Golden Gators & Spooky Spiders

Hello All!

I hope you have had a good week! This week started out a little rocky for me but has ended great!

so our investigator Amanda is one date for June 14th! She is awesome and I absolutely love her to pieces! She is so ready to accept this gospel and is doing so well! We took her on a church tour on Saturday and she came to church yesterday! She stayed for all 3 blocks and stayed for choir too! It was so great! We met her about a month ago. The Brazil Elders tracted into her and handed her off to us thinking it would be a better fit...they were right! She is just so amazing! We were talking with her yesterday and she was stating that she doesn't really see the difference between Christian and "Mormons". We told her there is none because we are Christian and she replied, "yes, we are!" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister Ruth and I got the biggest smiles on our faces when we heard her refer to herself as a member! It was probably the highlight of my week!

Now to the not so highlight of the week part...spring in Indiana means the birth of lots of creepy insects...including big nasty spiders! One thing I do like like about Indiana is because of the extra moisture in the air...the bugs are big and nasty. We hadn't see a bug in our apartment for at least a month until yesterday when we were getting ready to go to church. There on the wall by the door, was a big, nasty, black spider sitting there plotting my demise! Sister Ruth made me take care of this one because she had to take care of the last one. It was awful and I knew it was finding pleasure in my discomfort! Then this morning, Sister Ruth found one trying to eat her in the shower. He was creepin  on her and came done on it's little web...so we had to drown it. It is gross and I know that they are all conspiring against us...

Well, that just shows you how uneventful my week was. So, that is about all for this week! We get transfer calls on Sunday...can't believe another transfer has come and gone...crazy sauce! 

Love you all!

-Sister Abbie 

 

I slacked and didn't take many pictures this week...but here is the one I did get! The Honey Creek District at it's finest! 

New Adventures Everywhere!

Hello friends and family!

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter and week leading up to it! It was definitely a week full of excitement here!

On Wednesday, we had a specialized training for all of the sisters in the mission! It was so great to be able to see all the sisters together and to catch up with them. We started off the morning with some trainings. We had a training by Sister Cleveland on remembering to Depend On The Savior (D.O.T.S. everything was poka-dot themed!), then a training for a sister in the mission and one from a member of one of the wards. One of my favorite trainings came from a member of the mission presidency. He trained on Women and the Priesthood and it was mind blowing! Words cannot even say how awesome this training was and how inspiring and uplifting it was! Basically he spent the whole time telling us how awesome we are and how interesting it is that women don't need the priesthood power given to them to go through the temple but men do....it was just so wonderful I don't even know how to tell you about it in a way where you will understand like we all did! Another one of my favorite trainings was from President Cleveland. He talked to us about Joan of Ark. Yep, Joan of Ark! He told us about her life and then proceeded to talk about how each of us are like her. He talked about the greatness that is in each of us and how through our different talents and abilities we are able to achieve and succeed! We had lunch where they made us Cafe Rio pork, while we ate we watched a slide show of pictures of the sisters that we had been asked to send it. The afternoon part of the day was spent in our work out clothes because after we learned about health and staying healthy, we did a strength/cardio training thing called Tabata and then did Zumba! It was such a great day!

Another cool adventure that we got to have this week was going to the Holocaust Museum here in Terre Haute...yep....there is a Holocaust Museum all the way in little Terre Haute! The owner of the museum, Eva Kor, is a survivor of Dr. Mengele's (not sure on spelling) twin experiments. We got to go and listen to her talk about her experience there and tell us her story about forgiveness. It was so awesome! That was on Saturday and then on Saturday night, we got permission to go to the local Eastern Orthodox service. It was a really neat experience and it was so cool to be able to go to another church and see how they worship. It wasn't one of their normal services and was actually pretty long, about 3 hours. We were standing most of the time, sitting down sometimes. It was so different from what I am used to but it was a really great learning opportunity. We were also able to meet so many of the great people there who were so kind and welcoming to the 10 missionaries in attendance. We were invited by the bishop of our ward so we went with him and his sister in-law too. At the end of the service they have a big feast to end Lent ( I think...) so they had us stay for that and we were able to talk to some of the members more as well as Father Paul, the priest. It was amazing!

It was also a great Easter here! We had beautiful weather and were able to spend the day focusing on what Easter is all about! We also felt so loved by the members of the ward and were given many little Easter treats! It was a good day and a good week! I hope you all were able to remember your Savior and that He lives.I love you all and hope you are having a good spring! It is beautiful here in Indiana and it is so nice to be able to see it green again!

Love,

Sister Abbie London

1. Sister Jones and Sister Francis...we have all been companions at one point

2. Easter Egg from the Hellman's!

Scones, Mice and Awkwardness all around!!

Hello Everyone!

It has been a good week here with the Hoosiers! A very crazy week but I wouldn't expect anything different in the Haute! 

So Tuesday was a very busy day. A lesson fell through so we decided to try by one of our investigators who we hadn't been able to get in contact with in a couple weeks...bad idea. Not really because we were able to finally know why they had been avoiding us...He got anti-ed. They let us in, but would not let us even get a word in, instead he proceeded to tell me what it is that I believe. He started cussing and after a few choice words of his and feeling the spirit leave, I opened the door and told them we were leaving. Then he decided to cuss at us some more as we left. At least he didn't throw mashed potatoes at me...but it was not a fun experience. We were both upset about it and took it out of the random bubble wrap we had in our apartment! That did make it feel a little better but now we are out of bubble wrap...

Then on Wednesday, we had exchanges! I went with Sister Hain! It was a fun day with an awkward lesson! So through a lot of misunderstandings, we started teaching this lady in Brazil and had a lesson scheduled with her for that day. As we pulled into their driveway, they told us that some of the men (Elders) were coming too. Right as they said that, the Elders come driving down the street. We go in and start talking and then here come the Elders knocking on the wrong door to the house. They come in and sit down and we try to have a lesson. My companion wasn't saying anything because she was sure that we were pranking her (long story that I don't have time to explain...)  and then one of the Elders isn't saying anything. This lady starts telling us here life's story and after ending up having an Elder be my teaching companion for that lesson, she mentions how she has never been baptized. So I committed her to be baptized and the male in the house had to leave. So the Elders left almost as awkwardly as they came in. We talked to them later and found out that the whole situation was just a big misunderstanding...the person we were teaching kept getting the words Elder and Sister confused, in turn making all of us not sure who will teach her. Since she's in Brazil, we decided that the Elders should teach her, but it was just so funny! I hope that made sense...

So as some other random highlights, I got to see a wiener dog kill a mouse during a lesson this week and got to have scones for dinner last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was wonderful! 

It's been a good, busy week with another one ahead of us! With Easter coming up, you should all check out mormon.org/BecauseofHim  It is a great video that you can share with others by using #BecauseofHim  The church has asked the missionaries to spread the word with people and help make Easter more Christ-centered! 

I hope you all have a great Easter week and that you take some time to remember the wonderful fact that our Savior lives! 

love you! 

Sister Abbie London

1. exchanges with sis Hain

Excitement All Around!

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...