Major Road Trip!

Hi to everyone! It is our last day on the road and two whole weeks since we left home. It has been a wonderful two weeks. I have loved this road trip-easy for me to say, because I just sit here sipping soda, enjoying the scenery. We stop whenever we want to and look at something interesting like Fort Bridger in Wyo and the Abraham Lincoln Prestdential Library and Museum in Springfield. Our hotels have been amazing and big props to I80 rest stops that put all other rest stops to shame! Today we arrive in Pittsburgh and tonight we stay at President Topham's home, then tomorrow we drive 3 hours more to our little home in Mill Hall.

It is hard to sum up our week at the MTC. Inspiring, humbling,challenging seems about right. We came away with a great respect for our sons who spent 2 months preparing to serve-it is harder than we ever thought!

The highlight of the trip was Nauvoo. It is completely staffed with Sr. Couples all dressed in costume and we loved their energy and knowledge about church history. The setting is beautiful-lovely trees,grass,charming homes and the glorious temple setting on a rise overlooking the site. We took the carriage ride around old Nauvoo and the teamster was telling stories about past Nauvoo residents. One of the stories went like this: "one of the greatest ladies of Nauvoo was a woman named Abigail Abbott. She was widowed and raised 8 kids through the hard winters and the trek to Utah. Her son, Myron, writes that during one particularly hard time the family had no money and no food. Little Myron, ten years old, was complaining about being hungry and Abigail told him to pray for help. He did as his mother suggested and as he was walking down a path by their home, he found a dime! That dime bought 15 pounds of flour and mother mixed it with water and a pinch of sugar. Myron remembers it as one of the best meals he had ever tasted." Little Myron is Dads great,great grandfather and this is a cherished family story! The Elder telling the story was so excited to meet us because he had been telling that story for his whole mission!

Another cool thing that happened was that we took the picture of a cute family as we were taking pictures of the temple. We found out they are Kathy Willis cousins visiting from Nevada! What are the chances of that? As we left Nauvoo we took the gorgeous road that winds next to the Mississippi River to Carthage. We took the tour of Carthage jail and sat in the very room where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred. We will send pictures when we get settled.

The weather has been very nice the whole trip, so there has been great scenery for me to enjoy as I sip my soda! The "heartland" of America is an amazing place,

We hope everyone is well. We miss you all and would love to hear from you.

Lots of love, Elder and Sister Abbott