Elder Allen Week#17 Yeah, first of all, sorry that nothing much changes in these emails. The life of a missionary isn't super exciting. I mean it is, but it's the same exciting things every day. And I feel like I'm running out of things to write about. But yeah, It's been a good week!

First things first, was Monday night. It was crazy. We started a Visita Trabajo after emailing, and at 730 we get a call that Elder Jones and I need to be at the offices at 10, so Elder Alegre and I called the other Elders, but their phone wasn't working. Somehow, by the mercy of God and an answer to a prayer, we found them contacting a guy about an hour of looking. Elder Jones quickly got his stuff together, and we called a member with a car and asked if he could drive us. He could, but he didn't know where it was. So we looked it up on his poor quality phone, but the phone died halfway through the drive. So we got off on the wrong exit, and drove around Los Olivos for 30 minutes, asking random people on the side of the road where to go. We got there eventually, but it sure was an adventure. 

And as always, there's a lesson in that. Keep your phones on. Don't let Satan distract you and get you off guard, lost. Be ready to receive this revelation from God, and to go where he asks you to go. Don't lose your Liahona. 

We had to go to Lima to get our Visas, but hey, I'm legal now! So that was a fun and crazy trip. 

More updates on Family Villegas, they are really and truly elect. They're so ready for the gospel. Excited for their baptism, always keeping their commitments and ready to come to church. For December, we have a Family Night every day, and they even called and asked if they could do one! So we have a family night with our investigators, who are going to bring more non-members! They really are great, pray that all will keep going well for them. 

We had Zone Conference this week, and that was really good. But the most exciting part was I finally saw Elder Litster! It was good to catch up with him and see how he's doing. Weird to feel two worlds collide. 

We've been finding some really good people lately, one is Familia Abarca. They live in the same block as the church, but surprisingly have never talked with the missionaries! They're really receptive to the message, And I think they're going to progress as well. 

I also did one thing that you never should do here in Peru- Tell the lady that feeds you that you're switching back to your old pensionista- haha. Peruvians really like their food. It's all good though. And are you ready for a funny story- Elder Jones and I were on splits for an hour or two, and to start proselyting we say a prayer, ask for guidance where we should go and who to talk to. And the first door we knock, a guy answers and says the sisters are here, but we could come back in ten minutes. So we were like yeah! Cool! Two newish gringos are about to teach a lesson. So we come back and knock on the door, and the man says that the sisters are still here. The first time around, we thought he meant his sisters. But we look in the house, and sitting there on the couch with their "Bible" open is two Jehovah's Witnesses with a death glare on their face. We said we'll come back another day, and died laughing when the door shut. Pretty crazy. 

One of the things that we learned at zone conference was taught by Hermana Stauffer- and she asked us three questions. Where is your heart? What is your Treasure? Is your mission (for you it could be the gospel) your great treasure? And these really hit me. It's like the scripture, where your heart is, your treasure will be also. If your heart isn't in this gospel, your treasure isn't either. Make sure you have your priorities right, and just live what you know. The simple things. Reading, praying, going to church. Do what you need to do to grow that seed, to change the desire of your heart. And the rest will come easy. 

Thanks for all the prayers and for the words of encouragement! 

Elder Allen