The Close of One Journey, the Beginning of Another

Well, here we are, at my final entry. It has been a crazy two years, but I have felt incredibly blessed to be on this journey. I am grateful that the Lord chose me to be His representative here in Colorado Springs. I wouldn't give up my mission for anything in the world.

This past week was a great week, and I've got one more great week after it. I feel so blessed to be a part of such an incredible work.

I don't have enough time to share all my mission experiences. That would take two years to tell you. But let me tell you a few things I've learned from my mission, in brief. Jesus Christ stands at the head of this great work. He guides every single part of it. The Holy Ghost is the way by which the Work of Salvation comes to pass in the lives of each of God's children. We have been blessed to be on the Earth at such an incredible and exciting time. Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of Mankind, and the Eternal Judge of both Quick and Dead. He loves each of us with an infinite love. It is isn't earned or purchased. It just is. God loves us because we are His children. We don't have to fight to earn His love. He loves us right now, no matter who we are or what we've done. We love Him because we were first loved. The Book of Mormon is true. It IS the word of God. I know that, independent of any other person.

Let me share two scriptures found in the Book of Mormon, as my final spiritual thought with all of you on my mission. This first scripture has been criticized by enemies of the Church many times, yet it is in my opinion one of the most important scriptures of the Book of Mormon. It is Mosiah 18: 30: "And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."

That says Mormon quite a bit. I highly doubt the prophet Mormon was just egocentric. I don't think he wanted to just place "Mormon" in there as many times as possible in the Book of Mormon. But why was Mormon called Mormon? In 3 Nephi 5:12, we read, "And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression."

Now whether the Book of Mormon is called directly after the Waters of Mormon, or whether is is called so after it's author, ultimately, it leads to this sacred place where people "came to the knowledge of their Redeemer."

The Book of Mormon is where we we "[come] to the knowledge of [our] Redeemer". This IS Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is how I have come to a knowledge of my Redeemer. I know that if you study its pages and abide by its precepts, then you will too. I declare that most boldly in the sacred and holy name of the One of whom it testifies, even Jesus Christ, amen.

Until we meet again, never doubt your God. He will always be there.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

My homecoming talk will be at 9 AM on August 28th at the Rolling Hills Ward Sacrament Meeting at 2110 N Main Street, Centerville UT 84014.

I got to do service erasing a social trail at a park and restoring the landscape.

Never Forget Your Mission, Never Forget God's Love

So, we dropped off Elder A at the airport Thursday morning. I had dropped off Elder M about a month ago, but we didn't go inside with him (don't worry, he was an experienced flyer). This time we went all the way to the security checkpoint. The last time I did that was over 18 months ago when we dropped off Elder L off. That was different than now. I met him the day before, and I was only 4 months out. This time I knew the missionary, and I knew I'd be the next missionary going through that airport. Don't worry, I'm not trunky, it was just a fact I noticed, and it made that experience much different than the first. We keep on working hard, and we don't stop until they release us. For those of you who don't know, we sometimes call being released dying. We have a whole mission life lingo. But remember, missionaries never die; They just regroup at home.

The night before we dropped Elder A off, we got to go to Tucanos with President Rehm. I don't think I've ever eaten so much meat in my life. I gained personal insight into the Word of Wisdom that night when it tells us to eat meat sparingly.

We also had zone conference this week. My last one was supposed to have been two transfers ago, but because of rescheduling because of a mission tour coming up, they changed zone conference. That was actually a nice little treat for me. I really like zone conferences, so it was nice to have another one before I went home.

We taught C this week. He is the non-member husband of a member. They came to church a few times before that, and we started teaching them this week. Most of the questions were first about Church organization. The next time we met with them this week, we taught the Restoration, which I'm told they loved (I was on exchanges).

I realized today that this will be the second to last time I will be sending out emails as a missionary. I want to let you all know that my mission has changed me. If you have doubts about serving a mission, don't. It will be one of the most richly rewarding experiences of your life. I thank my God for the blessing of a mission. It's funny, we usually start off on our missions saying, "Now I'll finally repay God, or at least show my gratitude by giving something back." But the whole time, we aren't repaying Him, or even really giving Him anything, He's just showering more blessings upon us the whole time. We start out thinking the mission is our gift to Him, and we find out at the end that it was His gift to us all along. This is a true principle for any act of service, any calling we serve in, any assignment we accept from the Lord. I can't express my gratitude for Him and his infinite generosity. As President Uchtdorft said in the 2015 Christmas Devotional, "This is the One whom we worship. This is the Generous One." Of Him I testify, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, amen.

Until next week, see the beauty all around you.

-- 

The Lord's Soldier,

                      Elder Jacob C. Tibbitts

Missionaries never die. They just regroup at home.

Featuring... MY OLD AREA!