Dear brothers and sisters at Saint John’s, Toni and I hope and pray you are all doing well. It was such a blessing to celebrate our wedding with you back at the end of August. Thank you for everything. Our time home was, as it always is, so good and far too short. These last few months for us have been a whirlwind of moving and adjustments but God has certainly been working in all of it. Here is a little bit of what we’ve been up to lately.

First, our honeymoon in Italy was wonderful. I took about 600 pictures! The scenery really is as beautiful as you might imagine. We both loved the city of Rome. The history and architecture was like nothing we have ever seen before. Our favorite day was a cooking class day. We learned how to make pasta, bread, pizza, gelato and tiramisu. It was such a great day, mostly because we want to be the kind of people who host and show others love by having them over.

After our short time in Colorado we were back in Michigan for a few days packing and then it was off to Saint Louis. Being back at the seminary has been quite nice. Seeing some of my good friends again has been a joyful reunion. Plus, it’s been nice back in classes and getting to study from some of the best professors and pastoral men I know. Toni was looking for a job for a while but just recently found one. We are very excited for that! She is working as an Accountant at Amstead, which is a railway company that manufacturers parts for trains. I haven’t been there yet to see her at work but she is enjoying it. It has been a nice job to help us out and make ends meet here while I’m in school. God has provided for us in so many ways.

Also, we are currently going through some interviews for the call process. This week we have our second interview. Keep us in your prayers, that God would work everything for the good of His Church through this whole process. It is hard to believe that in just six short months we will be hearing where we will be called to serve. Toni and I are very excited to see where God will lead us.

This time in seminary has been quite the journey and it wouldn’t have happened without the support and love of all of you, even back into my college days. So thank you, Saint John’s, for all that you do and have done for us. I pray that as we enter the Advent season the grace of Christ will continue to be a source of hope and joy. We can’t wait to see you over Christmas break.

Love in Christ,

Nikolai and Toni Gibbons
801 Seminary Place
St. Louis, MO 63105

Nikolai Gibbons is a Saint John’s member who is studying for the ministry at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. You can reach him by email at gibbons@StJohnsFC.org.