lemonade life

Yo.

It's me. The missionary in NYC.(Rhyming)

Fabulous week! Today has been a nice day. We went to Madewell and to the metropolitan museum. My 3rd time going there. But let me tell you, I could spend a month in there because there is so much to see. It's huge. So it's been a good day. We are now eating at magnolias bakery and that equals happiness. I AM SUCH A HAPPY CAT RIGHT NOW. 

So we got to go to the temple twice last week. That was perf!!! We went to do baptisms with NATASHA my fave recent convert. It was so good. I miss doing baptisms! I hadn't done baptisms in over a year. So it was great. Very refreshing. Literally. Hahahaha I felt like I was swimming for a second :) I have not been in water for over a year!!! Obviously I've showered. But like fully immersed in water. So that was a fun feelin. Loved it. 

We did an APF on Saturday. Sister Sam and I planned it. Free lemonade! And talked about Thomas S. Monson. Modern day prophets. We met a man who claimed to be John the Baptist. He also told me his eyes could turn any color he wanted them. So he tried to show me. All I saw was brown. So that was fun! Haha I think he was bipolar because one second he was yelling at everyone saying "MORMONS ARE THE BEST. MORMONS ARE THE BEST." And the next second he was screaming at us that we were "FALSE PROPHETS. FALSE PROPHETS." Hahha. I was a DYING LAUGHING mess. He was a hoot. So fun.

We also helped out with this street fair called Harlem Days. We had laptops set up and we helped people figure out their family trees! That was great. people LOVE their family history. It was real good. Way hot. And I was sweating. But that's my life these days so just gotta get over it. 

We gave our bus driver a Book of Mormon. He still loves us. He was asking all sorts of questions and we were thrilled!!! We found out his name. It's Edgar. He goes "call me E." HAHAHAhaha. I love E. It was funny because when we bopped on the bus he's all "it's my favorite persons!!!" Lovely E. We like him. 

HAHA. This is just the funniest/scariest thing of my life. Okay. So there was a man last week that asked the elders if he could marry one of the sisters in our apartment building and they were like uhhh... No. When they told us we were like just laughing about it. We were unsure which sister missionary he was talking about. Well today, we were going to target and on the way there this man stopped us. I will summarize what he said. He said he watches us and knows that we are never home at our apartment because we are always out on our quest. Hahaha and then he confessed his love to me. Told me that when I am done with my quest I could live with him. He asked if he could learn about the gospel from us. Then told me he would never forget my name. Then he told me he loved me. And then I stood there wanting to cry Hahahaha. We just died. We were like uhhhhhhhh..... WHERE ARE THE ELDERS WHEN YOU NEED THEM. Anyways we are keeping a close eye out for this guy. Hahah. Hilarious. 

Also we had a zone conference and it was AMZNG. I am so rushed right now trying to hurry this email so forgive me for the quick ending!!! I will email more next week :) I also had a good spiritual thought to share but my time is cut short!! Sorrrrry!!

I am doing SO GOOD. I love this work. Looooove it. 

Love ABBBBB

sugar cookies

Heyooo!!!

Started the day out right by eating a SWIG SUGAR COOKIE. What's up breakfast!!! It was a delight to my soul. A member made them for me. I was happy. So the day has been good! We just got out of the temple too. And that made the day even better. A nice little break from this crazy life and city I'm in. I love the temple. 

Okay it was another great week. We had such a fun service opportunity on Saturday. We went to Central Park and we helped blind people exercise! So I met such a cool person named Owen and he held my arm and we walked 3 miles! We talked the whole time. Owen has such a cool spirit. And I LOVED that because he was blind, ALL he knew about me..was my personality. He couldn't see me. He couldn't judge me off of what I looked like. He didn't have that first impression judgement. He only heard me and could feel my spirit! HOW COOL. For a second I was like awhh why can't we all be blind. But I mean no. I'm grateful for the blessing of sight. I'm grateful that as we were walking I was able to SEE this beautiful city. To look at the amazing buildings. I'm grateful that I got to meet Owen and help on his morning exercise. What a blessing!! I was able to feel his wonderful spirit and have my perspective change for a second. I loved that.

We went to MLC on Friday. And that was swell!! As always, I love MLC. President Smith is the coolest. We talked a lot about being a Christlike missionary. Talked about how we are neither a "number pushing" missionary or a "people person" missionary. But rather a Christlike missionary. Because a Christlike missionary is both. A Christlike missionary gets high numbers, AND cares about the people. He isn't in it JUST to get high numbers, but His high numbers are the result of love and devotion and diligence and motivation. I want to be a Christlike missionary. I want to love everyone around me. I want to be diligent and motivated. I want to be the BEST that I can be. I love to be a missionary. I am so pumped to become a better Christlike missionary for these last few months of my mission. MY MISSION IS THE BEST. I'm so happy I came. 

Hahaha something funny. There is a bus driver that really likes my companion and I... HAHA. The other day we were on our way home and we were like 6 stops away.. Well he turned around and smiled and goes what stop you guys getting off at? And we were like uhhhh the last? And he goes (in this happy funny voice) "this bus is runnin express to the end!!" haha (meaning the bus would skip all the In between stops.) Hahaha we were laughing so hard as he literally skipped all the stops and just dropped us off. We for sure got home on time hahaha. People love the missionaries!!! 

On Monday we had zone meeting. So the zone leaders and I taught that. Kind of a recap of MLC. It was great! The spirit is real. And it was there. And we all had like tears in our eyes. I really love the spirit. It is one of my earnest desires to always have it with me. In preach my gospel it tells us that it should be one of our earnest desires. I want to live my life in such a way that I always have that goodness with me. I always want a third member of the godhead with me. How lucky and special we are if we just live worthy we can have such an amazing gift. I love the Holy Ghost and I would be a lost lame sista without it!! 

A funny moment. We had a rough lesson with our cool investigator from Africa. Haha. We had two members present and they just TOOK OVER. We were dying. DYING. (A piece of advice to the members..) DO NOT TAKE OVER IF THE MISSIONARIES INVITE YOU TO A LESSON. Hahaha the members are there to testify. Not to take over and (try) to teach. It was just a mess. I've had a few of those happen with members. Haha BLESS the members hearts. It's so nice of them to come teach with us. But hey, it gave Sister Sam and I somethin to laugh about the whole night. And no I'm not blaming it all on them. It actually wasn't that bad. It was just one of those moments where you are squeezing your fists and clenching your teeth and impatiently waiting for the lesson to be over. HAHA. Opposition in all things yeah? Gotta know the bad so you can know the good!!!

One last quote from my fave Thomas S. Monson. It is just a GOOD one for everyone to remember and especially missionaries (that are planning on never going home) hahahah. It was a good quote for me to read. So here!

“Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it.” 

I am GRASPIN my mission. I love New York. I love the people here. I love the gospel and I am SHARING it like crazy. I love you! 

Love abbbbbbbb!

stellar week

GOODNESS GRACIOUS. What a good week. I just really love being a missionary and just when it gets hard it gets SO GOOD. I am reaching a new level of perfection as I am overcoming the trials of the mission. I love it. Stay tuned for some goodies!!! I have much to share. This might be super random. Here we go!

Transfers are today! 

Guess who's staying in the central manhattan zone!? Me!! And Sister Sam :) no changes for us! Looks like we get to finish Sam's 12 week training together! WOOO! Haha she was oh so relieved after we found out. Those transfer calls are death man.... It's like opening your mission call every 6 weeks. YOU NEVER KNOW JUST WHERE YOU'LL GO. haha we are happy to stay. Because we've got a busy area. I absolutely LOVE the people we are working with. I think I might cry when I have to say goodbye to them! But it's okay. Life goes on. 

ANYWAYS. Our week. 

It started out real nice with a super great organized weekly planning session. Thursday's are weekly planning. We kind of dread when it comes (not going to lie.) But when it's over it's always so nice to have the week planned out. We do a good job with weekly planning. It was pouring rain on Thursday and we got to be in our apartment listening to it rather than trumpin through puddles in Harlem. I loved it. Made me want FALL so bad. (I stinking cannot wait for the fall.) FALL IN NEW YORK.  come sooner.

Silly Abbey stuff:

When it rains in New York City, it RAINS in New York City. Wet. Wet. Wet. Yuck. Subways, ew. Busses, ew. Puddles, ew. Umbrellas, poking eyes out. Wet missionaries, ew! But I'm a true New Yorker these days. This might give you just a tiny glimpse of why. Ha! It's funny because when I first got to the city (10 months ago) I remember getting on subways and kinda being grossed out, like not wanting to touch anything and being really careful when I sat down, etc. well you should seeee. me. now. I am over it. Hahaha if there is an open seat I happily plop on it with no fear of germs, or anything. Haha if there is an open pole to hold on to, I am HOLDING on to that pole. Hahahaha. My body has got to be immune to all germs now. Haha last week we got on a bus and most of the seats were taken. There were two empty ones so sister Sam sat down in one and I looked at the one next to it, and there was just a big puddle of water. Like somebody had set their umbrella there. Well I looked at it, I thought about it, and I sat on it. The man across from me started laughing so hard. I was like whatevs. I look/feel gross anyways. Might as well sit in a puddle. Sitting in puddles like its no big deal. Just  thought it was funny. Thought I'd give you an idea of how I feel. Haha!!!

We went to eat at the legit HARLEM SHAKE. Haha. It was funny. Famous little restaurant. It was good. Those shakes tho... They are really Harlem shakin it here in Harlem. It was good. 

ohmygoodness we talked to SO many cool people this week. Literally never hesitated to open our mouths. Saw lots of little miracles and tender mercies. Wish I could share them all. 

Hahahaha another funny Sister Sam quote as we walked by a billion garbage bags on the side of the road: I said, "ew why do flies always go to smelly places!?!" And Sam, (with ALL seriousness) goes, "If I were a fly, I would be sittin on flowers." I just was laughing so hard. If you could just hear her sweet little voice hahahahahaha. 

We got to go to one of our recent converts daughters birthday party! It was at the park and it was too good. Here's a cool story while we were on our way there. We had gone over to help Mike bring a lot of the stuff to the park. We called a taxi to help bring everything over. Well. Long story short: the taxi drivers daughter is from Draper Utah and she goes to BYU!!! She is a member!!! I was like What. The. Heck. Dying. Out of all the cabs in NYC and this man picks us up? We gave him our info. Gave him a pamphlet. He is goin to be baptized one day.. I just know it:) he was SO happy and nice to us he didn't even make us pay. What a fella. Coincidence? NO. Right time. Right place. All that. Yep! 

We had a little conference yesterday with all the YSA missionaries in the mission. There are 4 sets and we are one of those!! It was so cool because President brought up how he has felt so strongly ever since he got his call to New York City to really work with the YSA wards. And Sister Sam and I are in a YSA ward. We are going to do some more amazing work here. I just love being here. 

A funny moment:

Hahaha yesterday we were sitting on the subway and Sister Sam was standing and I was sitting. Well I was just blankly sitting there zoned out as we were traveling to our next appointment not really paying attention to my surroundings. Haha sister Sam started laughing a little bit and I was like what on earth why is she laughing. Well when we got off the subway she busts up laughing and told me that the man across from me on the subway was drawing a FULL ON SKETCH of my face. Then obviously I started busting up laughing as well!!! Hahaha she said it was like an amazing picture of me that he had been drawing as soon as I sat down. I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE. Hahaha. She's all "you looked beautiful in that sketch!!!" I just thought it was so funny. Wish I could go get that picture and send it to you! Sheesh. Some talented New Yorkers. Who sketches on the subway that quick!?! #thatman I'm still laughing about it. Sister Sam said it was like exactly my face. Oh my heck why. It's funny. Hahah!! 

On a more spiritual note:

I LOVE OUR INVESTIGATORS. Oh my goodness.

One in particular. A woman named Marie! She is stellar. She is in her 40's. She has like 5 kids. She and I are SO similar. She loves to shop. She loves a good outfit. She loves whole foods. (And let me tell you I could LIVE in whole foods) especially the one at Columbus circle!!! Anyways. We just have a lot of similarities. We both have the same attitude. Same sassy personality sometimes. She's just so cool. A DREAM INVESTIGATOR. She comes to church every week. Reads the Book of Mormon. And PRAYS. She just recently started praying and it is the coolest thing of my life. Last night we had a lesson with her and asked her to pray at the end. At first she was hesitant but then realized that we desperately wanted to hear her pray. So she did. Oh. My. Goodness. SHE MAKES ME WANT TO PRAY SO MUCH BETTER. You guys Marie is BEST friends with her Heavenly Father. She has a full blown father/daughter relationship with him. I wish you could hear the sincere words that came out of her mouth. As I was listening to her calm heartfelt words to her Father in Heaven I felt so much motivation to come to know my Father just like Marie knows Him. She inspired and motivated me to pray EVEN BETTER and even MORE than I do now. I pray literally like 106 times in one day. And I'm ready to have a sincere conversation with my Heavenly Father 106 times a day now. (Not that I wasn't  before..?) But hey, let's be honest. WE CAN ALL IMPROVE ALWAYS.

President Joseph F Smith said this:

“We do not have to cry unto him with many words. We do not have to weary him with long prayers. … Let the prayer come from the heart, let it not be in words that are worn into ruts in the beaten tracks of common use, without thought or feeling in the use of those words.”

You guys. Please remember that when you are praying, you are talking to your lovely amazing Father. No need to have anything less than an amazing heartfelt conversation with Him!!

Questions for you to ponder and ask yourself!

Do you share with your Heavenly Father your innermost beliefs, feelings, and desires? Have you shared with Him the secret ambitions that lie in your heart? Can you pour out your heart to Him? And do you practice listening for His responses?o you share with your Heavenly Father your innermost beliefs, feelings, and desires? Have you shared with Him the secret ambitions that lie in your heart? Can you pour out your heart to Him? And do you practice listening for His responses?

Whatever your answers are, I invite you to Improve them. There's always room for improvement :) let's all follow lovely Marie's example and truly SINCERELY speak to our Father like he is our Father. Because he truly is. I know that. I know that I am His daughter. I LOVE HIM. I love His work. I'm so grateful to be a part of it. 

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. 

Love abb.

Sasster Dunford

Hey you guys! 

I literally went back forth in my brain today of weather to write a group email or not. I was SO close to not. But here I am. Writing a group email. Hopefully it won't bore you!

It was a harder busier week! 

Went on two splits. Or exchanges! Whatever you want to call them :) haha wow those wear me out! But they are so good. Being a sister training leader is great. But it's also sometimes a challenge. Challenges are the best. They equal growth. I love growth. Well. Spiritual growth. I won't go as far as saying I love physical growth. Hahaha I'd really appreciate if I could shrink physically and swell spiritually. Hahaha!! Okay I will stop there.

I am really loving my companion Sister Sam. We are just way too similar!!! Our brains are. We think the same all the time. We are just so happy together!! It's rare that you find us upset or sad or discouraged. I LOVE IT. I love when two companions work at the same level and it's like boom happiness. 

A few FUNNY quotes from Sister Dunford and Sister Sam this week:

"Wow, if I were an ant I would never put forth that much effort to climb this high!!" -Sister Sam after we found some ANTS in our top floor apartment! Hahaha I was like crying laughing after she said that."

".... they moved from China to Asia last year!!" -Sister Dunford as we were talking about some members in the ward. (Um geography classes needed.) I don't even know what to do with myself. 

"BUGS BUGS there are bugs crawling on me!!!!!!" -Sister Sam woke up screaming one night HAHAHAhaha turned on the light thinking there were bugs crawling everywhere but slowly awakened to realize she was dreaming and sleep talking hahaha. 

Anyways. I wish I could remember all the hilarious moments. Because there are so many!! Sometimes time will like freeze as we are walking through the streets of Harlem and I will just be like DYING over my life right now. Like WHAT. AM. I. DOING. It's so funny. A lot of little moments like that. 

Example: knocking in the yuckiest most disgusting smelliest project buildings in the whole wide world. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! Hahah. Time stops sometimes and I'm like woah this is weird. But most of the time it's like "yeah this is life." Don't even remember what it's like to not knock doors in yucky buildings. Hahaha. 

I think the city does things to people's brains. We've all lost our minds here in New York City. Because every time I go somewhere upstate or even to Central Park I'm like ohhhh "my brain is back!!" Haha I just thing the city is so chaotic and crazy. But I love it. Weird. 

Transfers are in one week. What! I think I will stay here another transfer! But we will see. YOU NEVER KNOW. They don't call them "shock calls" for nothin! "May the odds be ever in your favor." For reals!  

Hey I best be moving on with my lovely P day in NYC. 

Let me leave you with a quote that smacks all missionaries in the faces!! Hahahah. It's straight up motivation!! 

"Missionaries who understand their purpose understand that the world has NO ACCESS to atoning grace and salvation except through them and the church they represent. When you walk into a home, what are you offering them? Access to forgiveness, grace, and exaltation. And guess what? Newsflash. Without you, they don't get it."

-Elder Dowdle

DUN DUN dunnnnnnn. Whne I read that I'm like GOODNESS GRACIOUS I need to be passing out the gospel like throwin out at EVERYONE. Which we do. But yeah. I'm ending this email now. 

I love you!!!! 

Love 

ABBBBBBBB

#camels

This is probs going to be a RUSHED email. 

We've been busy this P day. Busy busy. 

We are going to ride camels. Yes you read that correctly. We are going to ride a camel. 

HAHA. That's why this is rushed. 

But anyways. It was a great week!! Still STLing and training an busying it up. Here are the randoms!

We had interviews with President Smith and a little training from him. That was great you know. I like President Smith. He and I get along great. 

A cool moment for me!!

I received a text from President Smith on Sunday and he told me that he went to church at the Darien ward. Which was my first area! Well he said that a woman that I had taught when I was there had been baptized and was giving a talk that day in sacrament meeting! She brought up my name in her talk and that's why president knew to text me. But to make the story shorter. President told me that not only SHE had been baptized but her HUSBAND, and her little 8 year old is getting baptized on Saturday!! And she has two younger kids that are eagerly waiting for their turn to be baptized!!! HOW COOL. Sometimes you just never know the good that comes from your efforts :) 

It's been a HOTTT time here in NYC. Hot. And so we use pamphlets to fan our faces whenever we are waiting for public transportation or something. Well let me tell you somethin. We be PASSIN OUT PAMPHLETS LIKE FREE FANS. Everyone loves them hahaha!! They see us fanning ourselves and they instantly get jealous. So we then share the love AND the gospel at the same time. People are just a walkin around with LDS pamphlets all over NYC. Haha good stuff.

Sister Sam and I basically planned and put on a wedding in 10 minutes for a girl in the YSA ward. HAHA. Bishop married them and Sister Sam played the piano, and I said both of the prayers. It is a longer story but to keep this brief that's all there is to say about it. Haha. Wedding planning sister missionaries. 

This transfer is FLYING by. It's not cool. Haha.

Our African investigator literally is the best thing that ever happened in NY. Haha. He LOVES church and is so excited for his baptism. He is learning so much. He texted us one night and said "hello miss I have 20 question for you" HAHA. We got to our lesson with him and he literally had a notebook full of questions. He is fun. Haha! Hopefully I will still be here when it happens. September 6th is the date. We invited him to a baptism last week just so he could see what it's like and feel the spirit there. He loved it. He kept smiling. Ah good. 

Haha there was a crazy man in sacrament meeting on Sunday. You would DIE if you could see the crazy people in NY. These New Yorkers take the "visitors welcome" sign seriously!! They are visiting right and left. Haha. (No but really they just love the air conditioning) haha. This man in particular had a freak out in sacrament meeting. Tipping chairs over, yelling, throwing his drink on the ground. Haha he was bleeding on his head. Yikes. Then bishop went to help this fine fellow out and the man picked up his crutch and began to pretend it was a gun. Sad right? People need help. Pray for this man ... Bless his heart hahaha. I was dying laughing tho. Probably not very mature of me.. Oh well. Sometimes all you can do is laugh. Especially at these harlemites...

Awh man! This isn't my best email I've written so forgive me... Next weeks will hopefully be better :)

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Love abbbbbba

Ps don't forget about our lovely pioneers that went through all they did for us. :) 

nynynynynynynyny

Heeelllooooooo!

So it was quite the week. Busy. Lots of stuff happened. 

Soooo Natasha's baptism HAPPENED. It was probably the best baptism I've ever been to. Oh my goodness. President Smith and his wife came. That was neat! Natasha is literally one of the strongest girls I know. If only you could all hear her testimony!! It was amazing to see her standing in the waters of baptism and to be moving forward in faith despite the fact that her parents do not support her at all in this. Ah I love her. We will be good friends forever. I got to speak at her baptism too. It was just such a spiritual high if you know what I'm sayin. LOVE HER. Honestly we were both supposed to be in this area at this time. 

Sunday was quite the day again! Haha. Sunday's are THE most tiring days as a missionary. On Sunday we were at the church at 8:30 am and then went to the family ward and to ward council then to YSA ward at 1:00 and I had to speak in YSA ward. That made me tired. Haha then we had a linger longer after church and then Natasha's baptism was at 5pm and then we were there till like 6:40 cleaning up and then we headed to our dinner appointment at 7:00. Ate food and then took the good old subway home. You wouldn't think it's tiring because you just sit down at church the whole time, but when you feel the spirit and when your brain is thinking about 201 different things, you're EXHAUSTED. Haha. Like Lehi in 1st Nephi 1.. (I was thus overcome with the spirit!!)

7 "And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen."

Okay I feel ya Lehi. Being over come with the spirit is draining. But. Nevertheless I say unto you it is SO GOOD :) haha. I always just want to cast myself on my bed man. 

So on Monday my companion and I got to eat dinner with some members at the EMPIRE STATE Building! #blessed. that was fun. Good golley I love New York City. We went down to shake shack after and got the lovely famous "concrete jungle ice cream" oh heaven. So fun and cute and tasty and good and life is good. New York wins. Best mission in THE WORLD. If only everyone could have this experience that I'm having! Ugh the world would be a better place. :) because I'm happy.

We got to go to Scarsdale again for Sister Sam's new missionary training meeting. Always good to see President Smith. Always good to go upstate. It's very refreshing to go up there and see houses and lots of trees and neighborhoods!!! Living in the city is a different world. I do love the city though. 

Haha!!! A funny question we were asked this week by an investigator: 

If Moroni is the son of Mormon, who is his mother? HAHAHA. You should have seen our faces. We were like uhhh... Does it matter? Oh man. Just a random funny moment. 

The story of... The man who confessed his love to Sister Dunford. 

HAHA. Funniest moment. This might have been a "you had to be there" moment but here it is anyways. Sister Sam and I had given a referral to the elders last week. (A man that we talked to on the street one day) well the elders tried to call him and couldn't get ahold of him. So we were all together one time and they were like "okay you try calling him and see if you can set up an appointment with him." So I did. I call and he answers and then he got excited and happy when he remembered who we were. And then I asked him if he had read The Book of Mormon at all. He's all "yeaaah... It's interesting!!" I laughed a little and said what part did you read? And then his next response was "actually I have something to say but it's a little off topic" (you should have seen all of our faces at this point) (because he was on speaker) well. I was like okay... And then the man goes "so when you came up to me I fell in love with you. I love you and I want to marry you. Are you single?" Okay. Now you can only imagine the amount of laughter in the room. We were all DYING. Haha the elders faces were so funny. And I was just trying so hard to hold it together. But Obviously couldn't and I was just dying. The man was like "you sound interested." And I quickly said "You're SO WRONG." And then hung up. And that was that. And it was hilarious. That was about as entertained as missionaries can get hahaha. Ah. It happens one too many times you guys!!! I feel like sister missionaries should wear wedding rings or something haha. Blaaahhh!!!!!! But you know what it is..? These men are attracted to the spirit!! They see the light and they can't help but be attracted to it. It's not me, it's the spirit hahahah. Dead serious. Woowweeee 

Okay our African investigator is the coolest. The one I told you about before. The one that had the dream that God sent us to him. He is SO COOL. The more we meet with him the more love I have for him. He is so great. Just the sweetest African French speaking man. He is so ready for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. God prepares his people. I feel so blessed to be a part of this work. Ah. Love love love love it. 

My fingers hurt from typing so I think I'm gonna quit here! Haha can't wait till I can share these stories with you via mouth!!! Hahaha. Via face to face. Oh that'll be a good day. 

Before I quit here's a thought.

D&C 6 says:

33. Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward.

34. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

NOW GO AND BE GOOD. :) don't be afraid to be a good person. Good people are the best.

Ta-ta for now. I LOVE YOU ALL. 

Love abbbb :)

Oh ps! I guess I hit my year mark! Weirdest. 

Miracles happen once in awhile...

HEYYY. 

A very good week. Let's jump right in!!

We had MLC on Friday. We left at like 9 am, hopped on the Metro North train and got off in Scarsdale! It was President Smiths first MLC! He and his wife are boss's. I LOVE THEM. Their kids are fantastic as well. (Speaking of his kids I'm with Savannah and Lauren right now!) P day buddies :) anyways. At MLC each zone was asked to prepare a presentation about our zone! So we are the Central Manhattan Zone. We shared lots of goodies about our zone. Our zone wins. Our zone is ALL of Manhattan. We also the have American Sign Language Elders in our zone. WHICH IS SO FUN. Haha I'm learning sign language. I love my zone. It's been so fun to be STL here. So MLC was just dandy. We ate lunch together it was good. Ha more pizza! Then MLC ended at like 3 ish and all of us just straight headed for the...

YANKEES GAME!!!

There we were! All of the NYNYN missionaries. So cool. We all got free Yankees hats. We were on the big camera! We listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing! We cheered loud. It was so fun. Haha (all of us haven't had that much fun in a loooong time) so we were all just so smiley and happy. Hahah I love missionaries. Missionaries are SO funny. It was a GOOD time. And the YANKEES WON. Ha we of course had to leave early to be home on time. But they ended up winning and it was a good game. (Ask me if I even understood what was going on..) because I totally don't understand baseball. But hey. GO NEW YORK YANKEES. I can tell you I am a Yankees fan. Yes.

The FOURTH OF JULY!!

It was a good day. Haha definitely weird to proselyte on a day like that. Everyone is doin their own thing. We ate dinner with the funniest awesomest couple in the ward. They had us over at their apartment and they went all out. Made such a fun meal. Hot dogs, HUGE yummy pickles, potato salad, and a lot of other unhealthy things. We made paper hats and we laughed our heads off at each other. We looked hilarious. They also played this YouTube video on their projector called 10 hours of fireworks. HAHAH. We sat there and watched them the whole time while Mormon tabernacle choir played in the background. WHAT KIND MEMBERS to have the missionaries over on the Fourth of July!! It was a good time and I'm grateful for the kind members who care for us. I love people. 

I totally just have to be excited for a second k? WE HAVE SIX BAPTISMAL DATES. That is SO HAPPY!!! You guys. It makes me smile so big. I'm so happy for the six people that we've been meeting with and for their desire to come closer to Christ. Their lives will FOREVER be changed for the better. I love the gospel and what it does for us. 

Cool story. Im going to try to make this detailed story a lot shorter.. 

So like two weeks ago Sister Sam and I were headed home for the night. And it was pouring rain. It was like 9:00 and I was tired and just wanted to go to sleep. Well we were standing at the bus stop and there was a man standing next to us with an umbrella just minding his own business. I wanted to mind my own business too because I was so tired and I was soaking wet. I felt gross hahah. Well we had been standing there for like 10 minutes and I had the biggest impression to walk over to this man and talk to him. In my head I was like "mmm nooo... this is so awkward... We've been standing here for 10 minutes now and it will be so weird if I walk up to him and talk to him!!" So I just kept standing there. And the impression would not go away. So I finally just swallowed my pride and walked up to him and said "Hi, how has your day been?" I introduced myself as a missionary and just invited him to come to church. I gave him a card and then got on the bus and didn't think much about it at all. He didn't speak much English. Basically all he said was okay thanks. 

Well two days later we received a text and it was from him!! He asked what time church was and we gave him the info. (I didn't think he would actually show up just because that's how things roll here in missionary world) well to my surprise he showed up!! And he brought a friend!! And sat by us. But he doesn't speak English hardly at all!!! Like I would say something and he would just blankly stare at me hahah. So funny. (This is the FRENCH investigator I was telling you about.) he's from Africa. Well they had to go and we just didn't really know where to go from there. 

Okay fast forward a little. He and his friend came AGAIN the next Sunday. And we were like wow! They come even though they don't understand a word!? Cool. They must feel the spirit. Well luckily we found a member in the ward who is from France and is here on a short intern. So we set up an appointment to meet all together. The French member explained a little more to these two to clear up their confusion. Well something SUPER cool. So we were in our lesson after church and our French member was talking to these two and they were just having a conversation in French while Sister Sam and I sat there confused haha. Well then our French member turned to us and told us a story that this man told him. He explained that this man came to America about a month ago. And he lived in Burkina Faso. He said that before he came here to America he had a dream that God sent two girls to him to help him change his life. (He had no idea what missionaries were at that time.) There were more details but that's the shortened version. When our French member explained this dream to us he had tears in his eyes!! I was like woah. Woah. This man from Africa said he knows that God is in his life and he knows that this is the start of something. WHAT!! How cool. So we then taught them more and we then extended a baptismal invitation and boom. Two baptismal dates. Pure happy. You guys, can you imagine if I hadn't of OPENED MY MOUTH on that rainy rainy tired night??? It was SO important for me to follow that prompting because now this African mans life is going to change!!! And I have been able to be an instrument in Gods hand in this mans journey. HOW COOL AND SPECIAL. I have the strongest testimony of the spirit. I know that's it's real. And I know how important it is that we listen and we obey that spirit. 

I. Love. This. Work. I love it so much!! 

Go share the gospel everyone!! It's the most important thing you could do.

 

Love you alllll!!!

Love abb. 

Forgive my scattered emails. Love you!