October 10, 2024

 Dearest Abby,

I’m so excited to hear about your first week in the MTC. 

Mom and I are loving cruising with Liz and Jeff, Grandma and Susan. The crew and tour leaders take good care of us and the only reason I haven’t gained a bunch of extra pounds is thanks to the excursions to places like Santorini, Mykonos, Turkey/Ephesus etc.  which involve usually quite a bit of walking. Grandma Smith is holding up well. 

We also enjoy a lot of the shows and activities on the ship. 

This also included something called an iFly, which is essentially a massive fan in a tube that will blow hard enough to let you fly in the wind. We did the one minute trial version and it was a lot of fun. We all did it except for Grandma but she probably could have signed the waiver and done it anyways. Mom looked totally normal but my cheeks were up by my ears. Time for some face tightening exercises. 

I also tried the surfing and immediately hit the deck. 

  

One of the cool experiences in Turkey was going to Ephesus was to read about Paul’s experience in the New Testament where he faced the mob after preaching against worshipping the goddess Diana/Artemis. We stood in the agora where the mob was and faced the theatre where they rushed into to debate and accuse Paul. (Acts 19:29)

As I write this I am sitting in Corinth by ancient ruins where Paul also taught. We are discussing spiritual gifts taught in Corinthians 12-14. 

As we talked of the gift of tongues we discussed that gifts can be manifested in various ways. One manifestation of the gift of tongues could be the ability to express yourself well in your own language. I looked at Mom and we both thought of Bens Patriarchal blessing. 

I also thought of and pondered your gifts, Abigail. You have many both known and yet to be discovered as well as the exciting journey of seeing how they manifest in your mission and life.  

Looking forward to your email. Let us know if you will have time for a call. We will be back to the ship around 7 am your time. What is the best way to have a call? Facebook Messenger?

Love you Abby. 

Dad. 

Corinthian Canal connecting the Ionian and Aegean seas. 

Santorini Greece. 

From Mom:

Hi, baby girl. How is everything going? I imagine it’s a steep learning curve but what are the positives and negatives? What are your biggest takeaways so far? Please tell me a story of the MTC. 

My biggest takeaway from this trip is watching the care and concern your father has for his mother. He’s a good, good man and I’m glad I married him. I appreciate him so much!  

Because I’ve already seen most of the iconic things here, I’ve been able to sit back and watch and appreciate the smaller things. Like, sun on the water, people laughing together, free ice cream, pomegranate trees, human kindness and the wonder of relationships.

I learned and practiced how to say “thank you” in Greek. It’s pronounced ef-ker-i-stow with the emphasis on the second syllable and rolling the “r” a bit. Every time I say it to a Greek who is serving me in some way, they look so surprised and break into a big smile and respond with the Greek “you’re welcome.” Those small actions connect us as humans and make a difference to both the giver and the receiver. That’s the fun part for me. 

Love you so much!

I'm not sure if we’ll be able to chat this go around. The ship doesn’t have any internet. But we’ll be in Athens until 6:30 p.m. which is 9:30 a.m. your time. If you can’t connect with us before then, this email will have to do. 

Mom

From Abby - Welcome to the Church of JOY

Hello all :)

I'm currently sitting in a computer lab and two computers to my left an MTC teacher is conducting an online MTC class. Crazy to think that was me one whole week ago 
I'll try to cram everything I can possibly think of while trying not to write a novel 

September 30th was a travel day (An entire 3 hour flight) Everyone was going to Vegas on the flight and per the usual they were all preparing to party. I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was a child because the Airline stewardess gave me both a cookie and pretzels when EVERY other person had a choice of only one or the other and when the plane landed the very nice gentleman in front of me turned around and said with the kindness of an adult to a child "Are you here all by yourself?" Me: "Yeah but my sister is coming to pick me up! she lives in Saint George" guy: "okay that's good you're meeting someone" Abby: *Smiles and nods knowing fully that I'm a 19 year old that has been on a plane before* Anyways Babyface experiences for the win :D

Steph indeed picked me up and it was so good to spend some time with my big sister and beautiful little niece Bowie before the actual scary mission. She helped me make sure I had everything I needed and was the most patient shopping companion. It's insane how many people in Utah recognize missionaries. I feel like a Minor Celebrity. "How's Business!" "Where are you serving?" "Good luck!" its encouraging and intimidating at the same time 

Once I arrived at the MTC Everything has gone WAY too fast, Suddenly I was hugging my big sister for the last time (Not crying whatt..) and being whisked away by a Sister missionary who brought me to my dorm, there's a flurry of excitement that comes from discovering all the REAL LIFE HUMAN BEINGS that have existed the entire time behind the screen, The 6 sister missionaries in my company found each other and piled into a new room with our new Samsung galaxy phones and rejoiced in uniting with one another :)

And so the week went on with sketchy cafeteria food and early mornings and class time. 
one Funny moment that actually isn't that funny yet it makes me giggle is a roleplay I did in class with some other elders on Friday. It was me Elder Fa'ao'otoa, and Elder Turner, Elder Fa'ao'otoa was explaining a very brief 60 second message on Repentance and Elder Turner and I were playing random individuals that had no clue what Repentance was (Prepare for this not to be funny I'm gonna tell it anyways) 
Elder Fa'ao'otoa: So do either of you know what repentance is?" 
Elder Turner: "Never heard of it" 
Me: *Trying to make it interesting* "Is it like a banking strategy?"
And the MOMENT Elder Fa'ao'otoa registered what i said he was intent on sharing his message with no misunderstanding and he says "Absolutely not! Repentance is-" 
and so on and so forth XD I just felt so cut off it felt like actual comedy I could not get a hold of myself for the rest of the class and every time i thought about it or journaled about it i laughed out loud knowing it was the stupidest roleplay I ever attempted and his response was GOLDEN. 

Anyways other milestone things, the district with lots of other missionaries went to the temple all together which was a little stressful getting to the bus on time and such (We actually were the first ones there so go us) everything went smoothly until I realized that Utah temples are ACTUALLY COLOSSAL. I got lost every 3 seconds BLESS the temple Patrons and fellow missionaries for somehow knowing their way around the literal labyrinth that the temple was. My favorite was the celestial room! it was really good and of course I got Bomb pictures outside of the Mount Timpanogos temple (I think I spelt that wrong) Our District is awesome while also at the same time being teenage boys and girls (I know we're adults... but we're teenagers) All these fresh 18 year old missionaries are not on my radar.. Obviously because I'm a missionary but if I wasn't i still think it'd be slim pickings since they are all CHILDREN. 

Our district actually got complimented by our Branch Presidency they said "This district has an Air of obedience" our district council was really fulfilling my favorite goal we made was to do a kneeling Prayer all together at the end of every day (Which we've consistently done) obedience is actually something I love being a part of. It feels radically fulfilling when a group united in one cause (That cause being bringing others closer to Christ and ourselves closer to Christ by following the doctrine of Christ) chooses to be obedient. in fervent prayer our district though imperfect strives to be obedient and I couldn't be more happy about it.

The Crowning event of this week was General Conference. Every 6 months the members of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have the chance to hear from apostles and our beloved Prophet Seer and Revelator President Russell M Nelson. We sustain them by the raising of our right hand and have the fulfilling chance yo listen to/ Glean from their revelatory words of wisdom consecrated for members and non members alike (Whoever is willing to listen with an open heart and mind) It was a blessing to be at the MTC for this event since you're literally drowning in people your age that are striving in the gospel. I have a couple favorite thoughts:
The Saturday afternoon session the newest member of the 12 apostles Patrick Kearon spoke about this being a church of joy. He opened by saying
"Welcome to the church of Joy! Welcome to the church of Joy:)." 
"His victory is above all that will prevent us from obtaining peace and salvation"
"If you have yet to discover this joy, Embark on its quest!" 
as he spoke in his wonderful British accent i felt strongly that what he was saying was true!
When I immerse myself in the gospel I feel the most joyful I have ever felt. For me this really is the church of Joy :)

I also LOVED Kyle S Mckay in the Saturday evening session 
"Praise to the man that communed with Jehovah, and Praise to Jehovah who communed with the man" (referring to Joseph Smith and his powerful testimony) 

Sunday Morning session Jeffrey R Holland
""Whom seek ye?" "Jesus of Nazareth" and with arms forever outstretched, and LOVE UNFEIGNED he will reply: "I am he."" SO POWERFUL.

Bradley Wilcox also slayed 
and my favorite of them All President Nelson himself :)
"I pray we do not miss the majesty of this moment" He announced 17 NEW temples to be built. since he became the president he's announced ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY temples.
 total? 350. In the past 6 years the amount of temples announced built or in process has doubled. when he announced the number of temples it felt as though an entire electric shock pulsated throughout the room of missionaries (I think there was like 400 of us) It feels so excited to be a part of the greatest work on the earth, especially as it is hastening and accelerating more than it ever has.  

As Conference adjourned my entire spirit felt like electricity. As missionaries began to buzz around and grab their stuff and head out I sat with myself and the spirit for 15 seconds longer and felt electrified with gratitude for this church, that we have a living prophet, and that I am a part of the church of JOY.

There's a million other things to say. All my personal Studies, the district sitting outside in the grass under the shade talking about everything, the beautiful mountain view, late night talks with my fellow Sister Missionaries, trying to break in my shoes and plan formal outfits for every day ETC ETC ETC 

ignore grammar and spelling issues there's simply not enough time
Have an amazing week 

I love you all dearly 

-Sister Smith