Savannah,
I think the essays are the most important part -- the committees are surely looking at not only an ability to write, but also ways to approach disparate cultures and experiences, how you will function in a different community, and how you plan to approach intensive language study and why such study is relevant to your career and future aspirations. I had studied abroad in Taiwan and Shanghai previously, so I spoke on some of the experiences I've had and how they shaped myself as a student and person, and why continued language study is crucial for my goals.
With that being said, having experience abroad is not something that the committee will find entirely important; many participants had never traveled abroad before. That is why I believe the narrative portrayed in your writing to be the most important.
Example, I applied for Korean this time around, I have no background in South Korea or its language, but I talked about how knowledge of the target language would be invaluable towards my aims in graduate school
Hope this helps!