Sunday, July 10, 2011

July 4, 2011

Man it's been a really interesting week family, lots of stuff going down in the Mexico Mission Torreon. Sorry I didn't mean to start my email so serious, I should probably try to lighten things up. It's been a good week too! I finally was able to get back in the street, and I do believe we have a baptism ready to go this Sunday. Remember that family I was telling you about, well I think we are going to get them dunked one at a time. So far the first one that's ready is this cool little guy who is 15 years old, but looks like an 11 year old, his name is Edgar. So he will be the main man to be the example for the rest of the family, and I think his little sister should be ready the week after, and then skies the limit after that. I'm also figuring out more my style as a missionary, and I guess I'm not really the serious type. Some dudes out here are all about the formal lesson, knocking out each principal in all the lessons, but I don't think I really work that way. I've read my Patriarchal Blessing a thousand times during my Mission, and it talks a ton about my Mission more than anything else. It talks about how there are people wating specifically for me, and I guess I've been a little scared that I am never going to find them, I mean what seperates me from all the other Missionaries? So I realized if I want to find these people who are waiting for me specifically, I gotta be me. Ever since I loosened up with everything, we have actually found more people. It's a constant learning process out here in the Mission, and I know I still got a ton to learn, but I feel like I am getting figured it out a little more day by day. I feel like Heavenly Father has given me a ton, and expects a lot out of me, I just hope can figure it out in time to help him out in the way He needs me to. I also learned to never leave your wallet in a bathroom in Mexico. Last P-Day I lost 400 pesos, which was a bummer, but for some reason I took out all my important cards and stuff that morning! Heavenly Father definitely knows me, and knows that I lose things all the time, so I am really happy something told me to take out all my cards beforehand.

So as you can tell by the pictures, we found a rat in our house! I was studying one morning, and suddenly my feet started to feel really itchy, turns out there is a rat on my feet. After about 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to catch him, we finally got him with a combination of a big cup and Frosted Flakes. That guy has been living with us for the past week, we lose him a couple of times everyday, but we always end up finding him underneath my table I study at. I probably would have been freaked out to find a rat at my feet 8 months ago, but that kinda thing is totally normal these days. It's going to feel weird showering back at home without cockroaches, I might even miss them a little bit. Sorry if this is totally boring for you guys, but as Missionaries you gotta find excitement where you can, and that day was the most fun companionship study we have had in a while. Elder Rivera is a good companion, but we have spent a ton of time together, and I think we are both kinda looking forward to a vacation from each other. He is going through some tough things right now with his Mission ending in a few months and he is wondering if he did everything he was supposed to, not to mention I think his Dad is really sick. He has taught me a lot though, and he tells really entertaining stories about when he grew up. Total pet monkey!

So Presidente Flores is definitely here, and he is already making some pretty strong impacts. He is way more intense than President Clark was and is going make some pretty strong changes here in the Mission. He wants us to contact 210 people every week, have 40 lessons with Investigatores, 20 lessons with less-active people, and a baptism. Every week! I'm totally not sure if it's even possible, but we'll try our best to do what he asks. Luckily the weather has been giving us a break, it actually rained yesterday! Did you guys ever see the movie Holes? Well remember in the end where everyone is dancing in the rain and everything? It was totally like that, kids just running full sprint into puddles without their t-shirts, reminded me of Me and Rick running through sprinklers back in the day. It lasted about 20 minutes, but it was definitely a highlight of my whole mission. It is now totally hot again, but it was worth it for that 20 minutes. So back to Presidente Flores, he is intense. He's got a cool family though, a super nice wife, and 3 chill kids. One of which is a 17 year old girl, which just seems like a recipe for disaster if you ask me, but whatever.

So here's a little news out of the ordinary for you guys. Remember my companion back at the MTC, Elder Hyer? Turns out he actually ran away from the Mission last week! Crazy stuff I know, and I probably shouldn't be telling you guys, but if you guys could remember him in your prayers that would be awesome. He sent me an email last week just to say hey and catch up, and within a couple of days he just picked up his bags and took off. Yesterday President called all the Missionaries in our Zone and the one next to us to go to the Mission Offices and start a full-scale search for the man. Me and my companion had to go and search the local Malls, and that was really, really weird. Did you know Malls exsist in Mexico? I definitely didn't. We didn't have any luck, and we've searched everywhere in Torreon, so nothing to do but wait until we hear something. Don't freak out or anything Mom, something like that will never, ever happen to me. So needless to say it's been a pretty interesting week for us. All the Missionaries go through a point where the heat kinda gets to us, but my old companion seemed it take it pretty hard, remember him in your prayers please!

Alright back to the happy stuff. Me and my companion are switching this week! I am going to be Senior Companion and he will be my Junior, should be a cool experience. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Okay, but how are you guys doing? Thanks to everyone who told me about their favorite scripture verse. A pretty univeral family favorite seems to be Mosiah 2:41 which is definitely one of my favorites too. That scripture encompasses a huge part of what my testimony is. You can't deny that people who live the Gospel of Jesus Christ are happier people, and get blessed in lots of different ways, both temporal and spiritual. I probably won't be as rich as Keith Knight, or as spirutual as Bish Dekker, but I know if I live the Gospel I'll live the best way I can, and that is a really cool concept to me. Dad is a great example to me for that. Okay, so I better get going, but seriously thanks for everything Family. I have no doubt in my mind that I am a part of the greatest family ever, and I miss you guys a ton, but I know I'm where I need to be. Thanks for being so patient with me and supporting me with everything. I love all of you guys, and hope everyone has a good week. Never forget that you gotta golf it, before you frolf it.

Love,
Elder Abbott

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