Dear Family,
 
I have been praying a lot about whether or not I should get an MRI and I felt as if I should. So I got an MRI this last Friday and they said I'd get the results today. This morning I got a call from the doctor and they said "You sure did quite a number on that knee." That made my heart sink. Come to find out, I completely tore my ACL and a lot of other ligaments and cartilage. I told her my situation and she said that I could possibly make things worse if I don't get things fixed sooner rather than later. So.. that's frustrating. I called my mission nurse and she said she was going to talk to Doctor Hinkston (or however you spell it... I think he is a doctor that is a part of the mission) and she would talk to missionary medical. Then she said she would call me. So I'm not sure about anything yet. When I heard the news I just bawled... like a little baby. This is probably one of the hardest things that I had to go through with my left knee and thinking I have to go through it a second time just makes me sick. But I know that things happen for a reason and rather than focusing on "why is this happening to me?" I want to focus on what the Lord is trying to teach me through this challenge. Since I have been on my mission I have really learned to face my challenges with a positive attitude.. of course, I'm not perfect and I'm always going to wonder why I have to go through this. I've truly come to recognize that not only does that make the situation harder but it blocks the opportunity for me to grow as a person and to learn from it. So whatever happens with this, if I have to come home and get surgery, I will be okay with it and know that it's because there's a deeper reason and purpose and that I need to learn something from it.

This week was quite interesting. A lot of our appointments fell through which was devastating! We were able to get to Custer and visit with some less actives which was awesome. Custer is just another one of our areas that we cover and most of our members, well almost all of our members live there. We want to go to Custer more and to get the members in Custer more involved and so finding investigators there is one of our main goals right now. We are still trying to get things figured out so we could spend half the week there. We were able to meet some less actives that live in Pringle, which is in between here and Custer, as well which was great. We are going to Pringle this Friday to help one of the sisters sand her house! We are hoping that as we do service for her and get to know her we can help her to recognize the blessings that can come by bringing the Savior back into focus in her life. 

We had a lesson with Norma, who is one of our main investigators, and our biggest hold up with her is her job. She works on Sundays and so she is unable to come to church and recognize the importance of it and how she can receive her answers through attendance. Yesterday, one of the members in the branch who has been to lessons with her was able to come with us to stop at Norma's and drop off some treats. While we were there, the Sister we brought was able to ask her if our next lesson could be in her home! She agreed and said that would work! It was awesome! We really feel that if we have the lessons in a members home it will help her to progress! We are very excited about that! Jerry is another one of our main investigators and we haven't had the chance to meet with him this week due to the lack of Sisters able to come with us to lessons. There is a mission rule that we have to have another Sister with us to go into a guys home and sometimes that's a very hard rule because we don't have a lot of sisters here in Hot Springs. We offered to meet him at the library but it didn't work out. We are hoping that this won't have any effect on his progression in learning more. Our main goal for him is to see him twice a week and to hopefully have him meet in a members home as well!

So this past Saturday was transfer calls and the phone rang... so that means there was going to be a change. We were really hoping that we wouldn't get a call but.. we did. So Sister Johnson is being transferred to Rapid City which isn't far at all! And she is going to be trained to be the Sister Training Leader so I will be able to talk to her as much as I would like! I was really upset to hear she was being transferred but after the girly tear fest I realized that this could be an opportunity for me to expand myself and step out of my comfort zone as I am going to have to step it up and take control in showing my new companion around Hot Springs. My new companion, Sister Sheranian, I have been told is awesome! Sister Johnson said she came out with her and that she is an awesome missionary and a very hard worker. That's definitely a good thing to know. She use to be Sister Training Leader as well so I am going to learn a lot from her! I am now really excited to meet her! I know that she can help me as a missionary to become better and I am very excited for that. I am also excited for the friendship that I will be able to make with her as we get to know eachother and serve the Lord together.
 
Thank you so much for the package with the 12 days of Christmas!!! Sister Johnson and I look forward each day to opening the gifts! We haven't taken pictures yet but we will! We really appreciate you thinking about us especially by planning this out! I am so excited to skype you guys and the family! SO EXCITED! I will be giving you a call sometime.. not sure when... to plan out the time we are going to skype.
 
Well, that's pretty much all that happened this week. It's been crazy! And this week will be crazy too due to saying goodbyes and getting a new companion. It should be fun! I can't wait to tell you ALL about my new companion! Well... I love you all so much. You are all amazing and I continually am reminded of how blessed I am to have you all. I am probably, no I AM, the luckiest girl in the world because the Lord has blessed me with such a wonderful family. And boy am I grateful to know that we will be able to be together forever. Nothing can ever beat that. No pair of shoes or oreo cookies or soccer games can EVER beat that. Ya'll are my favorite and I love you all to pieces! I hope you have a GREAT week! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU ALL! Infinity and BEYOND!
 
Love your favorite little sister and daughter in the whole entire world,
Sister Allen
 
Hello my lovely parents!
 
You talked about your missionaries teaching primary.  I would absolutely love to teach in primary but we unfortunately have no children... therefore we have no primary. We are working on it though!!! But we teach in Relief Society once a month which is a blessing! We enjoy that opportunity we get to be able to become better teachers in that type of setting. Plus our sisters in the branch are just so special. I love them so much!
 
 I'm so glad to hear you signed up to feed the missionaries. I don't know if they feel the same as we do but we are SO happy when people offer to feed us. Sometimes we've felt so pathetic when they make it seem like a chore or a burden. So I really appreciate that you are feeding them because I know how much it means to them.  
 
I'm not exactly sure how to do it on google chat.... can skype split into multiple screens? I'll be giving you guys a call in a week or so to let you know when we are going to skype and what time. I have to figure it out here first. I honestly can't wait! Theres only 16 more days! Sister Johnson and I have a countdown until we get to chat with you guys! It will be the best Christmas present I will have ever gotten!!!!!!
 
We just love the Miller Family and feel so comfortable there. That is most likely where we're going to skype so you will get to meet them! But Sister Miller is a spiritual powerhouse. She has so much faith and we just know that she wants to come to church and whatnot but its just hard to get back into the habit. We love her to death and know that as we continue to encourage her to come back that she will! We hope, at least! She has so much to offer the branch! 

The guy who called us, his name is Jerry. He is awesome! He use to be a teacher of Native American Ways! He is so intelligent and he has taught us so much! We are really excited to be able to help him feel the Spirit and to gain a conviction of this gospel himself. He is reading the Book of Mormon and we feel he is truly searching to know if what we are sharing is true! 

There is a girl from here who is going to Weber State.   I think it would be awesome if she and McKay met and possibly dated! I'm not sure how involved she is in the church though.. She hasn't been impressed by the way some of the members there are acting. They act one way outside of church and then another way at church... But it could be a very good thing for her to know him! He is a spiritual powerhouse himself and could have a huge influence on her! Ask him! She is 20 or 21 I think... not too sure though. Super super cute though!

It was so much fun spending our P-DAY with the elders in our district! We went to Chadron where they all were and we went to a place at the college where they had pool tables and ping pong tables. We just hung out and had a good time! After that we went to eat at Pizza Hut and then went to the mini badlands.. They are just little hills of dirt that look pretty interesting. That's actually where I hurt my right knee... I jumped from one hill to the other and heard a pop and I was down.... then my knee swelled up and got really tight and hurt. No bueno. But we drove to Rapid City that night and stayed because Zone conference was the next morning. Zone conference was awesome! We learned about following up on commitments and being bold as we extend them! It was awesome. I love meeting up with other missionaries. Its a spiritual boost and kind of helps us to be rejuvenated! I went to the Urgent Care after the conference and the lady said that she couldn't feel anything. She said that an MRI would be able to tell if any damage was done to the soft tissue... I really feel like I might need to get one. Just because I have had other instances on my mission where my knee has popped or I've felt a ligament stretch. But I'll let you know if I get an MRI ordered and whatnot.
 
We had our Christmas Party this past Saturday which turned out awesome! We went to our Branch President's house that morning and helped decorate Christmas cookies for it! It was so fun! At the Christmas Party, Norma came and it was so fun! She had a good time we think. The members were so welcoming and were talking to her. I think she really felt like she could really be a part of us and feel comfortable. The food was delicious! We had beef briskets? Not sure how to spell it... but it was so good! We had a white elephant gift exchange too! I ended up with a perfume and lotion from Victoria's Secret. Best. Gift. Ever. (:
 
Well... the Christmas Devotional was awesome last night! Did you guys have a chance to watch it?! I loved every talk! Mervin, the guy who just got baptized, we stopped at his house like 15 minutes before it started and dropped off Christmas Cookies because he wasn't able to go to the party. And we invited him to watch it with us at the church if he would like and he was like, oh, okay! And he came and watched it with us! It was awesome! He liked that we focus on the actual true meaning of Christmas, remember our Savior and his birth. It was awesome! He is solid! Anyways, this past week was awesome! Cold and in the negatives with snow, but awesome! I am truly blessed to be a missionary at this special time!
 
Well, time is up. I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you next week! Have a GREAT week! Love you (:
 
Love,
Sister Allen
 

Oh my dearest family,

Oh goodness, I sure do cherish the time I get to read about how you are all doing! That is so awesome that you had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am so grateful you were able to spend it with family! I sure do love those pictures of little Ava and daddy. I LOVED them! Have you ever had a fried turkey? We have heard about them a lot from the members here and they say it is absolutely delicious and if we tried it we wouldn't be able to have it cooked any other way! Haha. Mmm, my mouth drools thinking about sweet potatoes. They are the absolute best,... probably one of my favorites to have at Thanksgiving time! Our Thanksgiving was so fun! We got picked up at about 10:30 in the morning... so Sister Johnson and I played a little card game before we got picked up which was fun! Then we went over and hung out with their family, mostly their grand kids haha... we got along really well with them. We played battleship! We then started making our moccasins which was really fun! We didn't finish them though.. it took a lot longer than we expected, but when I get them done i'll take a picture and send them on over! Then ate... which the meal was absolutely amazing. So they have a son who is married to a chef... who happens to be a guy... but regardless, he is an amazing chef. We had smoked tukey and another kind that was just cooked in the oven. We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a green been casserole, rolls, and they had 8 different pies! A caramel apple pie, peach pie, raspberry chiffon pie, pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, pumpkin pie, and a cherry cream cheese pie. How awesome is that!?! The caramel apple pie was by far my favorite! We had a blast and were fed really well. After that we drove to Rapid City to look at the lights there and unfortunately they weren't starting to show them until the day after! But we found a cute park to walk around and see the lights! It was fun! But very cold!! I'll attach a picture... as you can see, our little noses are red, like rudolph the red nosed reindeer in the picture (:

The best christmas present I could ever get is to skype you! And I'm already going to be able to do that!!! But I don't know the exact plans... I will give you a call a couple days before and tell you what time we have planned to call.... If I hear more I'll let you know! I'm excited to be able to skype and talk with the whole family though!!!!!

Things this past week were quite slow. Nobody wanted to meet with us or really talk with us because of the holidays. But that's okay! We are starting to develop a  strong friendship with one of the less active families, the Millers! I really love them! They have some things that are holding them back from going to church but we are really excited to be able to help them because we feel that we can truly help them come back. Sister Miller is our absolute favorite. They bought us a Christmas tree and ornaments for our apartment! So very nice of them!!!!! But we eat at their house every Monday night! They have a daughter who is going to school in Ogden at Weber State! I'm not sure if McKay knows her, her name is Marisa Miller... I showed her a picture of Mac and I and she didn't recognize him. She is super cute though! Wink wink.... (: hahahaha. Anywho... we are going to be skyping at their house for Christmas so you'll get to meet them! But Sister Miller is coming with us to a lesson this week and we are really excited! This lesson we have planned is a guy we tracted into and we left him with a restoration pamphlet and asked him to read it and if he was interested in hearing more to give us a call! So the other day we get a call and he wants to meet and talk about it!! That's never happened to us before so we were stoked! He has a good friend that is a member of the church which has given him very positive feelings about the church. We're excited for that lesson!

This past week we met with Norma and talked about how we can build a strong foundation through prayer, scripture study, and going to church. She is keeping the commitments to read and pray but she hasn't come to church yet. We committed her to come this past sunday and she accepted the invitation very positively! So we were super excited! Unfortunately, she didn't show up and come to find out she got called into work. It makes me so frustrated how work gets in the way of everythinge!!! But we just adore her and she has so much potential! 

I think that it makes complete sense when you think about God wanting to teach all of His children. That's what I am trying to help people realize... is that He loves ALL of us so it makes sense that He visited more of His children... and just knowing that would give at least me enough reason to want to read it to see if that could possibly be true. But I don't know.. I'm biased. (: But yes, the way people are able to gain the knowledge of what we share is through the Spirit and only through Him and so we need to be as obedient and faithful as we can so we can have the Spirit to testify of the truth to them!

Anyways, life is grand. Time flies by too fast though... I can't believe Thanksgiving is already over... and before I know it Christmas will be too! Only 24 more days... WHAT?! Haha that's crazy! Before I even realize I am going to be on the airplane on my way home... its insane. I'm currently in Chadron (where elders in our district are serving) because we have Zone Conference tomorrow and so we are going to carpool. But we decided to have a District P-day... so we are here in Chadron about to go hang out with the Elders in the district. It should be fun! We are excited... but yeah... then tomorrow we have Zone Conference and we'll be able to meet up with more missionaries and our Mission President and his wife to edify one another and strengthen one another as we learn how to be better missionaries. I love Zone Conferences so I am pretty excited! It's so nice being able to be around more missionaries. I love my companion but its just us in little Hot Springs, so its nice to be able to be around more Sisters and Elders. Anywho, I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you guys this next week! Always remember the wonderful quote from our loving Prophet. "Dare to be a Mormon, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known." Keep being Christlike examples and continue to pray for missionary opportunities to arise for you. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sister Allen

P.S. the first picture is of Sister Johnson and I with some of the Birkholz' grand kids... Erin(the cute little girl), Sean(the older boy by sister j), and Rowan(the one kneeling in front!) The second picture has us with Brother and Sister Birkholz! A goofy picture of them but we just love them a whole lot! (:
 
Hi Mom and Dad, 
 
The Spaghetti Dinner volunteering is going good. We have only done it twice... this last time we did it we found out one of the ladies was moving to Texas and we really like her and thought we would let her know that the missionaries in Texas would be more than happy to help her and even teach her if she ever had any questions about what we believed. Come to find out she was a Southern Baptist and she was actually quite rude, saying that the Bible said that we can't add or subtract from the Bible. And that they don't need anymore Bible (I thought of 2 Nephi when she said that!!). I just laugh when I hear that because people think that that excuse or comment will shut us down. Yet we know that the Bible isn't written chronologically and that it says the same thing in Deuteronomy.. and also the fact that there are books mentioned in the Bible that we don't have record of because they were lost.... so if those books were discovered, would they believe in those? Or say that they are adding to the Bible? It just makes me laugh. But we tried staying loving and bore our testimonies. But it was quite an interesting experience. We still love her though, even after she was so rude! Haha
 
We don't really have any new people we are teaching. We are actually trying to meet with this one girl who had a friend that lived here and she went to church with her like every week. Her friend moved away and is now currently serving a mission! We hope that we can be able to teach her because she is around our age and it would be so much fun to be able to share this happiness with her! She has a 3 year old daughter who is just adorable as well! 
 
Well, not much has really happened lately. We've kind of had a slow month... not very much has gone on. We taught some lessons with members present which has been awesome. We had a really good lesson with Norma this past week. The Spirit was there and we were able to have a member there which really helped! We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and focused on Church and keeping the Sabbath day holy. Her job has her working Sundays now and we talked about how important it is to come to church because that is one of the ways we can know if this church is true. She said that she knew that she needed to go to church and that she would try and get it off. The member who was there also shared an experience where she prayed to have guidance so she could know how to get Sundays off and then another job opportunity arose and she was able to get a job that didn't have her working Sundays. So we have kept her in our prayers about that!
 
It has been really cold and snowy lately. We have been running in the morning and its just soooo cold! But we still continue to run! Or try to at least! But it got down to 11 degrees while we were out tracting. Not fun at all. Plus I think it hit 0 degrees! Ew... I don't like the cold!
 
Well.. this week should be better, we are having thanksgiving at a members and she is going to teach us how to make moccasins! I am so excited!!!! We also might go see some lights in Rapid City, if our Mission President okays that. We are excited to meet their family because we have heard so much about their kids! Most of them are less active and so we are excited to be able to get to know them and hopefully be able to help them.
 
Well... sorry I don't have much to talk about... like I said, this month has been pretty slow. Not a whole lot has been going on. But I really miss you all. I don't like thinking about the holidays because it makes me super homesick. But I know that it is going to be the only time in my life where I will be able to fully serve others during this time of the year. That is a blessing.
 
I hope you all have a good week... happy thanksgiving to you all! I hope that you all eat a ton and enjoy spending time together! Know that you are all in my prayers and that I am always thinking about you all. I love you to pieces and hope you know that there is nothing better than knowing that our family will be together forever.
 
I came across a quote from President Thomas S. Monson which I loved... it said, "Dare to be a Mormon, dare to make it known, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known."
 
Love you all,
Sister Allen
 
Hi! 
 
Cathy, our inactive sister, is doing alright. She isn't progressing though... we're working with her! This past week has been pretty slow. We taught only about 4 lessons... an all time low. We started our new member lessons with Mervin and we were excited because this was when the members were going to teach and we were going to help but it didn't work quite that way. We were a little frustrated because we ended up teaching it. It was a little hard but understandable when we put ourselves in their position. It is quite terrifying! It is just so vital that the members start to teach more because those lessons are for helping the recent converts in transitioning from us to the branch. But we'll get there! We had a lesson with Norma, another one of our investigators. She has been reading and praying and we are hoping to have a member at the lesson with her this week to help her in fellow shipping. She has a hard time committing to things because she doesn't want to be put in the situation of not being able to keep it. We're working with her, she definitely has shown a huge desire in learning and we just love her. We truly can see how much it can bless her life, we just need to help her recognize that!
 
We found another place to help out in the community! We are volunteering at the Spaghetti Diner they have here every Thursday at the United Churches building. We did it this past week and we have really come to recognize how it could be a great way to get to know more people in the community. We have already started to develop friendships with the people in charge and that volunteer with us which could possibly lead to us sharing the gospel with them. Fingers crossed! We are excited about that though!
 
Well... my straightener is broken. Haha... that definitely makes for a difficult morning. But it has forced me to either make time to curl my hair or I just throw it up in a pony tail. A lot of times its the latter, which doesn't really help me in the beauty department. But the good thing is nobody here even cares. Isn't that glorious? haha. The past two days I have been really sick! I have a lame cold. Saturday night I didn't get much sleep, was tossing and turning all night and kept getting up to blow my nose or use the restroom. It was a long night. Then last night we had quite the experience. At 2 in the morning, all of a sudden I hear Sister Johnson screaming, I turn and she jumped from her bed and is jumping up and down screaming and brushing her shirt. I was so terrified and was saying "Sister Johnson, Sister Johnson!" Trying to wake her up in case she was still sleeping... she then ran out of the room and I followed her out there and she was shaking and said that something was on her. It was terrifying because I had no idea what it was and we both just sat in the living room crying. I was shaking so bad! We felt so lonely and didn't know what to do. We just wanted to call home. But we called Sister Birkholz, our ward mission leader's wife, but she didn't answer. We called Sister Anderson and she didn't answer. We called President Anderson and he didn't answer. We were so scared and didn't know what to do! President Anderson called us back and we were able to get calmed down from him which was so nice. I just had an icky feeling... and I felt as if our apartment needed to be blessed. Sleeping after that was very difficult as well. So the past 2 nights I haven't slept much and that hasn't helped with my cold. But we are so grateful for President Anderson and how understanding he was. It must have been so terrifying getting a call at 2 in the morning from 2 sisters that are just crying hysterically. Oh boy, what a night!
 
Yesterday, I was very grateful for two priesthood holders in the branch who were able to give me a blessing. I am truly grateful for the priesthood and that we have worthy men who hold it that are so willing to give blessings for healing. This gospel is so true and that little experience is just yet another testimony builder for me.
 
It is getting colder... it averages about 30 degrees. It snowed a little on Saturday night. I am not ready for snow! My clothes are great! I wear the gloves a lot and the scarves. I haven't worn the coat or boots yet, thank goodness it hasn't been cold enough for those!
 
I miss you all so much and can't wait to hear from you next week! Thanks for the letter, I love hearing from you always. I hope you have a great week! You are always in my prayers! Love you!!!
 
xoxo,
Sister Allen
 
 
Well hello there my wonderful family,
 
We had transfer calls this past Saturday and Sister Johnson and I didn't get a call and so we are staying here in Hot Springs! This next transfer will be shorter though, only 5 weeks because of how it falls around Christmas. I'm excited that we both get to be here still! My address for the next 5 weeks is 604 SW River St Apt A-7, Hot Springs, SD 57747. And you don't have to send me anything for Christmas! You have already given me the best gift I could have ever asked for and it's the opportunity to serve a mission for the Lord. I would like to know who my family is to provide Christmas for this year! I'm excited to be able to send that! 
 
Thanksgiving sounds like its going to be so much fun for the whole family! I can't wait to hear all about it and to see pictures! For Thanksgiving, Sister Johnson and I are going over to our Branch Mission Leader's house, the Birkholz. They are just the sweetest! We love them so much. I will have to take pictures and send them! Their kids and their little families will be there so we are pretty excited to be a part of that!

Who is the kid there who is getting baptized? That is so awesome he has been so active and truly has the desire to be baptized. That will be the best decision he would have ever made in his life! Send pictures! And yes, I know Philip Barnes! That's so exciting that his fiance is getting baptized! What a great thing. Weird he is getting married though.... I feel like I am going to go home and everyone my age will be married! I'll feel like an outsider! Haha... but I am completely fine with that! 

This past week was pretty busy! We went to Mount Rushmore this past Monday which was awesome! I'll add pictures!
 
We had a church tour with our investigator Cathy. We were able to have a member come to the church tour! It is great to have some member involvement, it plays a huge role in the investigators conversion! We also were able to meet with a couple less actives as well. One less active in particular who I have mentioned before has been less active because she was offended by many different members in the branch. We had a very intense lesson about forgiveness. It was a lesson that we were terrified to have but it was necessary. But we prayed to have the Spirit guide us to know how we could teach this lesson in a loving manner. She took it really well and she actually came to church the next day which was a huge step for her! We are really excited that she is starting to take those little baby steps in coming back to church and forgiving the members in the branch. At church we had a few less actives come to church which was awesome! We have been blessed to see a lot of miracles and success this past week!
 
We feel that since Mervin just got baptized, we are having to start at ground zero again. He has been our main focus and now that he is baptized and we are starting that transition from missionaries to the branch we are having to find new investigators! It is difficult sometimes because we have had a hard time finding people in the past but we know that the Lord is preparing the people here and we jsut need to find them!
 
Funny thing... so, this will tell you how lazy some people are. We see this car every once in a while and there is a dog that runs by it... come to find out, the dog is on a leash and the people driving are "walking" their dog but are too lazy to actually walk so they drive! HAHAHA... we died laughing. People are funny!
 
Not a whole lot to share this week I feel like... but life is great. Missionary work is awesome and I am so grateful for the knowledge I have. I am grateful I am able to serve a mission and would never regret the decision of serving. I have developed such a stronger relationship with my Heavenly Father and I have learned so much about this gospel. There is so much to learn and when I learn more, I realize how much I don't know! It is incredible. I just love learning mroe. Sister Johnson and I like to have in depth conversations and they're pretty intense sometimes and we are really learning a lot. It's awesome!
 
Well, I love you all! And I hope that you all have a great week! You are all in my prayers!
 
Love,
Sister Allen
 
 
Hello my favorite family!
 
Time sure does seem to pass by really fast as a missionary. Sometimes it feels so slow but yet, it always is Monday again. Crazy! 

So Mervin got baptized this past Friday and then confirmed yesterday! Such an amazing experience! Yesterday he bore his testimony and it was incredible. He knows so much about the gospel! He said that one thing that really got him to really recognize the truth was when we had our lessons at a members house. He was able to not only be fellowshipped by the members but he was able to recognize that there were so many people in the branch that wanted to help him learn and understand the gospel and be able to feel of the love that comes from it. It was incredible. I am very honored and blessed to have been able to be a part of this commitment that he has made to our Heavenly Father. 
 
As for Cathy, we aren't sure how things will go. We had dinner at her house and she said she wasn't going to be converted. It is a bit funny to me because we are there to invite the Spirit and help her to come closer to Christ, so we aren't converting her... the Spirit does and she does herself. But we are hoping that as we meet with her and get to know her she will recognize that this is Christ's church again established on the earth and we have the priesthood authority restored back onto the earth that he gave his apostles. And by having that knowledge, hopefully, she will recognize and realize that this church is His church. And then she'll have that desire to be baptized because she knows that we have His power and authority.
 
It is so cool that you emailed Volk! I was very touched at his response. I will have to send him an email! Crazy how the Spirit works in miraculous ways. I know that it was a prompting from the Spirit that he and his family have been in my mind the past couple of weeks. I hope his wife's surgery goes well.

Oh my goodness, you are going to have such a fun Thanksgiving!! Please, oh please take pictures!! I love that we are (and by we I mean you guys) are having the chance to spend more time with family! I just wish I could be there with you all! It is too bad Griffin won't be able to come.  He will have a good Thanksgiving regardless. I'm sad because I remember the past 2 years spending Thanksgiving with Griffin, Kate, Mckay and myself. Those were some really fun times! Good memories!

Paige and I have been able to chat back and forth through email the past couple weeks which has been so fun! 

I'm excited for your long weekend! Live it up!!! I love hearing about everyone's lives! Thanks for emailing me each week and updating me.. even though sometimes you don't think you have much to tell me.
 
So.. Sister Johnson, when I first got here, taught me a special knock for tracting. It is called 7 to heaven. Meaning that you knock 7 times to make the perfect knock. She learned this through an Elder who was taught that that's the gentleman's knock. I thought it was pretty funny... but I use it every time I knock on a door. The results vary ... we still get doors slammed in our faces even after we do the 7 to heaven knock. (:
 
The mission life is great! I really love it. This coming Saturday are transfer calls and since this is my last week of training there is a possibility that I or Sister Johnson could be transferred. Crazy! I feel like I just got to Hot Springs! Time sure does fly by. I love being a representative of the Lord and being able to focus all of my energy in serving Him. It is so rewarding. I encourage everyone to serve a mission. I am growing closer to God and becoming more knowlegable about the gospel that I probably would have never gained without serving. And it's only been 3 months. I can't even imagine where I will be at once month 18 rolls around. There is so much to look forward too. Life is wonderful.
 
I hope you all have a great week. Know that you're always in my prayers and I love you all to pieces.
 
Love,
Sister Allen
 
Dearest Family,
  
Mom and Dad, your ward has FOUR MISSIONARIES?! That's crazy!! I guess our ward at home is pretty big... I just  forget because the branch here is so small! But it amazes me.. We talk to all of these people out here and they complain or talk about how they stopped  going to mass or church because they got a new Pastor and they don't like him as  much as the old pastor and that he teaches differently and all. And I am able to testify and share with them that in our church, you will always be  taught the same doctrine, you don't ever have to worry about that because the  same lessons and principles are being taught at all of our churches. So no  matter where you go, you'll always be hearing the same thing and nothing  will be different like that.  It's incredible. I love it! So fun though! Invite them over  for dinner and try and help them as much as you can! Offer our home for a place for them to teach their investigators!!!  
 
We were able to participate and volunteer at the Halloween Carnival here and it was so much fun! We dressed up... I wore a pink wig and a cape and Sister J wore a wizard hat and cape! It was way fun to see all the cute  little kids in their costumes! We have been praying really hard and consistently to be able to teach a family. There are so many cute little families here that we know could be benefitted by the gospel, we just need to find them!  

Mervin is getting baptized in 4 days! SO EXCITING! He is just
awesome. He has expressed his desire to get sealed to his wife who passed away a while back. We are so excited that he is beginning to recognize the power of the priesthood and how important it is and how influential it is to our families! I will definitely send you pictures this next week!
 
So yesterday, I taught my very first Relief Society Lesson, all by myself!
CRAZY! It was so much fun! I learned so much, it was awesome! I was a little  nervous before but since the relief society here is so small,
it wasn't as intimidating. I have a feeling though that I'm going to
have to teach a whole lot of relief society lessons on my mission! I was asked
to teach this lesson the Saturday before at like 7... hahaha. Very last minute
but it was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the gospel.
 
DAD... I remember that your eye always would twitch every once in a while.
I have began to notice my eye twitches SO MUCH now. Every time I yawn it
twitches... and just randomly. It might be from stress... but it's quite
interesting. I inherited it from you pops! Doesn't bother me though haha, just something funny I have been able to realize.
 
So this past week, we met with one of our investigators Cathy. She is so
sweet! We taught her the Plan of Salvation this past week and committed for to baptism for November 23rd and she accepted! We aren't exactly sure
how committed she is but she did say she'd get baptized if she found out it was true! She expressed how much she enjoys and loves having us over and
talking about the gospel. She has had a lot of struggles in her life and I feel
as if the gospel and what we've been able to help her understand has truly
helped give her comfort and peace. It is awesome being able to see the Lord's
hand as we teach.  
  
Anywho, this past week was awesome. We really have been blessed to be able
to have seen so much success. I know that sometimes we're going to have hard and long weeks with no success, but a week like this past week is something that we treasure. We know that its not going to always be happy and dandy, but if we are striving to follow the Spirit and work hard we will see success. Success doesn't mean baptism, it means talking to others and inviting them to come closer to Christ. Offering the invitation to learn more. That is my purpose as a missionary and my success is based upon that.
 
I hope everything goes well for you all this next week. Know that you are
all in my prayers each and every day. Remember that each and every one of us as individuals can make a difference in furthering the Kingdom of God. We are all able to help the Kingdom move forward. As we live the commandments and strive to become more Christlike, we will recognize those missionary opportunities more and recognize how influential we can be as we live righteously. I love you all so much and am grateful for all you guys do.
 
Love,
Sister Allen
 
Mi Familia,
 
It sure is crazy to see how fast time is going. I am almost done with my training which means I am very well capable of training a new sister within the next couple weeks. It's hard to believe that I am almost capable of training... I don't feel ready at all. It's funny you say that everyone will know us missionaries, because we wave at almost every car that passes us as we are walking and we say hi to everyone we pass by. So, probably the whole town already knows us! But it's good. It will definitely help us as we are developing friendships!
 
The work is going good... slow but its good. Our less active member went to stake conference Saturday night which was so fun! She looked so gorgeous and we just loved having her there! She really wants to go to church and get back but she has some negative feelings toward some members and so it's tough for her. But she is slowly coming around, she is taking it one baby step at a time! I am very proud of her for taking that first step though!  Mervin is still on date for being baptized!! Not this Friday but next is his baptismal date. November 1st! We are very excited for him! This past Wednesday, our investigator on date, Mervin, bore testimony to us that he got his answer that the Mormon church is the right one for him. He use to tell us that he believed there were 2 kinds of faith, faith in the Lord and faith in yourself. He expressed his feelings this past Wednesday that he realized that the faith for both of those were given to him from God and that they were one thing. And that God was giving him that faith to know that this is the true church. It was an incredible thing to recognize the power of the Spirit manifesting the truth to him! And it is just so wonderful and a testimony strengthener to me to see the Spirit testifying to him.
 
Mom, I have been impressed a lot since I've been out that we need to somehow get Mr. Volk and his family in contact with the missionaries... I'm not sure why I've have that impression but I'm taking it as an impression from the Spirit. So, somehow... we should send them to his home! 
 
 We are helping out with the Halloween Carnival here in Hot Springs this week. We are setting up on Thursday and then on Friday we are helping run a booth! It should be really fun and we are really excited to be able to participate in the festivities! Crazy that Halloween is almost here... before we know it it's going be Thanksgiving! Weird that I'm not going to be going home for any of the major holidays. That might be a little rough during that time but I look forward to being able to talk with all of you over the phone (or hopefully through skype).
 
This weekend we went to Rapid City for exchanges and a Zone Training Meeting! We were able to do a lot of service since the storm a couple weeks ago really did some damage to the trees. There were so many people who had fallen trees in their yard, we were able to clean them up and serve the community. I really enjoyed being able to serve the community. It is so great how serving and helping others can positively affect the way you feel. I love being given that opportunity to help others. While I was there though, I was with some sisters and we wanted to do a cartwheel... (I know, dumb thing to do, I'm still a child) and as I jumped up for the cartwheel I felt my knee pop... Yeah. My right knee hates me. Anyways, it started to hurt and I called Sister Kearsley, our health advisor, and she told me to take medicine, ice it, wrap it, and elevate it and if it wasn't better by Monday I would go to urgent care. And of course, I was really mad at myself. But I rested it this weekend and it feels a lot better. It hurts when I bend it but it's not too bad. I probably should get it checked out.. I just remember thinking when it happened, "This can't be happening, I don't want to go home yet!" I thought that was a very good first thought. Anywho, I'm okay! It feels much better (:
 
Anywho.. life is just wonderful as a missionary. It is so difficult at times but it is starting to get a little easier. I am starting to get into the habit of the lifestyle of a missionary and I am learning and getting better at teaching. I have started to really trust in the Lord and am spending more time on my knees with my eyes towards the heavens. I am grateful for the love our Heavenly Father has shown me as I have been out serving Him. I know that I am nothing without Him. I am able to recognize how much the Lord qualifies me in situations where I don't feel qualified. I am so grateful for the support I have felt from Him as I have gone through difficult times and struggles while being out here. In a time where I could feel completely alone and out of place, I have been able to feel comforted and at peace through Him. And the success' that I am seeing and the success' that will come throughout my mission are only happening because of Him and only Him. I have no credit in any of those situations because it is through the Lord and only through Him that success comes. I am just striving to be the willing and obedient servant, so that I am able to directed and guided by the Spirit to help others feel the Holy Ghost testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel. It is so great to be out here, I just love it. It is the best decision I have ever made in my life and I am so glad that I took the step of faith to come. Thank you Cass for planting that seed for serving and thank you Mom and Dad for encouraging me and helping me recognize that this was a decision that I needed to make in my life. I hope and pray that I can become the person the Lord wants me to become as I strive to live my life in the footsteps of the Savior.
 
I love you all so much and hope that you all know that this gospel is true and that we are all so very blessed to be a part of the restored gospel. I am honored and priveledged to put on my badge each and every morning as I am able to remember who I am representing. I love being able to serve the Lord and am grateful for this amazing opportunity I have been given to be out on a mission!
 
I hope you all have a great week! Love you all infinity and beyond!
 
Love,
Sister Allen
 
Hi Family!
 
We haven't had the chance to find out if any of the less actives watched conference. We did meet with one Sister who has been struggling and she hadn't seen them but two of the talks were perfect for her. We let her know about them and she said she would watch them. We are starting to really develop a relationship with her and we just love her to death and know that by becoming active again she will be able to recognize and feel the Lord's hand in her life which she has forgotten. It was difficult for her because she went through a series of challenges one after the other and didn't have much support from the branch. Then she didn't get along very well with a couple members of the branch and so she has just had a hard time feeling like the Lord was there for her at that time in her life and forgiving the members of the branch. We have had a hard time trying to determine how we could help her in these situations but conference was the answer. The apostles always know the perfect thing to say. 

Sometimes I think about what I would be doing right now if I wouldn't have decided to serve a mission and I am grateful I made this decision. It is the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through, I cry at least once a week which is definitely more than I did when I was at home or at school, but I know that it is just forming me into a better person. It's definitely an experience that I will cherish my whole life but it's going to be a struggle, at least for a little while. Sister Johnson said one time that the mission kicks you down to your weakest point which enables you to learn to rely 100% on the Lord, which He then builds you up into an even greater person. I like to think of it like the story shared, I believe in conference, about the Provo Tabernacle. How it burned in the inside and everyone was questioning why God would let one of His buildings burn down. But then in conference the Prophet announced that it would be built into a temple. That is exactly like us, we go through all these trials and challenges to not break us down so we can fail, its to break us down so we recognize that the Lord is the one who can build us into a temple, something much greater than what we could have done ourselves. And He will because that is exactly why we are here. To become like Him. To become the best we can be. I try and remember that as I am going through the hard times.

I should be in this area for at least 6 months. For the first 12 weeks of your mission you get trained and so you for sure will stay in that area for that long, and then I will become a trainer and will most likely train a new sister for the 12 weeks and so I'm almost certain I'll be here for at least that long. Then after that it's up in the air! Just so you know, if you plan on sending any packages they need to be sent priority mail to me if you are sending it to the mission address. If its through another way then I have to pay for it to be forwarded to me. Also, if you don't want to send it priority, it can be sent directly to my actual address which is 604 W River St Apt A-7, Hot Springs SD 57747. That address won't always be the same though. But I'll always let you know my new address if it ever does change.  

I am not doing a good job at cooking... for some reason Sister Johnson and I are really bad at cooking things. I'm good at cooking chicken and steak though!

Mervin is getting baptised November 1st! We are so excited! It will be such a great experience. I will send pictures as soon as I can of it once it happens.
 
Hmm.. so this past week has been quite slow... and tough. We taught a total of 4 lessons. But it had some funny moments. I believe on Sunday we were going to visit a former investigator and we got in and he had 3 other people there visiting him. We all got to talking and there was this one gentleman who was just hounding us with questions. He asked Sister Johnson what she thought about war and then right then asked me instead and I was like uhhh... then I just whipped out some world peace answer. He then was like, "Okay Miss Universe." How embarassing!!!! It was really funny though. He told Sister Johnson he thought I was commercial.... so I guess I could take that as a diss or a compliment. I'd prefer the latter. (:
 
So... Sister Johnson and I have been really trying to each be better. Being stressed all the time just makes us want to eat a bunch of treats but when we get fed from members we get treats and so you can imagine how much dessert and bad food we eat. So we decided some rules on restricting sweets. So we ate at this ladies house that we are doing service at and they made cake. Well they decided to give us half of the cake... and we were just praying that she wouldn't. So we go home and have this cake and then Sister J decided to wipe the frosting on my face. Yeah, it became a cake war. I won.. obviously (; It was so fun though.. and somehow the cake ended up on the floor, which we took as an answer to our prayers. I'll send pictures (:
 
Lately though it has gotten so cold! It is saying in the weather forecast that it should snow soon... today to be exact. Which I am not excited for. It too soon!!! Anywho, the other night at 3:30 in the morning Sister J and I were woken up to a very very loud thunder.. It cracked and instantly she was like, "Sister Allen, did you hear that?" It was insane... and weird because I wasn't sure if it was in my dream or not... but apparently it was real! Scary. The lightening illuminated the night sky and our room... I love thunder storms!!
 
Oh, and sorry I wasn't able to email yesterday... because it was a holiday the library was closed. But get this... ya know how it's Columbus day? Here, it's called "Native American Day." I thought that was quite funny. (: Gotta love South Dakota! Anywho... I love and miss you all. I hope that you all have a great week. I can't wait to hear from you all (: (btw... Mama I did get your letter, thank you thank you! I sent you and Daddio letters as well.) OH, did I tell you I got a letter a couple weeks ago from Launi? She is so sweet! She sent me a talk and another funny little thing as well. I really enjoyed it!
 
Well, I love you all... you are all in my prayers each and every day! Keep me in yours! I really need em (:
 
xoxo,
Sister Allen

Sister Abigail Allen
South Dakota Rapid City Mission