I blame the Mitchell's...

Hermana Page with President & Sister Kahnlein

First off, Dad, what you said in your email about small works and each little bee was exactly what I needed to hear this week cause I have felt like my seemingly meaningless drops of honey aren´t worth anything. So thank you for, once again, being the answer to my prayers :)


Anywho...CHEELAAYY. It´s an interesting place.
Things from this week:
-There is this icecream truck that always drives around playing Christmas music and that sort of icecreamy truck nonsense, but the thing is...it sells gas haha. I just imagine grown people running outside waving pesos in the air in their pjs wanting more gas to heat their casas...makes me laugh every time.
-The ward misson leader in my new ward owns a wicker shop...like wicker furniture. It´s pretty sweet! He makes it all and it is all legit stuff. Mom, you would LOVE it. If I could send you something that big I would....but I can´t, so a picture will have to suffice.
-In the good ole USA, I feel like public transportation is a dying practice. But in Chile, it´s hoppin! Everyone and their grandmother takes the bus or community taxi´s....We are packed like cattle in those suckers sometimes. Talk about cozy!
-I have come to know that the Lord gives us strength out the wazoo here cause there is no way in heck-fire that I could do what we do as missionaries (running, walking, talking, having the spirit, only having less than 8 hours of sleep, yadayadayada without the help and strength of the Lord! It´s honestly a miracle we don´t all fall over and die!

-We have pets here in my new area! Well...not officially, but there are about 3-4 dogs that take turns walking with as ALL DAY. Literally, they wait for us in the morning to leave, and they even wait for us outside of appointments! I think it´s the darndest thing! My companion hates them cause we get bit by their fleas, but I like to think of them as our little angels :) They keep us company and keep us safe throughout the day! Little stray, dirty rays of sunshine! Their names are Monsi, Bermudes, Diego, and Samson.


Okay so the moment you have all been waiting for...
I am in an area called Limache. It´s about half an hour drive from Viña I think. It´s kinda more on the ghetto side, but I really like it. My trainer´s name is Hermana Barros. She is from Argentina....and she only speaks Spanish. Literally, no english. (I blame the Mitchells´ prayers for that one). So obviously, communication is challenging at times, but with lots of pointing and dictionaries and my broken spanish, we make it work. She is really sweet though, and she is helping me be a good missionary! With the whole only spanish situation, my Spanish is going to be great by the time she is done with me hopefully! Blessing in diguise.


I get mail about once a month at zone conferences...so I haven´t gotten any yet. I WANT IT SO BAD...and I know it´s there...I can feel it. They´re hoarding it from me.
Just to be sure, my address is:
4 Norte 1112 Casilla 631
Viña del Mar, Chile


Sorry this email has been so scattered. I don´t have a lot of time today and these keyboards are super ghetto so it´s taking twice as long. Since I didn´t get to tell you guys lots of stuff I´ll write a letter later tonight and send it off next pday.


Oh, one last thing... I had my first baptism of Saturday! Haha wow, almost forgot to put that. His name is Jaime and he is super cool! I obviously was only at the tail end of everything though, so I don´t really count him. But he is super comfortable with the ward and he has lots of friends, so I think he is solid, which I´m super excited about. The last thing Chile needs is another less active member!


I´m going to end on a note that Mom got me thinking of in her email to me. Martyrs is a concept of the gospel that I am particularly fascinated by. From countless Prophets of old to Jesus Christ himself to the brothers Joseph and Hyrum, the gospel of Jesus Christ is littered with countless martyrs that were willing to seal their testimonies with their lives. That right there is a testament that this is the true church and gospel of Jesus Christ restored to the Earth once again. How flickel are we when we are asked to simply pray or visit a family in need once a month and we murmur. Don´t lie to yourself people, you have murmurred once upon a time. Why are we so stupid? We have the truth. We have the fullness. We have the Gospel! We have Christ! It such a wonderful blessing to have and know about this gospel in our lives..why don´t we follow it? Why don´t we share it? Why do we voluntarily fall short of all Christ and God have in store for us? ...Shall we not go on in so great a cause?


Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page


-ps. the picture thing on the computers are broken so I will just have to wait and send you my card when it´s done. Sorry Momma :/
-pps. Please spell check for me...these keyboards stink.

Fall in finally showing its true colors

My favorite season is finally here, FALL! I love the crisp cool air, and the change of color on the leaves from green to vibrant oranges and reds. I love going to the mountains for the day and seeing all the beauty that dwells there. I am so blessed to live in this beautiful part of the country. Winter you just take your time getting here this year, ok.

Love the new color on my front door. Its perfect for any season! So bright and cheery.

Today I baked some yummy Chocolate Chip cookies, sent them to some special friends today.

Throw Back Thursday...

This is a throw back for Matthew Page. Last week when I was visiting Dad in Greensboro, I ran into one of your Pre-Kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Ward! (on the right)
I asked if she remembered you, "yes I certainly do, in fact I have a framed picture that he drew for me, right next to our computer!"
after so many years. We can touch people no matter our age :)

I am beyond grateful....

With President & Sister Kahnlein (and daughter) and the other 4 missionaries that left CCM in Vina Del Mar

HOLA HOLA mi familia y mis amigos!
(Here in Chile people say `hola hola` y `cho cho`...yo no sè why they do it twice, perro me encanta)
Anywho, where do I even begin??
So I got in Chile on Friday after flying all night. Usually I have no problem sleeping on a plane, but for some reason my back was hurting really bad so it was really hard. But they gave us all of the cool pillows and eye masks and blankets and TWO meals! Olè! :) So overall the flight was nice.
After we got to Chile and got picked up by our mission president, he took us on a really quick tour and than dropped us off in the middle of Viña with some Book of Mormon`s and said "See ya at the mission home"...yeah, we had to find our way there by asking for directions in a language WE DON`T SPEAK. It was un poco dificil. Luckily, an old couple had pitty on us and walked us the whole way (which was quite a walk). While we walked we gave them the Spanglish version of the first dicussion. That was a little hard to do while finding our way, but we managed.
Since we got here early, I techinically don´t have a trainer yet. They put us with sister-training-leaders and zone leaders til wednesday, which is the actual day of transfers and all that. So yep, I am with Hermana Ortiz from Guatemala y Hermana Plothow from Orem Utah. They are so great! Being with them for the first week was the answer to a pray I didn`t know I had! They are both patient and encouraging and obedient and super great examples of the kind of missionary I hope to be.
The first night after we got back to their apartment, we immediantly got to work. We tried to visit some less active membros, then we went to a ward activity, and than we went and I helped teach my first 1st discussion...AHH. Quite the day to start out with right?? I know. I wish our ward activities were like the ones these Chilenos have! There is tons of dancing and singing and TONS of decorations and food. It`s a tad crazy, but I really loved it! I can already tell that I am going to love these people lots :) I didn`t know that I was going to speak during my first discussion. I was just sitting there, doing my thing (pretending like I understand any of the words people are saying), when all of a sudden, the Hermanas stop talking and look over at me. The only thing I knew was that we were talking about the Restoration, so I decided a simple testimony of prophets and Joseph Smith would be good. After I talked the Hermanas didn`t say anything for I solid 15 seconds, which is a lot longer than ya think. Afterwards they told me that the spirit was so strong during my little testimony that they just wanted it to sink in with investigator Rosa. I guess sometimes I can help people more when I don´t know the language cause I have to fully rely on the Lord and the Spirit to talk to them, ya know?
Since then, we have taught lots of lessons, and talked about the church with many people in passing. I even feel like I am understanding what people say more, which I am so grateful for.
Oh, funny story! So the Hermanas told me today right before we got on the bus that I had to talk to someone cause it`s good practice with my Spanish and that`s the best place to do it...So I brace myself and say a quick prayer. A little family gets on the micro (bus) and sits next to me..I look up and the dad is wearing a Carolina hat! Bahaha, I thought that was a sweet tender mercy from the Lord!
Something else funny that happened: we were teaching a lesson and the girl we were teaching had a cute little cat. She said that the cat was really shy and picky with people, but I said "Hola gato bonita!" and she came right over and sat on my lap and let me pet her the whole time we were there! Another tender mercy! And it made we miss my kitties...
Let´s see what else....
It´s really pretty here! It kinda reminds me of Utah and Charlotte mixed into one. The houses here are all different colors, so when you ask people for their address, you also ask what color there house is haha. I think that´s funny.
It´s reeeally cold here right now, so I´m so grateful that I brought winter stuff cause I´ve been wearing it everyday. (they call tights "panties" here...it makes me laugh every time someone talks about tights now..tehe)
I don`t know if I have mail here or not waiting for me...no one has given me any or said anything, so I have no idea to be honest. I´ll let you know though. One of these days, I am going to send home a package with extra stuff I can´t carry around and maybe some letters in it for people or something. I just have to find out where one is in my real area when I get there.
The food is good I guess...not too different to be honest. They eat vegetables cooked but cold here so thats different. But honestly, its just rice and meat and then fruit for dessert. I like it. And we don´t really eat dinner here...just a big lunch with a member family.
I already love Chile. I know I am here to do the Lord´s work. I know that right now it is really difficult to feel like I am helping anyone cause I don´t know what they are saying, but even then I am so beyond greatful that the Lord is here helping me as well. I am nothing without Him, especially in this different country. I am so grateful for the peace and the hand He always has outstretched for me to grab. I know I say this a lot, but I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve in the Lord´s vineyard (literally..VIÑA del mar...haha get it?).
I love you all and I am BEYOND grateful with all my heart for your support and emails and letters and everything. My time is short and limited, so I may not respond to everyone personally. Just know that your email of note helped lift my day ten times higher and I am SO grateful for you :)
Again, I love you all. There aren´t words to describe.
God be with you til we meet again. Do His work. Be Hiw discople always.
God speed mis amors.
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

With President & Sister Kahnlein after a very long red eye, right off the plane.

Late summer day with family, what could be better.

It was another fun afternoon with Dad in Greensboro, and it always fun when any other family or friends can join us. We met up with Dad, who was so excited to see us. We had to go get Katie so she could have a break from the books at UNC-G. Debbie and Little Claire Bear joined us along with Greg! We went to the Greensboro Historical Museum (it was new for Katie & Claire)

Tory was Dad's chauffer!

Katie, Tory & Claire try to work the switch board in the Old O'Henry Hotel

BoBo Bear & Claire's first day of school at the Old School House

Claire had fun exploring everything

We had fun at the Museum, sitting in the city courtyard, laughing on the park bench, and watching silent movies.

So finishing up in the museum only meant one thing to dad and that was going to YUM YUM Better Ice cream!

She's on her way!

Last night Abigail called from the airport on her way to Chile! Oh my goodness, she sounded so fantastic! She caught us up on any little details that she may have left out from any of her emails. If you know Abby, you know that she was talking a mile a minute. She is so excited to get to Chile and get to work. She bought a hand full of phone cards and talked till each one gave out! We just sat there holding the phone and smiling so big! She is going to do fabulous things! She bore her testimony to us in Spanish before hanging up, with tears in her voice, you could feel the spirit so strongly. I am so happy for her and look forward to hearing all about the highs and lows of missionary work!
Before she left for the airport she sent us this short email to let us know she was on her way! Love that girl!!!

So today is the day, I´m off to great places hurray hurray! ...isn´t that how the Dr. Seuss poem goes? Yo no sé..
Anywho, I´m heading off to Chile in 3 hours.. AHH!! It´s so weird. It keeps hitting me on and off today, and yes I have shed a few tears. Last night as a district we sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again", and let´s just say it was mostly mumbling and sniffling. I´m gonna miss mi CCM familia mucho. Perro, I´m so excited to hear about/see the miracles we are all a part of in the next two years!
Packing was a doozy to say the least. Coming here I was at the exact weight limit, so with all of the books and other randomness we got here, my suitcases are ridin´ lower than a gangster´s trousers. It´s all good though. It´s times like this where I wish I had "mommy packing powers". After my mission, I´ll probably be a PRO at packing real fast. Wish me luck with that.
My flight is 8 and a half hours long so we are gonna be flying over night. Hopefully I´ll be able to sleep on the plane, otherwise I am going to be real tired when we get to Chile! Maybe we´ll even get the little pillows and blankets! I love those.
I´m just sending this email to let y´all know that I´m getting off safely and that I´m taking that slightly frightening but totally exciting first step of faith into the next year and a half of my life.
Pray for me, and wish me luck.
I´m so grateful to be on the Lord´s errand; hopefully I´ll do Him proud.
I love you all beyond the ends of the earth.
God be with you ´til we meet again.
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

After the many testimonies which have been given of Him....

I´m gonna start this week´s email off on a more serious note. One aspect of the gospel that I have been dedicating a lot of study to lately is the concept of grace. Throughout my life, I always heard the phrase "His grace is sufficient" but I honestly didn´t really understood what it meant. After coming on a mission, grace is a principle that I have to exercise and learn more about everyday in order to function as a missionary. In the Bible Dictionary, it says, "The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ...It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts...grace cannot suffice without total effort on the part of the recipient. Hence the explanation, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Ne. 25:23)." (boldness of words added by me). In my life lately, I have had to turn to the Lord every 5 seconds it seems for help, understanding, support, and lots of other things. Through many different means, I have come to realize that Jesus Christ is mi Salvador. Yo sé que mediante Jesucristo, I can become the missionary He needs me to be, I can become clean oltra vez, I can return to live with my Heavenly Parents after this life, y I can be a part of many miracles in my life and in the life of others. I know that if I do the best and try to be the best I can, the Lord WILL make the difference. I have come to know that His grace truly is sufficient. No matter how little our best is, he CAN and WILL fill the gap. When we even exercise simply a twig of faith and effort, the Lord will recognize it. I know that He will never leave us helpless. I know with all the itty-bitty fibers of my being and with all the pumpings of my blood that He will help us through every time on our life (good or bad) if we turn to Him. And I know that sometimes having faith is hard. Stepping into the unknown and trusting/hoping someone will guide you through the dark is scary. But with everything in life, the first few steps are the hardest, but before you know it you´re strollin along with no problem. I know that God NEVER shuts us out...we are the ones that shut Him out. After all He has done for us, after all His son has done for us, we (in our stupidly frail pridefully human selfs) turn our backs on Him. He wants to bless us in our lives; in fact, He begs us to let Him bless us. The ONLY thing we have to do is follow Him, remember Him, turn to Him. In all honesty, we have the easy end of the deal if you think about it (be good, get a cookie). I´m so grateful for the Savior´s gift of grace in my life. He has filled my many gaps countless times, and I would be nothing without Him. I´m so grateful for His perfect example of what I need to be in this life. I´m so grateful that I have Him to turn to everyday of my life. And I´m so beyond grateful that I have this opportunity to be His missionary for the next year and 17 months. I know He loves us. "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him: That He lives!" (Doctrine and covenants 76:22).

Now onto the happenings of this past week here in the CCM...
This past week, as you all know, was 9-11. Being out of the country for that day was a bit weird... I really wished I had an American flag or something. It´s hard to believe that that was 12 years ago! All day I had songs like "God bless America" and the "Star-spangled Banner" stuck in my head. I even made our district do the pledge that morning (you´re welcome Unlce Sam). Being in Mexico has really made me realize how blessed I am to be in an American. And I know people complain about bad stuff going on governmently in the US, but honestly, even with the bad stuff, we´ve got it made! I think that instead of focusing on the bad, we should acknowledge all the blessings and good that the good ´ole USA has to offer. I mean think about it... we have TONS of freedoms, we have the cooliest national anthem, we have the most kick-butt "becoming a nation" story, we have pretty sweet founding fathers, we are a nation built on religious freedom, AND we have clean water everywhere! Huzzah for America!
Also in honor of America, the boys (the Elders in my district) all sang country songs all day. It was soo great! I didn´t realize how much I missed it til they serenaded me haha.
Last week in the middle of the night, I apparently started spouting out perfectly fluent spanish in my sleep. I have no rememberance of this occuring, and I think it´s pretty sweet! But my question is.. WHERE IS THAT WHEN I´M AWAKE?? Goodness, I gotta work on transfering it over I guess.
Hermana Nelson got a huge package full of delicious treatsies from her Momma this week. We all attacked that box like a bunch of crazy monkeys after the last banana! Hey, don´t judge. Homemade is the best, and it happens to be it short supply here.
Oh! Friday was Friday the 13th..dun dunn duunnn! But don´t worry, nothin happened that I can recall..except we saw a cat! But it was white instead of black, so we took that as good luck!
Here at the CCM, we have to drink water from those little water filter cooler things (ya know..like the ones people stand around at work and gossip at). Anywho, so the boys have been stacking empty ones behind the door, so that when we open it they all topple down. So the other day, us Hermanas decided to get them back. While they were at a meeting, we stacked up about 24 big empty jug things behind the door, and then we covered all the windows and made sure that that was their only way of entrance back into the room. A few mintes later, they came barging in and BOOM BANG POW DONG. All of the jugs came tumbling down (apparently you could hear the ruckus from outside the building and across the street). Oh sweet revenge. Disclaimer: Don´t try that at home boys and girls. Forgive and forget. Don´t do drugs. Stay in school.
On Saturday night was our big Mexican fiesta for their independence day. It was crazy and loud and there were dancing latinos and sombreros and screaming and fireworks and "viva mexico´s"and rolling r´s and tons of Mexican pride in that little gym. My head and ears were ringing for what felt like hours afterwards, but it was really fun and interesting to see their version of the 4th of July. I love their traditional dresses that twirl all around and the dances that they performed for us. Let me tell y´all somethin, Mexicans have LOTS of pride. I wish more Americans were proud to be American. I feel like that´s a dying thing, which makes me really sad. I heart America with all mi corazón.
Random side story: I literally almost got run over by a zamboni floor buffer guy the other morning. I was walking past him, and then all of a sudden he lost control of the bluffer thingy and I literally had to jump out off the way. It made me laugh so hard, cause it reminded me of a time when all us Page chitlins were still youngins and we were at Food Lion one night with Mom and we were running from "THE BUFFER"...you guys remember that? And we were pushing Tory around in a Nascar buggie? Oh goodness...good times :)
And last but certainly not least, as I said in the quick email from yesterday, I am now leaving for Chile the day after tomorrow instead of in a week. Yes, I was just as suprised as you all probably are. I already explained the "why" and all that nonsense yesterday (and I assume Mom posted it to my blog), so I won´t repeat myself. I go in and out of shock/denial multiple times a day. It just doesn´t feel real yet, ya know? And I love the CCM a lot, but this isn´t a real mission. I haven´t experienced anything yet. It kinda just blows my mind that I´ll be in Chile on Friday.. I was mentally prepared for a whole other week, so packing and laundry and all the details and stuff will be taking over my life tomorrow. I´m nervous out my pants but also I´m really excited and I know that now I´ll just get to jump into the work of salvation that much faster, but part of me is really sad to leave my CCM family. These Elders and Hermanas truly are my family and I´m gonna miss them lots after I leave. But I´m so excited to see and talk to them after our missions and have a reunion like Alma and the sons of Mosiah after their missions. (Alma 17:2-3....Look it up). We will all be so growed up in the Lord by then :)

Welp, I hope you all have a wonderful day..or night (depending on when you read this).
My challenge for y´all this week is to forget yourselves, and go to work. That´s something I learned again this week. The Lord has need of all of his servants in the hastening of His work. Enlist in His army everyday of your life. (He gives great benefits to veterans ;)).
I´ll send another email Thursday before I´m off. Until then, God speed.
God be with you til we meet again.
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

Sisters are the best!

Last night we had Sister Holman & Sister Parshall over for dinner. We love it when the missionaries are in our home, they always bless us with their unique spirits. And the best part is their spiritual messages or missionary challenges they leave with us every time. I have a daughter out serving right now also, I pray the she is surrounded by people who love her and take good care of her also.

I got a ticket for the long way ´round

Hey Momma,
I know today isn´t my p-day, so you are probably wondering why in the world you are recieving this email from me. Well that´s a really good question mi madre, and I have a rather good response para usted!
Surprise attack: I´m leaving for Chile on Thursday! (as in 3 days... yes, about a week before schedule). I would have told you eariler, but us Chilean missionaries didn´t know we were leaving early til yesterday. After we heard a rumor that we were leaving early, we went to the front desk to figure out what in the world was goin´ on. Turned out that the rumors were true, and we are peacin out this week. (Glad we heard the rumors though cause otherwise we still would have no idea) Communication around here struggles a bit to be honest.
Not gonna lie, I was in shock for a few hours, and then during sacrament meeting, the closing hymn was "God Be With You Til Again"...that pulled us all out of shock and got our whole district crying. We have all become so close and we are kinda like a little motley family here at the CCM. I´m really bummed to leave them here for a whole week without us. Also when I found out we were leaving earlier, my first thought was "Holy humpty dumpty, I don´t know any spanish!!" So I´m a bit nervous about that as well.
It´s all just so weird cause I was mentally prepared and scheduling for another whole week, so the change is kinda messin me up a bit.
The reason we are leaving earlier is apparently because next week is Chile´s independence day celebration stuff, so there were NO empty flights. So since there was no room in the inn for us missionaries, they are sending us a week early, so we can still get there. And it´s only the Chilean missionaries that are leaving early.
I guess with us, the Lord is hastening the already hastened work, huh? :)
I´m excited and nervous and still kinda in shock and all the other things I could logically be feeling under the sun...I´ll tell y´all more about all that in my real email tomorrow.
Until then, no worries, I´m good!
God speed.
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

Visits from friends

When I got back from my trip to Utah I was welcomed by one of my Utah boys, Zamaleki! Was so great and strange at the same time. Not strange to see him because I have seen him since he got home from his mission, just strange seeing him back here in North Carolina. It almost felt as if he had never left. He had so many people to see and visit while he was here, so I was very grateful for the time he spent with us. ( poor boy can't help it he is loved by so many) we didn't really do anything special, we just enjoyed being together and catching up. We went shopping, look at all the loot he got :)!
He also spent some time with the missionaries that are now serving here, getting them it doing something fun on their p-day. One Monday he got them out bowling and the next was here at our house playing ping pong, basketball and soccer(more pictures on previous post) it was fun having them over. When Zamaleki served here they were here every week! I miss that! I think they had a good time!

One afternoon we spent it swimming and cooking out. It was a beautiful North Carolina day.(perfect) we had a few other friends over, Michael Armstrong, who just returned home from his mission in Oregon, Leah Marlowe and Caleb Marshall, and Katie Miller. (She was in town to see her sister race in a track meet. We had a fun time swimming, trying to see who could swim the length of the pool...Caleb you are a fish with out gills!

Last time with Zamaleki. His sister Srilanna, and her friend Mackenna, flew into town for a ACN conference here in Charlotte, which Z will be going to also. It was nice to see Srilanna again and to also meet Makenna. Hope they enjoy their time in NC. We went to Steak and Shake for lunch before we said goodbye. So enjoyed having him here and that he could spend so much time with us! We love you Zamaleki! Look forward to seeing you again, probably in Utah, but you know you always have a home away from home here!