Servus

 Flooding in Landshut

 

 

Jalen, curled up next to the radiator after a cold, wet day

(notice the shoes drying out on top of the radiator above the keyboard) 

 

Servus, I am just tired of thinking of subjects, and I think you all know what the subject is anyway, oder? Haha. But grüß euch miteinand!

 

Remember what I said about the weather last week? It got worse. Haha. Dad was worried that I had a bad attitude, but no worries there because I was just happy for all the cool things happening with investigators and such. Yeah, I´ve had to put my shoes on the radiator overnight every night, and they are all hard and stiff in the morning, but just like Dad said, the worse the weather, the prettier my wife will be :) Haha. Trust me, I don´t go around with that as my motivation; rather, I look at it all as just part of the work, and we have a lot of fun. But for real, there is a TON of water here. The rivers are so close to overflowing. I will send you some pictures of the river overflow places. We normally walk there... for example, where those signs are in one of the pictures, those are usually about head level, and we walk there to go home. But they have everything marked off. The Germans have never seen such weather. Passau is actually flooded. We were going to have a district pday today, but that isn't happening anymore. But I will still go buy my lederhosen today :) Yes, I withdrew the money on Saturday. Anyway, it was so cold that we had to take drastic measures to stay alive! (As you notice in the 3rd picture) :) just kidding, it wasn't that bad. It has been a fun week :)

 

SO, we had no one at church yesterday :( P_____ said he was going to Hambug, Br_____ didn´t come, and S_____ and Be_____ were invited to go with a friend to church. But S_____ and Be_____ were really worried about that, if we would be mad that they were invited somewhere else haha. Of course not! But we met with S_____ and Be_____ like 4 imtes last week! And I had an Austausch with Elder Orchard in Landshut this week, and he actually had the chance to meet all of our friends with baptismal dates! That was cool. Elder Orchard's brother served in Ghana, and is currently living there, so he had a great time talking to Br_____. We had a lot of fun too, Elder Orchard and I. We did have the awesome dinner with Br_____ and Julian and Christina, and they taught the kids to pray, and then we went back the next day to meet and to try and eat more of the tons of food that was left over. We talked a lot about the purpose of life, she is very interested in that, in her purpose. So it was wonderful to bear testimony about how the gospel enlargens (<-- is that a word?) our view of this life, and how following Christ will bring the only happiness that lasts. With S_____ and Be_____, we taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ, baptism and the Holy Ghost, and we are trying to help them recognize answers to their prayers, which they so diligently say! We also taught the Word of Wisdom and Chastity, and they both agree that it is not easy, trying to follow Christ in the world today, but S_____ tells us over and over he wants to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost to guide and protect him his whole life long :) good that he understands that! We are meeting them again in about an hour, which makes this email a bit shorter. Sorry. Oh, before I forget, thanks for the pictures of Tyson and Kody and Logan, and the pictures of Christina and Sydney are awesome! Can´t believe it is already JUNE! But it doesn´t look or feel like it haha. P_____ is also doing well, I guess. He was successful not smoking for like two days. Then we saw him across the street the other day, and he was smoking :( he didn´t see us. Dang it! He did have us throw away all his coffee though. I was worried that my backpack would smell like it forever.

 

Oh, we helped M_____ again this week, to move stuff from down in the kellar to his apartment, which is at the very top, of course. Then he bought us dinner. I got a gyro, it was very good. He is such a nice guy! When we talk, he asks us questions about the Book of Mormon, and he tells us experiences he has had and asks us what we make of it. It is a different kind of teaching, but a good experience!

 

Did I tell you that I bought a guitar? Last pday, we were looking at a music store at guitars (well I was) and they were all so expensive. I had about €85 left from my birthday, and I just couldn´t ever decide what to buy. So I found a guitar, nothing special, it was only €79, but the man gave it to me for 70 because I am American, and gave me a carry bag for 20. Elder Allan lent me 5 euro, but I paid him back already. So yeah, I just decided that I would use the money to develop a talent that could last my whole life, eh? I am pretty happy. It is relaxing. And I don´t know any songs, I just play the Primary children´s songbook songs, because the chords are written in there. My favorite and probably best right now is "When I am Baptized" you know, the one about rainbows. Good stuff :)

 

We had a finding day here on Saturday, and I got to work more with Elder Abbott! We found a lady and gave her a BoM and we are meeting with her tonight :) we are excited! We can finally practice our Deutsch now! Haha. It also rained that whole day. Needless to say, we have done lots of dooring. I haven't done it for awhile. But who knows when this weather will stop. I miss having people on the street haha.

 

Transfer calls are on Friday. Isn´t that crazy??!!! I haven't thought about it, and continue not to. I just go with it now. But I hope I stay for Landshuter Hochzeit :) das wäre super. Schau ma moi!

 

When I was working with Elder Orchard on Austausch, he told me he had accidently seen our release date. He kept telling me we were so old! Haha. It is ridiculous how much time has gone by, and 2013 is half over. What in the world?! I´m not going to tell you my release date, because I also do not want to think about it. But that kinda jolted me again. Just like life, we can´t take things for granted, you have to make the best of every single day! I agree with Paul, when he said in 1 Korinther (Corinthians) that he was who he was by the grace of God. I am so grateful for what I have learned, what I am learning, and what I will learn. I am grateful for my wonderful family and friends who support me and love me. I love you all too. One day all the things that happen in life will make sense to us, so why do we need to worry about all that now? Just have faith, forget yourself, and do something. If there is something I could say that I have learned up to this point, it is that I have to stay busy. I will have to stay busy for the rest of my life, because when I sit around with nothing to do, then I get distracted and lose all excitement and motivation. It also goes with the gospel as well (of course, that is kinda my whole life haha), in that when we sit somewhere with nothing to do, the temptations that come are hard to get away from. We need to have some forward momentum in our lives, always learning something more about the gospel, applying things to our lives, so that even when temptation comes, we can get ourselves hence. Boy have I noticed the difference, when we are just out doing work, the time goes by and we do so much, and I forget all the things that are trying to drag me down and discourage me. Live the gospel and love it, it is a natural defense against the potholes and whirlpools of Satan. Live so that you have the Holy Ghost as your guide. He will be there. I know that, I feel it everyday.

 

And like Paul says in 2 Cor. 3, we have been guided and comforted by God so that we can do the same for others. Because I have been given much, I too must give. That is the gospel, and that goes perfectly with the quote Dad sent me. See how simple the gospel is, how easy it is to see its power and influence in our lives?! See the blessings that come from it? Why would we do anything to hinder that? We just have to stay true, and one day we will be found blameless before God, through the mercy and merits of Jesus Christ. Of that I testify.

 

I love you all and wish the best for you. Keep smiling :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

Hallo, Leute!

 

I don't really know what to say about this one...

 

Rainy days

 

 

 

Hallo, Leute!

 

Wow, can I tell you how lame the weather has been this week? Cold (enough to wear a couple layers, mindestens) and rainy--the WHOLE week! And windy! I didn´t think my shoes would ever dry out. But I put them on the radiator through the night last night, and they are dry, as far as I can tell. :) Ohmeinegüte, I love this life. Oh, I will send a picture of my shoes and feet after a long day in the rain, eh? You don´t have to look at it if you don´t wish to. It is so much fun! But it is almost JUNE!!! And this weather makes no sense! Oh the picture of flowers is for Mom. Also, I have a picture there with Br_____ and her kids :) I will tell more about that appointment soon.

 

Anyway, I hope my email last week didn´t portray the bad mood I was in. If it did or if it didn´t, the reason will be explained. So our last pday was way lame, since everything was closed, and we had to use the church computer, which is only one computer. So I saw that Mom hadn´t been able to email me, so I emailed President, downloaded a few talks from Elder Holland, then gave the computer to Elder Allan. I put 4 chairs together and layed/laid down (<-- which is right? I don´t know anymore haha) and then fell asleep. So, I woke up, it is almost 3 o´clock, and the day is almost done, and we have done NOTHING! And yeah, back in the day I would spend some entire days sleeping and doing nothing useful. But I HATE it! It felt like such a waste of a day to me, especially when we had to spend 40 minutes walking home from the church. It got a bit better when we went back out to proselyte, but man, I was just sour. So sorry. Learning stuff like this is kinda just a bonus for parents sending their children on missions, eh? Aside from a deeper understanding of the gospel and strengthened testimonies and ministering with Christ, of course. Happy now? Haha.

 

So, let´s talk about investigators. Sadly none of our appointments with S_____ and Be_____ worked out this week :( but they were so willing to keep trying and they came to church too! And at church, one of the members brought us a whole bunch of stuff in French, like True to the Faith and the temple magazine. We didn't even ask! Then everyone was very friendly to them, even with the language barrier. So we are meeting on Wednesday. They are so cool! Whenever we call someone, like S_____ for example, he picks up and says,"Hello Gibson!" Another man, with whom we met this week (actually the guy we found at Bahnhof last transfer with the zone leaders, M_____) picks up and says, "Hello Herr Gibbons!" haha. I like it :) But whenever Elder Allan calls (which actually seems to be more often than I do) they still say that! Haha so he has to say that it is him. We laugh all the time. I want to give him the phone more so that they see that it is always different, who calls. Our appointment with M_____ was way cool, he is very open and we just had a great discussion about the gospel´s application to our lives, especially in the world we live in today. We are going to help him move into his new Wohnung tomorrow morning as well!

 

But the greatest one this week was our apointment with Br_____ (hence the picture)! We finally found a member to come with us, since everyone else was at the temple the whole week, and we got there and he was so involved and interested with the kids, and wanted to know what they liked and wanted to know all about the family, he was just a great example of love for them. I want to be like that! It was awesome. We really saw, during our appointment, just how stressed Br_____ is, having to take care of her 3 kids almost on her own. But at the end, the member, Julian Klemm, who is a photographer, wanted pictures of us all, and the kids loved that! Then he offered that he and his wife would come with us on Tuesday (so, tomorrow) and we would all eat together and then teach the children how to pray! And Br_____ loved that, and I love it, and THAT is how members and missionaries need to work together. I am so excited for tomorrow! Br_____ said that she was so happy! What a difference that was to the stress we saw before. She said she was happy that she could become more involved in a group of people like this member. It was perfect. Afterwards, we talked with Julian, and he told us the reasons for his enthusiasm and such. He said that the Baptist church, for example, has great success with African people beacuse they see people up there shouting Hallelujah and loving it! And then he said the hard thing with our church is just when they come and see someone standing at the pulpit, maybe crying, and talking to the people. Of course, shouting and such wouldn't be appropriate at Sacrament Meeting, but we are normal, excited, happy people! And he really showed that to them at the apopintment. It was fantastic. And he said he wants them to see a baptism, even if they have to get them to Munich, so they can just see the gospel in action. It was brilliant! We shall see how it goes :)

 

Anyway, gestern Elder Allan and I tied like 60 ties for a man, C_____, from Nigeria, with whom I met once with Elder Stokes an eternity ago. He knows that Bible! He said that we could ask him any story, and he would tell it to us. First he did Joseph of Egypt. Then we related it to Nephi, the Book of Mormon! I also compared Alma the younger and Saul. And then he took the Book of Mormon, which he didn't last time. That was cool. We helped Neuötting with an Ausstellung, so a booth thing, on Saturday, followed by helping a lady move in Simbach. I had an Austausch with Elder Abbott, who thinks that Justin (Gibbons) might know his uncle, because his uncle, Tim Kuehne, is a squadron commander of refuelers in England right now. Does Justin know him?

 

Um, I am doing great! Don´t worry about me! We have FHE at Pres. Auras´ tonight, so we are excited! And maybe I will buy lederhosen next week! What more could I ask for? I am alive, a little wet, yes, but surviving. It´s great! Hopefully summer decides to come somewhat soon.

 

To end, I just had a great experience in church yesterday. They talked about the temple a lot, for obvious reasons. And I just really missed the temple! I want to go there so badly. I sang the Primary song a lot in my head yesterday. Wish I had a guitar to learn it on... but I was just enjoying the Spirit as I pondered the importance of the temples, and I looked out the frosted glass door and saw how chaotic the weather was outside. I could see the trees going crazy in the wind. But all was peaceful and quiet in the chapel. The Spirit was there, He touched my heart, I was warm, and I was sitting next to S_____ and B_____, who are just trying to follow the Lord in a different land. It was great to think about the peace that the gospel brings. I know that peace can be found in this world, that light will always chase away darkness, and that all things are possible to us through the Atoning sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

I hope you have a great week, enjoy school being over (crazy that I have been graduated for two years already!) and tell Nathan to drive safely, Kate to remember what she learns at EFY, etc. Just choose to be happy, ja? That is my goal, to make good choices like that. I choose to be happy, and I choose to work for my Savior. That should bring enough fulfillment in life, oder?

 

I love you all! Keep smiling!

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

 

PS. Some wisdom from Sister Pingree (a quote she sent me this week): "If you aren´t using your time to make someone else´s life better... you´re wasting it!"

Hallo Everyone!

Hallo everyone, here I am again!

 

It was great to hear your story, Dad. I think you should be careful with your knee haha. How is the farm doing? It has been a long time since I have been there.

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATE AND DAD! I hope they were fun, in some way or another. Strawberry pie sounds like the most delicious thing ón earth right now. I haven't eaten lunch yet, and we are at the church writing emails, because EVERYTHING is closed for one of their Catholic holidays. So there is really nothing to do. Depending on how much time we have, we may go play sports or something. With no one in particular, because the whole ward basically is at the temple this week. It will be a hard week to find members to teach with us, especially when we need a man there with us. We´re working on it.

 

So, the news! We have 4 baptismal dates now, set last week! P_____, Br_____, and S_____ and Be_____. All from Africa. All our lessons in English. But they are the ones we found, and they want to follow Jesus Christ. With S_____ and Be_____, we have to just teach out of the lesson pamphlets we have, we have them read and then we discuss things. It is working so far! We have really emphasized the blessing the gospel is to their families. They know that we can be tied to our families forever. And S_____ and Be_____ came to church yesterday, and we had a lesson the second hour with them, finishing the Plan of Salvation, and it was so great! We talked about the restoration, and how we will all receive perfected bodies, and I think S_____ loved that idea, because of his injuries. And he told us that he really wants to live with his family and with Heavenly Father in the celestial kingdom. So we asked him how he could do it, and he said he had to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ! It was such a great lesson, and the Spirit bore witness to me that God has a plan for us, and the way is given. We just have to follow it!

 

We read 2 Nephi 31 with Br_____, and talked about baptism more, and then set up a date to work towards. Hers is June 23rd. We are pushing to really meet more than once a week, because then the Spirit is in her life more and we can give her the encouragment she needs. With P_____ this week, we talked about repentance. We had him write down the things he wants to stop, and then he tore it up and threw it away, a sign that he left it behind. We got that idea from our zone training meeting with Elders Eaker and Orchard. They did a fantastic job preparing the meeting for the members of the Zone. At the end, they asked us to write down something that we wanted to just put on the altar and leave behind. So we did, and then we went and put it through the shredder. It actually felt very good, I felt lighter. Then they asked us to write down a new tool that we needed to pick up, something new to try out, and put it in our wallets. I got to spend some time with Elder Harris, and we discussed how the things we wrote down to shred were basically the same, and about how good it felt to know that those were just gone. It went well with something that Pres. Miles told us in his email last week. He said that there are 5 things that we as missionaries must sacrifice, leave on the altar. Those are: our disobedience, our personal limits, our comfort zones, our sins, and our homes. That was Tuesday, and then from Thursday to Sunday, we had 8 baptismal dates set in the Munich Zone! The Elders in Neuötting have one as well. We are very excited!

 

On Thursday we went to the Denggs' house and did a lot of garden work for Sis. Dengg, lots of digging and such. I got a pretty decent sunburn, but I took good care of it, lots of hydrating lotion (it really hurt, though) and I am much better now! But I like that kind of work. I just thought about how I hated having to go and weed at home, or do such things, but now I would love to do it. People change, eh? Then on Saturday, all of our appointments fell out, except one with S_____ and Be_____, and so we did lots of finding. And later in the evening we went to the wedding reception at the church for one of the sisters in the ward, who got married to Robert, another member of the ward from Uganda. They were really happy! And we got to talk to some people, too. There was really good food! And so much dessert! But we had to leave before 9 of course, and Br. Königbauer drove us home. He asked how the work was going (which I really don´t know how best to answer, whenever someone asks that haha) and we told him about all our friends from Africa. He asked why there were no Germans who had interest in the Gospel, and I didn't have an answer. We will find the ones who do, no doubt, but there are so many people, throughout the whole mission, too, who are not German who are the ones being baptized and such. Br. Königbauer said the immigrants are just humble already. So, we just have to keep working! It is sad that it is so, all of our friends who come to church need translation, because they don't speak much, if any, German. Things are definitely picking up, and we will find those who are ready. That is all I can say!

 

Um, yeah, things must be going okay at home! But I don't have much else to say today. The time is just running together, I will be back here in no time, writing about the next 7 days. The year mark wasn't anything special, although I did get some Dr. Pepper from Sis. Dengg. Wonder if Tyson did anything fun.

 

Well, we are busy, and when we are busy, there is no time to think about not being happy. I like it that way. I am still stretched in uncomfortable ways, but so it goes with the process of life and learning. That should all be on my altar of sacrifice anyway. A quote: "Je mehr du gibst, desto mehr Schätze wirst du in dir finden." So, the more you give, the more treasures you will find in yourself. That is what I am trying to do. And another from Bruce Lee: We can be shown the way, but we have to go it ourselves. (These are all from my calendar, ja?) Some of them are the wisdom of men, like the one that told me a few days ago that happiness is having all the things that you want. Yeah right! Haha. I just laugh.

 

I hope you have a good week, enjoy whatever weather you are having (mine changes from sunny and warm to pouring rain multiple times during the day, we can never tell) and that all goes well with finishing the schoolyear. Holy cow, when is graduation?

 

I love you, and I will talk to you next week! Smile, it´s contagious. ´:)

 

Elder Gibbons

Grüaß euch!

There is a sunset, kind of, just the colors from our window

 

Our district: from left to right, me, Elder Abbott, Elder Jones,

 Elder Allan, Sister Regnier, and Sister Garrett

 

Check out how we magnify our tiny little speakers :) pretty clever, ge?

 

 

Hey, long time no see! Or write...or whatever you would say. It was too bad the internet connection kept going off over there. Elder Allan´s family had actually just bought a new router, and his picture was so clear and the playback was great. Of course, the first thing he thought was, "Why did you wait till I was gone?" haha. :) But I enjoyed it very much, even with Max´s obsession with dead horses... :o . Nay, ´s war halt lustig. :)

 

Anyway, what do I tell you now? Well, I told you a bit about our awesome week, well just one day, when we gave out all the Books of Mormon we had and had two awesome lessons. But I can still add on to that. Our lesson with the guys from Congo was really cool, we talked about the power of prayer, and the one who speaks more English told us about when he was in a bad accident in the past, and the doctors all said he would never walk again. But he told them that he would pray to his Jesus, and he would walk. And walk he does today! <-- did that make sense in English? We have made lots of jokes this week wondering how Yoda would speak in German, since the grammar is similar.... Anyway, that was a cool miracle in his life. And we were able to bear testimony and promise them more blessings through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it :) Then, our meeting with B_____, the woman from Ghana, was so cool! Pres. Reisinger was there with us and shared his testimony about eternal families and how to know if the Book of Mormon is true. We focused on the family, and always brought it back to how the family would be together forever, but only through the covenants and the authority in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. And she said she would pray about the Book of Mormon and that she would be baptized when she knows it is true! This week we will set a date for her to work towards, so that her family can be together forever. That would be worth a lifetime of work, oder? Not to mention a short two years as a missionary.

 

Something else I noticed this week was that I was much more straightforward and bold in talking to people. I told them what I knew, why I knew it, and what it meant for them and for me. We spoke very plainly about how the blessings of the gospel are obtained by obedience, and by making covenants through the authority of the Priesthood. And I feel more successful, at least happier with my work. It is all so simple and plain to me, why we need the Book of Mormon, why we go to church, why we try to live like Christ, and I just don't understand why some people don't get it, won't even try to ask. I am amazed by the influence that Satan has in the world. Like I said, it makes me sick. And what a "wretched man am I... because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me." I read in Doctrine and Covenants this morning, section 49, about the Shakers and the things that they kinda didn't understand... I will not go off on my rant that I did this morning as we dicussed how ridiculous it was that people believed those things, but suffice it to say that it is wahnsinn how much hold Satan has on the hearts of the children of men. Get yourselves hence from the world, is the warning! Protect your fellowmen, yourself, your family. We have so much work to do, and we can only do it with the Lord.

 

The gospel is simple, so plain. If anyone doesn't know why we have the Book of Mormon, just read 1 Nephi 13 and 14, ja? The words written in those chapters, and in every chapter and book and verse of the Book of Mormon are true, I testify. Joseph Smith did NOT write the Book of Mormon. He translated it. He did not slip in details that would help him establish a church for any reason. He did all that he did as a servant called of the Lord, and anyone who denies that is distancing themselves from the Lord, and as Elder Holland puts it, is in for many long nights and empty nets. Trust in the Lord, trust in His chosen servants, and it will be well with you. You will not be exempt from afflictions or trials, that was never said to us. But we will be given the power to change our circumstances, change our perspective, and to grow.

 

"Hark all ye nations! hear heaven´s voice thru every land, that all may rejoice, angels of glory shout the refrain, truth is restored again!"

 

I love that song, I could listen to it over and over on Elder Allan´s ipod (I don't have it on mine :/). The truth is here, we know it, and we can and will give it to others. If no one I talk to will realize it, I have come to know it! So have many others, and we are in every land and among every people in the world, where the people have accepted us. There is something behind us, yes. So many people say that there must be something there, if two young men are over here in Germany and doing something that is so hard. And we say, "Yes there is something there! Don´t you want to find out?" So many have no desire. But God will lead us and has led us to those who are ready.

 

Those have been my thoughts through the last week, although they have come together much neater than how they came to me, ha. You got the refined version. The gospel is true, Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, our Father, and He has revealed His truth in the last days through prophets, just as He did from the beginning of the world on. He is a God of miracles, He is a God of healing. Let yourself be healed through Him, and go forward with faith. What more can I say?

 

I love you all! I hope you have a great week, and just be happy, smile, and praise the Lord for His goodness, ge?

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

 

Hello! Wie geht´s euch?

At the Denggs' home making apfelstrudel

 

Ward hike

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful yard!

 

Jalen knows I love tulips!

 

Hello! Wie geht´s euch?

 

Okay, so that I don't forget, let´s establish the skype stuff, eh? :) So we will plan to do it at 8 o´clock my time, so noon there. We are going to the Family Hopf :) I have to remember now what my information is, I will look back at my planner from Christmas haha. That is how that will work, ge? Noon, be there ;)

 

Well, today has been great so far :) We went to pick up Elder Allan's visa this morning, and we were headed home again when two African guys stopped us. The problem was, they were speaking French. So we had some awkward seconds, where they were looking at my nametag, and then they asked if we spoke English! Of course we do, last time I checked. We told them again in English what we were doing, and we told them about the Book of Mormon. Then Elder Allan pulled a French Book of Mormon out of his bag :) and the guys said they were so happy to meet us, and asked when they could see us again :) So we got their numbers. It is going to be a good week, because we already have 2 potentials, which is the number we got for the whole last week! Awesome :) I was really happy after that. I love those experiences. We had another one like that on Wednesday, where we hadn't found anyone willing to listen to us, and then we talked to a Romanian guy and his mother, and Elder Allan pulled a Romanian BofM out of his backpack. Way to be prepared, Elder Allan! I decided to start carrying at least one non-German language with me. Maybe Polish. We talked to a nice Polish couple last night, in English. They taught me how to say "how are you" in Polish. But they didn't want to listen to the gospel. Darn it. And I probably can't even pronounce the Polish correctly. I guess I didn't learn too well. We also gave two younger men, maybe our age, Books of Mormon gestern. One asked if we were Christian, and he showed us his tattoo of Christ on his arm. Well, now he has a Book of Mormon to add to his faith. Haha. And there was another younger man on Saturday who was very interested in the Book of Mormon, and was so excited to take one. Too bad none of these people wanted to give us their information to meet with them again. But, we gave out a Book of Mormon every single day last week. That is one of our mission goals, so obviously we were blessed for that this morning. We shall keep it going! :)

 

Otherwise, the week was pretty rough on me, in all honestly. On Thursday we talked to so many people who just didn't want to hear it. There was some younger woman we talked to about the purpose of life, and I asked if she was interested in learning more and she said yes! So I asked if we could get her information to try and set up an appointment, and she said no. I was just so confused. Rough. Then the guy we talked to after that, we asked what brought him happiness in life, and he smiled, kept walking and said,"absolutely nothing, tschüß!" and the words going through my head, which I did not say, were along the lines of, "Don´t you understand that that is what we are trying to give you? Just take a freaking second and listen, eh?" (You can see why I refrained, and later had to repent...) Yeah, it was rough. But then we talked to some very nice people, which made me feel better. So geht es, aber. The life of a missionary is really the most rewarding thing. All these experiences were just precursors to the comfort and peace I was able to find later through prayer and when I had time just to think. I learned a lot.

 

Hey, transfers are past! We have the two new missionaries in the district, Sister Regnier from California, and Elder Abbott from Orem, Utah. That is all I know about them haha. I will meet them tomorrow. But I am excited to work with both of them!

 

We had our ward trip this week, it was so much fun! I will send some pictures, yeah? First we did a hike, then ate lunch, played on the cool playground (it is all so much better in Europe, weißt?) and then we went and did an alpine coaster thing, like we did in Park City! It wasn't as big or as good, but still fun. Even Elder Anderson had fun on it, no braking haha. It was a good day.

 

Oh, we also had an awesome appointment with a woman from Ghana with Elder Anderson, she was one of the ones who talked to US after our exchange with the zone leaders last transfer. We finally got to meet her, and it was so great! We just bore tesimony about the Book of Mormon, gave her one in English, and she said she would do her best to read at least 5 minutes every day, because she is pretty stressed most of the time. But we talked about the power of prayer, and she told us that even though she is always stressed during the day, when the day comes to an end, she told us everything turns out alright. And she knows that comes from God. She thinks it is really cool that we have prophets, she likes that. And then we told her we would love for her to come to church, because the family is really emphasized there. Hopefully she can soon. She asked us a few questions about our standards, basically, because she said that she didn't drink alcohol, she likes modesty, etc. So we smiled and said that she would fit right in, haha. It was so cool :) We are calling her today, to see when we can meet again this week. It was just a cool experience for me because I really felt that we were good friends, and I knew that what we had could bring her so much happiness. I guess you would call it love. You can find it, even in the world today, of that I testify.

 

We got to meet a less active sister this week, we went to dinner with the Andersons and Sis. Zacherl. She is from Brazil, and she served a mission there too. When we were leaving, we had committed her to coming to church, and she just said that she knew she should, but no yes or no. Sis. Zacherl asked me how someone could forget after serving a mission. Beats me! But she was so nice, and it was good food. She had a very nice house, too. For two of them. Her husband isn't a member. That is also a problem. But he wasn't there.

 

I also learned to make real Austrian Apfelstrudel this week. I rolled out the dough and stretched it out. I will send some pictures of that too. That was with the Denggs.

 

Well, lots happened this last week. But it was really the quickest week of my life, I swear! I am just happy when I go out, work, come home tired, sleep, wake up, study, go work, and so on. It is great. And I know that as long as I do all I can, the Lord will touch people and prepare them to receive Him. Maybe not for me. Maybe not for years. But I will do what I can now so that they get that chance. And there are people ready now, and we are working hard to find them. But the Lord knows who they are, what they do, and we will just find our way to meet them through the Spirit. It really is a different perspective when I am on the streets and think about how that person walking towards me ended up doing so right when we were walking that way. Mind-blowing, wirklich. It helps me keep talking, and the blessings always come. Obedience. It is the key to happiness. The Lord will do His part, you´ve heard it all before. But when you actually do something, and you see that the Lord really does do His part, your understanding and gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ will be deeper and more meaningful. I can promise you all that.

 

Well, I already emailed Logan and Kelly and Ben for their birthdays, but I hope everyone else with a birthday this week has a great one too :) I am excited to talk to you again on Sunday, it will come so fast. But until then, I will be here, doing the greatest work in the world. Don´t worry about me :)

 

I love you all and pray everyday for you. I hope you are happy and healthy and enjoying the wonders of life.

 

Keep smiling :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

 

PS- so the pictures... my cool CHEF apron at the Denggs, and my balancing act was about 15 feet off the ground (so it wasn't super easy!) and the other one...what was it? Oh yeah, Bavarian forrest. And a member has a very beautiful front lawn! Got some pictures for you, Mom. Pretty cool :) ciao!

Hallo :)

Bayern flag

 

Jalen's neighborhood

 

Jalen's new WdR ring

 

 

Hallo :)

 

What a surprise, I am sitting back at this computer. Well, it is actually a different computer than normal. And a bit later than normal. We came in the morning and it wasn't open, but we found a potential and gave him a Book of Mormon instead :) cool how the Lord works. On Saturday we were walking around and then we talked to these two Russian guys about the Book of Mormon, and they both just said okay, that they would take it and read it. We didn't even say that much. Now they have the Book of Mormon! Then later Saturday evening we got to eat some Turkish food at the S_____'. It was good. Kinda a tomato soup with beans and then rice and a carrot salad and a pepper/tomato salad. Good stuff, vegetarian too. That was a lot of fun, they loved looking at my pictures of the family and friends. And they showed us their family and stuff too, in their album. It really just felt good, feeling that feeling of trust and respect for each other. We tried to talk about eternal families, and although we had a great discussion about the deterioration of the family in the world today, they aren't really interested in learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will keep in contact and see how things go.

 

Oh, thanks for the package! The Andersons made dinner last night, spaghetti and a Schwarzwald Kirsche kuchen (Black forest cherry cake! :) ) and then let me open my package. I got to watch my video on their computer again, but then it still doesn't work on my little DvD player at home. Oh well. It was still great! Lots of Milk Duds and such. And the ring is awesome! It makes me want to punch the face of evil and imprint WdR on its forehead. (WdR is the German version of CTR--Choose the Right.) Haha. Don´t worry, I am still me. I am not violent geworden. Haha, that was bad... But I do hate evil things. It makes me sick, all the darkness in the world.

 

Anyway, it was fun to see everyone at stake conference, afterwards they cornered me and Sister Lin told all the missionaries it was my birthday, and I tried to run away but Elder Eaker grabbed me. It is okay. Elder Eaker said he had a gift for me, but he had forgotten that yesterday was my birthday. No big deal :)

 

So, I have a picture that Elder Allan took as I opened my ring. The rest of the time he was taking ridiculous pictures of himself making crazy faces haha. Don't trust people with your camera. :) And the other picture is the Freistadt Bayern flag I bought last week :) with some left over personal money from our zone pday last transfer. And the other one is just a sunset I caught through two buildings not too far from our apartment. You can look at the far left at the red stoplight, there we would turn right and then walk to the ugly salmon colored church, then turn right and we are home. Puts you a bit closer to my home, eh? Temporary home, that is.

 

Also! Transfers! I totally forgot to tell you that calls were this last week. Nothing crazy going on here, Elder Allan and I stay together. But! Elder Nicoll is leaving his training zone, going to open a NEW AREA in Tübingen, and TRAINING in his 4th transfer! Haha and Elder Jones stays in Neuötting and trains!!! And Sister Garrett is staying in Passau and training!! And Sister Lin is going to Wien! We will miss them. Do you know what that means? I am now the oldest missionary in the district :/ That is not right! I will never get old! Krass, ge?

 

OH MY GOSH, Eric is going to Paris!!! 3 of us across the pond, I am so happy :) I have been in that mission home, like Dad said haha. How crazy. Man, back then I think Eric would have been in like Kindergarten. And what the heck?! No one told me Malcolm was going to TONGA!!!! (Yes we did!) I learned that from Chris´email that you sent me last week! That is so cool! Perfect for him. Tell him I am also currently living on an island, ja? Just not as pretty as his will be. And tell him to watch out for the Samoans, they like fire... What if he worked at the PCC after his mission? Haha. Sorry, random thoughts. He should email me.

 

Hey, did I ever tell you about the keyboard I got from the church? I just can't remember if I did. But I have practiced a bit, and Mia Auras gave me the music to a song that I love (River Flows in You), and I can at least make it sound okay :) I can play the first measure right AND left hand together, with only a couple warm up rounds :) Aren´t you proud of me Mom? Haha. You should send me my sheet music for 100 Years, ja? That would be cool :)

 

We had lots of stuff planned for this last week, lots of opportunities to meet with potentials and get new investigators and help people come closer to Christ. And most of them fell out. :/ But we will just keep going, and it is bound to happen. We did get a good lesson in with the family C_____, a family from Romania that Elder Stokes and I found ages ago. And right when we went inside, it started POURING rain and hailing and thunder and lightning! We talked about eternal families with them too. They said the coolest thing, that they don't believe in chance and they told us that they knew there was a reason they met us! How awesome is that? So I bore testimony to them that Heavenly Father wanted them to come to recognize His plan for them, and the potential they have to be together forever, through the gospel of Jesus Christ. They still didn't know when they would be home for a set appointment, but I narrowed it down to the weekends :) and they gave me a brand new umbrella when we left, even more incentive to go back :) They also enjoyed how huge my family is, they looked through my pictures :) Family is the most important thing on earth! And in Heaven! Of all time! Love them and cherish them. The Savior does.

 

Oh my goodness, I have to tell you about something awesome! I was on austausch with Elder Nicoll and we were standing at a busstop and a guy walks by with his friend and says "Tell my friend something about Christianity." The guy speaking told us he himself was Muslim, and the friend we were supposed to talk with was Catholic. So we talked about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration! That was cool. He wouldn't give us his info or take a book though, but his girlfriend came up and was pretty interested that they could visit a meeting on Sunday. Schau ma moi. Then after that, we were headed to the A_____' house for dinner, and I look out the window not even halfway to their house and saw Herr S_____, who we met a few weeks ago and who wanted a Romanian Book of Mormon, and wanted to come to Jesus Christ. I saw him and thought, cool. Then, like a slap in the face, I thought "Hey Elder Gibbons, there is a Romanian Book of Mormon in your backpack." So we got out of the bus at the last second, and we gave it to him. The reason I had the book was because we tried to go by on the Romanian lady on Sunday, but she wasn't there, and we tried again before our appointment with the A_____s. So I gave the book to Herr S_____ and he said he was having surgery in a couple weeks and that this book came at exactly the right time. Wow. He held the book up to our faces and said, this book is the truth! And then he showed it off to a guy sitting at the busstop :) Incredible. The Lord´s work is marvelous.

 

I have wenig Zeit, but I wanted to share something I read today. I read Ether 12:37, one of my favorites in connection with 12:27. It says, it doesn't matter if the others have charity or not, as long as I am true. I am made fun of on a daily basis by people who see us, and there are people who are very rude for no reason, and people look at us as if we aren't even people. And it bugs me a lot of the time. There are very nice people too, of course. But I read that scripture this morning and was comforted. It doesn't matter if they aren't so charitable. As long as I stay true. And I intend to do so. I love 12:27 as well.

 

Well, I know the Lord has been there before, and that His light will shine into the darkest of places and save even those who feel so far down beyond hope. But His light is hope, and the world needs hope. Share it with others. You will be happy :)

 

Thanks again for the birthday wishes! All the best to everyone. Being a missionary is the BEST! And being on God´s side is so rewarding.

 

I love you all, wish you success! Keep Smiling. :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

Danke, vom ganzen Herzen!

Elder Allan

 

Too tired to walk down the road to the river...

 

 

Hallo alle, wo vergeht die Zeit? Ich hab nur eine einzige Woche um mein 19. Jahr zu genießen. Wahnsinn. But hey, I have stake conference here on Sunday (by here I mean across the pond, not in Landshut) and that will be cool to have everyone there to see. Even if I'm not the reason for getting together, of course haha. Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! And to everyone from the film, thank you with all of my heart! I DID get your package, dearest Mother, and I gave it to the Andersons because everyone was getting mad that I didn't want to wait... :p <--- I don't think I have made that face in an email before... So no worries, it is here! But, I couldn't resist the link to the film. That video just made my whole year! If you want to make a missionary cry, you either send them a video like that, or write them a Dear John, I guess. Haha. For now, only the first option applies to me, eh? ;) I have no doubt in the wise words of Br. Noyce, that I would treasure this for the rest of my mission. Thank you so much. I will wait till Sunday to watch it again, from my package. That wasn't very fair to use that song in the background. That was just like straight back to high school. But well done Kelly, well done. Thanks. Again.

 

Well, life is way busy. I like it that way. There were so many people at church yesterday, and we were trying to set up appointments with members and they were all running amok (spelling?...) and I was chasing people down. And there is so much I have to get figured out for the week and such for the district, and how we get to stake conference, all sorts of stuff. I love it. I finally got to talk to the Ferraz-Leite family, or the mom, whose husband I have the picture of with Jason, from the Fresno mission. I told her I wanted to give him that picture, so I will call on Wednesday and set up an appointment. Cool :)

 

The weather was so nice, we moved on to short sleeve shirts, and then the next day went back to sweaters and such. Stupid weather. We have basically just been walking places now, we have walked almost all the way across town, and we get to talk to people and such unterwegs. It is still better than winter.

 

We got to play Fußball with the kids from the ward, and lots of their friends too! It was so much fun. There was a cute little boy who came up to me and asked, "Are you good?" and I said, "Not as good as you!" and he said, "Das stimmt gar nicht, ich bin schelcht." Haha. (Oh, translation. So he said, "That is not true, I am really bad.) He basically ran around chasing after the ball, and throwing grass on me. We are good friends now :)

 

Nothing much happened the first half of the week, I went on Austausch with Elder Eaker in Munich, stayed at the mission office, and Elder Eaker made some Chinese food, just like old times. I read a book called "The Book of Mormon on Trial" by Jack West, it was adapted to a comic style book from some lectures done by a professor at BYU or something. It was awesome. We didn't have much time to do much either, we had some meetings we had to go to. But we got to meet with Pres. Auras, and the first question he asked us was "What is separating the members from the missionaries? What is it in between them? And how do we overcome that?" I love this guy, he is truly inspired of God. Those questions are questions I have also thought about now and then, but this time it hit me hard. I don't know what it is, exactly. In reality, it shouldn't be anything but the fact that we wear nametags and white shirts and ties around all day everyday. We are all together in the work of the Lord. So, if you see anything separating you from the missionaries, or just some obstacle between them and the members, do something to fix it! We don't have time for that.

 

When we tauscht back, though, Elder Allan and Elders Eaker and Orchard and I all ate at Bahnhof here in Landshut, and we were getting ready to leave and some guy came and started talking to us, said he has one friend who is LDS and served a mission a long time ago, and that he really admires what we do! We switched telefon numbers and we had an appointment set up with him today, but he called and said he is just too busy to meet yet, he is looking for apartments. So we are praying he finds one. Because he was so nice. But the crazy thing was, Elder Orchard had just been telling me about how he and Elder Allan had been contacted by so many people the day before and that morning, like people stopping their bikes to ask who we were! That never happens! Haha. Well, it does, somewhere, sometimes. But then this guy comes to talk to us in Hbf and Elder Orchard turns to look at me and just kinda motions "See? I told you" haha. And we met one more lady later that day that contacted us. We also talked to another guy who wanted a BoM in French. The thing was, out of the 4 people we found that day, 3 of them already had some prior contact to the church. Crazy, right? We found some more people the next day, and planned the week and such, and then had a finding day in Neuötting. It went well, found a few people, Elder Nicoll and I got contacted by four drunk guys, and we talked for a few minutes. There was one guy who was asking me very pointed questions as if trying to get me to slip up, or find some way to prove me wrong. But, the Lord keeps His word :) I didn't have any problems, I just told him how it was. It was great to just stand there and say what I know. No one can be offended by that. He also told me that he admired what we did, they thought it was so cool that we were from America. We left that conversation best friends with all of them haha.

 

We had similar experiences gestern too, a man who was a 7th Day Adventist was talking about how the BoM contradicts the Bible, and I asked him how, but he said he wasn't prepared, he couldn't remember. I read him the commandments out of Mosiah, and also about prophets from Jacob. And we could tell he was trying to use his wisdom of the Bible to outsmart us into slipping up, but we actually just ended up having a good conversation about the gospel, and we got to bear our testimonies, and he could only agree with them. He invited us to his sacrament service on Saturday. Probably won't be able to. It´s technically allowed, but they are doing their sacrament this week, with the bread and wine. And we don't drink wine. May as well just avoid that awkward situation altogether, oder?

 

We had two appointments fall out yesterday and spent some time walking around talking to people. We gave a very nice lady a BoM, but she wouldn't agree to give us her number or anything. Argh. But it is good that she has that! I can't complain. Oh yeah, I have to tell you about P_____! We taught him the Word of Wisdom on Thursday, because that is what he needed, he smokes. It turned out really well, too! He said he smokes because of stress, and he doesn't even want to, neither do his friends, or at least one of his close friends. So we told him that he just needs to keep praying, and he can call us if he needs to, and we would pray for him often too. I think it is going well. On Sunday he came to chuch with us, and Elder Allan got to translate for him in Sacrament Meeting :) He did a good job! Elder Allan is great. Always makes me laugh. And he waves and says hello to everyone he sees! I wish I could count the smiles that we see :) Making other people smile is great. Even the people who are laughing at us, I can still take credit for that, oder?

 

What should I say now? Hmm... well, we did some woodwork for the Zacherls on Tuesday, so I was a witness to Elder Allan´s first time chopping and stacking wood. I will send some pictures for you :) you love that. There is Elder Allan with his ax. Then some ducks I saw gestern. The river was just down the road, but I guess they got tired haha.

 

Meine geliebte Familie und Freunde, Jesus Christus lebt. I have felt His guiding hand in the things I do and say and think. I have had happiness I cannot describe, a joy that pierces all fear, and a light that illuminates all darkness. That is only possible through Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all mankind. What does His love mean to you? How has it touched you in your life? We are meant to be so much more than we are now, and it just requires our faith and our work. Don't settle for less. Don't settle for false happiness, joy that lasts but a second. It is not worth it. Choose this day whom you will serve. And stay true to the Lord. He leads His church, the church which he restored through Joseph Smith. Welch Trost mir die Erkenntnis gibt, daß er lebt! (What joy this sentence gives, the knowledge that He lives.)

 

I love you more than you know. Thanks for your roles in making me everything I am, every one of you. Soon I will be 1/5 of a century old. I will still be me, no doubt. But my love for my friends and family will continue to grow, and my love for the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be the catalyst dafür. Keep on smiling :)

 

Alles gute

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons