The actual highlight of my week...

So many exciting things packed into one itty bitty week! First off, I got to go to Trenčin! The most beautiful little city. I proudly served there for a whole day with Sestra Seninger. She is going home in just two weeks, so it was wonderful to spend time with her again. We were just on exchanges and had the greatest time. I love the little town of Trenčin. It is just a little village compared to Bratislava or even Košice! But there is a castle and just pretty things and a quaint little namestie. We saw a lot of miracles and taught a lot! There was one girl who we contacted on this little bridge by this little river and she was so surprised. She said that she had never before gone to work on this path before but that she just felt like she needed to today. That was a bit of a znamenie! I also absolutely love the members in Trenčin. The building is beautiful and many of the members were members through communism. Some of the strongest spirits I have ever met!

Well, THEN, we came back on the train Wednesday morning and had training! How incredible! Then
all the missionaries were there and it was really just a little bit of a party. I love having trainings in Bratislava. AND, at our new building! Hooray! We got hammered on really teaching people on the street so that we can essentially "skip a step" and get to the second lesson faster. It was so funny, because when we were doing our role plays, Prez McConkie was watching and had me redo my commitment like 20 times to be more confident and more specific. Eventually I finally got it and asked the person like, "We have time on friday at 4. Can we come to you and talk about Alma 32 with you then?" Haha mostly it was just funny, but then, right after training, we went out to contact, and I did it! And it worked! We were so excited. Sister Eggers just about lost it during the contact, because she could see on my face that I was getting ready and I was going to do it! Hahah I really just loved training so much.

After training we just got so pumped about finding and teaching and our investigators and I came up with this whole thing during personal study about how everyone is trying to get to Africa. And in Africa, you can be super super happy. But, the problem is, you need a tour guide to be with you in africa (missionaries) so you do not get eaten by the lions. And you probably want the guide to be with you and checking up on you like ALL THE TIME so that you do not get eaten. And, since you want to stay in Africa for the rest of your life, you need to know the culture and the people, so it would be good if your tour guide introduced you to a tribe in Africa, so when the guide left, you would basically be one of them anyway.

Well, this made sense in my head, I do not know if it really makes sense now, but you know.
Basically all week we have just been saying, AFRICA!!!!

And we went to our culture event this week. It was so terrific. We have a member who is really a beyond talented pianist, and he had a free concert along with a lot of other musicians who teach--so like violinists, and cellos, and everything, and opera...you know. Well the concert was, in short, the single most amazing thing of my whole entire life. I loved it so much. That classical music just gets me. And violins! Wow. The whole thing was just wow. And it was funny because the Košice Elders were actually still in Bratislava at the time, so we ended up going to the concert in a group with six elders, two sisters, and a senior couple. It was crazy! so many missionaries! And afterward, we were trying to find somewhere to eat, but it was friday, so everywhere was already full and really couldnt accommodate ten hungry missionaries, and so we ended up eating at this weirdo chinese restaurant that was actually pretty yummy and gave us free sweet alcohol at the end, which we actually did not drink. So.

SO

The Highlight of my week

Was NOT duck vest man. He did not come. Disappointment is a real thing, but we will FIND HIM

The actual highlight of my week

Is our DISTRICT CONFERENCE which was really the most historical eventful thing in slovakia ever. Because SO MANY members came from Košice, to trenčin, from every branch and every little group, they all gathered here in Bratislava! our little band of saints! our pioneers! And it was the most powerful moment of my lifetime! AND prezident mcConkie announced that we are now officially our own District! WOW!!!!!!! Many of you may not know exactly what this means but I am telling you that it is incredible! We were in a zone before with a part of the Czech republic, but now we have enough members and self reliance to do it on our own! A very humble, wonderful, very young district prezident who will lead our members with an unbelievable amount of faith. Can you imagine being called as a district prezident in the church over an entire country before you turned 30? incredible but very, very, inspired. We are excited! The work is moving forward faster than anyone could have anticipated!

Wow, I am out of breath I am so excited.

hahaha also, yesterday, it was really the most wonderful thing when we went tracting and we got let in! Yes! By a wonderful old woman. It was such a miracle because we were actually starving and she fed us SO much and that included two cups of tea (Dont worry, flowers and fruit) and a hundred tyčinky and weird pastry things. She took a Book of Mormon and said we could come back, and then when we were leaving, she started picking flowers from her yard and off her trees and giving them to us! attatched is a picture of the flowers.

Then today, we went to the castle, and it was open, so that was pretty fantastic.

Also, my creative needs are starting to break out of me. I really have had a fun, inventive week this week. Besides cutting my hair, I decided to take apart an intire (I am not even going to fix this spelling mistake because I literally thought it was spelled intire. And I am laughing.) an ENTIRE road map from 1993 of the US and Canada that we found

Oh my goodness someone is playing Neil Diamond in this library. For those of you who know how I feel about Neil Diamond...

Anyway, the road map, I took it apart, and I used this little sticky dot things and covered the entire wall so that it looks like we have map wallpaper now. Yep.

Then I made halušky with apples instead of potatoes, which actually worked,  but it kind of made us feel sick after we ate it.

Then last night, I made halušky without potatoes or apples, and it still worked!

Also, I made zuchinni bread, and it just tasted so much like home I could not believe it! usually when I make things they kind of are like the slovak version of whatever we had back home, but wow! This bread! Was perfect!

Anyway, I am not sure if there is anything else really really exciting. Just springtime things and the trees are being springy and cute and bloomy.
So yeah.
MAJTE SA

Oh, happy easter! I am forgetting that it is this week. I just viewed the video they released--how amazing is it? wow. I love it. And am so grateful for Christ more than anything. He really does stand beside us in and through every sorrow and every satisfaction which we have in this life. and will never leave us lonely. The depth of His sacrifice we cannot image and His selflessness is incredible. What makes Him our Savior is that He gave Himself so that we could be saved. that is the sole reason. Think about His life and about how He never gave Himself one minute to dwell on His own situation. Doctors today would say that it unhealthy. But He did it! And I truly know that He is the Christ, our Redeemer, and nearest brother.

OH, and happy conference to those of you who have it this week! I dont have it until the next but I

wish you well watching and happy answer hunting in the words of our wonderful, dear, living prophets and apostles.

Love Sestra Abbott

PS happy 100 years of FAMILY NIGHT! Yeah! I did not even know about that last week when I gave a talk about it! Yeah Family Night!

PPS does anyone else think it is weird that I am in Slovakia? Weird right

DUCK VEST MAN CONT.

EVERYONE.

I just have to say, that guess what. The man in the duck vest, he did not come to church, right? Right. Well obviously that was really depressing, so I prayed for him and, then, on saturday, we get on the tram (Soooo much later than we had planned( and sit down, and look who is right literally across from me. I literally get this uncontrollable huge smile on my face, and he looks up with his eyes all wide, and basically just starts laughing and shakes his head while sister eggers yells, "ZNAMENIE!" So, he couldnt come to church, he wasnt going to be in Blava, BUT, we have a meeting with him TONIGHT so STAY TUNED FOR MORE DUCK VEST MAN.

Second off, there was an eclipse here this week!!!! What!! it was totally amazing! Luckily, Igor told us a few weeks ago that it would be on the 20th, so when we were moving church buildings and I came across an old floppy disk, I decided it would be a good thing to keep. AND IT WAS. We were so popular on the street looking at the sun with our little green floppy disk. Missionary service? Anyway it was super super awesome.

We had a great relief society activity this week, celebrating the birthday of relief society, for all the sisters in Slovakia-most people could not come, but that was fine- it was just really hilarious because we did a whole role play, in Slovak, of the founding of relief society, and Sister Družkova asked Elder Brousseau to play Joseph Smith and we just about died of laughter when they dressed him all up. It was really good though, and Sister Cottle shared some really amazing

relief society party

experiences about when she was in Relief Society, and as well, her Relief Society prezident back home in meridian Idaho sent all the slovak sisters a really sweet letter that we read and translated for her. It was a really wonderful experience.

Honestly I cannot think of anything huge that happened. Like, there are little miracles every day, but how am I supposed to write all of them? It is hard! One thing is that we are preparing one of our sweetest members to go to the temple this week for her endowments. She is going on a mission to Salt Lake in june! We are so excited for her. This week she got a little stressed because her sisters classmate bombarded her with anti material (something we came across a lot this week...but rather not talk about that(... and she came to us basically asking us to tell her everything. And we were just like. well. We do not know anything. But we do know the basics! And when you testify nobody can really argue with you! And it was so great. And really strengthened our testimonies that really, our faith is real unshakable.

Yesterday, I really had a touching sweet experience. When we were tracting, the sweetest little man

in a wheelchair just came up to us and started talking to us, he had a handicap, but he just needed someone to talk to. And I have to say that it was one of the times on my mission when I really felt like a real representative of Jesus Christ and really felt like I was doing what he would want me to do. The fifteen minutes where we got to talk to this little man were just wonderful. You could tell how much it meant to him, and he was asking us when we were going to come back, and if we were married, and all that jazz, but really, the spirit was so strong. Truly the Lord loves all of His children unconditionally.

Anyway......I am drawing a blank because this week went by so quickly! But this week, I am going to Trenčin on an exchange with Sister Seninger, and we have training here in Blava, and then a conference for all of slovakia here! So we are really excited and trying to prepare our new building and all. Yay! So exciting ahh.

Also, I really love Slovak. It is the best language ever.

Oh! I gave a talk on Sunday! I talked about families and mostly on family home evening, because, wow, have I received so many blessings from family home evening! Little did I know that "Rodinny Domace Večer" Was so hard to conjugate. haha. Oh well. It was good. Also I talked about the time when I put chili powder instead of cinnamon in the coffee cake, and the crowd was a little dead, and I was the only one laughing. And I was speaking. So....

But people said it was good still! Hahaha

Well, it has been real,

I will let you know how it goes with duck vest man,

Sestra Abbott
ps. went to the castle last week, but it was closed because we went too late. still have pics.

More exciting things that happened...

I am really confused right now because I somehow got this keyboard messed up and the words are really really tiny on my screen so I cannot really see them. Sorry for errors, I blame it on the screen. I am technologically challenged.

ANYWAY hello to everyone out in the great wide world, here from sunny Blava. I still have to
wear my tights and my jacket, even though I feel it is a little ridiculous.

This week, this wonderful week, let me tell you, it has been a good one. Monday, after emailing so early, we had a full day of lessons and got to go to a family in our ward's home for family night. I just loved it more than anything. There were just children, and pets (rats and hamsters and dogs), and a messy kitchen, and a piano, and everything that reminded me of home. It did not turn out to be very much of a family night, but we had a great lesson with the mom :) She is so darling and served a mission in Scotland, so she likes to speak English with us, and my favorite thing is her scottish accent. Also, let me just tell you how big of a deal are essential oils here in Slovakia. She is pretty much the head, and gave me all these oils to clear up my face. There are oils for everything and I think it is so funny..

This week we got to meet one of our inactive members, Max! He is so funny. He is this really old man who has his own gospel theories and lives outside of Blava, so he does not come very often. But, he called us and asked us to come to lunch with him! We went to this awesome hari krishna restaurant and ate super yummy and weird vegetarian food. Convinced him that the sacrament was actually important, so, progress!

I am super sorry that I write in such small paragraphs. The little box I write in is smaller than the main box I think.

More exciting things that happened...

goodbye to our old building

We moved our building this week!!! WHAT!! It was so amazing!! And a little stressful! There were things in that building from so long ago it seemed! The best part was that we found a book of mormon from the communist era, and a pearl of great price. It was really one of the coolest things. It was a little red bound book with "KM" On the front, which is Kniha Mormonova, but looked like Karl Marx. The survival of the Book of Mormon is a real thing! SO much spirit in one little book!

ha. Oh man. I have to tell you this best thing that may have ever happened. So. It was a blustering rainy/sunny undecided day, and we went out to walk next to the canal. Admittedly (Admittedly?), we were trying to revise our plans because, well, we were not quite sure how many people would be walking on the canal path in the rain. BUT we felt like we should still try. So, we braved the storm, and when we got there, it wasn't too stormy, and there were a couple of people. Then we saw this beautiful lake with a path around it. So, obviously, being the adventurous contacter, I was like, LETS GO AROUND THE LAKE! So, we did, but we kind of hit a dead end and realized we either had to turn around or kind of go on a hike to the other side on a dirt trail. So, obviously, I picked the dirt trail. And it was SO WINDY and just cold and a little bit of an adventure, when, all of a sudden, we see this man coming down the path. And I am feeling like he is

person swimming in the lake on the cold day with a snow hat

homeless but Sister Eggers is feeling like we should still stop him, so we do, and he is wearing this amazing purple duck vest and a white hat with a pom pom and is probably about thirty. So we stop him. In the wind. On a dirt path by the lake. And he has already read a little of the Book of Mormon! We teach him, and he doesn't have a phone. He is so awesome. He is like a free spirit. So, we invite him to church on Sunday and he goes about his merry way.

THEN we are on the bus home, and I step on the bus, and I see the white pom pom hat. So, obviously, we go and sit by this amazing free spirit man. And he tells us that, actually, he lived in England for six years because he used to be a hari krishna missionary person. (Seriously though, this hari krishna thing). And we are just like COME TO CHURCH!!!!!! He was just really cool.

THEN two dayz later, we are literally in a completely opposite part of Bratislava like almost an hour away, and we are riding the bus up the mountain to tract (which, we had no idea why we wanted to tract, because we only had about 45 minutes but we really felt like we needed to tract,) and we look out the bus window and THERE IS DUCK VEST POM POM HAT MAN!! So I basically yell "SISTER EGGERS WE ARE GETTING OFF THE BUS" And we jump off and slyly go and find him. He was hiking to a natural spring in the mountain. So basically, we tell him, this is a sign, you need to come to church, get a book of mormon, and he is a little creeped out at this point and all three of us are just laughing really hard and besties for life. So that was a miracle.

But you know, he did not come to church, so that was a little infuriating, but, the lord is on our side, so asi budeme ho vidiet very soon.

In OTHER exciting news, Igor is still progressing to his baptismal date! We are going to have a baptism!

now, this is so exciting, you might have to hold onto your seats, ladies and gentlemen, CONTACTING CARDS WORK!

Remember that lady from last week? Who came to church and is a psychiatrist??

more cake

SHE IS THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We taught her this week and the spirit was just like, avalanche. She sits down, and the first thing she asks is just like, "So I do not really understand how the Holy Ghost works" and we have a whole lesson on baptism. Best thing ever. And she came to church again. Wonderful, wonderful woman, that one.

I am now being asked to sing in everything. Everything.

Lastly, we had the most remarkable sacrament meeting yesterday, when Prez McConkie came and dedicated our new church building. I love our new church building! All it needs is a drinking fountain and it will be a smallish version of a regular chapel! The spirit was just like, "THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!" And I love Prezident McConkie.

Well, that is pretty much it for today, I have a spiritual thought, and I just love this story from Uchtdorf. You have probably all heard it, but I love it.

"Not long ago I was skiing with my 12-year-old grandson. We were enjoying our time together when I hit an icy spot and ended up making a glorious crash landing on a steep slope.

I tried every trick to stand up, but I couldn’t—I had fallen, and I couldn’t get up.

I felt fine physically, but my ego was a bit bruised. So I made sure that my helmet and goggles were in place, since I much preferred that other skiers not recognize me. I could imagine myself sitting there helplessly as they skied by elegantly, shouting a cheery, “Hello, Brother Uchtdorf!”

I began to wonder what it would take to rescue me. That was when my grandson came to my side. I told him what had happened, but he didn’t seem very interested in my explanations of why I couldn’t get up. He looked me in the eyes, reached out, took my hand, and in a firm tone said, “Opa, you can do it now!”

Instantly, I stood.

I am still shaking my head over this. What had seemed impossible only a moment before immediately became a reality because a 12-year-old boy reached out to me and said, “You can do it now!” To me, it was an infusion of confidence, enthusiasm, and strength.

Brethren, there may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem beyond our own ability. That day on a snow-covered slope, I learned something. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And sometimes we just need someone to look us in the eyes, take our hand, and say, “You can do it now!”"

Love you all, happiness forever,
Sestra Abbott

short hair dont care spring everywhere

Hello glorious citizens of the world! It has been yet another eventful and spectacular week here in Bratislava! I am literally so in my happy place here--I am a tram-riding, halušky eating slovak missionary who is in love with this place! Our area is so awesome and the church is growing so quickly!

I have some exciting things to write today!

To start, we are moving buildings here in Bratislava. How exciting! We have been in the same church building for about seven years, and had one other before. ( I keep accidentally turning these letters into the Latin font so I am really sorry if anything looks strange ) It is beautiful and bigger and will be the nicest building in our mission! I have not been inside yet. But Thursday we are moving into it and then Sunday Prezident McConkie is coming down for sacrament meeting and to dedicate it! It is really exciting and also really confusing for people on the street that we contact, because we do not know what building to tell them. Haha. But still! EXCITING THINGS ARE HAPPENING! And then at the end of March, we are having the zone conference here in Bratislava for all the missionaries and members in Slovakia (and Brno, I think.) So that is the most exciting thing ever. Plus it is way more accessible.

This week was hilarious because Sestra Eggers got the hiccups in the middle of a contacting session. She stopped someone and, after hiccuping three times, I could not contain myself, and neither could the girl we contacted. The contact ended in abrupt tears of painful laughter.

Next exciting thing that is happening is that we have two of our investigators on date! Igor, (a cartographer and archeologic who is getting his PHD)  who Sestra Eggers and Parsons found in their first transfer, and this week Zuzana, a really wonderful YSA girl who loves to wear all purple. It is really the most wonderful thing to see the light in their faces and to see them progress in their knowledge of Gods plan and see their relationship with Him strengthen. They will both be such wonderful additions to our branch here in Bratislava, and it is so amazing to see them recognizing the Lords hand in their lives.

We ate district lunch this week at the Narnia Pub. It literally looks like you are walking into the closet when you walk in. Their halušky did not quite live up to our standards, but, hey, it was Narnia.

We had an awesome contact this week with this man who, first off, did not understand our Slovak at all, so it is a good thing he spoke English. We were talking to him, and he asks, "so what is it that you exactly do?" And I say, "We invite others to come unto Christ...and be baptized! We meet with people two or three times a week and help them prepare to be baptized by the right authority. Is that something you would be interested in?" And then, the best thing happened, and he just said "Yeah! I would be interested in that!" Literally I was doing everything in my power to calmly set up an appointment and get his number instead of jumping and shouting for joy. It was the best thing ever! Owning our purpose over here. Owning Blava.

THEN, we had a day that was a little tricky, and the weather was a little illusive, looked real warm but was real cold. We were going into town after unsuccessfully contacting in a park, when we saw one more girl and stopped her. She was in a hurry (Like the majority of people) but she said that she worked a couple floors above us in our church building. So we gave her a card and wished her a merry doo da and an "uvidime sa"

WELL then I am in sacrament meeting, and who comes in and sits next to me? This lady!! Wow! She is a psychiatrist and had an appointment right after sacrament, but she came back for relief society and loved it! we set up with her and she is so amazing. Too bad we are changing buildings this week haha..but our building is still only about five minutes away. * MIRACLELAND*

Haha, so at church, I played my musical number in sacrament meeting,

Oh! Hey! Všetko Najlepšia to the women in my life! happy womens day! One of our members handed out flowers to all the women in our congration, it was so cute.

So anyway that was fine, and then in Relief Society, the sestra who is teaching is like, okay, now we are going to have an opening song by sestra abbott. And I am so confused. She just hands me the hymn book and is basically like, okay, sing "Did you think to pray" (This is in slovak), and I am like, "Sama? Alone?" And she just nods her head so enthusiastically. So I sang the opening song for relief society alone. Hahah was literally so weird.

Aside from wonderful spiritual experiences I have had this week, I have become a real hard core rebel because sestra eggers and I CUT MY HAIR! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Just all day on Saturday, I kept seeing girls with such cute hair, and was telling sister eggers how much I loved my short hair, and how I really needed short hair, and then I decided that I could not wait until Monday to cut it, so I decided that we were just going to go home that night and cut it before bed. So we did! haha! I put it in a ponytail and she just snipped it right off! And then, evening it out and cutting it was kind of a team effort. And now it is so cute! and I have short hair! Totally a rebel over here.

Lastly, this week I have been reading conference talks, and I just loved this poem in Prezident Monson's talk from October 2013--everyone probably already knows it but it is just so cute I have to put it in here.

Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees.
The further sky, the greater length.
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

Ah! So good! It is so cute. It has been stuck in my head all weekend. How much I want to become this good timber. Without opposition we cannot possibly grow to our full potential. I want to be weathered and worn, beaten and battered, strengthened by stumbling. The Lord really does bless us when we face our weaknesses by facing Him. I love that we can overcome them with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which can be that power that holds us all together when the storms get rough. Truly, the strength we are able to receive is far beyond any strength that worldly comforts can give us. He is the Christ, the Savior of the World, and if He can save the world, He can save me and He can save you!

Bye,
S laskou,
sestra abbott

Tic-Tac we lit on fire

Springtime is coming!

This week has been so wonderful! Springtime is coming and I am so in love with it! The sun is shining and the rain is raining and the air is just happiness. I love every season but I just love when it is transforming into the next one...

We had training this week! How great it was to have all the missionaries in Brno, and Prezident McConkie, our ever-inspired leader. It was too much fun to have all of us sisters staying here in Bratislava. We cooked up a big ole bucket of halušky and got out the Kofola to celebrate. I really love it when we are all together again. We really do feel like sisters. Training was SO good and was all about the Book of Mormon, which just strengthened my testimony 80x more because I have just finished it! I really feel like the more I testify of the Book of Mormon, the more I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that it is true. I wish I could explain the clarity of this testimony. People on the streets do not understand! (Well, granted, they do not understand what I am saying anyway because Slovak, but...) I get so excited when I talk about it, that most of the time they think I am crazy. But, nevadi. It really is the means by which anyone can come closer to Christ and learn how to use His atonement.

tic tacs

Well, let me tell you, some cool things happened this week, like every week, but really this week. We planned one day to find a 28ish year old man who played the violin and teach him prophets. Well, after about fifteen minutes, we found a really cool man who we are sure played the violin! As we were celebrating our finding, we contacted another man who was from Sweden. And not only was he 28ish, but he was a music producer! He talked to us about why we are here for about 40 minutes and said that when he gets back to Sweden he will never again pass up an opportunity to speak with the missionaries he sees on the streets.

cake i made

Wow! This has been a cultural week! I love Bratislava. We also taught a muslim this week. I think I am learning more than ever about other religions on my missio than I have at any other time in my life. Faith is really an inspiring thing. He tried to convert us and gave us exerpts of the Koran, and we gave him a Book of Mormon. Haha

Did you know Islam is actually like the closest religion to Latter Day Saints? Well at least that is what the elders told me

Hahahaha we contacted a boy with a Utah Jazz hat on this week! It was seriously the weirdest thing ever. We taught him Book of Mormon and he was like semi-interested, and took our card, and was about to walk away, when I just blurted out (probably in terrible slovak) "Where did you find that hat??" He proceeded to tell us that it was just his dads, and he did not even know what it was. We told him what it was, obviously. Then, he asks, "What is this book you were telling me about?" We ended up giving him a Kniha Mormonova! hooray for the utah jazz!

We also taught this wonderful mom from Kazachstan. (Wow seriously, we taught so many cool people!!) And actually taught her again today. She is so cute and has the cutest little 8 month baby. She was raised atheist but felt like when she became a mother, that there is some higher power. It is so incredible to teach her about the plan of salvation and about how really, she is a daughter of God. We felt the spirit so strong as we walked in the park with her!

And last night, we taught a really cool guy from Lyons, France, who told us about his constant plea to God to not judge people. He says in France, they have a saying that basically means that you assume that every person you meet is good until they give you a reason to believe otherwise. He says, "Bien Vyons!" Or something I literally have no idea how to spell it but I literally really love it.

another cake i made

We had game night, which was amazing, and also very cultural, with a dad and daughter from Vietnam and a man from Ukraine..I just love the whole world

Sunday we went to one of our members house for lunch. Ahhhh it was the best! They are from Russia, and are so great. They both served missions, and now have three little kids who are 11, 7, and 2. The cutest! It was so nice to be around kids again and to be in a crazy house that reminded me so much of home. The gospel is really for families and there is really no better way to raise a family than in the gospel. We had this awesome chicken dish, which was basically just a whole chicken stewed in water with walnuts and spice on rice, and I ate like 10 kilos of cucumber salad, I am sure. Veggie portion for the week but also SO YUMMY.

Aside from the miracles we see every day, we are seeing some opposition! And this actually makes me excited! I love these people who every day tell me to doubt what I believe. And I have never had more joy in being able to say that I do not have to doubt because I know! I think about Lehis dream, when it says

 33 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.

 34 These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away.

We cannot heed the voice. There is a critical difference that people sometimes do not see- a gap between questioning and doubting. We cannot heed those voices! And the more we stand strong, hold fast, and remain true, the more our testimonies grow and are firmly planted in Christ. I am so incredibly grateful for that as a missionary and for the knowledge I gain every single day.

Liszt!

PS Everyone should read Prezident Monsons talk from last Priesthood session, because I just read it and love it so much.


Bye love yall

Sestra Abbott

Tic tacs for dayz

super amazing sunrise

blava blava blava

First week in the big city of Bratislava! What a beautiful, beautiful place. I really thought that no place could live up to the magic of Košice but I was so wrong! There are beautiful colored buildings everywhere, the Dunaj (Is this Danube in English? Not sure on that one, I cannot remember) and castles and beautiful sunshine. It is nothing like February here, and I am happy to not be bundled in scarves all day, finally with a little color on my face. And I love Sister Eggers! Really we are doing missionary work all day erry day and having more fun than ever doing it. And, I am in a huge missionary district! It seems like I am with the whole mission when we have district meetings! There are four elders, a senior couple, and us two sisters here, and wow! It is incredible! I feel so supported.

Things to be found in Bratislava:

1) Still drunk people, but not half as many as in Košice.

This week started off with a drunk man, as always, who began to yell at us and say "Sisters! Sisters!" Which was a little strange, since we did not know him and he was speaking english (PS, so many people speak english here, and I literally never know what to do when I have to speak in english. It is so confusing.) So he says, "Sisters! I have a problem. Come here. Come here" Timidly, we peek at what he is showing us, and he is standing in front of a shop window and pointing at a T-shirt. "I have a problem," he says, "I really like this T-shirt." We just about died of laughter.

2) Atheists!

My favorite people. It is so weird to contact so many people who do not believe in God. Coming from Košice, where probably a good 98% of the city is Katholic and the 2% who are not are international medical students, this was a pleasant surprise for me. Nothing solidifies my testimony more than the sadness I feel when I am talking to someone who thinks they are above the knowledge of God, or some other higher power. We talked to a man for forty five minutes who, when asked how he recognizes when something is right or wrong, responded with a twenty minute answer about the physiology of the human body and how information is transmitted into it. Testifying of God brings the spirit so strongly in these contacts--stronger than I have almost ever felt before. "Boh je", and will always be, and always was, and He is the reason why we are all here! Ah I love it. It is so exciting to me.

3) International people

From all over! Every country you can think of! Our less active we teach, Sanja, is from Croatia, and is so wonderful. There are English translator things at church for people where they can put the headphones on, and one of us translates english for them into a microphone during sacrament meeting. We ran into a man who was a little crazy, and said he was a "World Citzen". He came to game night and threw a lot of crazy questions at us. And there are all these different restaurants all over and not just kabobs and pizza! A whole new world.

There are more things, such as trams and busses and beautiful churches and bridges and ping pong tables in parks and really good restaurant halušky and parks every where and lots and lots of panelaks in the suburb we call Petržalka...ah. It is so beautiful.

This week was also a bit of a celebration. Sister Eggers turned 20 on the 20th (Also my brother´s birthday, S.O. Happy 18th) and I made her a beautiful cake. So terrific. With raspberry frosting and sprinkles. And we had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and chicken carbonara for dinner. My life revolves around food, so...

On saturday, we had a bit of a Halušky adventure. We overdosed on what could possibly be the most filling food on the face of the earth. After going to get a bus pass for sister eggers*, We went to the Slovak Pub and ate wonderful halušky for a filling lunch in the city. Afterwards, we went to visit our sweet, sweet, relief society president. As we walked into her apartment, we smelt (yes, smelt) a familiar smell...

And yes, fifteen minutes later, we had a second and third bowl of Halušky. Our stomach linings were stretched to such enormous capacity that they were nearly nonexistant. I felt that all of my intestines and organs were made of the small, squishy potato noodles and my blood had dissolved into a bowl of bryndza. Needless to say, I looked a little like a beached whale afterwards.

But at least it was halušky! My favoritest food!

*Sister Eggers´ wallet bol strateny. Was lost last week. So we are surviving off my wallet. Such adventures, such adventures.

Lastly, I think, This week I finished the Book of Mormon! Ah. My testimony has already been confirmed so many times by that little book of all knowledge and wisdom. But actually. I can testify "Sto percent!" That this book is true and was written by prophets of God. It is another Testament of Jesus Christ, and really will bring you closer to Christ every time you look into its pages. If there is anything I know, it is that reading the Book of Mormon with a sincere desire to know of the truth will lead you to any answer you are looking for. Seriously. Važne. Naozaj. The plain and precious truths found in her pages build testimonies more than any deeper doctrine or scientific evidence you can find. The faith I feel when I read helps me more than anything else in this work. I love that book!

Anyway, but actually, I do, and I love missionary work and the people here in Slovakia! I really wish I could be here stale...

Love and pray for you all! Have a wonderful next few weeks preparing for conference and easter!

Sestra Abbott

PS I forgot my camera cord. I am really really sorry. Life sometimes is lame. But I have some great pictures! Imagine 1) Red sun coming over the horizon 2) Huge pink birthday cake

Actually that is all i have hahah so you will have to wait until next week