Fwd: Group Email #5

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joseph Gibb <joseph.gibb@myldsmail.net>
Date: November 20, 2017 at 9:54:19 AM MST
To: Marie Gibb <mdgibb@gmail.com>
Subject: Group Email #5

Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife. It's the Mormons.

A sloooooooooowwww week this week. Mostly service and stopping by people who don't want to talk with us.

The pastor from aforementioned emails will be meeting with us in approximately two hours and that will... Happen. I don't know how well. But he was happy to meet.

On Tuesday, Elder Vin Zant and I attempted to make a two layer cake for our investigator (it was her birthday and her family doesn't really visit). This was my "brilliant" idea. Neither of us have ever made a two layer cake and we were running out of time as we baked the second layer of the cake. (We only had one 8" round pan but we wanted to have two layers so we decided to just cook two cakes, one after the other.) The second cake got out of the oven about 5 minutes before we had to leave so it had about 2 minutes to cool and then we put frosting on it. It... Didn't go well. The cake ended up being mostly held together with frosting and good intentions and that wasn't even enough. We'd both be Chopped.

This Friday we had some great experiences tracting. Nobody wanted to talk to us but we got a couple good stories. One lady prayed with us on her front porch and praised God and Jesus and we told her how awesome it was that she had faith in these things and she was really excited to talk with us about the miracles in her life. However, when she finished the stories and then the prayer we asked, "Would there be a time that we could talk with you more about Jesus Christ?" She looked at us. She said, "I'd really rather not." Strange for someone who just prayed on their front porch with two people she had never met. Whatever.

Oh, also, the first guy who we knocked on his door answered and told us that Jehovah's Witnesses had come by about 5 times before and there is a no soliciting sign in front of their neighborhood and what we're doing is illegal. After informing him that we were not Jehovah's Witnesses he said, "Don't care. Next time one of you knocks on my door I will be pointing a gun at you. I have a right to defend my property from solicitors. What you're doing, is illegal."

I asked Elder Vin Zant if we could go back there the next day.

He said no.

Hope you all have a pretty okay week. Eat lots. Have a good Thanksgiving.

--

-Elder Joe Gibb

Fwd: Group Email #4

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joseph Gibb <joseph.gibb@myldsmail.net>
Date: November 13, 2017 at 10:32:49 AM MST
To: Marie Gibb <mdgibb@gmail.com>
Subject: Group Email #4

Where's your boat headed? I don't know.

This week has been... Fine.

Not much to report except on a couple story updates from last week.

We held the Bible study with the pastor's congregation and they were pretty open to everything that we said. There were a few moments where a lady (the pastor's mother) told us that we had not received the gift of the Holy Ghost because we had not spoken in tongues. I tried to explain to her that this was a point of difference in our doctrines but she wasn't really listening. She just explained that the only way to know that you've received the Holy Ghost is if you start speaking in another language. That was something. 

Then, my companion Elder Vin Zant who is much more informed on scripture than I, was asked a question by the pastor's father who asked him to explain some verses about the rapture. My companion simply re-explained what the man had just said and then... He talked about something else. The man never got the answer he wanted but we didn't end up in a Bible bash, so that was good. The whole meeting went well and a few people wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon, so that was good. Hopefully, that helps or something happens from that.

Also, the person that we randomly texted last week we were able to meet with and that went pretty well. Not sure how interested/lonely he is, but he mostly just talked about himself while we were there last time. Next time we'll talk about the gospel.

Last story, for an uneventful week I sure have a lot to talk about, sorry. There's a less active in the ward that missionaries have been meeting with for four years and he has never come to church. So, being the bad guy that I am, I told this guy that we couldn't continue to meet with him if he wasn't going to meet or make commitments anymore. So... He basically said, "Well, I can see you have more important things to do than meet with me, but that's okay". The whole thing went pretty poorly, but hopefully he'll realize that he needs to come to church at some point. I dunno. I hope so. He's a super great guy.

Anyways, have a good week! Don't do anything too stupid.

--

-Elder Joe Gibb

Fwd: Group Email #3

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joseph Gibb <joseph.gibb@myldsmail.net>
Date: November 6, 2017 at 10:49:36 AM MST
To: Marie Gibb <mdgibb@gmail.com>
Subject: Group Email #3

Oh how the turntables.

This week has been quite a week.

For the first time we have people who are genuinely interested in talking to us about the gospel. What a change of pace.

The pastor who I spoke of last week has invited my companion and I to speak at his congregation's Bible Study tomorrow. We met with him last Tuesday and we both talked about our beliefs. The pastor was very cordial and was trying to prove that he was right through the Bible or prove that we were wrong. He was just genuinely interested in learning about what we believed in. Then the bombshell came right at the end of the lesson and he said, "Would y'all like to come talk about this at the Bible study next week?" I just looked at Elder Vin Zant, and then said, "Yah! Sure. We'd love to." 

The next day we had interviews with the mission president and his advice was, "Bring enough Books of Mormon for the entire congregation." Ah. Such inspiring words of confidence. 

We've also been trying to reach out to many less actives this week and because of that we get a lot of "wrong numbers", "we're not interested", "I'm active, just not at your building". It's great. However, we texted a wrong number and they gave us the number we were actually trying to contact, but then I asked them if they wanted any help or if they were interested in hearing about Jesus. The unknown person texted back, "I'm more into self-enlightenment and meditation." So, my response, of course, was to say, "That's really cool! Could we swing by and talk to you about that some time?" 

He didn't respond for a minute but when he finally did he just said, "Right on." Unsure of what that meant, I texted back, "So what time/day would be good for my companion and I to come over and talk to you?" And... We got an appointment with the guy. I guess that's what I get for being willing to be the smallest amount of bold that a person has ever been. The Lord provides, or so I'm told.

That's the most interesting stories from the week. If next week is less interesting I'll just make something up and send it to you. Have a good week!

--

-Elder Joe Gibb

Dave Ramsey

Marie is really getting into the Dave Ramsey thing. I fear that some day, when in my 80's, I'll hear, "Bart, we're selling your walker. Gazelle, Bart! Gazelle!"

A Simple, but Useful Parental Tool

I just thought I'd share this little nugget.

Not long ago I began using a technique that could have saved me so much time and frustration in the past. As more of my children enter the teenage years, it has proven both efficient and effective. It is simply this:

Anytime one of the kids asks me for something––"Can I have this/that? Can I go here/there? Can we do this/that?––and I don't have an immediate answer and don't really want to deal with it at the moment, I just respond, "No, unless I change my mind." Bam! Discussion over. I'm free to resuscitate the topic later at MY discretion. If I forget, I've already given my answer with no promise to remember. I've agreed to nothing and they can't later say, "But you said. . ." I hate that!

Hope you find it useful.

Andrea's Artistic Side

Here's a couple of projects that Andrea has recently done. I helped her with the PSA on Haiti, a project Andrea doesn't care for because she feels it smacks of propaganda. (She did get an A on it - in her English class. English? Neither of us understand the connection other than English is the language used in the PSA.)

The second is something she did for fun in her photography class, because, as she pointed out, she's ahead in the class and had the time.

Ready to Go Home