Fwd: Elder Gibbons

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Kenneth Traveller <kdtraveller@gmail.com>
Date: March 29, 2017 at 6:59:32 PM MDT
To: Arla Gibbons <gibbons.arla@gmail.com>
Subject: Elder Gibbons

I saw Elder Gibbons for a few minutes at the transfer meeting today. It was good to see him. He is doing great.  I can't remember where he is going, but his new companion is Elder Elsworth. The photo is us pointing to the hitch cover he got for my truck when he was in Fredericksburg. 

Ken Traveller 

Rain, Rain go away...☔️

My Dear Missionary Boys,

You know it's truly Spring when nearly every other day is wet! It's turning things beautiful outside but I want to get out there and enjoy it! We've finally purchased some nice outdoor wicker furniture for our patio so we're really excited for warmer weather.

Sydney, as you know, is running for exec council for the new Green Canyon High School and has had a very stressful week. She made it through the preliminaries and now it's down to 8 (6 boys and 2 girls) to fight it out for the 4 spots of "member." We spent the weekend and most of yesterday working on her 2-min video. Finally, after many tears of frustration and waking up at 5:00 this morning, Dad helped Syd used iMovie to complete her presentation. Voting will take place this Friday, on your birthday, Caleb. She and Savannah Burnard, Joe Hawkes' granddaughter sang in Sacrament meeting yesterday at our ward conference and did a BEAUTIFUL job.

Adam is so excited to go to the new high school now! He was a little sad not to go to Sky View, but now that the school building is actually taking shape, and knowing that every one in his large friend group will be going there, he's very happy! I took him driving around in the church parking lot a few weeks ago and am now realizing how close that next "driving" step is for him. Ugh... :-/

Samantha is making so many new friends. It's fun to see her start to blossom. She and her friend Callie (kaeli Housten's cousin) made cookies on Friday and they are such "pre-teens!"

Sariah has been so creative lately with her sleeping arrangements. She slept in our green teepee for nearly a month. Now, she's been trying out some new box-beds made from the huge boxes that our outdoor furniture came in. She stuffs them with anything g soft she can find, like bean-bag chairs, pillows, etc, and then throws herself and her own pillow on top and co era herself with her blanket. I don't know how much longer I'll let this continue but it sure is funny to see.

Baxter and Snitch are doing good. I got just a little mad at them for digging in the flower beds this morning and they both cowered into the doghouse and knew immediately that they were in trouble. I'm not sure if they knew why, but it was so cute, I nearly chuckled. ;)

Well, that's it for our week. We're all looking forward to this weekend's General Conference. We'll be thinking of you because we'll know you'll be listening to exactly what we hear.

I love you both so much and hope that you had another successful week in the field!

💕 ya always!
Mom

Letter 3 25 2017

We've been running all day because Sydney is in crisis mode.  She is among the finalists for Exec and they certainly don't give these kids much time to make their videos and get ready for the final runoff.

Anyway, we've spent most of the day chasing around after her. making lots of video.  There are some instant classics that I'll send along.  I suppose she's in for an all-night tonight trying to get her video cut and spliced together.

Tonight we went to Darin and Shelli's for FHE and Darin talked about a time when he was asked the question, "When did your relationship with Christ become real?"  He said that for him, it was kind of like ice cream and the first time he tasted the goodness of the gospel he knew that he liked the taste and always wanted as much as he could have.

Since that time he has learned about other things in the gospel that have been like toppings to ice cream but the ice cream has always been something he loves.

A pretty good analogy.

So, Sydney is trying to be ready for Exec, Adam is super easy-going, Samantha won't eat anything, and Sariah won't stop eating...

Life is good.  I can't wait to hear from you tomorrow.

I love you,

Dad

Hello Spring! 🌱

Dear Caleb & Jacob,

Yay, it's officially Springtime!!! I hope you're feeling it where you are. Actually, Jacob, you're probably feeling like it's more like summer.

How was your week? We had a super one. Nothing out of the ordinary but good. Last night we had 30 people here for dinner! We celebrated Grandpa Winkel's 85th birthday (it's actually today but party was yesterday). We had the Hunter family, 5 college students, Mark & Whitney Winkel with their two little girls, and the Bulut family. It was so fun to have our house used like that. Right before Grandma & Grandpa left, 6 cousins put on a quick "play" downstairs! They set up the audience chairs and everything. It was so funny!

Sydney is getting geared up for the race to exec. council. She's running for member and her skit is tomorrow. I hope she can get it all worked out in time.

Adam had a big group here for a BBQ and games on Friday. He's got a good circle of friends and it just keeps getting bigger. He just got set apart as the teachers quorum president yesterday.

Samantha is really trying to get something prepared for her Cedar Ridge talent show this spring. She's trying to learn a song on her ukulele so that she can sing a Bruno Mars song. We'll let you know how it goes.

Sariah is getting two teeth extracted tomorrow morning at the dentist. Hopefully she'll be a little more relaxed and willing this time. Two weeks ago on Dr. Ellis' first try, she got really scared and emotional when she opened her eyes and saw the needle heading for her mouth with the anesthetic in it.

We can all feel the tightening hold that tax season has on Dad now. He stays at the office most nights till 9:00 or 10:00 or down in Salt Lake. Almost 3 more weeks left!!

I'm busy finishing up some indoor projects before the weather and yard work calls me outside. I love this time of year. It gets very busy but it's all so fun. It is so nice walking around our yard on grass and knowing that the sprinkler system is all in! The only sad thing is that the deer have really broken a lot of our poor little trees.

Have an awesome week! We can't wait to read your letters! Let us know if you need anything!

I love you both so very much!!

Mom

Pictures for the week

Letter 3 20 2017

I hope everything is great with you this week.  It's been a busy week for me so time have flown buy.

A couple of years ago we went on a cruise with TAG and a couple of our dealers, Glen & Dawn Meese and Paul & Mikki Hathaway.  All of them were delightful people and we really enjoyed our time together.  One concern I had with Paul Hathaway while he was on the cruise is that he gambled regularly and also talked about how well he was doing.

I remember at one dinner he invited Caleb to come with him and wouldn't let it go.  I was sick inside because I didn't want to make a scene and embarrass him or Caleb.  Caleb was curious and went with him.  I have no idea what happened but I thought I would just never speak of it again and hope that Caleb would grow out of his curiosity.

This past week, I was in court with Paul Hathaway.  This time the scene was quite different.  He and Mikki were in their church clothes and Paul was sitting with his attorneys and Mikki was sitting in the back of the courtroom openly weeping.  I was with TAG's attorneys and we were obviously in opposing positions.  The short story is that Paul has defaulted on his obligations to TAG and after trying to work it out with him, TAG has decided we can no longer forbear and that we need to get his assets and have those assets pay off his debt.

As we've gone through this process, the basic question that I've asked Paul several times, is, "Where is the money and what did you do with it?"  We usually have decent conversations until I ask that question and then he goes dark and becomes evasive.  I will learn what he did with the money as the court grants TAG access to his bank accounts so it won't matter that he was evasive, however, I'm betting that, given his personality, I will find that he literally gambled on the Fort Hall indian reservation or that he figuratively gambled by taking huge risks with TAG's money.

Now a different story...  I'm not exempt from taking risks that I shouldn't take.  Year's ago, and really before you can remember, the stock market was crazy over internet stocks.  It seemed that all one had to do was put money in the stocks and watch them go up in value.  Long story short, I did that.  My account went from 15K to 200K within a month.  I thought I would be retiring from my job at 30 as a wildly rich millionaire.  I'll never forget the day that the market turned and I lost about half the value.  Over the next few days, I lost almost everything I'd put into the market.  It was a hard lesson for me.  I should'a would'a could'a...

As you go through your missions and through life, you need to remember that YOU are the goldmine.  You need to invest in yourselves following the time-honored tradition of education and hard-work.  As you do, your lives will be sanctified by your efforts and you will become a person of substance.  Take it seriously both on your mission and when you get home.  Establish the correct patterns in life and them follow them throughout your mission and your life.

Why do I tell you this story when you both know that I'm hugely imperfect and make business mistakes all the time?  I tell you this so you can learn from my mistakes and never make those mistakes yourselves.  I also tell you these things so that you can consider them and resolve to become the person that your talents will allow you to become.

Have a great week.  I love you,

Dad

Letter 03 12 2017

Time is a-flyin'.  This week I basically had my head-down in tax files.  Likely I'll have the same fate until tax deadline.  Yesterday I was in the office and Grandpa, Jan, Alyssa, Keona, Danie, and Kayla stopped by.  I hardly ever see Jan because she lives in St. George so it's fun to chat with her.

I love my family.  Our lives have dealt us different challenges but we still are doing well.  I think this is because of our parents and the way we were raised.  Both Jan and Danie have had less than successful marriages.  I've been lucky in that regard with Mom.  We seem to get through our challenges.  It's not to say we are perfect but we are happy together and that means a lot.

There is a time and a place for everything in life.  Right now you are fully engaged in missionary work and I trust that you're in the moment and giving it 100%.  This is at it should be, so good job.  Just because you are in the moment doesn't mean you shouldn't form opinions and set priorities for your future.  

I'm not sure how well I've done in this regard.  I think I've been influenced with the whims of friends during my life.  This isn't a bad thing as long as you don't lose sight of who you are.  I love mountain biking.  I have a good friend in Paul Richins that is equally passionate about it and so we arrange to bike as much as we can.

I'd encourage you to dedicate energy and do a lot of introspection as to who you really are.  This will inform the types of things you like to do and maybe as you do those things, you'll find other friends (and a wife) with common interests.  You've been raised to be successful in your chosen pursuits and I'm sure you will be.

I love you.  Have a great week.

Dad

Feeling GREEN! 🍀

Dear Caleb & Jacob,

Happy March! I sure hope your week was great! Yay...temperatures are rising slightly for us all! We set the trampoline mat up yesterday and even though it's still a little chilly, the kids think it's Summer! Sariah and Samantha, of course have to have a picnic, and they all got their kites out because this weekend has had a lot of GUSTY wind! So, immediately after church today, before I even changed out of my church clothes, they got a kite stuck in one of Lyman's tall trees. It may become permanent decoration there because it's so high.

Hmm, news for this week is...
Sydney just took the ACT on Wednesday and the end of term was on Friday so she's been consumed with studding. Adam has been very giddy this weekend because both he and Sydney talked us into getting the new Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Supposedly, the graphics are A M A Z I N G !!! Samantha was in charge of dinner today so she had us make crepes, fruit, whipped cream, sausage, ham, bacon and butternut squash with brown sugar! Yum!! She just got her 7th grade immunizations - 3 shots in her arms so she's been in pain. Sariah will be getting two of her teeth pulled this Tuesday by our dentist, Dr. Jeremy Ellis. Hopefully she'll hold still for him. Dad went on a mountain biking trip to St. George Thursday through Saturday. Now it's back to the grind come Monday. Baxter and Snitch are doing just fine. They're a little happier now that we are able to give them a little more attention. Baxter has developed another bad habit everyday between 5:00 and 6:00. He stands at the sliding door and barks this low bark at anyone in the kitchen, I think expecting to get some treats, and love.

How's that for a "run-on" paragraph? We hope all is well with both of you.

Love you so much!
Mom

Pictures for the week

Letter 3 5 2017

Good morning to you!  Wednesday night Dave Witbeck texted and invited me to St. George to go biking.  All I can say is "Wow".  What a nice break and a great place to go biking.  It's just a long drive and I can't stay awake for the entire time... I never have been able to.

We went with Mike Jensen and Brian Mickelson.  They are great guys.  Here's the thing, Mike was looking in his journal and our first biking adventure was 18 years ago.  Mike has kept the group together for that long and we've evolved and gotten older over the years.  Our kids have grown up and we've gone from shuttling to the top of the hill and down-hilling everything to biking up and enjoying the exercise in order to earned the DH.

Brian's boy Eric was headed to Ensenada, Mexico with a group of his college friends for spring break.  They had a huge 15 passenger van full of guys and girls all headed South, we passed them headed back to Cache Valley after our biking trip.  Of course, I thought of you.  You're in for some of the best years of your life over the next several years.

Mom and I have memories of heading to Zions Park with friends, "sleeping over" at the trail head, and talking and laughing until we were punchy and exhausted before finally drifting off to sleep.  Then we'd get up in the morning and hike the narrows.  Those were great times and if I had that time in my life to live over, well, I would.  

I would change some things about that time in my life.  The first thing I would do, is I would live 100% in the moment and I would document the things I did.  The next thing that I would do is that I would make sure the direction of my life was in accordance with what I know to be right and true.  We all make mistakes but the trick in life is to minimize your mistakes and when you make them (which you will), to immediately repent and orient your life in such a way that you can have a clear conscience.  I had too much pride and was slow to repent during that time of life.  Time and experience has taught me to be quick to change unproductive behaviors.

You are teaching people about repentance, forgiveness, and the atonement.  Remember that the most important person the atonement should apply to in your life is you.  If you learn to repent and change unproductive behaviors to productive ones, your life will be more full and you will have more joy.  You are trying hard to get others to see these truths.  Let these truths sink deep into your own souls.  I promise you that your joy will be more full as you align your actions with your beliefs.

Have a great week.  You're such wonderful young men and I love you so much.

Dad