"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Hey Family and Friends,

It's a great day to be a missionary.

So this week we called a potential and his answering machine was "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 Yup that was it. :) I LOVE THE SOUTH!

The Gadsden ward is amazing! I love them. They have so much personality! The Bishop invited me to bear my testimony on Sunday and it was great. There were maybe 40 or 50 members there? They are all so loving and love the missionaries. They love missionary work so this is going to be fab!

Saturday was a great day. Last week we prayed for referrals and boy did we get them. We got 2 headquarters referrals, a couple member referrals, and a billion investigator referrals. We met a man who prayed us there and is looking for a better life. He was so excited that he walked us down his street and told us of all his neighbors that would like to hear the message, including his sister. It was pretty miraculous.

I love y'all and am so grateful for you.

I know He lives!

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

PS We had a zone activity today. It was fun! We saw some horses which Sister Anderl loves! We are moving to Rainbow City. It was moved to Wednesday.

BAMA!!! Yay!

Hey Family!

I'm in Gadsden AL! It's awesome. It's so great to be in Alabama again! I love it! I get to ride my bike and have a ball with Sister Anderl! We had dinner at Ethel's house and met her cute puppies. She also has a rooster that sleeps with the dogs! I love the South!!!!!! Sister Parsons, Sister Bailey, and Sister Allred all served here. It's fab.

She is fabulous! I absolutely love her! She's from Draper, UT and is fearless! As we were driving home from working we saw a snake in the road and she picked it up!!!! I have pictures. The Elders skinned it. HA! It was crazy! Sister Anderl loves all things horses and fun. I love her and am so excited! I'm follow-up training and I absolutely love it.

We had an amazing Emmaus Experience this week. I had a dream that Sister Anderl and I taught a woman who had red/orange short hair and a long face. The dream was just a short picture of us walking into her home. I thought that's weird. Then! When we went out to tract we met Cathy! Who fit the description! Her house even looked the same! She loved the restoration and told us that she was excited to read the Book of Mormon.....WOAH! I don't think I've fully grasped what just happened, but thank you Heavenly Father.

I love y'all! I'm sorry I didn't write last week! My last week in Tupelo was crazy! I sent out a lot of letters to former investigators bearing my testimony and whole soul to them. I know Christine, Shane, and Tommy all felt the spirit. Tupelo was awesome and will always be a part of my heart.

Alma 33:23

"Christ's joy"

As we let Christ bloom in our hearts our burdens will be light.

I know it's true. I've felt him and so have you.

Have a great week.

Steadfast In Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

P.S. My hair took 45 minutes to comb out but now feels great.

PPS I will be moving to another apartment this Thursday.

Last Supper in Tupelo with the Thordersons.  

Sister Gibbs, Sister Thorderson and Sister Bailey

Brother Shelburne our ward mission leader and all the missionaries departing Tupelo.

Sister Burgett just got married! She's going to go to the temple in a year!

Addine! and the Fam! Addine was baptized right before I got to Tupelo and Laterious her grandson was baptized my first transfer. He isn't in the pic though.

Christine and JD! They are getting married soon! 

The Chapman family!

 Madelyn! Who is fabulous dancer.

Christa! She's loved the card y'all sent!

 Our District! in Tupelo!

Sister Anderl and Sister Gibbs ~ Transfers!! 

Star Wars Goodbye photo

Yay!!! Hair Cut!!

Hi Everyone,

Abby didn’t send an email today.  She will be transferred on Wednesday and I guess was busy saying goodbye to everyone in Tupelo.  She has been serving there for 7 months so she has a lot of goodbyes to do.  I don’t know where she is being transferred or who her new companion will be. We will have to wait until next week to find out.

However, I did receive a picture from a member of her getting a haircut today.  It must have taken hours to comb it out and straighten before she cut it.  I was worried she would have to cut it all off because it was getting so tangled but it looks like she still has some length to her hair. 

I will keep you posted if I hear anything from her.

Wendy

Hey Friends:)

Hey fabulous people!

Thanks for all the love you sent to Sister Bailey and I on her Birthday! She was beaming when she opened your package Alyssa and Devin! Thank you! Also she loved the card Mom and Dad! We had a blast. A member gave us some brownies and it was fab! We were on exchange with Amory that weekend and it was stellar. I got to ride my bike Wanda!!!!

Before the exchange, Sister Bailey and I went to Starbucks to meet our new investigator. Yes it was quite Ironic. It's a fun way to start a conversation though. "You are Mormon aren't you?" "Yes we are and we are in a coffee shop! We actually don't drink coffee want to know why?"

Our investigator K learned about the plan of salvation last time and she had lots of questions. As soon as she started Sister Bailey and I knew what was coming. A classic example of formal bible bashing. Of course we aren't supposed to bash with people, because who can feel the spirit when you are trying to play I'm more righteous than you on both ends! So we answered her questions and right before she asked another one a crash of lightning filled the room. NO JOKE. Starbucks was maybe 10 feet away from a lightning bolt. We saw the light first! After the lightning K said "I don't have any idea what I was trying to say." God works in mysterious ways. Funny.

Guess what! Peyton was baptized yesterday!! Peyton is 8 and she comes from the most champion family I have ever met! Stephanie and Nick are from Utah and they have 3 gorgeous girls. Ryann, the middle child, is 5 and has some birth defects that result in her fighting for her life everyday. Mother Stephanie is saving her day and night along with the rest of the family. This makes it basically impossible to come to church when they desperately need it. We have been visiting them and teaching Peyton the missionary lessons. She's able to go to church with her Grandparents. She is the most adorable little girl. Last night she was baptized and her Mom and Ryann were able to attend! Miracle! The best part was Nick,  Peyton's dad, gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. He was super nervous and had no time to prepare and it was the best talk I've ever heard. You could tell that he was speaking from the heart. The spirit was fabulous.

It's still really hot here in MS, but we are drowning the heat with the waters of baptism. Naturally:)

Love y'all. I have the best friends and family in the world.

Steadfast in Christ.

Love, Sister Gibbs

Peyton's Baptism

"Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies are the main reason why I have trust issues." - Anonymous

Hey friends,

This week was a superstar week. We had MLC and Zone training so as always it was very full. President and Sister Hanks are so smart and loving. Thank the high Heaven they were born. 

Did I tell you that on an exchange with Sister Brown in Amory I told a woman that I liked her earrings and she took them off her ears and gave them to me! Every faux diamond and every cross. It was fabulous. 

Yesterday as we were tracting in the heat a woman agreed to disagree and offered to feed us dinner. We also got 3 water bottles from the 6 houses we knocked on that street. Not bad! The South really is full of amazing Christians. 

We met a fun couple last night for the 2nd time! This time it was at their house instead of the parking lot at Walmart. As we were walking into Walmart a man asked us do you believe in one God? Why yes we do. He said no you don't and walked away. The man we met again last night was ticked that he said that to us and told us last night that we should basically call him instead of 911 if something happened to us. "I've lived that life! I've been behind those walls! Y'all jus call me!" He played pro football for a college right before he went to prison for 15 years. He's doing great now and loves the Book of Mormon! Wahoo!

Anywho, as for the title of my email, I've been studying trust lately and yesterday in sacrament meeting as Christa our 26 year old investigator heard the beautiful testimonies, this scripture popped into my head.

"We love him because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

I know our Heavenly Father trusts us to do good, make the right decision, be steadfast in Christ etc. How he built that trust in that relationship was first loving us and believing in us. I know that is the same in all relationships. The Holy Ghost whispered to me if you want trust in relationships love them first and they will love you back. 

Christa is so close to baptism it's her Birthday today so if you want to send her a b day card, send one to me and we will give it to her. 

I love you! Thanks for all the love! Sister Bailey and I are doing awesome and loving Tupelo.

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

Sister Gondwe and Sister Gibbs:) She is fabulous!

 The Tupelo South Zone!

The lesson we prepared for the little 8 year old. We are teaching 

the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we are doing the steps to get to the 

Celestial Kingdom. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and 

Enduring to the End. Inside this Celestial Kingdom box is a whole 

bunch of Starbursts...and a picture of her family.. 

Spiders

Truth. It's Out There!

Here are some miraculous truths I have found as I have labored in God's vineyard.

Zebras are brown animals with white stripes. It's been proven.

No matter how many times you chat with a closed minded Baptist in Wal-Mart about their traditional spaghetti sauce it always ends with, "Baby, I'll be praying for your eyes to be opened. Stay sweet sughar."

All the Mormons who look like Mormons will eventually be Mormons.

When you bring an investigator to church, check them for lice first.

Always tell all the David's, who try to bash with you about polygamy, their namesake and his many wives.

Whenever you take Sister Allred mall contacting, check the intent of all men we contact. "I'm trying to ask you out on a date!" "I'm trying to get you to come to church!"

When you eat a red hot chili pepper, always have a chick fil-a milk shake near by. This eliminates the sprint through the mall.

Of course the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

God cares and loves pairs, especially when they are missionary pairs.

Steadfast in Christ
Much Love, Sister Gibbs

P.S. We went to the Buffalo park and saw zebras! And it's been.....HOT 

Sister Bailey's email:

We were also able to go to the Buffalo Park. Yes, that is a thing. There were zebras and buffalo and other animals... haha. We were able to feed them and it was so fun! However, when we were feeding the goats, there was this poor little baby goat that kept getting picked on. So.. Sister Gibbs and I came up with a plan. I would distract the other goats and she'd run down and feed the little one and then we'd switch. It worked out perfectly. Haha. 

We were able to teach this cute little girl, Peyton. She is turning 8 soon and her parents wanted her to take the lessons. This family is the most amazing family ever, by the way. The parents are Stephanie and Nick and they remind me sooo much of Chelsea and Tom (my sister and brother-in-law). Like seriously, their personalities are so similar, it's almost scary. Basically, I feel at home being with them. So that's great.(: Anyways!! We are trying to make their lessons fun so they can stay focused. We taught the Plan of Salvation and we used cookie dough.. Our original plan was to use cookie cutters to map out the plan and then bake them... Didn't work out like that. After all of the kids hands were touching the cookie dough, we didn't feel like baking it... Haha. We thought, we might have well as used play-dough but they were eating it, so we were thankful it was cookie dough. It was really neat because when 'death' came, we had them kill the gingerbread man. Hahaha. And then he was resurrected by using the cookie cutter once again. It was perfect. 

We also have this other investigator who is solid. Her name is Lacey and she has a friend, Warner, who is obsessed with Mormons! Hahaha! Though, she is Episcopalian. We'll work on it.. haha. But they're fantastic. Gotta love them.

One last thing, last Sunday, our investigator, Rebecca and her two children came to church with Lice. Yay for us. So, on Saturday, Sister Gibbs and I went over to her apartment and de-liced the place. I put on gloves and washed Rebecca's hair and combed out all the lice, while Sister Gibbs sprayed down the apartment with the lice killer spray. It was a good time. Ha.. Not. But it felt good knowing that they hopefully don't have to suffer from it anymore. 

I love y'all! Thank you for all the support!!(: 

Love,

Sister Bailey

Yeah. 103 degrees with a million percent humidity.

Buffalo Park

Someone got hungry at Walmart?

Lemonade Crunchy Ice, Sip it Once, Sip it Twice:)

Dear Family,

Tommy didn't get baptized this week. Grrrr tenacity. We will let you know a different date.

This week we taught a less active's boyfriend, DJ, from the projects, how to play "I am a Child of God" on the piano. The inspiration for this you might ask? Well since the Smithville group, the Tupelo ward is having some growing pains and there isn't anyone to play the piano in primary. President Thorderson said, "Why don't you just pray them in like Joseph Smith." Lo and behold DJ who can play the piano! He played for his Baptist church and was appalled at the music we sing in our church, but it's growing on him. He misses the clapping and hallelujahing. I would too:) He also can't read music so we taught him how and he promised to come to church. I will never forget the sound of I am a Child of God proclaiming itself through the Ghetto streets of Tupelo. It was fabulous and almost comical how easy it was to put light on a dark situation. Just fabulous.

He ended up leaving after sacrament meeting, but I'd say it's a success. 

It's hot just hot:) We are having 90 degree temps but it feels more like 107. I love humidity. 

This week we decided to switch up our finding and have a lemonade stand with the Hooper boys. Brother Hooper used to be our ward mission lead but has since been released. His kids are adorable and agreed to have a lemonade stand. As the people saw these kids smiling their melting faces off, they pulled over had a class of lemonade and we talked to them about Jesus. It was fun and everyone said yes to a message of Christ. Wahoo!

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

Which man are we? How is our heart? Let's work on it.

Love you!

Love, Sister Gibbs

Lemonade Stand with the Hooper boys

Sister Styles and Elvis:)

Sister Bailey and I's tan lines:)