual thought, but I think this letter will suffice as such. Just remember, the Savior NEVER gave up on ANYONE, so we don't have the right to do so. If we could just understand that people can change, the WORLD would change. Said President Thomas S. Monson, "We need to bear in mind that people can change. They can put behind them bad habits. They can repent from transgressions. They can bear the priesthood worthily. And they can serve the Lord diligently.” (Liahona, February 2014)

Until next week, be righteous, yo.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts