Abbey's letter March 17, 2014

Happy Happy St. Patrick's Day family:) I hope that your day is wonderful:) This week has been a good week:) Don is still working towards baptism! Haley is no longer investigating. Her fiance broke up with her and she unfortunately blames the church and has no interest in it anymore:( So that is sad but all is well. We realized this week that we need to do a lot of finding for new investigators. We have made this goal to visit everyone on the ward list by the end of next transfer. Our ward has around 450 members and about 170 are active. So we have a lot of work to do.

They read a statement in Sacrament mtg. on Sunday about the new Book of Mormon play that has come out. The play is now playing in Hartford which is a little south of us. We were told that it is offensive to the church and we are not to support or be affiliated with this play. When the play was in Boston President Packard had a few sets of missionaries stand outside the doors to the play and hand out book of Mormons as they came out and try to talk to people about it. I hope that we get to help out with that here in Hartford when the play comes. They said that in Boston people were actually pretty receptive and excited to get book of Mormons. Don't know if they really understood what the Book of Mormon is but at least they have one. It is pretty sad that this play was written by an inactive Mormon who served a full time mission.

This week we went to visit a less active young man who just moved into our ward. We went to the house and there was all these woodcarvings of animals around. And we here this chain saw in the back. And it was this man carving bears out of logs with his chain saw. Turns out that this is name is Pier and the other kid was renting from him and had just moved out the day before. So we got to talking with him and stood outside in the cold for two hours and talked about the gospel. It was so awesome! We gave him a book of Mormon and are going to go back and teach him some more. So that was exciting. The whole time he kept saying, "well anything is possible with God." We cant wait to get to keep teaching him. Shows that the Lord always finds a way for those who are ready for the gospel.           

Yesterday we went to Hope's house with Sister Singer, a ward missionary and got to help her clean her house. We got to play with Tariq, Taraja, and Imani which was fun. There house is very messy and poor Hope is a full time student works a full time job and is a single mom with no babysitter, so she is very busy. I sure love those kids. It was so fun to get to see them again. They haven't come to church since the baptism. Tariq is going to be our first missionary moment spotlight in primary since he is such an awesome little missionary. We taught them about Nephi and how they came from Jerusalem to the Americas. We ended the story and Tariq said, "What. NO. This story was just getting good you cant just end it." It was too funny. I sure do love them. 

It has been a good week:) Thanks for all of the emails. I love you! I hope that you all have a wonderful week:) 

Love Sister Rushton 

Abbey's letter March 10, 2014

It is getting warmer here:) I am ready to lose all of the leggings and socks and boats and hats and scarves and gloves and coats. And show my white shimmery legs. I can't wait for spring:) Some time in the next few weeks we are going to be able to take a bunch of people to see the Hartford temple sight, which will be exciting. It is actually poking out of the ground now. This week has been a good one, with a few ups and downs. Our district is working on having more unity. They laughed at our jokes this week during district mtg. so that was a step in the right direction. James dropped us this week, he said that he wants to stay aloof from all of the parties like Joseph Smith did and really discover things for himself. So he wants some time away from meeting with us and doesn't want to come to church anymore. It hurts a little because I know that he knows that it is true but maybe he will come around again. He did show up to church 2 years after meeting sister missionaries and hearing about the Restoration in the UK, so I think that he will come around some day. We were at a members house for dinner, the Pecks when he called and dropped us. Their 15 year old granddaughter who they are raising in inactive and was just dumped by her boyfriend. So we were joking that we new what it feels like. She thought that was pretty funny. They fed us extra ice cream for dessert before we went home. None of our other investigators are really progressing, and are kind of at a stand still, so that is our goal for this month. To help all of our investigators really progress, and see where it leads. Sister Klecker and i really feel like there is something big about to happen here, we just have to find the people that are ready to hear the gospel.
This week we had zone meeting and they talked about extending our finding pools. We created a list of all of the people that are potential investigators and people that we can start working with. So we are excited to get that going. We also have a new ward mission leader, Brother West. He seems like he has a lot of new ideas and that he will be really affective. On Saturday we had a stake youth conference. The theme was mtc and all of the youth were missionaries. We got to help out and teach 3 half hour sessions on the Restoration. We taught it and then showed them how to role play it, and then they got a chance to role play. I was impressed by how into the role play they were. They are already such good little misisonaries:) Also this saturday Bill McCauley was baptized. It was just us and about 8 other members there. His wife was able to come see him be baptized. It was such a blessing to be there. He got the Holy Ghost and also the Aaronic Priesthood. He seemed to be glowing afterwards.

Yesterday we woke up, had breakfast, got ready for ward council and we were about to leave when we realized that it was day light savings day... oops. So we walked into Ward Council an hour late:) Every one got a kick out of it. Hey we got an extra hour of sleep and we didn't even mean to. Church yesterday was awesome. Don asks so many questions in gospel principles. This week we were talking about prayer and he asked a lot of questions about the memorized prayers that Catholics say, and why we can't just say those. He got the three ladies in the room who used to be Catholics all fired up. We came to the conclusion at the end that we need to have a relationship with our father and he wants us to come to him for our needs and we shouldn't be praying to Mary or anyone else. We can pray for them but we shouldn't pray to them. He seemed to be satisfied by the end. And I think that he finally gets the purpose of prayer. I sure love gospel principles class, it answers so many of his questions that we can't seem to answer. This week with Don we decided just to read the Book of Mormon with him. We read 2 Nephi chapter 2. And he got so much out of it and understand at the end that we choose our eternal destiny based on our actions. It really strengthened my testimony that the Book of Mormon is the answer to everything. It answers questions in such a simple way and we don't have to teach anything all we have to do is bear testimony which is how it should be. He started talking about Heaven and I asked if I could be his neighbor in heaven. And he started talking about how in the spirit world he wouldn't be able to feed me any cookies because we won't have any arms. (Cause every time we go over there he has cookies for us). And then he stock his arms close to his body with his hands flapping around imitating what i will look like in the spirit world. He sure is a funny man that one:)

Abbey's letter March 3, 2014

Hey Family,

It is already March which is crazy!!! This year has been flying by. The best part of this week is that, Don is getting baptized. He told us on Monday that he wants to baptized sometime in May:) And when don says he is going to do something he sticks to it, so we know that he is serious. Last week when we were over he said that he didn't believe in the commandments so he doesn't believe in the church. This last week he told his wife that he wants to be baptized. He said that he knew enough that he couldn't deny it and he needed to act on it. And that he knows that continual learning will come. What a blessing:) We couldn't talk him into getting baptized any sooner but may will come soon enough I guess. I can't wait until him and his wife will be able to go to the temple and be sealed. He has such a tender soul. I feel very blessed to be his friend. I hope that I am still here in May when he gets baptized, but we shall see! Don tells us that he is going to go party with his friends for a last hooray, crazy guy:) Hopefully we can talk him out of it!

Bill McCaulley is a man in the ward that came back to church after 30 years. He has turned his life around and we have been able to reteach him the lessons. He wants to share the gospel with his family. He told us that he will be re baptized this Saturday, it is going to be a private baptism but he wants us to come. He will get the Holy Ghost and the priesthood on that same day and will get to go to the temple in a few weeks to have the work done for his mom. We will also get to go for that. He is such a sweet man. Reminds me that it is never too late to come back, and that the Lord's timing is in all things. He is an example of great faith to me, to come back in Humility. He was so nervous but he bore his testimony in Sacrament mtg on Sunday.

Speaking of Sacrament mtg. ours was an interesting one. We had a man in our ward sang in his testimony over the pulpit. First he read a poem about a lion, and the lion was his sins and Jesus came in his power to save the lion. And then he sang the song from the goo goo dolls, that goes, "give a little bit, give a little bit of my life to him." Bless his dear heart I don't think that he is quite all the way there. But it was too funny. Our bishop looked really scared because he didn't know when it was going to end.

We had a good lesson with James this week. We taught about feeling the spirit and letting that be your witness of truth. We watched the Restoration and told him to pay attention to how it made him feel and not what he knew. I think it really touched him and then my companion told him to "doubt his fears before he doubts his faith." He said before that he feels the church is true but he doesn't want to be affiliated with the  bad stuff like Joseph Smith being a polygamist. Nothing we haven't heard before and most people have to get over that bump so he will be just fine. He comes to church and loves it. I have decided that if someone is coming to church there is no reason to worry about them. They will get baptized when their ready.

This week I had a realization about the Plan of Salvation. In my 21 years of living I didn't realize that the 1000 year reign of Christ was before judgement and being divided into the three kingdoms. I thought that as soon as the 2nd coming happened we would be resurrected and then judged and put into the three kingdoms. And then the 1000 year reign happened and after that there would be a big war and people would fall away. So I thought that even if you went to the Celestial Kingdom you could still maybe fall away in a 1000 years. And that we have to be ready for judgement by the end of this life. I feel so much better about life now!:) It makes so much sense. I knew that God knows what he is doing so I just thought alright I don't understand it but he does so that's OK. This is a big deal I can't believe I had this misconception for 21 years. I am just glad that we don't teach investigators that part because it is kind of deep because I would have taught it wrong! Makes me feel a lot better that I don't have to be perfect at the end of this life but that I will get to live with the savior for 1000 years and get to really be like him. I like this plan of salvation much better then my old one:) Guess you learn knew things every day:) I wonder what other misconceptions I have that are BIG DEALS!

We started this new thing called a primary missionary moment. We will go into Primary once a month and have a child share a missionary moment that they had that week. So we introduced it to them and asked for examples and they gave us a ton of things that they are already doing. These kids are amazing, I sure do love them. There better missionaries than we are:)

Sister Klecker is very allergic to cats and we found out this week that everyone here in New England has cats:( Every night we go home she is puffed up and has a hard time breathing:( So that is hard. But hopefully we can keep it under control.

The work here truly is progressing! I really feel that every ward in the world is working to becoming more missionary minded. And so wards are getting more involved with the missionaries and also getting more investigators. So our mission is seeing a lot of area improve. I really feel that this is the start of something big and missionary work is just going to keep booming every where in the world. The Lord truly is hastening his work.

I love you family thank you for everything that you do. I sure do love you!

Love Sister Abbey Lou

Abbey's letter February 24, 2014

This week has been a good one. I am just grateful that I actually get time to email today:) Today is a beautiful day:) And the weather has been good to us these last few days:) So exciting that Jolene was born this week. She is such a beautiful baby, and I can tell that she has such a sweet little soul:) And now I have 3 new little souls to meet:) This week we had a Zone conference. So President Packard and the 1st counselor in the presidency, President Haight came with the AP's to speak to us. It was a very good conference. One of the AP's gave this super intense speak about wanting to succeed as a missionary more than we want air. It was super intense:) He was so into it. But he made a very good point and it made every one super pumped and excited. President told us that we are all doing good work but that he feels that there is more that we could do with our investigators and to hasten the work then we are already doing. It was a good reminder. This is the most important step that they will ever take in their life. Kind of intimidating to know that they depend on our actions as missionaries so much, but it is comforting to know that this is the Lord's work and not the missionaries work. There are so many good people here in the Ellington ward. Our ward is very excited to do missionary work and so willing to help with the work. Our goals for this next transfer are to get more involved with the youth, and take a member out with us every day. I have really come to see that the best way to help a struggling member is to invite them to do missionary work. What better way to heal a struggling soul than to give them an opportunity to bear their testimony. I never feel closer to the savior then when i get to bear testimony of him. Gary is still not progressing but something won't let us let him go. At the zone conference President Haight told a story about his friend who has been investigating for a long time. He said that he will keep trying for the rest of his life because that one soul is worth it. Really made me think and I really feel that Something will help Gary out of his fog we just have to keep searching for it. Don came home from Florida and we were able to meet with him. We taught about the commandments and he wanted them all layed out. He still does not agree with giving up alcohol. But says that he wants to be baptized as a going away present for us:) Crazy guy! He keeps joking that he is going to find a loop hole around it! lol what a guy:) So we are hoping to get him to read the book of Mormon every day and we know that if he will do that. That he will be just fine and it will come. James was out of town so we will get to see him this week. We are hoping to commit him to be baptized. Halie is coming along so good. She is having a few family crisis but went and bought dresses so she could come to church. Last week when she left she said that it was overwhelming and she wasn't planning on coming back. So that was such a blessing that she came back. She said that she felt something yesterday and wants to keep meeting. We are finally going to get to start meeting with Kelly this week and we are so excited. Taylor, who is a 15 year old girl who we taught the restoration too is struggling. Her step mom is losing her twins that are 5 months along and she lost her uncle. Our ward is so wonderful and are going to get involved and help out the family with meals. Our President is challenging us to do a lot of new things which is keeping us very busy. But it is good. There is always so much more that we can be doing and improving on. Life is so wonderful here. The church here in New England is becoming very involved in inter faith activities. We go to a women's bible study every week. We went on exchanges on Saturday and the sister that i was with said something that hit me. She said that God would not have created a plan where a lot of his children would not be able to return to him. He is so merciful and has created a way for all of his children to return to him and all will have the opportunity accept him as their savior. This is just the beginning of something great. And I feel so blessed to be a part of it. I love Sister Klecker. She is teaching me so many things. Our mission president caller her "chill". lol She has a very calming personality and reminds me not to be to hard on myself. She is very devoted to the work which is a blessing. I hope I get to be with her more than 1 transfer. I love you family and hope that you all have a wonderful week. Thank you for all that you do.

Love Sister Abbey Lou

Abbey's letter February 18, 2014

This week has been a good one:) We switched companions on Wednesday night! It was an interesting transfer mtg with a lot of giggling and clapping going on which is not normal but it was fun:) We got back home just in time for the storm and were red dotted all day Thursday. Which game Sister Klecker some time to unpack and us some time to get to know one another. Sister Klecker is amazing. She has had a harm mission and has been given a lot of challenges to deal with. She is from Franklin MA, and her family moved to California about two years ago, and then she got called back home for her mission. She was just serving in her home stake. President put her on the island thinking that she would never know anyone from there, but turns out her dad was a high councilman and would take her to visit the island every other week when she was little so she knew every member of the branch before she got there. We are so excited for this next transfer. She has a lot of wonderful ideas and really appreciates Ellington because of what she has gone through on her mission. Gary came to a dinner with us last night which was a big deal since we haven't been able to meet with him in a while. We shared the story about the anti nephi lehites and the daughter Grace bore an awesome testimony. We went to see Tariq and Taraja on Sunday. And they started break dancing for us. Tariq told us that he shared his baptism journal with his friend and wants to share it with his whole class. What a kid:) We were able to go to the temple on Monday, which was very nice. It was fun to get to see our President and to do a session. They gave us some time to email today but unfortunately we just got red dotted again because of the storm so this week has to be a short one again since we need to head home. I guess winter will have to end some time it can't last forever right? Love you Family:) Talk to you again next week! I love you! Hope you stay safe and warm.

Abbey's letter February 12, 2014

Today has been a crazy day. Tomorrow was supposed to be transfer days and Sister Barney has been transferred to Boston. Sister Klecker who has been serving for 9 months is going to be coming here. She has been serving in Martha's Vineyard which is an island off of the coast of Massachusetts which is very cool! So Transfer mtg was supposed to be tomorrow but because of a big storm coming our way they decided this morning to move it to tonight. I am going to miss Sister Barney but I am excited to meet Sister Klecker. This will be my first time leading an area, so I am a little nervous but it should be fun. So we will be heading up to Massachusetts tonight to do the switch. This week has been a very good one. We were able to meet with Taylor to teach her the Restoration and her two cousins Avi, Davion and her stepbrother Cameron was there so we were able to teach them as well. Hopefully we can get her to church soon. James is doing more than awesome. We planned to teach him the plan of Salvation and he pretty much taught us the lesson. He knew the whole things because he had researched it. We had to clear up a few things and were able to study it in the scriptures and he loved it and said that it made so much sense. He is very busy with school but stayed up late Saturday night so that he could come to church. he also asked to see the baptismal fount on Sunday:) We also received a new investigator this week. Her name is Haley Gardner and she is in school up here. Her boyfriend is LDS and she wants to know more about it and will start coming to church. So many tender mercies have happened this week and I wish that I had more time to write about them but we best be off to finish up a few things before the transfer mtg. I love you all and hope that you have a great week! One more thing, we had a mission conference this week through web ex. Our mission president was talking about missionary work and talked about how it is no longer missionary work but the work of Salvation. That is what we are trying to accomplish. Helping others receive their own salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all! Talk to you on Monday.

Love Sister Abbey Lou

Abbey's letter February 3, 2014

Life is so good here in Ellington,CT. We had a good lesson with Don this week about the Savior. We read scriptures about him and then shared our feelings about the savior through different pictures of him. Don has such a tender soul. I don't know how soon he will be baptized but I know that he will be and that it is just a matter of time! He is progressing at his own rate but he loves what he is learning and is really seeking to learn for himself with an open heart. He is one of the most giving men that I have ever met. Sometimes I feel like he is my grandpa. He likes to take good care of his missionaries. Gary was unable to meet. But he continues to look for the faith to act on what he knows is true. He is such a sweet and timid man. I pray that he will be able to see the truth in what he has learned and find the faith to act on it. James is loving the book of  Mormon and what he is reading in it. We had a training during our interviews with president and were taught about the Book of Mormon. And the book of Mormon is really what should be doing the teaching with the missionaries backing it up with testimony and not the other way around. It really is a powerful thing and is our true and lasting conversion comes. Missionaries testifying is great but the power of the Book of Mormon is even better. We are excited to get to use the book of Mormon more in our lessons.
On Tuesday we went to visit our friend Theron who is 94 and we knocked on the door and no one answered so we were about to leave when a women pulled up. Turns out Theron fell and was in the hospital so his friend who's daughter lives across the street came to bring him some food. But Theron wasn't home from the hospital yet and I really had to go to the bathroom so we went across the street to her daughters house to use the bathroom. So we get talking and it turns out that her nephew is Martin Faber is a boy from our ward that goes on a mission on Wednesday. So they got to know us and see that missionaries are normal people and Martin isn't getting into anything too crazy. And we got to see them at his going away party on Saturday as well. So that was exciting! Kind of funny how the Lord works.
So live is a funny thing! Erin Palmberg and Ryan Devaux were in my ward Fall of 2012 and Winter of 2013. So the Devaux family is in my ward and Ryan is home from school. So that is cool but Ryan's little brother is 20 and just started coming back to church. His fiance is Kelly, who we are starting to teach the lessons to. Crazy, so we dropped by the other day and Erin was there because he lives 10 minutes away from Ryan. It is a crazy world. We went there for dinner last night before the super bowl and they were both there. It is fun but kind of weird at the same time to see some familiar faces from the burg:)

Yesterday at church Chris got up to bear his testimony. He was in his work clothes since he only gets about an hour before he has to go back to work. He bore his testimony on church and how he fell away but then saw that this person who he loves so much comes to church more then him when she is not even a member. He talked about how he wants to raise his children in the church. We talked to Kelly about taking the lessons so she can learn more and she said that Ryan wants her to become a member so that they can get sealed in the temple. So we talked about experiencing and discovering things for ourselves. And invited her to learn for herself. So we are going to teach the lessons to both her and Chris. They are scheduled to be married in September and are thinking about going to the court house here in a few weeks and then just having the party in September. Which will be a blessing because then she can get baptized sooner. We are so excited to get to work with her. Sister Barney and I are very excited to finally have a women investigator. It will be a change from only ever teaching men:) haha

Things are picking up here. We love the Ellington Ward. Many miracles are happening. We have an amazing bishop and the ward is so excited about missionary work. There were three people who have been inactive for a very long that came to church on Sunday so that was a tender mercy. We had a very good testimony meeting this Sunday. So many people bore such sweet testimonies. The Lord truly is hastening his work and not only in those who do not yet have the gospel. But also in those who already have it and are still learning and being converted. It really is exciting to get to watch. I love this gospel and I know that my savior lives. And that this truly is his work. And it doesn't matter how inadequate we are or feel because the Lord is there to guide us and will lift us up in times of need. President told me to read Mosiah chapter 4 verses 11 through 14. It talks about how when we have come to a knowledge of our God we then need to recognize our own nothingness before him. And realize that all goodness comes from him and without him we are nothing. Then the Lord will bless us to become something more. And we be more like him. We will begin to resemble him and be a blessing to those around us.

We were able to teach Seminary this week. They are in Alma on the story of Ammon. So we talked about the conversion of King Lamoni and how Ammon was able to help him through his conversion. We challenged them to be a missionary for a day. To wear church clothes gives someone a book of Mormon with their testimony in it and give up one thing. It could be a phone, TV, or music. We then read them a quote that we found. And I wanted to share it with you. So here it is! I love you all so much! Hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Love Sister Abbey Lou

The Fellowship of the Unashamed
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast! I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His
presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear! I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up stored up, and paid up of the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till I know, and work till He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.
Henry b. Eyring

Abbey's letter January 27, 2014

I was just sitting here thinking that I haven't told you a whole lot about New England yet! This crazy place that I love so much! A lot of the homes here are very old and were built in the 1800's if not earlier. Every one is very to the point but have the best hearts. My trainer used to say, "When your in with a new Englander, you are in!" Every one here is so giving! I have never eaten so much cake and candy in my life! And we end up giving away about 80% of the treats that are given to us:) Every one says, "I'm all set." Every little town has a town center with a cute little post office and an old library built with columns. The Ellington library used to have a cat that lived here and it would just roam around. Our ring tone for text messages is a cat meowing so whenever it goes off people look around thinking that maybe the Ellington library cat has come back from the dead:) A lot of people here are actually hoarders:) haha So you never know what you are getting yourself into. Everyone saves everything! There are trees everywhere there is not a road or a house. There are very few restaurants, fast food places, grocery stores or even businesses for that matter. All in all this is a great place to live! Our mission president is just about the most amazing man that I have ever met! We have interviews with him this Thursday and I am so excited:) I am just very grateful that he will be here my whole entire mission!
This week was fun of many tender mercies and surprises! Tariq and Taraja got baptized this Saturday! I have never seen them so happy:) And Taraja got her party! When ever we talked about the baptism she would say ya and we are going to have a party. We got to see them every day this week except for Tuesday which was fine by me, I just love them so much:) I am going to miss getting to see them so much. It is just fun to think of how different their life will be now. The storm on Tuesday was not to bad, we had to stay in on Tuesday night but the roads were pretty clear the next day. On Tuesday we met this 94 year old man that we are going to start teaching. His nephew just recently joined the church in Georgia and referred his Uncle to us. So we are going to bring him a large print book of Mormon. He is just about the cutest old man that i have ever met. And just like Grandpa he does not like you to leave:( Poor guy! But we are excited to get to start teaching him. We also met with Taylor who is a 15 year old girl. Her grandma is in the Hartford Spanish branch. She wants to be baptized so we are going to start teaching her the lessons. We met to meet her and her mom was very nervous but relaxed when she realized that we were normal people:) She said with tears in her eyes that she is looking for something new in her life and wants the feeling of all of her sins being taken away:) Her current husband and other daughters were very interested. So we are hoping to teach them as well as Taylor's other two cousins who are interested in being baptized as well! It never ceases to amaze me how well people have been prepared for the gospel. We have another new investigator who's name is James. He has done a lot of research on the church both good and bad and just wants to put it all behind him and really learn about the gospel. He described to us that something is pulling him towards the lds church and that he can feel the spirit of it. He said that when the sisters in the UK were testifying to him of the restoration of the gospel that he could sense that there was some power backing up her testimony and that he could feel the truth of what she was saying. We are reminded very often that we do not do this work alone. I know that this is the Lord's true church and that it is not missionaries who bring people to the Lord but rather the Lord through the missionaries. We were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon and that he can receive his own witness that it is true! The book of Mormon has been a big focus in our training lately and our President really wants to make sure that we are using the Book of Mormon more. It really is the most powerful took in the conversion of someones life.
I was reading in the book of Mormon this morning in Alma chapters 23 and 24 where the anti - nephi - lehites were converted. They said they would never use their swords again and recognized how this act of faith had brought them forgiveness of their past sins. When the lamanites were preparing for war against them they knew that if they used their swords again having promised what they did and knowing what they knew they could not have that same forgiveness, so they buried they weapons so they would not be tempted to use them and then knelt before their enemies while in the act of praising God at the very moment that they lost their lives. To me that shows true conversion. They had left their sins behind and would rather lose their lives then have to go back to their past sins. Kind of makes me wonder what more i could be giving up for my savior? Life sure is good! I just love the Book of Mormon!
Gary is meeting with us again, he feels like he is in the fog and just needs to find the faith to act on what he knows his true. Up until this point Don has said that he will never join the Mormon church but that he is willing to learn about it. The gospel principles class yesterday was incredible and he was asking all these questions and then figuring out the answers, and concepts he has struggled with forever are finally making sense to him. When we went to his home yesterday he looked at us and said so what does it take to be a Mormon any just be baptizes? We said yup want to be baptized and he said yeah but does that mean i have to give up beer and alcohol. So then he said jokingly forget about it. So now we got to work on the word of wisdom but we can work with that because he is beginning to see that this gospel is so true and that it all makes sense! Life is good. When Sister Barney got her 7 months ago the work was pretty dead. She is finally starting to see the fruits of her labors which is a blessing! We are excited for this next week and what it will bring! Life in the mbm mission sure is good! Our president sent us a letter today and reminded us that we are our investigators and less actives life line. And that the adversary works very hard on them and it is our job to protect them. Kind of a big job! But it was a good reminder to do everything we can to help them. It is also nice to know that when we do our best the Lord will make up for the rest. Life is good! I love you and hope that you all have a fantastic week!

Love Sister Abbey lou

Abbey's letter January 13, 2014

This week has been a very eventful one! First off i got a text from the Billerica sisters on Saturday saying that Cheridan Hoffman had been baptized that day. This means that the whole Hoffman family is now baptized: Shawn, Christin, Cheridan, and Grantlee. What a blessing! In a year they will get to go to the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity. I think their time to be re stationed for the air force is coming up in a little over a year, so it will be perfect timing! Marilene who was baptized is in the primary presidency now and is doing well. I miss all those wonderful people in Billerica, and look forward to after my mission when i will get to call them and maybe even go visit them.
We had to decide to drop our investigator Gary for a few weeks. These last 8 weeks have been rough and he hasn't been answering our calls and texts and has been cancelling our appointments. It wasn't easy but we have prayed about it and both feel that not initiating any contact for 2 weeks or so could be good, so that he can have some time to think. Don is doing very well. He found some information on the internet about a Mormon archeologist who has found connections between the ancient Mayan people and descriptions in the book of Mormon. And he was telling us about how it makes sense and that the Mayan people are the people in the book of Mormon. So we asked him if he believed that the book of Mormon is true and he said no that he had to do so more information. So we just kind of chuckled, if only he would read it than he would really know that it is true:) He is an attorney and is very intellectual and wants to digest everything so we just keep giving him all the information that we can. Shawn was the same way and once it made sense in his mind than he would let the spirit testify it to him. So Hopefully Don will let the spirit do the teaching here soon:) Kelly talked to work and had her schedule moved around so that she could come to church for all three hours every week which is exciting! She slid on some ice this week and hit a hill and got some minor injuries but the car is ok. She was telling me that she knew that God was watching over her. She is such a sweet lady! We had dinner with a part member couple and the members husband reminded me so much of Shawn and how antagonistic and intellectual he was at first. We taught them the restoration and he agrees that it makes sense but doesn't see its relevance yet but we hope to get to keep working with them. Tariq and Taraja are doing well and will be baptized in two weeks, they are so excited! We have two more lessons left to teach them.
The whole mission had a web conference with our mission president this Tuesday. They will start to do that once a month now. He talked to us a lot about exact obedience, building Zion in our companionships, and helping our investigators to be converted through the Book of Mormon, which means that first we need to be converted through the Book of Mormon. Once thing that he said that the white handbook (which is the missionary books of rules and guidelines) is a 100 year old study of how to keep the spirit with us. It truly is through the little acts of obedience that the Lord does bless us and we will be more consecrated servants of the Lord. He challenged us all to go through the whole Book of Mormon in the next two transfers and mark all of the names or pronouns that mention the savior, any of his attributes that describe him, and any of the Lord's that he speaks directly or through the prophets. This is to show that the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ, and has more references to him than the Bible or any book of scripture.
I was asked on Saturday to speak in church on Sunday on the plan of Salvation and what it means to me. Sunday morning it was not all coming together but I think it turned out ok which is a blessing. The plan of Salvation very much testifies to me of the reality or our divine worth and the nature of God. That he is fair, kind, merciful, and very loving. When I was sitting up on the stand and looking at our little ward I very much felt that there are so many people in our ward who need a little extra love and I am grateful that I get to be here and that we get to strengthen one another. On Tuesday we had a meeting with Al Waite and three different women canceled on us to go with us. So we met outside and he built a fire in a metal trash can and we roasted marshmallows. It was 7 degrees outside and it was soo cold but it was a good memory:) I know that the Lord is on our side and that this is his true gospel! I sure do love you all! Thank you for your letters! Have a great week!

Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton