Family! Another totally fast week down in ol' Mish Dish. But oh man, am I
exhausted. Walking a ton all week, and then playing sports all day on
Monday takes it's toll on a body. And I'm starting to feel it. Most 20
year old kids probably don't feel like this, but in all honesty, I feel
like I'm as old and Grandpa Ron. Whoever that is. You know, like when it
just hurts to get up, or bend down, or just be standing up. Maybe I'm
just complaining, but I feel like an old man. Actually my Mission had
made me even more pumped to be a Senior Citizen, how awesome is that
going to be? A little golf (and frolf), work in the Temple, a little TV,
a little restaurante, a little hangout with Grandkids, a little travel.
That sounds like the life! Yep, I bet I am the first 20 year old who is
a little jealous of his parents life. Usually it's the other way
around, right? Well whatever, first time for everything.
So it was a pretty solid week this week. I mostly did divisions with
the misionaries in my district the whole week, and those are always
fun. It's like a mini-vacation from your area. And as much as I love my
area, it's always nice to get a little change of pace going on. I was
literally as far away as I possibly could be in the Mission! The area
Ojo Caliente is on the borders of the Mish, and I was out there, pretty
sure we actually accidently left the Mission. Like I said, divi sions,
always an adventure. I always had to do divisions with the Zone Leaders,
which is definitely tiring, but a good exprience all in all. Other than
that, nothing too crazy going on. Oh, the President of the Mission and
his Family came to our Ward randomly last Sunday. That was a suprise.
But miracolously, tons of people came! Way more than normal, so I think
we got some good respects from the Pres. And actually, President and his
Family played with us all day today, and it was totally good
times.Nothing like playing Ball with your Mission President, and feeling
bad when you totally block him as hard as you can. Guess I won't be
Zone-Leader anymore. Easy come, easy go. But the good news is that I
think we have another baptism lined up for this next Saturday. It's
another niña, but this one has more than 8 years, so it counts for us!
Her name is Gabby. We've been teaching her, and her Family, and she by
far gets things more than anyone else in that house. And she is 11. Her
Dad is actually a member from way back, but never really got a hold of
anything and was never really active. But the rest of the Family aren't
members, perfect, right? Nope! Turns out the Dad and the Mom (Alma),
aren't married, just like everyone else here, so we have to get them
married and that sort of takes a long time. So considering I think I'll
have changes next week, I say Gabby is more than ready. And she
definitely is.
So yup, this is officially the last week of the change. It's been
incredibly fast. And unfortunately, some of my best friends of the Mish
are going home, so that's sort of a bummer. But I guess I'm really not
all that far behind them, just 4 months more and it'll be my turn. How
weird. But good at the same time. And so anyways, the Heat won the
championship! I'm happy about it, the Zombie Sonics beat the Lakes, and
they are total spases, and I kinda hate their crowd, so it's all good. I
still think it's lame LeBron sold out so much, but the dude deserved a
ring. Especially if he's putting up triple-doubles in the finals. And
just like that, that should be the very last NBA Finals I don't see for
the rest of my life. Yes. That's a good feeling. But at the same time, I
have been learning and growing a ton out here and wouldn't trade this
time for anything. The Mission was such a necessary part of my life, so
glad I made it out here. Hope you guys are doing awesome, because you
are all awesome. Keep on keepin' on.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, June 25, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
June 18, 2012
Family! Man, another totally fast and good week in the ol' Mish. I know I must have said it a thousand times by now, but man does mission life go by fast. I'm going to feel super weird in about 4 months. But for now, just gotta keep ratchin' it up, and then of course, ratchin' it back on down. Michaud got it figured out.
Alright, so what happened this week? Alright, so I got a cool tender mercy story. So literally 5 seconds after I wrote you guys last week I realized that I had no idea where my wallet was. Mexico is definitely not the place where you want to lose your wallet. I had like 150 pesos in there, and some more or less important things (expired Disneyland pass, Golden Spoon coupon, etc). And like two days ago and member calls me and tells me he found my wallet, with everything still inside! Even my pesos! Now if that's not a miracle, I don't know what is. Can't wait to use that Golden Spoon coupon. In all honesty, I'm pretty proud of the fact I've haven't really lose anything out here. Still got my camera, my wallet, my backpack...I lose way more stuff in the US than I do in Mexico, go figure. Maybe I'm finally just figuring it out. Well other than that, Samara finally got baptized a couple of days ago! Sure she is an 8 year old girl, and therefore doesn't really count for us, but still a baptism is a baptism I thinks. She is super cool, and I guess I was the once who convinced her that getting baptized is a good thing, so I was more than happy to do it.
And it looks like we'll keep on baptizing if everything goes as planned. We've got some cool people we're teaching right now, good stuff around the bend. Today was cool as well, checking out Zacatecas' famous La Bufa. It's basically just a big hill, but still. I liked it. It has something to do with the Mexican Revolution, but I don't really know what. That's kinda cool, right? We went with Miguel, who is one of the best friends I've made out here. And now we've got a Family Night planned with the Family we just baptized (Irma, Valeria, y Diego) with another family in the ward. So yep, like I said, good stuff going down. Except I've sort of been procrastinating on all the divisions with the other missionaries I have to do, so I'll be all over this next week. But no complains, always fun to check out another side of town. So glad I decided to go on a mission.
So how is everything back at home? Word on the street is that the Heat are up 2-1 against the Zombie Sonics. Dude, this has gotta be Lebron's year, looks like he is just tearing it up. And besides, why would I want the team that beat the Lakers win the championship? But either way, I'm sure it's a super entertaining finals with those two teams. But definitely looking forward to what moves the Lakes make this summer, I'm expecting good things. So Fathers day just happened, right? Happy Fathers Day Dad! There is no doubt in my mind that you are the greatest Dad ever. The only man I know that can start his own successful company, and sling-shot a toy monkey into a nativity scene. You the man, Big D. Well Family, keep me updated on the hap's back at home. Believe it or not, I'm really not that far away from being a part of it again. The Gospel is true, just gotta make it happen, cap'n. Hans.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Alright, so what happened this week? Alright, so I got a cool tender mercy story. So literally 5 seconds after I wrote you guys last week I realized that I had no idea where my wallet was. Mexico is definitely not the place where you want to lose your wallet. I had like 150 pesos in there, and some more or less important things (expired Disneyland pass, Golden Spoon coupon, etc). And like two days ago and member calls me and tells me he found my wallet, with everything still inside! Even my pesos! Now if that's not a miracle, I don't know what is. Can't wait to use that Golden Spoon coupon. In all honesty, I'm pretty proud of the fact I've haven't really lose anything out here. Still got my camera, my wallet, my backpack...I lose way more stuff in the US than I do in Mexico, go figure. Maybe I'm finally just figuring it out. Well other than that, Samara finally got baptized a couple of days ago! Sure she is an 8 year old girl, and therefore doesn't really count for us, but still a baptism is a baptism I thinks. She is super cool, and I guess I was the once who convinced her that getting baptized is a good thing, so I was more than happy to do it.
And it looks like we'll keep on baptizing if everything goes as planned. We've got some cool people we're teaching right now, good stuff around the bend. Today was cool as well, checking out Zacatecas' famous La Bufa. It's basically just a big hill, but still. I liked it. It has something to do with the Mexican Revolution, but I don't really know what. That's kinda cool, right? We went with Miguel, who is one of the best friends I've made out here. And now we've got a Family Night planned with the Family we just baptized (Irma, Valeria, y Diego) with another family in the ward. So yep, like I said, good stuff going down. Except I've sort of been procrastinating on all the divisions with the other missionaries I have to do, so I'll be all over this next week. But no complains, always fun to check out another side of town. So glad I decided to go on a mission.
So how is everything back at home? Word on the street is that the Heat are up 2-1 against the Zombie Sonics. Dude, this has gotta be Lebron's year, looks like he is just tearing it up. And besides, why would I want the team that beat the Lakers win the championship? But either way, I'm sure it's a super entertaining finals with those two teams. But definitely looking forward to what moves the Lakes make this summer, I'm expecting good things. So Fathers day just happened, right? Happy Fathers Day Dad! There is no doubt in my mind that you are the greatest Dad ever. The only man I know that can start his own successful company, and sling-shot a toy monkey into a nativity scene. You the man, Big D. Well Family, keep me updated on the hap's back at home. Believe it or not, I'm really not that far away from being a part of it again. The Gospel is true, just gotta make it happen, cap'n. Hans.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11, 2012
Family! Alright, so it's been a pretty good week to tell you the truth. Oh, and I'm also sending a whole bunch of pictures, that don't even fit on this email, so be prepared for those. Turns out my companion had tons of pictures on his memory I didn't know about, so I picked those up, and suddenly my Mission Memory Book which may or may not happen has just become that much cooler. So enjoy all those, and now you can guys can sort of read-sort of zone out during the rest of my missionary letter. But this one should be a good one, so if I were you, I'd pay attention.
First things first, we baptized Irma, Valeria, and Diego! Now this is definitely a big deal, and definitely some of the most special people I've gotten the chance to know out here. We totally lucked out finding them, I guess it was one of those classic "let's knock one more door before we go and eat" kind of things. Irma didn't even let us in the first time around, because she was busy planning Valeria's Quincenera (big birthday party when a girl turns 15), and we found them the second time around. Just took off since then. And so like two months later, they're officially members! Their baptism was a total miracle as well. Me and Elder Pineda seriously did everything right, we went early to fill up the baptisimal faunt and everything, and everything was going fine, but then all of sudden...no water! Why does this always happen? I guess I am in the middle of a desert, sometimes I forget that. But anyways, there was pretty much no water to speak until like an hour before the baptism was supposed to start. And then all of a sudden, water comes bursting out of the faucet, and the baptism was saved. There still wasn't a ton of water, so they had to get some serious knee-bendige going on to get under the water, but it all worked out. We only had to baptize Valeria twice...she's the tallest. But all things considered, not bad, right? They got confirmed yesterday, and they even payed their tithing! Which is something totally awesome to see as a Missionary. That's when you can kinda tell they're in it to win it. Oh, and so the baptism of that cool little 8 year old girl didn't happen, but we've got it planned for this Saturday, so expect some more cool pictures.
The rest of the week was good, we've got some good potential in this area. But the next coolest thing of the week was what we did today. Have I ever told you guys about Brother Flint in our ward? Well he's an American, totally white dude, and he teaching English and lives here. Well today he took me and the other Elderes from Guadalupe to La Quemada, which are some old ruins out here in Zacatecas. It involved climbing lots of really old stairs, but it was still totally fun. Check out the pictures! And I didn't even get sun burned afterwards, which was probably the second biggest miracle of the week. Probably has something to do with the fact that I actually put on sun screen for once...I guess it works after all.
So those were the high-lights of my week. I really feel like I'm doing the best I can out here, and it's easy to see that a lot of the effort is paying off. I'm just convinced at this point that the key to life is being obedient to the Gospel. I mean, it's not that hard, right? It really is what makes us happy, and the other stuff, just not so much. I'm really grateful for that testimony I've been given. But anyways, the NBA! So word on the street is that it's gonna be a Thunder/Heat finals. Man, that will be totally fun to watch. Since I didn't see the Lakers/Thunder match up, I don't really have too much Thunder hatred, and besides, gotta love an underdog story. But I've said it since the beginning of the year, I think this is Lebron's year and according to what Marv told me, Bron is stepping up. I still think it's lame that Bron sold out like that, but I mean, he's a pretty likeable guy I guess, and he does look exactly like those angry blocks on Mario, gotta hand that to him. I'm predicting Heat in 7. Can't wait for the 2012-2013 season. Oh, and I'm also loving the last months of my Mish too, so don't worry about me. Church is true, and I love it. Here I am, ready to be your friend.
Love,
Elder Abbott
First things first, we baptized Irma, Valeria, and Diego! Now this is definitely a big deal, and definitely some of the most special people I've gotten the chance to know out here. We totally lucked out finding them, I guess it was one of those classic "let's knock one more door before we go and eat" kind of things. Irma didn't even let us in the first time around, because she was busy planning Valeria's Quincenera (big birthday party when a girl turns 15), and we found them the second time around. Just took off since then. And so like two months later, they're officially members! Their baptism was a total miracle as well. Me and Elder Pineda seriously did everything right, we went early to fill up the baptisimal faunt and everything, and everything was going fine, but then all of sudden...no water! Why does this always happen? I guess I am in the middle of a desert, sometimes I forget that. But anyways, there was pretty much no water to speak until like an hour before the baptism was supposed to start. And then all of a sudden, water comes bursting out of the faucet, and the baptism was saved. There still wasn't a ton of water, so they had to get some serious knee-bendige going on to get under the water, but it all worked out. We only had to baptize Valeria twice...she's the tallest. But all things considered, not bad, right? They got confirmed yesterday, and they even payed their tithing! Which is something totally awesome to see as a Missionary. That's when you can kinda tell they're in it to win it. Oh, and so the baptism of that cool little 8 year old girl didn't happen, but we've got it planned for this Saturday, so expect some more cool pictures.
The rest of the week was good, we've got some good potential in this area. But the next coolest thing of the week was what we did today. Have I ever told you guys about Brother Flint in our ward? Well he's an American, totally white dude, and he teaching English and lives here. Well today he took me and the other Elderes from Guadalupe to La Quemada, which are some old ruins out here in Zacatecas. It involved climbing lots of really old stairs, but it was still totally fun. Check out the pictures! And I didn't even get sun burned afterwards, which was probably the second biggest miracle of the week. Probably has something to do with the fact that I actually put on sun screen for once...I guess it works after all.
So those were the high-lights of my week. I really feel like I'm doing the best I can out here, and it's easy to see that a lot of the effort is paying off. I'm just convinced at this point that the key to life is being obedient to the Gospel. I mean, it's not that hard, right? It really is what makes us happy, and the other stuff, just not so much. I'm really grateful for that testimony I've been given. But anyways, the NBA! So word on the street is that it's gonna be a Thunder/Heat finals. Man, that will be totally fun to watch. Since I didn't see the Lakers/Thunder match up, I don't really have too much Thunder hatred, and besides, gotta love an underdog story. But I've said it since the beginning of the year, I think this is Lebron's year and according to what Marv told me, Bron is stepping up. I still think it's lame that Bron sold out like that, but I mean, he's a pretty likeable guy I guess, and he does look exactly like those angry blocks on Mario, gotta hand that to him. I'm predicting Heat in 7. Can't wait for the 2012-2013 season. Oh, and I'm also loving the last months of my Mish too, so don't worry about me. Church is true, and I love it. Here I am, ready to be your friend.
Love,
Elder Abbott
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
June 4, 2012
Family! I didn't think it was even possible, but this weeks are speeding
up every time. Seriously feels like it's Monday like every three days.
That must be a good thing, right? I remember those two months in the MTC
literally seeming like a year long, but now it's a whole different ball
game. The key to the mish is just to get into your groove. When you
fall into your niche, and sort of figure out your mission-life, time
goes by so quick. Just goes to show, everything Brett said in his
infamous "slap in the face" letter (sent little over a year ago) is
happening. Never doubt the keeper of the keys. And so I feel like I've
sort of gotten to that point where things just come a little easier now.
Learning spanish was definitely a big part of that, turns out when you
have no idea what people are saying or how to talk to them, time goes by
sort of slow. No idea how baby Claire/Evie/Bella get through it. My
respects for those niñas. Oh, and by the way, I just finished 19 months
last week! That's sort of a long time, isn't it? It's a weird feeling, I
honestly can't imagine what coming home will be like. Seems like it
still won't actually happen, but in 5 short months I will be jumping in
our pool. I don't care how cold it is. Sounds so good right now.
So it's been a pretty....weird week. To tell you the truth, I'm not even allowed to talk about all the events that went down this week in the Mision Mexico Torreon, but it was pretty nuts. Long story short, we weren't allowed to leave our house for a couple of days there, but the good news is everyone's fine! So no worries. Sort of like a missionary-fire drill. I'll explain more in 5 months. But needless to say, we didn't really get much chance to get out and work considering. I did play lots of cards with Elder Pineda though, that's the good news. Oh, and I also got to travel to world famous Fresnillo for a special conference with President. It's a little pueblito about an hour away from here, it's about as exciting as Bakersfield is. But we did get to watch the first hour of a movie on the bus going out there, did anybody see.."8 minutes to die?" That's what it would be translating from Spanish, but it's got Mr. Brokeback, and it was totally cool! But then again, I would probably say that about any movie at this point. But more importantly, our main investigators, Irma, Valeria, and Diego, are going to get baptized this Friday! I'm especially pumped up for this baptism, they're some of the coolest people I've met out here. I'm so happy we found them. There officially going to be ready to go this Friday, and it's gonna be an event. But just to make things even better, we have another baptism Saturday too! I'll be baptizing that awesome niña I told you guys about, Samara. I can't remember if I told you guys or not, but she was originally totally freaked out by the water and never wanted to get baptized, but I convinced here otherwise. It's gonna be sweet. So yup, good last week, and should be a great week coming up. My back does totally hurt though, we played basketball, volleyball, and soccer today. I felt pretty good about my perfomance in each one, but I don't think the human body is meant to play three sports in one day. Abby's couch sounds pretty amazing right now, but not yet, Hans. Oh, and I also just got done eating a hamburger that was literally the size of a pizza. That's definitely worth saying in the weekly email. I feel like they should have gaven it to us for free considering we ate it all, but whatever. Totally good, I am so full.
So thats kinda whats going on with me. Anything new at home? Word on the street is that both the NBA series' are tied, gotta love that. All you could really ask at this point, considering the Lakers aren't playing, is that all the series' go seven games. I think they will, so enjoy those games brothers. Well it's officially June, this year has gone by totally fast, right? Neices and nephews about ready to start summah time, there's magic there. Oh, and are the Youngberg's seriously moving from Via Madera? What's next, are we going to lose the fat people? The Buddhists? What is happening?! That's a definite bummer, but we had a good run with them, like 26 years of glory. But who's house will I walk to bare foot and watch their TV/eat their food now? I guess those days are gone, which is only natural, I'm turning 21 in a few months now. Now that's weird. Well, I guess it's about that time that I fit in some spiritual stuff. I don't know, I'm just super, super grateful that I'm here. I feel like I really got a good grip on what life really is, and how I gotta do it. The Church is the Christ's Church and it tells us exactly what to do to be happy forever. I'm sure about it, and I'm so happy to know it. You just gotta follow that one guys advice, and "don't screw it up!" Keep on truckin' Family.
Love,
Elder Abbott
So it's been a pretty....weird week. To tell you the truth, I'm not even allowed to talk about all the events that went down this week in the Mision Mexico Torreon, but it was pretty nuts. Long story short, we weren't allowed to leave our house for a couple of days there, but the good news is everyone's fine! So no worries. Sort of like a missionary-fire drill. I'll explain more in 5 months. But needless to say, we didn't really get much chance to get out and work considering. I did play lots of cards with Elder Pineda though, that's the good news. Oh, and I also got to travel to world famous Fresnillo for a special conference with President. It's a little pueblito about an hour away from here, it's about as exciting as Bakersfield is. But we did get to watch the first hour of a movie on the bus going out there, did anybody see.."8 minutes to die?" That's what it would be translating from Spanish, but it's got Mr. Brokeback, and it was totally cool! But then again, I would probably say that about any movie at this point. But more importantly, our main investigators, Irma, Valeria, and Diego, are going to get baptized this Friday! I'm especially pumped up for this baptism, they're some of the coolest people I've met out here. I'm so happy we found them. There officially going to be ready to go this Friday, and it's gonna be an event. But just to make things even better, we have another baptism Saturday too! I'll be baptizing that awesome niña I told you guys about, Samara. I can't remember if I told you guys or not, but she was originally totally freaked out by the water and never wanted to get baptized, but I convinced here otherwise. It's gonna be sweet. So yup, good last week, and should be a great week coming up. My back does totally hurt though, we played basketball, volleyball, and soccer today. I felt pretty good about my perfomance in each one, but I don't think the human body is meant to play three sports in one day. Abby's couch sounds pretty amazing right now, but not yet, Hans. Oh, and I also just got done eating a hamburger that was literally the size of a pizza. That's definitely worth saying in the weekly email. I feel like they should have gaven it to us for free considering we ate it all, but whatever. Totally good, I am so full.
So thats kinda whats going on with me. Anything new at home? Word on the street is that both the NBA series' are tied, gotta love that. All you could really ask at this point, considering the Lakers aren't playing, is that all the series' go seven games. I think they will, so enjoy those games brothers. Well it's officially June, this year has gone by totally fast, right? Neices and nephews about ready to start summah time, there's magic there. Oh, and are the Youngberg's seriously moving from Via Madera? What's next, are we going to lose the fat people? The Buddhists? What is happening?! That's a definite bummer, but we had a good run with them, like 26 years of glory. But who's house will I walk to bare foot and watch their TV/eat their food now? I guess those days are gone, which is only natural, I'm turning 21 in a few months now. Now that's weird. Well, I guess it's about that time that I fit in some spiritual stuff. I don't know, I'm just super, super grateful that I'm here. I feel like I really got a good grip on what life really is, and how I gotta do it. The Church is the Christ's Church and it tells us exactly what to do to be happy forever. I'm sure about it, and I'm so happy to know it. You just gotta follow that one guys advice, and "don't screw it up!" Keep on truckin' Family.
Love,
Elder Abbott
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