Love,
Elder Abbott
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
There and Back Again
Alright Family, this is it. I'm going to make this super short, we'll
talk Thursday. But I guess in a few words, it's been a
super...educational past two years. It's been awesome. So glad I came
out here. I'm pumped for what's around the corner. Now I can say I really
do know that Christ lives and this is his Church. That's my peace.
Thanks for being so awesome all of you during these two years, I'm so
excited to see everyone again. So much goofing and gaffing to be
done...so much. Love you guys!
Monday, October 29, 2012
October 29, 2012
Family! Can you believe how fast time is going right now? It's like
Tuesday-Saturday is just like one giant day, Sunday is it's own day, and
then it's Monday again. I guess that's why time has gone by so fast..the
week is basically three days for me at this point. Either way, home is
starting to feel weirdly close. Not exactly sure how to explain it, but
the idea of being home totally blows my mind. That's why I try not to
think about it too much, makes teaching my Mexican buddies sort of
harder. But speaking of Mexican buddies...happy to say that I (probably) officially had my very last baptism as a missionary! Jose Maria Gonzales
Espinoza. Teaching this guy was such an awesome experience. One of
those guys that was just willing to do whatever to get baptized, and
totally got everything we taught him. Needless to say, totally blessing
for us. Especially for me, I was wondering if I'd be able to manage
another baptism, and then Heavenly Father just sends this totally
prepared guy for me and my companion to teach. You never get tired of
that kinda thing as a missionary.
But yep, it's true, it's officially my last full week as a
Missionary. Basically my last week actually, because for the few days
that I'm kicking around here next week not too much will be going on.
Plus out week is already planned out a ton..we've got another Conference
type of thing this Wednesday (some big changes are going down in
Mexico), doing divisions with an American buddy on Thursday, and Friday
we have the Zone-Leader meeting all day. Gonna fly by for sure. I guess
my goals at this point is to just leave the area better than how I found
it. Gotta find some cool investigators and things like that, just so I
can leave a happy man. Kinda like the guy on Braveheart when he
dies..."I'm a happy man..." that's the kinda feel I'm going for.
So I guess I'm finally starting to run out of things
to say. It's going to be a lot better to just explain in person. I'm
super excited to see everybody, but I can't tell if I'll feel right back
to normal when I see everybody or if it will be totally weird. Probably a
little bit of both. Either way, Marvelous, fight to tivo as many Laker
games as possible, each one will be as if it were live to me. And man
will that be awesome. It's going to be Halloween pretty soon, isn't it?
So much magic there, so much Almond Joy. True niece and nephew madness
at Abby's place. I actually saw a few pictures, what is Miles dressed up
as? Farmer? Best costume ever. Jacob is looking truly buff. Somebody
should share some candy for me, it's been a while since I've gotten some
good sours. But something amazing did happen this week. There's a
family out here that goes out to Utah once a year to visit family, well
they just got back last week, and brought me a gigantic bag of pretzels.
It's true! I've been eaten them non-stop. So much pretz. Life is good.
Church is true, I'm sure if I were a missionary for an untrue Church,
people wouldn't be giving me giant bags of pretzels. Coincidence? I
think not. Have a week great Family, start the count down, I'll be home
in 10 days.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, October 22, 2012
October 22, 2012
Family! Yep, it's Monday again, time is flying. So is it weird, or not
that weird to think that I'll be totally home in a little over two
weeks? To tell you the truth it really hasn't hit me still, still seems
pretty far away actually. I'm sure it will totally go by fast, but for
the mean time I have a million things to do out here before I can throw
in the towel...kinda stressful actually, but it's a good kind of
stressful. Speaking of good-stress, I really have no idea what I'm going
to do after the Mish! I'm not woried about it, because I gotta trust
that the Lord will make things happen for me, but at the same time I
think I've got some stuff to figure out. Guess who has two thumbs and
got rejected by BYU...this guy! Alright, so I kinda saw that coming, but
I had my fingers crossed. Well whatever, I can just go back to the ol'
BYU Hans Center, pick up the grades, and give er' another go when Fall
rolls around. I feel like I've got a way better feel for whats really
important in life, and I'm pumped to work for it. Still have no idea
what I want to do though...I guess I'm going to study business because
everybody tells me I'd be good at it. I can be the new man in Watts-land
now that Randy is CEO of some huge company. Work my way up the ranks,
and I'll be GM of the Lakers in no time. I'm looking foward to it. But
I'm not trying to go overboard on all that stuff, I'm incredibly pumped
to just goof and gaff back at home. Things will work themselves out. Get
my temp-agency on. Ratch it on up.
So like I said, another totally fast week. Things in the
area are totally picking up, there should be a solid number of baptisms
coming up. Probably won't be here to see them, but that doesn't really
matter. It's pretty cool to see the Ward coming together and getting
more involved in Missionary Work, they were total grumpsters when it
came to working with us when I first got here. Now we've got
appointments like every hour with a different member coming with us, the
magic is coming together. Oh and the kid we baptized last week blessed
the sacrament last Sunday, always cool to see that kinda thing. It's
still incredibly hot out here, totally thought it would calm down come
October, but oh boy was I wrong. Feels like July in Torreon still...I
guess Torreon is just making sure that I won't forget it anytime soon.
I'm starting to realize there are a lot of things I'm going to miss
about this place, it's totally ugly, but still love it for some reason.
Two and half weeks left to enjoy it, gotta live it. Oh yeah, we actually
have a baptism lined up for this Friday, my good buddy Jose. Couldn't
ask for an easier baptism, just showed up one day at Church and
basically said this: "I'm from Chihuahua, but I'm going to live in
Torreon now, I was going to get baptized over there, but I thought it
would be better to get baptized here...can I get baptized now?" Music to
a Missionaries' ears. Besides him, we got another lady who is
progressing great, just might be able to fit two baptisms to finish it
out, like Aaron Mckie in the 4th quarter.
Whats going on at home? Mom and Dad finally got
home, right? That's awesome, it's going to be so incredibly awesome to
have all the family back at home again. Lots of magic around the corner.
Well sir, Church is true as always, and it's really the only peace that
we can find out here. so glad I was able to figure all this stuff out
in my Mission. Keep it real, family.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, October 15, 2012
October 15, 2012
Family! Geeze, another totally fast week in the very last change of the
Mish Dish. Time is finally starting to catch up with me, it's kind of a
weird feeling when you realize that suddenly you'll stop being a
Missionary in three weeks. You know, compared to like 70 weeks, which
really doesn't seem that long ago. I guess for a long time I've had the
mindset of..."I'll figure it all out after my Mission," and now that I'm
almost there, I still have no idea what I'm going to with my life! But
I'm not stressed about it, I know things will work themselves out. If
all else fails I can just bring back DPD. Or Mom can sign me up for the
Lakers. That'd be awesome.
So happy to say that we finally had a baptism in the
Jacarandas Ward! It's been forever since we've had a baptism, in fact
ever since we stopped knocking doors, the baptisms just sort of stopped
in this ward. The members are still figuring out their roll in all this,
they're sort of taking forever to figure it out, but it's alright. So
yep, Luis got baptized, and it was great. He got involved from the
Church because his girlfriend is a member, and dude's been on fire since
the first time he came. I think he's got definite Missionary potential.
So now that I'm in my very last area, and I officially say that
someone's gotten baptized in every single area I've been in. I don't
plan on saying that very much because it's lame to do that, but it's a
good feeling. I don't think I'll be leaving the Mission with very many
regrets. It's been awesome. So for now we don't have tons of people to
teach, but as always, we have a million less-active people to work with, that's always fun. President put the goal to double the attendance in
each ward by December, I won't be here to see it happen, but I can
definitely put my part in all that. Other than that, life has been good,
nothing to crazy going on. Rained totally hard last night, (which makes
no sense because it was super hot that day). We just got back from
playing soccer in Torreon's official park: The Bosque. It was totally
muddy and still sort of raining, but it was tons of fun. I'm even worse
playing in the mud, but it was still good times.
So I guess that's my life right now. We had a pretty
stressful week with lots of divisions, and conferences n' things we had
to do, but the time does go by faster with all the responsibilities. But
anyways, whats going on at home? Are Mom and Dad back from the longest
road trip ever? Every time I check my email they're somewhere different.
I loved the picture with the monster putting his head inside the Lexus.
I'm so glad Mom and Dad were able to do their Mission, I'm sure they
loved it, now we can all be back together again for the Holidays...true
magic there. So as always, the Church is true, and Christ really is the
source of real peace in this life. And it's his Church, so obviously
doing the things his Church tells us to do, makes us happier/feel peace.
Transitive Property. I'm totally ready for school. Love you guys.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, October 8, 2012
October 8, 2012
Hey-O! Another week down the ol' home stretch. Don't get the wrong idea
and think this is all I've got my mind, but...it's officially one month
exactly that I will be biting into that double-double at In-N-Out and
watching Kevin eat Chicken Crispers in Chili's. I guess it still feels
like a ways to go. entire months don't always go by super fast, but I'm
sure with all the work we have going on, I'll for sure be busy at least.
Presidente has some serious wisdom keeping me as a leader until the
end, I'd probably be sort of completely distracted if it wasn't for all
the work we have to do. I'm super grateful for that, and we're seeing
results for all the hard work we're putting out there. In fact, we were
in Little Caeser's (yep, they have them out here too), and some member
came out of nowhere and bought us tons of food! If that isn't a tender
mercy from the Lord for working hard, I don't know what is.
This week went by super fast, probably had something to
do with the fact that we had tons of meeting n' stuff. This is what went
down: Meeting with Stake President, Meeting of all the Zone-Leaders in
the Mission (once every month), and General Conference. Man do meetings
take a long time, I guess I prefer being out doing things, but I guess
you gotta have the meetings to make things happen. But my favorite by
far was the General Conference, some true magic there. Gotta love my
main man Uchtdorf's talks, always leaves me feeling positive and pumped
up for the future, and pumped to work well to make it happen. But how
nuts that they changed the Mission ages up, right? If I would have left
at 18, I would have been home for like a year by now! But I think I'm
grateful I left when I did, if I wasn't all that prepared at 19 years,
even worse at 18. I'm sure tons more young woman will take off, and 19
years olds well pretty much not exist in BYU. Pretty big impact in the
Mormon World for sure. But besides that I was pretty bummed when the
conference was over, I for sure took for granted the opportunity to
listen to the Prophet and Apostles. I mean Dad has to pretty much drag
me to get to Priesthood Session...thanks so much Dad for being such an
awesome influence always. You the man. As far as the work is concerned,
we definitely should baptize somebody this Saturday, (who should
actually come to his baptism, and you know, not leave us hanging with
the baptismal font filled and everything.) His name is Luis, cross
your fingers it happens, and some prayers would be nice too.
So how is life back at home? Where am I going to
sleep when I come home? I can already imagine it, I put all my stuff on
the downstairs bed, and Dad tells me, "nope, Uncle Clay is coming to
visit," and I'll have a sleeping bag waiting for me in the shed in
kennel. Can't wait. Well hope everything is going great back at home, I
gotta admit, I really am excited to see and everyone and be with
everyone again. Gonna be awesome. So yeah, the Church is for sure true,
pretty sure it was obvious last weekend. I love all of you guys. Keep on
truckin'.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, October 1, 2012
October 1, 2012
Hey Family! Are you guys starting to count down the e-mails? I'm
sure everyone stopped reading these things (besides Mom and Dad) about a
year ago, but can you guys believe that I'll only be sending...5 more
of these bad boys? Hard to believe I know, so you guys better get the
most out of each one. I'll try to make them as interesting as possible,
some crazy stuff goes down in this place, this Country is sort of nuts.
But I've somehow grown to love it (but that doesn't mean I'm not pumped
to be back in The Land of Gracious Living).
So this was the first official week of my last change with my new
companion, Elder Montiel. It was really good actually, I think. But
first I'll tell you guys about the new companion. People say he looks
like he's 15 years old, (he's 19) but he's a solid dude. It's funny to
think that when I came out here I was just 19 years old, and now that
I'm 21, I feel like 19 is totally young. Slowing becomming old man, how
awesome. But yeah, he'll be a good last companion, we're working really
well and I'm expecting some good things over the next 5 weeks. This week
I saw the biggest dog I have probably seen in my life, literally like
Sandlot Dog big. It's always fun working in the poorer parts of our
area, you never know what giant animal will be around the corner...giant
dog, giant donkey, giant horse, giant pig, giant horse, giant
goat...freaks me out everytime. But I guess Via Madera still has it
beat, I have yet to see a giant Emu out of nowhere. But like I was
saying, we've got some cool people we're teaching. One of them is the
Camacho Family, they've been in-active for like the past 15 years! The
son, Carlos Comacho has a sort of near-death experience that made him
realize that he isn't ready to take off, so he's having this whole 100%
turn around and taking his family with him. We had him, and his Mom in
church last Sunday for the first time in forever. Total miracle. We even
had a few other people who haven't been in years that came to Church
finally! They're not baptisms, but it's really the same thing when you
think about it, just inviting people to come to Christ. And that's what
it's all about, Hans.
Today we hit up the other mall here in Torreon (there's just two),
it's called Gallerias. I'm sure the Brea Mall makes this mall look like
Chuck E. Cheese, but I still feel way out of place in places like that. I
guess I've gotten pretty used to the more humble sort of style and
being in places like that is always a weird feeling. But we did manage
to take a picture with a statue of Michael Jordan, so no complaints. But
anyways, life is good out here in the middle of Mexico. I've been
studying Doctrine and Convenants a lot lately, and it's been pretty
rockin'. The book is full of promises for Missionaries, I probably
should have studied D&C a long time ago, but I guess I never got a
good feel for it. But now that I am reading it, it's awesome. Really
just reinfoces the truthfulness of everything pertaining to the Gospel.
So glad I have this knowledge in my life, people really are so lost
without it.
How is life back at home? Are Mom and Dad with their missions yet?
Who knows. But either way, there are for sure good times to be
had around the corner at Abby's place. I'm excited about it for sure,
but gotta finish up strong out here without any regrets. So I guess
that's what I'm trying to do now. It's not a really big deal to me at
this point to have baptisms and all that, I just want to do what the
Lord expects of me, and if I can do that, I'm cool about it. Hope
everything is awesome back at home as it always is. I love you guys,
Church is true, and that's what it's all about...eat my dust!
Love
Elder Abbott
Monday, September 24, 2012
September 24, 2012
Family! So it's the start of a brand new change, and yep, it is the
very last change. How weird is that? Totally never thought I'd get to
this point, last area, last companion, last everything. I totally
remember buddies I had before who got to their last change, 6 weeks flew
by, and now those dudes have been in their house for a couple of months
now. Don't worry, I'm not getting too ahead of myself, but In-N-Out is
starting to seem less and less far away. Just gotta ratch it on up, and
than ratch it back on down for this very last change, and bam! I'm the
newest resident of Abby manor all over again. So nuts.
So this last change was definitely unlike any others I've had
before. It was a whole different feel being Zone-Leader, and even more
since we officially stopped knocking doors when we began the last
change. I never thought I'd say it, but man did I miss knocking doors.
Since the members didn't really give us any references, it was pretty
much 100% working with less-active members, which is...fun. It can be
super cool when someone gets activated and all that, but I think it's
even harder to activate a less-active person than baptize a person that
doesn't know anything about the Gospel. The less-active kids always have
these weird feuds with other members and for stupid little reasons
refuse to come back to church. You know what I think that means? That
they never really had a testimony to begin with! If someone really
belives in Christ and His Church, than there's no question, they're
going to be there when Sunday rolls around. Despite what some member
might say about them. But I've for sure learned to be SUPER careful with
the things I say to members of the church. Something I definitely
didn't care a ton (at all) about before the Mish. I invite you guys to
do the same. But yeah, we didn't get the chance to baptize anyone this
change, but thats fine, some people plant, some people harvest, it's all
the same work. But I think we've got some opportunities in this next
change, we'll try to make some magic happen.
Elder Garcia is headed home this Thursday. He was a
really...interesting companion, but gotta hand it to him, he made me
laugh a ton. My new companion is named Elder Monteal, (yep, he's
Mexican), and he gets in from Zacatecas at like 5. So we gotta go pick
him up in a little bit. It's Elder Monteal's first go as Zone-Leader, so
that means I'm Senior Comp again and will have to run the show for the
last 6 weeks of der Mish. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it.
Elder Curtis, the Native-American kid who has been working with us will
be going to Florida! Who knows why, but good for him, right?
So I guess thats whats going on in my life? I guess I've ran out of
super interesting things to say for the last leg of the Mish. Tons of
interesting/weird/funny/
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, September 17, 2012
September 17, 2012
It's true, oh man, I feel totally sick right now. So somebody thought it
would be a great idea to hit up the Mexican Circus which was in town,
which you know, sounded like a good idea at the time. Worst idea ever!
Just a bunch of those rides which were specifically designed to make you
feel like somebody punched you in the stomach. And since I was with the
other missionaries, I had to do like every single ride. The rides
themselves weren't even that bad, but they just lasted for forever! Do
you know that one ride, the pirate ship that goes back and forth? I kid
you not I was going back and forth on that thing for half an hour. I've
felt pretty terrible ever since. But you don't really get time to rest
in the Mission, especially on P-Day, so whatever. Sorry if this email
doesn't make any sense, my minds sort of spinning still. But yeah,
lesson learned, no more Mexican Circuses.
So what has gone down this week? The Great Storm of
Torreon. It rained crazy hard out here, totally out of nowhere. Pretty
sure lightning struck out house too one night, because I have never
heard thunder so loud before. More fear than Sammy on the 4th of July.
Check out the pictures I'm sending, total madness. I was totally happy
about it however, way better than it being super hot. Also the 15th of
September went down this week, which is like the Mexican Independence
day. It was pretty good times, tons of drunk dudes who are also fun to
talk to. We had special orders that day to be home by 7:00, so we
decided to take advantage. We ordered Pizza and played UNO late into the
night, there's magic there. Oh, and we had to give another conference
last week which I think went pretty well actually. I think I'm getting
used to this public speaking thing. All in all, the week went by super
fast, and now it's officially the last week of the change, and the last
week of my companion, Elder Garcia. Dude is out of here next week. Weird
to think that my very last change of the mission will be starting up
soon. It's getting close.
So I guess that's my life as of right now, but whats
going on at home? Are Mom and Dad done with their mission? Either way, I
loved the pictures last week, congrats to Randy on being part of the
bishopric and having a full head of hair. Alright, so I guess I don't
have much time this week, but I love all of you guys, and the Church is
true. That's really all you need to know. Take it easy, Famil-y.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, September 10, 2012
September 10, 2012
Family! Another incredibly hot week down. Yes! And I think I'm
starting to sweat less, which you know, is a huge accomplishment.
Although I'm sure I've taught a few lessons with a reder face than the
infamous "hot-face." But it's all good, the fact that I can see the
finish line does put a lot of things in perspective, and you know,
reminds me I won't have to be walking underneath this sun for
forever. Our swimming pool will feel so, so, so good...I don't care if
it will be November. Me and Sam are going in. I hope Sam's still alive
and you guys haven't been keeping a secret like that Greg lost him like a
year ago...I'll keep the faith alive. Alright, so what happened this
week?
The highlight of the week was probably the famous "Consejo." So
there's this meeting that zone-leaders have once a month with the
President, and everyone wonders what happends in these meetings. Atleast
I always have. And last Friday I found out, and it's a lot less
exciting that you're probably thinking, but still cool. With the coolest
parts probably being the free breakfast and lunch provided, can't even
take a solid breakfast for granted. So basically the whole time we
talked about keeping our faith up despite we're going through some
struggles as a Mission. I told you guys that we stopped knocking doors
and all that, right? Well this whole time we've basically been banking
that the members would step it up and give us tons of references to
teach...and guess what, hasn't really happened yet. So we've been sort
of struggling finding things to do, and trying to avoid visiting those
super weird less-active ladies that are in every area. Hasn't been easy
so far, but we gotta keep going at it. It's easy to see that all of it's
going to pay off because Satan is working so hard to prevent it. I'm
sure the changes that we're trying to make will put Mexico back on the
map, spirutually speaking. We're crossing our fingers for a Torreon
Temple within the next 5 years, and the work that we do out here will
definitely be a huge part of we get there or not. Me and my companion
have to give another training meeting tomorrow to the Missionaries about
all the stuff we learned in the Consejo. Wish me luck.
So thats basically my life up to this point, and I should mention
that we somehow managed to eat in a super nice Italian restuarant last
Monday. Thats the first picture I sent. I probably look like a
Misisonary schmutz in these pictures, but I really don't think I'll be
all that weird coming home. My English is sort of terrible, but I'm
going to try to make it better these next couple of weeks. Oh, and Mom
and Dad, I got the package you guys sent. True magic. I already read the
book you sent me, it was awesome, and I read the TIME magazine like 15
times over. Candy was super good as always, and my teeth already hurt,
which is a definite sign I enjoyed the package. You guys are the best
parents ever. Well sir, guess thats all from me this week. Keep doing
what you do, Family. Love you guys, Church is true, Goof and Gaff.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, September 3, 2012
September 3, 2012
Family! Alright, so I think I can send a some-what decent letter this
week (pictures and everything!). Yeah, it's been kind of a stressful
change actually, and I feel like I can never really write you guys. Must
have something to do with all this Zone-Leadering I have to do, which
is a lot more work than I thought it would be. But it's keeping me
honest for my last two months in the Mission. Speaking of which, it's
true, today I complete 22 months as a Missionary. Holy moly. It feels
like a lot more time when I type it out than when I just say it out
loud. So yep, two months mo', and than I have to figure out the rest of
my life. And by that I mean call up Temp-Agency, buy Playstation 3, and
watch Batman 3 (among other things of course). But for the time being, I
still have lots of work to take care before I can call it good out here
in Mexico. And the icing on the cake...I got my flight itenirary today.
I'll be flying into John Wayne Airport, Thursday Nov. 8, and I'll get
in about 11:30AM. So yep, plan your schedules accordingly, take your
vacation days, and we'll parade all the way back home to Via Madera.
Should be fun.
Alright, so what's been going on in my life lately? So
like I said last week, my companion and I had to give that huge
conference to a bunch of Missionaries. I think it went alright, I just
made jokes half the time, but I think we got the message across. To tell
you the truth, pretty sure I feel more comfortable doing public
speaking in Spanish than I do in English...my homecoming talk is going
to be a disaster. Oh, and I turned 21 last week! Sort of old, isn't it?
Legit adult. Sort of. And how was my Birthday? Fantastic. We worked all
day, didn't find anybody cool to teach, and the guy we were going to
baptize didn't even show up to his baptism. Yes! No one even really knew
it was my Birthday either, but thats okay. Honestly, I guess I got to
the point where it's not really that big of a deal. But that doesn't
mean that I'm not super pumped for the packages that I hope are on their
way. Something cool did happen though, a family totally randomly gave
me a giant bag of pretzels! It's true. They went to Utah, bought a
gigantic bag of Pretzels, decided they didn't like it, and so they gave
it to us. Heavenly Father definitely remember it was my Birthday, and he
for sure delivered. I'll should be eating Pretzels for the rest of my
Mission! Best moment ever. What else is going on? My companion Elder
Garcia is in his last change, he's a pretty weird dude, but we're having
a good time. Ther other guy in the pictures is Elder Curtis, he's
Native-American, and has been working with us the past few days for some
reason. Other than that, the work has been hard lately, but we're doing
the best we can with what we got. The results will come, probably not
exactly when I want them too (like now), but they'll come sooner or
later.
And....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GREG AND DAD! Saved the
best part for last. I've probably been stealing the thunder of your
guys' birthdays for way too long, hopefully you guys lived it up now
that I'm in a different country and all. You're both heroes for me, and
If I can be half the man you guys are, I'll be super happy. What did you
guys do? Marie Calendars? Burger King? Limitless oportunidades. Hope
all is well at home, and everyone is taking it easy. I heard Rick got
back, I totally remember his last night at home, we watched a Via Madera
classic, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island," good to hear my buddy is back
at home. Well sir, that's all I've got for you guys this week. Keep it
classy.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, August 27, 2012
August 27, 2012
Family! So guess what, my missionary email got deleted last week
for some reason. They told me it was because I had two emails assigned
to my church account (I had one before the Mission, and they gave me one
to use as an email for the Mission), and they got confused which one
was which and they Church ended up deleting my Missionary account. So I
guess I have to use this for the next two months. I don't have everyone
in the families email address, so if you guys could send me your current
email address, that would be awesome. Sorry I can't respond to your
emails this week or even read them, my account got deleted last week.
But yeah, it's been a good week in the Mish. I have to give a
Zone-Conference to 50 missionaries tomorrow...totally not ready for it,
but should be good times. Also we've got a baptism lined up for this
next week! His name is Fidel (not Castro), I'll try to get back on the
picture train and send more next week. I'm also turning 21 next
week, sounds kinda crazy, doesn't it? The Church is true.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, August 20, 2012
August 20, 2012
Family! Wow, first week as Zone-Leader down. I know I usually talk about
how incredibly fast the week went by, but this week was kind of a
different story. But it's pretty much always like that your first change
in a new area, especially when it's 1000 degrees outside. Yep, I've
entered the sweat-zone again, and yes, I am sweating as I right this.
Sort of like that fat guy on Simpsons..."I shouldn't have said
anything about a secret code...it's too hot today.." Sorry Mom and Dad, I
may be a Missionary, but Simpsons will never stop being funny for me.
Anyways, I'll fill you guys in whats going on in my life nowadays.
My new companion is Elder Garcia, yep, the Elder Garcia
companion part 2 (same last name, different guy, thank goodness). This
is actually his last change, and we're Zone-Leader'n it together. He's a
pretty cool guy, the first Mexican I've met with a British sort of
sense of humor. Totally reminds of me of the Michael on the British
version of The Office. He's from Puebla, and will be out the door in no
time, so I probably won't even really get that used to him. But he is
teaching me the ropes on how to be a Zone-Leader, which is a whole
different ball game I'll have you know. It's fun, and is actually less
work than being a District Leader, win-win. The area, Alemedas, is
pretty ugly, but still good. We've got a man named "Luis" who lives next
to our house, and he is 98 years old. For some reason he thinks that we
don't speak Spanish, and always tries to speak to us in English. Makes
me laugh so hard, I have no idea what he is saying when we walk by and
he yells at us. My companion does like practicing his English with him
though. Our ward is cool, but we're actually going to have a huge change
in Torreon this week, combining and taking out wards and whatnot in all
the Stakes out here in Torreon. We've got some pretty fancy meeting this
week with Stake Presidents and other people to plan out all the
changes. I never thought I'd be involved in the kinda meeting where the
fate of several stakes is involved. Yes, I'm finally important! It's a
cool feeling. But no, it's not getting to my head. I'm sure I'll just
sit there and not say anything, but still. The other good news, is that
I've good a cool buddy in the Zone, Elder Bell, who happens to be from
Laguna Beach. Nothing better than finding a fellow Californian to joke
around with, as much as I love kids from Utah...there's no comparison
for me.
So I guess that's everything going on for me right
now. People keep telling me how close I am to going home, but it still
doesn't really feel like it...but I guess it's sort of true. Well I want
to make sure that I taught everybody Heavenly Father wanted me to teach
during my time out here, so I'm doing the best I can to finish strong
like Kobe. Speaking of Kobe, I'm assuming that Dwight Howard and Steve
Nash are direct results from me working hard as a Missionary. Heavenly
Fathers knows me, and he definitely knows how to bless me. And he is for
sure doing it. So how is everyone back at home? Was there some kind of
huge get together last week or something? Man, how much more family
events are going to happen in the next two and half months? Why can't we
just all hold off for a little bit, and then go nuts for all of
November and December? Think about it. Well Family, life is pretty good,
I'm going to go eat some Little Ceasers right now. Yep, it's true. I
love all of you guys, and I love Christ and his Church.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, August 13, 2012
August 13, 2012
Family! Alright, so I've got like no time to write, but here's the
skinny: I am a Zone-Leader? Yep, it's true. I just got bumped up to
Zone-Leader last night, I just got to my new area in Torreon... so
incredibly hot. I left Zacatecas this morning, and 6 hours later in the
bus (with some truly weird movies), I'm back in Torreon. Wish I had my
time to talk, but the two main highlights were Esmerelda's baptism, and
the cool Vacation Hawaii activity we did. Happy to say that both of
these things went pretty awesome. Kinda like my farewell from Guadalupe,
it was the best 6 months of my mission, easy. So yep, just 12 weeks
left as a Missionary, but I have to ratchet on up now more than ever
being a Zone-Leader and all...I haven't eaten anything since like 8:00
in the morning, crossing my fingers some nice lady we teach will give me
something to eat. So happy about Dwight Howard. So happy. I love you
guys, talk to you next week!
Monday, August 6, 2012
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