Elder Allen week#13 Buenas Tardes!

How was everyone's week? Mine was great! not much changed. Knocking doors on Halloween, throwback to life at home haha. Made it to my first Cambios (transfers)! Yeah, nothing changed. Same companion, Elder Viera, same Area, Mi Peru, and same district. But its all good! I love it here! One of my ZL's, Elder Acarapi, is the new assistant now so that rocks. But yeah, that's pretty much it for cambios. 

Annnd only 2 1/2 months late, I got my package that was supposed to arrive to the ccm but never did! Nice surprise though! 

We've got a baptismal interview for Familia Nieto tonight, and they should be getting baptized this weekend. So that rocks! Super excited for that. Naomi, single mom of 4. Carla, 11; Aron, 9; Chewy (Jesus) 4; and Diago, 4 months. All from different fathers. They've progressed a lot in the 6 weeks I've known them, I'm really excited for them. 

A crazy guy in the ward tried telling me that the Internet is the anti-Christ haha. 

Jose Henry is 18, and super shy. We contacted his Dad, (Gonsales Familie), but Jose was the only one that came to church. But that's alright because I think he's going to progress fast! Excited for that too!

An Evangelist Pastor stopped us in the middle of the lesson and asked us why we don't walk with people of color...Everyone here is a person of color to me lol. 

Familia Huancari is doing good, the father, Walter, is having a bit of a difficult time. He's been a Catholic for his whole life, and it's hard to change something this big. But he's slowly seeing the church is a good thing, and I think he definitely knows what we are saying is from God. 

Yeah sorry that the Email is a little short and a little choppy this week, but yeah it's been a good week. I'm doing good. Loving the mission. The Spanish is coming along great. I basically understand everything, I just need to work on the grammar. My companion is a bit of an interesting guy, but his heart is in the right place. Love being out here!

And for the Spiritual thoughts of the week-- 

Do you do prayers or do you Pray? There is a very big difference. Do you just say some pretty words every night and morning because you know you're supposed to, or do you really get down on your knees and talk to our Father in Heaven. Do you ask Him for help? Do you pray for forgiveness? Do you thank Him? And most importantly, do you do it with a sincere heart and real intention? Think about it. And change what you need to. I promise that Praying is a whole lot better than doing prayers. 

And the other for the week, Revelation is in the Information. It's one of my Companions favorite phrases. Very rarely will we get this great vision or Idea that pops into our head. We need to put in our part. Do the research, try out a few things, make a plan. And take that plan to our Father in Prayer. If you feel like it's right after that, that's how you know what you need to do. And that's really what Revelation is. Guidance from God. 

Elder Allen Week#12 Hola! Que tal Amigos y Familia!

It's been a good week of pretty much complete rejection! Tue-Fri was basically the same day x4. Got up, got ready, studied, had lunch, and proselytized until 10, with little to no success. But that's just the missionary life, and as Sister Nelson said to the missionaries last week, it'll just prepare us for the rejection of dating when we get home! But in reality, the week wasn't as bad as that makes it sound, Saturday made it all better. 

But first, my unimportant remarks of the week! First of all, it drives me crazy that people think that there is a difference between American and British English. Every time I try to talk to anyone they say they only know British English...it's kind of funny really. They think it's like them and Spain with their weird vosotros form jajaja.

But yeah, Saturday was great. One of the first days I've really felt like what I was doing was making a difference. First of all, I had splits with Elder Jones for the Morning hours. He's a gringo with the same time as me, and he's not super confident in his Spanish abilities, so it was fun to take the lead in teaching and contacting for once. Then the afternoon was the best part of the week. We didn't have much else planned other than contacting and finding, because we didn't have a ton of people we could visit. The first miracle of the day was Family Gonsales. 

We contacted Jose outside his house, shared a quick message with him, and asked if we could come in and share more with his family, and he willingly let us in. We were expecting him and his wife and maybe a kid or something, but soon enough the whole family was gathered. Jose, his Wife, and 2 kids, 14&18. Iris, the sister of Jose. And Teodora, the mother of Jose. Plus a great-grandmother that couldn't hear a thing (And was probably very confused on why there was a gringo and an Uruguayan in her house) and like five other kids, not at baptism age. Their Father, Husband, and Grandfather had just passed away 5 months ago, and you could feel how much they needed this message, and how much hope they had by the end of it. 

Miracle #2 was Family Huancari.  This story is awesome. The other day we were knocking doors and started talking to a woman, who seemed to know an awful lot of what we were talking about, turns out she's a super inactive member and her husband and kids aren't members. So we set up a time we could come back and teach the whole family. The day and time come, we ring the doorbell (Surprisingly it actually works) And a man looks down on us from his 3rd-floor porch. It was the husband, and he wasn't having it. Oh well, we were used to rejection. During the interaction with the husband, I see his neighbor, also on his 3rd-floor porch. He watched the whole thing go down. When the husband left, I just looked up at this other guy and basically just say hey, do you want to hear this message? And he says yeah sure and comes downstairs. I didn't think it would actually work haha. But yeah, his name is Walter, and we talk for a minute and find out he has been having a kind of rough patch with his marriage. We ask if we can come in and share with his family, and he said yeah! We taught lesson 1 to him, his wife, and daughter. At the end of the lesson, we ask him to say the closing prayer and pray for his wife in specific. You could feel the joy, forgiveness, and love that was in the room. It rocked. 

And this is a lesson on the timing of the Lord. Practically nothing for a week, and then 9 Souls in one day. If you just trust in the Lord, keep pushing on in faith, the blessings He has promised you will come forth. They always will. 

So yeah, the Week was great! And to top it off, yesterday our best friend here in Mi Peru, Devie, and recent convert age 25 opened his mission call! He's going to Mexico! The mission right under Arizona. I'm so happy for him, he's going to be a great missionary. 

As always, I like to finish with a spiritual thought. For district meeting this week we talked about the Atonement. We looked at the classic painting of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. What a great love our Savior has for us. How much he suffered for me, "a soul so rebellious and proud as mine". Don't let that gift go unused. Repent, learn to rely on our Savior and Redeemer. Everything is easier after that. Homework- look at that painting, ponder it, and read Alma 7:11-13. And remember that the Savior loves you. Chao! Remember to pay your tithing! Love you all!

Elder Allen

Elder Allen Week#11

I saw the Prophet this week! Well kind of. Not really actually. Due to a series of unfortunate seating arrangements in a stake center, and a poorly placed wall, I never actually did see President Nelson. A bit disappointing. But I hear I got a cameo on his Peru Ministry tour video so that rocks. And all said and done, It doesn't really matter I didn't see him, because I heard his voice, and definitely felt his spirit. He really is a Prophet of God. 

Not much really happened in a stuff we did sense this week. But the revelation I received and the amount I have grown, changed, and improved has been absolutely incredible. It started out with my first Zone Conference on Thursday, and it was absolutely awesome. Throughout the day, I could feel my testimony growing, and my desire, my fuego, for the work burning. These past 5 weeks have been awesome, and I have loved the work, but until now I didn't really feel that purpose, I didn't really know why I was here. But that's what I found this past week. I realized that what I do here and now, the way I spend my time, can and will have an impact on the eternities. Converting 1 soul doesn't just save them, it saves their children, it saves their ancestors. There are 1000s of people on the other side just waiting for one of their posterity to find the gospel, so they can have the chance to feel this infinite joy. My testimony on this work is truly stronger than ever. And I know that anyone that truly gives themselves to the Lord will see His hand in their lives, and will be blessed far more than anything we sacrifice. 

Small break before more spiritual stuff, It's funny how much everyone hates Chile. Sorry, Dad. And go Peru! Once again, sorry dad (Futbol). And speaking of futbol, that's what we did for PDay today, and my legs are killing me. And I am most definitely a gringo.

And thus we arrive to the visit of the Prophet. There is honestly way too much to write, I couldn't do it if I had all day. The messages of the Area President, and Elder Stevenson, were fantastic, and I learned a ton, but I'll focus on the prophet for now. His message was centered around 3rd Nephi, and I learned so much about this book, and about our Savior because of it. First of all, our teaching as missionaries should be focused on the same things focused on in Ch 11- Baptism, Doctrine, and no Contention. Ch 12- Be ye therefore Perfect is impossible until we are resurrected. If you compare this verse to his same sermon in the Bible, you will notice that in the holy land he only says be ye therefore perfect as my Father is, but in 3rd Nephi, it's also as I am. Meaning, we will never be perfect in this life. It's okay to make mistakes. But we should always strive to be better. Ch 15- The Americas are the inherited lands of the houses of Joseph, and we know from their promises that this is really where the gathering of Israel is going to take place. Ch 16- super bacan, there are other other sheep. And I really want to read their record of the Savior. Ch 23- Study Isaiah. Ch 27- What the Gospel is. And the Gospel is the Atonement. The Gospel IS Jesus Christ. If we turn to Him, we will be saved. 

That's obviously a very rough summary of what I learned, but what I felt is so much more important. He really is our living prophet, and we need to follow his words. Christ really is our Savior. He wants us to be happy, to have eternal Joy.

But yeah, to say the least, it was a great week. I love you all, I'm praying for you, and I miss you. Thanks for everything!

Elder Allen