New companion, much to learn Noho

Hola familia como estan?
  Aqui estoy con mi compañero nuevo Elder Terron. El es un nativo de fort lauderdale Florida. El tiene veintiuno años y es muy amable. So my new companion is elder Terron  he's a native speaker and is from Florida he's been out about 6 months so I'm the senior companion. He's a really cool guy and a really good missionary, im learning a lot from him especially his accent in Spanish so hopefully I'll lose my English accent 😀.
  The work down here is really progressing a lot, this past week was a little slow because of transfers everyone was getting adjusted and we also had a weird church schedule so we weren't able to get anyone to church. But
Lima is progressing very well and will most likely get baptized a week before the 26th so we will see what is going to happen for her. Something that I've noticed is that I really do love the people a lot and would honestly do anything I could to help them become baptized. Elder Terron and I are working really hard to focus specifically on our investigators who are really solid. For instance araceli (we call her mama celi) and Lima. We are doing everything we can to make sure that they progress send enter the waters of baptism.
  Something that I have learned this week is that in order to do the best you can for your district you have to have charity. Sometimes there's missionaries that you don't necessarily get along with but you just have to love them and work with them. One way that I've seen work to have more charity is to minister like the prophet said to those that you don't get a long with. It shows them that you care for them and you just feel better all around.
I've also seen the power of prayer work as well. In my studies I've been reading Jacob 5 the parable of the vineyard and I've really been asking for a lot of help to understand it because that stuff is super hard to understand. And as I've asked and as I've used the footnotes and other tools I've really seen the Savior help me understand what I'm reading. I would invite everyone to pray and ask specifically for help in understanding the things that he would have you understand. You will see the difference in your life and in your understanding.
  Other than that it's been a really good week. Elder stoltz  and horrocks moved in with us and they are our zone leaders!!! I'm super pumped to be back with elder horrocks he's a super good missionary. 😀 les quiero mucho con Amor.

-Elder Gibbons

Transfer day - saying goodbye to Elder Nelson

NOHO District

Elder Terron - Nuevo companero

How to get free food

Just a little closer, let me walk with thee

I'm staying, Elder Nelson is leaving. NoHo 1 more Transfer!

Que tal Familia y amigos Como estan?
  Pues, estas dias pasados fueron bien loco. Recibimos nuestro llamado por los traslados en sabado. Yo tenia mucho miedo porque yo y Elder Nelson Hemos sidos companeros desde deciembre Y no queria dejarle. Pero la notisia es que voy a estar aqui en NoHo por un traslado mas. Estoy muy emocionado para servir aqui. Yo y Elder Nelson tuvimos tanto exito aqui aunque no tuvimos un bautismo. But success doesn't come in numbers especially on the mission.
So this week has been super good for us we had a lot of good lessons and we found a lot more investigators this week. When we found out that Elder Nelson was going to leave we both were just like NOOO!! the era is broken up. So in remembrance of all the things we've done together we did a companionship study were we talked about what we learned from each other and some highlights from the past 3 transfers. However I'm staying in NoHo for another round, My new companions name is Elder Terron he sounds like a cool kid from what I've heard I guess we will find out tomorrow.
  We finally got our investigator Lima on date. She's been coming to church for 10 years and hasn't been baptized. It was amazing, the experience that we had with her. Elder Nelson and I had just finished teaching her about the 10 commandments and she said, "Creo que estoy lista para ser bautizada." and then we just looked at each other like, "Wait what did she say?" We thought that we heard her wrong and then we asked,"Quiere ser bautizada?" and she said yes. We were so pumped! She set her own date for the 26 of may and she said for sure this is the true church and basically bore her testimony to us. Elder Nelson was a little mad that he had to leave especially after a lesson like that. But other than that the Castillo family is doing well we have a cita with them almost everyday this week, and they are all reading and praying. Also, Johnny got baptized. He is an investigator that Elder Nelson and I found we taught in the first lesson. Then we had to pass him off to the English Elderes. (see attached picture)
  That's so cool that you got to spend time with the missionaries and with the familia de Argentina. I hope that everyone is doing good and that you all have a great week. Sorry this email was a shorter one but I'll have a lot to write about next week. Les Amo muchisimo Siempre sigan fieles y el SENOR va a bendicirles. Con Amor
Elder Gibbons

Heat, and Real Intent

Calidad Familia!!
  Sounds like its been a good couple days back in the Bury. I'm super excited for Sara and Katie and the opportunity they had to go do baptisms for the dead. It really is one of the greatest saving ordinances we can do on this earth for those who have already passed beyond the grave. Peru!!!! that'll be way fun especially hiking machu pichu. Elder Nelson and I have had a few investigators from Lima and they said that its bien bonito alla, of course that is a little biased. You will both have the chance to brush up on your Spanish though, just make sure you don't lose your English 😃. Anyways the reason I still say calidad is because I consider myself more Guatemalan than El Salvadoranian, (Also because an hermana in our zone who served in Guatemala is in our zone right now and she says it all the time, so it kinda rubbed off.) Anyways this week has been pretty good for Elder Nelson and I. Its that time of year though in Cali where everything is just getting HOT!! and I mean roasty toasty. This week we had a day where it was 106 degrees!! I sweat so much that my shirt was soaked with sweat 😬 we must of drank about 8 or 9 water bottles that day (its crazy how fast you lose fluids). We've been working super hard to get Araceli on date this past week but we weren't able to catch her and we dropped Jenny altogether as an investigator she just lost real intent and she was never there when we wen't by for scheduled appointments 🙁.
  So Elder Nelson and I just realized that this coming week will be are last week together we're super bummed out but it will be good for one of us to go and experience a different area. We get transfer calls this Saturday to find out if we are going or staying so we're both pretty nervous about that. Whats even weirder is that this next transfer will be our last transfer in the California San Fernando Mission R.I.P. After this next transfer it will be either Bakersfield or L.A. mission that we get sent to. But this mission will always be special to me and the people that are in it. Something that we're both a little nervous for is starting over again. When we switch missions it will be like when we first came into the field we won't know a lot of people and we wont know any areas or zones so it will kinda be like starting the mission again. However the work is the same no matter where you go and I'm willing to put my trust in him that I'm needed wherever I am sent. That's one of the coolest things about the gospel is that everything around us changes every day but the gospel is the same forever just as God is.
  Thats about all from this end though it was kinda a slow week for us and our district. However I'm very grateful for all of the packages that you send me and No I don't think that was put on the FB page for you I think it was for the Hermanas because they get like 50 packages a week its ridiculous!! So I think that its ok to still send packages. This week I think the biggest thing I learned is how to be consistent even when your week is pretty slow there were times where me and Elder Nelson didn't know what to do because all of our appointments fell through so we just started knocking and tracting. I remembered a quote from a general authority I don't remember who but he said its not about how long you're out of the apartment but the quality of the time that you used. So always being diligent no matter what happens even if your week has been slow.
  I hope that everyone has a good week and that the sissies had a good time at the temple it really is an important work that you are doing. Les Amo muchisimo (don't be afraid of the chickens buddy)
Elder Gibbons

Lesson's Learned

Que tal Familia?
  Como estan? Aqui estamos bien, no mas trabajando bien duro. Que rado que ya tienen los chicis (Pollos)!! Nunce pense que papa queria los chicis. Sounds like its been a crazy week! Filled with chickens and moving. Here in Cali  Elder Nelson and I are working super hard our finding has been going down lately because we are running out of good Spanish areas to knock. However something cool that happened to us this week is that yesterday night we were about to go eat at like 7:45 but I felt kinda guilty not working until 8 which is when we planned to take our dinner hour. So I said a small prayer in my heart to know what we could do or who we could stop by to visit. And I immediately though of a referral we received from Peru. The mom sent in the referral because she was worried about her son who immigrated to the US a month ago. He's about 16 years old and came over by himself. He lives with another family and is working and going to school. We had already stopped by this referral several times and decided that we had given him a fair chance. I thought for sure he wasn't going to be there because the gates to the yard were locked the other times we tried by. Anyways we get to the gate and turns out its unlocked, we knock about three or four times and no answer. We were pretty bummed out because that was the only time the gate had been unlocked anyways we were about to call it a night when a young kid walked out from the side of the house. We said, "Se encuentre rodrigo" and he responded, "Soy yo." We were super happy he want's to meet with us and also asked if we could play basketball or futbol with him in the mornings so we are gonna try and start playing with him in the mornings.
  I guess the way I've been changing the most is through my reliance. Before I put my reliance more in myself than in God. But now I feel as close to God as I've ever been, I've learned no matter what happens to trust in him and just go with the flow. As i've put my trust in him I want others to trust in him as well, this has helped me find joy in the work, because now I know that no matter what happens God has some reasoning behind it. Our investigators are doing OK. We reset Araceli and Yadira's Baptismal date for the 28th of April to give them a little bit more time to prepare. Unfortunately Dania isn't showing much interest and isn't super willing to put in the work to find out if these things are true. Sometimes it's sad but people are ready at different times to receive the gospel than others. I would say the thing that I love most about the mission is that every single day every single minute and second I have purpose to it, something I can and should be doing. When you have a full schedule planned out those are the best days. I am learning how important is to raise a family established on the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am learning new things everyday about the gospel. Well I'm glad that everyone is doing well. Tell buddy not to be scared of the Chickens I love you all hope you have a good week. Les Amo mucho, que tengan una buena semana!!
-Elder Gibbons

Conference and the Truth

Hola Familia!!
  This week has been amazing especially with the opportunity we had to listen to General Conference and our Prophet President Nelson. Elder Nelson and I were super excited we tried to get all of our investigators to come and listen to General Conference because its one of the best opportunities for them to see what its like to be led by a prophet and 12 apostles. Also when the prophet and apostles speak you can feel just how spiritually powerful they are. They're like literal spiritual giants!! As they were speaking though I remembered a talk that President Oaks shared with the missionaries while I was in the CCM. He said, " I know my saviors voice and face and I testify that he is the son of God." These men are all special witnesses of our Savior Jesus Christ, they talk with him and receive revelation from him. So when you understand the importance of having a Prophet seer and revelator in our day you understand the significance of their words. These aren't just the words of these men but they are literally words from God or modern day scripture. Our investigators who came were able to hear the talk on forgiveness in the Saturday morning session (Sorry don't remember who it was by) and Jenny one of the investigators that came said that it really helped her out she has had a hard time forgiving her mom and she said that., that specific talk helped her out a lot.
  As far as for me I loved the fact that the prophet the members of the first presidency and almost all the apostles used or quoted hymns in their talks to testify of Christ. I think hymns at least to me are some of the most powerful testimonies of Christ and they really help me feel the spirit a lot (Especially when we sing them). I also loved how Elder Holland gave his training on ministering I think it was a good example on how to give a training and make it not only funny but also super spiritual. And probably my favorite talk was when President Nelson counseled us to start asking for revelation. He warned us that if we do not it will be impossible to stay spiritually strong in the coming days. So my one invitation for all of you is to start asking and praying for not only guidance but personal revelation as you do you will find it easier to resist the temptations of the world and of Satan. Its only going to get harder and Satan is gonna start trying harder. We to hold fast to the iron rod always. A seminary teacher at Stansbury would say hold tight knuckle white. So always no matter what you do grasp firmly to the iron rod.
  We were able to meet with Lima this week but we found what could potentially be a big problem. She told us that she lives in several locations all about 30 minutes apart so she doesn't have one solid home right now. We will have to get in contact with our leaders to see what we should do to handle it but right now its sort of a big problem because its really hard to teach her. Please pray that she can be baptized into our ward because she is already fellowshipped and it is the closest building to where she lives. La Familia Castillo are doing really well they loved General Conference and thought it was super cool that President Nelson was man like Moises or Abraham but in our day and age. Jenny is also doing well and should be baptized on the 28th. We are hoping and praying for a baptism with either Lima or the Castillo family, But other than that we had a pretty normal week today unfortunately we have to take our car to get it fixed because someone crashed it before we got it, So won't have quite as long emailing today. There's not a recording This week sorry, the basement is looking pretty sweet!!! I hope you all have a good week please pray for our investigators. Love you, Les Amo muchisimo
Elder Gibbons