August 6, 2012

Family! How's it going? All these Mondays are totally flying by, I totally forget what month it is all the time. I spent the majority of this week thinking that we were still in April...no, I'm not kidding. Once you really get into the flow of things, you really do lose track of time as a Missionary. Suddenly it's August...and I have officially finished 21 months as a Missionary. That's totally a long time, isn't it? It's weird, all the other guys who I saw as the legends of the Mission have already took off, and suddenly I'm one of the oldest dudes out here. I mean, how did that happen? Who knows, but I gotta admit, it's kind of a nice feeling. It's also a nice feeling that USA has like 60 gold medals or something like that...I never realized how much I loved our country tell I left it. Michael Phelps will have 1000 gold medals.

 

Alright, so it was a pretty awesome week actually, let me tell you about it. First and foremost, we finally had Gerardo's baptism which was long overdue. I actually gave him his first interview, but he had to fix up a few things with Presidente, but he was totally ready to go. Presidente finally came out to Zacatecas last Monday, and he was able to get his interview and be good to go. Did I tell you guys what Gerardo said when he got married to his wife? (like two months ago, I was an official witness!) After the little ceremony and everything..."see you in one year for the divorce!" And after his interview with Presidente, he broke out the classic.."see you in one year for my baptism with the Jehovah's Witness!" Classic. Maybe that comes out bad on an email, but Gerardo is a total jokester and makes me legit laugh so many times. I also have to fake-laugh a ton out here, I still understand only like half of the jokes Mexicans make. But with Gerardo, there's no problem. Long story short, his baptism was awesome, and he and his family are super pumped up. His wife, Marisol, who has been strong in the Church for about three years, was just overjoyed to see her husband be baptized. They've already set the goal to be sealed as a family in the Temple in a year. It's super cool being able to play a small part in all these amazing blessings for other people. But I guess thats what the Mish is all about, good times. We've got another baptism lined up for this weekend actually, Esmerelda, a cool girl we found knocking doors.

 

Well this is the last week in the change, and it defintely looks like I'll have changes. I've been out here in Guadalupe, Zacatecas for about 6 months now, and it's been the best experience of my Mission thus far. I've had more success here than any other place (and all the Missionaries say you can't baptize in Zacatecas) I've been, and enjoyed it the most. But I think I'm going out with a bang. We've got the baptism planned for this Friday, and Saturday night we're having a huge Missionary Activity for the ward. the idea is this: Hawaii Vacation. We'll be decking out the chapel, and we're going to simulate the Plan of Salvation. The people will get in a "plane" that ends up crashing, and everybody dies. Then an Angel comes an gives them a tour through what happends after death (Spirit World, Atonement, Kingdoms of Glory, etc.). Each room in the chapel will be a different part of the Plan of Salvation, and we put a different organization in charge of each one. Relief Society in charge of the Celstial Kingdom room of course. I'll let you guys know how it goes, but it should be pretty epic.

 

So I guess that's life for me right now. Whats new at home? So much Olympics...is China still beating us? I hope not, we gotta establish ourselves as the most athletic country in the World, or else my Mexican buddies will keep trying to trash on the US of A. I totally hate that. But I got faith in my Country. Other than that, sounds like everything is great at home, especially now that Marv and Heather are at home again. Can't tell you guys just how much I'll enjoy that first Laker game with Uncle Marv, eating goldfish. Paradise. But for now, just gotta live it up in the Mish and take care of everything Heavenly Father is expecting out of me. The Church is true, love you guys, keep on truckin'.

 

Love,

Elder Abbott