July 7th 2014

Kia Ora family and friends, I had a pretty sweet experience this past week, and thought I'd let you in on the learnings I've been able to have! 

Right now I'm serving in a place called Whangaruru. It's a bit like Morgan, but a little more redneck, so I guess it makes it more like Croyden. hahaha. It's in northern New Zealand, on the east coast. All the boys here ride horses instead of bikes, usually without a saddle or shoes, haha. It's a beautiful place, and the people here are really beautiful people! A majority are Maori, and culture is big, so we get to rub noses with a few of the old timers. Sometimes it can be a trial of faith to hongi a man who's been drinking his whole life, sometimes they have enough alcohol on their breath that I feel like I'm breaking the word of wisdom. hahah, just teasing, all in good fun! My companion is Elder Larson, and he's a hero of mine. Anyways, 

I had an interesting experience Friday night. Friday morning we have a two hour planning session called Weekly Planning. It's from 10:00 until 12:00. At twelve, we take lunch until 1:00, and then drive to our area about 45 minutes away. On this Friday, we decided to go to the highest point of our area, and after weekly planning and travel we got there around 3:00, and began working. We weren't having too much success, and I felt a bit guilty about going to the top of our area on the same day of weekly planning, because I felt it might not have been an effective use of time. Anyways, I'm thinking these thoughts. At 4:30, the ZL in Henderson Zone in Auckland call and give us a referral for a woman in the hospital in Whangarei who needs a blessing. When they were giving us information about the referral, I initially felt really good about going to the hospital and giving her a blessing. But, we were 2 hours from the hospital, and if we went to the hospital, it would be too late in the day for us to come back out to our area before we had to be back to the flat at 9:00, and it would take a great deal of time. Because of this, I thought we would just do what we normally do with people who need a blessing in the hospital, and call the Elders who work near the hospital and tell them to go give the blessing.

We called both companionships who work near the hospital, but neither of them answered the phone. So, not wanting to be ineffective in use of time, we kept working until dinner. I still had some nudging of sorts that we needed to be at the hospital. I went to a private place near the beach, and knelt down. I asked for confirmation about what we should do, and again I felt really good about going to the hospital. I felt like there was more than one reason why we needed to be there, besides just giving the blessing to the referral we received. But soon after feeling good, I began to have thoughts like, "Wouldn't it be better just send the Elders who work near the hospital? And what if visiting hours close at 6 and we end up wasting a bunch of time traveling? We've already spent a lot of the day in the car, what if we end up using the whole night for nothing?" Thoughts like these. As I was thinking these thoughts, the original feeling of peace went away, and I felt troubled. I didn't know what to do, and and walked back to the car. Still not knowing what to do, I decided to pray with Elder Larson. We sat in the car and prayed, and I asked again for confirmation about what we should do. As we were praying, the phone rang. And with my eyes closed, I thought, "There's the missionaries calling who work near the hospital. This is our confirmation telling us not to go. I knew it. I've been judging my feelings wrong." As I opened my eyes and looked at the phone, it wasn't the Elders near the hospital, but it was a Sister missionary companionship who were calling! 

We answered the phone, and the Sister Kelly said, "Hi Elder Tibbitts. My companion has been admitted to the hospital and is staying overnight. She has to have an operation, and Sister Balli told me to call you and ask for help." So I was dead wrong!! Heavenly Father did want us at the hospital, and he did sent feelings of peace!! It was him all along telling me to go to the hospital!! But because I chose to put my trust in my own reasoning, and my own thought process, the original feeling of peace that he sent went away, and I was left to my own. We went to the hospital and helped get everything worked out, and were able to give a blessing the this Sister in the hospital, and also to the referral that was given to us. What a cool learning experience! I wonder how many times Heavenly Father has spoken peace to me about something, and I have talked myself out of it with my own reasoning! And the result has been me thinking that Heavenly Father isn't speaking to me, when really he may have been trying repeatedly, but I've been ignoring him! God will speak to his us, and if we are willing to listen, then we can hear him! It was such a cool learning experience, one that greatly built my testimony. 

I hope you all are having your own personal spiritual experiences, and are enjoying yourself wherever you are! I think some people will get this email in South America and Pacific Islands, so enjoy it! Be safe! Remember CPR! (Church, pray read. Not mouth to mouth, hahah).

Much love to you all, keep up the good work! 

Elder Tibbitts

Here is a picture of the Elders in the zone. One is from Scotland, and the other from Tonga. Hopefully you can discern between the two. haha.

We went down to Auckland and stayed the night before our meeting with President and Sister Balli the next day. The meeting was awesome. President Balli (in the flesh) looks like Dad will in 15 years. I'm not kidding. When I first saw him, I was like "Is this some kind of joke? they called Dad to serve as a mission president under a new name?" hahah! President Balli is amazing. He's a great teacher, and he uses the Come Follow Me format for teaching. With discussions and group learning activities. I really love him.

President and Sister Balli