My sweet parents,
We have a lot of extra time today to email so I can actually send you a lot of pictures, which is exciting! Things are actually going great here. Sister Johnson and I are trying to make the most of every situation which has helped a lot. This past week was rather difficult in missionary work. We didn't have many lessons and we didn't get to see very many people. That's the challenges of this area. They say that Hot Springs has 2 things, churches and bars. The churches are mostly Lutheran and Catholic. Its predominately those faiths. So that has been the difficulty. Since it is a town full of veterans and the older generation, many people are very stuck on what they've believed for their whole lives. We have a very loving investigator named Jaime. She is absolutely the sweetest and has such an adorable family. She wants to be baptised but isn't sure when. She has such a strong faith in the gospel and it is so wonderful to see her experience the joys that come from this gospel. We're just hoping that her husband will be able to recognize the blessings that can come from it as well. We just adore that family though!
We have about 122 less actives in our area. That's a whole lot of people! But it's a bit difficult to visit everyone because we are so widespread. We cover about 3 or 4 other towns and only have a certain aount of miles we can drive in a month. This month we are having a big quad conference where Elder Snow, one of the seventy, is coming to speak. So we have less miles because we are closer than other missionaries who have to travel a far distance. So we are going to be walking a lot and hoping we can find members to take us to the other areas so we can do some work there as well. But its been great. We love the branch and all the people that make it up. There are honestly only about 10 members that regularly come each week so it is quite small! But we just love them. Our Branch President is such an amazing man. We had a talk with him yesterday and he has such a love for the branch and wants it to grow so bad. It just made us want to work 10x harder so that we can help him. We both gave talks yesterday about the Holy Ghost. It was such a great opportunity. We also taught relief society, which was absolutely terrifying! But we are going to be doing that a lot, atleast 2 a month. That will be a great learning experience so that we can both grow as teachers.
I have really began to recognize how many weaknesses I have. It is so crazy how inadequate you can feel in a situation but having the knowledge that the Lord will qualify you in situations that you don't feel qualified in is incredible. It is such an amazing experience. I am so grateful for my decision to serve a mission because I already know that I am going to be blessed tremendously. I am learning each and every day how much we lack and are imperfect beings but am reminded each and every day that we can do anything and everything with the Lord. What a blessing that is to have that knowledge. It break my heart knowing that there are individuals out in the world who have no idea how much easier life could be if they had the knowledge that the gospel brings. Of course, having this knowledge won't cease the challenges we face and sometimes it even brings on more challenges in a sense, but it enables you to have the strength to overcome those challenges with a positive outlook and a positive attitude. Oh how blessed I am. I want to thank you both for raising me in the gospel and being such great examples to me. I will forever be thankful.
Yesterday we were able to meet with a guy named Adam. He is quite young, 19 years old, but he has been through a whole lot in his life. While we were talking with him he mentioned something that really hit me. He said, "You can't live a positive life with a negative mind." That is so true! How can you expect to have a positive life if you aren't being positive yourself through everything. I don't think we really realize this and it definitely was something that made me rethink how I dealt with situations and challenges in my life.
I wake up each morning and put my nametag on and think how priveledged I am to have my name on the same tag as Jesus Christ's. I am greatful for this opportunity to serve and am grateful I get to be a servant of the Lord, sharing this wonderful message to my fellow brothers and sisters. I know at times it's hard, missionary work is hard, but it's so worth it! I love this gospel and this work and am excited to help others find happiness. I love you all so much and am so blessed to have your support! I hope that you all have a wonderful week and I can't wait to hear from you next week!
Love you all so much,
Sister Allen
We have a lot of extra time today to email so I can actually send you a lot of pictures, which is exciting! Things are actually going great here. Sister Johnson and I are trying to make the most of every situation which has helped a lot. This past week was rather difficult in missionary work. We didn't have many lessons and we didn't get to see very many people. That's the challenges of this area. They say that Hot Springs has 2 things, churches and bars. The churches are mostly Lutheran and Catholic. Its predominately those faiths. So that has been the difficulty. Since it is a town full of veterans and the older generation, many people are very stuck on what they've believed for their whole lives. We have a very loving investigator named Jaime. She is absolutely the sweetest and has such an adorable family. She wants to be baptised but isn't sure when. She has such a strong faith in the gospel and it is so wonderful to see her experience the joys that come from this gospel. We're just hoping that her husband will be able to recognize the blessings that can come from it as well. We just adore that family though!
We have about 122 less actives in our area. That's a whole lot of people! But it's a bit difficult to visit everyone because we are so widespread. We cover about 3 or 4 other towns and only have a certain aount of miles we can drive in a month. This month we are having a big quad conference where Elder Snow, one of the seventy, is coming to speak. So we have less miles because we are closer than other missionaries who have to travel a far distance. So we are going to be walking a lot and hoping we can find members to take us to the other areas so we can do some work there as well. But its been great. We love the branch and all the people that make it up. There are honestly only about 10 members that regularly come each week so it is quite small! But we just love them. Our Branch President is such an amazing man. We had a talk with him yesterday and he has such a love for the branch and wants it to grow so bad. It just made us want to work 10x harder so that we can help him. We both gave talks yesterday about the Holy Ghost. It was such a great opportunity. We also taught relief society, which was absolutely terrifying! But we are going to be doing that a lot, atleast 2 a month. That will be a great learning experience so that we can both grow as teachers.
I have really began to recognize how many weaknesses I have. It is so crazy how inadequate you can feel in a situation but having the knowledge that the Lord will qualify you in situations that you don't feel qualified in is incredible. It is such an amazing experience. I am so grateful for my decision to serve a mission because I already know that I am going to be blessed tremendously. I am learning each and every day how much we lack and are imperfect beings but am reminded each and every day that we can do anything and everything with the Lord. What a blessing that is to have that knowledge. It break my heart knowing that there are individuals out in the world who have no idea how much easier life could be if they had the knowledge that the gospel brings. Of course, having this knowledge won't cease the challenges we face and sometimes it even brings on more challenges in a sense, but it enables you to have the strength to overcome those challenges with a positive outlook and a positive attitude. Oh how blessed I am. I want to thank you both for raising me in the gospel and being such great examples to me. I will forever be thankful.
Yesterday we were able to meet with a guy named Adam. He is quite young, 19 years old, but he has been through a whole lot in his life. While we were talking with him he mentioned something that really hit me. He said, "You can't live a positive life with a negative mind." That is so true! How can you expect to have a positive life if you aren't being positive yourself through everything. I don't think we really realize this and it definitely was something that made me rethink how I dealt with situations and challenges in my life.
I wake up each morning and put my nametag on and think how priveledged I am to have my name on the same tag as Jesus Christ's. I am greatful for this opportunity to serve and am grateful I get to be a servant of the Lord, sharing this wonderful message to my fellow brothers and sisters. I know at times it's hard, missionary work is hard, but it's so worth it! I love this gospel and this work and am excited to help others find happiness. I love you all so much and am so blessed to have your support! I hope that you all have a wonderful week and I can't wait to hear from you next week!
Love you all so much,
Sister Allen
RSS Feed