Liebe Familie!

 

 

What a crazy week! And warm! It is like 80 degrees in our apartment, pretty rough, because you just stick to everything you touch because of the humidity and such. But I probably can´t say much, because I am not in some other place that is no doubt way worse. 

 

Anyway, we got transfer calls on friday! Elder Davies geht weg :( he is going to Offenburg, not too far from Stuttgart, but in a different stake. I will get Elder Horlacher as my new companion, the Elder Horlacher I knew from the MTC group above me :) He is way funny! AND he was trained in Landshut! So if we get to go back there, the ward would know both of us :) Yeah, I asked Elder Allan how the baptism (of Sympla and Benito) went, and he said it was great! The water in the font was low, apparently, so they had to baptize one of them 3 times and the other 5 till they got it right haha. But it worked :) Oh yeah, guess what?! Elder Allan is training next transfer! Wahnsinn, oder? There are so many missionaries coming out that there have to be so many trainers! I know he works way hard, and he will do great!

 

I don´t have a ton of time this morning, we are doing a district pday, going to Taco Bell on the Base with some American members, then afterwards we are going to visit the Rittersport factory! Should be lots of fun. A member from Singen (Elder Davies´ first ward here on the mission) is coming to spend some time with us! He is preparing to go on a mission, which is way cool :) And he attributes it all to Elder Davies just being his friend when Elder Davies was there. Look at the power of example and pure love! We can change so many things when we just try to do as the Savior would. 

We had a great experience this week in meeting with a man named K_____ (a different K_____, although now we are meeting with two K_____s, haha). Elder Davies found him months ago here, and called at least once a week to try and meet up with him. He never answered. On Tuesday he tried again, and after ten minutes, K_____ finally called back and we set up an appointment for that night! We met with him, walked to the church, and had one of the greatest lessons of my life! He has some addiction problems, but wants to get away from it all, and says that he had never answered because he was afraid we wouldn't accept him and his image, how he was. He was still apprehensive as we first met him, but he changed completely afterwards. He said one of the most beautiful prayers I have ever heard, and told us over and over that he just had so much strength and light from meeting with us, and he tells us everytime that he is so grateful that he met us. We committed him to baptism on the 14 of September, and all we did was teach him about the Restoration, and bear testimony about how he could do anything with faith in Jesus Christ. I can´t think of any other lesson where the German language slipped so naturally and fluidly out of my mouth, and the Spirit was the reason! We taught the truth with testimony, as Pres. Monson said, and it was incredible. My favorite part was when we read Alma´s story in Alma 36, because K_____ told us about his past. We said we would switch off reading aloud every two verses or so, but he started reading and then didn't stop. He read it, and saw himself in it, and when it talked about the pains and afflictions, he got emotional and he could feel his own pains, and then it talked about the light, from the Savior, that incredible joy from repentance. And that story was written for him. Amazing how the scriptures do that, ja? :)

 

So, he came to church gestern, but wasn't feeling well and went home. But the Lord sends angels to help us all, doesn't he? There was a lady in church who neither Elder Davies nor I know, who went up to K_____ after the meeting and said, "I can see that you want to quit. I can see it in your eyes and your face, you are ready to quit. And you will do it!" No idea who this wonderful woman is! But the Lord watches out for each of us, and Heavenly Father knows His children. 

 

That was one miracle this week! From many. I write down the miracles that happen every day in my planner. My journal is kinda....terrible.. but I know the Lord´s work is moving forward. I love you all very much, and am grateful for your examples of faith and love, and I wish you all the best! 

 

Keep smiling!

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

 

PS--Photos!  Check out the sweet shirt I bought last week. It says, in Bayerisch, "eins zwei drei, gewonnen", referring to their triple championship win this last season, so funny :)

 

Then, this was my shopping last week, I got a pair of shoes, the shirt, the shorts, socks, and a Fußball.  I was worried about the shoes being expensive, but I found these ones :) 

 

Now, a sweet Audi r8 by our church! But just wait, that isn't even the end of the nice cars...

 

Let´s just call it "New Mission Vehicles..." ;)  Yes, I am standing there with exactly 8 Lamborghinis, two of which were the brand new Aventodor. Beautiful machines. The orange one is probably my favorite. We found the Bentley/Lamborghini dealer of Stuttgart. I must say, we decided it would be a sin to buy such a car. We discussed afterwards how we didn't feel very good, and decided it was the strong testimony that money DOES NOT equal happiness. And after that, no other cars on the road even caught my eye. See what money and luxury does to you? That was our experience last week :) Life lessons learned. And we had fun doing it too.

 

Love you, 

 

Elder Gibbons

Guten Tag miteinand!

 

 

 

Grrrrrrrrrüüüßßßßßß euch! Hey :) you´re awesome.

 

I am happy. It is a good feeling, ge? We can all be happy, if we just choose so. And live and love the commandments of God. It is so simple! And true. Do you know what my scripture of the week is this week? Mormon 9:21. That promise is for ME. And YOU! And my cousin´s girlfriend´s aunt. You get the point. We can do ANYTHING if we just acknowledge the faith that we have, and give it to the Lord. Show your faith to Him, and He will always come through. Try it out :) It gives an incredible sense of confidence. 

 

Anyway, let me attend to some business. Last week I withdrew some money already, to reimburse the Bensons, and then have some for me. We will probably shop a bit today. I just need shoes, mostly... Dazu, you keep worrying about where to send my stuff, and the answer is to send it to Stuttgart! I will be here for awhile, because ZLs stay at least four transfers. Crazy, knowing where I will be for the next 5 months or so. July is halfway over. Holy Krapfen. (Krapfen: a delightful pastry, much like the famous Berliner, filled with fruit jelly and powdered with fine sugar). So yeah, I sent Justin my address already. Tell Tyson sorry that they mixed up our wiring. But I can´t complain when all the "bad" things go his way. I am happy ;) haha jk, he can be happy to, I submit that he is, because he is on a mission! Can´t go wrong with that. Tell Sister Allen thank you so much, too! She is so nice. And tell Becky I am still waiting for her wedding announcement!

 

Let´s see, what else muss ich besprechen... Dad asked why I didn´t recognize Sister Jencks, and that was because she was towards the front of the class, and I didn´t see her. Just made the story better a year later, ge? And Dad, Elder Davies says thanks for the advice :) haha. Hey, I hope you all know how awesome Elder Davies is. He is one of the greatest men on the planet! Just in case you didn't know. 

Oh, that´s right. My release date is May 9th. Crazy, eh? When is Tyson´s? He better not get longer than I have! I miss out on a whole week! And Logan had like 3 extra weeks! Lucky duck. Hey, Hajo Logan! :) du bist schön! genieß dein Leben! Danke für deine Email, ich schreib dir später, ist in Ordnung? So yeah, beach house trip sounds awesome! But that can come when it comes. Stuttgart is the coolest place on earth, remember!

 

All these connections with Tyson are ridiculous! I think it is so cool. If I understood correctly, Tyson said that Derek helped convert part of Elder Fullmer´s family? Derek is the man! He emailed me today :) I am so happy. He gets back to Austria on August 5th! I am going to have to ask him for another jersey :/ he said that if I was close to Villach we could get together... but I am pretty much as far away as possible haha. I told him to visit me in Stuttgart! Hopefully he calls me when he gets back to Austria :) The work is true, my friends! 

 

HEYYY!!! Elder Allan told me today that S_____ AND BE_____ ARE BEING BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!!!!! Man, I am so excited. I have no idea if I can go :( cuz it starts right after church at 12. I would definitely have to miss my own ward, but the thing is, if Elder Davies is transfered, this Sunday will be his last. BUT, if Elder Davies stays (oh yeah, transfer calls are on Friday) then we are going, auf JEDEN FALL! I told Elder Allan that I probably can´t come, but if we do, it will be the coolest surprise ever! Schau ma moi. That is way cool.

 

Also, randomly, Mom, I was able to see those pictures on your email. Cool uniforms, ge? 

 

The zone pday was way fun last week! I played fußball South American style, without shoes. I left them in Munich on accident haha. They are just old beat up shoes from Elder Hansen. Today I will try to find some other good shoes. Tell Dad not to kill me! I am not buying cleats or anything. But I just have no athletic clothing of my own, and I don´t want to keep bothering Elder Davies haha.

 

Oh my goodness, guess what I saw this week? Wait, I already told you that.... about the Ferrari, right? Holy krapfen, that was so long ago. What in the world? Okay, but I did see another Ferrari yesterday (yeah, I know Chris sees those everyday, or did in Orange County, but it is still special to me), but I saw a sweet Aston Martin too, bright orange. Anyway...

 

Things are well here in Stuttgart! We have found lots of potentials and given out lots of Books of Mormon as well, we actually are out of books right now. We are just really trying to make them into investigators, and bring them the blessings of the gospel. Dad asked about the zone as a whole, and I think it is the same. Some areas do great finding, some not, but the major things are just new investigators and people coming to church. There are churches on every corner, but no one visits them anyway, so we are still trying to break that culture. I don´t mean everyone, of course, because the elect will do anything they can to receive the blessings of the gospel. We are working on it :) so, this last week, we never heard from K_____ until Friday, and he said he would call us today. So we have had a bigger pause than wanted... but we are going to push meeting with him at least 2 times a week, because we all need it. We are going to do that with all our investgators. We haven´t met any of the people from the Wells family yet, but soon! We pray for them to know how to invite them. And we go every Tuesday. This week we are having an American breakfast for dinner! We almost melted at the prospect. The other option was chicken enchiladas, also a mouth-watering idea. I miss good Mexican food. I miss Chipotle. But I love Germany :)

 

We had a good appointment with E_____ as well, he wants to follow the Word of Wisdom! So we will do that stop-smoking program with him next time. We did find a new investigator this last week, an Albanian man we found a little while ago. He has a family. We had a couple austausches this week, I did one with Elder Hemsley, the AP, who is awesome. A finding machine. And way funny :) Then I tausched with Elder Tauche, from the Military ward. He is also way cool. We met with a less active member from Thailand yesterday, who intoduced himself in Priesthood and said that he was less active and wanted to become active. So we met with him at a member's house, and he is way cool. We will meet regularly. We taught Priesthood gestern, and I think it went pretty well. As we were preparing, we were literally like jumping out of our seats with excitement about the things we were talking about. We talked about faith, with God all things are possible. Chapter 14 in the Lorenzo Snow manual. We were supposed to do chapter 13, but didn't quite know how to pull it off (it basically is a chapter praising the Relief Society and their charity and awesomeness). We love our mothers, but I don´t have a wife, and therefore no daughters in Relief Society either, so we moved to the next one. Haha. We can do anything :) It went well with my scripture for the week. 

 

I was thinking this morning about families, because I read Alma 24, and in verse 14 it talks about how God loves and will bless His people, and bless their children. And I just thought about a new approach to talking to people on the street or on doors about the family and God´s plan. My thought process was  something like this: God loves all of His children. He loves you. He really does want you to have these blessings, blessings that come only through His authority and through His ordinances performed through said authority. God wants you to return to Him, and by you choosing to follow Him, God knows that the chances for your future children and descendants to return to Him will be increased as well. Essentially I thought, who are you to deny your future family these blessings, or at least prolong their waiting before they can enter into their own covenant with the Lord? Anyway, I have no idea how I would say that to someone, it was just a cool thought (also much better in my brain than written out) that strengthened my testimony of the family. He sees not just now, but how things could be for the spirits He will send to earth in the future. So, join the church and have children in the covenant, and help God out in His cause, described very well in Moses 1:39. It is all worth it. :)

 

I hope you have a great week, Nathan should have lots of fun at the Jamboree. And Kate, have fun mowing lawns ;) Stay happy and safe and keep smiling!

 

I love you all!

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons 

 

PS Check out this awesome sticker I found! :) Then this was on the way to an appointment. Then waiting for the bus :) I am working on different faces haha.

Elder Janis (back left) and Elder Orchard

Jalen with Elder Riser

 

 

Hey Familie und Freunde, da bin ich wieder da :)

 

I wish I could type in German. It would be good practice. But besides the point.... How are you all doing? The weather here is a bit warmer geworden this last week, and we were just all over the place. Mission leadership council was Thursday and Friday, and it was way fun. I saw lots of friends and made new friends. There were rootbeer floats, but I didn't have ice cream. I just drank a root beer and felt not very good. I don´t like drinking soda anymore. Well, sometimes I do, but I am trying to just stick with water.

 

Okay, I did some pictures, with Elder Riser and Robins and then of Elder Orchard, from the meeting in Munich. And to answer your questions about the sisters, we have certain sisters who ARE in leadership positions, called Sister Training Leaders. I thought it was a worldwide thing. But, they are basically just the people the Sisters go to when they have problems, so that we zone leaders don´t have to deal with all that stuff. They do exchanges with the Sisters and work with us in training the zone and such. It is actually way cool. It will totally change the future of leaders in Relief Society and Young Women and everything. Does anyone else´s mission do that? Our Sister Training leaders are Sister Stewart and Sister Jencks.

 

Hey, the world is way small! I am going to tell you a story. We were on the train to Munich on Thursday, and we were discussing favorite colors and stuff with the Sisters, and then we started talking about eyeballs. And eye color. So we asked Sister Jencks what color her eyes are and she said that it depended on her mood! We all thought that was way cool. (Dad, have you seen stuff like that? People´s eyes changing colors? That is so cool). Anyway, Elder Davies looks at me very perplexed and asks if that is even real? And I said yeah, it is pretty crazy, there was this girl once who stood up in my Book of Mormon class at BYU and said that her eyes changed colors depending on her mood. So Sister Jencks asks me who I had for Book of Mormon, and I said Bruder Parker, and then she said, "That was me!!!" Crazy world, huh? Then we established later that I had sat in the observation room watching a preschool class at the JSFB (for a paper in my Child Development class) and she was there helping out! The world is small, and when you are a missionary who went to BYU, it is even smaller, eh? That was a lot of fun. That is way cool that Tyson is training the grandson of his New Mexico Mission President and his wife. I love being a missionary. :)

 

This week, apart from being gone for a couple days, was okay. Our appointment fell out with K_____, and he isn't getting back from whatever trip he is on until tomorrow. We did get to meet with E_____ again, and are meeting him tomorrow again. Tomorrow is zone training meeting, and I am way excited. I had a great experience when just thinking about and preparing for this meeting, because in doing so and thinking about how we were going to uplift the zone and get everyone excited and ready to work even harder, I found so many answers for the things that have been bothering me in the last few weeks. And I think now that I get most of my answers in a combination of from other people or when I am thinking about others. What I could share with you was just the importance of putting your mind where your feet are, and focusing on what you are doing and what is going to bring you closer to your potential. In thinking about that, I thought of D&C 45:32, about standing in holy places. And then I just thought, "Elder Gibbons, look where you are. It doesn´t matter what you did in the past, what you feel you DIDN´T do, that doesn´t matter. Look at where you are standing, because THAT is where you belong." And then, just like always, all that weight and those burdens and doubts just left, lifted by a power far beyond my own. I know that the Savior will give us strength, and I know that He will have mercy on us, for He loves us. And what else do we need in life, other than to know and experience that freedom from guilt and sin? I am so grateful for the Atonement and its enabling power, because I feel born again and ready to help others feel it too.

 

I don´t know if I have told you yet, but Stuttgart really just feels like home. I don´t know how to explain it, but Elder Harris told Elder Davies that that is how it is-wherever you are zone leader is just your home. I just love being here and love working with these missionaries, and this is home. Funny enough, we have a CD with a song on it called "This is Home" by Switchfoot. And when we listen to it, all we think about is just being here. Listen to it and you can imagine how it just fits in perfectly with the things I have learned and felt this week.   

 

Um.... today is our zone Pday! I am excited. The Bensons are going to help us with our grilling, a mini Independence Day celebration for the rest of the missionaries haha. And Fußball. Can´t go wrong with that.

 

We got lots of potentials last week, and the coolest thing was that 12 of them came from the Wells family. We went to their house on Tuesday, like we do every week, and this time they wanted us to teach the first lesson, so they could know how to talk to their friends about it! (How awesome is that? It is the start of everything the broadcast was about, this is how it should be done!) And then they gave us 12 names to pray for specifically, and tomorrow we are going back and we are going to role-play how they could talk with these friends. But Sister Wells is an awesome missionary, she just orders Books of Mormon online in whatever language she needs and gives them to her neighbors. We are so thankful for them and know that they can be a great influence on these other families. It was the coolest thing ever to hear Sister Wells tell us about one of these families, her good friends. She said that ever since the first day she saw them, she just pictured them in white. Incredible. The oldest daughter also wants to talk to her friends at school, so hopefully she can do that too. It will be awesome. 

 

We didn't get ahold of the Portuguese family, but we are going by today because it is the son's birthday :) Hopefully we can get them to church. We have started to do a lot of less active work, trying to stop by and say hello and offer our help, and then we just do some finding on the way and in the area. This is seriously the quickest transfer I have ever had. It is week 5 already. So much to do and I wake up in the morning, mind buzzing about what we are going to do. It is great.

 

I emailed Justin back, just about some of the things that he could get me quickly. Otherwise, I think I would just have to get some shoes and some shorts and maybe pants on my own. I can definitely buy slacks and white shirts here, that is easy. I just have no Pday, sport type clothes. I think Justin may send me some, I don't know, you can talk to him. And I still love ties! I lost some of my favorite ties, like my sweet green one. But it is okay, I will get the luggage back someday. Just practicing patience. But yeah, I lost the first year of my journals, too. I wrote every day, for over a year. Well, I have my journal now, which started on March 13. So a little under a year. But I did it, and I know I did it. Sorry Mom :/ probably a pretty big hit. I have all my pictures though, like I said. We just move on. Elder Davies' dad told him last week that he could withdraw a couple hundred euro to buy me some stuff, but I can´t let him do that! Haha. I am grateful for the offer, though.

 

Okay, tomorrow I will withdraw some money and reimburse the Bensons, and maybe I will just take some more out next week to get some of the things I need. Otherwise, reallly, I am fine. And happy to be here :)

 

Hey, I love you all a lot. And the Lord loves you a lot. And I am exactly where I am supposed to be, as are you! So make something of everyday, enjoy life, all of God´s creations, and thank Him for the ways He helps you and blesses you throughout the day. You will be a happier person, and more pleasant to be around (not that you are unpleasant in any way ;) )

 

Have a great week and smile! :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

Hallo

With Elder Davies after helping a lady paint

 

Wearing Elder Davies' Bayern soccer jersey--same as the one Jalen used to have

 

 

 

 

Hey Mom, I decided to just answer your questions really quickly. So, 1) yes I have my passport and my wallet and all that important stuff. 2) yes, I have my camera and my thumbdrive for backups, except I can't figure out how to back up my photos here, because the computer places only have one USB thing, and they are just weirdly formatted. 3) the Bansons gave me €100 to buy stuff, so you could just put that on my card, and I will withdraw it and give it to them. 4) I was wearing my Mr. Mac suit, the pinstripe, but the other one is gone, along with my trachten suit. So I have one suit still. 5) yes I have all of my scriptures, all the stuff from my desk I have. 

 

As for the luggage, I have already filed an online lost item claim, and I did the one at the train station too. How that works is that the info is put into a system, and EVERY train station in Germany can see it. So when anyone finds a match, then they have my contact info. So I called the Berlin lost and found from the number I got this week, and I finally got ahold of someone. But all she could do was put in my "loss number" and see if anyone had found anything. So that didn't help. I went to the lost and found here, and together we looked at the list of found items in their system, and we didn't find anything. So there is nothing else they can do. It doesn´t help when I call people, because it just goes back to this same system, and them saying that I will be notified if they find anything.

 

This last Friday, Elder Benson  got a call from someone he didn't know who talked to him about some lost luggage at a airport. He gave me the number, and whenever I call it goes straight to voicemail. So no big help. I keep trying though.

 

That is what is happening. I continue to try, but I can't do much. Just don't worry about it, you don´t have to replace everything. Most of it is irreplaceable anyway. We just move on. Heavenly Father still knows, so I leave it to him. I will still make calls, though! Don´t think I am just sitting on it. That´s the news about that.

Now for the rest. How is everyone doing? Holy Cow, Logan is home! I can only imagine how he feels, but I also know that everything he has done and everything he has become are just going to launch him into the future. He is ready for the rest of his life! Tell him hello for me :)

 

Cool that a lot of the family got to come together for all that! But my computer is being dumb and I can't look at the pictures you sent me. Except the last one of Kate, Morgan, and Kenzie. They look great though! Haha. I will try again later.

 

So, last pday was a lot of fun! We had I think 15 missionaries there, and we played fußball. I was happy :) This week was a little off for me. Towards the beginning at least. The week before had just been crazy, and we had done lots of stuff, but it felt just like nothing was accomplished. And this week again was kinda just a lot of fallen out appointments and not much time where I felt like the missionary who just talked to people on the street for hours, as in the past. We just didn't have much time for that. This week I hope it gets better. Tomorrow we are tausching with the APs, and then Thursday and Friday we and the Sisters will be headed to Munich for mission leadership council, where we will be having a 4th of July BBQ!!! Way excited. I have heard these meetings are awesome, and I will get to see Elder Orchard and Elder Janis and Elder Robins! And other friends. :) So this week is kinda crazy too, but we will make the most of it.

 

We had a lesson with A_____ again, with a lady who speaks Portuguese, and he basically just told us that he had no interest. That was a bummer. We gave him a blessing for his back, so I hope he is doing a bit better and feeling that power. We did an Austausch with the Elders in Waiblingen, and I worked with Elder Phillips, who is in his second transfer (still being trained). We walked around Waiblingen, where the Mercedes Benz museum actually is. We got some potentials on this one street, then kept walking, and then we got to the corner and guess what I found? I looked back and saw.... Burger King!! Yes, there are Burger Kings in Europe, that is not my point. This was the quaint little Burger King we ate at after visiting the Mercedes museum 3 years ago! That was cool :) I will send a picture of it. We went back and ate there that evening. So I have eaten there twice.

 

Hey, I whistled this week! For like a second. I just tried blowing something off of my desk, and then something whistled. So I looked at Elder Davies and asked if that was him. It wasn't. So it was me! I have never whistled before, and I can´t do it again, I have already tried. Sorry, random sidenote.

 

We had interviews on Wednesday, those were good. President is a very incredible man. He basically just talked about how awesome our zone was and how we need to be working with the district leaders. And we saw a couple clips from the broadcast, but didn't see the whole thing until yesterday. That was incredible!!! I loved every second of it. The whole time, the thought in my head was just "You are a missionary!!" and I thought about how awesome that is. I love being a missionary :) I want to watch the broadcast again.

 

We ate at the Finotto's on Thursday, the ward mission leader from italy, and their kids are so funny! One son and a daughter, and the daughter has blonde hair and blue eyes, so we made a club. The parents have no idea where it came from, they both are dark haired and dark eyed! Sis. Finotto said she just prayed :) Sis. Finotto also has your email address, Mom, she is going to be your best friend haha. She loves the Elders! Wants her son to be like us. But the family went back to Italy, and won't be back until August :( that is sad.

 

We had a great day yesterday, though! We just had time to go to Zuffenhausen and go by on some potentials and less actives. We tried one less active, but he wasn't home. So we went upstairs and we were let in by a nice woman. She had a son and a friend she lives with. She could speak okay German, but not a whole lot of gospel lingo, so she told us something, about her brother in Portugal. Then she translated it online, and we figured out her brother was a stake president in Portugal! Oh, okay! She is a member! But she isn't even on our list! But her son loved us! And was so sad when we had to go. We committed them to pray together and read in the BoM, and promised it would help her boyfriend develop faith too. Hopefully we can get her to church! Her son is almost 9, and really wants to come to church! So we shall see. But we were so happy, because we had just come from church, listening to the broadcast about gathering the sheep that have gone astray, and that is exactly how we saw this little family. We want them to come to church and go through the temple and have the gospel in their lives. So we will meet with them some more! We talked to some other very nice people, and we were using like all the foreign language knowledge we have, I don't know how many times I just spit out "I don't speak French" (in french, of course, can't spell it) like it was natural. And I got to use my Twi (from Ghana), that I learned from Br_____, and the guy was way impressed. I just love learning all the little small talk in different languages. I got some Polish too, from a lady we brought to church. Fun stuff. The guy I spoke Twi to, we helped him just lift his stroller out of the bahn, and he waited for us by the stairs and saluted us as we drove back by, and put his hands together and shook them as if to say thank you. We hardly did anything! But I love those little acts of service, and I love being a missionary :) He also had sweet shoes, that were like an American flag. I really hope we see him again sometime. He has our card, at least. 

 

Well, we lost contact with E_____, which is sad. We are working on it, just everytime he calls recently we are pretty sure he is just drunk. But! We finally got Kai to see the church! We went and played basketball with him because he has no one to play with. Then he saw the chapel and said it was very pretty. So we are hoping he comes this next week. He is way cool, and I am excited to see the progress he will continue to make. Otherwise, we are just finding! We organized our ward list and also decided to do lots of less-active work, so that will give us more opportunities to find and get referrals. You´ll hear next week, then, how things went.

 

We do so many things, it is just crazy! I love it here, and I love all the great missionaries. I am happy :) What more can I say?

 

This week I really want to just have the Holy Ghost with me, and this mornnig I read in the General Conference Liahona, Elder Cook´s talk about peace and also Elder Kopischke´s, about being accepted of the Lord. I am going to follow his pattern, and he said that having the Holy Ghost with you is the best sign that you have been accepted of the Lord. I hope to have that encouragement and excitement that will also ignite all the other missionaries here, and I know and feel over and over again that the words that were spoken at General Conference were true. The Lord will keep the promises made, and I look forward to becoming a better person than I was even just last week. What more can I do, especially after being kinda off for a bit last week? Just keep going, and doing better. I hope you all have gone back through and read your favorite talks, and all the talks, again! Just look at the table of contents and ask yourself what you need, and then find the talk to read. Read, and you will get answers. So simple! Pray and ponder about it, too. I know that those men are all servants of the Lord, and the Lord will fulfill His words.

 

Have a great week, don´t let anything distract you from being happy, and know the Lord has so much in store for you.

 

I love you all, keep smiling and working hard. :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

 

PS the pictures, the first is when we helped a member paint, and she made us hamburgers! the second is just after soccer, and Elder Davies has the same Germany jersey that I did! (That one is his, mine is not in my possession...). Then, the Burger King! Remember it?

 

PPS the email last week from Derek was just saying that he was getting baptized on Saturday! They will be sending me more info and pictures sometime soon, I hope. So I was way excited :)

Hallo!

Elder Davies--very cool apron!

 

Stuttgart sunset

 

 

 

Hey, thanks for the email with Pres. Auras´ post, that made my day :) I love them all too! He has a wonderful family. And Derek Ryan emailed me and told me the big news for this coming Saturday :) so I am just way happy right now!

 

Well, there seemed to be one permeating message in all of your emails, so I will address that now. I do not have my bags, but we are working on it! Elder Davies has been a trooper and lent me some clothes and such when I need them, and I have a pair of beat up tennis shoes from Elder Hansen, so I am just fine :) Although, I got a call from President Miles the other day, and he is really worrying about my luggage, and he told me I need to be proactive and use my phone and call people until I can locate my luggage. Well, I told him I would, but I have no numbers to call.... so I need to go to bahnhof and just ask, I guess. But yeah, I have moments where I want to go grab things from my bags, and then realize I don't have that at the moment... haha. Just makes it an adventure. But I am fine, you can stop worrying! The person I have become and the things I have seen and felt and heard in the last year are worth more than anything in those bags. They´ll find their way to me eventually. But I will still be proactive, yes.

 

Well, another week gone! We did get to play some Fußball this last week, but it was SOOO HOT!! We played in a little street basketball/soccer court, and even though it was just caged in, we felt like we were in an oven. So we played 4 v. 4 for like 40 minutes, then spent the rest of the time in the huge grocery store next to it, dreaming about lying down in the ice cream freezers. But today, I am sitting next to Sister Holmstead at this moment, and after emails we will go and play Fußball again with lots of the missionaries from the zone :) Yay! She says hello. (<-- she authorizes that). I am excited. I am actually wearing the black Germany jersey that I have, but this one is Elder Davies', because I don't have mine at the moment. Last Monday we also had the chance to go to FHE with E_____, one of our investigators. He is really cool, and he liked the time to meet people and the spiritual part of it. He is very open and has good questions. Plus, one of the people there at the FHE activity was a girl from Graz, Austria! I told her I love Graz, and she asked if I knew the Lex family. I said I did, and I even ate with them on austausch with Elder Smith in Graz in my first transfer! Almost a year ago! And then we realized that I had eaten dinner with her parents and her two younger sisters, probably like my 3rd or 4th week in the mission field! So we took a picture so I could send it to her family. But I forgot their email addresses today....

 

Tuesday we had district meeting, and that was a lot of fun. Our district is Elder Davies and I, in the German ward, then two elders in the International ward (Elders Hansen and Tauche) and then 3 Sisters, in a drit, Sisters Stewart and Jencks and Green. Sister Green is a golden, and being trained by the other two. Sister Stewart goes home this transfer though, so then Sister Jencks will probably finish off the training. We have lots of fun together, and we all love being here. And then the Bensons, the Ehepaar, are there as well :) I love them too.

 

On Wednesday we went to Ulm to go to their district meeting, and then do an austausch. We had some difficulties, however, getting on the train. We ended up on the wrong one, had to get out at the next stop and then wait an hour until the next one came. We were kinda frustrated, and Elder Davies called Elder Kinghorn to tell him we would be late, and really, before he even hung up, a man walked up to us and asked what we were doing. So we told him who we were, and gave him a BoM and he said he just wanted to get away from alcohol. We promised he could, and then set up an appointment for Saturday (sadly, we couldn't find him, he gave us a bad address :/) but we knew immediately what we were doing in Bad Cannstatt, rather than on the train to Ulm. Elder Kinghorn and I came back to Stuttgart, which was fun because we were in the MTC together, and we went to a place called Böblingen. We talked with 3 people and made 3 appointments and gave a BoM away in like 20 minutes' time, and about 50 meters. We were excited :) All those appoointments fell out, too :( but we keep going.

 

On Thursday, after a very uncomfortably warm night, we switched back our companions, and then later that night we went and played soccer with some of the young men from the ward. The leaders are really pushing them to go on missions, and sadly I don´t think there is much excitement at the moment. So we want to get to know them better and change that :) They said we were the first elders that were actually good at soccer, so that was nice. That night there was a crazy rainstorm and lightning and thunder. We actuallly went out for a couple minutes in the rain. It was literally like buckets of water falling from the sky, we got soaked immediately (we were wearing the clothes we played soccer in anyway, so it felt good). That was crazy. We played some more soccer at a BBQ we were invited to on Saturday night, and we got the whole district so excited about soccer too :) I love it when that happens. Sister Jencks did a perfect rainbow after like 4 tries, and learned to head the ball right. And Sister Green was excited to try more at home, so she said they have to go buy a soccer ball :) Music to my ears, those words. It is the greatest game ever.

 

Sunday was also great, there was a talk about gratitude, which really touched me. I need to be more grateful to Heavenly Father. But I was in a much better mood after that than I was that morning. I was just tired and my brain was going really slowly. I sat with the Wells family kids. They are Americans, but the husband is an author, Dan Wells, and they moved here to Stuttgart, and they have us and the sisters over every Tuesday for dinner :) I love their kids. So I sat with them. Bruder Wells came on a joint teach with us Tuesday. He speaks Spanish, and he had a fun time trying to talk to a man who speaks Portuguese. But it went very well, and we were very grateful for his help. It was very cool to know the Lord was just helping this man understand. We have another appointment with him, A_____, on Tuesday, with someone who speaks Portuguese :) yay.

 

We are way excited for this coming week, and I am excited to see the changes that come in the missionaries in the zone as we set up our own zone vision for what we want to become. We have interviews this week with President Miles, and we will probably discuss it more until we can write our own spiritual constitution as a zone, things that will change us into the best missionaries we can be. And I get to start with myself. The missionaries in this zone aren´t going to do it if I don´t.

 

It sounds like you had a very fun week! Sorry for Malcolm, I didn't think the knock-out-your-teeth club was THAT cool, cool enough that he wanted to join haha. Hope all goes well with him. I can´t believe Logan comes home tomorrow! O my goodness! Tell him Hi :)

 

Um, I will send some pictures this time, we are at a different place today. But I am almost out of time. There is Elder Davies, nice apron, and there is a picture of a sunset over Stuttgart, not too far from our place. Then, a picture with S_____ and Be_____ (respectively left and right).

 

Hey, I love you all :) and I love where I am, and what I am doing. I know it is the Lord´s work, and I have never been happier :) Sometimes we don´t know if we make a difference, but then you get emails like Pres. Auras´ or the email from Derek, and you know that you have done something right :) It is all worth it. Heavenly Father loves us all so much.

 

Have a great week! Be happy, and smile :) Fare thee well.

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

Liebe Grüße von Schwabenland!

He, griaß euch :) man, this week has been SOOOOOO CRAZYYYYY!!!!!???!§"!! And mostly just in the last 4 days. Let me explain :)

 

Elder Davies is an incredible man. We have so much fun. And we are just always doing something! Which I like a lot. I have my own phone now, that is pretty cool, I guess. But yeah, I am getting ahead of myself. I did get the chance to say goodbye to everyone in Landshut, all the investigators and such. And there was much time spent packing. But I did it! We didn´t do anything too exciting on Pday. I think we had what, like four appointments? No, three, and two worked out. We had a great appointment with Frau Kuhn, the lady I found on finding day! She was very nice, we talked about what the Book of Mormon means for her. I hope Elder Allan and Hustead get to meet with her often, because she was cool. Our meeting on Tuesday was also way cool! We took a picture, I saw Elder Robins and Elder Stapleton (who is now home :o ) and shook Elder Nelson´s hand, as well as his wife´s and the hands of the other general authorities there. We had Elder (and Sister) Soares from the first quorum of the 70, and Elder Patrick Kearon, from England, whose accent I love, and then Elder Fingeley from Germany, an area authority here. And then the stake president from Salzburg and Pres. Auras from Munich :) There were many inspired words spoken, and Elder Nelson told us to master the language, and then he took some questions. He also gave us a blessing to be true disciples of Christ, to be obedient, and alles. His wife spoke about receiving the spiritual gifts that counteract and overcome our weaknesses. That was also very good. One part that stuck out a lot to me was what Elder Kearon said. He spoke about the power and authority of our calling, and he shared the quote from Pres. Kimball in that section in PMG chapter one. About being set apart, from all things of the world that are low, vicious, crude, vulgar, etc. And it was perfect for me, because I had been feeling like I was just stuck living in a world where morals and all things that are good and from God are trampled upon, and it was just getting me downhearted and sad. I was low on confidence in the people we talked with or saw on the street, because I let the verderbheit der Welt crush my faith. But then Elder Kearon spoke about grasping the power, the literal power, of our setting apart, and just knowing that we can do this. It was awesome. We didn't have much time to talk with others, although I talked with the Halls from Klagenfurt :) I was excited to see them. We had our own zone meetings after that, and then we all had to go head home.

 

We helped Sisters Garrett and Regnier get to the train (which was our train as well) with the many heavy boxes of Books of Mormon they had to bring home. I don´t know how they would have made it without help, so glad we could be there. They talked to a very drunk young guy on the train, who came up to me and asked what we were doing, and I answered. But then he turned to Elder Allan and said, can you speak German, because I don´t understand what that guy is saying (pointing to me). So I just sat behind him and laughed as he talked with the Sisters and Elder Allan :) They did very well. Then later he talked to me again, this time with no problems. Drunk people. They are ridiculous, and they are not very respectful. But hey, the gospel can help them! :) He took a Book of Mormon with them.

 

Anyway, that is basically all the news about Landshut. So, transfer day came! I was the ticket holder for all the missionaries headed to the Stuttgart zone, so I got to ride with Elder Janis (who is going to be ZL in the new Freiburg Zone, with Elder McClellan!!) and three goldens, and Elder George from my group, and then a couple other Elders who, until now, I have only known by name. There are two new Sisters in the zone, and then one Elder. The sisters were fast tracked, they were talking about how 3 weeks ago they were home! That is really crazy. But they are all really cool :) We have a pretty young zone, and Elder Davies and I are excited :) We got to ride an ICE train, and it was the nicest train I have ever been on! But we had to spread our luggage out all over the train, like 3 cars. So we started gathering them all when we were close to arriving. I had a couple bags in my hands, so I just lined up some of the suitcases along the corridor to the door, and then I dropped the bags in my hand off and went quickly to check that the Sisters had all their stuff off the train a few cars down. Then I came back to where the Elders had been unloading the rest of the bags. My bags weren´t there! So I ran to the train door, but they wouldn't open. And then, my two suitcases took off on the way to Berlin. :O Uh oh. By this time, I am assuming you are probably freaking out! But just remain calm, ge? I am not freaking out. We have told the DB, they have the bags in file, and Pres. Miles also called the Berlin Mission President and the Berlin President is going to Berlin bahnhof today to ask about my bags. So, things are going as well as they can. :) What a story this will be in the future, eh? The Bensons, the senior couple here in Stuttgart, heard about my misfortune and they have done so much for me! Locating me clothes and giving me money to buy a couple new shirts and pairs of pants. Because all of my clothes are in my two suitcases. All I had in my carry-on bag was my books and such, to save weight. I figured I would be with my luggage the whole time... But everyone has been very helpful, and really, I am okay :) I am so happy, there are cool things happening. So, just laugh with me, okay? That was my biggest story.

 

Suttgart is very pretty, and it is hilly! No more flatness! It isn't the mountains, but I will be okay with Taco Bell :) (all on the military bases, to which the international ward Elders have access ;) ) I am pretty excited. We are playing soccer today with some of the Elders, and we have planned a zone pday already, and a zone service project. I miss being so close in on all that is going on in the districts, and I wish I could see all the missionaries more often and speak with them. I just love them all, we are going to work miracles. Oh, and next week I will finally get my rematch with Sister Holmstead, we are playing Füßball again :) My only problem is that I have to borrow everyone else´s stuff to wear, cuz I have nothing.... just a minor complication.

 

Being a missionary is awesome! I wish you could know the ways I have grown and the happiness I have experienced. You just have to do it yourselves, then you will understand. I don´t want to be anywhere else! I love it. I hope one day many of you will also have the experience. Just choose the right, choose to be happy, and follow the Savior Jesus Christ. He lives, He loves us, and He guides us through His servants on earth. There is nothing that cannot be healed by His great love and sacrifice for us. Come to Him, and there will be peace in your life.

 

I love you all so much! I love the Savior so much. I am glad that you are enjoying all your adventures in life, girls camp, scout camp, work, whatever you are doing these days. I hope you find time to smile (there is always time, just so you know :) ). Have a great week.

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons

 

PS I wanted to send pictures, but these computers are weird. Sorry.

Wohin?

Goodbye to Landshut!

 

With the Andersons and Bruder Koenigbauer

 

With some Klagenfurt Ward youth

 

Lederhosen!

 

3.7 meters of flooding

 

Helping clean up in Passau, with Sisters Garrett and Regnier and Elder Allan.

They helped the older couple clean out their flooded cellar.

 

 

 

 

 

The white mark at the top of the door is the flooding watermark.

They say (basically) that despite the flooding of 2013,

Passau is still here, and thanks for the help!

 

 

Hey Leibe Familie :) alles ist klar bei uns, keine Sorge über die Überschwemmnung, ge?

 

There was lots of excitement about the flooding, huh? Yeah, as far as I know, Passau got it the worst, maybe tied with Deggendorf. But no worries, the missionary apartments were not affected, at least not here in Landshut or in Passau (so, our district). The Sisters actally moved into their brand new palace this week (anything is a palace compared to the apartment here...) because Elders are coming this next transfer! That should be great for them :) Sister Garrett and Sister Regnier are very excited. And, because of flooding, they have done LOTS of service this week. We went to Passau as a district on Saturday, to help out. There were so many volunteers there! They had centers set up everywhere where people went and waited for an assignment, and they had food for everyone, but they were out of rubber boots by the time I got there, so I just walked through the mud and dirt and water in my tennis shoes. They dry fast, sowieso. I will send some pictures of the project. We ended up just finding an elderly couple who were throwing all the ruined stuff out of their kellar, and Elder Allan and I worked there with the Sisters. SO much fun, and they were very grateful. Everyone even offers us beer!! (We say we don´t drink--good teaching-by-example opportunity, eh?) and then we met up with Elders Jones and Abbott again, and their friends they had worked with, and tried to go find work. There were so many people there that they just told everyone that there was no work for the moment, and we had to wait. Pretty impressive system. And, to top it off, München Zone/stake is doing a Mormon Helping Hands service project this coming Saturday in Passau. That will be way fun! BUT....I won´t be there. OOOOOHH, the suspense is getting to you, haha :) have patience. (Yes, we got transfer calls). ;)

 

Do you know what else I got? LEDERHOSEN!!! :) They are so comfortable!!!! And awesome. I attached a picture. I wanted a dark blue shirt but they didnt have one in my size :/ so I stuck with the light blue. But anyway, what do you think? That will look good at Kate´s prom, right? ;) I can´t wait.

 

Let´s talk about transfers, ja? :) It´s pretty cool, lots of awesome things happening. There is a new zone in the Mission! All the German wards that belong to Swiss stakes are now a zone, and Elder McClellan is the zone leader with someone :) He has been zone leader twice, then! Pretty crazy. Elder Eaker is leaving Munich, and going back to Wien 5 ward, where he was trained!!! And he is training again! He is super excited. Elder Gochnour is the new ZL in Munich with Elder Orchard, (he was one transfer behind us in the MTC). Elder Allan is staying in Landshut, and gets to see Landshuter Hochzeit! His new companion will be Elder Hustead, who trained Elder Hansen from my MTC district. Oh, I get to see Elder Robins FINALLY tomorrow, at our meeting with Elder Nelson!!! (Have I mentioned that yet? Sorry if I forgot :O) and Elder Robins is going to be the new zone leader in Wien with Elder Riser (from my Klagenfurt district) :) The Sisters and Elders in Passau and Neuötting stay the same, Elder Jones is the new DL and will rock it up! Elder Harris is spending his last transfer training and opening the second Innsbruck area! I wish I could have worked with him one more time, but it´s okay--I am working with Elder Davies, who was trained by Elder Harris. :) it kinda worked out. Elder Davies I met in Wien at interviews once, and then I did an exchange with him my second time in Wien, remember him? He gave me lots of good advice, and he is awesome, I am excited to work with him in.......... jk, I am not going to tell you yet. (Sorry, I have to make this exciting for you). :p

 

Elder Gubler, who was ZL in Wien is the new Assistant to the President, and he is the Hammer! The Andersons are sad that I am going away, they wanted me to stay to see these baptisms through! But where I am going, I think I would be able to come back and attend the baptisms. ;)

 

So, talking about our friends! We met with S_____ and Be_____ last Monday, and read in Moroni 10 with them, trying to help them understand how to get answers. We gave them colored pencils, courtesy of Sis. Anbuhl so that they can mark what they like and then we can see what they liked! But none of our other appointments worked out with them :( we are meeting later again today, and I will have to say goodbye to them and get pictures). There was just lots of things going on, we were trying to do service for people who had lots of water in their cellars, like the Auras family and their neighbors. We spent all of Monday doing that, basically. They all have pumps to pump the water from the basement and out onto the street, down the drains. They live down at the opposite tip of the island from us, where the two rivers (well, it is the same river still) and the flooding channel come back together. The soccer field we played on weeks ago was covered with water, like almost a foot deep, maybe more. So we spent lots of time doing that, and trying to run to appointments and such. What an adventure. We had to cancel our appointment with the lady Elder Abbott and I found, we went and rang her doorbelll and talked to her and we are meeting her tonight, this time in white shirts and ties and not dirty, wet jeans and such. (We didn´t have her phone number :/). We met with P_____ a couple times. He has lots to do still. He will not be baptized at the end of the month, that is for sure. Elder Allan will have to decide if we keep teaching him or not. We met with Br_____ on Saturday too, and she just never finds time to read. We will have to move her baptismal date back as well. It is also so hard for us to teach because the kids run in and interrupt every five minutes, and she just has lots to do. We are trying to get Julian to go with us again, hopefully this Tuesday (tomorrow) because the kids like him and are quieter when he is there. We shall see. That´s how all that is looking. We need new investigators, though. Our potentials just don´t turn into anything, for the most part. No time, too busy, false numbers, etc. But we keep doing it!

 

Also, I should tell you about the tragic death in the Landshut Ward. A complete surprise. Brother Niedermaier, who translated in churrch for our investigators, who was always willing to pick them up, who was at our last appointment with Brigitte a little over a week ago, passed away on Thursday morning. He was a very fit man, 57, who went jogging Thursday morning, came home and made breakfast, then fell from his chair and passed away. Elder Anderson called me and told me and I was in shock. We had just worked with him on Monday evening at the Auras´ place. It is very hard for his wife and his one remaining son. They have lost now 5 members of their family (including some extended family) in the last 18 months. My heart aches for Sis. Niedermaier. But, what was great was that she came yesterday to our "stake conference" meeting with Elder Russell M. Nelson, and Elder Nelson spoke directly to her and told her how much he felt for her, and then he and the other speakers all bore testimony about the plan of salvation. Elder Allan and I saw that she had come and we said to each other that we hoped she would find peace and comfort at this meeting. And then, at the end of Elder Nelson´s talk, he said he felt impressed to leave a blessing upon the saints gathered there that day, and "invoking the keys of the Apostleship which he holds," he blessed us with peace and comfort, and with faith in Christ. That settled that for us. His talk was great, he had all the Primary kids stand on their chairs and sing "I am a child of God" and he held the music director´s little girl as he led the music. I really just pictured the Savior with the kids, because Elder Nelson is in all reality the Savior´s Apostle and servant here on the earth. After the meeting Elder Nelson actually stayed and shook everyone´s hand who wanted to. I will see him again tomorrow, so I let the members have their chance. It was so cool. The problem was, I was trying to catch members before they left so I could take pictures with them, since I won´t be there next Sunday. I got a few of them.

 

But, yeah, Sister Nelson also spoke and talked about how all the questions we are asked as members of the church could be answered the same way: "Because I know the Book of Mormon in true." She shared a story about Elder Nelson as he was younger, in an operation room, where one of the nurses asked why he seemed so different than the other surgeons. That was his answer, as quick as could be. So should it be with us! Why do we do this or that, or this in our church? Because I know that the Book of Mormon is true. And I know it! And I have no excuse for the way I live as a member of this church, because I am happy. And I have been incredibly blessed to know what I know, and to be learning what I am learning here. The Book of Mormon is true, and in all reality, that is the reason I am who I am. What about you?

 

Well, I will tell you now. I am headed to Stuttgart on Thursday! So, I get another shot at the Porsche Museum, eh? :) I will get to work with Sister Holmstead in her last transfer, and also some Elders from Elder Allan´s group, and all the other people who are there. Elder Davies will be training me in the ways of being a zone leader over there, and I am so excited for the things I will learn and to meet and watch over the people there, and the missionaries of course. So, now I will be able to see Elder Robins at least once a month, and also Elder Orchard and Elder Riser and Elder McClellan, because they do their ZL council every first Thursday of the month. That will be exciting :) I am way excited! I am not worried about Elder Allan at all. I wonder what my apartment situation will be like in Stuttgart.... they are just sending me as far away from the mountains and trees as they can. But I hope we can do some awesome zone pdays, then I can learn more Fußball skills from Sister Holmstead. Sorry, I have no idea what the address there is. Elder Allan will get me any mail that comes here to Landshut, but you know now that I am leaving! So no more mail here. I just got another letter for Elder Smith, who hasn't been here since the beginning of February. Don´t make the same mistake! I have packed one bag already. And the guitar shouldn´t be a problem for transfers. And yes, there are multiple missionaries who have guitars, and President of course just warned us about the effective use of our time.

 

Just remember what Sister Nelson said, and think about where you are in life, and why you are there. The Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and we know the plan of eternal happiness that God has for us. Don't forget it. I love you all and hope you have a great week, with scout camps and girls camps and all sorts of things. Happy belated birthday to Dylan, heard he had a great birthday haha. Liebe Grüße an alle Freunde und Verwandte :) ich hab euch lieb.

 

Mach´s guad, und lächeln noch weiter :)

 

Elder Jalen Gibbons