Gratitude

Hola hola familia!!

  Well Elder Terry and I got a lot done this week and it feels like we've been going 100 mph. The weeks are going by to fast for me😣. Anyways so I'm not sure if I said anything about it last week but Elder Terry and I are doing a musical number with some other elders and sisters for the Christmas devotional so we have been practicing for that. Elder Yorgenson and I got put on the Bass so we will see how it goes maybe next P-day I'll send the recording of it so you can see how we sound😄. So other than that we have been working with Hernan to get his temple recommend. So 2 Sundays ago he got the Aaronic priesthood and this sunday he got his temple recommend interview!!! We set a day and time to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead on Saturday and even better before that on Wednesday we have an appointment at the family history center so that he can be baptized for his grandpa😀. He is so excited and always tells us, "Hermanos!! Estoy bien motivado!!" He is so ready to go the temple and he loves it when we share new things with him.
  Our Thanksgiving was super crazy also. We had 3 dinners set up that day but we only got to sit down and eat with 1 of them, the familia Sanchez. We didn't have a normal white person Thanksgiving we celebrated it like they would in El Salvador and had Pan con Pavo y crema or in Mexican Spanish torta con pavo. It was super good and we had a great time with that family.
  So I guess another fun story is that as we were doing morning stop bys for church we came out of the last house that we were gonna stop by and we tried to start our car and we just heard clicking. So we were kinda stranded in our area and we had to get to the church so Elder Terry could play the Prelude music. Luckily there was a nice person nearby and we asked if they could help us out and they did.
  So long story short we have the elders take us to  church and back cause we don't wanna risk the car dying in the church parking lot. So we get back we change and we are about to head out to an appointment and we hear a super loud bang and then like a continuous rumble. So we go to leave and our garage door to get out is just destroyed. So it's not moving up or down and then some guy came and fixed it. So we're like, "ok we can leave now."  so we get in the car to leave and the car just clicks again nothing!! So we had to try and get rides everywhere we were going for the rest of the night but we were definetly blessed to have a lot of people willing to help us with transportation.
  So to answer some of your questions, yes I was able to get the package thanks so much for sending it we have already almost eaten all of it. Elder Terry finishes Dec 12 so basically the last day of the transfer. In my interview with President I asked him how he would want us to maintain better contact with the ward mission leader and the ward council because we have recieved a notice from the first presidency that missionaries shouldn't go to ward council meetings anymore. As well we received a message from the area seventy that said we have to finish eating dinner by 5 o'clock everyday and we can't eat with active members mon-fri. And we can't meet with active members 5-8 mon-fri either. So this new change is gonna be a little bit harder for this mission because thats what most of our work is. We go to and work with the members so now we have less time to do that. But I know that we are doing this for a reason God has called those men and we are here to listen to and obey their counsel and their advice. Thanks for all you guys do for me I appreciate it. I love you all!! The basement looks really good tell everyone I said hi. Les quiero.
-Elder gibbons
Also we are making pupusa in the pictures with the aprons😂😂. Love you!

CPR, Priesthood and the Power of the Book of Mormon

Hola Familia,
  Elder Terry and I have been tearing it up here in Arleta, however, this week was a little bit trickier to get people to come to church. On Thursday or Wednesday they put a note on the door of the church saying that they are going to be repaving the whole road in front of the church so it was going to be closed on Saturday and Sunday. So we had maybe a half or a third of the amount of people we normally have in sacrament meeting there. Hernan was still able to come though luckily. This Sunday he received the Aaronic Priesthood. He was so happy to able to receive it. On Thursday we had a lesson with him about the priesthood and we explained the different duties of it found in D&C 20. He said that it was very interesting and that he couldn't wait to receive it. The family of 7 are doing O.K. its been a little bit harder to meet with them this week just because they haven't been responding very well to texts but we still got to see Karla (also it turns out here real name is Carolina). Anyways we taught her about CPR and how important each of those three things was. We also read with her in Moroni 10:3-5 she really liked it and started crying because of the power of the Book of Mormon, it testifies of truth because it is the truth. There was a part of a talk that I really like that I listened to this morning that said that any book that carries that much power with it must be true. No false book could ever testify with that much power. I'm continually reminded again and again of the importance and power that the Book of Mormon has. If we are not reading it everyday we need to be. It is like a shield of protection against the adversary and it will strengthen you so much.
  Well I don't have very much time because we had to go with the other Elders to play Pickle Ball (Pictures). But for Thanksgiving we will be having it with Bernadino and his wife so hopefully we can teach her a little more then. We also tried to do a visitors center tour with them but they canceled last second so hopefully we can go a different time with them. I would say my happiness level is very High I have not been this happy in all my life I would not trade anything for this time right now. I have slowly but surely started to bond with the other missionaries, Its just hard because I really only know the ones within our zone which are quite a bit, but they've been here since last transfer as well. We won't be having zone conference until the end of the transfer because of the Christmas devotional. Love you all have a good day Love you!
Elder Gibbons

Hernan's Baptism and Blessings

Hola Familia,
  So to answer all your questions, yes I am in the Arleta ward, I am in what used to be the Granada Hills zone but ever since the mission merge Granada Hills disappeared and we became part of the San Fernando all Spanish zone. So I am more specifically proselyting in Panorama City. I did get your package from them as well they were so excited to give it to me and Elder Fluckiger gave me a big hug one from mom and one from dad. I appreciated the package and all the cards and I'm sure was a lil bit cheaper to send it with the Fluckigers😂😁. So to answer your questions about the Fires, there was one day where it was really bad and the air quality was terrible. A lot of missionaries west of the 405 were evacuated out of their apartments but luckily we were on the safe side of the 405. The fires however did not affect Hernans baptism but a lot of members did not show up so it was a little hard on him I think but he really enjoyed that day so much. Hernan has got to be the most prepared and the best example of a change of heart I have ever seen. He gave up hard drugs, Alcohol, Coffee and a lot of other things that before he didn't know was bad for him. I can testify that the atonement works not only because of the change it has brought me in my life but because of the change it has brought in Hernans life as well. Let this be an example of how powerful the effects of the atonement reach. There is no such thing as a lost cause and I promise you that if you just can give it a try it will work.
  So other than Hernan's baptism we have found a family that's ready to receive the gospel in their lives. Their names are Carlos and Carolina Victor and they have 5 kids the oldest one is 13 and the youngest is a couple of months old. This family has been through so much in their lives. They started off their family in the streets literally and have started from absolutely nothing to now living in a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment. All of their furniture table and cooking materials have been found on the street, something kinda difficult about the kids here in this area is that they don't know how to get out of poverty they start living in terrible conditions and they have no help or any idea how to get out of it, this has made me very grateful for the things that I had I don't know where I would be if I had to go through what some of these kids have to go through. Your love for these people especially the kids is so high that you just want to help them get out of poverty so bad but you can't (because your a missionary). However something I've come to realize is that the message that we share is so important that its even more important than getting out of poverty or obtaining riches in this life. Be grateful for the gospel in your lives and the many blessings you've been given because of it.
  Also this week we had interview with president It was super spiritual. Something I really like about the new mission is that we can go to the temple every other transfer and this transfer we got to the temple again!!! I had an amazing experience I went in with a question that's kinda been on my mind lately and as I was pondering in the celestial room I felt that I had received the answer. I wish I could share more but it was very spiritual and something I've learned is that we have to show God that we are willing to keep these super sacred experiences confidential that way he can give us more. But I can testify that the temple is the house of the Lord and that the spirit is stronger there than anywhere else in the world.I love this gospel and the work but especially the people I hope that you all had a good week the basement is looking good send more pictures when there's more progress on it. I love you all les amo.
Elder Gibbons
Hernans Baptism
CLAM (California Los Angeles Mission) I'm the "L"
Mission life is good!

Gospel message and happiness

Hola familia!!
Well this week has been super good for elder Terry and I. We started our the week kinda slow Elder Terry had a lot of leadership responsibilities that he had to complete at the start of the week and so we kinda got off to slow start. However while he was doing leadership stuff me and another elder who just got here were able to go out and work for a little bit. It was super cool to be with a greenie and you can definetly tell that the greenie fire was burning inside this Elder. Me and him contacted a couple people and then we did a few studies. It's interesting to think that at one point I was in the same spot as this Elder coming from the México CCM.
A couple days later Elder Terry and I had a super powerful lesson on eternal marriage with Hernan. He was so excited when we told him that families are sealed for eternity, which means that not only in this life will you be with the person you love the most, but in the next life as well. We had a member present there Hermano Manrique who is one of the coolest members I have ever met. Him and his wife testified of the power and the happiness that comes from within a sealed family. After the lesson he told us that his only goal right now is to marry his girlfriend and then in one year from now get sealed with her in the temple he said he was pumped for that day.
Anyways after that on Saturday night he had his baptismal interview. He was super nervous but he said he would do good😂. After his interview we started setting up his baptismal program and he asked me to do the baptism. I was so excited and happy for him. He is going to get baptized this Saturday so please pray for him😊😊.
We also were able to contact Bernadinos wife on Saturday. She was so nice and has really opened up to us. She told us how she's seen such a change in Bernadino and that she is going to start going to church with him! We got so excited when she said that. Then she invited us over for lunch on Tuesday and Thanksgiving dinner as well. I think this will be the start of her conversion process.
I've also been doing a lot of reading in the book of mormon. And one scripture that stood out to me was 2 Nephi 5:27 which says, " And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." I thought about it a lot and I realized that it's true. We as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints live after the manner of happiness. Why? Because we know that God has a plan for us and that he still talks to us through a prophet today and that he is still revealing more and more scripture to us. So share this happiness with others. That's how missionary work is done. You don't have to have a badge or anything like that. But what you do have is knowledge of and about the eternal nature of your life. I would invite you to help others understand theirs as well.
I love you all so much I hope that you can get the basement finished up before Christmas and I hope that everything goes good with school work and with your Callings as well. Les amo!! 😄
-Elder Gibbons