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.

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The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

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