October 21, 2024

From Abby - Humility Manifest in Bike Helmets

Heyyy 

FIRST PDAY IN THE FIELD 

This week has been absolutely insane and I'm typing my email from my phone so this is going to be interesting 

Tuesday, we packed all morning went to HALF of our morning class and then The district followed us to the travel lobby

Where we hugged lovingly all the sisters and shook firmly the hands of the Elders.

District 25-C was so good I'm SO SAD. (that sounds sarcastic but I'm sad) Next thing. I know it PRESIDENT BROWN himself walks in with all of his APs (assistant to presidnt) looking all cool with their sunglasses. They nabbed our passports and luggage and we were off to the mission office 

Tuesday evening we went on a tour to two different temples (Lindon and Orem)

 and visited with our travel group and the sisters were told we will be helping with the Lindon temple Openhouse?! SO exciting. 

 (the only one I'm seeing again out of my travel group is the elder in my district Elder Bye) he kinda ate

Tuesday night we slept in a hotel and as the assistant to the President pulled up to the hotel and led us in With complete trust.We tried to enter our room with no Avail.The elder next to us start it rattling the doorknob with the response "wrong room" WHAT We speedily exited the hotel and found other confused missionaries who also could not enter their room

 Only to hear a voice from one of the AP's "wrong hotel " GIRL- it was a silly thing it just reminds you that AP's are still just boys trying their best 

Wednesday morning we met our trainers 

I knew God would humble me the moment I saw all the trainers and subconsciously decided who I'd get along with the most.. I knew my trainer was not going to be one of them- and I was right :D 

The moment she sat down beside me she turns to me and excitedly says "We're in a bike area ;)!" My response: "ohh hhaha awesome" NOT AWESOME 

Until It actually was because another sister didn't need her bike so it got dropped off at out apartment later that day and it's PINK 

low-key worked out so no stress! (Until she needs her bike back in that case my wallet will scream and cry and it will be a perfect storm) 

For now God provides 

Still first day the STL Sister Ellis (she's like 6' tall it slays) and her comp sister Ortiz drove us to Walmart to get some starter stuff like a bike helmet and some groceries: time to learn how to be an actual moved out adult and it's scary. We're in the bike helmet section and I'm trying to find one that actually fits and Sister Ortiz hands me the '8 year old +' helmet and it FITS and on top of that Helmets just look dumb, every day I'm humbled.

 ANYWAYS we go to pay and this lady with a fun shirt runs up while saying "Sisters! Sisters!" And when she sees my wallet out says "I don't know why you have that out I'm paying for your food" FIRST day in the Feild and the fruits of Orem Utah are already coming forth. 

I don't know if this is a normal companionship thing but Sister Heaton prays ALL THE TIME the first morning a very loud Christian youth song set the tone as our alarm, I barely lifted my top half from the bed while still sitting and Sister Heaton says "Okay do you want to say it?" (Implying prayer) in the DARKNESS of the room I saying in my musty crusty morning voice "Ohkay" XD honestly I've gotten used to it now but the first morning without warning was crazy 

SO MANY GOOD MEMBER EXPERIENCES I'll try to narrow them down 

Thursday Oct 17 no lie it was DAMP, being on bikes with rain and helmet hair is a fun combo to say the least.. anyways one of our last stops for the night (it's like 8:20 pm) we knocked on this older guys door Brother John Depalma and we visit on the doorstep (planning to call him another time to visit later) and he asks where we're from, when i say Alberta Canada he pauses for a second and then says "come in" (still to this day do not know how being Canadian got us to come in) he ushers us upstairs and has this tiiinnyyy volume of scripture that's solely 3rd Nephi in one little book he shared some insights and we had some good conversation, eventually we said goodnight and started heading out, the MOMENT we opened the door lightning FLASHED in the distance and the wind whistled angrily threatening a sharp chili ferocious rainstorm we RAN to our bikes and through the wind and thunder we hear a voice "Wait ! Come get snacks!" John Depalma yelling from his door XD so we RAN back to his door and he gives us a box of twinkies and chocolate cupcakes, with that we stuffed it into our bags said thanks and zoomed home with the stormy winds at our backs! We enjoyed those twinkies as a late night snack :)

We met our district on Friday and got a chance to call with President brown 

From my journal: 'He gives "I'm your eternal advocate" in the most Ken doll way ever'

Him and his wife are literally Barbie and Ken

Sunday was the BUSIEST DAY 

we cover two Stakes which is 14 wards 

We made a goal to attend 5 sacrament meetings at 5 different wards, the first 3 were smooth, at the second ward of the day we sat by this lovely old couple Gail and Jim Christensen and Sister Christensen turns to me and says "Are you two being fed tonight?" We look at each other remembering our canceled dinner appointment XD it's like the best two years when they check their wide open schedule and say "Yeah I think we can squeeze you in there" we DEF took her up on it 

The 4th ward we attended second hour and read in 3rd Nephi 11-20 

Old guy teachers quote: "I'll be honest Folks, it's all downhill from here in the Book Of Mormon" what a real dude. 

Last favorite thing from the week 

The dinner Appointmenttt

I've been away from home for only two weeks and the comfort of a home cooked meal is greater than I ever could have imagined, brother Christensen showed us his art because he's an ARTIST and then we sat down and ate and then had bowls of fresh fruit and brownies. This couple was the perfect example of having a burning Missionary zeal, they served together in a proselyting mission for two years and then were called as pathways missionaries and extended it FIVE times to serve for 7 years. And now they're ward missionaries. 

They kept bearing their testimony of Missionary work and how they both love it so much. 

Brother Christensen told a story about his mission when he was young he served in England! He decided all the missionaries weren't being bold enough so he decided to stand on a box and preach about Joseph Smith (this is like 1970 or something) and he got other missionaries to dress as LITERAL civilians to create a mob mentality where they would gather intentionally so others would wonder what's going on and gather too?! SO sneaky 

Missions must have been wild back then for real 

Personal study has been beyond good 

Jacob 4 alma 26 2nd Nephi 4 2nd Nephi 29

D&C 6 D&C 121-123 AH 

Also first vision memorized *Dabs* 

So much to say and so much good 

I've started to feel a little homesick, good companions still make you long for BEST friendships :( 

And my Family gives me FOMO daily 

THIS WEEK WILL BE SO GOOD 

I LOVE YOU ALL 

PRAY FOR ME 

-Sister Smith 

From Mom - One of a Kind

Dear Abby,

Dad and I have spent the week in a loopy kind of daze with jet lag, and it's so weird! When we got back from the UK in July, we had hardly any!  But coming back from Italy had us going to bed at 6:30 p.m. (we couldn't help it, so tired) to waking up at 1:30 a.m.  We've slowly built our schedule back into decently regular hours but it took all week! And in the meantime, our brains were functioning at minimum capacity, ha. I just keep remembering what Uncle Mark says: "There is a spectrum of crazy and we're ALL on it. It's really just a matter of high function vs low function." So maybe we were on the lower functioning side of things this week, but we're improving, so there's hope for the upcoming week.

I was a little sad our final flight home from Toronto to Calgary was mysteriously cancelled as it put us a full 24-hrs behind schedule and we had to forego our plans to go to Sparwood for Thanksgiving. I wanted to help my Dad get his firewood in for the winter and have a good visit with my mom and sister. It turns out that a tree fell on Grandpa's forearm and broke his ulna. Like, really broke it. 

You can see an old badly-healed break on his other bone too! He had to go to an orthopedic surgeon and they metal-plated the thing. Firewood is put on hold until my brothers can come help. The question I ask myself is, "could this accident been prevented if we were there?" It's a crazy-making question so I try not to think about it. He's okay and in good spirits, responding to our inquiries by saying, "Ya, now it takes me twice as long to do half as much." Haha. What a goof, but he really is one-of-a-kind.

Mia, Ben, Sam, Josh and Madison were here for Thanksgiving Dinner on Monday. Since I was low-functioning, I was super grateful to Madison, who brought festive decorations for the table. It looked so fancy, complete with wine glasses for our sparkling apple juice. 

We toasted to every single gratitude as we went around the table and had a good laugh with each one. And, I can't help but say it everytime ... My children are really the best and in my top 5 regular gratitudes. It's just a fact at this point. I really really really (x1000) loved how all my children stepped up with helping you get to your mission while we were away. I'm still a little teary-eyed if I think about it for too long.

And you? How did your first week go? I was so happy to receive a random text from a stranger with a few pictures of you hanging out with the young women. It seemed like a good start. Also, why are you so pretty? 

Well, wish me and your father “good luck” as we officially start our empty nester life starting today with decently functioning brains, haha. 

Love you forever, baby girl!

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Love, Mom

P.S. The Rome Temple