Argentina: Week 32

Bueno, so this week is hands down the craziest week I have ever had.

Tuesday: I erased every photo I have ever had from my mission from my memory card on accident and had a little bit of a breakdown.

Wednesday: We worked like crazy and went to see Maria in the afternoon and ended up putting a baptismal date for Saturday (the fifteenth). From there we started calling people like crazy to arrange an interview and let the members know.

Thursday: We ran around all day trying to let people know about the baptism and then we received a call in the afternoon saying that my companion was leaving in a few hours to handle her visa stuff in Bariloche (6 hour bus ride) so she wasn’t going to come back until Friday night. We also had a clogged toilet from that morning so our apartment stunk really bad. This was also my year mark and we had made a legit cheesecake for the occasion. It was exciting and I am glad that Walmart is in my area.

Friday: I was with the sister training leaders (which one of them just so happened to be my first companion here) and we had a zone training and then I had to find a companion to stay with me because Maria was going to have her interview and the sister training leaders had a ton of appointments. I ran around with my head chopped off trying to get everything done before it was time to go get my companion at the station.

Saturday: We went to clean and fill the font but Argentina is a little/really ghetto and the machine to drain the water didn’t work so the young women started to use cups and buckets and ended up cleaning it for us. Then we left it filling up with the Elders who called us later and told us the chapel had ran out of water. We went a couple hours later to try to fill it up more with just cold water at least and it stopped again. I stepped in the water and it barely reached to the bottom of my knee. There was one more spout that still had running water so we were filling it up bucket by bucket. We started super late but the important thing is that she got baptized and all went well, even though during the service my companion and I kept running in and out to try to dump the water in the font and let another bucket fill up.

So I had a bunch of adventures this week. We also found out that we have a new apartment to live in and we will be moving sometime this week. We also have transfers coming up this Saturday, and I think (unfortunately) that I am leaving. I really hope that I am wrong, but I will accept the will of the Lord.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Hermana Allen

Argentina: Week 31

 

I wish that I could send you all a video that I made. I am super funny, but you will all just have to see it after my mission. Speaking of that, I am coming up on my year mark (it is this week) and I actually cried because the thought of not being a missionary and doing this work all the time breaks my heart. It became more real just how close I am to ending because all the deadlines for school I believe are coming up so I need to start deciding what I´m going to do. I was praying about that and I felt peace about going to either BYU or BYU-I. I was hoping Heavenly Father would be more controlling over that decision because I don’t really want to choose. What He did answer was something I have been trying to figure out for forever. As I was reading my patriarchal blessing I understood a part that I hadn’t before, and I now understand what I want to study and how I can do everything I want to. I am going to teach religion classes in some form or another. I would like to do so at a university but I´m ok with in any form. That was one of the things I would miss the most about my mission. I love teaching the gospel more than I love anything else and it is something I am good at.

I am on top of the world at the moment. I have never had so much joy. Our investigators are progressing and we might have found an apartment in our area! My companion is the most amazing person. I have awesome members and I am getting better every day and doing the work of the Lord. I have so much to improve! It is fantastic to see that you have so much potential to progress. I still have no idea how I will handle life after my mission, but I will go and do what the Lord wants because His plan is ALWAYS better and more fantastic than my own. :D

To finish this letter I want to share what I learned this past week from reading the New Testament. We can’t focus too much on the law and forgetting what is really important: our character. Our characters are really the reason we are here on this earth. You all should read this talk: The Transforming Power of Faith and Character by Elder Scott. It is so beautiful and taught me a ton. Love you all!!!

Funny quotes from this week:

Hermana Christiansen: "If I get arrested here do I have the right to remain silent? It´s always been a comfort that if I get arrested I can remain silent, but I don’t know if I have that here."

Hermana Allen

Argentina: Week 30

Maria!

I have so much to share so I will try to get through it all. Yesterday was probably one of the best days in my life! Our investigator, Maria Muñoz, who is honestly our golden investigator came to church (walking) by herself, even though she is having problems with her knee! We had not coordinated well with the member who couldn’t stop by because she came to church early. I was so worried about her not coming. Then she came in and I thought that was enough of a miracle but the Lord decided to bless us even more. After testimony meeting I stood up and gave her a hug to which she whispered in my ear that she was going to be baptized. I was the only one to hear so I just started crying from so much joy and my companion and the member that is her neighbor/friend were confused. They kept asking what was happening and I just couldn’t say anything. She is such a miracle and I am so incredibly blessed to be a part of it. I love her so much! We haven’t found any new investigators which has been a little disappointing but honestly we haven’t been trying either. We have been trying to find an apartment because at the moment we have to walk 30 minutes to get to any lunch appointment and to our area. We waste so much time and we calculated it the other day and we walk about 10 miles every day. I just can’t believe how blessed I am still. I love Argentina and all its weird quirks! My life feels complete. I can testify that when you are in the service of your fellow being you are in the service of your God. LOVE YOU!!!!

Hermana Allen

Argentina: Week 29

It hailed and rained a ton.

And flooded...

I don’t have a ton to talk about for this week. I´m sorry. We had a ton of streets in our area flood so that was fun! I have missed the rain that used to happen in Illinois so that was nice to have. I was reading my journal from about a month ago and realized just really how much I have changed. I have grown so much and I wouldn’t be able to actually explain how, but I have grown to love every moment of my life and mission. My companion is amazing and I really don’t want this transfer to end. I love my area and my ward and my trials too. I constantly am improving and understanding more about what the Lord would have me do. Today I was reading a talk about prayer and realized that I need to better my prayers significantly. The talk is called "Improving your Personal Prayers" by Elder Kevin W. Pearson. I am pretty sure I have read it before but it didn’t hit me with the same power as before. I have been learning more and more how to lose myself in the work, which is wonderful. I really feel like I´m doing what is pleasing to the Lord and I don’t know how else I would have learned the things I have if I had not come on my mission. I never thought I would be so content with my life and the success I have had. I am so excited that General Conference is coming!! I would encourage all of you to spiritually prepare for such amazing guidance. This is the time we have to listen to the counsel of the Lord through His prophets. :D LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Hermana Allen