Abbey's letter Aug. 19, 2014

This week has been a good one! Patrick and Kathleen and Grace, Kathleen's daughter were at church this Sunday. This is the first time since I have been here that Grace has been to church. So that was exciting. We asked Tieroll if he would let us teach him more about the gospel and he said that we could but we haven't been able to set up an appointment yet. He did come to the Family Home Evening though this week. He seems to get a long with all of the members really well. We had quite a few people there this week. Kathleen and Grace came. And Emeron, Chelsie's son is back from his vacation in Idaho where he stayed with his Grandma for a month. So we have primary again, we are excited about that. Yanedra has not been home when we have dropped by the last month or so and hasn't been calling us back so we decided to give her some space. But we saw her in town on Sunday night. She said that she had lost her phone, so we hope that she is still interested and that we can start teaching her. 

This week we had nothing to do Friday night so we decided to go into town and see if we could find any people to talk to. We ran into a man named Vincent who works across the street from the library and we had a good gospel conversation with him. He is very religious and believes in Baptism by immersion. We gave him a Book of Mormon. And he said that he would read it every day. We went and got some dinner at the stop and shop and sat down at a bench to eat it. The girls sitting across from us asked if we were the sister missionaries for the lds church and we said yes. Turns out she is a former investigator. She is in high school and met Alex the Milstead's son in school and wanted to learn more about the gospel. She loves the Book of Mormon but she had to giver her copy back because her parents are very anti Mormon and she was having to hide it from them. She was coming to church and Family Home Evening but was having to sneak out of her house to come so they decided it probably wasn't the best thing. Turns out her father is a less active on our ward list and he very much dislikes the church. She was telling us that all of her family lives back west and is active in the church. She wants to learn about it so bad. It made me really sad. I hope that she looks into after she turns 18 and moves away from home. We were able to talk to her and then we were walking around and no one really wanted to talk to us so we thought hey well just ride a bus and see what happens. So we got on the bus that goes out to Sconset and we sit down and this man named Lucky turns to us and says, "Why haven't you called me. I have been looking everywhere for you!" We said ah we didn't know we were supposed to call you. We had meet him at the beginning of June. We were challenged to give away a Book of Mormon a day and had given him one but we hadn't gotten his number. He said I remember your faces and every time I am at the bus station I look for you. We asked him we could get his number so we could call him:) And he said that we could start teaching him. We had an appointment for Sunday but he cancelled on us. Then on Monday we were supposed to have dinner with Chelsie but Ozni's family ended up coming over to the island so she had to cancel on us. And we had nothing to do. So we again went into town and we were sitting on a bench and Lucky calls us and says I am in town can we meet. So we met him at the bus station and taught him the first discussion there. It has been a long time since we have gotten to teach a lesson and it felt so good. He believes in modern day prophets and has a really good testimony of prayer. He wants to come to church. He has been to an lds church before and knows a lot about Joseph Smith. We have another appointment with him on Wednesday at our church building. We going to do a church tour even though it is just a little basement:) We also on the bus ride to town saw a family that we have wanted to share the gospel with but we haven't seen in a while. They invited us to a music making event at a park and so after we taught Lucky we dropped by. It was really fun just a lot of people beating on drums and shaking tambourines. We gained their trust a little more. We are hoping to get them to come to Family Home Evening. I am learning that God will give us opportunities as long as we put ourselves out there. Most of our success comes when we have nothing to do because things have fallen through and we are open to anything. Most of the time we have no idea what were going to do at the beginning of the day and somehow things work out. It is teaching me to really trust in God. And its OK that we have no idea what were doing. Sometimes its even better because it forces us to rely on him. 

We are seeing many miracles happen. I feel very blessed to be a missionary at this time. The Lord is truly hastening his Work. In so many ways that we have no idea about. And it is completely by him and not us that it is made possible. But we are blessed to be a part of it. I love this gospel and I know that it could bless every individuals life here on the earth. God is a very merciful God. I love you Family. I hope that you have a wonderful week. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter Aug. 12, 2014

Hello Family:) I hope that everyone is having fun in Montana. But I also hope that someone played on the teeter totter for me. 

This week has been a very eventful and good one. A lot of unexpected opportunities have come up.

We had 38 people at church on Sunday which is an all time record for our little group here. Tim had felt the night before that he should drop by his work and pick up some extra chairs, and we had exactly 38 chairs there:) We had 7 non members there which we weren't expecting. Patrick came to church. And Rosie's friends Dida, Loreto, and Wally who we had had dinner the night before with came. And a couple who is here for the summer spoke in sacrament meeting and they had invited the man that they take care of to come. Also two young adults who are here for the summer to perform in the Oklahoma play invited two of the cast members to come to church. We had two people from the branch and a member of the stake presidency there. A family of 8 from Boston were visiting for the day. And on Saturday we had 2 nannies and another woman call asking where the church was. We didn't know what to do with so many people. It was almost like normal church because we actually had two speakers instead of one and we had a musical number. It was awesome, and every one was so happy. It was a blessing to have so many non members there this week. The member of the stake presidency wasn't so sure about our basement church:) They are going to come put carpet in and make a few changes. 

Patrick and Kathleen invited us over for dinner on Sunday night. This is the first time that I have ever been invited to their home. The whole group was over there for dinner but Lorraine and Sister Vaai and I stayed around after dinner and talked to them for a while. We were able to chat with Kathleen for a while, which was a blessing. She opened up to us a little. She has a very hard time with missionaries being transferred and has vowed that she will never get close to another one again. So as a result of that she doesn't want missionaries coming over to their house to have lessons with them because that means she would get close to them. So we are trying our best to find our means for them to grow spiritually. Part of me worries about them because they wont let us help them progress more spiritually. But then another part of me recognizes that they are still studying on their own and are slowly gaining very strong testimonies so I am trying to have patience. Patrick is studying in the pearl of great price and he loves it. He has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and the stories in it have really come alive for him. I am starting to see how hard it is for the members here with the missionary changes. They really are a family and they consider each other family. And each of us missionaries become their family, and it is hard when one of them has to leave. It makes me all the more grateful that they still love each of us new ones that come in even though they know we wont be here very long. Lorraine was really sweet and was trying to convince Kathleen that if she doesn't get to know each of the new missionaries she is missing out even though it is hard when they leave. Kathleen did agree to give the spiritual thought for our next Family Home Evening which is exciting. She will be doing it on the grace we find through the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

This week Dida and Loreto, Rosie's friends had invited Tim and Lorraine over for dinner. And they decided when they started dinner that they wanted us to come as well. Their friend Wally was also there. He recently lost his wife a few weeks ago. They were married for 30 years. We had dinner and discussed families being together forever. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and give them one. They are very intrigued with the church. They go to the born again christian church and it meets at the same time as us so they said that they weren't going to be able to come to our church. But Rosie did not give them a choice:) She said um Brother Tim wants you to come so you will pick me up at 10:30 and we will go to church. So they all came to church and we are hoping to have them at family home evening on Wednesday. 

We had zone meeting this week so we got to go off island for that, which was nice. 

President called us on Thursday night and asked us to be digital missionaries. Our mission has started a digital mission. They started a website calledreallifeanswers.org. It is a website where they have short articles on a lot of religious questions. They asked every missionary here in our mission and a lot of members to write articles for it. They have had the website running for a while. Then they have a few missionaries that have worked on a website that finds blogs or articles that are written about these topics. So then the digital missionaries can go on these blogs read them and comment on them, and refer them to reallifeanswers. We have been digital missionaries since I got here and then they decided to stop it for a while. They have it up and running again but this time they are giving us more lee way with how we can talk to these people. Before if they started to write back and forth we had to refer them to the missionaries on the website and hand them over. But now we can use Facebook or pinterest or email to communicate with them back and forth and we get to teach them. If it gets far enough we can even Skype them and teach them over Skype. So cool! President said that before we start we will have a meeting with the missionaries in charge of this and they will go over the rules and help us get our Facebook ready. I'm not sure if I will use the same one or a new one but we will see. I always said I never wanted to be a Facebook missionary. But I am kind of excited! 

President Packard has also started a portable visitors center. He has a few missionaries that are called to just over see the portable visitors center. They have created a lot of displays with videos and answers to questions and they travel around the mission and do open houses for the church buildings or they will come to church events that are happening. They called us this week and they want to come to Nantucket! We are very excited and we just need to find a place for them to do it. It may have to be in the Milstead's backyard, but we shall see. 

Earlier last week I really felt like I needed to get a priesthood blessing. I had just been feeling a little off. And I had felt really emotionally and physically tired. And I was having a harder time forgetting myself and going to work. And I just felt like I needed to ask for a blessing. It was a weird feeling to know that there was only one person I could ask for a blessing and I completely depended on him because no one else could do it. I can't imagine what he feels like being absolutely the only one on the island who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood. He gave me a blessing after we had dinner with them on Tuesday. It was really good. I feel like all of my blessings in the past have just been very loving and this one was very to the point. Heavenly Father told me that he loved me and that I need to completely push my wants and my desires aside and plead every night for the spirit to be with me. I just had this very strong feeling that the Lord is completely in control and he knows what he is doing and we are not doing the work, He is. So if we don't do everything to align our will with his and to try to have his spirit with us then not all of his work is getting done. Ever since I have gotten here on the island I have met all of these wonderful people and I have wanted to teach them and to see them reach baptism. But the Lord humbly reminded me that it is not yet time. Not everyone will be interested right away and want to join. But they will some time down the road. And we may never know it until we leave this life. I was told that those that we serve with will learn more from us by working with us then they would from us teaching them. That was really powerful. I know that there is a lot to be done and that the Lord expects a lot out of us. But all he asks is that we tell him we cant do it on our own and that we need his help. President always reminds us that we do not know the needs of those around us. But the Lord does. I was specifically told that I needed to be taking vitamins and minerals. I don't think that I have ever been told something so direct in a blessing. So I started taking vitamins and I feel much better. I am learning that if we take care of the Lord's individuals he will take care of us. 

Life sure is beautiful. I am loving all of the people that I am meeting and everything that I am experiencing. I hit my year mark on Thursday which is all together very crazy and a little scary. It has gone by so fast. I feel very blessed to have had this last year. I am grateful for all the people that I have met and all the things that I have experienced. I am grateful for this gospel and the blessing that it has been to share it with others. I have been truly blessed. I know that this is God's church on the earth. 

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week and drive safely on your way home from vacation. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter August 5, 2014

Hello my dear family!

Not much new things have happened this week with our investigators, hopefully we will have more updates next week. Tieroll did come to our family home evening this week. We had a fire in the Milstead's back yard and roasted some s'mores. He seemed to enjoy everyone in the group. He was not able to come to church because he had to work this Sunday, but he has become really good friends with the Milsteads nephews, which is good. They will be helpful in his conversion process. 

Being here on Nantucket is teaching me a lot about really loving those around you. Sister Vaai and I only get to see other missionaries once a week when we go off island for Zone Meeting. When we are both used to seeing other missionaries twice a week, and in my first area I saw other missionaries almost every day. And we have a lot of time where we are alone to ourselves. We are alone during a lot of the service that we do, and when we are walking to places. I don't know if I have every spent so much time with one person. And it has really taught us to rely on each other. And I am grateful for the time that we get to spend together. 

I am also learning a lot about how our Savior judges our success based on our efforts. We were able to sit down this week and set some goals for all of our investigators. I am gaining a testimony about setting goals no matter how small the goal is. Nantucket is really teaching me how all the small steps lead to big things. And I am grateful that I am starting to see the vision of it all. 

I feel that this week I have been constantly reminded of all the many things that I have to be grateful for. It is a blessing to be a missionary and to try and share the gospel of Jesus Christ and his redeeming message with others. It is a blessing to be put in a situation when I am constantly trying to have the spirit with me. It is a blessing to have been born as a member of this church and taught to love it since I was a little girl. It is a blessing to have been taught who I am, that I am a daughter of God. And because I am a daughter of God I can know that my life is being guided by him. It is a blessing to have been taught standards that keep me safe from the things of the world. It is a blessing to know that God lives and the purpose of this life is to return to him. It is a blessing to have been born into families that are all members of the church and continue to live their faith. My life is a blessing. I am grateful for all the wonderful people that I have been blessed to meet and know. I am grateful to see the faith of all of the members here on Nantucket. They are so strong and have such tender testimonies of the gospel. They are all very much living examples of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And they sacrifice a lot for it. They are learning what it means to sometimes stand alone and to stick up for what they believe in. I am grateful to know each of them. I am grateful to know that God loves all of his children and he is very aware of the individual. 

This Sunday I was studying about how to align my will with Heavenly Fathers. And I looked up Prayer in the bible dictionary and it says that first we need to recognize the true relationship between the Father and Man and then prayer becomes easy, and then through prayer our will becomes aligned with our Heavenly Fathers. I learned that prayer does not change the will of God but it secures us blessings. And most blessing will not come until you ask for them. It says that prayer is a form of work and is the appointed means for obtaining the highest blessings. Prayer is such a beautiful thing. 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week. I love you all very much and I hope that everyone is doing well. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Lord's very church on the earth today and that he stands at the head of it. I know that we will indeed get to see Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father again. I love you all. Have a great day:) 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter July 22, 2014

Dear Family, 

This week has been a humbling week. We have seen so many miracles and tender mercies this week. Marcia is a woman that was a mormon.org referral. She has requested a free bible. We went to visit her a few weeks ago and she had some questions about the church. She said that she wanted to come see our church and we could come see hers. She was doing a presentation this Saturday on all of the missionary work that she is doing. So we asked the Zone Leaders for permission and they said that we could. It is a small group of Brazilians and the service is in Portuguese so we needed translators. That was a cool experience in itself to be a minority language and not know what anyone is saying. The church is called foursquare and it is a big christian church in Brazil. It was really cool. A lot of clapping and shouting and singing and standing. They were all so nice. And afterwards Marcia invited us to come to her home again this week to teach her more about our church. I have never thought of going to potentials as a way to gain their trust but I think that it helped Marcia to trust us more. As we showed that we are interested in knowing what she believes. It made me really appreciate other beliefs and religions. We do things a little differently but there are a lot of good people who are trying to worship God and doing the best with what they know. 

On Sunday church was about to begin and this unknown number asks when church is and what time it starts. So we were excited thinking it was someone that we had contacted in town. But a man walks in named Rick who is a member and had gotten our number from his friend. He is here for the summer and is from Gautama-la. We told him about Yanedra and he said that he would love to come translate for us. It was an answer to our prayers. We were so excited. So we went to visit her that night and we set up an appointment for this Thursday. And she is excited to learn more. She also invited us to go to her church with her. So we went with her Sunday night. And this one was in Spanish so we again needed translators. It was a lot like the other church from the night before. They had us stand up and sang us a welcome song. They were so nice. The Pastor came and introduced himself to us afterwards and his wife is actually a baptized member in Salvador. He was really surprised when we told him that we were Mormon missionaries. 

We also received a new investigator from the sisters in Boston. He has just moved here to Nantucket and they were starting to teach him there before he had moved. So we are really excited. His name is Tieroll. 

On Wednesday for FHE, Danielle who is a less active gave the spiritual thought. Sister Vaai felt like we should ask her to. She hasn't ever come to church her and has been to FHE once a few months ago. But she came and gave a beautiful thought on repentance and what it means. It was really cool. I think that people just need to feel needed.  

We were able to go visit Rosie this week. We had dinner with her on Thursday. She is such a funny lady. We asked her what her spiritual goals and she said that she really wants to serve a mission. Her husband lived with her here for 13 years and then decided to move back to the Philippines and has since been unfaithful to her. But she is so loving and forgiving towards him. She is such a strong woman. We really enjoyed getting to visit her again. Rosie Set up a lunch her friend Dida who has been coming to church and us on Saturday. We are really excited to get to start to teach her. We have been so blessed this week with things moving forward with our investigators and potential investigators. 

Lacy will be here on the island this weekend and will be coming to church. We are hoping to get to set a baptismal date with her while she is her with the group. We really feel like we need to keep her spiritually progressing before life wears on her too much and she completely breaks down. So we are hoping to help her set a date. She is so ready her life is just really crazy. 

We have quite a few summer visitors now. We have about 10 new people who come every week. And we love them. We have two young couples from Utah, two people who are here for the summer plays, Rick, and then Carolyn who comes here every summer with her husband. So it has been really nice. On Sunday Jackie, the woman we met on the bus, came to church with her fiance. We think he was a little overwhelmed with his first Mormon church experience being in a basement:) But we hope he felt the spirit! 

Patrick and Kathleen are doing well. Patrick came to church on Sunday by himself. He is about in his sixties but he is so fully of energy. And he has such a strong testimony of the gospel. We are hoping to have him come out with us to an investigator lesson here soon. 

Life is really good her on the island. We find out if one of us is leaving on Friday. We hope that we get to stay together for one more but we will see. I know that the church is true. And that all of us are apart of something incredible. I know that God has an individual plan for each of his children to return to him. I am learning that if we think less about how things affect us and more about the people around us that things get a little easier. It is easier said that done, but is true. I have found that sharing the gospel becomes hard if you start to think about how you are going to find more people to teach or how things are affecting you. And it becomes a lot easier if you love the people around you and focus on how much they need the gospel. I love you my dear family. I hope that you have a wonderful week. As Sister Vaai always says, "God is soo good." Have a wonderful Day. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter July 16, 2014

Hey Family, Sorry I forgot to mention that I wouldn't be able to write yesterday. We had an all day long zone conference yesterday. So we are taking some time to write today, in between our service. We were able to go off Monday afternoon and spend the day with our zone which was fun since we don't get to see other missionaries very often. 

I am learning that the Lord very much has things under control. He knows where we plan to be and things work out the way it needs to. Being in the right place at the right time just simply means being obedient and doing what you should be doing. This morning we were on the bus going to the library and these two ladies on the bus recognized us as sister missionaries. They had no idea that the church was on the island. They are here for the summer selling designer bags. She started talking to us and said that her father is very into missionary work and has served a mission. Turns out she has been in active in the church for a long time. She took this happenstance of running into sister missionaries on Nantucket as a sign from God that she should go to church. She asked when church is and said that she will be coming every week.  It seems that every time we are running late and miss our bus we meet someone who has a lot of questions about the gospel or who has had a lot of exposure to the church who we would not have met had we been on time. 

This Sunday we were planning the Sunday School lesson on baptism. And we were really excited for Patrick and Kathleen to be there. So we had planned it around their needs. They had decided not to come. But Rosie's friend Dida came to church again. And we were glad that we had tried to make the lesson simple. Afterwards she came up to us and told us that she wants to learn more about our church! We are so excited:) 

We have an appointment to meet with Yanedra on Thursday and to start teaching her. We have decided that with Patrick and Kathleen we will start treating them as if they have a baptismal date and start preparing them for baptism. President Packard has his ten commandments of all the things missionaries must do for an investigator when they have a baptismal date. So maybe if we start working towards it, it will be sooner than later. We had a good talk about them with the Milsteads this week. We decided that it is better to love them and to accept where they are at then to push them away why wanting them to do things they don't want to do. It is terrible frustrating because they have such strong testimonies of the gospel and baptism would bless them so much. But I am trying to understand the Lord's timing in things. 

We were able to see Lacy on Monday. She had not gotten back to us for two weeks but we thought we would told her that we would be off island on Monday hoping she would be able to respond. She happened to be away from home when we texted and also was planning to be away again on Monday for appointments for Angie. It was such a blessing. We met her at a park with the cape cod sisters and she was able to meet them. We think going to church will be a little less scary for her now. She was terrified of the thought of going to a big ward with three noisy children and Angie having a break down in the middle and what people would think when she had to hold her down so she doesn't hurt herself. We told her we would find someone to sit by her to help her with the kids. Shes feeling pretty low. The rules at the shelter are pretty rough. And she is feeling very alone. If she could just make it to church then we think she will be ok. She said that she is starting to wonder if all of this is worth it. We pray that she makes it. It was heartbreaking to have to leave her. Sweet Lacy. 

Zone Conference yesterday was really good and just what I needed. It was all about retaining baptismal dates and that we as missionaries have more control over it then we think. President Packard talked a lot about becoming who we need to be. And to not let pride get in our way. He told us that we should welcome correction with open arms. Let everyone know our faults so that they can help us with them and that we should not be ashamed of them. Life experiences are meant to correct us and who are we to be offended by correction or to be hurt by it. Because that is how we become more like our Savior. We can't gain Christlike attributes if we don't find our faults and try to change them. It was a good reminder that becoming and changing and making mistakes is a beautiful and wonderful thing. I realized that if I am so busy at trying to be what I want to be and worrying that I am not, then I wont become who the Lord plans for me to be. 

I am starting to fall in love with the ocean. On Monday we took the ferry to the main land and sat outside on the side of the boat. My companion was asleep and I just sat there for two hours looking at the ocean. I think it is the best therapy and can take away any worry. 

I love you very much, and I hope that you have a wonderful week. I know that we are so blessed to live in this time and to witness all of the miracles of the Lord Hastening his work. I know that he is very much in control and will not be stopped and it is up to us to be a part of it. I love you all. Have a wonderful week. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter July 8, 2014

Hello Family! This may need to be a short one but I promise to keep writing until my time is up here at the Library! This week has been a very adventurous one. We were off island when the hurricane came. We had gone off island on Thursday night for a zone meeting on Friday. And when the storm hit on Friday we ended up staying until the storm passed and went home on Friday. We stayed on the Cape with the Cape Cod sisters. The Martha's Vineyard sisters stayed with them as well. We had our meeting on Friday Morning and then the storm started to hit. Not a lot of wind but a ton of rain and it rained most of the day. Sister Packard was a little worried so after the meeting she asked us all to go home and stay in for the night. So it was kind of like having a little slumber party with three sets of sisters since we were stuck in the apartment all day. Nantucket got it a little worse than we did but not too much damage was done. They lost power for part of the night and had a lot of wind but there was only a few tree branches here and there that had fallen off of the trees. On Thursday night we were on the ferry heading to the main land and Sister Packard called and was worried about us and wanted to make sure that we were coming off of the island for the storm. She is quite the lady. You will never have to worry about our safety as long as she is here. She sure worries about her missionaries. Make us feel good that even though she has about 300 missionaries she was worried about us and wanted to make sure that we were safe. 

Our Zone meeting was really good. The theme was to let it go and to let them know. Almost all of us have heard that frozen song because many little kids like to sing it to us. So we all vowed to let go of any fears that we have about contacting and talking to strangers about the gospel, and to let every know about anything about the restored gospel and to bear testimony of it. It was a really good meeting. This weekend Nantucket broke their record for the number of people in Sacrament meeting. We had 32 people:) We had a family of 16 visit from Salt Lake. One man got up to bear his testimony and said that last week he was in a sacrament meeting of a 1000 people and the Prophet was there. And he said that the spirit that was there was the spirit that was here in our little group. He said this as he had to hunch over while bearing his testimony so he wouldn't hit his head on a pipe:) They were all pretty amazed with our little group and our humble meeting place. Makes me really proud of them. They all are truly amazing. Lorraine taught the Sunday School lesson and we got to sit in since we had no primary kids at church and it was nice to be able to sit in. She taught about agency and how we have the power to choose. She told about how Satan will influence us to choose not what the Lord wants us to. She said that when the mission contacted them and told them that they were getting sisters and they were asked to look for an apartment. Immediately her husband said that they could live in their basement. And she was hesitant because it needed some work. But after looking they decided that the sisters could live with them and they got to work. Things were going horrible wrong. And one day the basement had flooded and when her husband came home she was in tears as she said their is water in the basement, and I don't know how this is going to work and how they were going to pull it off. They were about to tell them that they needed to find another place for the sisters to live and then she had this thought that Satan was was working really hard for the sisters not to come. That he did not want them to be there. He did not want the work to progress here on Nantucket and he was going to do anything to stop it. She said that once she realized that things changed and they were able to figure things out. Sometimes when there is opposition all we have to realize is that sometimes there are things working against us and once we realize that the path seems a little bit clearer. 

There is not much more news on our investigators. They are all busy little bees working for the summer. Hopefully I will have more updates next week. I love you all and my time is up, But I know that the church is true. I love this gospel and this mission. We are having a mission wide fast tomorrow for all those learning about the gospel and I am excited. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you for all of your support. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Here is a copy of President Packard's letter to us this week. I wanted to share it with you. He is truly amazing. 

Dear Elders and Sisters,

Tomorrow we will all take part in our first ever, mission-wide fast. We will be fasting for everyone who is committed to baptism this month (95 people at the beginning of the month.) We want a unified and collective effort on the part of the entire mission. All of us care for these investigators. They do not “belong” only to the missionaries who are teaching them; they belong to all of us. We all pray for them, and we all rejoice when these people make and keep sacred covenants. 

As you have undoubtedly observed, the record number of baptismal dates is an extension of a more broadly experienced spiritual outpouring that we are seeing throughout the mission. Much of the influence of this spiritual outpouring is intangible and unmeasurable (such as greater consecration, greater companionship unity, a greater effort to open our mouths, and a greater desire generally to throw ourselves into the work with reckless abandon). However, the measurable indicators have also increased. For example, the number of new investigators is way up, member lessons have increased, member “helps” have increased, and non-members at church have increased. Now, it is time for baptisms to increase – significantly. The Lord has set the table for us by giving us all these investigators and baptismal dates, and if we do our part by collectively exercising our faith, the Lord will bless these people. In essence, we are going to work like everything depends on us, and pray like everything depends on the Lord. Of course, the investigators play a huge role in this as well, and some of them will inevitably let go of the iron rod and wander off, but we want these cases to be only after we have done all we can do, individually and collectively, to shepherd them into the fold.

This is a special time for us, so let us enjoy this Spirit and keep its rich abundance flowing in our lives and ministry. Let us not be “weary in well-doing, for we are laying the foundation of a great work.” (D&C 64:33). Indeed, let us “waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things… [and] let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123: 13; 17). We really do have the “utmost assurance” that God’s arm will be revealed if we “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power.” Let us do this together!

Love,

President and Sister Packard

Abbey's letter July 1, 2014

On Thursday we went to visit Yanedra with Sandra. She had read the restoration packet and part of the book of Mormon and she wants to learn more but doesn't know how to formulate her questions into English. We were able to talk a little bit about it and bear our testimonies about how Families can be together forever and the Book of Mormon. She had already shared them with a friend who also wants to learn more. She is already sharing the gospel with her friends:) She is one step ahead of us. So we are working on getting Spanish translators. We originally thought that we would have some Spanish missionaries help us through Skype. But we feel that there are a lot of finding opportunities to have someone from Nantucket help us. Chelsie asked Ozni if he could help us. She said if he doesn't want to than she will try. And Celeste also speaks fluent Spanish so we are going to see if she can help us as well. We are very excited and very grateful to get to start teaching Yanedra the discussions. She is such a sweet lady. 

We haven't heard from Lacy this week. We just keep praying that she is OK, and has been able to figure out things with Angie. We also weren't able to meet with Blake but we have had some contact with them. We went to visit Patrick and Kathleen on Sunday because they were not at church. Kathleen was sleeping but we had a good discussion with Patrick. He talked a lot about how he knows that President Monson is a prophet and his two councilors are men of God. He has done a lot of research on them. He has such a sweet testimony of the Gospel and of the Book of Mormon. We extended baptism to him but he says that now is not the time. He knows that there is a difference in a person when they have decided to get baptized and that blessings come from the covenants that they make. But he doesn't feel that now is the time. He knows that he wants it to be in his future. But now is not the time. They have a lot that they would lose financially if they were to get married, and they are not ready to do that quite yet. So we are trying to be patient. But they are such sweet people. Patrick reminds me a lot of dad. He is really close to the spirit and he really feels things. He has got quite the sense of humor. We went to the beach for FHE on Wednesday and they brought their dogs. One of them is a rescue and he one has one eye and he is a white dog. He is carrying his dog to his car and he yells over to me, "Sister Rushton, Sister Rushton what if Jesus was holding a one eyed dog instead of a sheep." Oh Patrick, we all got a good laugh. He is quite the guy. He keeps us all laughing. 

On Friday Night one of the sisters serving in down town Boston was hit by a car. Her name is Sister Budvarson. She is actually the sister that took my place in Ellington. So was there for a transfer and then got sent to Boston to finish out her mission. She was crossing the street and got hit by a car going approximately 40 miles per hour. She was flipped in the air and landed on the other side of the median. She was ambulanced over to the hospital. And was checked for hours with cat scans and x rays for broken bones and internal bleeding but they couldn't find anything. She is very sore but the only injuries she has are a gash under her chin which required some stitches, a few fractured nasal bones, a black eye, and a little road rash. And she has no injuries where the car hit her. It is miraculous that she is alive and OK. She ends her mission at the beginning of August and will get to stay to finish. We are all very grateful that she is OK and the Lord was looking after his missionaries. It was a tender mercy for our mission. 

On Sunday the Milstead's were out of town for the weekend. It was good that it was high council Sunday because Tim is the only Melchizedek priesthood holder on the island. It was this man's first high council assignment, and he got the job of conducting the meeting and being in charge of speaking in Sacrament meeting:) We had more people than we were expecting. Rosie brought her friend with her. We had a couple come who are here to do the Oklahoma play in town and will be here for about 7 weeks.   

The High council man is from the New Hampshire area. He joined the church 41 years ago when the elders knocked on his door. He was newly married and said he would have never let them in but went along with it because his wife was interested. His wife was baptized and then he followed. 8 years later they were sealed in the temple together. He said that many years after that he was serving as the branch president he had a son on a mission in Brazil, and a daughter who attended BYU and was then married with a 2 year old little girl and living right down the street. He said that life was good and they were doing everything they were supposed to. One day his daughter asked him to give her a blessing because she was having a hard time getting pregnant. He said that her husband should give her one and she said no it has to be you. So he gave her a blessing and in it she was blessed that she would rise up and receive her eternal family. So he thought OK she is going to get pregnant. Two days later she stopped breathing. Her husband called her father who rushed down the street to give her CPR. She died in his arms as he was performing CPR. And he was reminded of what she was promised in her blessing. They found out she died from a rare heart disease which later they found out was passed down from him. So they brought their son home from his mission to make sure he was OK. He had the disease but was fine so they sent him back on his mission to Michigan. He was the first Spanish speaking missionary in the state. He trained 9 missionaries and opened up 11 Spanish branches. He returned home from his mission and later was also taken back to live with his Heavenly Father. He spoke a lot about the will of God and how things are played out. He looked me and my companion right in the eye and said that you only have to find that one person. Just that one and it will affect many generations and people. He talked a lot about those beyond the grave. And how much of a part they play in our lives. He said that his grandfather died before he joined the church and he has no doubt that it was his grandfather who brought the missionaries to him. And know his daughters little girl who was 2 years old when she passed is serving a mission in the highest baptizing area in the whole United States. She also has a heart problem and was starting to have some pain so they set her up with a doctor. She thought her appointment was a day earlier than it was so she went in on the wrong day. They sent her home but on her way out she started to get really light headed and dizzy so they took her in right then and found that something was wrong with her pace maker and if she would have done any cardiac activity it probably would have caused her to pass away. I bet that her Mom is looking out for her. 

Our lesson was on trials and Chelsie was sharing her story of how she is having to raise her two boys alone in the gospel. The other day she asked Ozni if they could say prayers together as a family and he got really made at her. She said that she was praying and crying and telling God that it was hard and she was having to do it all alone. And she got this strong feeling that she is not alone. That her and the Lord are raising the boys together in the Gospel. She got a blessing after church from the high councilman and was promised some pretty amazing things. I was reminded of how merciful our father in Heaven is. Even though Chelsie married a non member the Lord does not expect her to have to do it alone. And she is very blessed in her efforts to raise her kids in the Gospel. We went over that night to help her clean her house, because they were having an inspection on Monday, and then we had dinner together. We don't ever get to pray or share a lesson when we are there but we get to spend time with their family. Ozni is a very nice man, just doesn't like the church. But he is very nice to us, he teaches us Spanish whenever we have dinner there. And he always stops to talk to us when we see him around town. He is a good man. I think the church just scares him more than anything. I think that one day he will surprise everyone and decide he wants to be a part of the gospel. 

Sunday was a good day. It feels really weird to think that I am 22, but I am getting used to it. I had that Taylor Swift song about being 22 stuck in my head all day:) On Sunday Morning I woke up and my companion was still asleep. I opened up my card in the kitchen my self and had a good laugh. I was having my own little party. Sister Packard really likes birthdays and makes sure that every one knows that it is your birthday and sends out a little bio about you to all the missionaries in the mission. Their was five of us who's birthday was on Sunday. They make exceptions that anyone can text and call you on your birthday even if they are not in your zone. So I got to talk to a lot of missionaries that I served with in past areas which was really fun. It was a very normal but a good day. We didn't really get time to celebrate. But we are going over for dinner at the Milstead's tonight and she wants to celebrate then. They have two nephews living with them, who are working here for the summer. And one of them has the same birthday as me. I think that I will also make my cake today to, because you can never have too much cake. Thank you for the birthday package, it made me really happy. My companion is really excited for the light up start necklaces for the fourth of July:)

It has been a very good week, with a lot of good things happening. There is something very special about this island. I hope that I get to stay here for a while. I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's restored church on this earth. I know that he is at the head of it. I know he has planned a way for all of us to be able to return to Him and it is up to us if we want to be a part of it. I know that God loves us more infinitely than we know. When Elder Holland was here he told us that we are the Lord investigators. As missionaries we should want to do anything for our investigators to help them progress. And the Lord will do anything for us. He wants us to progress, he is patient with us, and he tries and tries again, and gives us as many chances as we need. He will never give up on us. I know that God wants us to be happy and to enjoy this earth life. The high council man talked about how in the Lords time most of us will only be on this earth life for about 20 minutes. Crazy to think that our earth life is such a small fragment of eternity. It kind changes things a little bit. I know that families really can be together forever. I am grateful for my family and to be a member of this gospel. I love you all, and hope that you have a fantastic week. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter June 24, 2014

This week I had a thought. That I am on an island for a Summer. And even though I am a missionary I can still appreciate it. So I decided to look around me and to take it all in. And all in all it made me really happy. It is getting really warm here and starting to get pretty crowded. Everyone seems really happy, which is nice. Every one always seems to be having a good time. The harbor is starting to become full of boats. This island is unique because it is very New England. All the houses are made out of wood and weather in the sun which makes them gray. I was a little sad when i got here and all the houses were gray but I have grown to love it. Everyone is always eating ice cream. And a lot of the men here where pink, pants, Capri, and shorts exc. Which here is considered very manly. Kind of threw me off just a bit. There are no stop lights. There is a lot of diversity here. You have people that are well off who vacation for the summer. Then you have all of the wonderful people here who work multiple jobs to support their families back home and to make life enchanting for the people who vacation here. There are many people from Jamaica, El Salvador, The Dominican, and Bulgaria. Many of them ride the buses so we have gotten to meet a lot of them. I love these people! 

It has been an interesting experience serving here. There are times when I have felt less like a missionary because we are often scrounging around for something to do. And times when I have felt more like a missionary than I ever have. In both my past areas there had been missionaries there forever so most of the people where familiar with who you are. But since missionaries are a new thing here there are many who do not understand our purpose, and can not understand why we would ever choose to serve a mission. So it has been a good reminder to be proud of who I am and the gospel that I represent. And to show people that as we are talking to them. We get asked many questions. We have met a lot of people that thought we were paid to do this, or were forced to do it, or if we did it our schooling would be paid for. Many people can not fathom the idea that we are on an island but never go swimming. My companion got asked out on a date the other day by a man who she had met with her companion while contacting before I got here. He called the other day and wanted to take her out on a date. We explained that we were missionaries and could meet to talk about the gospel but, no Sister Vaai could not go out to dinner with him. He never called us back to set up a time to meet:) It was pretty funny. 

I love the group here. I have never experienced anything quite like and don't know if I ever will again. There is such a spirit here. I am certain that I want to stay in contact with all of them for the rest of my life. We were able to talk to Lacy this Thursday. We had texted her the day before and she texted us Thursday night. We knew that she was not at home because she is not able to have her phone on at the shelter for safety reasons. She said that things were rough and she asked if we could call her. We called her and she was at the emergency room with Angie her oldest daughter. She has Autism and has had severe physical outbreaks since they have moved off island. Many times a day Lacy will have to hold her down so she doesn't hurt herself. It got worse so Lacy took her to the hospital. They were there all night and into the next day but she was able to get in home therapy for Angie. Lacy had researched where the church is in her area since we are not allowed to know where she lives. So she is planning to go to church. So proud of her for doing it all on her own. Shows that she really wants this. Turns out that her branch just got sister missionaries last week. Which is a miracle in itself considering Lacy's situation. I really feel that those sister missionaries were sent there just for her. I have found out a little more about her past this week. It broke my heart. She has been asked to go through more in this life than I could fathom. Which has left her pretty scared and not feeling worthy for baptism. But the man who is doing her interview, President Haight, did the interviews for Anne Marie, Marilene, Raquel, and Chryss in Billerica. And all of them had things in there past and when they walked out of their interview you could see that a weight had been lifted off of their shoulders and they knew that the past was the past. The Lord had forgiven them and is aware of them and they are worthy for baptism. I can't wait for Lacy to have her interview. So that she can feel that peace that she has never had. To know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for her. She is so humble. I really want to be just like her. 

Patrick and Kathleen are doing well. We are still trying to get in their home to read scriptures with them. And we are trying to be very creative to figure out how to get them married. Kathleen's daughter Grace came to FHE this week so I finally got to meet her:) She is so cute. I can't wait till she gets back from her summer camp in a few weeks so that we can start doing YW with her again. Celeste came to FHE on Wednesday and stayed for a long time! She also came to church on Sunday. She is still just curious and not sure she wants to take the lessons but we are going to start teaching her husband English this week which is exciting!  It has been a slow week with the rest of our investigators and potentials because everyone is so busy. But we are hoping to have more success this week. 

I feel like our mission has kind of had a shift for the better since Elder Holland came. Things seem to picking up. President has done a lot of training on things that are really hard. Like seeking daily inspiration through prayer. I have come to realize that receiving eternal life through our Savior Jesus Christ requires prayer and seeking. We can't get to live back with God if we don't seek out his will through prayer. And it is hard. I have really struggled with it. But there is a reason why we have to work for it and why it doesn't come easy. Because we are trying to seek out God in a world that is so far from him. And its a foreign concept. We have to believe that he'll answer. We have to be humble to pour out our souls to him and ask for his guidance. Our hearts have to be ready to act on what ever the Lord tells us to do. Which can sometimes be a scary thought. President told us that him trying to seek daily inspiration through his prayers started on his mission, and he has never stopped. And I can tell that the man he is today and the way his life has been guided is because of that. He always says that the gospel is work. We can not be stagnant we have to work for it. I am really trying hard to be attentive when I pray. To make sure that I am praying to God and trying to have a conversation rather that just stating my prayer to be done. I know that all of our actions are effected by prayer. I still can't say a prayer until about an hour after I wake up because I know that I will fall asleep:) But I am trying. 

I have realized on my mission, how much I have to work on. And it makes me excited. I know that if we are looking for them the Lord will always give us spiritual experiences to help us progress. You don't have to go on a mission for that to happen. But I know that for me, my mission has been my saving grace. It kind of woke me up to show me what life is all about. And for that I am grateful. I know that this is the Lord's gospel on the earth. I know that he lives and we are powerless with out him. I sure love my family and I hope that you are all doing well. Have a wonderful week. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter June 17, 2014

This week has been a good one. 

We were able to visit Janedra again this week and giver her a Spanish Book of Mormon and Restoration packet. She said that she would start to read them. We are not sure how much she will understand in English so we are hoping to be able to set her up with some Spanish missionaries over Skype so that they can give her the lessons. Thank goodness for technology. Blake was unable to meet with us this week but we were able to meet with him last week. We took Sandra with us and she bore such a sweet testimony. He had a lot of hard questions but we tried our best to answer them. We had no where to meet so we met in the gardens by the library. There was a lot of people around but it was still good. He is really busy but we hope that we can continue to teach him. 

Patrick and Kathleen are about the same. They have been unable to meet with us. 

We had a few visitors for church on Sunday. I guess that we get quit a few visitors every week, so that is exciting. Since we are a little group we are only required to have a sacrament meeting, and then a second combined meeting. And to not have every one giving a talk every week Tim usually mixes it up. So in honors of Fathers day we had a musical Sunday. Every one had to pick a song and share the history on it and why it meant so much to us. And then we would all sing it together. It was really good. We are now meeting in Micheal's basement. We haven't heard from Lacy this week but we hope that she is doing well

We have a new mission doctor, their names are the Braithweights. It was their anniversary this weekend so they were coming to Nantucket to celebrate. They came to church on Sunday and wanted to do some missionary work with us so they came to the old folks home with us. We go there every Sunday and we sit and visit with them. They really liked them. Yesterday they took us out to lunch. They took us to get lobster rolls. I was a little scared but it turned out to be pretty good. 

This month as a mission we are studying chapter 4 in preach my Gospel. How to recognize and understand the Spirit. It has been really good. We had a zone conference with President Packard a few weeks ago and it was all about seeking out revelation and how to pray. It was really good and I have been trying really hard to work on my prayers. I had felt for a while before that that this is something that I needed to work on. So I was grateful for that training. 

I am loving being on the island. I learn so much everyday from all of the members here. All 7 of them:) 

Well I have to go, but I love you all and am so grateful every day for my family. I hope that you all have a wonderful week! 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter June 10, 2014

I have decided that Lacy Casseaux is my hero. She has gone through it all. She came to the island yesterday for her court date with her husband so we got to see her. We visited with her last night at Chelsie's. She will not be able to tell us where the shelter is that she is staying at but she can not leave the shelter more so she will be able to start going to a local church. She is getting day care for her children, subsidized housing, food stamps, and programs to help her find a job. So she will be back on her feet. She is still going strong with almost all of the commandments. She had decided that she will wait a month to do her baptismal interview because she needs some emotional time to heal and get back on her feet. And then she will do the baptismal here on the island since all of her friends are here. She has a lot of time in the day to read and she wants to use this time to really connect herself to God so we gave her many church materials to read. It was so good to see her. She looks like she is doing really well. Yesterday we were at Chelsie's to have dinner. Lacy left to go catch the bus to go to the park where she was meeting her husband so he could see the kids. She was really nervous. Right after she left we went to the store to get things to make dinner. And we saw here walking down the road with her three kids. She had missed the bus because her older daughter her has Autism was hitting the younger girl and it stalled them enough where they were 10 feet away from the bus when it left. She was in tears and hadn't known what to do. So we gave her a ride to the park all crammed in this little car. I think Heavenly Father will forgive us for that one. Her oldest daughter has started to have violent outbreaks and poor lacy has bruises all over her. But she is going strong. She is my hero. 

Well family, I met a lady named Joy today in the library and she needed help with her school project. So I don't have much time to write. But I promise that I will give you more updates next week. 

I am loving the island. We will start having church in Micheal's basement. We cleaned it out last week and made a compilation of coach's, love seats and garden chairs for us to sit in:) But it is home:) 

This week we had a zone conference with President Packard. And it was all about prayers and receiving revelation. I realized that I do not know how to pray. It is not enough to ask him to help us. We need to be asking him specific questions for what we are needing. It is a struggle to learn how to listen to the spirit and find the answers that come but this is how we enhance our relationship with our Heavenly Father. President Packard said that the Lord will almost always answer our question when we are asking him "What can I do to help one of thy children." He wanted to make sure that we could find ways to turn the feelings that we had with our visit with Elder Holland into action. Sometimes it feels like there are so many things to be doing and so many ways that you can improve that you have no idea what you are doing:) But being a missionary is a Joy!

Our zone made a goal for each companionship to give away one book of Mormon every day. It has been a blessing. There are people that we would have just walked by but stopped to introduce the Book of Mormon to them and most of them had expressed interest in reading it. Goes to show that there are always individuals who are ready for the gospel. And if we feel like they aren't there we just have to go find them. The Lord truly is just waiting on us to get on board and be willing to do his work. 

Well they are kicking us out our time is up. Sorry I didn't get to write individual letters today! I'm a worm!!! lol But I love you all very much and think about you often. I can feel your prayers all the way over here! Have a wonderful week! 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

We're homeless

Abbey's letter, June 3, 2014

Hey family, we found out this week that the place that we have been meeting at for church no longer wants us to meet there. So we have two more weeks there. When they had looked for a place previously this is the only place they could find that would let us rent it for one day out of the week. Everything else we would need to rent permanently and the church is not sure that they want to do that. When we would only use it once or twice a week. So we shall see what happens. I personally don't think that the lord will let us be homeless:) So we will just have to see what we can figure out.

 

On Wednesday Lacy and her three kids came to FHE. She had been staying at a friends house for the last three days. She decided to go to an organization on the island that helps with abuse victims and they decided that the best solution was to relocate her. So she announced that she would be moving off island. She didn't know when or where, but they were going to move her. She expressed to us how important it was to her to get baptized before she had to leave the island. So we decided to contact President Haight and try to get him to the island as soon as possible to do her interview and then we would have her be baptized as soon as possible even if it was a small baptism. On Wednesday as she was talking to the group she said that even though she may be poor and have hardly nothing the worst is over and she can handle being a little poor. She seemed happy and relieved. We all had no idea what was going on, until it all escalated.  We got to teach them primary last week, Angie, Ally, and Luke. Those three little kids have such sweet spirits. I really came to love them in such a short time and I am going to miss them. 

So the plan was to have her be baptized here as soon as possible. But we were later told that she would be leaving really soon, she couldn't tell anyone where or when. So we are going to do the baptism where ever she is when she gets settled. We found out yesterday that she is now off island at a shelter somewhere. She wont be allowed to contact anyone for a while and we may never be able to know where she lives. They want to make sure that her and her three kids are kept safe.  But in a little while she may be able to tell us what town she lives in so that we can get her connected with a ward so that she can be baptized. So we pray everyday that she is well and safe. I am not worried about it though. Definitely didn't plan out how we were thinking but she is safe and is in good hands. I realized that this was probably the Lord's plan. I don't think that she was ever meant to stay on this island. Maybe she needed the gospel at this time to give her the courage to get her and her kids out of a bad situation. So it has been quite the week but the church is still true and life is still good here on the island. 

On Thursday we decided to go to the store to buy some paper for a project and we saw a woman that we had met on the ferry. Her and her husband are from Salvador and they have two kids. We asked if we could help her with her groceries and walked with her to her apartment. She invited us in and we visited for about a half an hour. And she invited us to come back. So Cool! So we went by yesterday and shared a little bit about the restoration with her and she invited us back again. We are waiting for some Spanish supplies. She speaks pretty good English but cannot read it. She is such a sweet lady and we are excited to get to teach her. We have been getting to talk to a lot of people on the bus lately which has been fun. They got us season bus passes which we were really excited about. 

Many good things are happening here:) We will miss Lacy but all is well! Sorry that today is a short one. I hope that everyone has a fantastic week. The church is true! And I can't imagine life without it. I love you all! 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton 

Abbey's letter May 27, 2014

Elder Holland has changed my life!

This week has been a good one. We had 21 people at church on Sunday, which is a record!!! Two of them were from the stake, but still! Lacy brought her husband and also her friend Celeste. After Church we had lunch at tim and Lorraines with the two men from the stake. They talked about possible ways that we can make our group into a branch. They said that we could entice members to move in here or just baptize more people or have more babies. So we will see what we can do:) 

Lacy is still on to be baptized. We had a lesson with her on Thursday and talked about tithing and the Law of Chastity. She had already researched a lot on tithing and had decided that she would do it. She agrees with the Law of Chastity and we talked about how she will get to teach that to her girls and they can grow up knowing that they are daughters of God and should be treated so. Lacy is still going strong with no smoking alcohol or tabacco. On Wednesday at FHE she said that she had already given up alchohol she hadn't had a cigarette since last Thursday and had no coffee in two days. She just gave it all up like that and said that it felt good. She is incredible:) She was really nervous for her baptismal interview but she did good and said that she felt better. She will need to be interviewed by a member of the mission presidency but she took it well and said that she feels like this is a trial of her faith and she is just ready to get baptized. She said with tears in her eyes that she is so ready to be baptized. Lacy and Alex came to church this Sunday with their kids. We taught Primary so we werent in Sunday School but we were told that he asked a lot of questions and a lot of things were cleared up for him. And that a lot of his doubts were adressed. We were really excited. But a lot has changed since then. We were told yesterday that Lacy and Alex are getting a divorce and that he is no longer allowed to be around her or the children and has to move out. So things are a little rocky but she is still going strong. Chelsea said that yesterday at the police station she said that even though things are crazy she needs baptism and is ready for a new life. That her and her kids need it. She was even inviting everyone at the police station to her baptism:) What a lady. We sure love her. She has been dealt a lot in life and will now probably be a single mom but the gospel is such a blessing in her life. 

We saw Alex today on our way to the library. He is pretty shaken up. I just had this really strong feeling that he is still a child of God. We gave him his own copy of the book of mormon and told him to read it and that it would bring him peace. He said that he really enjoyed church. I think we needed to run into him today so that we could give him that. Reminds me that God is aware of all of his children and is always there to love us and help us and bring us closer to him no matter our circumstances. 

Katherine came to church who is another investigator. She asked if her and her fiancee had to be married inorder to get baptized and we said yes. She said that they weren't willling to get married because they would lose to much if they did. So that is a little bit of a hold up. But we keep praying for them and hope that their hearts will be softened. They have testimonies of the gospel so hopefully they can work through this. Her and Patrick have been investigating for about a year and a half now. 

Our experience with Elder Holland was different than anything I have ever experienced. And I will probably not experience anything quite like it again. I was so excited to see Elder Holland and knew that it was going to be probably really spiritually uplifting but I didn't quite expect to feel that way that I did being in the same room as an apostle. You can tell that he is a really nice man but you also can tell that he doesn't mess around and he has this presence of someone very important and very close to the Savior. I don't know how you could be in the same room as him and not know that he is an apostle of the Lord. Because his presence alone pretty much says that more powerful than anything. 

I think that all of us left that room a little different than when we came in. He definitley inspired me and motivated me more in that meeting than I think that I have ever felt before. They had us all sit down and study quietly about 30 minutes before Elder Holland got there. There was over 300 of us missionaries in that little chapel so we were packed in there pretty tight. We all kept looking back at the door waiting, cause we were so excited. You could already feel the spirit really strong in that room. And then He came in with President and Sister Packard, his wife, and Elder Hollstrom from the 70. And we all stood up as he walked in. He wanted to shake all of our hands so we filled out of the isles to go meet him. It was really fast but we all got to shake his hand, his wives, and Elder Hollstrom's. Later Elder Holland said that because he doesn't have time to interview all of us that was our interview. He could tell just by looking into our eyes whether we got it or not. Ah scary!!! lol just a little intimidating. He said that there were a few us who are still getting there but for the most part most of us get it. Elder Hollstrom spoke, and then Sister Holland, and then Elder Holland spoke for about 2 hours. He was very real and very blunt about our roles as missionaries. He didn't hold anything back. But he was also very impowering and motivating. He said that he has a lot of trust in us and helped us to know how we can get to where we need to be. He is very indearing and very personal. He said that they don't very often meet with large groups of missionaries. So we are very lucky to have had him come. He reminded us of what a wonderful mission president we had, and how devoted he is to this mission. Elder Holland said he is probably one of the best out there, and has given up everything to see the work progress here in New England. After Elder Holland was done speaking we sang the spirit of God as the closing hymn. President Packard said to sing it like we mean it. We all stood up and sang that hymn really loud. Over 300 hundred of us in this little room. The spirit was so strong. During the closing prayer all you could hear were people sniffling. After the prayer Elder and Sister Holland and Elder Hollstrom got up and left with President and Sister Packard. We all stood up as he left and we just kept standing there for about 5 minutes. All of us completley silent. Then President Christensen who is the 1st counselor in the mission presidency got up and said that they were probably not coming back and that we could all sit down and take this time to ponder and have some reflection time. So we all sat there and pondered and then slowly people started to file out. I am really glad they did that because it kept the spirit there. Our mission is always really loud before meeting because we are all really excited to see eachother and they have to yell over the pulpit to get us to sit down so they can start a meeting. So it is a miracle in itself that we were all quiet before and after the meeting. I think that our mission will forever be different now. At the end of Elder Holland's talk he said that he leaves an apostolic blessing on this mission and that we are surrounded and being built up angels. Here are some of my notes from their talks. 

Elder Hollstrom:

Elder Hollstrom talked about how this is the only time in our life where we will really be able to set a pattern for a relationship with our Heavenly Father. He said that during our missions we are able to better connect with him than any other time and this will set a pattern for the rest of our lives. He also talked about teaching towards faith and not baptism. Baptism is the end goal but if we do not teach towards faith then they are not being spiritually changed. That was a good reminder. He said that they trust us. The general authourities trust us as missionaries to bring forth the gospel to the world. He also said that when we believe it and feel it that is when the power of the Holy Ghost can work through us to convert the investiagor. 

He said that the Lord is always Proud of what we are doing but he is never satisfied. 

He said that he hoped we will always remember this day as one that changed our life. 

Sister Holland:

She is such a sweet lady. She talked about how there are two things we need to do to be successful missionaries. 1. We need to love the Lord with all our heart 2. Love those that the Lord has put in our lives today. Love them immediatley and Love them more than anything. 

She reminded us that we can not love others if we do not love our selves. How can we see the divine in others if we do not yet see it in ourselves. 

She said that all of us already have the ability in us to develop all of God's attributes. We already have them in us we just need to develop them. We are more his children and more like him than we know. 

She said that the Lord loves us for who we are right not. He loves us for what we have to offer and who we are becoming. 

She said that the Heavens are more opened then they have ever been and they will continue to open and open even more. 

She said that her and Elder Holland have a divine relationship but that he has an even better relationsip with someone and that is the Lord. 

Elder Holland:

His whole talk was about us being converted as the missionary. He said that he is for the most part a pretty easy to get along with guy but the one thing he can not stand is when a returned missionary leaves the gospel. He said it doesn't make sence to him. He pounded his hand on the podium and said don't you ever ever even think about it. He said that we have alreday made our decision and we shouldn't even ever think about turning back. He talked about how 20 years ago he was a new apostle and over the missionary department. They were in a board meeting and President Hinckley got up and said there is something dirasticley wrong with the current missionary program. President Hinckley then desribed a story where two missionaries the the chex republic in the 30's were knocking on doors. They came to this door and the woman would not listen to them so they kept pounding on the door and then one elder stuck his foot in the door when she opened it again and yelled at them and tried to slam it in their face. This woman said that she hated ministers and they asked why. She explained that a few years ago her daughter had died as a little girl and a minister told her that her daughter was in hell becaue she had not been baptized and that she also woul d be in hell. These missionaries opened up to Moroni chapter 8 and asked her if they could tell her where her little girl was and how the Lord really feels about babies being baptized. She agreed and then later became a member and the reason the church survived in that country during world war 2. He said that the old missionary lessons didn't allow you to meet the needs of the investigator. It didnt allow you to answer their questions. You would teach these memorized lessons and would teach them the same to everyone. It didn't matter if there husband just died or they had lost a job. President Hinckley said that too many returned missionaries were leaving the church. So Preach My Gospel was created to convert the missionary. Elder Holland talked a lot about how we are expected to be led my the spirit to meet the needs of these individuals. We have to know the Book of Mormon so that we can flip to a chapter that answers there questions right there. 

He talked alot about going where the investigator is. He had us read in John of the story of the woman at the well and also the man who came to him at night who was a Rabbi and was asking what you have to do to recieve eternal life. Elder Holland talked about how the Savior explained to them gospel principles but they werent getting it. So he had to simplify it to where they were. He said that we have to go to where they are and help them to have a spiritual expierience right then so that they have something pulling them to the gospel. He said that we are still live in an apostate world and the restoration is still happening. So we have to help these people understand spiritual things. 

He said that if we think our mission is hard, the truth is that they are all hard. Life is hard. The Saviors life was hard. Reminds us to be grateful for was we have and to not complain. 

I could tell from this experience that Elder Holland trusts us but also expects a lot out of us which means that the Lord does also. Sorry I feel like I just went on a rampage but hope that explains what an amazing experience it was with Elder Holland. He left us with many ways to be better and many things to change but also empowered us to be able to do so. He told us that this is a good mission. But where there is a lot given there is a lot expected. I am very grateful to him and for everything I learned. I had a lot of questions going in, and all of them were answered. I am very grateful that I got to be there for that. It is something that I will never forget. 

I sure love my family. Thank you for everything that you do. I don't know how I got so blessed with such an amazing family. I love my mission but I look forward to the day when we will all be together agian:) It will be a great day. I can't believe that I am halfway done. I still got a lot of work to do, and i hope that I can make the most of these next 9 months. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and get to take lots of wonderful family vacations this summer. Hope that you all have a safe week. I love you. 

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton  

Many, many miracles Abbey's letter May 20, 2014

Lacey has set a baptismal date for June 7th!!!!!!! We had our lesson with her on Thursday and we taught the Word of Wisdom, and we talked about those things that she would need to give up. Without hesitation she said that she would do it. We extended the invitation for her to be baptized on June 7th or June 14th and she wants to do it as soon as possible. So June 7th is the day!!!!!!! Her husband has not been supportive of her joining the church at all. And a few days before our meeting with her. They got in a really big fight and she threw down the ultimatum. She told him that he doesn't have to like the church, investigate it or join it, but that he will come to church with her and the kids and he will spend the day with them as a family. She also informed him that she was going to give up alcohol so that he needed to as well. lol She didn't leave him any choice. She is quite the girl. So needless to say he will not be drinking anymore, which will solve a lot of the problems in their home, and they will be coming to church as a family. That was a tender mercy and an answer to our prayers. It makes me so happy to imagine them all coming to church as a family. They will be our first family coming to the branch, with both parents and kids. She has come a long way and such a light has come into her. She said that she used to be really liberal when it came to religion and when she first started to look into the church it all seemed a little hokey. But she told us with tears in her eyes on Thursday, that when they say that we can all be forgiven of our sins that its real. The atonement is real. We really are spirit children of God and its not just a nice story, its real. As missionaries we can try and try to explain our feelings and beliefs and try to help them be as real for them as they are for us. But, it won't mean anything to them until they allow themselves to be taught by the spirit. This work really is not ours but the Lord's. She said that she is so excited and so ready to start a new life. Sweet Lacy:) We had FHE that night after our meeting. And the whole group was talking about her baptism. And Tim looked and her and said that we were all really proud of her. And that Satan might pick on her a little more before her baptism. He looker her straight in the eye and said he didn't have to worry about you before, because he had you. But now you are a follower of the Lord and he is very aware of that. He promised her that we were all here for her and to come to him if she ever had any doubts. He said consider me your Dad. I love our little group!!!!!!!!!! There was such a peace in that room. And everything is going to be just fine:) There are many great things about to happen here. Chelsie told Lacy that she was the first one to be baptized on the island and it was fun to watch her reaction. Chelsie said, "yea your a pretty big deal." Lacy has agreed to let all of the members invite friends to the Baptism, which will be a big step for people here to get to see and lds baptism. So we will have the whole service on the beach and then she will receive the Holy Ghost the next day in church. The elders are coming this weekend to do her baptismal interview! 

Lacy and Chelsie are working with their friend Celeste to share the gospel with her. Chelsie called us on Tuesday and told us that Celeste asked if she could come to church with them. And she is planning to come next week. Sweet Chelsie has such a strong testimony. She told us that on Sunday she was fasting for her husband and felt really strongly that as long as she was a good member missionary and helped bring her friends to the gospel that it would all work out. Her husband, Ozni has been giving her a lot of rap lately about her activity in the church. It makes it hard on her but she is strong. I feel like the more he can see a little light in the church the more he pushes away. So we just keep praying for them. 

Yesterday we dropped by Tim and Lorraine's and she told us about her son on a mission. And how him and his new companion promised the Lord that they would be exactly obedient. And every day that week they had miracles and were able to find new people to teach. So Sister Malolo Vaai and I decided last night that we would do our best to be exactly obedient in everything. And just this morning we were walking to the Library and this girl passes us on her bike. We had met her in the library last week but hadn't gotten her information. She has been here on the island for a few months and we had talked about religion and what we believe and had invited her to church. But unfortunately neither one of us had known the address to the church. So we had been praying that we would see her again. And we saw her this morning right by our house. She was looking for her now job that she just got yesterday. We exchanged numbers and she wants to meet with us. It was a tender mercy. 

This weekend was Stake Conference. They had asked all of the missionaries to be there, so we were off island from Saturday afternoon until Sunday night. It was a little weird to be there without any of the members of our group. We were excited to be back with them. This morning our mission had a video conference with President Packard. He wanted to prep us for our mission conference with Elder Holland on Friday. He reminded us what a blessing it is that he is going to spend 3 hours with just us missionaries. He told us to come with questions and a prayer that they will be answered. 

I love the island, and our little group. It is starting to get busier with tourists. Yesterday we were walking around a lot of the wealthier homes, and they are huge. Its nuts. Rosie lives at one of those houses because she is the housekeeper. She lives quite a ways away from us but we had some time yesterday and decided to go see her. So we left our house an 3 o clock and started to walk. We took a wrong turn and didn't realize it until we hit a dead end. So we turned around and kept going. We got to her home at our 5:30 and visited for a while. When we got to her home we were so tired. My companion tripped up the front step to her house, lol. So we visited and let me tell ya she was worth the walk. She is such a sweet lady and is so lonely. Then we walked home and arrived at about 8:45. We were really tired when we got home but walking home I was the happiest that I have been in a while. We are a little sore today but it was a good walk. It reminds me to be grateful that I am not a pioneer:) 

I had a realization this week that I felt like I should share. This last transfer President Packard asked us to the study the atonement in the BOM, so it was on my mind. And I was thinking about my experience with Sister Klecker. Ever since I was her companion I have had this sad feeling that I was not able to help her. She was really sick the last week we were together, and she had some low moments. I have never seen anyone that low before. She was in so much pain physically and emotionally. It was really early one morning and she hadn't been able to fall asleep yet. She was crying and was pouring her soul out to me, about everything she felt. And I was crying. And she looked at me and she said that my life had been so easy and I had no idea what she was going through. And my life has been really easy for the most part. And at that moment I wanted nothing more than to know what she was going through and to be able to console her. But nothing I said or did helped. And at a low moment I remember asking the Lord, why my life had been so easy and why I wasn't able to help her or to console her. I was angry and sad and confused and blamed myself. And wanted nothing more that for her to not be in so much pain emotionally. I remember feeling so unhelpful and powerless as her companion. Because I wasn't able to fix her problems or make them any better. It was the next night that President decided she needed to be emergency transferred so she could get away from all of the things that she was allergic to, and within a few days she was gone. I have done a lot of reflecting on that since then. And on Friday night I feel like I came to understand the atonement in a whole different way. We all experience different trials in this life and there is no way that we can ever know exactly what someone is feeling. We will never know their pain or their sorry or their fears. The only one who will ever know that is our Savior Jesus Christ. It is foolish of us to think that we can fix all of the problems in this world. That is for the Savior. He knows exactly what Sister Klecker was going through, and I had no idea. And that is ok. That is why we have our Savior and that is why we need him so much. We can have empathy and love for others but our Savior Jesus Christ is the only one who can heal. At that point in her life Sister Klecker didn't need me she needed the Savior. I feel like part of my nature is I want to fix people problems. But the best thing that we can do for someone is to turn them to the Savior. I am coming to understand my Savior in a more personal way as I use the atonement in my own life. It is through Him that we triumph over our struggles and are changed. 

Thank you so much for all that you do for me. Life sure is wonderful! And the church is true. I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful summer. I love you

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton