Christmas with the Gibbs Family

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year. It was a quiet day surrounded by friends. Crystal Gibbs invited us and the Caserta missionaries to come over for the day.

As you can see, Crystal invited us for breakfast. She made Aebleskivers. They are Danish pancake balls; and they are S-O-O-O-O good!! She cooked them in coconut oil instead of corn oil which added a fantastic flavor to them. Thanks Crystal, I think this has just become a Christmas tradition in our household.

The Gibbs have 3 great kids. Noah is 8, Alex is 2 and Samantha is 9 months. 

Eric is currently deployed and Crystal is fantastic at "keeping the home fires burning".

Eric, we miss you and know you miss being home with the family; but they are doing well and are anxious for your return.

Noah, being a typical 8 year old boy full of energy, spent most of the morning outside with his friends; but we had a great time with Crystal, Alex and Samantha while he was gone.

Even the Elder's found time to play and enjoy themselves.

It's great that no matter where you go there are always others there to share the important times of your life. Time where you spend loving, laughing and lifting each other. 

We hope you all had a great Christmas. But then, how could it be anything other than "great" since we have the best gift of all, the life and atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes it possible for us to repent and continue improving and growing like our Savior and our Father in Heaven. After all . . . that is the plan; for all of us to return to him. 

( PS - this is not the house of a missionary - it is the house of a Relief Society President)

We pray that the Lord blesses you this coming year as you face the challenges, blessings and trials which the Lord sees fit to come across your path; as he molds you to become worthy to return home to him. 

Get Wisdom, Get Understanding

I laid in bed last night feeling I had left something out of my blog. I realized it was incomplete because I had left out the text of the message of the Plan of Salvation. For my kids, all of you should have PEACH MY GOSPEL in your homes. It is a good resource for Family Home Evenings. For those of you who do not have Peach My Gospel and are interested on what the pictures mean, here is a link to the text.

http://broadcast.lds.org/Missionary/PreachMyGospel___07_03-2_PlanOfSalvation__36617_eng_007.pdf

A few years ago our son, Jason, was reading Proverbs and telling us how much he loved it. I have to admit I have not read Proverbs since I was a teenager. At that time it did not seem very interesting to me. However, I am now in that part of my studies of the Old Testament. I now see what Jason was talking about. I love it too.

Yesterday I was reading Chapter 4. I love the guideline for the flow of our spiritual progress:

• v-1 - "Here, ye children, the instructions of a father, and attend to KNOW UNDERSTANDING." First we must  gain knowledge. But knowledge is not enough.
• v-4 - "He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS." Knowledge is strengthened and explained as we keep his commandments. It is then that we gain _______________
• v-5 - "Get WISDOM, get understanding." We can only gain wisdom by experience or by the teachings of the Holy Ghost.. Wisdom is knowing why and how knowledge effects us. 

As we follow this pattern; what is the blessing that the Lord wants us to achieve?

• v-12 - "When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened (NOT DISTRESSED); and when thou runnest, thou shalt NOT STUMBLE."
• v-13 - "Take fast, hold of instructions; let her not go; keep her; for she is thy LIFE."
• v-18 - "But the path of the just is as the shining LIGHT, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Everything goes back to the Plan of Salvation. Why are we here? Does my life here have a meaning other than the few years I'm here? How does my life here effect my life with God? 

As I ponder the answer to these questions my heart swells as if it will burst; my love for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ becomes so strong that there is nothing they can ask that I will not do. I know who I am. I know why I'm here. And I know where I'm going. 

I encourage each of you to ponder on this and then do as the Lord says will bring us life and light; that is to get knowledge, obey his commandments and you will be blessed with wisdom and (eternal) life and light.

I know these things are true. I have put them to the test and the Lord has blessed me beyond measure. This is my testimony, that He lives and loves us. I say these thing in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

PLAN OF SALVATION - for you

Some of my children have asked me to send them my PLAN OF SALVATION kit that I showed on the blog "I am thankful for my experience in Italy". I thought I would post it online in case anyone else wanted it for their use.

I got the idea from one of the missionaries, Elder Bradford. His sister had created one for him that was in Italian. I love to play with Photoshop Elements, probably to much, so here is what I came up with. It is not professional and you can tell it it made by an amateur, but I had fun doing it and the families we teach seem to like it.

You will most definitely want to be sure to print the pages out at 8.5"X11" in order for the dimensions to be correct.

Be sure to watch out for shadows, like with the arrows and the title scroll.

Also, I use clear contact laminate in order to make the spirits. I start by cutting the boy and girl out including the background (the boy's blue background and the girl's pink background). Then I fold the contact laminate to it's self and scotch tape the boy or girl to the laminate. That way I can cut out the person and the spirit at the same time and they will be the correct proportions.

I like to make more than one set of spirits; that way there will be spirits in the pre-earth when the boy or girl are born to the earth.

When I'm explaining the plan of salvation to people, I will put the body under the "RIP" to signify the burial of the body while the spirit goes to the spirit world.

I would love to hear how your teaching goes and any suggestions for making the kit better.

Have Fun!