Letter's Home

~May 2009~

Hey Family,

What a crazy week. I was so glad to hear about what is up with all of these people in Bend. I was also glad to hear that Gabe is doing good. I have also been wondering about Kimberly Lund. I hope everything is well with her.
That is so crazy that the economy is in the pitts. It is crazy to think that in 4 months I will have to be worrying about that type stuff but I know that if I pay a full tithe and keep the commandments there will never be need to fear anything.
Well that is a bummer that you could not see Joyce Taylor. I will be really glad to see her again. I sometimes am just so grateful to have been able to know so many great people through out the course of my life. I am what I am because of them.
So this last week there were changes in the mission and my good friend elder Jasso left. So two other elders came in. My companions are elder Martinez and elder Villalobos. They are really cool. We also just got done with moving from our old house and we have a new one now. It is a really cool house.
So Norma is a complete powerhouse I do not know if you all remember her but she was the first one that we baptized here in Insurgentes. She is so powerful and this last Sunday for the first time ever her Husband came to the church.
I have been really worried about the Tovar family because the Dad salomon drank again and now is not coming to church. Well the world just seems to get a better hold on us every day but we just have to keep on the job and work hard.
The truth is there is so much revelation in the church. There are so many things that we can learn every day. I was just reading in Corinthians the other day Chapter 1, verse 17 I think. Paul says that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel. What a great lesson. So like always there are hundreds of stories from the mission and not enough time to tell all of them.
I love you all a ton and would love it if you could start looking into BYU Idaho. I have really been thinking about what I would like to do but every time I start to think about it I tried to remember that it is not over yet and that I have to keep on keeping on.

Love you all and say hello to everyone.
Elder McKibben

Letter's Home

~ May 11th, 2009~

Hey Family,

So I have a Boston Accent. That is cool. I have been working on trying to say things good in spanish but sometimes it is really hard to pronounce things right. But I am a ton better than I was before. It is really cool becauseright now I am living with a few elders and one of them is Elder Toone. He has about a year in the mission and I help him out a little bit with spanish. It is crazy to see how much I have learned in 18 months. What is even more amazing is how fast I can pick up on things. I remember before it would takes days to learn one word and I would have to say it again and again. But the Lord has really blessed me and not I can memorize things almost in seconds. It is so carzy to see the blessings of God. Even when we do not have a lot of faith or as Alma says even when we only have the hope to beleive. That is good enough and the Lord will do the rest. So I am going to send you some cool pictures of Scorpions that we have been finding in the house. This is the 5th one we have found. They move really quickly, climb wall, and are dealy if you do not treat yourself quickly. haha actually I think it is pretty funny how much freak out about them. They are called alacranes here in mexico. So other than that nothing else has happened oh but also right down the street from us three people got killed about two days ago. It is really intresting because as a missionary I just always fell like I have a protection if I am doing what I should be doing. Sometimes I think that it must be really scary for those that have asked for there names to be removen from the church rolls. I imagen that one must really feel alone when they do not have spirit as a companion. Well I ove the Gospel so much. I love seeing converts become so strong. I love seeing people that come to know the truth of the gospel. What great blessings.Ok well I love you all. Here are some pictures of Salomon in his baptism and all some other pictures.

Elder McKibben