Saturday, July 11, 2015

Remembering



Just bringing in my clothes I hung out yesterday and remembering that I used to always hang out clothes before clothes dryers.  And remembering our Moms and all they did.  And remembering Geff's Mom as a wonderful missionary....

Rowene Robinson was born in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico on 11 July 1919.

Lived in Colonia Dublan and rode bus to Juarez for high school at the Academia Juarez .

Called to Serve in the Mexican Mission
Rowene is on second row, sixth from the left.
2-12 December 1940 Salt Lake Mission Home

Traveled to mission and arrived 27 December 1940
Served under Presidentes Lorenzo Anderson and A.L. Pierce

Hermanas Elisa Flores and Rowene Robinson:
 




“I labored in Mexico City, Puebla and Monterrey with wonderful companions….  The outstanding experience of my mission was gaining a solid personal testimony with which I have been fortified to this day”.

picture labeled "Get away from there, Bro. Romney"

picture labeled "Getting ready for Conference"
picture labeled "Conference at San Marcos"


A fun article from the Ensign:
“Las Colonias:  Once a Haven, Still a Home”  Ensign, August 1985,  LaVon Whetten
In the fall of 1879, Elder Moses Thatcher of the Quorum of the Twelve was sent to Mexico City to establish the Mexico Mission; on 25 January 1880, he dedicated the land to the spread of the gospel among the people and to the establishment of LDS colonies in the republic.
In January 1885 President John Taylor sent word to Saints in Arizona that a gathering place had been designated in the valley of the Casas Grandes River, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The first party of colonizers left Snowflake, Arizona, on 9 February 1885. Within six weeks there were some three hundred fifty colonists camped on the banks of the Casas Grandes River.  The Mexican colonies were to be a refuge for many who had practiced plural marriage and would not abandon their families. But the colonies would also serve, President John Taylor said, as something much more enduring—a focal point for spreading the gospel in Mexico.
The outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910 forever changed the lives of the colonists. Although Church officials declared their intention to remain neutral, Saints were threatened and robbed, and some were even killed.  In 1912, the colonists were evacuated from Mexico. Housed in rude lumber sheds and temporary tent cities in El Paso and in Douglas, Arizona, they waited and hoped for a speedy return to their homes.  A few families returned within a short time. Under the leadership of Bishop Joseph C. Bentley, they weathered the next seven years of war-torn uncertainty. Because of their stalwartness, there was a nucleus of Saints in Mexico whom others could rejoin when the revolutionary violence had subsided….

Through the years the colonies have produced many leaders. Some of their surnames are known throughout the Church: Romney and Eyring (President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency and Sister Camilla Eyring Kimball, wife of President Spencer W. Kimball, were both born there), Taylor, Turley, Bowman, Brown, Hatch, and many others. The gospel also spread from the original colonists to native Mexicans, and to their children….“I feel that my children are safer both spiritually and physically in the colonies. I don’t have to spend a lot of time worrying about where they are or what they’re doing,” says Kelly Robinson. “Here it’s the popular thing to be good. For instance, nearly all of our young men (95 percent of the graduates from the Juarez Academy for the past five years) go on missions.”

Love you Mom.  What a wonderful example to all of us.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Happy Birthday, Greyson



Happy Birthday, Greyson!
Tomorrow is your Birthday!!
Are you excited to be 4 years old?
You are growing older so fast - next year you will even be 5!

Did you have a fun time playing with all your cousins at the Gibson Family Reunion?

Did Bella miss you while you were gone?



 (So Greyson, next time Gavin loses some ballgame and is sad, read this next part to him.  See if he can explain it to you:)

Hermana Kimberly Stringfellow 
(your Mom's cousin on her mission in Mesa, Arizona), said:

  “When you give it all to the Lord, amazing things happen.”

“The only way to win,
is to lose –

lose yourself in His work.” 



Here are some pictures for you.  We see these as we climb the 99 steps up to the cemetery every day.What is your favorite one?
just before stairs


middle of stairs
top of stairs

just before we enter cemetery
Three Cemetery Dogs - they are our friends:
The house for two of them is below a nice statue.  The younger dog always greets us outside the gate each morning because he sleeps somewhere else.
When we go to work we always see a lot of dogs.  They sleep a lot during the day, because they stay up all night and bark for each other.  Which are your favorites?




We know we are almost home when we pass Mr. Cool (above).  He never barks, he just leans there with his arms folded, smiling, and watching all the people go by.... 
Well, we hope you and your Mom and Dad and Ellie and Gavin and Bella have a really great day tomorrow - especially YOU!  It is your Birthday!! :)
We love you,
Grandma and Grandpa Gibson

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Happy Birthday, Breann

Happy Birthday, Bree,

We are thinking of you and of your birthday 
Happy 7th Birthday, Breann
even though we have been very busy moving from one cemetery to another.  We forgot that the day after your birthday would be the Fourth of July because no one is talking about celebrating the Fourth here.  We did have a religious holiday on Monday – it was called Peter and Paul Day. It was a religious holiday and hardly anyone went to work so no one was on the micro and our day of work at the cemetery was very quiet.  And it is winter here and you are having summer!!   How funny is that…. 



Have fun celebrating and have a super, super year.  We will definitely be there to celebrate your special 8th Birthday next year.  We love you very much.  You are a very talented, good and full of faith granddaughter!


Here are two thoughts from a talk given by a friend of your cousin, Riley to the 2015 graduating class of  Marana High.  They are:  Hold to your Faith and Be Good
His name is Tanner Morse and he quoted your cousin:
Faith is like a little seed....
Elder Heflin said,  "I knew that God gave me trials like this (having AML and a bone marrow transplant) for a reason. I was able to learn and grow from the experience, and I am incredibly thankful for that. Today I still have that same faith in God.  I put faith into action by making choices that allow God to flood my life with blessings.   Because of that,  I see His hand in my life every single day. I'm able to face any trial with optimism and hope because I know that if  I go and do what God wants me to do I'll find a way to overcome anything.  He wants me to be happy no matter what happens, and I can be happy no matter what happens.  It's all about accessing that faith to reach happiness.  Every day I teach this principle to others so that they can understand the circumstances they are in or the opposition they face.  I see the change that comes once we apply this in our lives, and it's the best thing in the world."


 Tanner Morse also gave an example of his second thought:   Be Good.
Speaking of The Wizard of Oz, Tanner said:   "Toward the end of the movie - Dorothy, the lion, the tin man, and the scarecrow are surrounded by the wicked witch and her guards. She tells them that the last one will see the first three go. The witch then proceeds to light her broom on fire and ignite the scarecrows arm.  At this critical moment, (and probably as a safety measure) there happens to be a bucket of water which Dorothy used to put out the arm of the scarecrow.   In the process, Dorothy unintentionally splashed water on the witch.  It was then, that The Wicked Witch of the West said:
‘Aah, you cursed brat!   Look what you've done!   I'm melting! I'm melting!        Oh, what a world, what a world!  Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness.'

"In the movie, the witch says this really fast which is why this profound phrase is easily overlooked.  Let me read the last half again:  'Oh what a world, what a world!  Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness.’
Then Tanner said,  "I believe that there is so much power in simply being good....I believe that one person can have a huge impact on the world today.  
Seek after all the good the world has to offer.  
Be the good the world has to offer.
Hold to your faith."

Here are some pictures we have taken lately.  Let us know your favorite in each category:  Doors, Flowers, Buildings, Cemetery 1, and Art on the 99 steps up to the cemetery.
DOORS:
Hostel Door entrance

Across the street from the Edwards Chapel

at the top of the street on our way to work (that is a real padlock)

Door to Pre-School

FLOWERS:
In Vina on Castle Hill

at the cemetery

at the cemetery

BUILDINGS:
Pink building on Pedro Montt

near the Registro Civil

El Mercurio (newspaper) Bldg.

CEMETERY 1:
Columns

Angel

ART on 99 steps:
at the bottom

at the top

Let us know your favorites.  
It was so fun to talk to all of you at the Family Reunion 2015 in St. George.
Enjoy the rest of the summer!!!

Love,

Grandpa and Grandma Gibson