P-day today Pictures

Elder Gibbons Photos Fredericksburg Mary Washington House

From: Kenneth Traveller <kdtraveller@gmail.com>
Date: January 4, 2016 at 9:31:20 PM MST
To: Arla Gibbons <gibbons.arla@gmail.com>, cgibbons@myldsmail.net
Subject: Elder Gibbons Photos Fredericksburg Mary Washington House

In 1772, George Washington purchased a house in Fredericksburg, Virginia for his mother. Mary Washington spent her last seventeen years in this comfortable home. Tradition has it that, during the Revolution, General Lafayette found Mrs. Washington in her garden attending her favorite hobby. The President-to-be came to this home to receive his mother's blessing before attending his inauguration in 1789.

No photos were allow inside the home, but the Elders enjoyed a guided tour of the home.  Was able to take photos of the kitchen and the sundial in the garden and it indicated the correct time.

Also visited Mediation Rock a short distance from the home where Mary Washington went daily to pray for the safety of her son and country during the dark days of the revolution.

Virginia was a slave state and there is still a slave auction block in downtown Fredericksburg.  The old Salem Church was used as a hospital during the Civil War and the Elders are pointing to some on the bullet holes from the Civil War.

Enjoy,

Ken Traveller

Elder Gibbons Photos Fredericksburg Kirkland Monument

From: Kenneth Traveller <kdtraveller@gmail.com>
Date: January 4, 2016 at 8:46:25 PM MST
To: Arla Gibbons <gibbons.arla@gmail.com>, cgibbons@myldsmail.net
Subject: Elder Gibbons Photos Fredericksburg Kirkland Monument

This afternoon on their P-Day we took Elders Hudson and Gibbons plus Elders Goold and Bryant from the Massaponax Ward to a couple of historical sites in Fredericksburg.

Please read the attached talk by President Monson about Sgt. Kirkland.  The photos include the Elders taking their position at the original stonewall and at the Monument.  The last photo is the Elders giving a lesson last week to one of their investigators named Emmanuel.

Enjoy,

Ken Traveller

Mercy—The Divine Gift 

Thomas S. Monson

First Counselor in the First Presidency

April Conference 1995

At an earlier time and in a different conflict—namely the American Civil War—a historically documented account illustrates courage, coupled with mercy.

From December 11 to 13, 1862, the Union forces attacked Marye's Heights, a large hill overlooking the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, where six thousand Rebels awaited them. The Southern troops were in secure defensive positions behind a stone wall which meandered along the foot of the hill. In addition, they stood four deep on a sunken road behind the wall, out of sight of Union forces.

The Union troops—over forty thousand strong—launched a series of suicidal attacks across open ground. They were mowed down by a scythe of shot; none got closer than forty yards from the stone wall.  Soon the ground in front of the Confederate positions was littered with hundreds, then thousands, of fallen Union soldiers in their blue uniforms—over twelve thousand before sunset. Crying for help, the wounded lay in the bitter cold throughout that terrible night.

The next day, a Sunday, dawned cold and foggy. As the morning fog lifted, the agonized cries of the wounded could still be heard. Finally, a young Confederate soldier, a nineteen-year-old sergeant, had had all he could take. The young man's name was Richard Rowland Kirkland. To his commanding officer, Kirkland exclaimed, "All night and all day I have heard those poor people crying for water, and I can stand it no longer. I … ask permission to go and give them water." His request was initially denied on the grounds that it was too dangerous. Finally, however, permission was granted, and soon thousands of amazed men on both sides saw the young soldier, with several canteens draped around his neck, climb over the wall and walk to the nearest wounded Union soldier. He raised the stricken man's head, gently gave him a drink, and covered him with his own overcoat. Then he moved to the next of the wounded—and the next and the next. As Kirkland's purpose became clear, fresh cries of "Water, water, for God's sake water" arose all over the field.

The Union soldiers were at first too surprised to shoot. Soon they began to cheer the young Southerner as they saw what he was doing. For more than an hour and a half, Sergeant Kirkland continued his work of mercy.

Tragically, Richard Kirkland was himself killed a few months later at the battle of Chicamauga. His last words to his companions were, "Save yourselves, and tell my pa I died right."

Kirkland's Christlike compassion made his name synonymous with mercy for a post–Civil War generation, both North and South. He became known by soldiers on both sides of the conflict as "the angel of Marye's Heights." His loving errand of mercy is commemorated by a bronze monument which stands today in front of the stone wall at Fredericksburg. It depicts Sergeant Kirkland lifting the head of a wounded Union soldier to give him a drink of refreshing water. A tablet to Kirkland's honor hangs in the Episcopal church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. With simple eloquence, it captures the essence of the young soldier's mission of mercy. It reads: "A hero of benevolence, at the risk of his own life, he gave his enemy drink at Fredericksburg."

Challenge for Sydney

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Caleb Gibbons <cgibbons@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 6:32 AM
Subject: Re:
To: Paul Gibbons <gibbons.paul@gmail.com>


Hi Sydney! Hope everything is all good there! I've heard all about
beaver and already told the girls that when I get back I'll take you
all skiing! It will be a fun little trip. And I'm glad that the girls
are making progress. I hope all of you are better than I al by the
time I get back!
So I was thinking about something last night that kept coming back to
me. New Years resolutions.. Of course I have a couple but for some
reason I was thinking about resolutions for back home. So I'll only
set goals for the oldest kids. So one that came to my mind for you was
of course music. You're one of the most talented singers/performers
know and I want to challenge you while I'm not there. There's two
parts. Are you ready for the goal?

 "Don't limit your self; Expand your musical inventory but learning or
relearning a musical instrument. Share the gift of music; Sing to
people whenever you see a need. Sing as often as you can in church,
school, and around the house. Singing is a gift from above and you
were fortuned enough to receive it. Why not share it?"

I believe that by doing this you will see growth and happiness.
Exercising your talents will bless you. And you will be blessed more
ways than you could imagine. (Matt 25)
Love ya sis! Let me know how it's going!

- Elder Caleb Gibbons

> On Jan 3, 2016, at 7:32 PM, Paul Gibbons <gibbons.paul@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey, Caleb!
>
> I hope you are doing great!  A new year has started, even though it doesn't feel like it at all.  In these three first days of the new year, I have learned that its hard for me to keep new year's resolutions, I am not ready to go back to school, and that Sariah will probably never learn how to pronounce library (libary) and granola (ganerla) right.  It's alright though because I think it is super cute.
> Yesterday, we went to Beaver with the girls and they took lessons for two hours of the time we were there.  On the lift afterwards, I asked Sariah what she learned.  She couldn't remember anything but how to turn.  Then she said, "Ooh, I also learned that there are invisible goats on Goat Trail!"  I laughed but she persisted on making me believe in the magical goats.  "No, really!  They steal your poles and sometimes even your skis and snowboards!  And then when I was on it, I heard a baaaaa but it was only Samantha."  She is actually a pretty good little skier and likes to refer to herself as a "PERfessional".
> We miss you!!!!  Hope that you are having a blast!  After all, life is what you make of it.
> Love you!
>
> Sydney :)

One month in!

Wow I honestly cannot believe that it's been a month. It's crazy how fast time has flown and how blurred together the days are. I guess I'll try and start from the beginning of the week. On Monday, we had a zone p-day. It's basically where the zone gets together and plays sports and President Wilson comes by to do some personal interviews.  But I had a lot of fun! The mission invented a game called Oompah.. It's basically a mix between basketball, ultimate frisbee, and football. Essentially you play ultimate frisbee with a football in a gym trying to shoot hoops. It's a lot harder than it sounds but still super fun.

On Tuesday we went on exchanges, which in a simple term means switch up the companionship with the zone leaders to see how the companionship is doing. I got privileged enough to go with Elder
Wagner, who is probably one of the best tracing missionaries I've met. I was able to pick up so much from going on exchanged with him and I felt like it actually started to mold me as a missionary. That experience changed the entire week. If I could describe the amazing week Elder Hudson and I had I would use a couple words like: everybody in sight, doubled our investigators, and hardest I've worked so far.

Wednesday we went tracting, and before we started knocking Elder Hudson said a short prayer and said "we know by faith that we will find 5 new investigators and everyone will be open hearted. We knocked a complex and ended up placing all three book of mormons, and we made an appointment for another. So we left feeling pretty good! We went to dinner and then out to appointments with a member. All of the appointments we had fell through, so the last minute we thought we would go try an investigator again, because we missed him earlier. We pulled up and I saw a guy standing out on the porch, next to the investigators house, looking at us pretty funny. So instead of knocking I went straight over and struck up a conversation. Most kind hearted person I've every contacted. He was raised in New York on the streets. He's seen people killed and he himself has been shot and he vowed to stop the violence and started an anti-gang movement called "40 Wolves". Their whole goal was to show kids growing up that there was a better life than gang life. Not even 2 minutes into the our
introduction as missionaries he said "just before y'all pulled up I prayed to god about my current situation and for him to help me out. And I think God maybe heard me this time." So it turns out that Larry had been in contact with the missionaries a while ago in New York and he decided he wasn't interested. He said he kept close to god all throughout his life, and after running into us he is now VERY interested in the gospel and is starting to progress towards baptism.

So we ended up hitting our goal of 5 investigators, and my testimony has never been stronger. The rest of the week was non-stop contacting. We continued to grow our investigator album, and it will keep growing. Hopefully next week is as prosperous.

On New Year's Eve we met with the Zone Leaders and had a fun little celebration, that had to end around 9:30. But we popped open the sparkling juice and toasted to the new year!

So. That's just a small part of the week. I have so many experiences I could sit down and tell to you, but I'll keep it short because I have to reply to other emails. So in summary, this week I became a Preach My Gospel missionary. I still have a lot to learn and I know that but I took such a big step this week and I can't wait how future weeks pan out.

Love you all and miss you! Hope everything is all well at home and thanks for the pictures! Also have a good time at school! Till next week~

-Elder Caleb Gibbons

Fwd: Samantha - Skiing

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Caleb Gibbons <cgibbons@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 6:13 AM
Subject: Re: Samantha - Skiing
To: Paul Gibbons <gibbons.paul@gmail.com>


Samantha I told Sariah that when I get back I'm going to go with you
guys, so get your practice in! And if your boots are to tight wear
slightly bigger boots and put another layer of socks on, or just wear
thick socks so it's more comfortable. Instructors will tell you not to
do that but it's okay for when you're learning. Just make sure that
when you start getting really good you go back to a tighter fitting
boot. Make sure you love others and be happy always 😊
Love you Samantha!

- Elder Caleb Gibbons

> On Jan 3, 2016, at 7:13 PM, Paul Gibbons <gibbons.paul@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Caleb I went skiing on January 2, 2016.  It was so much fun but I got hurt by the boots.  I hope you are having fun.  love Samantha.
>

Response to Sariah

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Caleb Gibbons <cgibbons@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 6:10 AM
Subject: Re:
To: Paul Gibbons <gibbons.paul@gmail.com>


Oh Sariah that's so cool! When I get back you better be good enough to
come with me down the mountain😉. You'll probably be better than me at
that point. Keep having fun!
Love you!

- Elder Caleb Gibbons

> On Jan 3, 2016, at 7:03 PM, Paul Gibbons <gibbons.paul@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Caleb,
>
> I have a lot to say.It will be long .so I will chry to be fast.I went to beevr it was so fun!dad made me and samantha  have a teecher . Nou me and samantha  are  pferfashinl love sariah
> <Photo on 1-3-16 at 5.01 PM.jpg>