Sister Abby Fillmore - Oregon, Salem Mission: July 2020

Week 44- The one where we hit 10 months!

Friends!

As my title shows the time has gone by fast! Me and Sister White hit 10 months on Saturday and that is just so weird to me!

This week was good! A week full of learning and using Christ's grace and atonement every day!

We have been able to do some service this week and it's been good to mix up the schedule a little. There was one family that contacted me asking if we could stain their fence and they are so so nice. They bought us pizza saturday and we asked if we could share a message and they said yes! We had a great lesson and they said yes to having us come over to share another hope message!

June is doing well! Trying to get off smoking but we have some ward members helping her out so we are excited and hopeful for the future.

Saturday was a fun and interesting day. The zone leaders had a baptism that day and asked if we could fill up the font for them since they live further away from the Stake building then we do. We said yes and then they kept calling and calling asking if we could set up the chairs and then find a TV...long story short we got everything set up for them and they arrived right at 2pm, the time the baptism started. Haha it was pretty funny but it was also a big blessing because the baptism was so beautiful! The person who they baptized was in a wheel chair and so they carried her into the font and held her. Her smile was so big and when she got confirmed, oh man, the spirit was so strong! I looked at her face the whole time and all I could see was light! It is just amazing that everytime I see a baptism the spirit always testifies to me that this is His church. He is so excited when one of His children makes a promise with Him! It helped me to keep going and made me excited to continue to find those searching to help them receive and make that promise.

This week was good but also hard. God knows I don't like change and stretching myself but He also knows that I know how good it is for me. With that being said I am grateful for His matchless love and compassion for me.

" The gospel tent is big enough for all of us, with all of our different difficulties, because Jesus Christ’s Atonement is both infinite and intimate." -Jeffrey McClellan (thy troubles to bless)

I have definitely felt his infinite and intimate love this week.

I love my Savior!!

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Fillmore

Love doing service!

It's hot ok?

Look at that tan line!

Toddlers don't know social distancing but thats ok!

Still painting!

Font fillers!

Week 43- The one where the Book of Mormon is the golden book!

Friends!!!

This week went by super fast and slow, if that's possible. But a week full of learning is a week well spent.

Alot happened this week but to start it off with we had zone conference and it was much needed! Sister White and a couple of the Elders and I sang Homeward Bound so that was so awesome. I could sing all the time! :)

BIG NEWS we can go outside and street contact again! Yaaaaay! I am a little rusty on it but hey, the first night we handed out a Book of Mormon and so it went pretty swell.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE BROTHER! HE IS 17!! I LOVE YOU ZACH!

Many miracles have happened this week:

•Gave out 9 copies of the Book of Mormon THIS WEEK!

•Tracted into my aunt's childhood friend from Salem...follow promptings my friends!!!

•Our Italian friends want to learn more about the Book of Mormon! Yay!

•We gave Ali AND Kevin a Book of Mormon

•Got to do lots of service!

The Book of Mormon is the best and it draws people because of the truthfulness that is found on its pages. I am grateful for this book and what it teaches me and the power that it has in people's lives.

Change is hard people. But it makes us better and helps us grow. The best part of all of this is, I have my Savior to help me and He gives me strength when I have none. He is my friend and I love Him with all of my heart.

Sister Carlson's ( my last comp) friend wrote a song that I listened to like 6 times yesterday and the lyrics gave me so much strength and peace.

"We're all broken things to mend. In the hands of our greatest friend, and He carries you on His shoulders home. Your the one for whom he atoned." -Hanna Ockey

Christ loves you everyone. He loves you so intimately. All of our feelings, our pains (physical, emotional, mental) and everything else matters to Him.

I am so grateful for my Savior. I honestly can't do it without Him. I wouldn't be able to do this without Him. His love is something we truly can't understand with our minds, only our hearts.

I love you all so so much!

Have a wonderful week ♡

Love,

Sister Fillmore

Tumalo Falls

I was truly guided to find my Aunt's childhood friend!

Using my video skills to make a Family History ad!

Tumalo Falls with Sister White

Sharing a Book of Mormon with Ali was a highlight of my mission!

Week 42- The one where June is on DATE!

Friends!!

Well the title says it all....JUNE IS ON DATE!

On Wednesday we taught June the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when we asked her if she would be baptized at August 22 she said, YES!!! She is learning to trust in her Savior more and more as we teach her. It's been amazing to see the change in her. I AM ONE HAPPY MISSIONARY!

Ali is progressing so so much! Last week we taught her about repentance and how it shouldn't be a scary thing but something we do to make a positive change and she really appreciated us helping her understand the positive side of it. When we talked to her yesterday her countacne was totally different! It was full of light and she was more focused on the lesson. It was wonderful to see this change. We taught her the rest of the restoration lesson and she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon! She is the best!!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! MY COUSIN IS COMING TO MY MISSION! NOT A JOKE! JAKE YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT HERE!! President Wilde and Sister Wilde are excited for when you get here!

We had in person interviews with our mission president for first for first time in 3 months! Oh man what a treat it was seeing my mission president and his wife! I LOVE THEM!!

The Wilde's joined in with our lesson on Sunday with Pastor Kevin and it was amazing! We ended it with the invitation to send him a Book of Mormon and he said yes!! After President and Sister Wilde called us and told us some ways how we can help him understand our religion more so I am excited!

For P-day this week we went caving today at Boyd Cave again with the District and it was the BEST!! Since the Wildes are in town Sister Wilde joined us and it was so much fun to be with her. She has all of us wrapped around her little finger :)

After we went to the park had chick-fil-a ;) and then played spike ball! The Elders taught me and Sister White and it was so much fun!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

I love you! ♡

Sister Fillmore

Caving in Boyd Cave with the District and Sister Wilde.

Exchanges with Sister Leifson

Love cards and packages from home. This one is from my 1 year old niece Ellis.

Church Mirror Selfies!

Lesson with members....it involved digging through flour...with your nose ;)

My new favorite quote. ;)

Week 41- The one with the Jesus wall.

Friends!!

Hello everyone, this week flew by! We got a lot done and and had so many great teaching moments.

We had a wonderful lesson with our friend, Kevin! He is a senior pastor and is so nice! You might be wondering how I met him. I probably talked about him a few weeks ago but here is a recap: Initially he didn't want to hear a message from us but the next day he messaged me and said he had been thinking about it and thought, why not? I am glad he said yes because we are now best friends. ;) We have wonderful discussions and share uplifting messages about Christ. He says he prays for us and even though we don't fully agree on things BUT we both are doing the same thing which is to bring others closer to Christ! I love our Tuesday night visits!

It's been great to set tentative baptism dates for a few of our investigators to work towards. It's always important to have a goal in sight! Please pray for them!

We had a fun 4th of July! We had a picnic with the sisters in our district and went for a little walk to see one of many beautiful views in this area. We had to be inside by 6pm but we had a lesson with June and then celebrated together...while working hard of course ;)

On Sunday we made a Jesus wall and I LOVE IT! Basically it's just a bunch of 5x7 pictures of Christ and how He has blessed us here on earth. We are going to make a video for the zone page so look out for that.

This week I had my first experience being bashed for my religion and what I believe in. This is where your armour of faith really has to be strong to withstand Satan's power. It all happened in the nicest way possible yesterday...if that is even possible, I don't know. It made me sad and was a little scary. Afterwards I took some time while my comp was using the restroom to kneel in prayer and look at my Jesus wall. It helped me remember my purpose and what my focus should be on, my Savior, Jesus Christ! The quote from my favorite talk, "Lord I Believe" by Jeffrey R. Holland came to my mind last night.

"In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited."

People aren't perfect and God has had to work with imperfect people...in the words of Jeffrey R. Holland "that must be terribly frustrating for Him but He deals with it." :) I love this church, I love how I have always felt safe and loved by my family, church leaders and the General Authorities.

Can I just say how much I love my zone! We had zone devotional yesterday and I seriously was in awe of everyone. Their insights and their testimonies make me know that this is true and I am the luckiest missionary EVER to learn from them! I love being a missionary and I am so grateful for the chance God is giving me to become more like Him!

Anyways, I love you all! Email me and update me on your lives! abigail.fillmore@missionary.org

Love,

Sister Fillmore