September 5, 2012

I'm learning how to use my email time more productively. I only have about ten minutes left to write, so I'll get in as much as I can!

Sister Carter and I have found that we both love quoting movies...so sometimes we catch ourselves quoting Emperor's New Groove or some other Disney movie...we're trying to change that so we quote scriptures or sing church songs instead haha.

I will never get over how beautiful it is here. It always sounds like a rainforest. The crickets are chirping all night and all day. We learned last week that we should probably start using bugspray, cuz we were on a lady's porch for almost an hour and our legs were eaten ALIVE!!! All week they have itched so bad that they almost hurt, but we bought some miracle itch cream at Walmart and that helped. The itching has stopped by now, but we have learned our lesson. I bought baking soda so next time it happens we can soak our legs in baking soda water :)

There is a woman who lives a few doors down from us, and she is the cutest funniest lady ever. She gives us gifts every time we visit her and tells us to return them whenever we can. She calls and leaves at least two messages every morning at 5 am. She calls me Chloe. She always calls us "angels" and is so grateful to see us. She gives us hugs and kisses on the cheek every time we leave. Last week she asked us to mop her carpet with dish soap and water (I'm putting a picture of us below if I can get the camera to work!). Sis. Carter and I were laughing so hard, and we sang "Popcorn Popping" and "Sunbeam" as we mopped. When we left Sis. Carter said "If I came home and my kids were mopping my carpet I think I would shoot them." Haha, as long as Sister Newton is happy!

I met a woman named Noami last week who Sis. Carter and her other companions have visited several times, and she is one of the most loving women I have ever met. I needed to meet her at the time we did. We knocked on her door and sat and talked for awhile, and it was perfect because Sis. Carter and I were struggling with some things and we needed to just sit down and be filled with the spirit. Noami has been a teacher for years, and sometimes it felt like she was teaching us. She said her deepest most fundamental belief is love. She complimented us on what hard work a mission must be, and how we must be learning so much especially on the inside. She understood how we as missionaries can't teach by ourselves, we have to help people learn how to feel more of God's love, and that is a great responsibility. That was so nice to hear from someone who's not a member of the church. She was so loving and understanding, and she kept saying, "I am so glad to have met you." We left the house feeling so uplifted--God gave us that experience at the perfect time.

Sis. Carter and I have learned how to teach together. At the beginning it was hard to figure out when to talk and what to say, but we are really balancing well off of each other! We are working on asking inspired questions and talking to everyone we see, because it's easy to hesitate and come up with excuses. We have had some pretty amazing lessons, when the investigator just gets it! It is so cool to see that!

We're teaching a guy named Ben who knows so much about the Bible and has so many questions, but I think he is sincerely interested in learning about the church. He's probably in his late 20s. He says, "If you guys really have the fulness of the truth, I wanna hear it!" There are lots of places to look for answers, but he wants to find those from the right source, which is the missionaries and the Book of Mormon. We are following up with him to make sure he is reading and to see if he has any questions, and he is super excited to meet with us again.

Fun experience - we handed a pass-along card to a guy driving an ice cream truck the other day! We figured he needed something to think about besides that repetitive ice-cream-truck music playing in his car... Speaking of music, sometimes God gives us a tender mercy when we walk into a store or someone's house and there is a song playing that we haven't heard in months :) The other day I heard a song playing that I've never heard before...already out of the loop! Haha it's ok, Motab is so much better anyway.

After church we've been singing with the branch choir, and it's amazing how good the choir sounds with so few people! That is one of my favorite hours of the week, because we just get to sing and harmonize and praise God and not think about anything else! I LOVE to sing.

Well that's that, I love you all and I know WITHOUT A DOUBT that this gospel is true! How could it not be true?!?! God has an incredible plan for us, and it blows my mind more and more each day! There is hope for all of us, and we are all brothers and sisters! It's all about love!!

LOVE,

Sister Allen

PICTURES
1 - mopping the carpet :)
2, 3, & 4 - gifts from our friend next door. We returned those to her the next day and she was so happy. My favorite is the Santa Clause. We laughed for like an hour






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