The Fam

Front row (LF to RT) : Trevor "Bookie" Abbott (nephew); Lauren May Abbott (little sister)
Behind the babies (LF to RT) :  Jared Abbott (younger brother); Terri Abbott (mother) ; Hal Abbott (father); Tara Abbott (older sister); Nigel Cockroft (brother-in-law); Me; Derek Abbott (older brother)

This picture was taken at my beautiful sisters wedding on April 19, 2008.  Nigel Cockroft was the new addition to our little family.  He is the MAN!  We love him and are very grateful to have such a honorable man take care of Tara and her energetic son Trevor.  Tara and Nigel are expecting a baby boy this next month.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3)... The family is ordained of God. -( The Family: A Proclamation to the World )

Thank you Mom & Dad for your righteous example.

Pink Tie Tuesday!

Every Tuesday, us missionaries in the California Santa Rosa mission wear pink ties to support the breast cancer victims across the globe. And specifically to support the one nearest to our hearts, Sis. Susan Bunker, our mission mom.  She is currently going though chemotherapy to fight off this evil.

I'm not even sure if she has been, or wants me to be, real public about it.  I'm not going to write a whole blog entry on her and how amazing she is (even though that would be real easy to do..).  But I do want to close out this October with a blog supporting "our girls".
1 out of 4 woman are victim to this disease.  WOW!  That is a very a high percentage.  Most likely there is someone who is dear to you that has been diagnosed.  So what can we do about it?
Making it known is the 1st step.  I'm not saying everyone needs to run and get pick ties that they can wear on Tuesday, (even though that would be sick!).  Make donations, join groups, visit this website http://www.facebook.com/gillettevenus?ref=ts&gclid=CJLfu9SP96QCFQgEbAodeWokhA, you can figure it out... Lets just not "do nothing".

But most of all, remember these brave woman in our thoughts and in our prayers.  "Yea, cry unto him against the power of you enemies." (Alma 34:22).  Lets fight this enemy called Breast Cancer!
And wear pink next Tuesday!

Are Mormons Christians?

I have been asked this question many times in my life, "Are Mormons Christians?".
Today I want to address that question. So I thought it best to hear from Elder Gary J. Coleman who is a great leader in our church.

Watch the video.


I want to bear my humble testimony that Jesus Christ is who He proclaims to be, "the light and the life of the world" ( 3 Nephi 11:11 ). He truly did suffer and die for the sins of all mankind and is our perfect example in every way. Learn of Him. If you have not read the Bible and the Book of Mormon, you are cheating yourself and missing out on gospel truth that has been restored by God Himself. To obtain a free copy of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, visit  http://www.mormon.org/ and request a visit from a missionary like myself.

Half empty of half full?

There is a famous saying that Pres. Bunker has become well known for, which is, "Ever grateful, Never satisfied".

I feel that I have the "never satisfied" part down pat.

Every night, after a long day of striving to find, teach, and baptize, we review what we did for the day before planning for the next.  Some days seem more accomplished than others.

For example; Wednesday while reviewing our day/week, I realized that we had only taught one lesson the whole week.  One lousy lesson!  I thought to myself, "What the heck is going on!? What have we been doing all week!?"

Like I said before, I think I have the "never satisfied" part down pat.

The problem is, because of my pride and lack of humility, I often over look the "ever grateful" part.

So I decided to look at the picture differently.  Instead of thinking "What have we been doing all week?" I now think "Who have I taught.".

That one  "lousy" lesson all week was taught to Sally Howard, a daughter of God.   I was reminded "...the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;"( D&C 18:10 );  Sally Howard is worth every second.  The Lord Jesus Christ would have came down to this earth and die just for her.  I was then reminded of the love that God has for her. 

Indeed Pres. Uchtdorf words are true; "We cannot gauge the worth of another soul any more than we can measure the span of the universe. Every person we meet is a VIP to our Heavenly Father.". ( “You Are My Hands” )

In the new testament story of the Savior preforming a miracle, once again, we read of the disciples reactions to Christ's desires to feed the 4,000 in the wilderness with 7 loaves of bread;

"33) And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?  34) And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes." - ( Matthew 15:33-34 )

Like many of us, the disciples saw only what was lacking.

 

Look at this picture of Sally Howard and I, and tell me, is my cup half empty or half full?

"We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Said the Greek philosopher Epictetus, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”" -Pres. Monson (The Divine Gift of Gratitude)

The Forgotten Man

Jesus taught, "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethern, ye have done it unto me." -Matthew 25:40

What does the Savior mean by this?

Who are "the least of these"?

What should we be doing?

I find this counsel from Pres. Monson very helpful while reflecting this scripture:

"There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.".   ( charity-never-faileth )

This photo is a sad picture of reality.  We too often walk by the unnoticed, discouraged, and afflicted with out a second thought.
Lets reach out to those who need it the most:  The "unpopular kid" who sits by himself at school, the person who is around but is never noticed or talked to, the "weird dude", that "funny looken person", the guy who goes outside to smoke a cigarette by himself, the lonely alcoholic, the single parent, the single adult, the guy who comes into church smelling like smoke and booze, the annoying kid, the poor family, the new guy, the foreigner, the forgotten man...  the list goes on.

Lets serve The One (God), by serving the one unnoticed
"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17

True Unity

You'll come to realize that I love my family dearly.  So from time to time I will be writing about them.
A common question that I hear from people is "do you have any siblings?"  I tell them I have two brothers and two sisters and I am right in the middle.  Than I proudly inform them that I have little brother serving a church mission with me right now and he is in Chile.  That's exciting stuff!!
My little brother Jared and I started filling out our mission papers at the same time volunteering to serve the Lord.  We helped push each other to live righteously and increase our faith.  I was living in Utah at the time, so we would talk on the phone every now and again.  Every night we would text each other a scripture that touched us that day from our studies.  I would read his and he would read mine.  It was neat.  We later recruited others to join us in our little activity, Derek (my older brother), Micheal and Aubrey (my cousins).  We did this for about 5 months.
Than the day came when I received my mission call to serve in the California Santa Rosa Mission. So in March, I headed west.  While in California, Jared received his call to the Chile Rancagua Mission.  He departed in October.  So for the past year we have both been doing the same exact thing just on different sides of the equator.  It is such a boost to me to know that I have a true friend that I look up to, praying for me and fighting the same fight that I am fighting everyday.  We are called to baptize.

Jared in Chile (Ill give you a hint... he is the one with the blond hair)

The lovely Rochell family


If your in Chile or northern California the gospel of Jesus Christ is the same.  We teach the same exact thing! 

That always amazes me.  But it is also so very simple.  I have talked to many people of many other faiths and they all seem to disagree with each other; even if they claim to be from the same church, faith, or religion.  There are Christan's arguing against Christians.

"One Lord, one faith, one baptism" - Ephesians 4:5.
He doesn't say, One Lord, 2 faiths, 2 baptisms
He doesn't say, One Lord, 45 faiths, 44 baptisms
He doesn't say, One Lord, 1098 faiths, 987 baptisms
I think you get my point...

God is a god of order; just look up at the sky or into a flower.  So it is with His church and gospel.

Elder Jared Abbott and I are striving to spread the good news "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:" -Ephesians 4:13. That is was Paul's mission, that's Jared's mission, that's my mission, and most of all, that's Christ mission.
To learn more on how God has once again called a prophet to the earth to unify His people, visit  http://mormon.org/

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

I love this little message. Is it not true?

We all have burdens that need to be lifted. So lets always look to the source of the ultimate relief, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I recently have felt one of my burdens lifted from the Savior. Because of His atoning sacrifice, a wrong that I did, suddenly was made right through repentance. I know I have harmed many people in my past; and because of the natural man that I am, I will harm people in my future. Because of these experiences that I have gone through, I realize that I can do nothing on my own. I need help and assistance. No matter how much I try to "fix things" or "make things right", I fall short. I just can not do certian things on my own. There is some "fixing" that can only be done by him. Elder James Abbott needs mercy! I know now more than ever that "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."(http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/25) . We can not fully be forgiven or have fully burdens lifted on our own accout or efforts. We must turn to Him! We must do our part so He can do His. I thank God everyday for my sending His Son to save me and lift my burdens when I can't. He is the ultimate "fixer upper". Learn of Him and than turn to Him, so He can fix the mistakes that we all make. Remember, it is only beacuse of Him that my sins and your sins will be blotted out. I love Him.

Where do I start?

I am so blessed.  There hasn't been anything better in my life than for me to be out here in California sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  There are so many people to thank for me being out here.  At this time I wanted to take time to thank 1 of the most influential people in my life, my beautiful mother.

My Mother is my best friend.  There is no other person on the earth that's testimony of God and His church has touched my heart and soul more than hers.  She grew up in NJ and never was taught about God.  Growing up without the knowledge of God is a difficult thing.  She tells me of the things that she went through and it breaks my heart every time.  So as she was searching for the purpose of life, she ran into a couple of Mormons at work who offered her more.  She shortly after met with a couple of missionaries and committed to be baptized.  Since than, many miraculous things occurred in her life to build up her faith in Jesus Christ.  I never get sick of hearing her story and how she came to know of Gods plan.  My mother has never looked back.  When I hear the words "endure to the end" I think of her.

Raising 5 rowdy kids (when I say rowdy I'm being nice) was the center of her life.  My mother was always there when we needed her.  I loved most of all siting down occasionally and do nothing but talk about life with her.  Some of the most memorable times of my growing testimony was rolling the news paper outside with just her and I.  There isn't an investigator that I have taught and baptized that has not heard a story of my mom and her lovely testimony.

I am convinced that God choose such an amazing woman to be my mother so a thick-headed boy like myself would have a chance.  I owe it all to her.

Knowing the humble person that she is, she would be quick to give the credit right back to God.  So I want to do the same http://www.mormon.org/eng/

We cant all be like her, but we all can be better. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will give you the direction you need to do just that. It is true for Terri Abbott, its true for me, and even if your don't know it yet, its true for you.

Picture: Left: Hal Abbott aka- The Man (my father);  Center: Derek Abbott (older brother);  Right: the beautiful lady herself MY MOM

Yes, I am still on my mission and no, I am not being disobedient...

So our mission is one of 3 (from what I understand) in the world to be a pilot mission for online proselyting.  We work out in the field for the majority of the day.  But during the "down hours" (mornings, late evenings, holidays, etc...) we get on the computer and find people to teach and baptize!  Our purpose is still to "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end" -PMG pg 1.  So practically I will be updating my blog with neat stories and spiritual uplifts.  Follow my blog.  Comment on my blog freely.  Spread the good news of the Savior to your family and friends in person and online.  Rob Frye in Napa sent me this news article from the Salk Lake Tribune with neat insight on the new online assignment of missionaries.

Mormons taking to online proselytizing

SALT LAKE CITY — Not so long ago, Mormon missionaries were prohibited from using the Internet, even to contact their families. The system then loosened to allow weekly e-mail home and some occasional viewing of church materials.

Now the nearly 14 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is attempting to revolutionize the way Mormons find converts - and it's all online.

The move involves experimenting with blogging missionaries, self-produced member profiles and stereotype-busting videos. The American-born church, which has been harnessing technology to promote the faith since the 1920 radio days, sees great potential in fast-paced storytelling.

The Internet is the new "town square," said Ron Wilson, manager of Internet and marketing for the church. "And Mormons are taking to it like never before."

The electronic universe, however, also is uncontrollable, an aspect that has traditionally been tough for the hierarchical church but one that organizers readily acknowledge.

"We relinquish a lot of control to members on this site … and every one (of the authorities) is on board with it," said Scott Swofford, director of media for the church's missionary department. "(The Internet) is where we've got to be."

The online missionary effort began in 2001, with the launch of www.mormon.org, a site aimed at telling outsiders what Mormons believe.

The site currently showcases 15 video portraits and 2,000 written profiles of Mormons across the globe; there are another 75 videos and 13,000 more profiles ready to be posted.

The idea, officials said, was to help everyone "know a Mormon."

"Our leaders were struggling for years to find a more effective, less annoying way to get our message across than knocking on doors," Swofford said. "Our mission is to deliver teaching opportunities."

Hope you have a blessed day and don't forget to thank God.

Love - Elder James Abbott