Conference Is Legit!

Monday April 7, 2014

Hola Familia otra vez!

This week was really a great fun week. Conference like always was amazing! I especially loved Elder Ballards talk on MISSIONARY WORK! I think it was the only one that was focused completely on missionary work. He invited every member of the church to invite, at least quarterly, for someone to be taught by the full time missionaries. I really enjoyed his talk about Inviting and then following up. Following up is a huge deal in the mission. It is the gospel principle of "Return and Report".

Dad taught us that principle well as I can remember. He would always give us a job and then make us return and report our completed work. This principle holds us accountable to our commitments, others commitments, and ultimately holds us accountable to our heavenly father. I am excited to hear your inspiriation that comes from studying PMG so I can apply it as well. 

YES I thought of Jed during Monsons talk! That is so funny, my next question was if jed was watching!  Monson did seem a bit more full of energy and power this time. That was good to see. The same wasnt true for elder packer. But we know now that he has seen the Savior as joseph smith had. We were watching that session in spanish and one of our member roberto garcia that i have talked about before, he put his hand to his mouth and looked around at our three investigators and other members that were there! It was kind of like someone got swatted big time as they were going up for a dunk! I loved it. The three investigators we had there were mairely carlos and morena. Mairely wants to be baptised but she lives with carlos who doesnt want to commit to marriage or baptism right now. Morena is having a hard time right now as well. She feels alone, her kids are all married and gone and her husband is in jail for selling drugs. She came to a session on saturday as well so she must have really enjoyed it. 

Oh and Jabari Parkers Father got quoted by the prophet!!! That was pretty neat. On that note I hear that it is Uconn and Kentucky in the final. It is funny becuase one home that we pass often has replaced their oregon ducks flag outside with a kentucky flag. Go with the winning team right! Why not! We need to show to people that we are on the Lords winning team, we always win with him. 

Elder Garcia wanted to send a package to a missionary in Bolivia and so we went to the post office last pday. We were in line and in walked a little latino family. Their little girl kept running around but we were finally able to talk to the father. His name is Moises and he lived in utah for 3 years before his 4 years in Oregon. He accepted to hear our message! 

Tomorrow we are going to eat with the Rigby family, they have been assigned to serve in the spanish branch because hno. y hna rigby served spanish speaking missions. Their daughters are in spanish emersion as well. They said that they have invited some friends to come and we are going to do a family home evening and it is going to be their friends first exposure to missionaries. PRESSURE IS ON! I love it when members do this though! The Rigby's show the best example in the branch of how to do missionary work.

President Young is from Salt Lake and owned a bunch of McDonalds. He owns the one in park city still. He told us to fit in 4 hours of tracting this conference weekend. We did it but only found 1 hispanic home! It reminded me again of that animated video about simon peter knocking doors and getting rejected time and time again. Usually we can get someone to at least hear our door approach but yesterday we just had some angry people! It honestly made me happy though, this one man opened the door looked at us with disgust made the little "ehh!" grossed out sound and then slammed the door. If they just knew what they were missing out on! 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE! So many great messages from from conference! Love you all, till next week. 

-Elder Allen

 

General Conference Weekend!

 April 1, 2014
Hola Familia!

Estoy bien contento de estar aqui en el campo! I love missionary work! This week we taught Natalie the 10 commandments for a FHE and then we played bingo for the activity. We had a great discussion and the family is really progressing. However, Natalie's mother had a health problem and has to have a lump removed from her leg this week and so their family did not make it to church. This family is great though! She is always making us tons of peruan food and sending us home with more... She makes a ton of Pionono which is like a caramel role, and then she always makes us causa de pollo. Her food is delicious!  

This last pday we had a zone tour of Autzen stadium, since I have been here forever (6 months in the field now!) This was my third tour of the stadium. This was the best time by far though because we ran the stairs and played an actual game on the field. Yesterday we had interviews with president young and a bunch of role plays to do. They moved our pday to today because of it. Last Wednesday we also did a service project for president Bogardus. As I was digging through his pile of branches that we were chipping, I found a little Gardner snake. I thought about how I would always put snakes on Gregg when we would be fishing and decided I would put this one on Elder Johnson. Elder Johnson flipped out and snake sailed through the air and landed in the chipper! I tried to save it but it was done... After that experience we actually had a conversation about how we have the power to crush Satan's head. I say lets just put him completely through the chipper! I don't want to just tame the natural man I want to kill it! That way there is no desire whatsoever to sin. Later I also found a frog in the pile. Don't worry,  I didn't chip the frog : ) That night as we were doing visits with members we almost got hit by a drunk driver! I was bracing for impact but then she just barely missed... The lord really does protect us and it is evident that he does with dads crash this week. Is the truck done for? I am glad you are okay and that the job still got done too! 

This week we found 2 other less actives that are not on the member list! One of them is 21 and his mother wants to learn about the church now as well. She explained that she is the lost sheep and that her 5 brothers are in Guatemala serving in leadership positions in the church! We are going to teach her tonight! 

I love to talk to people about my family! every one of you Mom, Dad, Amber, Gregg, Spencer, Rachel, James, Luke, and Hyrum! You are the best. I love tell people about my family. That is probably the strongest part of my testimony, the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses and protects families. 

We got dropped by our long time investigator Ofelia. I was really bummed because she knows it is all true and good but her husband doesn't want a part of it at all. I hope that someday his heart can be softened and accept it with their whole family. 

During the interview with president he asked me to complete the sentence "I loved my mission because........" I would like to hear your responses Amber, Mom, and Dad! Why did you love your mission?  I answered that it is because it is making me more Christ like. I have been able to work full time on developing the attributes of Christ. He also basically told me that I would be transferred at the beginning of the next transfer. I love my mission president and his wife a ton. They are just great people and know how to get things done in life. 

All three companionships in our district also have someone on date to be baptized! As I was on exchanges with elder french from Idaho falls, we had a miracle lesson with Guillermo who also wants to be baptized now! 

take lots of conference notes and pay attention to the Doctrine first, then the invite, then the promised blessings. As we Identify these three things and then apply them, there is a 100 % guarantee that we will see the blessings. These are men called of God. 

I will probably watch half of the sessions in Spanish and half in English. 

Thanks for the prayers and the fasting in our behalf as missionaries and lets keep moving forward and cherish every moment. Thanks for all your support and love and I hope you have a great week! 

Love Elder Allen

Feliz Cumpleaños Padre!

Hola Otra vez!

 

Happy bday dad! Sorry that you have to have the poison ivy like that! I feel like I can say that "I know how you feel" I HATE POISON IVY!!! So are you going to start  eating more of it or what are we going to do because the days are few already and we do not have time to spend in our beds dripping from alergic reactions..... AY! that is nasty. Well love ya lots and enjoy the birthday and Happy Anniversary as well! 25th is a lot!

 

It was sooo good to see you and hear your voices! It went by so quick. I just was so happy to see ya all! just wish I had 15 minutes with everyone of you! I am so grateful for technology so that I could talk to you all. Everyone of you Hyrum, Luke, James, Rachel,Spencer, Gregg, Amber, Mom and Dad, all of you are a breathe of fresh air! I havent seen amber in like 2 yrs! Have you written any new songs since you got back? are the calices coming back on the fingers? I have already started making the list of things I want to hear and talk about come mothers day.

 

Christmas night Elder Fowler and I organized a testimony hymn meeting where we all sang some really awesome christmas songs with some other missionaries in the Chapel. It was definitly the second to best thing we did on Christmas. The spirit was so strong and I love singing christmas songs especially with missionaries! So we have started using facebook for 1 hour everyday save sundays and pdays...  I know it is something that is inspired and all but as of right now I am finding it hard to feel like a missionary on facebook. I know it is going to get better though and that we are going to find people to teach through it!

 

It was elder Fowlers b-day as well on the 29th so that was really fun! We popped some pop corn and then lit a napkin on fire for the candle! Celebrating Missionary style!

 

so that is the pics as well as my new PJS by the miracle wall of sticky notes! Love em mom! thanks!

 

Well this week we got Luis on date for the 19th of Jan. But he just needs to read the Book of Mormon! pray for him to understand it better! I know that book is true and that it has power to change the and heal and strengthen and give you the answer to any question. We had one of our less actives tell us. Well you guys always share messages with me next time I will bring the message. He did and we used the scripture he shared with us in the next lesson! It was Third to last verse in the Book of Mormon moroni 10 32 I think!? It was very powerful and I love to share it with others! So keep reading that book every day and you will be able to draw closer to Christ more than ever before!

 

metas estan tan poderosas tambien! Goals make all the difference in what we can accomplish. But dont just set goals to have set goals. Go unto the Lord in prayer and ask him what he wants of you and then prayerfully set those goals and then prayerfully pursue them. God supports those with righteous desires he will not leave you without help.

 

Also another thing that president young said, I love my mission president by the way, Intelligence is not have have lots of knowledge! Intelligence is acting on the knowledge you have obtained and will continue to receive. Life is hard but it is not that hard. The mission is hard but it is not that hard and the only intelligent thing to do is just do what the God asks us to do!

 

So set goals and share them with me! I wanna know so i can help you all out! love you all till next week!

 

-elder Allen

Walking on Sunshine!

Hola Familia!

 

Santiago me encanta su correo electronico en espanol! Tienes mucho talento!

 

This week started off with my companion doing a burning ritual where he put all his worries on little pieces of paper and then he burned them all. It was very interesting but whatever works for all of you to start fresh in the mind DO IT! The atonement is so powerful and it is all about change.

 

Mom the boys pictures from school make me happy thanks for sending those and yes I got the bike lights so thanks a lot!

 

We left phone in the car of a member this last week and we were lost in a world of hurt. Thanksgiving we moved Presidente bogardus all day to his new house and then went over to Chewies house for the a chicken rice and beans classical mexican dinner. It was still delicious and I really enjoyed my day of thanksgiving! Ines y Juan fed us pumpkin with cone sugar that was interesting and then we figured out what we ate at another members house was actually the stomache lining of a pig and they call it Menudo or innards. I am glad I finally figured out what it was.

 

Missionary dreams are interesting too! I feel like I never stop working! I am knocking doors all night!

 

I read the story of Shule this week in the book of mormon and I remember making that video! You should do another one for sure!

 

I am walking on sushine because I have been born of goodly parents who love the lord and they love me. I love you so much mom and dad thanks for raising me and teaching me everything I know! I am out of time but I just really want you to konw that I appreciate all you have done and are still doing for our family!

Elder Foster Comes to Town!

Hola Familia! Esta semana fue imponente!!

Elder Foster of the Seventy came to tour the mission and give us the vision! After as I was shaking his hand I asked if he knew BOYD HENDERSON. Well, his face lit up and he said of course I know boyd. BOYD is one of my Heros! So he told me about how he served with grandpa and how he was such an examplar. He put his hands on my shoulders and said "You are a Henderson".  I told him that gandpa was one of my heros as well! So tell grandpa that i love him lots and so does elder foster!

Our investigator is back on date for this Sunday! She has been sick lately but she has been keeping her commitments and is doing well. She has a pretty strong testimony of the word of God. So we planned to teach the law of the tithing this last lesson.

We got in and sat down and she starts telling us about how she only makes 30 dollars a week and that she has no money and that she cannot afford to buy much other  than food. Well, after this great introduction we presented the law of the tithe. I didnt know how it was going to go down. In the end though she just said "Of course I need to pay my tithing". She has such great faith and with that faith there is nothing that would stop her from keeping the lords commandments. She was prepared by the lord for us to come find and teach her. The other elders have a couple of people on date for next week as well and so we are going to have 3 new members of the branch this next week!

So the thing that I learned this week was to stay calm and have paciencia. missionary work is frustrating at times because people do not follow through with anything. I just have to remember that I am not perfect and so I can expect them to be either. Patience in missionary work is soo important because we want to be truly converting the people we teach as well!  

So challenge for you all this week at church. During sacrament pick somewhere new to sit so that you can get to know someone else. Yes it might go against the assigned seats but I learned during stake conference this week that meeting new people is missionary work and that we always need to be in the friend making mode!!! FELLOWSHIP LIKE CRAZY!

Last note... pray harder for the investigators than for the missionaries. I could use a blessing or two but they are the ones that we are here for so pray for them! Thanks for all the prayers it is powerful to think of all those who pray for me and gregg. The first presidency of the church and the 12 pray in the temple every thursday morning for the missionaries... powerful right! And elder Ballards plea to get another family to church with us before Christmas is still on. Keep inviting your friends!

Elder STEVEN BOSWELL finally saw the man!

Love you all lots and keep the faith y continua a seguir adelante con confianza!

Elder Allen

It is a NUTRIA! COOL CREATURE!

Living in the Gray

Elder Keller at the ducks stadium! AUTZEN!

Hello everybody! Bienvenida a Provo Amber! 

 This week was the most packed week in my planner! However, we were not able to find a lot of people home at their appointed time. Now that I look back, we did find and teach new people because our original plans fell through. The lord works in mysterious ways and recognizing his hand in all things is the key. We are seeing good things when we open up our spiritual eyes! 

This week we met a lot of people that think they are wise and learned but they hearken not unto the counsel of God! The one was a former member and thinks that mormons just exist so that they have a place to belong. He doesnt believe in God and he was telling us all this church history that who knows where it came from. He said that the world is not black and white and that we just need to accept every kind of person and their choices. We asked about how he felt about life after death. He said he was fine being a part of the the nothingness and darkness of the universe. Well let me tell you. There is no shady area you cannot live in the gray. The scriptures say that you cannot serve two masters you will either hate the one and love the other and that you cannot serve god and satan! We need to choose whose side we are on! I AM ON THE LORDS SIDE BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY INTELLIGENT THING TO DO! It was sad to see how they had placed a pavilion over themselves and hid themselves from God. I know that we we were meant to speak with them and give them our simple testimonies of restored gospel and that god lives. Funny thing is though we asked if we could leave the one man with a prayer and he said "Oh I actually said a prayer this morning so sure we can pray." We asked him who he prayed to.... He couldnt answer and I was just about to bust laughing sooo hard!!! Confounding the "wise" since 1995! ~ Elder Allen. The gospel is simple dont complicate it!

Yes my new Companion is great! He is such a happy dude and we are going to have some amazing times together. 

 

Elder Fowler, my new comp

This man pulled over while he was driving and yelled at us "There is no God! Put the book down and Cope!" I said to him "There is a God, and you still have hope!" : ) We get alot of crazies like that but I love it cause it makes the day more interesting. 

MOM do you have a family search . org account??? We have a member here that has some work that needs to be done for his ancestors but he cant go to the temple very often and he wants it done. So if have an account I can share his names with youguys and you can print off the papers and go do the work for them! OH and the Plan of Salv. setup really is a $$$ mom! Serious. I have laid it out on several occasions already and they focus right in on it so thanks! 

We had an investigator follow us to church and we were 1 block away and his car breaks in the middle of the road. EVERY WEEK something comes up and the devil doesnt want him there!  We are going to beat satan though this next week will be it. 

Last thought D&C 88 : 81 it is our duty to warn others because we have been warned. We have the gospel you guys! Dont forget it ever! It is the greatest thing that we can share as well. So dont forget to take Elder Ballards promise and get another Family to church before Christmas. Necesitamos amonestarles y ayudarles!

Hasta la proxima semana! 

-ELDER ALLEN

YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED!?!?!?!?!

Hola Familia! Como estan?!

 

So I have heard a ton of this on my mission so far.... "No estoy interesado" and from the gringos "Im not interested".... I usually respond with my testimony of the gospel but what I really ought to say is "WHAT, YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR SALVATION?!?!" 

 

Wow transfers are crazy! I stayed in the same area while Elder Keller went to Klamath Falls to be the ZL over all the spanish elders in the mission. I am going to miss him for a lot of reasons for one he was in this area for over 6 months and knew where everything is. Now here I am struggling to find the library as I try to take over this area! I am just going to miss keller for a lot of reasons. Sports was definitly something we agreed on.

 

 I just met my new companion this morning, Elder Fowler from Bountiful UT, and we are going to work harder than we have ever done before. He is definitly different from the last one but different is good! He was in the band at bountiful high and he actually knows elder Boswell because he came from his area in Corvallis. I hoped to see steven today at transfer spot but he wasnt there. 

 

 This last week was a bit hectic with appointments falling through all the time and our bike tires popping every other day but we had lots of miracles still. We finally managed to get Angel to come to church Paloma went to the temple with the ward on saturday! The work is still moving along we just need to push harder everyday. So I took my bike into a shop because the tires on that bike were weird and I didnt have time to get it done. The guy was really nice and charged me like 10 bucks for a new tire, installation, and a patch job on the other tire! We had some nice hail and rain storms this week as well!

 

We had one experience this week with prayer that was a miracle but turned out kinda funny! We prayed to find a family of 6 during planning and morning study and then we went out to search for them. Guess what.... The first latino we run into named Elia has 4 kids and there was our family of 6! However, they were not as interested as I would have hoped they would be. Next time our prayers and going to be more specific and to the point and we are going to find that prepared family of 6! I love getting to know new people and finding new friends through the gospel it just cant get old! I just hope to be a more powerful teacher so that those I talk to dont have the OPTION to accept the gospel!

 

So we toured Autzen stadium this last Pday and that was pretty legit. The stadium was pretty small compared to Lavell Edward but they have a nice facility and they are going to win the national championship so all is well in Oregon.

 

We had this conference call as KEller was district leader on tuesday mornings and it was just the best advice I have for you for this week. Elder oneil got on the call and started singing "Put a smile on your face, make the world a better place!" I just couldnt stop laughing! Oneil is a big lovable guy and just makes you smile. EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY! We just need to make it a good day and smile all the time. No olviden su sonrisa cada dia Santiago, Lucas, Hiram!

 

Spencer I havent read your email yet but I am asuming all went well with the zip line? What is the next sport up? Basketball? You already always have a smile so try putting smiles on other peoples faces everyday now! Any new improvements on Nathans place? How is liberty?

 

So I got in the mission office and appearantly my friend from High school Philip Ng was serving in our mission as a chinese elder waiting for his visa to taiwan for a few weeks! I just wish I could have seen him!

 

Did carter get a deer? Did the letter with the tag in it from mexico show in the mail?

 

I had an amazing lesson with our less active ward mission leader this week. He is soo funny! He tells us so many good stories. This week though when we visited him he gave us hot chocolate and we sat by his fire warming up sipping hot chocolate. It was the closest to camping I will be in a while. He then came to church this week!!! I love seeing people at church.

 

Another thing that I really recoginzed this week was the tender mercies that God shows me everyday. Proverbs 3 : 5-6 is a good verse that goes along with this. We need to recognize the lords hand in everything that we experience for it is him who has given it to us. For example after popping a tire, walking miles, the next day while we went out for a run there were 4 blacktail deer outside our appartment and it just made me so happy and I realized that god is aware of me and he loves me enough to put little experiences in our day to lighten the load.

 

Well I love you all lots and keep praying for Paloma and Chewie and Stephanie. They need it.  You get to see Amber this week? I am so jelous! give her a big hug from me and dont let here get married without my approval!

 

-Elder Allen

 

Fortaleca

Hola Familia!

 

So I remember doing all those fundraisers for coach cardoso and when I would go door to door some people would say.... "No hablo engleis"  and I would just say adios! Not anymore! That is one of my favorite things to hear now! I dont want anyone to speak english!! Cool thing is that James, luke and hyrum will be able to sell their stuff in spanish no problem as well now that they are learning spanish too!

 

Remember the first miracle that I talked to you all about? Paloma, the lady on my first day that we felt impressed to reverse and go see if she spoke spanish, is getting baptised this next week! She is sooooo PREPARED! Thanks for all the prayers for the people that are living here. I need the blessings from your prayers but the people in the field need them more and they need to be ready to listen and accept. Paloma is amazing.... like we taught her the word of wisdom last time and she immediately after said.... I drink tea and coffee but not anymore! She just accepted it like it was nothing! We were so stoked! (seeing sisters get stoked is a different matter, squeeling and such) She has come to church every sunday and just loves everything.

 

I memorized a scripture that Amber said she memorized while i was in the mtc. It is a short one but it is just amazing! Todo lo puedo en cristo que me fortalece! Phil. 4 : 13 I just love it because there is so much strength that can be found in the savior! Our strength comes from the lord! Everyday there is adversity and temptation but Christ is the Rock and never moves and no matter how the wind beats upon us as long as we hold on to the rock we cannot be carried away captive! I love wearing the missionary nametag! Everymorning I just take joy in putting it on and looking at the two names, ALLEN and JESUS CHRIST. Both names mean a lot to me! One helps me remember my family and how I need to live and work in a manner that will bring "honor to the family" : ) ! The other is Christs name which makes it so my family will be together forever and also the artist of our lasting happiness. Both names just give me that strength every day and I know that it can give each and every person that same strength as long as they ACT. Christ has said that we need to COME unto him. He is not going to come to us we have to come unto him and abandon our pride. He is standing at the door and we just have to knock. It always begins with action! That also reminded me of Grandma Allens story at the Allen reunion about prayer that she just prayed for the strength to bike against the wind, although she wanted the wind to change directions! Always ask for strength to overcome!

 

So there goes another month of my mission and I just feel it is going to fast! I will see this week where I will go next transfer. I want to stay! I could honestly stay here my whole mission and still have a ton of work to do. there is too much to do to just leave already so I hope I get to stay. Some of our investigators have been being ridiculous this week! They dont answer and they always find last minute excusses to not come to church. I was tired.... my car broke AGAIN.... My brothers uncles monkey on a fence needed my help to get down.... EXCUSES STINK!

 

The weather here has been beautiful and quite sunny really! We had some dense fog too so that was fun.

 

There is another scripture that we have been sharing with all our less actives in Alma 5 : 26-27 and it is like a BIG wake up call. Can you feel that spirit NOW? We actually got 3 families to come that I have not seen at church the 5 weeks I have been here so that was nice to see them there. We have been helping a man  to stop smoking and using tobacco and he is doing really well we figured the math and he spends just thousands of dollars a month on that stuff! He is doing well though and came to church with his wife and son as well.

-Love you all

ELder Allen