Welcome, Welcome!

Hey! 

It's Sister Abeling, in the flesh. It's super weird that we can use blogs and facebook now and I'm not totally sure how I feel about it yet, so my plan is just to keep it real like always. My mom has been posting my weekly emails which she can totally keep doing if she wants but I think I'll just keep this blog up to share experiences and crazy stories for those who want to read. I don't want to bombard my Facebook and others with info so I'll try to keep messages short and sweet there but use this if you want the fuller stories. So if you are reading this, hold tight (;

For those of you who have happened to stumble onto this page, welcome! I'm a 20 year old girl who knows not nearly enough about the Gospel but decided to give an LDS mission a go and so ta-da!  

I grew up in the land of corn and beans aka Illinois... it's no Utah that's for sure (so there are few and far between many  LDS there. Even though corn and flat lands aren't my favorite thing... I wouldn't trade where I grew up for anything. The people I met there have helped shape me into who am I now so that's pretty senitmental(; I went to school in DC for two years then decided to serve a mission for 18 months for my church. I'm in the field now (Mission Slang for I'm workin' hard or hardly workin' in Portland Oregon) and it's week 2 or 3.. I can't remember- the days are long and weeks fly by (I'd always heard that's what happens on missions but that never made sense to me until now...) 

Why a blog? 

I have lots of family and friends who may not know the first thing about LDS missions (these are my favorite kind of people!) so I decided to keep up this blog to explain the basics of what I am doing with my life in the land of rainy Portland (I promise I didn't fall off the face of the earth) This blog or really anything I say, isn't to convert you... so you can take a breath (; ... that's not my job as a missionary. I just share with people what I've experienced and come to know for myself and help anyone who wants to know more about Christ. I'm sure I'll post cool stuff that's really stuck out to me and then tell you why... sound like a plan? Well good... cuz  here I go:

but FIRST! this picture of me and my companion and die-hard cute puppies: 

okay..proceed. 

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Disclaimer: Unless it's in some kind of quotation marks with a fancy reference, these are my words and my convictions. I encourage you to go straight to the sources themselves and study it for yourself to find your own convictions(:
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What do you do when you teach?

As an education major and Just as a general life side note, I've learned everyone is different meaning you have to adapt your teaching to each persons needs. Simply handing someone a card with a nice picture of Jesus while walking down the street does not (at least in my book) qualify as teaching. Most importantly is teaching by example. How We walk and talk are living expressions of what we believe. We teach in people's homes- the best place to learn things and where many people feel the most comfortable. But with all this new technology the rules about using social media have expanded to include Facebook, blogs, text and phone calls to reach the people who want to know more and discuss. In fact, I'm teaching right now! Are you scared? Hope not, that's the way it should be! It doesn't have to be formal or threatening (neither of those ways are successful to really teach someone) Teaching does not mean converting... We just talk with people about their standing beliefs with the hopes to add to that knowledge so they may come closer to Christ. We simply provide information and what they do with that information is up to them. The Spirit's job is to convert and our job is live and teach in such a way to bring the Spirit. I know from my own experience that Is the only true converting power for I am such a skeptic and even SEEING doesn't cut it for me. Only when something touches my heart can I really begin to understand with my brain that it must be good. 26 Now, as I said concerning faith--that it was not a perfect knowledge--even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
Alma 32:26-27 My purpose is not to diminish anyone's standing faith but to add to it so they may come closer to Christ.

What do you teach? 

About Christ and His gospel would be the short answer (; Through Faith in the Restoration of His gospel on the earth today which leads to the steps he has set in order to "bring immortality and eternal life"(moses1:39 ) Those steps are: faith in the Atonement, repentance , baptism and enduring to the end. Pretty clear cut. There are no secrets- ask me any question and I'll do my best to answer or find the answer even though I'm still learning myself This blog will talk more about these things so stay tuned!(: 
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Questions? Comments? Concerns? I'd love to hear it all (:

Just keep swimming, 
Sister Abeling 

 Check out the Dictionary on the right side: it explains these crazy terms! 

He's Been There

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The alarm bell rings at 6:30, I stumble to my feet

I grab my companion's bedding and pull off his sheets

A groan fills the room, is it already time to arise?

It seems like just a second ago, I was able to shut my eyes

The morning activities follow- study, prayer and such

When it's time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much

"We have a super day planned,"

My comp. says with a grin

I lowly utter a faithless breath,

"Yeah, if anyone lets us in."

With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street prepared to

Face another day of humidity and heat

It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through

My companion and I are riding home not accomplishing what we thought to do

We ride up to the mailbox, hoping to receive a lot

Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "air Box"

We go up to our apartment, the day is now complete

The only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet

It's past 10:30 p.m. My companion is fast asleep,

Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep

In the midst of sadness, I kneel down to pray

I need to talk to father, but I'm not sure what to say

"Oh, Father" I begin, "What happened to us today?

I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away

My hands, my aching hands- worn, hurt and beat;

If our area was any smaller, we'd have knocked every street"

"Why on missions are the days so much alike?

The only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike

Will you send some cooler weather? The heat is killing me

I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes, it's very hard to see"

"Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough?

People always laugh at me, and call me stupid stuff

Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack

I want to give them Books of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back"

"And what about my family: They don't have much to say

I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day after day

Oh Father, Why am I here am I just wasting time?

Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind"

"My companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me?"

The way he rides his bicycle, I don't think he can see

Now you have it, I can't go on, I don't know what to do

That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I have for you"

My prayer now finished, I stand up, then jump right into bed

I need my rest for tomorrow, we have another long day ahead

Sleep start to overtake me, I seem to drift away

Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day

I'm standing alone on the hill. The view is very nice

A man walks to wards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ"

Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet

"Arise," He states, "Follow me to the shade. You and I need to speak"

My attention's towards my Savior, total and complete

He says, "Your mission is similar of what happened to me

I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through

In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you"

"I even know how you felt when no one listened to you

At times I felt not quite sure what else I could do

I know you don't like to ride a bicycle, for you a car would be sweet

Just remember the donkey I rode wasn't equipped with 21 speeds"

"I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something you hate

I remember when I sweat blood from ev’ry pore, oh the agony was great!

I see you don't like your companion- you'd rather have someone else-

I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth"

"It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you

I remember when they put thorns on my head and called me King of the Jews

So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack

I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back"

"Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day

I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way

It's hard not to hear from home when your family's not there to see

I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

"We have a lot in common, but there's a difference between us you see

I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me"

He embraced me with His arms and His light filled me with His love

With tears in my eyes I watched as He went back to the Father above

I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head

I listened and heard the alarm, then realized I was in my bed

My companion let out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!"

I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!"

No matter what we go through,

When we feel we can't take more

Just stop and think about Jesus Christ,

He's been there before!

By Elder Troy Whittle

Texas Houston Mission

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