Abbey's letter April 21, 2014

Hey Family:) I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter. It sounds like everyone was spread apart this year for Easter.
We were able to share the article the Living Christ with a lot of people this week. I am going to try and memorize it again. It states so plainly what we believe about Jesus Christ as Latter Day Saints. I think that everyone should have it in their home.
This week we did lots of finding activities. We have a potential named Pier that we have an appointment with next week so that is really exciting. He is the one that chain saws bears out of logs of wood and then sells them. The ward council teases us that he is the man with the chain saw and a hockey mask. They think that is pretty funny. We also are going to start teaching a part member family in the ward. His name is Louis and his wife is a member and just moved in our ward. We get to start teaching him this week so that is really exciting. We dropped off a book of Mormon that we had marked all of our favorite scriptures in for Kelly. We hope that will help her to learn more about the gospel since she hasn't been able to meet with us. Don is doing good:) He is tanning away in Florida and will be home in another week.

On Saturday we had a pancake breakfast and Easter Egg hunt that the primary put on. We had two non member families come so that was exciting. They had a little petting zoo, with goats and chicks. It was really fun. Yesterday we went to the Faber's for Easter. There son left for his mission two months ago and is serving in Atlanta, Georgia. They have one other son who is 15. They are all converts and were sealed in the temple last June. None of their family are members. Sister Faber's brother and her 3 cousins, one of them with his family where also there. We had some good ham and potatoes and cake:) Sister Faber loves bunnies and her house is normally decorated with bunnies. But yesterday it was even more decorated with bunnies. There was probably about 300+ statues of bunnies of all shapes and sizes! And I'm not exaggerating! There family was very nice and we had a few good conversations about the book of Mormon, and the atonement. We had dinner and then we played Base ball. I faced my fears and played. I''ve already broken my nose twice in my life now so what do I have to lose, right? And I got a home run! It was really fun. Sister Faber gave us lots of left over cake which I had for breakfast this morning, it was yummy:) They had an Easter Egg for us and that reminded me of home so that was fun.
I just watched this video and it is really good! You should all watch it. Someone was saying in church yesterday that the church bought out the advertisement banner on you tube yesterday to display this video. So everyone who logged onto you tube yesterday saw this video being displayed. The church is so cool!
http://easter.mormon.org/?cid=HPTU041514694

I have really come to realize that our only purpose as individuals who have the truth of the gospel is to bring others closer to Christ. There are many who know the Savior but are not of our faith. And then there are many who have no idea of the sacrifice that was made for them. They have no idea that they can build a strong relationship with a man who is the reason that we will all live again. The reason that there is a stronger push to share the gospel with those around us is not to increase the numbers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but rather to prepare individuals for the Second Coming of the Savior so they will better know him when he comes again. Just like you said in your letter to me for Easter Mom.

Sister Watts older sister used to baby sit for this family that lived down the street from them. Her sister had to come home from her mission for a few months for a surgery and was home for Christmas so she went to visit them. They have a three year old little girl and had just had a baby boy two days earlier. They night this woman went into a coma in her sleep. She had been on life support since then. She passed away about three weeks ago and left her husband with two little babies to take care of. She was just becoming receptive to the gospel. This life can be so short sometimes. Maybe she just needed to live long enough to bring those two little babies into the world.

A woman by the name of Sister Willis gave a talk on the atonement for Sacrament meeting yesterday. She referred to having a relationship with the Savior and taking full advantage of the atonement as the logo from the office supply store. The one where you press the button and it says, " That was Easy." She said that with the Savior whenever we need the atonement, its as if he is saying, "I got you covered." She said that when we accidentally say something mean to a friend and they get offended, the Savior says, "I got ya covered." When life doesn't go as planned, he says "I got ya covered." When loved ones die, he says "I got ya covered." When loved ones have health problems that set them apart from others, he says "I got ya covered." When we have feelings of doubt or pain, he says "I got ya covered." When we make mistakes and need to make changes, he says "I got ya covered."

I don't feel like I got as many opportunities to share my testimony of the our savior Jesus Christ, this Easter season as I would have liked. So I want to share it with you. The biggest blessing of my mission has been the building of my relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ. My trainer, Sister White, shared a quote with me from a general authority. Who said that if you were the only being on this earth who needed the atonement he still would have done it. The atonement is not a one size fits all type of thing. It is very individual and binds us with our savior Jesus Christ.I always knew since I was a little girl that Jesus Christ lives and that he is the Savior of the world, because that's what I was taught. But I don't really think that I felt it until I have come on my mission and spent my days testifying of him and trying to convince people that he does live. I know that he loves me. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. He knows all of my mistakes and things that I have overcome. He knows what makes me happy and what makes me sad. He knows what my desires are and who I can become. He knows when I feel defeated and when I feel triumphant. He knows how to comfort me, and how to push me in directions that make me stronger. He knows that sometimes we are weak. Sometimes we fall short. Sometimes we are just plain tired and don't want to try anymore. And he understands because he is merciful. I know that he lives. Because I can fell him near me. I know that all good comes from him and every being on this earth has his light within them. I know that he will come again. I know that he wants us to be joyful and enjoy life. I know that everything will make sense one day. I know that families can be together forever. I know that ours will be together forever. "No Empty Chairs" We will all get there together. I can't wait until we will all be together again and Marissa will have gone through the temple so that we can all go together. I am such a baby. Here I am in the library crying and people are looking at me like I am crazy:) I sure do love you guys. I am grateful for all of your support and love. I am so grateful for each one of you. I sure love my family.