Hello Everybody!
Wasn't it such a wonderful weekend with General Conference?!?! It was so great to be able to hear so many inspired talks to help us all become better! I really enjoyed how so many of the talks went along with each other and it was fun to notice some of the themes of conference! One that I noticed was how we all need to follow the council in Helaman 5:12 and build our foundation on Jesus Christ. I really enjoyed all of the talks on how we can do that and on making the atonement a part of our lives, the most important part! I also enjoyed the talks on overcoming challenges that life throws at us. I thought it was pretty cool how many of them spoke about the principle of agency and how "decisions determine destiny." I also learned a lot from those who spoke on obedience. That is one of the hardest things in life and on a mission! The principle of exact obedience is hard to follow sometimes so it was nice to get some reminders and ideas on how I can be more obedient! Probably one of my favorite talks was by Elder Korg Klebingat of the Seventy. It was a quick, powerful talk and I loved when he said, "selective obedience brings selective blessings." That one really stuck out to me. Sometimes it seems easier to just obey some of the rules and not others, but really in the end is it going to be worth it? Will the limited blessings get you all the way to where you want to be? I also really liked the idea that Elder Carlos Godoy had with the question, "if you continue living the way you are living, will the blessings promised in your partriarchal blessing be fulfilled?" It was really neat actually because something that we have been working on as a mission is beginning with the end in mind, which is something that Elder Godoy mentioned in his talk....I could go on and on but I am sure you and I both don't have time for that! Conference is such a wonderful time to receive guidance in our lives, now the trick is to keep reviewing the things that we learned throughout the next 6 months. It is now time to apply what we learned and see some of those wonderful blessings that come from following the council given. As Sister McConkie said, "following the prophet is ALWAYS right!"
Now to my week as a missionary! It was a good week! We were able to get in contact with some of the less-actives on the list and have appointments with some this week! I am excited to go get to know them better and am hopeful that we will be able to start to see some progress with them soon! We also gave one of our investigators a church tour. She is a junoir at DePauw and is from China. Her family doesn't really want her to be baptized so she is trying to figure out what she wants. I believe that she knows the church is true and has felt the Holy Ghost testify to her on many occasions but she is afraid of what might happen in her family is she is baptized. The church tour was good and the spirit was strong...she is still at a stand still right now. We are kind of unsure about how to help her right now. We had another investigator who lived downstairs but her and her boyfriend broke up and she moved out...so we haven't been able to get her new address to meet with her yet. Hopefully we can get things picked back up soon.
This week we also got to assist some members in hauling some hay! We got to be farm hands again and serve! It was really fun and a good work out! I got a nice bruise on my leg...not quite sure how it happened but it did and it looks cool! It was really fun to help with the hay and we got pretty good and tossing it....hay is a lot heavier than you might think so there is a little trick to tossing it! So basically I am now a pro and can help in any of your hay moving needs! :)
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!
love,
Sister Abbie London
1. My cute new fall outfit from home! Thanks family! :)
2. Indiana Fall!
Hello Everyone!
So this week has been a great one! Lots of exciting things! We will have to start at the beginning of the week this time. Last Monday was absolutely beautiful! It was the first time since September that we did a preparation day activity out side! It was so great to be able to be out in the sun and run around! We played soccer, so I was loving it! To make it better, we were playing with all Elders. They were very shocked that I knew what I was doing out there...I wasn't able to be as violent with them as I was when I did coed a couple years ago, however it was legit! The highlight was when I scored a highly epic left-footed goal! Yes, that's right! Left foot! The only downfall to the day was like 5 minutes later when I heard a "pop" in my right ankle...all is well, t'was only a minor sprain or roll. It swelled up a little bit, went down, and is now still a little swollen...I think that is because I kicked the wall in my sleep last night...oops!
This week we received a training on doing church tours! This type of church tour is being done in one other mission in Boston! It is really neat and is so simple! Right now we are only doing the trainings and focusing on getting down what it is we need to say. Then next month, we are going to give the tour to members and then probably in June we will focus more on giving the tour to investigators and nonmembers. It is such a cool thing and am so excited that I get to be a part of it. It is definitely going to help the work here. It used with various selected art work around the building and using the artwork to simply teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am really excited!
The highlight of the week though, definitely had to be General Conference! I loved it all but was especially touched by the Sunday morning session. I felt connected to every talk and thought it was just spectacular! Some of my favorite quotes were:
"Lift the Goblet of Gratitude."-President Uchtdorf
"The Gospel is not weight, it's wings. It carries us."-Sister Stevens
"The miracle of the atonement can fix any imperfections in our performance."-Bishop Stevenson
"We never need to be alone."-Elder Bednar
"Love is the essence of the gospel."-President Monson
All of those were from Sunday morning, however I loved the whole conference!
It was a great week and another busy one ahead! I love you all and hope you are all working on obtaining a copy of Preach My Gospel! I am excited to hear the thoughts you receive during your studies! :)
love,
Sister Abbie
1. Elevating my foot during planning
2. missionaries definitely stand out...
