March 3, 2025
From Abby:
HI ALL
I'm currently writing my email in my beloved notes app because my email has not been saving drafts and therefore causes for great distress and mourning at the loss of an email that was invested into and then GONE in an instant.
HAPPY NEW MONTH
Can you believe we've already made it to MARCH?! So many exciting things to come, my mind dwells primarily on spring yet I try not to fixate :)
Last Pday I somehow only spent $22 USD on groceries I swear I could hear my wallet singing.
We went thrifting and blessed the Burts name (Our senior couple) when they were willing to drive Elder Cease, Elder Chapin and Sister Atwood and I
Highlight: When we picked up the elders we saw their adorable lil old man landlord named guy on his bike :)
We DEVOURED subway to give us energy for the event that is thrifting and then got to work.
Outcomes include:
-Green old lady grandma sweater
-black skirt that attracts hair
-Black puffed sleeve top
- SLACKS?!
Yes my friends with the help of my beloved Sister Atwood i've discovered at least ONE PAIR of black dress pants that I don't absolutely despise. And they were only $6 USD! (Wallet now harmonizing)
Chapin found a mr incredible shirt which can only be described as incredible.
We also bumped into Elder Bye who I thought I would NEVER see again so that was cool (Curse you Americain Fork)
Like I said in last weeks email Sister Atwood and I went to Harvey Riches house (Piano teacher whos been teaching for 30 years) To capitalize on his magnificent piano room and selection of music. They welcomed us in and then brother rich WHIPPS out a DUET?! He then invites one of us to sight read the easy part to which I volunteer Sister Atwood (She proceeds to play perfectly) and then hes like "Okay Sister Smith, your turn!!" Ummm Genuine terror (PTSD from Piano lessons 6 years ago?) >I stumbled through it with humility oozing from every pour :) (I passed.. It wasn't cute) > We then got to play and sing to our hearts content and that was wonderful. Music moves my soul :)
Especially when Sister Atwood played and I sang triumphantly Oh Canada as loud and as illustrious as we could (Yayy Canadian x2)
Visited with this old couple that had an ANGRY 25 year old parrot, Its so hard to make small talk and visit with all the pleasantries that come from meeting someone for the first time while their angry bird is jabbering and banging on their cage next to you. I don't know what we did but that bird was LIVID. Also absolutely criminal that parrots live 75+ years. You're telling me that parrot was on the earth when I was a potato baby old man? Bro was alive when I wasn't even a THOUGHT.
We joined these 4 older ladies in tying quilts! When you add yarn to every joined corner/ Center of each square on the quilt: We walked in and they welcomed us by getting straight to the teaching: Sister Atwood and I learned pretty quick and it was actually therapeutic minus the pain my fingers were going through trying to push and pull the needle through the layered fabric.
At one point one of the older Sisters ask "Do you ladies know how to sew?" To which we both replies "no!" in an instant they were all shocked and appalled and told us we needed to get on it and that parents these days don't teach their kids useful life skills :O (Criminal) They were nice though, Its fun to hear what the scoop or gossip is for a group of older women :)
I love Cranky old lady friend groups that are mad and interested and in love with the world all together all at the same time.
Also no one panic it took sister Atwood and I 5 minutes to learn so it all works out!
Sister Atwood and I love eating our lunch out in the sun, a couple warm days this week we make our food (Tomato sandwich, granola bowl, avocado toast etc) and then we eat and talk and drink in the sunshine. I love yapping and Sister Atwood hugs her knees and listens and all is well in the sun :)
We tried to visit this yellow dot late at night (Yellow = Possibly interested) and as we're biking I find myself asking the question "Where the heck are we?" genuinely encountered a backrooms experience where everything was unfamiliar (Which is STRANGE when you have a tiny area and have been in that area for over 4 months) > Come to find out we have a rehab center in our area! I've just never been because we never have to go.. We called the referral we received and the center requested that we bring a BOM? (You mean you don't have one in your back pocket?) Always the more you know!
This part member couple (Freaking Bethy and Danial) Have rescheduled TWICE. The first time we showed up and we were like heyy and they were like "Oh we were expecting you yesterday" so we RESCHEDULED and show up and they're like "We thought it was tomorrow.." ... Somethings fishy. We have it rescheduled for Saturday so we'll see.
We Joined a seminary class this week! First of all not the entire SEMINARY BUILDING?! And second of all why are teenagers absolutely terrifying?! It was cool to be in a classroom for seminary though and hopefully we were able to answer someone's question and motivate them to go on a mission! (If they feel inspired to) It feels so strange to be the Missionary and not the youth.. I'm still a kid guys I swear!
We baked banana muffins and Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies and brought them to people we felt like needed it! One non member kid was like "My mom can't today." And we were like "We made cookies :)" excitement entered his eyes and was like "No way! Thanks!" Worst case we just give him a solid impression of the missionaries :)
This week we taught Alex about baptism and invited her to pray for a date to be baptized! We've also been sending her fun reminders to read the book of Mormon, Videos, voice memos, pictures, texts ETC there's something in inviting someone to do something that makes you want to understand that thing deeper for yourself (The book of mormon doesn't let you down please read it)
Thursday at like 7:20 PM we walk out of this member message and are about to head to an Elders Quorum presidents house when this cute lil red car pulls right up to us and this guy comes up to us "Sisters! I have someone for you to go see!" He tells us about this friend he has in Lehi who's not a member and could use the missionaries! We get his friends info so we can send the referral and then inquired about him and his story: We learn that his name is Randy and that he actually hasn't been to church in FIVE YEARS. We also learn that he's going to meet with the missionaries in his area because they texted him and he thought "Why not."
He explained that he actually loves missionaries and was a missionary himself he just had some bad experiences with people in the church and doesn't plan on going back.
We invited him to come back to church, and to pray and ask God where he should be. He said he would and it was a solid friendly interaction.
It was SO interesting to hear this perspective, and strange. People need to stop associating the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the imperfections of Human Frailty, I'm like YOU KNOW ITS TRUE YOU'RE SENDING MISSIONARIES TO YOUR FRIEND!! I hope Randy finds his way and that he follows our invitation :/
Friday and Saturday Sister Atwood and I decided to change things up for our sanity. We shirked the bikes and decided to walk so that we could talk to more people! (Slay warm weather) We can walk our area top to bottom in 30 minutes and were essentially nothing less than buddy buddy with every single human we came in contact with on the street!
Something SO interesting and semi annoying is every like 3rd member we talk to we will approach and be like "Hey!! How's your day been, what's your name? Etc." And they're be like "Oh Hey! We're members and we're doing good!" I'm sure you can imagine what the look on my face would have been if I wasn't a missionary :| There's no need to declare your membership my friend, I'd talk to you either way :)
Visited with this old guy named Billy Jolley who had the FATTEST Chiwawa I've ever seen named Kiki. She was adorable I gave her pats the entire time :)
Members gave us a FAT loaf of sourdough which made me want to click my heels
It was fast Sunday this week which was criminal on bikes, I felt like a shell of a sister missionary about to literally blow away and disappear like my tolerance does when I don't eat :P Its cool to fast because it helps you reflect on the agony that Jesus Christ had to endure for all of our infirmities, sins, and shortcomings :)
This week I've been thinking a TON about Mosiah 5:7
I also posted about it on Facebook so don't even worry about it
"Because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters"
We can be changed ACTUALLY. Through Jesus Christ, when we enter into covenants with God and promise to follow Jesus Christ we become sons and daughters of the Covenant. SPIRITUALLY. BEGOTTEN. How cool is that!
We're all children of our Heavenly father no matter what we do but when we CHOOSE God through our promises with him and when we choose Jesus Christ and to pattern our lives after his example, we choose to be aware of our divine identity, and choose to unlock our maximum potential: Therefore we open the gate of every blessing that CAN come from being sons and daughters of god
- We can always reject gods blessings because he can never take away our ability to choose and I LOVE that. That's what makes choosing him so sweet :)
Anyways
WHAT WOULD YOU TEACH?
Q: If God loves his children so much then why do horrific things happen to the most innocent people?
A: To understand this we first have to understand Gods plan for us
-We are here on earth because we chose to> we understand that we would receive a physical body of flesh and blood. We also understood that we were choosing mortality (Which brings natural disasters, sickness, accidents, death) and we also understood that we would maintain our Agency.
-Essentially we chose mortality so that we could learn grow and progress (experience trial)
-We could not experience joy without pain. There must be an opposite to EVERYTHING, the scriptures teach us that with sin and pain comes joy and growth
-Something else that we need to understand is that Jesus Christ suffered EVERYTHING. WE. HAVE. He did this so we can excersize our agency and turn to him and his atonement (Walking by faith!!)
-2nd Nephi 2:11
"There must needs be that theres an opposition in all things, if not so, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness or misery, neither good nor bad"
-2 Nephi 2:16
"The Lord gave unto man that he should act for himself... Man cannot act for himself save it be that he was enticed by the one or the other"
-Doctrine and Covenants 122:8
"The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"
Anyways somehow that concludes the rants for this week.. How did I not finish last weeks email untill like 9:30pm and I'm finishing this one just after 2:00? Don't even ask. I'm just as perplexed as you.
Everything seems Dreary at this current moment I admit I don't feel as peppy as I usually am used to being.
"Ebb and flow Abby, ebb and flow." -Nikkei
God is aware of you. He KNOWS you. ALL of you. And he still loves you more than you ever EVER EVER could imagine.
All is well, all is well,
-Sister Smith
From Dad: The Joy of Trials
Dear Abby,
A couple of insights I had in SS today might be worth sharing. As we discussed D&C 18, these verses stood out:
So sorry for not having written last week. It's been a bit of a whirlwind having to get the Leduc house ready for sale. For me it has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone both mentally and physically. Mentally, I have trouble not playing out in my mind all that could go wrong in the process of preparing the house. For example, when there is water flowing into the basement I think "That's it, no one will ever buy a house with a leaky foundation". Or, I get freaked out when doing any renovations on the house reveals 10 more that need to be done. But then, miracles happen and somehow things progress. I have the thought to text John Ripley and ask him if we can fix the foundation and he says yes, and with a few dollars exchanged, the leak is fixed! Physically, I think it has been good for me even though I'm pretty tired and have 10 new abrasions on my hands and arms from pulling staples and painting. It's easy to get into a sedentary mode in my line of work. So it is the little moments of joy that peak through the clouds of a trial to keep me going and putting my trust in God that all things will work together for my good. Mom is so good for me in this and she has been such an amazing example of persistence and choosing to find joy in the situation, often talking me down of my ledge of stress and worry for the future.
Last week I had a chance to go to San Diego for a week and do some customer presentations about our products. It was beautiful weather and I met some interesting people. It would have been a perfect trip to bring Mom as I only presented 2x for 2 hours each time on Tuesday and Thursday. Had lots of time we could have toured around together. The Hotel I stayed in was a sprawling 5 acre complex with fun amenities.
Probably the most interesting conversation came on the last night when we were sitting in the hotel restaurant / bar and one of the other presenters turned to me and asked me if I was LDS. It turns out that Dale is a member of the church who isn't active but still believes most of the doctrine of the church and the plan of salvation. He was a bit drunk so the conversation that ensued was heard by most of the folks in the restaurant. The organizer of the event, Greg, was fascinated by the conversation and as I shared my belief in the plan of salvation and the role of the Savior he was amazed, especially about the belief in a pre-existence. He had a lot of his own ideas and we ended up having a pretty rousing but respectful conversation about the purpose of life.
Greg is next to me in the black and Dale is on the right in the grey shirt. At this restaurant I had the best prime rib I've ever tasted!
Today we're looking forward to having a bunch of family and friends out for dinner including the missionaries. I think I'm thinking too much about food because it's fast Sunday! Even Ben and Benson are here because of a YSA event in Edmonton this week-end. Sounds like it was a fantastic conference with a good mix of inspiration and fun including a trip to the water park. Ben got to be on a panel discussion about Women and the Priesthood. Mia said it was good so it must have been!
A couple of insights I had in SS today might be worth sharing. As we discussed D&C 18, these verses stood out:
10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death
12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
Insight #1: How do we determine the worth of something? In the world we live in it is often by how much someone is willing to pay for it. When I thought of that and read vs. 10, 11, it stood out to me that our souls are worth enough to the Savior that he was willing to pay the ultimate price and sacrifice for us. So that means our souls are pretty great!
Insight #2: Gods standard of comparison and the worlds are different. We often compare ourselves with others based on their capabilities, looks, money, position etc. The Lord, according to vs 13, just compares us to ourselves. His desire is that we are better than our previous selves through the process of repentance.
We’re back to 4 single kids but so thankful they all love each other and love to come home. So grateful for Madison and Tyler and Bowie and Margo. You make our lives so wonderful and worth living. We love watching you all work through the challenges and trials of life.
Love you Abby. You are amazing. I’ve been loving your Facebook posts. You look good in dress pants!
Dad
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