Abbey's letter December 16, 2013

Only 9 more days until Christmas, which is so crazy! This week was a
good one. Things are starting to pick up here a little. We were
finally able to meet with Gary and Don, this week, our two
investigators. These were our first investigator lessons since I have
been here. We were also able to have a first lesson with Ron who we
met at the library. I was in Hartford on Tuesday for exchanges. I was
with a sister from Argentina. There was a snow storm and it was the
first time that she had ever seen snow which was fun. It is a Spanish
branch there so I wasn't much help but it was a good day. We had
dinner with a lady who moved here from Peru 4 months ago. She has a
three year old daughter and is pregnant with another. She is trying to
learn English so that she can give her neighbors books of Mormon and
share the gospel with them. She is such a sweet lady. This last week
we were at food shelf helping out again and they had some packages of
q tips that they were giving out. One lady when she was leaving was so
excited to have q tips because her daughter has always wanted some but
they could never afford them. It reminds me to stop and be thankful
for all of the little things even q tips something that I know I take
for granted. There is a man at Food Shelf that always volunteers
there. He is probably in his 60's and his wife passed away about 5
years ago of cancer. He spent most of their married life cheating on
her. When she passed away he felt guilty and decided to change his
life around trying to make it up to her. You can tell that he still
has a lot of baggage. Makes me grateful for the atonement but also
that I was raised to know what was right and wrong so that I won't
have to deal with guilt like that later in my life. In our lesson With
Gary he expressed to us that he does not want to get baptized on Dec.
28th anymore because he wants to feel that it is his own decision. So
we are still meeting with him and praying to know how to help him. He
is a very tender hearted and anxious man.
Our bishop spoke on Sunday about the new vision for our ward. For this
year they will work on saving themselves and then next year will work
on saving others. He has asked us to use preach my gospel in every
member lesson to help them do this. I am grateful for this opportunity
that we have to build the ward up. There are a lot of broken down
people here who need a lot of love. We have a good bishop and I am
grateful for his vision. There is a man in my ward, Brother Bohne, who
served in Billerica 51 years ago. It was his first area in his mission
as well. On Monday we found out that Christin was getting baptized
this Saturday and that she really wanted me to come. Brother Bohne had
said that he always wanted to go back to Billerica. So he and his wife
drove me down for the baptism. It was very sweet of them and I don' t
know how I will ever repay them. Christin was 30 minutes late to her
own baptism:) So everyone was already seated when she showed up. When
they walked in we embraced in a very tearful hug. It was very tender.
I didn't know that I was on the program but I was able to bear my
testimony. She was baptized by her Husband! They went into the fount
and kissed before he baptized her and all the kids giggled, it was
cute! What a blessing that she is now baptized! Life is good here. I
miss Billerica but when I was there this weekend I realized that
Ellington is home now and where I need to be. And after all its not
about me and what I want but what the Lord knows is best. I love this
gospel, and the message of hope that it is. We never have to wonder
about what lays ahead of us if we just trust in God. We were able to
go to a catholic choral performance last night that a couple invited
us to. It was very beautiful and I did feel the spirit when they were
singing. But looking around at the art displays of Christ they all
pictured him being very sad and distressed and in turmoil. It kind of
made me sad that that is the only perception of Christ that they
remember. When really he is this glorious being who is all light and
is our savior. Their idea of him stops when he was crucified for our
sins when really HE LIVES and that is the most glorious thing about
it. He wasn't born into this earth just to die but to live again. And
that is why he can look toward our future with hope that we will get
to live with our Heavenly Father again. I love this gospel and I love
my savior Jesus Christ. I know that he is very involved with our lives
and that we should seek to involve him more. I love you all and hope
that you have a very good week!
love Sister Rushton