Happy Thanksgiving and lots of a baptism too!!‏

Hey there la familia mia!

It sounds like there was lots and lots of happy, happy joyness going around this last week! That´s great because we had an awesome week too, all ending with an awesome baptismal service!

(Did I know that Chris was getting married? I don´t remember... either way, ¡Felicidades!)

So yesterday night we had a Zone baptism. The assistants and even President and his family came! There were eight baptized. I think that President is proud of how far this Zone has come. (it´s a long, long way...) I was so incredibly happy there! Everyone was all smiles the whole night. I guess that´s what happens when the Spirit is that strong. :D 

We were going to have a baptism during the service too, but there were giant marionettes in the streets and yeah, it was just a big mess... So Alejandra works over in down town Guadalajara, and there were these giant puppet things in the main streets over there. So all the bus routes were blocked and she couldn´t come to get her interview, then her phone died, then she still couldn´t come for church, so for the next week. She is going to get 
baptized. She´s the most chosen person I´ve taught so far in my mission.

We had a carne asada too this week. And yes those are whole onions and cactus leaves on the grill right along side of the meat.

We actually decided to celebrate Thanksgiving today because we had more time. It all started out in the morning...  I woke up and made pancakes for everyone. Élder Hollingsworth wanted some Mickey Mouse shaped ones too. For toppings we had peanut butter (thanks, Mom), nutella, cajeta (it´s amazing!), and maple syrup! They were amazing!!  Then later, for lunch, we had a chicken, lots of mashed potatoes (with turkey gravy!), and a bolillo (roll). It was delicious and almost reminded me of home... it was kind of sad because the gravy was our favorite part, and it cost as much as the chicken... ;) We were all happy and fat though so it was a successful Thanksgiving!

Con amor, 
Élder Gibson

It´s beginning to look a lot like... CHRISTMAS! ... even though it´s not Thanksgiving yet ... but that doesn´t exist down here ... ;)

Querido Familia,

There actually are a few trees that change colors (half at a time) here too. I think that the weather is actually getting hotter right now though... weird. I don´t really remember what real cold feels like... it´s a little chillier in the mornings but not too much.

You´re welcome, Josué. I did spend some time drawing those flags on your birthday card... ;)

I´m sending a package home for Christmas. Hopefully it will get there before then. Our elders quorum president is checking the cheapest way for me to send it.

Élder Rossiter (my district leader) got changed today, even though they said there weren´t going to be changes.  He was almost upset, because he (like us) has had a hard time finding good investigators that progress, and he finally had some. He´s going to Zitacuaro, on the other side of the mission. Eight hours away by bus.

Alejandra actually didn´t end up getting baptized this Sunday because she got pretty sick Saturday night and couldn´t make it. Which I´m actually ok with because she hasn´t had all of the lessons yet. If everything went according to plan last week, she would have. But she fell asleep on the bus one day and got lost. Then she got sick...  She`s still really excited for her baptism though! So she`ll be getting baptized this Sunday instead.

We also have Ileana. She told us yesterday that she`s going to get baptized before Élder Cruz or I get changed but she wouldn´t accept a date. She says she has to be sure that she´s going to follow through with the commitments after baptism. She said she doesn´t want to get baptized, go to church a couple times, and then quit (she´s married to a less active member). She does want to get baptized though, it´s easy to tell, and she wants to be sealed in the temple (it´s even easier to see that). So, we`re working with her.

Requests for Christmas...  Maybe some ties... and some Reeses Chocolate (they`re not as good down here...) That´s probably all. :)

We´re having a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night. We got some mashed potato mix, and I even found some gravy down on the bottom shelf crammed behind some salsa. I don´t think we´ll be getting a turkey though... maybe a smaller rotisserie chicken... ;)

That´s all for now folks!

Con amor,
Élder Gibson

PS: here´s a couple of pictures from the past little while...

No hay la mensualidad... :( Pero, ¡¡mi memoria est a reparado!!

 ¡¡Hey there familia!!

 I´m pretty sure I´m going to have a few Mexicanisms when I get home, or more appropriate: Guadalajaranisms... but that´s a really long word that sounds like a disease... I remember when Chris [Brooks, just returned]left on his mission... Every missionary that comes home is one closer to me! Ahhhh! That´s weird...

 Today we went to check our balances on our cards, and there wasn´t any money... (it´s because the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution is on the 20th, but they celebrate on the 15th for some reason... so nothing is open today, not even the banks. So that means no money until tomorrow.) So we´re living off of the reserves until tomorrow. (Don´t worry, we´re totally fine)

 I remember going to farewells of my friends... (everything seems sooooo long ago even when it wasn´t...) If Kevin was a Mexican he could have started his papers more then six months ago. They can leave when they´re 18.

 ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Alejandra is getting baptized next week!!!!!!!! She told us after church today, "I think I want to get baptized." She enjoyed church a lot and our Relief Society President was her friend in the ward that day. Then we all went to The RSP´s house for lunch and hurried back for the open house. We had a few investigators come to that and we have another investigator named Ileana that I think is really close to baptism too, but she´s been close for months... But last night she told us that we´ve changed her perspective of elders. Because the elders that she knew were the slackingish missionaries of before, but she could tell that we work harder and want to help people. So hopefully that´s a good big step forward.

 Oh, we carry our Book of Mormons to contact with, then we ask if we can come to their houses and give them one and teach more about it. It´s a way to teach them a lesson and commit them to read it. There are different ways of doing it, but this is how we choose to do it.

 Well that´s all! Thank you for all of your prayers!!

 Tu hijo/hermano/nieto/sobrino/primo
 Élder Gibson

No transfers for us until Jan. 2

 Hey there, my dearly Familia!

 Well, it sounds like everything is going wonderfully at home! 16 missionaries is a lot! (He's referring to the number of missionaries from our home ward.) That´s like four districts! That could be a Zone! ¡Wow! We have one in this ward. It´s kind of funny, because the missionary from this ward went to the mission where Élder Cruz is from, and Élder Cruz is in this mission.

 So there´s this family in our ward that moved here about the same time that I got here, but didn´t know where the chapel was. She contacted Élder Ashton and I, but still didn´t come. It turns out that they were baptized in January and so they´re still very new to the church. They contacted É´ Cruz and I and now they come every week. (one of the most faithful families that I´ve seen) But anyway, they´re really good about sharing the gospel with their friends.

 Last night we had a wonderful lesson with one of their friends named, Alejandra. It turned out to be about 1 1/2 hour lesson. She is ridiculously ready to be taught. Towards the end of the lesson, she was asking what someone had to do to be baptized and she really wants a Book of Mormon. She kept reaching over and picking one up (we each carry one in our hand while we walk) and looking at it and opening it. She saw the names at the top of the pages and asked, "So these were prophets too?" And we just said, "YES!!" I really think that she´s going to get baptized. We´re going to give her a book of Mormon later today.

 President is coming to our housed tomorrow for interviews with Hermana Jesperson. So we spent a good chunk of the day deep cleaning the house.

 Well that´s really all that I have time for this week. Sorry it´s so short. Just know that we´ve been getting new investigators and they´re awesome!

 con amor,
 Élder Gibson

El Día de los Muertos...

Querida Familia,

I did remember of my 12th baptisamal anniversary, I didn´t tell anyone though...

I´m glad to hear that Grandma´s funeral went well, and that everyone is doing well, and back from Vegas in one piece. ;) 

Well, this week was pretty good I guess. We found some old investigators that weren´t even in the area book. They seem to be pretty interested and there´s four of them too!  Not that we´re focused only on numbers. I really hope they progress, they seem promising. We´re also working with a sixteen year old who contacted our Zone Leaders... but I think I already told you about her.

On Saturday, the Stake had an activity with the primary. "A day as a missionary" They had the kids come and work for a couple of hours with us in the areas that are closest to the stake center. It was really awesome. We went and knocked doors in some apartment buildings first and got some return appointments for the missionaries of that area. One of  the kids that was with us even introduced us at one of the doors. I think he was about 9 or something. He spoke about a million miles an hour, and I don´t think the lady understood him, but he did awesome. Then we went to a part-member family and taught a lesson. We went back to the stake center and the assistants were there in place of President (he couldn´t make it). Some of the kids were called on to talk about their experiences working with the missionaries, and bear their testimonies. The kids in my ward wanted to go with me, but they got assigned to a different companionship. Each companionship was at least 5 missionaries total (including the kids). It was an awesome activity for the kids!

Sunday we got an extra hour of sleep... and it was wonderful... ;) But seriously you only get two of those as a missionary! It´s a lot easier to get up in the morning now too. Maybe because it´s somewhat light outside...? I don´t know, but I like it!

There are actually a bunch of people that celebrate Halloween here too. That was weird to see... But bigger is: the day of the dead. I`m not really sure what it is actually. It´s like a cross between Halloween and Memorial Day, I think... something like that. There´s the sugar skull things, and a bunch of other
things that you put at the graves of your family.

It´s good that the garden is doing good. My district leader thinks that everyone in St George has a garden... ;) One thing that I wasn´t aware of is how many different varieties of chile(peppers) there are; Jalapeño, Serrano, Green, Ancho, Chipotle, Habeñero... There´s a lot!

Well, I´m still working on the virus in my SD card and USB... My district leader had the same virus and says he can do mine too. So hopefully soon I can send pictures again!

That´s all for this week! Thank you for all your prayers and everything!

Con amor,

Élder Gibson

Feliz cumpleaños a... ¡mi!

Dearest Familia,

So remember the baptism that we had? Well we had a hard time tracking him down after that. There were two weeks in between his baptism and when he could be confirmed because of General Conference. But he works all day and then he moved out of the ward boundaries so it was a hit and miss trying to find him. But we finally did, and reminded him that he needed to receive the Holy Ghost for his baptism to be complete. We got his address and passed it to the other elders, but it doesn´t look like they´ve found him yet. He hasn´t made it to the chapel since then, but we have a cita with him in the chapel on Tuesday, and made sure he knew what day and time. So hopefully that will go well and he´ll understand the importance of being confirmed...

We did get a few references... no, in English they´re called... referrals! One was a 16 year old girl that our Zone leaders contacted and she asked if she could have a Book of Mormon. Another one is from a part member family actually there´s two from that family. (extended family) And last, we were walking from contacting a referral that didn´t turn out to be that cool... but as we walked past the pizza place this guy ran out and said, "Hey I´ve heard a little bit about Joseph Smith, and it sounds interesting. Do you have a Book of Mormon I could have?" My companion and I both passed out right then and there. So we don´t really know what happened after that... Just kidding!  We told him that we didn´t have one on us, but we´d love to come by on Wednesday and give him one and talk about it a little. I like it a lot better when people contact us... They always seem to be more interested that way... ;)

Our mission is the pilot mission for a mobile open house for the church. We have a missionary couple that are in charge of it and go from Zone to Zone with it. We were going to have our first one this Saturday, but a bunch of the stuff got stolen. (oh by the way: it includes big pictures, big flat screens, touch screens and a life size Cristus picture. It´s like a mini-traveling visitor´s center) I´m not sure about what exactly was stolen, but it´s going to effect Saturday a little. So that wasn´t all that great of news for us... We´re still going to have an open house, but it just won´t be as high-tech.

Well apart from that, I´m no longer a teenager... weird. I´ve been that way for seven years now. And now it´s gone, never to return. That´s ok with me. To celebrate, I cut my hair. Awesome, huh? Ha ha! and later, we bought pizza from Pizza Hut (pepperoni and pineapple for me!) and Élder Shelley bought some... ¡ROOTBEER! (and it even had an American flag on it... It also said "Cerveza de Raíz", but it was rootbeer!) I realized that rootbeer is a wonderful thing. ;)  Then my District Leader Élder Rossiter placed a lumpy gift on the table with wrapping paper of the virgin on it... and a ribbon that said, "mis 15 años" but then I opened it, and it was a blender! Now we´ve been talking about getting a blender for a little while now, and I was the most excited about it because I cook (prepare food) the most. He found this one used and cheap this morning in a tianguis somewhere. It´s got an on and off switch and that´s it, but that´s all I really need it to do. I turned it on, and about had a heart attack. It sounded like a table saw... I guess I´m just used to different levels of speed... Then he told me that I owed him $65 MXN...

It´s probably getting kind of chilly in St. George now, isn´t it? Here it´s about 85°F with about 20% humidity. How´s it compare? ;)   Josh has a card coming, a list of everyone´s birthdays would be wonderful, I think I´ve got everyone´s right, but just to be sure... and I´ve killed 18,594 mosquitos so far (how does that compare to Andrew´s bug count?). Just kidding, but that guess is probably fairly accurate... ;) That´s all for this week!! I love you all!!

Con amor,
Élder Gibson

...Subjeto? ...Subject...Subjeto. Sí, es mejor.

 Dearly Fami,

 Well, It´s good to know that our Abuelita is with our Abuelito now. I don´t see how people can live without knowing the Plan of Salvation. That would make it so incredibly harder.

 Zone Conferences are amazing things, you know. Just chuck-full of awesomeness. We`re having Zone Conferences this month, and we had ours last Thursday. We had got a ton of awesome advice on how to improve our numbers and the quality of our lessons. Élder Cruz and I got picked to do a role play on "How to Begin Teaching". So every thing was going great, my Spanish was good, we were asking great questions, and when time was up and we were being evaluated everyone was saying positive things. Then President said from the back, "¡No oraron!" (You didn´t pray!) So that was a good thing to learn: Don´t forget the basic things... although I was hoping to learn something other than something so basic... oh well. It was awesome.

 Well, I was going to send some pictures... but, I've still got a virus on my SD card. Sorry. I´m not really sure what I can do to fix it... ¿Ideas? The people in the mission office couldn´t fix it.

 I found this giant citrus fruit in the street one day as we walked out our door. I wish I could send a picture! It´s green and about twice the size of a grapefruit, maybe a little bigger... I think it´s called Lima. (which turns out, isn´t lime...) My companion said it`s sour and people just make agua out of it.

 Our 1st counselor scared me yesterday. My companion was going to give a talk, and after the sacrament, he announced that we´d be hearing from Élder Gibson, and I just pointed at my companion, but the 1st counselor shook his head and said "he´s going to share his testimony." And then I wasn´t scared anymore. But for a second there... ;) Then all the members complemented my Spanish. I did this the first week I was here too. They said I´ve improved a lot. Which was good to hear.

 Well, that´s all I have time for this week. Talk to you next week!!

 Con amor,

 Élder Gibson

¡El Día de Independencia!

Querido Familia,
 
Well, el Día de Independencia wasn´t quite as crazy as I  thought it was going to be, but we weren´t outside for the crazy part of the day... so I guess it could have been. ;)  One of the sisters in our ward let me choose what we wanted to eat for that day, so I chose chicken enchiladas. They were soooo good! We had our District meeting and weekly planning on Wednesday instead of Monday, so that we wouldn´t be outside from 5 - 9 o´clock. President came too! He went around to every compañerismo, and gave them advice and candy bars. He told us about the stripling warriors and all the great missionaries in El Libro De Mormón, and why they were successful. (they were strictly obedient) It´s always awesome when President comes.
 
They have this thing here called the "Grita" (shout) and it was last Sat. It´s part of the celebrations that they have for Independance Day. They all gather somewhere, and someone shouts: "¡Viva México!" "¡Viva nuestro libertad!" "¡Viva la Virgin!"(they say the last one in Guadalajara, but I don´t know about other places), and stuff like that, and everyone shouts it after every one. There´s some story about someone who woke everyone up in the middle of the night and shouted those things and got everyone excited about for the revolucion. So that´s why they do that, and it was really loud! ... well, they had fireworks too, but there was a lot of yelling. And then our neighbors were up all night being loud, but I slept through most of that.
 
There´s been a ton of rain lately, but it´s always in the night. Our street was a river though. There was about 1 1/2 ft. of water in our street a couple of nights ago, and that´s why all the house entrances are up higher.
 
We had two investigators at church on Sunday. I think that´s the most we´ve ever had. One of them has a baptismal date for next Sunday and it looks like this one´s going to happen for sure. His name is Josué Moisés... something... and he´s someone that we´ve seen since I´ve been here. He would always say hi to us, but we never really thought anything of it. So we finally decided to teach him and he´s getting baptised next Sunday!
 
Well, apart from that, I ate a meat sandwich with a spoon for lunch today. (Tortas Ahogadas, look ´em up, they´re amazing!)

con amor,
Élder Gibson