The Bigger Picture: Trials and Blessings

I am so excited to end my mission here. It is so pretty, the members are great, we have a great bishop, my companion is awesome and super hard working, and we have a ton of people to teach. LIFE IS GREAT!!! I am trying to get used to working in constant rain, but it is all good because I have my bubble umbrella which I could not be more grateful to have. Seriously, there was a reason I was packing it around for my whole mission and the design is perfect because there is a ton of wind that break other umbrellas. :) It is pretty cold here sometimes, but I think that is great because it is preparing me for Idaho weather :/ . Not sure how I´m going to do that when I get back, but I will get over it. This past week it rained like crazy and the town was pretty much flooded. There were streets in our area that were like lakes and we had no way to cross but through the water.

Yesterday we had a super great miracle. We were contacting a reference, trying to find a time when the mom was home so that we could pass (the only thing I miss about a trio- you already have the third female!) and they were cutting wood to heat their house. It was just two boys (ages around 11 and 9) so when we offered to help they accepted. I chopped the wood while they put it in the house and when we finished we left. I felt good about it and when we were far enough away for them not to hear, I told my companion that I hoped that gained their confidence enough to really tell us when we could pass by. As we walked down the hill, one of the little boys was running after us and my first thought was "crap, what did I leave behind this time?" (I have been leaving all my stuff all over the place). He stopped and with a little bit of a stutter, told us that his dad wanted us to pass right then. We told him to tell his dad that we couldn't at the moment but we would pass another time when his mom was there. Right after that happened, we got a call from our district leader telling us that this specific neighborhood (and another one) were being taken away from us. I am still not sure what to do about it, but the Lord has His purposes.

We have seen other miracles but I don't have a ton of time. I feel so blessed for this amazing opportunity to serve and enjoy all that I have learned in this year and a half. I still have a ton to learn but I feel like I am applying everything at the same time and it is helping me recognize just how much I have changed. I love you all!!! thank you for supporting me so much!

Hermana Allen
THE NEXT WEEK

So lots to tell!!!! First of all, the none spiritual stuff: we found a giant insect thing in our washer after we had washed our clothes. The members were freaking out because things don't really exist like that here. It was disgusting and I will admit that I was wimpy and told the Elders to take it out.

Next, I had a miracle and had one of the less actives members give me some super nice boots, but the thing is that they are not the same size even though they say they are. One was super small and I actually got a blood blister from wearing them. After that I was blessed with the miracle to have super great weather and it has been pretty ever since. I am able to wear my good Dansko shoes and the blood blister has already healed after two days.

The things spiritual that I want to share have to deal with a couple people and also with what I learned in church the other day. We were talking about honesty in the gospel principles class and one of the men in the class said that honesty is honoring the value of something. When we steal we aren't honoring the value of that item. It is the same with everything else in the world. Our bodies especially have a great worth which is why the law of chastity is so important. We always have to be willing to pay the price for what we want. If we want exaltation, we have to be willing to pay the price which is exact obedience to the commandments of God.

"I have often found that in the greatest seasons of suffering we have the greatest cause of rejoicing." William Clayton (one of the pioneers)

"But we had faith in our Heavenly Father, and we put our trust in Him, feeling that we were His chosen people;... and instead of sorrow we felt to rejoice that the day of our deliverance had come." Sarah Pea Rich (another pioneer)

I am so glad to be able to serve a mission and rejoice in the hard moments and the great ones too. This last week we found this lady who had wanted to listen to the missionaries for a long time but because of the restrictions on elders with women and the sisters with men, she never got the chance to really listen. The spirit was super strong when we shared the first vision and she was going to come to church with us, but she got a little sick.

Our other miracle was this contact who was actually leaving a church meeting. We contacted her and the weird part was that it felt like someone took over me to talk to her. I felt like it wasn't me who was talking to her either. I started asking her if she knew where a family was that we were looking for (that confused my companion because we aren't looking for a family with three kids and a baby :) so she was confused why I was asking about this family with so many details). She couldn't help us, but that is understandable since the family doesn't exist. She was the miracle for us in reality. She had just lost a pregnancy and she was still grieving over losing her 18 month old baby. The spirit was super strong and the other cool thing is that my companion has a friend with the exact same name. WOOHOO for the hand of the lord!

Anyway, how did it go studying about the sabbath day? I hope you are all feeling super spiritually uplifted because the gospel is perfect and great!!! Oh, I forgot to tell you that a dog peed on my companion. It was super funny because she didn't notice until she felt it on her foot. He had originally peed on her skirt. hahaha.