A written letter from Elder Page

Dear Family,
It's Sunday night and since I'm leaving Tuesday morning at 4:30 am I won't be able to email for about another week, so I decided to just write a short letter home. I just want y'all to know I'm doing great! I can't wait to leave for Long Beach and get to work. I was speaking with the Branch Presidency today, discussing how I've undergone change since getting here a week and half to two weeks ago and my eyes were truly opened to how much I actually have changed. It's amazing what I have learned here and how much I've grown. I've loved it here and sad to leave but I know The Lord has a work for me in California.
Tonight we heard a talk from Elder Bednar, a couple of years ago he gave to the MTC missionaries. It's called " The Character of Christ". I learned so much from Elder Bednar, but the one point that really hit me is that Christ in all his experiences, in all the pain and anguish He underwent for us, during the good and the bad, during the miracles, sermons, and even the crucifixion, Christ chose to turn outward instead of inward. He never thought of Himself, In times when All of us would. Elder Bednar taught times specifically where He did this and it was so powerful. The spirit was so strong. I know I can take Christ's example and use it to better myself as a missionary, asa a son,and as a friend. I love my Savior and it's just the beginning. It's crazy!
Anyways, I can't wait to email how tell you all about California and my mission president and my companion.
I love and miss you all so much. But know I am where I need to be and where The Lord needs me. I can feel the prayers, and I can definitely feel the packages that have been sent, the pounds have come, but I am still skinny :) And seriously, the chocolate milk is unreal. I know now the glory I it's taste! So good!
The MTC is amazing. I can't wait for Katie to feel it and experience it all for herself in the coming weeks!
Once again I love each and everyone of you guys. Thanks for everything, and I will email next week and pictures!
-Elder Page :)

Uh Oh Spagettio...

Wow..so after a week in el CCM,(MTC) Tory sounds completely different! Haha but seriously, he sounds like a zone leader already ;) I love that he is serving at the same time as me! I always tell all the people "yeah, me brother is serving a mission too!!" I can´t wait to see a picture of him with his placa!

Funny story: This week we were in a colectivo (like a taxi), and we were talking to the driver about the church and everything, and like always he asked us why the boy missionaries all have the same name of "Elder". So we were explaing what "elder" means y blah blahblahh, and I looked out the window right then and a little bit further ahead I saw (from behind) two latinos walking with backpacks and suits. And I think "Hey Elders"....so I tell the driver "hey look, speaking of the devils, there are two elders right there walking". So the driver starts honking his horn and my companion and I are waving like crazy people at the "Elders". Hearing the rucus from the car, the two latinos turn and look at us, and I think, "Hey, where are your placas? (Name Tags) Why are they walkin around without their placas-- OH NO...those aren´t elders.... TESTIGOS! (witnesses) ...Hermana , stop waving, stop honking, DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!"
Turns out that the two "elders" were two Testigos de Jehovah (Jehovah Witnesses) hahahahaha. We had a good laugh about it with the driver of the colectivo (taxi) afterwards :)
Other than that, our investigador Francisca is gonna get baptized in Sunday! She is literally made of gold. And she is really trying the act on all of her faith so that she can recieve blessings and come to know her Savior. She is sooooo great! The other day, my companion asked her, "Francisca, do you remember for what date (of baptism) you are preparing?" And she said, "Yes, the 3rd...I am so ready to be born again!" We set there trying not to starting dancing for joy. Miracles, folks. Pure miracles.
One last thing.. the other day, I was sitting with another missionary and I was just thinking to myself about everything...pondering and whatnot. And suddenly a really awesome feeling came over me and I realized that now, I have come to the point when I am really in love. De nada, I realized that it´s true... I really do love my mission. With my whole heart. What a blessing it is to be a missionary.....oh goodness, I love it.
Pero eso! I hope you all are having wonderful adventures up there in the North American continent. Enjoy them for me, take lots of pictures, and tell me all about ´em, yeah? Estan en mis oraciones :)
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

Elder Pages first email as a missionary....wow

Well hey there family and loved ones! It's been a week and it's now finally my p-day which means I am able to let you all know how Im doing and how its been here. I honestly don't even know where to begin. There's so much I want to tell you guys.
The first day here was super fast paced. Within about an hour or two I was dropped off, sent to get my badge, books and things, then sent to dropoff my luggage, and finally sitting in a classroom with 9 other missionaries. The teachers didn't waste anytime. We started class and got to know each other. There are two sets of sisters in the district. Only one going to Long Beach though. Her name is Sister Chapman. She is amazing she swam in olympic meets and she doesnt even have legs. Since birth she has had prostetic legs from the knee down. She has been an inspiration to pretty much every missionary in the MTC. There are three sets of elders, two going to Colorado Springs (one Elder Jeff Shilling :) and the rest of us going to Long Beach. It's me Elder Gonzalez, Elder Ward, and Elder Brown. It is truly amazing how you can learn to love people after knowing them for just a week. We are all so close and feel like brothers. The Lord definitely answered my prayers when I asked for a district and companion I could learn to love and get along with. We have a Branch President and his two counselors who are so nice and inspired. I've already learned so much from them.
As new missionaries here we have been teaching "progressive investigators" which are teachers and leaders pretending to be investigators. Me and Elder Gonzalez have already taught "Todd" our investigator 4 times. We treat them just like real investigators. We pray before and after planning lessons, with Todd, and on our own, seeking guidance from the Lord. Through out this my testimony of prayer and of the spirit have grown so much. Even exercises as small as these mock discussions, the Lord is mindful of us and wants to help us learn and teach by the spirit. Some of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had are in these discussions.
In our zone a group of elders just left for the Charlotte mission so, just so y'all know be looking out for a few missionaries. There names are Elder Phelps, Judd, and Dunhill. Super cool guys and ready to serve in NC :)
Last night me and the rest of the elders went back to our rooms after a long, hard day. We all felt pretty discouraged for some reason and sat there together feeling troubled. One of the elders, Elder Price, asked if we could all give him a blessing. Without question we all agreed and helped Elder Ward give Elder Price a blessing. The spirit was so strong in the MTC dorm room, with the 5 of us with our hands placed on the missionaries head we truly were vessels for the Lord in comforting Elder Price. As soon as we finished the blessing another elder asked for a blessing and so we continued this process. Eventually each elder received a blessing giving the opportunity for each of us to administer to each other. Elder Gonzalez gave me my blessing and I gave Elder Ward his. I can't type out or even speak in words how powerful the experience was. We all know that these blessing came straight from the Lord.
This morning we decided to go to the temple as a district. We did endowments and once again I will not try and describe our time there, but I can say that the spirit was there and that each of these missionaries are my brothers and sisters. The temple is so beautiful.
All in all the past week has been amazing and the Lord has been looking after me and I can feel each of your prayers. Im doing great and I Love it here! This is the Lord's work and I know Christ has the power to make even the youngest, and most unexperienced of boys Fishers of Men. I've seen miracles happen here and can say that I know that the Lord has a hand in everyday of His work.
Well, I love you guys. I love you so much and thanks again for your prayers, and letters and packages (especially the krispy kreme) ;) I've takin a whole bunch of pictures and some videos this week and will try and send those later today. The computers here are weird so we'll see. I can't wait to write next week and tell you all how im doing and share the experiences I've had.
God Speed,

- Elder Page -

Let's go back, back to the beginning...

Miracles miracles miracles...just poppin outta the snow..like DAISIES!
I have less than 10 minutes to write so I´m gonna give the summed up fast version!
-We have an investigator of GOLD that now has a fecha of baptism se llama Francisca. She is literally of the of most amazing investigadores that I have ever had! Super excited and has tons of faith and wants to learn and loves going to Noche de Hogares and says that "this is the time...her time to get baptized"! Haha super great, and just a great big buddled up miracle for us to enjoy after mucho tiempo de nada!
-A recent convert of the other Hermanas (Javier) brought a friend to church yesterday, and she is excited to learn more! ...But what happened was is that Javier was working and a girl walked up to him and started talking to him..like flirtin a lil bit. So the exchanged Facebooks and numbers, and then he said "Hey...on Sunday, meet my on the corner of Nicaragua y Gaspar Marin (the address of the church) and I´ll take you somewhere special!" And ella, having no idea and thinking that he was going to take her on a date was like "yeah, OKAY". And then Sunday came, and they meet at the corner and he brought her to church! Hahahahaha, if she gets baptized, that´ll be the best conversion story ever! :)
-Tomorrow we are going to a millionares house to eat "gringo food".
-Isidora is loving being baptized and now wants to serve a mission!
-A general authority is coming to the mission in Thursday to talk to us!!
....Just loads of fun and blessings!
But now I´ve got to go! I love you all A LOT!!!
Can you pass me the email address of Tory so that I can write him too?! Thank you!!
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

I'm so glad they called me on a mission...

Isidora got baptized on Saturday!! Her dad worked so hard to be worthy to baptize her, and he was able to do it al final. Such a special day...Her dad Jesus was crying while reciting the words of the baptism prayer, Isidora was crying afterwards when she shared her testimony, her mom July was crying so much when Isi came up out of the waters of baptism and was hugging her Dad so tight. Goodness gracious..words can not describe how beautiful of an experience it was. Best baptism ever. I think it was so great cause it was a difficult path in order to get there! I have loved being part of her family´s path to the temple. It has literally been one of the most memorable moments of my mission so far! I have loved seeing them push through it all. Whatever trial comes their way, they just trust in the Lord and keep going! Literally. They have taught me so much about forgiveness and hope and the importance of the temple. I have really felt like an instrument in the Lord´s hands. And I honestly don´t think that there is a joy more full than when someone tells you "thank you for being our angel in our path to a familia eterna". It is seriously the best feeling in the entire world. Goodness, I love being a missionary. I love spending my time in the Lord´s service! Is there anything greater? I think NOT! Sleep, eat, preach...I´m living the life! I am so grateful for my brothers and for their examples of wonderful missionaries. I am so grateful for my Daddy and for starting a grand tradicion of serving missions in the Page-Jenkins family :) I am so grateful for my hermanito...Elder Tory Page..for being such an example to me my whole life, for being worthy to serve the Lord in California as His literal representative, for his faith, that we get to serve at the same time...Que genial :) Tory, you´re gonna move mountains with your faith, I just know it! :) Just keep swimming when the going gets rough or when you can´t find anyone whos wants to progress or when you just feel down. Pray...pray LOTS...on your knees. Be focused and consecrate every moment to the Lord. He is gonna bless the dickens out of you, kid! Disfrutela :) Be who the Lord wants you to be, and see the miracles! Know the when you are in the service of the Lord, you are entitled to the blessings of heaven...envoke them! Ask for angels, and I know they´ll be by your side. And more then anything, know that I love you un montón, and that I am and will be praying for you every single day.
....Again, I love being a missionary. I just love it so much.
I love you all, and I pray that you´re enjoying every moment together!
Until next week. Les amo!
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page
**Ps, the video with the pictures and the song "this is home" that was on the blog....is literally my favorite thing ever! I always say "this is my family" and then I show it to the members haha. And if it´s possible, I would love a copy somehow!

Beach Trip '14

Beach Trip '14

Pruebas.....

This week was a good week. We went to Viña for Consejo and I got my package..on the 4th of July! How perfect :) All the Elders that were traveling back to the North with us attacked my Cheez-its and Monster mix haha...but I just thought "oh, poor little guys..yeah okay, have a little bit". Pero I was in Heaven with this package momma! Thank you thank you thank you! It was seriously a package of my favorite things! Hermana Mori sends lots of love yalls way too! She cried cause she was so happy to recieve yalls letters :) So thanks again.
This week my companion and I realized that our area is literally a trial. I love my area and my ward and the people and everything, so don´t get me wrong....It´s just that ever since my first cambio here, I´ve been living in a big trial....the refiner´s fire of my mission. A trial of paciencia. A trial of depression. A trial of animo. A trial of obedience. A trial of bad health. A trial of working hard but NO ONE progressing. A trial of...well, everything that happens that´s a trial in a mission... is our area...Brillador, La Serena haha. And I´m not gonna sugar-coat it, there have been some pretty hard moments. When we have just felt down right mal. And I acknowledge that there have been a million miracles too. On Saturday, we were started our fast with a prayer and we prayed for miracles y for us, for our animo and all that jazz. We ended our pray and went to work...and from that moment to the end of the day: 1 investigator that has a fecha is going out of town for the month, two others that we were going to give a fecha disappeared from their house without warning of anyone (even there neighbors dont know), a progressing investigador moved away, all of our appointments fell through, an evangelico chewed us out, and two of my converts (Cristina y Sebastian) moved away to the country with out telling anyone. So in the middle of all that, I looked over at Hermana Mori, and I just started to laugh and I said... "Wow Hermana...this area really is a trial....we´re even fasting haha". But even through all that that happened on Saturday. We were both so happy. So happy. And I realized....what a blessing it is that the Lord loves us so much that He gives us trials. I am so grateful for my area. I am so grateful that it is my refiner´s fire in the mission. Y I am so excited to (through all this) become who the Lord wants me to be. I am so thankful for my trials. And I am so grateful for the Lord that supports us through every step en el camino. What a blessing it is to be children of God :)

I love you all. I hope that everyone can learn to love their trials, and that we can all come to know the Lord through every minute of them. Trials are evidence that God loves us :) Disfrutelas!
Love always and always,
Hermana Abigail Page

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