Giving Everyone A Fair Chance

Hola Familia
 This week has been good for me and elder Losee. We did an exchange with the other elders in our district, elders Hammond and Stratford. We set a bunch of new baptismal dates this week!!! One of the coolest investigators we have is named Angel. Hes a 17 year old kid and loved the message of the restoration. He said it just feels right. He came to church and loved it.

Something that I've come to know is that it's really easy to tell people who are interested and have intent and people who aren't. When you share the message of the restoration you can tell who is touched by the spirit and who isn't. But our job is to give everyone a fair chance.

Sorry I didn't have a lot of time we did a lot of things today. Hope everyone is doing well les quiero mucho.

Elder Gibbons

You are important because you're you...

Hola familia!!
  this week has been really good for me and elder losee. We found a lot of new investigators. However it was our last mission conference with President Henrie. ..I'm really going to miss him and sister Henrie. They have both taught me so much while I've been on the mission. It was really sad to think that along with him the senior couples (at least most of them are going home). It's been a good run with them and they will leave a life changing impact on me.
  So the most important thing I've learned from president henrie is that I am the lords best shot. He doesn't call for super extraordinary amazing people to be his servants he calls the most humble and simple people to his work. What ive figured out is that you don't have to be the smartest best looking or lead the most interesting life. The way that you are and the experiences you've had are there to help someone else grow closer to the gospel no matter who it is. So the next time you don't feel like your good enough know that you are.
  Other than that we have been doing really well. Elder Losee is a super chill guy and me and him get a long pretty well. We love our district especially cause we got the zone leaders in it. This week I actually had the opportunity to give a baptismal interview to Belle who is one of the Hermanas investigators. She is 10 years old and was super excited to be baptized. I love working with los niños because they are super funny and they are non judgmental. So it turns out that she wanted me to baptize her so this Saturday I'll have the amazing opportunity to baptize Belle.
 Our investigators are doing really well. We have switched our focus from Teresa to Ivan her son and he now has a baptismal date. Unfortunately they weren't able to come to church but we will try and get them to come this week. Our other Goldmine investigator left for el Salvador so we will only be able to teach him through Facebook chat now. I really am grateful for technology in our proselyting efforts it has helped a lot and will continue to do so.
 Well that's all for this week I ran out of time sorry. Love you all and hope you have a good week. Les quiero!!
Elder Gibbons

First week Grenada Hills

Hola familia!!
  Well whitewashing has grown on me not gonna lie. A lot of missionaries say that whitewashing is the worst but this is my second time doing it and I really actually kinda like it. So my new companion is elder Losee and we are both whitewashing co district leaders. Our new area is arleta 2 and it's amazing for Spanish work. This is even better than Van Nuys so it's like a mini Mexico up in here.
  Our most solid baptismal date that we have is Teresa. Who just recently had a death in the family. We had a pretty tender moment when I shared with her my story about uncle Trevor and Mosiah 16. I felt like I really connected with her and I could relate to her situation a lot. I know that at the time it seemed like something really crazy but I can testify to you that i know that it happened for a reason. We were able to bring her to church and the second hour as well we got a dinner appointment with her.
  We have a cool goldmine family named the Mejia family. So I connected really well with them as well the only problem is that he is an illegal. So what he has to do before he gets baptized is go back to El Salvador for a month get his papers and then come back To be baptized. That's something that's really difficult here is that people need to be legal before they can be married so we will work with him on that.
   I love you all good luck with everything that's going on.  Love you. Les quiero.

De La Gran San Fernando a La Gran Los Angeles

Hey familia
  So we had the deciding transfers today. I have been moved to the Arleta 2 area in Granada Hills Zone. Which means that I will officially be reassigned to the Los Angeles CA mission. I am super excited to be able to represent the Great California San Fernando mission as well as the Great Los Angeles mission. I know that the Lord will have me go where he wants me to go.
  My new companion is elder losee. I have met him once before and he seems like a really cool elder. I am moving to the same zone and ward as elder Nelson so I will get to see him again 😀😀. Unfortunately Elder Terron is getting moved to the valencia area so he will be going to the bakersfield mission.
  This week has flown by for us. Elder Stoltz is about to finish his mission so we are pretty sad to see him go 😣. We had a good last lesson with the familia Castillo we bore our testimonies and shared how important is was to be baptized. They are really sad to see us go. I'm super sad to leave them I'm really gonna miss them. Something that's always really hard when being transferred is the the people you leave behind. You really do develop a love for them. But sometimes that's not how the Lord works sometimes it's someone else's turn to finish their teaching or to help them understand a principle of the gospel.
  I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to serve the Savior and the people of not only the San Fernando valley but also the LA valley. I hope that everyone is doing well back home thank you so much for the package mom my district all says thanks as well😀😀. Les quiero mucho!! Con Amor
Elder Gibbons

Facebook Post - Baptism

Andrew Gibbons
June 3 ·

Tenía la oportunidad para ver mi amiga llegar a ser bautizada. Pensaba durante este tiempo que el bautismo es un convenio y ordenanza bien hermoso que Dios nos ha dado. Nosotros podemos tener el don del espíritu Santo para siempre si somos dignos. El don del espíritu Santo es un don que puede guiarnos, cuidarnos, y apoyarnos siempre. Es una cosa que no podamos ver pero una cosa que podamos sentir y saber que siempre está allí. Yo se que si somos bautizados y recibimos este don podemos ver las bendiciones que viene por medio del Espíritu Santo. Como dice en las escrituras, "el bautismo es la puerta a los cielos." ¡Felicidades hermana estoy tan animado para ti, que Dios te bendiga!