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

Sir Isaac Arthur Washington Gibb

Born 2 February, 2011, 4:32 AM
8 lbs 7 oz
19-1/2"

It's a Boy!

. . . and a boy . . . and another boy . . . and a boy . . . and a girl . . . and, well, in all, 7 boys and 2 girls. Oh, sorry, I'm talking about Rosie's puppies. (The break down is two gold: one male, one female. And seven black ones: five black as night, and two distinguishable only by a white tuft just below the chin–one of which is the second female.) It took Marie (soon to be) 9 pregnancies, all 9 months apiece to accumulate our nine, but it took Rosie, our dog, all of one 60-day pregnancy to produce her nine. Where's the justice in that?

We've had them now for seven weeks and will begin selling them Wednesday (the day after what should be the arrival of our #9). $25 a piece, if you're interested. It has been an adventure, to say the least. You think one dog stinks. Try 10 all in the same box. Whoa! Most of the family is used to it, but after being away all day, I get the pleasure of being stunned at the stench every day! They are adorable (as the following pictures attest), but I will not miss them.

We started with a little wading pool for a whelping box (an idea Marie stumbled on searching the internet ether). Understand that it's winter here, which means nights between 0 ˚ and 20˚, consequently no matter how much I point to everyone that God gave dogs fur so they could live comfortably in the cold a certain motherly individual won't allow them to live outside on the back porch.

When they were younger, as you could see them in the video getting ready to sleep, they would all sleep in a big heap of legs, ears, wet noses, and fur.

At first Rosie would barely leave the puppies alone at all. After a while she became less inclined to spend all her time with the pups, although was still attentive. About that time they grew a tad big for the pool, escaping off and on. At night Rosie would sometimes hop in the pool just to clean up after the pups (you don't want to know what that means). And, of course, when she would get in the pool the pups would go nuts trying to nurse, but Rosie would quickly finish cleaning up and then take off. Well, the insatiable pups would be in frenzy to follow after and sometimes get out of the pool. Soon I was waking up to a pool full of whining pups, and a whining mom trying to figure out how to get the few escapees off the lam and back in the pool. That got old real fast.

About the third day/night of this Marie showed up with a second pool, the bottom of which I promptly cut out, turned upside down and clamped the two rims together making the sides a bit taller. A short time passed, the pups got bigger, and then it was back to mom agitating pups, pups escaping, and all out canine chaos. Did I mention that puppies grow at an exponential rate?

So then I scrapped together a much larger, approximately 8'x4', box in our family room and lined it with a tarp.

Not long after being moved to the Ritz, Rosie stopped nursing all together. (I guess she'd had enough of those sharp little puppy teeth. Poor thing's underside was just raw from puppy abuse.) Of course the regularly tantalizing trips to clean up have continued, but at least the puppies can no longer escape–for now. These days they spend most of their days outside on the back patio that I crudely enclosed for the interim until some blessed souls take them off our hands. Interested?

I complain, but it has been fun, for the most part, and a great experience for the kids. They've loved it. They play with them every day, and have named them; although the five solid black ones are indistinguishable. In spite of the annoyances it has been a worthwhile event, one that in the end was worth it.

We put an add online today and within 15 minutes had a taker for one, maybe two. They'll be missed, but not long. Here's the flier I put together using a template in Apple's Pages. Took maybe 10 min.

Just for fun, here's a few pictures of when Rosie was a puppy just over a year ago. Rosie first came to us as gift for Jarom who had been wanting a puppy for a long time. Unfortunately, he's allergic to dogs which caused us to get rid of Bear, who we'd had since Arizona. Then we learned about labradoodles (a labrador / poodle mix that tends towards hypo-allergenic. So far it seems to have worked. She barely sheds at all, and Jarom seems okay around her.

Rosie loved to play with the doorstop by our front door. She could go on for some time, because the doorstop was willing to play until the dog wore itself out.

Family Home Evening

A note on how I blog: definitely not chronologically. I tend to blog in spurts –– none for a time, then suddenly a bunch, then another hiatus. So each spurt begins with the most recent event I deem blog worthy and then I move backwards. That means that events that took place 2 years ago will appear 10 years from now. Just think of all that you have to look forward to.

That said, here is a bit Emma put together for FHE activity: chin puppets.

Jarom

Kerina

Joseph

Porter

   Emma

Halloween 2010

Here's a few pics taken October 30, Halloween observed.

This past summer a sister in our ward gave swimming lessons to the kids, gratis. She was great. She had the non-swimmers swimming and the pseudo swimmers flourishing in no time. As a trade Marie offered, come Fall, to have us rake all their leaves (they have some good sized trees). Well, as it always does, Fall eventually arrived, and we all found ourselves over at the Davies's, cleaning up nature's mess. This year has the weather has dithered quite a bit so the trees have taken a while to moult. (Yes, I know only birds moult, but what would you have said if I had said, "Abscission has been somewhat spotty"?) Consequently it took a couple trips to finish the job.

Anyway, here's some photos of the kids dispersed amongst the morning's booty.

That's Porter peeking out from within.

Here we are after the raking, enjoying some awesome peanut butter/banana/cocoa smoothies, a recipe given to us by my sister, Maren, when we were visiting her in North Carolina. (More on that later.) The kids loved them. They are destined to become regulars around here.

And the obligatory costumery photos:

 Emma Einstein

Joseph & Grace the Lion

Jarom the Pooh

Hannah Running Bear

Porter the gangster, I guess. We like our children to aspire.

Kerina the vampire with Joseph Smith looking on.

Andrea as. . . . I have no idea!

At the ward trunk-or-treat. (It was raining outside so they moved it inside.)

Joseph was going as Michael Jackson, unfortunately he wasn't too convincing, as his glove didn't shimmer, his derby was too tall, but mostly because his skin was too dark.

Porter, Future Engineer

Working at a large apartment complex with boilers and chillers, et al, I come across a lot of broken odds and ends. When I find something interesting (eg. a pressure gauge, pressure reducing valve, or even air-handler blower motors) I bring it home for the boys (aka. Porter) who proceed to tear it apart and investigate.

Recently Porter was asking me if a battery could power a light bulb, so we started with a 9v and then graduated to 18v. But first he drew up a plan and then put it together.

 

And here's the finished product:

Odds/Ends

Here's Grace and her brother Heinrich. Actually that's Jarom. But doesn't he look like he should be wearing lederhosen.

And this is Andrea and Rosie (short for Rosalina, a name Jarom pulled out of thin air when we first got her). If your observant you'll notice that we can't seem to do anything the easy way. About 4-6 weeks ago there were a few days that we tied up Rosie outside as we were gone all day. Well, we don't have a fence, and Rosie apparently ignored every lecture we gave her on the law of chastity. So now there are two females in this house who are in a motherly way. Marie's a bit annoyed that the dog got pregnant much later and yet will give birth much sooner then herself. Not only that, but Rosie will get much more bang for her buck. 

By the way, you'll all be receiving belated Christmas gifts this year. When you get them, make sure you open them immediately as they contain perishables. 

Joseph's Choir

Joseph's school choir had their Christmas concert this past week. Great director. She seems to get a ton out of these kids. Very impressive. Also, a very Christian concert -- she conceded nothing. (Sorry about the video quality. It was taken with my phone, as we forgot to bring the good camera.) Oh, and Joseph was smack in the middle on the second row.

Musical Notes

Look out Ray Brown!

Recently I've been playing for the musical Plaid Tidings, a Christmas spinoff of Forever Plaid. It's been a kick. Haven't done a musical since Oliver Twist (w/ Christopher Lloyd) at the Sundance outdoor theater back when I was an undergrad.

Anyway, here's the four Plaids in their calypso digs during intermission. The elderly fellow is the pianist, Bob Bailey, who is 89 years young. In his earlier days he played piano for the Dean Martin show, as well as Nat King Cole, Ginger Rogers, Bing Crosby, Pearl Bailey, and Mel Thorme -- to name a few. He and his wife have served four missions. He's quite a guy and an incredible pianist. I have been gigging with him since I was an undergrad. He's one of these guys that can play just about any standard in any key. For the Dean Martin show he'd have to arrange on-the-fly in rehearsals to accommodate the various celebs that would appear each show, constantly having to shift keys around & alter pre-arranged tunes to put the guests and Dean in the best light. I've heard him make key-wandering vocalists sound great. 

If he's doing an actual performance-type gig, one of his schticks is to have audience members give the last four digits of their phone numbers which, using them as scale steps, he then improvises a tune using the consecutive digits as a motive of sorts. It's very cool. 

This is the pit band (we're actually right on stage). That's Mitch Lee (a drummer I have been gigging with for at least 14 years), Bob, and myself (with the double-chin, as Andrea likes to point out). 

Revlon's Newest Model

Grace recently got into Mom's lipstick. Not shown is Gracie's putting lipstick on the picture of Hannah and Andrea in the bathroom.

A Tragic Week

This week was a tough one for the local community. One of this city's finest young men was tragically taken in a terrible car accident this past week. Brandon Curtis, a member of our ward, was just 18 years old and just about to begin his senior year. As the Chartered Organization Rep for our scout troop I was able to get to know him just a little as he was working to get his Eagle rank. He was an exemplar young man, the kind you hope your own boys will emulate. His family is exceptional.

Marie and I have known his parents, Jesse and Diane, since we first bought our home in Springville. They have always been salt-of-the-earth people; an example of love of family, and devotion to the gospel to everyone they meet. Due to unfortunate circumstances the family, of necessity, has been living with Jesse's parents for the past couple years. More recently, Jesse ended up in the hospital for some time, close to death. Brandon and his sister Shanae managed things at home while their mom split time between work and the hospital until their dad recovered. It has been a rough few years for a great family.

Their oldest son, Brandon, was as fine a young man as you could know. Everyone who knew him loved him. He was/is idolized by his younger siblings and a leader in the high school's football and wrestling programs.

You can read his obituary here.

The entire community has come together to help this family. You can't drive down Main Street without seeing numerous marquis and signs expressing love and support for the family. Several local business have have taken up the cause by donating a days proceeds to the family, or donating other resources to help out. It has been amazing.

This past Tuesday, just following football practice, Brandon and three other boys were fooling around in one of the boys' jeep, apparently doing donuts in the parking lot. The jeep rolled, and all the boys were ejected; three were barely injured, Brandon was crushed by the jeep. He ended up in a coma with severe brain trauma. On Wednesday afternoon, after tests showed zero brain activity, the parents had him removed from life support.

I share all that so I can share the story that was told today in Elders Quorum.

On Wednesday morning President Peterson, our Elders Quorum president, went to the hospital to see what he could do for the family. Upon arriving, Jesse, Brandon's father grabbed Pres. Peterson and took him to see another boy in the hospital. Jesse asked if he, Pres. Peterson, would assist him and the boy's father in giving the boy a blessing. The boy was the driver of the jeep. The driver's father anointed. Brandon's father sealed and blessed. That is the kind of people the Curtis's are. I hope you will all remember them in your prayers.

Brandon will be missed by all.

Celestial Cereal

Overheard an argument from Porter, Jarom, and two of their cousins, Andrew and Matthew Adcock. It went something like this:

"I could eat like five bowls of cereal."

"Oh yeah? Well, I could eat like twelve."

"That's nothing. I could eat 10,000 bowls of cereal."

Emma chimes in, "I could eat never-ending." (Apparently that's the new "infinity".)

Then someone said, "I could eat more than anybody."

To which Jarom responded, "Nuh uh. You can't eat as many bowls as Jesus."

Bam! Beat that!

Musical News

Just thought you all might want to know the good news. Marie and I took Joseph to do baptisms at the temple the other day. You'll be glad to know that Chicago's South-side bad man has been baptized and confirmed. King Kong need no longer shrink, and junk-yard dogs are once again "meaner". That's right, Mr. Leroy Brown, is apparently dead, and a heavenly candidate. I was able to confirm Joseph for that fabled man.

I got a real kick out of the moment. It was all I could do to not start laughing as soon as I read the name. It took me a couple more names to restore complete composure. Being the oldest person in the room, I'm guessing no one else caught the humor in it.

Oh, and by the way, Leroy's middle name? Everett––which may explain why he never used it on the street. It's hard to be the baddest man in the whole d*** town with a middle name like Everett.

Non-Servicable Body Parts

The other night, after the kids had gone to bed, Jarom came upstairs obviously upset. I asked him what was wrong and why was he out of bed. Then through a very clogged nose and in his most serious manner he said, "Dad, my nose isn't working."

I just thought it was funny.