SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER

wrapped my hair in a scarf because life was
so hot and then I looked like I lived in Africa.

Everyone...summer is here..and it is glorious.

The humidity is seriously so. Humid. And it is so weird!!!!! We had an awesome week in the sun. I am in love with it. And yes, I did get sunburned one day, but I learned my lesson, and now sunscreen is my best friend for life. And it is so wonderful because it gives me an excuse to put my hair in a ponytail every day! And not wear makeup because it melts off of your face anyway!

IT IS MY DREAM COME TRUE!!

This week, wow, we had a great great week, full of teaching and finding and just fun all together. Such missionary fun. Hahaha. We are happy to report that we have been really working on Elder Kearons advice, and made some goals. And they have been paying off! I love going the extra mile. That sounds weird, but seriously. Literally. Running in the morning is SO GREAT. And also, really hot. Sister Russell told me that in humidity, it isnt cooler in the mornings, and I really did not believe her one bit. I was like, there is no way that it will still be hot in the morning. It is never hot in the mornings! Boy, did she prove me wrong. So weird to be running outside in our little field at 630 in the morning but feel like it is 1 in the afternoon. It is so great. And, in other ways we go the extra mile, of course. We are diving into the scriptures and really feeling the urgency that the sons of Mosiah felt when they said "they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." And okay, we are not quaking and trembling, but sometimes I just want to stand out in the middle of Hviezdoslava Namestie and tell everyone that this is a real thing and it is so important!!!

Anyway, before I get too excited about this,

We had a day full of contacting, and I would say that it was about 38 degrees celsius outside, which is pretty dang hot, even though I have no idea what that is in farenheit. Despite losing every ounce of our water weight, we decided to press on and continue to find Gods children. And we were so blessed! I cannot fathom, still, how many lessons we taught. It was like all of a sudden, every mom, every young man, every grandpa, all wanted to hear what we were saying in the blazing heat! We found the most amazing little family and gave away two book of mormons in about two and a half hours. Which was just remarkable. And, even though I came to teach our English class about as red as a beet with a heat rash on my legs, it was totally worth it.

PS. One of our english students in the conversation class raised his hand when we asked if anyone had any questions and gave a lecture about protecting ourselves from the heat and sun. Thx.

So, anyway, we had a great spiritual thought (Is this how you spell that? confused( With our member from croatia, and not only did she bring us back the yummiest caramel walnut wafer treat from her mother in law in croatia, but the spiritual thought was so cool! We talked about light, and how each of us has light, and the light of Christ. We made a list with her of all the physical qualities which light has and talked about how really, they all compare to our own spiritual light! I do not have time to explain each of them, but these are some qualities we came up with: Dispels, is Absorbed, Warms, Reveals, Reflects, Refracts, Brightens, Regenerates. You can probably think of more, but it was really cool when we read it with Doctrine and Covenants 50 verse 24-25, which talks about receiving more and more light until the brightest day. Ah. I just love it. It goes hand in hand with my sunburn.

Look how much water we keep in our fridge!! We never stop
drinking it. I was laughing so hard when I took this picture. 

We worked in Stans again this week. I built a really good baby fence for the baby bunnies.

Also, at game night, we played Clue in Slovak. And now, I have so many useful words. I do not know when I will need all these words for murder weapons, but I am sure they will someday come in handy.

Lastly, we had a great experience this week--I made a goal in weekly planning that I was going to stop complimenting people behind their backs. Like, if I had something nice to say, I was just going to say it to them, because you might as well say something nice to their face and make them feel good if you were going to compliment them. So we were sitting at the tram stop, and this lady has a seriously amazing dress on--it looked like a mumu with elephants on it--and so I muster up a little courage and tell her that I love her dress. And it totally worked!! We ended up teaching her about prayer and inviting her to church next week! And yes, when I contact on trams and buses, I compliment people all the time like that. But it was just cool to see the Lords hand in our goals, as well as to see how far a sincere compliment can really go.

Lastly, I am really into conference right now--we just received our ensigns this last week-- so here is another beautiful quote by Prez Uchtdorf, that I love!

"...the grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state. If salvation means only erasing our mistakes and sins, then salvation—as wonderful as it is—does not fulfill the Father’s aspirations for us. His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him.

With the gift of God’s grace, the path of discipleship does not lead backward; it leads upward.

It leads to heights we can scarcely comprehend! It leads to exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our
Heavenly Father, where we, surrounded by our loved ones, receive “of his fullness, and of his glory.”18 All things are ours, and we are Christ’s.Indeed, all that the Father hath shall be given unto us."

Well, until next week. Love and pray for you all! Thank you for the wonderful emails and prayers!

Sestra Abbott