"Last One, Best one!"

So apparently Sis. Moss' swim coach used to tell her that phrase before their last lap in practice. She kept saying in over and over to me at Zone Conference!

Ok, so the pictures: the first is our MTC district! It took us 17 months to the day, but we are all on the same side of the mission! I am holding Sis. Steven's wedding announcement! She went home last Dec. and is now married! The next is the Sister's picture from ZC. Sis. Phillips is the only one missing I think... And the last 3 pics are Sis. PHillips and I with our presents from Sis. Hill! They are these screaming flying monkeys! They are sling shots! You slip your fingers into their hands and pull back the feet and let 'em fly! When they hit, they scream!!!! Needless to say, companion study was interesting this morning!!!

Anyway...Zone Conference was good. It was a little bitter sweet. It was my last Zone Conference because they aren't doing them anymore, but it wasn't my last transfer so I didn't get to share my testimony. I was a little bummed. That's ok though...I'll deal!At ZC, President told us some pretty exciting news! Out of the 30 missions in our area (30), 26 are loosing missionaries next year. Three of the thirty are staying the same and only one mission is gaining missionaries! And we are it!!!! We are going to be getting 22 more missionaries throughout 2009! The cool part is that we aren't going to be getting more cars...so sisters might be on bikes! Only certain sisters though. There are a few sisters in the mission that can't ride bikes. Anyway...it's just up for consideration! Do you know how many more people we could talk to if we were on bikes?! It would be AWESOME!!!!!!

Other big news...we got transfer calls last night. I kept having dreams that I would be training again, but thankfully...that is not the case! However, I have been taken from VA Beach!!! :( They are ripping me away from Sis. Phillips! :( I am being transfered to Innsbrook! I'm going to Richmond...I don't know how I feel about that...I feel like a boomerang. President tried to throw me as far away as possible (Harrisonburg and EC), but I found my way back to Richmond. It will be rough leaving the Celestial Kingdom of the mission, but it makes it easier when I know that I can call or e-mail them in 6 weeks! Plus some of the ward members here are going to come to the Temple with me! :)

I'm sad to be missing JR baptism. That is probably one of the hardest things. Hopefully Innsbrook has a White Christmas set up.

Hopefully when I e-mail next I will have pictures from my last week here. OH, I will have pictures from Christmas since I don't think I'll be e-mailing next week!

Oh, and my address is:
Sister Katie Abbott
2320 Seagull Ct.
Richmond, VA 23294

Oh, and one more exciting bit of news...Sister Moss is training!!!!!!! I'm a grandma! Holy cow I'm old in the mission!!!!!!!! Wowsers!

Transfers next week!!

What a great week!!! Our Bishop announced that the ward would be helping us to Flood the Earth with the Book of Mormon this holiday season! So members of the ward are essentially going tracting!!! The youth are going caroling! And we have been getting calls from people asking for what streets we need them to go deliver copies of the Book of Mormon to!! How cool is that?!

Jr. continues preparing for his baptism! It is awesome to see the change! We will see if I get to be here for it!

Interviews were this week. They were great! But in the interview President said that nothing is finalized but it's not looking like I'll be here next transfer. He asked on a scale from 1-10 how much I wanted to stay, and I told him 25! I think he got the picture. But I know I'll be where the Lord needs me and so that is what matters.

This week my study has been awesome! I am finishing up the Old Testament! I'm so excited to finish my goal! I will be done by this Saturday! The entire standard works! And then I am going to attempt to read the Book of Mormon in one transfer! I'm excited!

I know that this gospel is true! I was reading a talk by Pres. Monson this morning and he testified that Christ is at the Helm of the church! I felt the Spirit testify that that is true! I love this Gospel! I love the Prophet and I love my Savior!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Pictures:

Random act of service-- we showed up for an appointment and they were nailing carpet to their stairs...so we joined in! :)

Christmas Party Wise men giving gifts!

At the Christmas Enrichment playing the M &M game!

Me and my two children! :) Jacob Teancum Abbott and Nicole Ester Abbott (names have been changed...because I won them!)

Happy December

Well, Thanksgiving was great! During comp study, Sis. Phillips made a comment about building a fort. I don't think she expected me to take her seriously. I figured, if Elders could play football, we could build a fort! So we did!! And we did weekly planning inside our fort! Then after planning, Sis. Phillips made some visual aids while I made some peanut butter fudge and veggie dip. We snacked a little and then got ready to go to the Schoppaul's. We ended up only eating their and just dropping by the other two houses. It was fun. I tried Sweet potatoes for the first time ever. It was great! Oh, speaking of new experiences...we were at an appointment earlier today and this woman offered us some pickled bologna! It was...an experience. I thought Sis.Phillips was going to vomit! She didn't try it. She's not one for meat...let alone pickled pig parts! Like I said, it was an experience. When she wasn't looking, the dog got most of it. I am proud to say that is the first time I've turned to the dogs on my mission.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was good. When we got home we watched Labor of Love...and laughed so hard! Then we planned and went to bed. It was a good day. I'll try to attach pictures next week. The computer is being silly.

Last night we had a couple investigators at the Relief Society Enrichment night. The hightlight of the night was definately when the Enrichment Counslor announced the game-- it was one Sis. Phillips and I had played with her and her family at a family home evening last week. Do you remember the m&m dice game?! Well, that was it! So we had all the women in the ward at their tables playing. I took a picture for proof! We had a bunch of women asking us when we were going to teach the Priesthood! All and all, it was a lot of fun!

Well, I'm about to get kicked off again! I hope you all have a great week! Remember as you are going about preparing for Christmas how blessed we are to have the Restored Gospel on the earth today to help us truly understand Christ's Atoning sacrifice for us! After you think about that for a minute, think of who you know who doesn't know that! What are you going to do about it?!

I love this gospel!

Love,
Sister Abbott