Pictures

 Saying Goodbye to my nieces and nephews.

 Saying Goodbye to my Sister

 A view of Utah Valley

 Spending time with Grandpa

 MTC Companeras

 Enjoying the Fall in Provo

 Saying "Adios" to the MTC!!!

 CALIFORNIA!!! 

Inn-N-Out: Need I say more?

Pictures

Abby and her Trainer

Abby with President and Sister Baker (Mission President)

COMMUNICATING WITH MISSIONARIES

Here are some of the communication rules for Abby's mission. Keep in mind that she is only allowed to read mail and open packages on Monday (which is her preparation day). If you want her to get it by a certain time, you need to make sure it arrives by the preceding Wednesday:

1. The Mission Office Address is

California Los Angeles Mission

1591 East Temple Way

Los Angeles, CA 90024-5801

When addressing letters, post cards, or packages, the mailing address should indicate clearly (Elder or Sister)  first name, middle initial, and last name.  Please no nicknames!

2.  All mail leaves the mission office on Thursday morning.  It is picked up by Zone Leaders and distributed to missionaries after District Meetings on Friday.  It says on page 21 in the white Missionary Handbook “you should communicate with family and friends only on preparation day.”  To increase obedience in our mission, we have asked missionaries not to open their mail until the following Monday.  We cannot make special deliveries.

This means that if a package arrives at the office on a Thursday (mail comes in the afternoons), it will not be distributed until the following week and will not be opened until the next Monday.  If possible, you should try to ensure that mail and packages arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday.  If a box is marked “Perishable” the missionary will be allowed to open it on Friday night after District Meeting and remove food items, however it will not be sent out before the regular Thursday run.  Please do not write “Perishable” on packages that are not food that may spoil. 

5.  Missionaries may use email on Preparation Day only.  They have one hour in which they are expected to write to the President and their family.  Email privileges do not include friends, girl, or boy friends etc.  Missionaries are not allowed to access family websites, blogs or any sites other than lds.org or mormon.org.

We trot like the turkeys.

Dearest Friends and Family,

 

This glorious week of Thanksgiving has brought me to a multitude of fascinating discoveries:

 

1. I am capable fo eating and digesting RIDICULOUS amounts of food. Dear family, please tell me it's genetic. It's not that I wasn't aware of this fact before, but it's been brought to a new light here in the VC. People are in awe of me. I'm not excessively glutonous normally, but Thanksgiving Day was something else.  The Grovers and the Shakespeare's and the Petersen's all doted upon us with a delicious spread (hopefully I'll have time to attach some pics), and I took full advantage. Can I just say how incredibly spoiled we are here? So many people who love us.

 

2.  Gratitude is the key to lots of everything good.  Elder Grover, who is one of the senior couples who works here and used to be an institute teacher (they are the coolest couple! The kind that has like 20 "adopted" children, you know? Like the Loveridges), and my companion and I had a really great conversation the other day about the Pride Cycle, and how when we can cut across the Pride Cycle...in other words, skip the iniquity/forgetting of the Lord/doom and destruction/compelled humility part, and move straight to the repentance/remember/change/prosperity/righteousness part...when we can do that, we will become a zion person and a zion people.  I so needed that insight.  And then later, of course, with Thanksgiving, we discussed Gratitude and how incredibly necessary it is.  So here's what I decided...Gratitude is the turning point in that shortcut across the Pride Cycle.  Gratitude aka Remembering the Lord aka humilty will lead us to repentance and change w/o needing the compelled humilty.  We may still experience hard times, but we won't forget the Lord.  So...I, and all of my horrific pride that is revealing itself on a minutely basis here on my mission, need to be grateful.

 

3.  The Lord needs me--who I am, my experiences, my testimony, my desires, my calling, my support, my efforts...RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. I had an experience w/ one of our investigators this week that taught me this. And it was sorta kinda one of the first moments where it REALLY hit me. And it may not lead to a baptism (but I have hope and faith that it will!) and it may not have really had to have been ME. It didn't have much to do with me...I realize that. But either way, I really liked being used by the Lord. :)  And I'm so grateful He gave me the opportunity. Also, I love this investigator. We really click.

 

4. I am grateful for Sticky Notes.  I may even have a testimony of them, actually. Their mobility and their bright colors and their function as a receiver and reminder of revelation and inspired planning...whoever invented them was truly inspired. Let's pray for their posterity, shall we? P.S. This would be a great Christmas gift. As would stamps. And envelopes. And a notebook to write letters. Just ideas. I can buy all of these things on my own, obviously.

 

5.  I am surrounded by a lot of human beings who lift me up all the time. Including ya'll. Thanks for your love and support and prayers and YOU.  I can't express gratitude enough for you and all you do. Amazing how just your presence in my life can be a lift, you know? Whether or not you have time to write, know that I appreciate you.

 

Keep praying and reading the scriptures, okay?  And be grateful. And share the Gospel. That's the purest, best, most joyful gift you could give.  And know that I love you and am praying for you sincerely.

 

Love ya,

 

Hermana Wells

California!

Hey loves!

I don't have much time left. I'm trying to figure out this whole e-mail thing. But yes, I'm loving that you're all e-mailing me now! Dear elder was nice when I could read them everyday...but I can't do that anymore. Here's how the mail here works:

The mail is picked up by our District Leaders on Wednesday, delivered to us Friday morning, and we can open in on Monday (prep day--morning or afternoon depending on when our Visitors' Center shift is).  We may be allowed to open packages on Friday when we get the mail IF and only IF it is marked that there are perishable or urgent items inside (like unto baked goods, some vital document, etc.). At first, I liked the idea of not being able to open any of our mail except for Preparation Day...but I'll admit, it's been difficult. Especially because the boxes I sent myself from the MTC did not arrive by the Wednesday deadline. It's not a HUGE deal, but I was slightly disappointed to not have some of those things right away.  But anyway, just so you know...that's the system. Mark stuff if it's perishable or urgent, and try to send it so it gets here by Tuesday so I can get it by the following Monday. 

Oh, and p.s.  

I'M IN CALIFORNIA.

Wanna know how I know? 

Well, you see, I'm sitting at a computer in the back room of one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in--next to my companion/trainer, Sister Olivo (from the Dominican Republic and has lived in NY for the last 8 years--so she totally has that phenomenal NY/Dominican accent going on. She goes home at the end of this transfer...which, in mission/life-analogy terms, means that I, her baby, am "killing" her...confused? Me too.).  

But really, If I were to look outside, I'd see a HUGE white building with the angel Moroni on top--in front of a classically California backdrop.  Think sky scrapers and palm trees all around. I love this place. I knew I did and I knew I would. But really, Los Angeles is something else.  She and I are currently serving (english-speaking) in MALIBU. Yup. MALIBU. Like, home of the rich and famous.  Like, Adam Sandler lives in my ward boundaries. Yeah. If you can believe that.  It's gorgeous.  I have yet to spend a lot of time there as the last few days have been a LOT of meetings and training and adjusting...but what I've seen, I love.  And there's a LOT of work to do. Which, in my big-eyed, dreamy, fresh-from-the-MTC state of being, is FABULOUS. Please note all of the all-capped words...because that's how I'm talking right now.  And by talking, I mean typing and thinking and feeling.

I'm at that point where there is literally more to share than I have the capacity to organize in my mind. I wasn't very prepared for you this week. I'm doing that kind of learning that can only be done by living. I haven't quite identified all of the adjustment processes I'm going through, but all of them involve a lot of balancing. Which, of course, is great for me. And I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. I can admit that I have questioned that in very brief moments--moments when I questioned my own ability to "fit" here and to be all that I have been trained to be over the course of my life and my MTC experience...but overall, I have accepted my place here as the exact place and time that the Lord needs me. 

I testify to you today of the prophet of God. I know that Thomas S. Monson has been called of God and I sustain him as the prophet, seer, and revelator of our day. He holds the keys and the ability to guide us and interpret the will of God for us today--right NOW.  I testify that Heavenly Father called me here through Thomas S. Monson. I testify of the Atonement's enabling power to change us as we do His work.  This is not my mission, but His. I've got to remember that.

I love you all dearly and LOVED the e-mails. I so hope I get a chance to respond individually today. You're all in my prayers, and I so appreciate yours. 

Love,

Sister Wells

P.S. Send me your home addresses, please. 

DTR with the MTC

I had a DTR* with my MTC relationship last night and here's where I'm at:

 

The twitterpation and CRAZY excitement has worn off, and now I'm entering into that more intimate, deep sort of love--you know that kind that can be a little painful sometimes, but somehow heals itself in a deeper, stronger way? It's scary b/c I haven't ever really been at this point in my spirituality before, but I'm loving it.  I am aware that I am being changed by doctrine, which is supposedly the best way to change. Overwhelming, but in the most faithful and hopeful way.

 

Brother Allen came and spoke with us earlier this week, and he told us that our excitement as missionaries often gets in the way of the vitally important doctrines and blessings of missionary work. Something I have thought about a lot, and something those of you considering a mission should also think about.

 

In terms of where I'm literally at in my MTC training, I started Visitors' Center training on Wednesday. It has BLOWN AWAY my expectations. I have been blessed with incredibly powerful teachers here, but I have never been taught this intensely before. Ay ay ay. I am learning in the deepest way how a visitors' center missionary fulfills their purpose as a missionary--in other words, inviting people to Christ through His doctrine--in a Visitors' Center setting.  It's obviously a different dynamic than normal proselyting, but I am learning how equally rewarding it can and will be as I continue to study and prepare myself.  My concept of Visitors' Centers has been blown out of my mind in the best way--and I hope you challenge your own concept of Visitors' Centers as well. It is a place where you can find strength and answers if you treat it as such, and I encourage all of you to do so.

 

I have a testimony of companionships. I miss my elders dearly and I miss spending more time with Hermana Dopp and Eberle, but I am loving what there is to be learned for the other VC*** sisters. I'm in another trio, which is sort of hilarious, but again, a wonderful learning experience. My companions' names are Hermana Nordhagen (from Sandy) and Hermana Real (from Barcelona! Accent and all!).  They're spectacular. That's all I have time to say, which is unfortunate.

 

I also have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Not only is it an incredibly, beautifully true book with really fascinating stories, but it is and has been the center of my testimony and knowledge of--and relationship with--Jesus Christ as my loving Savior and Redeemer.  I suppose I have always known that on some level, but it has come to light more fully since being here for obvious reasons. I imagine missions have a tendency to do that sort of thing :)

 

Well, I have 30 seconds left. This letter is shorter b/c I was less prepared for it, but I want you all to know how loved you are by myself and your Heavenly Father.

 

Love ya lots! Work the faith!

 

Abbs

Hermana Wells

 

 

*DTR: Determine/Discuss the Relationship. I prefer the latter D word. Similar to a Companionship Inventory, in which both parties discuss the progress of the relationship and how it can be bettered. It's generally a time to express love and concern in the form of constructive goal-setting. I like DTRs a lot...As many of you know...

 

**Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT

***Visitors' Center

THE NEWS, Funny, and Magic

Everyone!

 

So many happenings everyday! Where to begin? I will only share the most exciting and basic, and even then, I must place limits.

 

First of all, let's talk about THE NEWS, shall we? And by "THE NEWS," I am of course referring to the announcement that 18-yr-old boys and 19-yr-old girls can become 18 and 19-year-old MISSIONARIES. Do you even realize how exciting it is to be a missionary right now??? I haven't talked about this before with ya'll, but we talk about it all of the time here--for obvious reasons.  Richard Heaton, one of the MTC administrators, (and my roomie, Audrey's, unce), spoke at a devotional a few weeks back and explained that starting in mid-Feb, most of us will be TRAINING for the remainder of our missions.  I don't know if that's going to be 100% the case for me, but the point is:  we will be at the forefront of this movement of missionaries--leaders in the beginning of the days of  "hastening the Lord's work". I feel SO blessed to be in this place at this time with these people.  It's been and up-and-down road getting here, as many of you know, but I know I am exactly where I belong.  This thought was magnified after reading my patriarchal blessing the other day.  How could I have EVER questioned that a mission was right for me??? Ah! I just love this.  I'm already sort of sad that it's going to end in just 17-ish short months, and I'm determined to make the most of it.

 

On this note, I wanted to congratulate all of you (in a blanketed sort of way) who have decided to go on missions! I'm SO EXCITED for you! For those of you still deciding/considering, maintain the knowledge that this is just an option. Entonces, if you're a 19-yr-old girl and have the opportunity but don't feel like you want or need it or like it's maybe not the right time for you...don't feel pressure. Just a disclaimer.  For those of you going, whether or not your MTC arrival date is in the near future, you best be preparing with all of you mighty heart.  With the shortened time in the MTC, you'll no longer have time to "figure it out" once you get here.  You have to be better prepared than I was two weeks ago.  That being said, here's my humble, 2-weeks-in-the-MTC advice for ya:

 

1. STUDY PREACH MY GOSPEL LIKE THE ETERNAL FATE OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON IT. Because it basically does. But really, it's completely inspired and wonderful.  It will bless your life in and out of the mission. (Aka read it even if you're not on a mission!)  Be familiar with all the of chapters, doctrines, principles, etc. Study, memorize, and strive to understand your purpose as a missionary and as a disciple of Christ. 

 

2. Study the Book of Mormon. For obvious reasons.  Know it and love it to a point that you a bursting with the desire and ability to share it with the entire world.

 

3. Practice teaching and sharing the doctrines and principles of the Gospel. (Take mission prep classes and opportunities seriously)

 

4. Be aware of what you're commiting to, and then COMMIT.  Gain a testimony of obedience now so you don't waste a minute of those 18-24 precious months of the Lord's time.

 

...And...that's all. Hope it didn't sound self-righteous. I know I've only been here a few weeks. I'm definitely no expert, but I can promise that in doing at least some of these things, the MTC experience will be more effective for you. Don't stress, but definitely take your preparations seriously.

 

And onto my normal letter:

 

This Sunday was a beautiful day. Autumn wins in all things. We heard a devotional from Bro and Sis Roach, who actually presented the devotional together, as a couple.  It was super cute and super powerful all at once--definitely one of those head-tilting-Aw,-I-so-want-to-do-that-with-my-husband-someday sort of moments for all of us hermanas. Right after the devo, we went a watched a video of an MTC Devotional given by Elder Bednar about how to recognize revelation. It changed my life.  The jist of it:  Quit worrying about it! Be a good boy. Be a good girl. Move forward with faith. We won't always know when the spirit is guiding us in the moment that it's guiding us. But it IS guiding us. And that's all that matters. ...Yeah, I needed that.  Gotta love Elder Bednar.

 

So, now onto funny and magical things...

 

Funny: 

 

One one of my first few days here, I definitely ran into a pole. And I say "definitely" because there is absolutely NO DENYING that I ran into that thing.  We're talkin' full-body, forehead-to-chest-to stomach-to legs contact with a very metal pole. My limbs went a-sprawling to either side of it, and there was a plentitud of witnesses to testify the fact--including my 2 elders who like to bring it every 2 seconds. ...yeah...I'm going to be a great missionary.

 

Also Funny: 

 

Sunday morn began with a 6:15am firedrill...except that it was a less of a "drill" and more of a dustmite that got into the alarm system...which meant that we had to spend an hour or so sprawled around the big gym area, which was all set up for church that day, which meant that there was a piano accessible, which meant that all of us super-righteous sister missionaries began to sing hymns in the midst of this little 6:30am emergency situation.  My companions and I escaped to the back room where the gen authorities hang out before devotionals.  They slept on the floor in the corner while ALISSE FRANDSEN (who was also against the concept of pre-7am hymn-singing) and I giggled on a coach nearby. So, while I didn't get a desperately-needed shower that day (p.s. I'm going to be buying dry-shampoo someday soon. Great stuff, I hear), the whole ordeal turned out to be a tender mercy and a beautiful experience with my dear roommate who I won't get to see for a very long time after November 7th (which, fyi, is when I leave the MTC for LA). We also go to see the stars.  Which was nice.

 

Magic:

 

FIRST SNOW!!! Ah! My companeras and I gave ourselves a Lorelai Gilmore moment of joyous splendor upon its arrival here. 'Twas beautiful.  And then I forced my elders to go outside with me and take  pictures in it later that day. Hopefuly someday I'll learn how to attach pics to this thing.

 

So...that's all of everything.  I love you people tremendously. Thanks for the love, support, sacrifice, and prayers.  I feel bolstered and lifted by them everyday. Remember that Heavenly Father loves you and is blessing you everyday. You're in mis oraciones y mi corazon.

 

Love ya'll,

 

Hermana Wells