>sigh< Oh well!

Today was Sunday.

Yes it was, and I went to 3 different church buildings for church.

And I had a very good and enlightening Sunday experience.

BUT I missed the most important part of Sunday...twice.

I went to McCoy's mission farewell, and arrived in the middle of the Sacrament—which means I didn't get the chance to take it then.

But I thought, "Never fear!  I'll just take it at Hyrum's homecoming!"

When Elder Busche talked about avoiding haste in this video, he really was right.  It's much easier to feel the spirit of Sunday when you don't allow your hurriedness to interfere.

So, as fate would have it, and even with all my haste and frazzled feelings, I also arrived at Hyrum's homecoming right in the middle of Sacrament.  So I missed it.  Twice.

And I feel like I've missed out this week.  A lot.  But I shall take it next week.

And so, as an attempt at appeasing my uneasy feeling at not having the opportunity to complete the most important Sunday activity for me, I shall show you this wonderful video.  Because it's beautiful, and I love it.  AND (of course) Christ loves you! :)

It's true.  I know it.  Because He is the best older brother you could ever ask for! :)

This video depicts Christ's visit to the Americas as told in 3rd Nephi chapters 11-26 in the Book of Mormon.  What a happy event!  I hope you enjoy it :)

The Silly Saga of an Epic Enterprise (Part 1)

Okay.
So it just so happens that I had about the most wonderful week of my life.  Just barely.  And I MUST tell you all about it, BUT there is no way that I am going to fit it all in one post.  And as I am also opposed to posting more than once in one day (there have been and will be exceptions :]  ), you'll just have to log on that many more times to read about it.

The journey unfolds...

First, I threw my back out, had it readjusted, packed, kissed my family goodbye, and headed off to the thriving metropolis of Provo, Utah.  Here, I broke my journey to see this wonderful boy,

My cousin Benny-Man, to the MTC (Missionary Training Center).  That's right, ladies, he's off to Quezon City, and you won't be seein' him for two years.  Sorry!

This time, I was very lucky because I was able to see him be set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was a wonderful night full of strong testimonies, good advice, wishes of luck, and lots of tears from Aunt Stacy and I.  (I know I shouldn't, but I'm gonna miss that kid so dang much!)

Some advice that was given to the missionary:

Alma 17: 2-3

"...they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.  But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God."

Some advice to his mother:

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

"And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

It's a tough thing to let a missionary go, but I know the Lord will watch over him. :)

Later that night, I met my sister Liza-Jane and Sir Alex at Del Taco.  The three of us had some silly times before Alex left, and Liza and I settled down to sleep.  I love visiting with that wonderful girl. :]

The next day, I woke to Liza making me some home-made, whole-grain waffles complete with her scrum-diddly-umptious cinnamon/nutmeg/whatever-else-she-put-in-that-recipe-she-made-up syrup.  Needless to say it was glorious.  We chatted, and then I left shortly thereafter to let her study for the 3 finals she had to take that day. :]

It was B-E-A-Utiful in Provo and HOT!  I loved it.  From thence, I headed back to Aunt Stacy's to go with her, Granny, Jess, and Ben to complete a new tradition: taking the missionary to Chuck-A-Rama before we drop him soundly on the sidewalk at the MTC.  Lunch was grand!  Jess, Benny, and I were silly as could be, and we talked almost completely in movie dialogue.  (It's a very great and well-developed talent that I posses).  We ate ourselves silly...

Yup.  Silly.   ;)

From thence we traversed to the Provo Temple to take pictures and be silly some more.

 I told Ben to make his last (recorded) studly pose for 2 years.  Eat it up, 'cause it's gonna be a while before you see it again.  :D  I just hope they don't break his smolder out there....

 He was also very warm in his black suit and coat, BUT, being the resourceful man he is, he quickly found a way to remedy the situation…

 SPREAD-EAGLE AIR-CONDITIONING! :)  Who knew, right?  Turns out if you position yourself just right, the breeze can flow through your jacket.  Haha!

 What a great kid!  The roses were blooming like CRAZY! :)

 And then we headed back to the MTC to say our final goodbyes...for now. :)

 Benny and Granny:

 Benny and Jess:

 We said goodbye, and as he turned to leave with a gaggle of missionaries following him, I said farewell in my signature manner (much to the amusement of everyone who heard):
"Make good choices!  DO WHAT'S RIGHT!  And DON'T DATE AT ALL!!!"
Usually it ends with "Don't date hussies," but that isn't exactly catered to the life of a missionary. :D

After that, I headed to Miiiiiiiiiiichael ALAN's apartment to do his check-out cleaning for him, so we could leave for Temecula, CA as soon as he was done with his Calculus and Physics tests.  Bryce-ary (Bryce and Hillary) and I spic 'n span-ed the whole place, I paid a short visit to my brother Sambo and his wife Megan, and when the time came we (Mike, Bryce, Hillary, Carissa, and I) all loaded into Roger (my [parents'] very dear, burgundy Grand Prix) and headed off...at round abouts 6.....P.M.

Do the math.  It's a 10 hour drive--without stops.  And there's a 1 hour time-change.  And we had to stop...sometimes.

That's right.  We pulled into T-mec at about 4:00.....A.M.
Our drive was rather lovely.  We rather enjoy each other's company, and we were rather silly.  And Mike had the new Panic! at the Disco album (which has a few perty cool songs, by the way).  And there we sights to be seen such as this!

 The mountain on FIRE!....okay, not really.  Mount Doom is just in Central Utah.  Okay...not reeeeaaallyyy.... it's just the sunset.  .....aaaaand sights such as THIS!

 Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand since we couldn't NOT stop for dinner....we saw sights such as this too!

I love these people. :)

So despite the late hours, and waking Eric William Malachi Hurkumer Jackman Smith up at the butt-crack o' dawn (excuse my language, please) to let Mike and I into his house to let us sleeeeeeeeeeep.... it was a rather thrilling beginning to a rather glorious adventure. 

THE END.

......for now....

P.S. I rather like the word rather. ;)

Thoughts of the day...

This will be a look into the random mind of Abigail, but please don't get too scared. :)  These are just some of the things that happened to cross my mind today:

• First, I love my mother.  Happy Mother's Day to a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic woman!
• I love it when my sister, Eliza Anne, can come home to visit.  I find I miss her a lot now.
• Grandma Kate is a classy woman, and she's one of the sweetest people I know.
• Have you noticed that most of us pronounce it "every-buddy" instead of "every-body."  I thought that was pretty cool (as I was loading the dishwasher).
• I am veeeeeeeeeeerrrryyyyy thankful for a dishwasher.  After 8 months without one, I can't think of an invention I love more.
• I thought of all my missionary family and friends who called their families today for mothers day.  They're pretty great, and I'm a big fan!
• I love Primary children.  Endless hugs, singing mother's day songs in Sacrament Meeting, and just being so darn cute!  Peter was yelling the chorus to "I Am A Child of God" today, and there were about 16 of us busting a gut in church.  Haha!
• I'm glad I can cook.  Liza and I made a restaurant-worthy Italian dinner for Mamacita, and it was quite possibly the most scrumptious thing I have eaten in a while. :]

 Thank you, Alissa-Fred for teaching me about/how to make Bruschetta! Mmmmm..... :)

• I love my family to the sky and back.  They're pretty great....jus' sayin'.....
• I had herbal tea today,--Sugar Plum Spice--which made me think of my wonderful roommates, Alissa-Fred and Marie Morgan.
• I miss some people.  I love my family, don't get me wrong, and I miss them when I'm not around them, BUT at this moment in time, I miss Tyler Dan and Thomas Olaf and Alissa-Fred and Craig Hunter and Marie Morgan and Miiiiiichael Alan and Eric William and Kirb-Stomp and Jessi and Christel and Jaden and Hillary and Bryce and Teri and Aaron and Eric and Trevor and J-Hart and Liza and all the girls from Building 10 (oh so much!) and Broseph and oh, everybody that has been separated from me since I left Provo.  I love and miss you all (like, you don't even know), and I hope you're doing just swell!
• I spent at least an hour looking at a huge book of maps of the world finding and reading about where each friend/family member is from/is/will be.
• "Maybe I should look up my Chumbly home and my Bardsley home, and then I won't miss them so bad."  Didn't work.  Remember that.
• Sometimes, I'm funny.  Relish it...because it doesn't happen very often.
• Color-changing fingernail polish is (yet again) one of the coolest things ever.  Fo' really. ;)
• I am a giant and a half--especially when I'm wearing heels.
• Sunday is my favorite day of the week.  It's just so great!
• Life is still so good. :)

Congratulations.  You just picked apart my brain.  Don't you feel...confused?  I sure do!

The Coolest Thing!

Sooooo, you wanna know what it is????  Do ya? Are you suuuuure???  Okay, I'll tell you.  It's.....

.......drum roooooollllllll............

MISSIONARY WORK!  Tah-DAH!!!

I'm just really excited about it, okay???

For those of you who do not know, I am a member (and avid fan, I might add) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Yeah, it's really up there in the list of coolest things EVER.  Fo' rizzle.

So!  What event makes this wonderful proclamation of fan-ship so suitable at this very moment in time?  FIRST, I am writing two missionary letters right now.  I'm writing them on old-school stationary.  It's exciting okay?!  Hahaha!  Well, it's exciting to me anyways....

Second, the two missionaries I am writing  are Elders Thomas Olaf and Craig Hunter.  As I write, I have been thinking about all of my friends and family members who have gone on or are going on missions.  I've made a list (as part of their letters) of all of these people, and it just keeps growing!  Granny and Grandpa Christensen got their call to serve this week even!  Everyone is going to a different place.  I know people going to Europe, Pacific Islands, all over in the U.S., Mexico, Russia, Africa, Austrailia--actually, I know of someone going to every continent (excepting Antarctica :] ). Most of them are speaking different languages from any of the others.  BUT even though they are all in different places, in different circumstances, receiving different blessings, talking to different people, meeting different challenges, speaking different languages--they are all out there doing the same work.  They are serving their brothers and sisters around the globe--helping them, loving them, and sharing the Gospel with them.  They are bringing to them the good news of Christ's life, love, sacrifice, and goodness.

Needless to say, this makes me proud of my boys.  I wish I was out there, right now, serving with them.  It's a very great and exciting opportunity to be called by God to go and share your testimony and love of Christ with people all over the world.  I love getting letters from them.  Reading their many adventures is exciting to me, and learning about the sweet people each of them come to know has been a highlight.  I can't get a letter without smiling.  Their love of God and of Christ is so strong, and their love of the people they are serving is so evident in all they write.

And it's then that I realize that I can do what they are doing, kind of.  I love God, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel, and I want to share it with people too!  Sometimes, I feel so inadequate, though.  So, as part of a cousinly-challenge (Thomas and I have lots of those ;)  ) I decided (and was encouraged) to read and study Preach My Gospel (the missionary study guide/manual).  It's been a great experience, and it's fun to know that I am doing at least one thing like my brothers (and cousins, and sisters...and....everyone) out in the field.  :)

So, here at least is a part of my efforts.  I've told you, and if you have any questions (any at all) I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.  It's an exciting thing, and I hope it makes you as happy as it does me! :)