This week was an interesting week. It was supper busy. Probably the busiest I have had. We spent a lot of time meeting with the Burmese’s Family that was to be baptized this weekend. There was a lot to go over to make sure they were ready and a lot of logistics to get figured out. On Thursday they had their baptismal interview with our district leader. He was unsure if they were ready. It is hard to tell because of the things that are lost in translation. We decided to go talk to our president and ask him what he thought. He decided to interview them himself the next day. So again on Friday we went to the church to have them interviewed. It was an amazingly spiritual experience many things happened but to make a long story short our president knew without a doubt that they were ready. We had the baptism the next day and it went really well. We had one of the young women play her harp for as prelude music and everyone loved it. President also came to the baptism which does not happen that often. He was asked to speak and gave an awesome talk about what had happened the night before and how he knew they were ready for this step. The guy that we had translate, was able to do better than he usually did and I know that was the hand of the lord. We did all 5 conformations the next day in sacrament meeting. It took up a good chunk of the time. I was asked to confirm 2 of the girls. What I said was not translated and I am unsure of how much they understood but the spirit was strong.
                We have a few more baptismal dates coming up soon. This area is growing so fast. We have so many people to teach and many who are progressing and who want to be baptized. There is a spiritual fire burning here in the Midwest. I never saw anything close to this when I was out here before but the Lord is pouring his spirit out here in Iowa. I am so grateful that I have this chance to be a tool in the hands of the lord. He has been blessing us more than I ever thought he would and I am so grateful for that.
                I am excited to see what blessing he has ahead for me. I am doing my best to live worthy of those blessings. I thank all of you for your prayers, and for your faith. I love all of you. Thank you for all you do for me.

It has been a busy busy week for us. We spent most of our time going from one appointment to the next. I anticipated a slowdown in the work as the summer came to a close but it is actually picking up. Many of the people we are going to be teaching soon are from Burma/Myanmar.There are a lot of them that want to learn more. The problem we run into with many of them is that many are interested in learning and will do most things weask them to but they are doing it only because we ask and not because they feelit is the right thing to do. Because of that we have to spend a lot of time trying to see if they are sincere in what they are saying to us, or if they are just saying it because they think it is what we want to hear. Either way, there continues to be more and more of them, and we continue to teach. We also have a couple solid people that we are teaching who both have baptismal dates, one for next month the other for October. They are progressing well and I am excited to see the growth in them as we teach and as they begin to accept the light of Christ and let it lead their lives.
                We have a baptism coming up this weekend, a family of 4 Burmese people and the daughter of a Burmese family who are members. Because this will go online where anyone can see it I am not going to give their names but you will have to ask me about them some time. I am excited to see them make this covenant with God and this next step in their lives. We feel they are finally understanding what we are teaching them, and they are progressing as we hoped they would.
                Transfer calls where Saturday and …….. Elder knight and I are staying here in Des MoinesThird together for one more transfer. After that he is going home and my mission president says he wants me to train a new missionary, so if that happens I will be here until the last week of December. I am excited to here for longer. This is a great area and I love it here. The lord is really blessing us and many people in this area. I love being a missionary. I feel few things could compare to this. I love being away from the world. I don’t have toworry about all the stupid things that are going on in the world.
                Last Monday we went to the Iowa State Fair. We saw a giant moose made out of chocolate, a giant cow made from butter, I ate 2 deep-fried Snickers a bacon wrapped corndog and a giant turkey leg. We had to where our white shirts and ties and it was alittle hot. I enjoyed it though. I got to see Paul Ryan and barely missed seeing President Obama. There were about 30 or so missionaries there so every where you went you saw white shirts and ties. It was fun to see people’sreactions.
                Other then all of that the work is moving along. I am glad to be here and to be working for the lord. I love this gospel. I know that this church is true and I am so glad to have the chance to proclaim that to the people here. Many are not interested but rarely are they offended that we try to share the joy that we find. I love you all. Thank you for all you do for me.



 Elder Knight and I running in the flowers.



A cool picture of me jumping

American Gothic house
 where the original picture of that farmer and his daughter
 (Ya, I guess that was to be his daughter not his wife) was taken.

This week in Iowa

This will probbably be a short letter I don't have too much that I want to say. This week has been a great week. We set 2 more baptismal dates and although there is much that both people have to do to reach that point we are praying for them and we have high hopes. Both of them are progressing quickly and I look forward to this chance that I have to help them find the joy and peace that comes from this gospel.
                We still have a Burmese’s Family of four plus the daughter of a Burmese family what will be baptized on the 25th. We are looking forward to that date. They were progressing a lot slower than we had hoped but we feel things have become easier for them to understand and they are moving much faster now. Our regular translator has been sick or out of town so we have had to use someone else. He is not as fluent in English so it has made things a little harder for him but he says he has felt the lord help him as he has been helping us teach. I know that with the lord’s help they will be able to reach this date.
                We have many more people that we are beginning to work with and I am looking forward to seeing them make commitments that will bring them closer to God. The work is continuing to escalate here. We are seeing a lot of success and I am grateful the lord is letting me be a part of it. I love being a missionary.
                There is not much more to report on this week. Transfer calls are this Saturday but it is almost guaranteed that elder knight and I will stay together for another month and a half until he goes home in October. I will probably be here until the end of December. The work is growing and people are finding the peace and happiness that comes from living as Christ taught. I thank all of you for your faith and prayers. I love all of you and thank you for all that you do for me.

 Please write or email me. Elder Jacob Gibson



This week was an interesting week. It was not a busy as the last few weeks have been or as hot. I say it was not busy because there was not a lot of appointments that we were running too or from but there was still a lot that we had to get done. We have been riding from one side of town to the next and back a few times a day. I have been getting in some good work outs. You realize that Iowa is not as flat as it looks when you are on a bike. We finally have been getting a little rain, though not enough to save the farmers crops. Most of them out here are suffering badly from the drought. Expect almost everything to be more expensive next year. It is amazing how much corn we use.
                So highlights from the week, we were leaving the library on our bikes, as we were riding we saw some signs blocking off part of the side walk. Elder knight thought that it was because of the mounds of dirt piled on the side so he just passed the signs and as he did so his front tire sunk into the concrete leaving a nice gouge in the brand new sidewalk. Of course he wanted to do the right thing so he said “oh man, ok let’s go quick” and turned around and quickly began riding in the other direction. Unfortunately that part of the side walk happened to be in front of the police department and it just so happened that a cop saw and quickly stopped us from fleeing the scene of the crime. Luckily there was a guy on site who worked concrete and he was quickly able to repair it and it was no harm no foul. J (What I learned form that) if you are going to run, run faster than the cops.
                We found a few more people to teach. There are a lot of people in this area that are willing to listen to the message and God has been trusting us with them. We have high hopes for the upcoming weeks. We still have 5 people who have baptism dates. Again they are a family from Burma and they speak Karen. It is hard at times to tell how much they are grasping because of the language barrier but we feel they are progressing and look forward to their baptism on the 25th.
                We have many more people that we are working with and we are hoping to see even greater success. At one point we where leading the mission this week may have changed that but I am very grateful for how much the lord has been blessing us and with all the success we have been seeing. I am trying my best to do my best. I am trying to be a consecrated missionary and give everything I have to the lord. I feel myself changing and growing closer to him as I do my best to serve him.
                I love you all. As always thank you for your faith and prayers.
Please Email and write me.