Abbey's letter January 1, 2014

Hello Family!
Sister Barney and I will both be staying in Ellington for this
transfer. We are happy that she gets to stay. It is hard to believe
that it is already 2014. Looking back on last January, 2013 was a very
long year!!! It is crazy to think how different life is now! I have a
feeling that 2014 is going to be a great year. It was so fun to get to
see everyone on Christmas, and to get to talk to you! I sure do love
my family:) On Christmas after we were done talking to you, we went to
Susan's house. There were about 60 people there and it was one big
italian party. Susan's aunt is very into family history work so we
were able to help her with that, which was exciting. We had about 4
times the amount of clothing on as any of the other girls our age
there. They were so intrigued by us and couldn't quite understand how
we could give up tv and radio for a year and a half:) They are a fun
family and we had a good time getting to know them. There a lot of
good people in this world. It was the first time in my life I was
every offered a beer other then at resturaunts. We were able to teach
the restoration to Tariq and Taraja. They have such sweet little
spirits. We talked to them about prayer and Tariq explained to us how
we can recieve answers and know that Heavenly Father is there. We
committed them to pray about Joseph Smith and ask Heavenly Father if
he really was a prophet. They were so excited to do it. I sure do love
those little kids. We moved their baptismal date up to January 25th.
They are so excited to be baptized and are so ready so we figured
there was no point in waiting a month and a half. We had dinner with
the Freshetts this week, a part member family. And taught them the
restoration through this cup demonstration. The wife asked alot of
questions and was eager to learn more. They invited us over for dinner
again so we are hoping to teach them the plan of salvation next time.
There are so many people here that are at the beginning stages of
learning about the gospel and we are excited to get to work with them.
I am honestly pretty grateful that the holiday season is over so that
people's lifes will get back to normal and it will be a little easier
for them to find time to meet with us. Al Waite( the man that looks
like a mountain man in the pictures I sent home) got his temple
reccomend this week. What a blessing. I am excited for this new year,
and for the spirit of improvement that comes with it. This area is so
different from my last one and I am learning many new things. I am
working on continuing to put myself out of my comfort zone to improve
the work. The Lord works in mysterious ways but I have come to know
that he very much knows what he is doing. Every soul truly does have
great worth in the eyes of God. Something extaordinary is happening,
and I really do feel that something even bigger is about to happen. I
love this gospel, and I know that this is God's work. I love you all!
Have a fantastic week!