HOLY COW!!!!

I was laughing when I signed on today. I got more e-mails today than almost the last 9 months combined. If I would have known that coming home would produce mail...I would have threatened a long time ago! :)

Well, this week has been a good one. Actually these last 2 days have been rockin! We found a family! They are great! But we are a little worried because we are being shotgunned out! I am obviously going home, but Sister Huddleston is being sent to Norfolk to be with Sis. Harsh! They are going to be sooooo great there! I have had the feeling that this area would be better for elders for a while now. The vast majority to those we are working with are single men. It will really be good for the ward too. I have loved the Innsbrook ward. They really are amazing people. They remind me a lot of the old 10th ward...I don't remember what the new name is...

It has been very strange to spend my last transfer in a well-off area. The streets are so clean and nice. It was a little foreign. I have loved all of my areas. Yesterday, President asked me if I were extending and could choose any area to go to, where would I choose? I asked him if that was an offer...but I really had the HARDEST time trying to pick between EC, H'Burg, and Salem. It has been very interesting for me on the mission. I just LOVE where I am and would be totally content never leaving. But the Lord has other plans...which I am very grateful for. If I were in charge, I would have spent my entire mission with Sis. Thomas up in H'Burg. And I would have missed out on being companions with some of the most amazing women I have ever met in my life! I have been so grateful for Katelyn, Chaliece, Alicia, Megan, Sis. Moss, Sis. Hopoate, Sarah, Sis. Phillips, and Sis. Huddleston and I claim Sis. Sowards and Sis. Orawiec (They are part of the family!). The greatest lessons I've learned on my mission about myself were from my companions. The greatest lessons I learned on my mission about the gospel has been from investigators! I have loved my mission! By golly, I love being a missionary! So as I come home, I am just trying to keep in mind what the Lord has taught me about transfers...it is HIS work! And HE knows what is best for me. If he wanted me to be on my mission now, he would have called me later. I just love this work! Hermana Ribera has a quote that says, "the mission field is where the Lord gets to know you." I think it's a little different. I think the mission field is where you get to know how much the Lord knows you and what He sees in you. I have often seen RMs be really cocky. I thought it was a little strange, but now I think I understand that it wasn't confidence in themselves, it is the confidence that comes from knowing WHO you are and WHAT the Lord expects from you. I love the part in the Bible Dictionary under Prayer where it says that once we understand our relationship with God, our prayers change. I think that is what the mission has done. It has helped me better understand my relationship with God. And because of that...nothing about me is the same!...well, except for my striking blue eyes :)

As far as what else is going on with transfers...I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Sis. Miller, Sis. Sowards, and Sis. James are training! Yes, that is right...my grandbaby is training!!!! Sis. James has fulfilled my deepest desire! I get to meet my great grandbaby tomorrow! Because Sis. Huddleston is riding the transfer van, I get to see all the people training and meet the new missionaries. There is an Elder Abbott coming in this transfer that I'm excited to meet. He's from Rigby, ID, so I doubt there is any connection unless it's through Abigail Smith Abbott back in the day. Anyway, Sis. Hopoate is also riding the transfer van, SO Sis. Orawiec and I get to be comps for the day!!! How sweet is that?! But I was told that I have to report a couple hours early to the mission home, so we get 2 hours less than we would have! Oh, and Sister Phillips and Sister Moss are going to be companions!!!!! That is going to be SOOOO good for both of them! Out of all of my comps, if I had to pick the two with the most fire and zeal for the work, it would be them. I don't think Newport News will know what to do with all that amazingness that will be happening! And quite frankly, it really isn't fair to the adversary! But that is ok! The only bummer is that Sis. Phillips won't be at the Salem ward when i am there on Sunday. I'm pretty sad about that, but I can write her in a couple weeks, so I'm not crying!

This week the weather has been perfect! And by perfect I mean it is great because it is sooooooo different than AZ. It has been raining, snowing, and freezing rain for the last 3 days! My companion has been laughing so hard at me. But I JUST LOVE IT!!! I love VA! And it is going to be in 30-40s all this week. So dress warm mom and dad! I know that I didn't used to have blood but I think it thickened up! Although, I have been getting these burns on my hands that my comp calls "dry rashes"...but I still claim I was burned!

Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot! I have gone almost 19 months on my mission and this last Sunday was the very first time that I heard the, "Oh, Sister Abbott...we had a speaker cancel. Can you speak in about an hour..." I had to laugh! It was so perfect! I ended up not really even speaking although I thought of about 17 different talks to give throughout the meeting. It ended up that I only had about 2 min...just enough time to bear my testimony! I am excited to go back to EC and Salem for fast and testimony meeting. You just never know what to expect with those, ya know?! It'll be great!

I love you all and will write again next week...probably NOT on a Wednesday!

Love,
Sister Abbott

8 days and NOT counting!

Well, it has been a great week! I love being a missionary!!! We've had some struggles, but nothing earth-shattering. Kai is continuing to be amazing!!! He is so great! He reads EVERYTHING we leave with him! And he has been reading the Priesthood manual...he's to Chapter 14! I just love him so much! We were in a lesson with him last Friday and he started to explain to us how he knows that once he is baptized, it is up to him to make sure he is a part of the ward because we have to move on to find others who are searching!!! And then when we taught him about Tithing and Fast Offerings, he pretty much taught himself!!! He is just soooooo great!!! With all of the horrible things happening in the world, it is so good to see that there are still individuals who sincerely have a desire to follow the commandments of God! I think the greatest lessons I've learned on my mission, I've learned from those I have been teaching and my mission companions! They have all been instruments in the hand of God to help me to learn what He wanted me to learn! I love being a missionary!!!

I am almost out of time, but I want you all to know how much I have loved my mission! When I first started, I never thought it would ever end! And now I can't believe that it is coming to a close! I have 1 week left! That is it! It is like knowing the exact moment you are going to die! President Monson once said that the longer you are alive, the shorter you realize life is. That is so true of the mission! The longer I have been out, the shorter this experience seems! It is as if I could blink and be back in Harrisonburg, 18 months ago! Wow...I love it! I am grateful to have had the experiences I have! I'm so excited for mom and dad to come and pick me up! Nothing could make this experience sweeter than to get to conclude it with them! I love it so much! I just love these people. I love VA! I love WV! I love NC! I just love it all!!!

Love,
Sister Abbott

12 O'Clock and All's well!

Well, this has been a good week. We had some great success, but still struggling to find the elect. They are here...I can feel it, but we just haven't found them all yet. I suppose I'm getting into hurry mode. It's like on CatchPhrase...you know how the closer it gets to the end, the faster the beeps happen...that is me!!! Not long ago, President likened our mission to one day. For the Elders it was easy to figure out what time it was because one month equals an hour. But for sisters, the calculations are a little different. Anyway, I did them all and have been charting what time of day it is for me. Short story long...last Sunday was midnight! I hit my 18 month mark! And now I'm out past curfew!

Anyway, things are progressing really well with some of our investigators. But we just found out that the man who was set for the 27th isn't living with his sister, it is just a friend... so we have to wait for him to find his own place before he can get baptized. I'm not worried, this will actually help him to have more time to get integrated into the ward.

I won't write much this week, but I thought you might like some pictures!!

1- me and Hermana Ribera grilling inside! :)

2- Me, Hermana Ribera and Hermana Barney outside by our no grilling sign...hence the indoor grill. :)

3- Me with the Failes family in H'Burg!



4- Me and Sis. Orawiec at 5 Guys!

5- the stray cat that follows us into our apartment sometimes.

6- Hermanas Barney, Ribera, Statford, Huddleston, and Abbott on Christmas Eve

7- Me and Sis. Orawiec being...not so dignified! :)

On a way awesome note, I finished the Book of Mormon this morning. I wanted to do it in a transfer, but I did it in a month! I was stoked! I love the Book of Mormon! I love how I feel when I read it! I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He loves me!!!

I love the mission! I love the people! There is nothing greater in the world than being a full time missionary...ok, maybe a rocket scientist....nahhh, this still tops it! I love it!!

Love,

Sister Abbott

Come to Zion!!!!

Holy cow it has been probably one of the greatest weeks of my mission!!!! On Thursday night we went to an appointment with a man from Liberia! He is amazing! And we set he and his son for baptism on Jan 27! That's right...3 days before the end of my mission!!! What a way to go out! Then the rest of the week was great! And on Sunday after church, we headed up to Zion!!!! That's right, I'm in Harrisonburg! It has been the most surreal experience of my mission! It has been fun to come back and realize that I still know the area...I still know the people...and what is even more amazing...I still LOVE it just as much as I did when I left here 15 months ago! The Lord truly does love me! I have spent the last 3 days with one of the BEST missionaries in the VRM!! Her name is Sister Orawiec! She was trained by Sister Sowards, so I'm not surprised at all by how amazing she is! We have been cranking it! On Monday as we were confirming our plans, I thought of the Toyloys and had the impression that we should go see them. I had been praying very hard all week to be able to discern my desire to see people and the promptings of the Spirit to visit them. I definately felt that this was a prompting. So we went...and he wasn't there (we found out later from a neighbor that he moved about 3 days before :(). But I had also felt that we needed to tract around there even though Sis. Hopoate told me that they just tracted it. So we did...and it was awesome! We were having fun, meeting people, and just rolling along! We got to one door and accidentally knocked 3 times instead of 2. Just as we were going to walk away, the door opened. I started talking to the woman and she invited us right in. It turned out that she and her boyfriend had investigated the church down in Georgia a couple years ago but couldn't get baptized because they weren't married and they live together. We talked a lot about eternal marriage and about how the only way to prepare for that is to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ and live the commandments. We taught them for a while, gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon, and set up a time to come back and meet with them on Thursday!!!! They are so great! And they are coming to church on Sunday! Man, I love being a missionary!!!!! The Spirit is soooooo amazing! He knows EXACTLY where the elect are! And all we have to do is follow him!!!

It will be hard to leave H'burg today, but I think I'll be ok! I just love being here so much. It is especially hard because I am leaving an area that I know and love to go back to an area that is still sooooo new! But alas, I'll go where He wants me to go! I just pray that I can learn to love Innsbrook as much as I love H'Burg, EC, and Salem!!!

Today is going to be a bit stressful, since we have to drive back down to Richmond. So if I was planning on writing you, I'm afraid that it is going to get bumped back another week...sorry:(. We have 2 appointments set up for tonight and Cordination meeting! I love being a missionary!! Sis. Orawiec and I have been having some great heart to hearts about our love of the work! It is always good to know that others share that deep desire to serve!!!!

I love this work! I'm so excited to be here and can't imagine doing anything else!!!

Love,
Sister Abbott

Happy New Year!!!

Well, I have been in Innsbrook for about 2 weeks now...

It is good. It is very strange to be working so hard when I know that I have to leave in a month. I remember getting to every area thinking, "I'm going to finnish my mission here!" Granted every other time I had at least 7 1/2 months left, but it is so weird to be here and KNOW that it is my last area. I tried to hide if from the members, but they just saw right through it. When they asked how long I had been out, I would say "Over a year." Then the Bishop asked, "So is it safe to say that this is your last area?" I told him that I was pretty sure it would be. Then one of his counselors looked right at me and asked, "How many weeks do you have left?" Talk about cutting to the heart! Anyway...just so you know...I miss Salem and Sis. Phillips like crazy. I just about died last week when I looked at the clock and realized that Jr.Milanak was getting baptized right then!!! Sadly, Innsbrook didn't have a white Christmas. When I saw Sis. Miller who flopped with me, the first thing I asked was, "Am I going to have a white christmas?" I felt like someone ripped my heart out and did the Mexican Hat dance on it! Anyway...on the up and up right?

Christmas was great! The hightlight was obviously talking to the family! I think the majority of them were a little less than enthused... but the greatest part was getting my last Christmas present!!! Holy COW~!!! I couldn't ask for anything better than to get to spend a few days with my parents in the mission!!! We had a pretty mellow day overall. And then on the 26th it was back to work!!! I love it! Tonight we have to stay in... and we are going to barbeque!!

Oh, and to top it all off, I got a call from the APs asking me to go up to Harrisonburg to go on exchanges!!!!! I realized yesterday that I will get to leave H'Burg with only 3 weeks left of my mission and I got to H'burg only 3 weeks into the mission!!! How perfectly symetrical is that?!

Well, I've gotta run!!!

I love you all!!!

Love,
Sister Abbott