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

Chewie all in White!

DEAR FAMILY!

 

Another fruitfull week in the mission! We were a bit dissappointed with the number of investigators that were in attendance at church this sunday but we had a baptism after which just fires you up again!

 

This week CHEWIE got baptized and set an amazing example for his family! Presidente Bogardus performed the ordinance and Elder Keller and I gave a lesson during the program. Hermana Bogardus sang and played the piano at the same time and it was amazing! The spirit was there the whole time and I know he felt it. He is always telling us how "HIS" holy ghost keeps talking to him. He said afterwards that he just felt so light! He has come such a long way. He used to be into drugs and all this crazy stuff but know here he is being BAPTIZED! He has such a strong testimony and I am edified when I teach him everytime. Chewie is amazing and so is his family. Now we are working on his wife Stephanie who is a bit more stubborn but someday they are all going to be in that temple in Portland!

 

Before the baptism we had a fiesta for the baptism and Chewie didnt show up!!! I was so nervous that he was just not going to show or something. Turns out Stephanie was sick because she is pregnant with her third child. We had the fiesta without him and then just waited and waited. He showed up 15 min before the baptism and totally missed his own fiesta. Next step for him is the priesthood and the temple!

 

Mom and Dad thank you soooo much for raising me the way you did! I meet so many people here that just dont know what it is like to have a real functioning family. They feel lost in life and they just dont know that this is what they need. Thanks for teaching me how to be clean and not afraid to get dirty and all the little things as well.  

 

Thanks for the Scripture mastery cards too they are great and I love seeing the new ones that are out. One thing that I like about this companionship thing is that we have comp inventory and we can bring up things that are preventing us from bonding better. It works well and I was wondering if implimenting it in the family would work at all.... Instead of calling people out on something during the day then try just sitting down with them at a specific time and humbly talk about how to improve. Have you all seen the family mission plan video online? Look it up and make a plan!

 

One of our investigators asked if there was a smoking room in the temple! Funny people we get to teach here 

 

Cool story.... so we see some latinos balling it up so we decide to turn it into a teaching opportunity. We made the bet that if we won we got to teach them a lesson from the book of mormon and if not we had to rake all their leaves. So Elder Keller and I balled them up and got a lesson out of it! THAT IS A FUN WAY TO GET LESSONS! It is weird how the latinos here dont dig soccer very much. They love football basketball and track! I have met a few soccer players though which is always fun. Another cool story is that one of our investigators, Angel had a dream like Lehi!!! He said that he dreamed that he was being baptised and that Elder Allen and Elder Keller were right there beside him! I was like BOO YA! GETTING DUNKED! I love the guy but I think he is a bit nervous to come to church. So pray for Angel!

 

The plants that we have on the fence on our property are everywhere here and the just grow like crazy. Maybe the ones at home just need more agua?!! It kills me to see these Blackberry bushes here just filled with unpicked dried up berries! If I would have been just a month earlier I could have eaten them all!

 

We are working hard on getting less actives back to church. The majority of the less actives do not attend because of hard feelings against other members of the branch. I am trying hard to find a cure to this problem and hope that our branch can have the numbers in attendance that it should. Any ideas would be appreciated! 

 

LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!

 

TILL NEXT WEEK

 

-ELDER ALLEN