News from Amanda

Subject: Toate oameni!

Hello people whom I love!

This was our last Temple trip before we leave. It was very nice to be able to go, a very good experience. We walked together through a light snow, passed fields of fresh snow to the Temple this morning. Then as we walked back it was practically a white-out! I loved it! (minus the fact that my ears froze) I love the temple. It’s such an amazing place. I can’t wait to help people learn that for themselves and experience the joys and peace it brings! I can hardly wait to return again after my mission. So.. because I’m so impatient (and am taking an idea from my cousin Elder Brycen & his passion for snowboarding [much love Brycen]):
Mom & Dad – go to the temple as much as possible for me!
Ashley & Rhett – go to the temple as much as possible for me!
Brandon – keep getting people ready to enjoy the blessings of the temple!
Mark – Go to the temple every week, and take Kate with you!
Kate – Go to the temple every week, and take Mark with you!
Isaac – Get excited to go to the temple and be ready for the joy!
Kylee – Learn about the temple so that you can be excited too.
Friends & Family – GO TO THE TEMPLE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FOR ME!!!

Christmas is coming up and I’m really enjoying it. I’m excited to see what it’s like having Christmas here. I keep hearing that it’ll be awesome. Thanksgiving was good but Christmas will be great!! Thank you for the presents sent and yet to be received!

Yesterday we saw one of the four sisters in our branch off. Sister Moore, an ASL sister and roommate, was called to Fla. early. We’ll miss her. But she’s in a better place and is doing good things. She was a wonderful sister. :’) (sorry, mission humor)
But also, we welcomed a new Romanian branch (and another Eng) into our branch. 6 new Romanians, 10 new English. All elders. One of the Romanian elders was adopted from Romanian and gets to go back and see the land/people he came from. He seems like a really neat kid. I’m excited to get to know them all.

I’m really excited to get out to Romania in 3 weeks. It’ll be overwhelming and exciting and exhausting and I’m so excited to experience it all! We’ve been teaching in Romanian these last few weeks, we’re getting better, but it started off rough. As to be expected.

I’m so glad that I’m here on a mission. I’ve learned and grown so much in just these few weeks. I’ve learned things that I never knew before and have become more convinced of truths I’ve learned so many times before. As I type this I listen to my companion and roommate talk about these very same things and I know that others are blessed the same. These two wonderful sisters have grown and become so much more beautiful through their service here. And even though we’ve had our struggles, none of us would change this; none of us would go back and change our decisions to serve. We love it here. I love it here. And I hope that all of you are blessed.

Va iubesc! Eu stiu ca Dumnezeu este Tatal nostru Ceresc. El traieste. El ne iubeste. El este perfect si, prin Ispasirea lui Isus Hristos, noi putem deveni perfect de asemenea! Acesta este mesaj Evangheliei. Acesta este ceea ce iubesc.

Craciun Fericire!

Sora Amanda Gibson

More Thanksgiving Pics!

New Pictures!

Sorry for the delay between posts, I was finishing up finals week.
Jorge sent some great Thanksgiving pics.
If you have some pictures saved on your computer send them to me and I would love to post them.

Quotes

Since Lorene posted that great thought last week I thought it would be interesting to have everyone post a quote or thought that they really liked.

So here's 2 from me:

"Courage is not the lack of fear, it is acting in spite of it"- Mark Twain

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is to high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself" - Friedrich Nietzsche


-Michele

The Mills

Kathleen is struggling thru chemistry, doing cubscouts, and sunbeams.
Hal is getting excited about the BYU Utah football game
and planning a fishing trip to Green River.
Lisa and Pedro are coming home for Christmas!
Brette is working two jobs, going to school full time and having fun with
her room mates and friends. She just got called to be the relief society pianist,
she will graduate in a year.
Kelsey loves to do ball room dancing. She loves the rumba, cha-cha and swing.
She is taking voice lessons and piano.
Devan is on a basketball team and plays the trumpet in the new 7th grade band.
He is hanging in there on the piano. He loves reading the Levan Thumps series.
After a year and a half of healing Dolly was walking a half mile and doing good,
until I ran over her in the drive way. The poor dog is back to the drawing board and
after four weeks can hobble around on three legs. She still enjoys being outside
and loves to bark at the cats and the cows. She doesn't even know she is disabled
she thinks she is ferocious!

We hope to stop in at Dave's to say hi on Thanksgiving Day. We are also looking forward
to the family Christmas Party.

Tom & Michele

Things are going well for the Syracuse Milliners, Tom is working a lot (as usual).
Michele is still working at the Jr. High as the computer Labs Manager (there are 3), she spends most of her time yelling at 8th graders and keeping the computers running. She escorts about 4 kids down to the office for discipline in an average week. She is also going to school to finish a bachelors degree in Computer Science with an emphasis in software engineering. Right now she is taking anthropology and programming fundamentals. (12 credit hrs).
Johnathan entered Jr. High this year, and hates almost every minute of it, he would rather spend his time playing Spore, Never Winter Nights, and the wii. He is good at math and bad at English. Recently he did badly on a foreign language test and made this insightful observation; "how can I pass a french spelling test when I can't even spell in English?".
Kellie loves kindergarten, she is reading pretty good for her age, thanks to an awesome preschool teacher. She just turned 6 and thinks she rules the world.
We look forward to seeing everybody soon.
Love,
Michele & Tom

Thanks Giving Desert

Just wanted to remind every one that Lorene is hosting desert the night before Thanksgiving. Come after 5:30 PM and leave before 10:00 PM. If there is a desert that you must have or it is not Thanksgiving, bring it. Other wise we will have an assortment of yummies (including pumpkin pies).