October 3, 2011

Hey Family! Man it's been a really fast week, and a lot of interesting things went down so I'm going to do my best to remember all of them. But first and foremost, does anybody know what today is? Today is the third of the months, which means Elder Abbott has just finished another months in his Mission! That's right, exactly 11 months ago I was hanging out with Kev around BYU feeling really weird because I was already set apart as a Missionary, and later that afternoon Rach dropped me off at the MTC. Is that just me, or does 11 months seem like a lot of time? It's all gone by so quick, but at the same time it does seem like a long time since I've been home, so I don't really know what to think. But as the time goes by in the Mission I can tell I really am learning a lot of things. Not just things from the church (I've at least tripled my knowledge of the church since I started my Mish, but thats not saying much, I really didn't know anything before), but I am also learning just life things. Honestly from the things I've learned so far here, I feel much more ready to start my own life and be successful. Don't get me wrong, there is a still tons of things I need to learn how to do. For example, and maybe Mark can relate with me on this, I have never, ever changed a diaper, I'm not looking forward to the day when I have to learn it. But it is a good feeling knowing how to do little things like that, guess I'm just becomming a more well-rounded dude.

So anyways, what has happened this week? So Fanny wasn't able to get baptized last Saturday because she drank tea a couple of days before. Wah, wah, waaah. But that's okay, she explained that there literally was nothing else to drink, and she felt about it and promised to never do it again so her date got moved for this Saturday. No worries. We also had Zone Conference this week which was very educational and very, very long. I did learn a lot though and I got to see Tarabilda for the first time in a long time. We had a combined Zone Conference and he is in the Zone right next to me, so it was good times to see him again. After Zone Conference (do you like how many times I've said Zone Conference?), two really cool things happened. Firstly, all the companionships now get portable DVD players and all these videos to watch and study, I thought they were kidding when they first told us about it. But nope, we've got a little DVD player in the house and Elder Toone and I enjoy a nice Church approved movie a few nights a week. Second cool thing was getting letters and packages and what not. Big ups to Marv and Heather for sending me some seriously delicious snacks, and a giant picture of Urkel. What more could I ask for for my Birthday? Marv and Heather, you guys rock.

Another great part of the week was visiting Jose. Jose lives with his older brother Edgar who is around 35 years old, member of the church, and one of my favorite guys in the ward. Well anyways we went to visit Jose the other day and Edgar had a bunch of cardboard and we asked what he was doing. He told us that he was building a computer. I thought he was just joking, but his face was definitely not kidding around, that man was determined to build a computer of pure cardboard. I asked him if he had any plans or anything, and he handed me a piece of paper with just a hand drawn computer on it. The people here in Mexico are kind of crazy, but I can't help but love them. Anways, the highlight of my week would definitely have to be General Conference. President gave us permission to watch all 5 sessions with or without investigators (before we had to have one to go). I watched 10 hours of conference over two days, and it was pretty awesome. I'm at the point of my Mission where I'm just grateful to be sitting down, and it's even better when I get to listen to the Prophet and the Apostles. I never appreciated General Conference back in the day, but now I really do love it. The things they say are the best possible advice we can receive that always makes us better and our lives happier. They definitely focused a lot on Missionary Work, it felt cool to be doing exactly what the Prophet and Apostles want me to be doing.

So that pretty much was this week. I hope everything is going great back at home and everyone is living it up. I miss all of you, but I know for sure I will see all of you in not too much time, so I'm just going to make the best of my time in Mexico. And hey, can everyone remind me one more time who exactly is having babies within a couple of months and if they're girls or boys? Marv is having a girl, Kev is having a girl, and Mike is having a girl too, right? I'm calling it right now, the next 10 Abbott babies will be girls and our finally will finally be sort of evened out. Okay guys, better get going, but I love all of you and want to hear from all of you's. Keep on truckin' family.

Love,

Elder Abbot