gibb.us

 Have you ever heard of the word "grit"? I'm not talking about gritty stuff at the bottom of a tub, nor am I referencing a kind of cornmeal porridge from a bowl. Nope, this is the kind of stuff that gets one through a task when the going gets tough or there is a need for extra effort and perseverance. As parents, we often need grit to get us through the finish line of raising our kids, but this trait can be valuable to your children as they learn from failures and grow. Grit also helps children work on goals and stick to them. The applications are endless. Psychologists have studied this in children. Intensity is different than grit. Dr. Angela Duckworth, author and psychologist, defines grit this way: You may recognize how grit has helped you as a parent. Maybe you even see it in your children already. Grit and a growth mindset go hand in hand. This graphic shows a visual of the comparison of fixed vs. growth mindset.  Learning about mindset dispels ideas that children/a...

 If you ask a child what an IM is, they can usually tell you. Instant messages are part of a culture where things come immediately. Kids may be learning that intimacy happens in a one-hour show, money can be expected to be made without hard work and sacrifice, and media is accessible and a massive part of daily living. The changes in the next generation and their access and understanding call for vigilant and effortful parenting. Kids will get messages and maybe the messages parents don't want. Let's talk about ways parents can talk to their children about the topics of media, money, and intimacy. Let's talk about media.       With all the conveniences of connecting to others quickly, interactive games, and new technologies, there is a fast-growing culture lacking personal connection, becoming game obsessed, and technology invading daily life. While many enjoy the conveniences that technology brings, the media is pervasive, and things that even five years ago we...

     Children learn shapes at an early age. Part of developmental learning for even a baby includes learning to distinguish differences in shapes (Ginsberg). They learn to know who mom and dad are by subtle differences in shape, and texture. Parents may recall  sitting with a toddler helping them understand how the yellow triangle shape fits into the triangle opening of a plastic round ball toy. The delight and glee that comes from getting things to fit correctly can be felt by both parent and child. The way we interact and teach our children can become more complicated with age, activities, and development. It starts to become challenging to teach and correct children. A simple kiss after a scraped knee isn't as simple as the kind of pain and scrapes a child may experience with age. This brings up questions for most parents about what to do when there is a problem.  "What should I do, now that something has gone wrong?"  (Arbinger Institute) Many parents, ...

Monday, Mar 23, 2020 So, this is going to be short. Because I have had some respiratory problems on my mission that required an inhaler I am being sent home. I'm still not sure when I will be going home, but I definitely will be being going home! The work here is going well, just everything is being done over social media which I'm glad we have. I love you all and for those at home, I'm excited to get to actually talk to you soon! Sister Gibb PS (Dad): She is coming home today (Mar 25, 2020). Pictures: Me I guess. 😅 We decorated eggs!   And one of the Sisters in my Zone!

Mon, Mar 16, 2020 Hi all! First off, I'm safe! Almost everything in the community is being shut down and stores are nuts, but the work still goes on! We got some food storage so I'm all set there. There is no church and no one really wants to talk too much, but we are hopeful and ready for the work to continue! On the topic of the work here in Santa Rosa, things have been pretty slow with COVID-19 outbreaks and the panic that has ensued. We are going to be trying some new ways of finding people because knocking doors won't be as effective. Now onto the topic of my letter! Yesterday morning on our way to a meeting at the church, I got into a bike accident. Now don't worry I'm okay and there is minimal damage. I tapped the side view mirror of a car and ended up swerving and face planting into the asphalt. I chipped two teeth, busted my lip, scratched my cheek pretty bad, and jammed my neck, but other than that there are no other injuries and all of the ones that h...

Monday, Mar 9, 2020 Hola everyone! This week has been great. Transfers were this week and both my companion and I are staying in this area! The fact that my companion is staying is pretty crazy because by the end of the next transfer she will have been here 9 months. That's half of her mission spent here in Santa Rosa! But other than that the work here is going well! We met someone really cool named T*. Sister Kempe and I both had the prompting to go and knock doors on this one street. We did but everyone was not very happy. The next day we felt prompted to go back, but neither of us really wanted to. We did go and that's when we ran into T*! He is a father looking for something in his life that can bring happiness and peace. He mentioned that we both looked happy and both me and Sister Kempe said we are very happy, in fact, joyful and came from knowing and living the Gospel! He said he'd have to talk to his wife, but he was really interested. Other than that, thing...

Monday, Mar 2, 2020 Hi everyone! This week's letter is going going to be a bit short. There were a lot of wonderful things that happened this week! We started teaching two people and only one person came to church! But everyone we've met and taught has been awesome! But this week was full of cool experiences! We went to the Oakland Temple on Friday. At 7:45 in the morning, we started the day trip down to the temple. When we got there we did baptisms and endowments at the temple and got a personal tour of the visitors center and all the magic it holds. If you ever get the chance to visit a temple and the visitors center I highly recommend it! The stake I am serving in also got the privilege to hear from our Primary General President: Sister Joy D. Jones. Primary is the organization in the church for the children! Sister Jones is so amazing and kind. When she spoke she talked about faith and strength. She talked about how we are put through experiences, good and bad because...

Monday, Mar 2 2020 Okay. Holy Hannah this week has been a trip! To start off this letter, I apologize for not sending a letter last week! It was a busy week and I needed the wind-down that day. I did write and will be sending that one shortly after this one. On that note, to this week! I did get sick.... again. But! I rediscovered the sudafed I had stored in my bag. I definitely am thanking Heavenly Father right now for the blessing of remembering that I had that. Work-wise things have been a bit slow. We had nobody new being taught or come to church, but we did have some exciting things happen. We did finally get in contact with a man named A*. He admitted that he had been avoiding us and was glad we were persistent. We had a great lesson and he was excited about prophets. We invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and we meet with him next Saturday to follow up! We also got a call from N* recently where he said that he wanted to meet with us! We texted him back an...

Hola everyone! In the world of missionary work this week we have had a wonderful week. We set up family history booths at the Farmers Market and in the town square for Valentine's Day! The one in town Square was the most fun. We had people writing someone they loved and why they loved them on hearts and hanging them on a tree that someone made for us. I'll attach a picture for reference because we've had people get confused before! From that booth, we met this wonderful woman named Y* who is so excited about doing her family history! We get to meet with her at the Family History Center here in Santa Rosa on Tuesday. My companion and I are so excited! I've actually been doing my own family history a lot recently. Our Mission President challenged us to do an hour each week, but I can honestly say I've done about 2-3 total hours! It's so much fun to do, but as my companion can testify I get super frustrated with it when I can't find a record for that pers...

Hola everyone! This week has been a great week! This whole week was really focused on Family History. Me and my companion were called as the Family History Sisters in our Zone. Thay means that we are in charge of getting other missionaries to the Family History Center and spending a lot of time doing missionary work with Family History. It is a lot of fun! We met with a woman called A*. She had a lot of questions and really want to know what is true. We are so excited to be part of her journey. Some fun things this week: 1. We went to the Family History Center and missed the first bus to get there. We had to wait for the next one to come and then we didn't get back until when we had to go tracting. It was so stressful! 🥴 2. Me and my companion had to present on how to do Family History Booths in Zone Conference! It was stressful. But I loved it and Heavenly Father was definitely guiding that presentation! My thought for this week is sort of odd. I had an experience these...

Holã everyone! This week has been awesome! It was the first week of the transfer this week and it was a pretty good week. We had E come to church and she was taught the last part of the Plan of Salvation! She was so excited about baptisms for the dead. We also got in contact with N and he was really happy to see us. He is doing really good and was excited to learn about Family History. He doesn't know a ton about his family so he is looking forward to learning more! But this week I had a lot of personal growth things happen. I had some experiences with prayer that reminded me that "God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yeah, ... If I ask not amiss." (2 Nephi 4:35) I had been praying that something would change my situation, not that I would change. And because of that, I wasn't getting answers - or at least I wasn't acknowledging the answers I was receiving. This reminds me of how each of our earthly and mortal perspectives at some point and time will be...

My weekly this week is super short, but its Transfers!!! I am so lucky and my companion and I didn't get transferred. This letter this week is super short, but we had one new person being taught, who we started teaching Sunday night! Prayers were answered that night. We also finally had someone at church! Yay!!! Nothing else super new, just excited for this next transfer. My thought this week comes from Moroni 7. Its verse 41: "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him..." I was shown this scripture after two weeks of not teaching anyone. It was frustrating and hard. But my companion reminded me that we have hope for a better future because of Christ. Its through His Atonement that we are able to change and the fact we can change is what gives us hope! I am forever grateful for that and fi...