I realized I haven't said much about my new companion. Sis. O'Brien is great :) I think I mentioned before that she's 6'1", so I tell people she's my bodyguard. She loves basketball, volleyball, soccer, basically all sports. She wears gold a lot, super stylin. One of the YW came up to us our first Sunday here and said, "You sisters are the most fashionable sisters I've ever seen!" I'm pretty sure she was referring to my companion. Sis. O'Brien is super chill, and she's a great teacher. She's willing to try anything, and she knows just what to say to people. We get along great.
So our new mission president has been announced--Steve Cleveland, who was the bball coach at BYU before Dave Rose! He will begin his service in July. Sis. O'Brien is super excited to have a mission president who loves basketball :) Dad, I thought you'd be pretty excited. We sure will miss President and Sister Collins, though. They are so so incredible.
The other day we were knocking on people's doors, and one lady answered. Her phone rang while we were at the door, and Sis. O'Brien said, "I'm sorry." After we left she said, "I have no idea why I apologized when her phone rang...it wasn't my fault."
Another guy we talked to said he already had a faith and went to church, and he wasn't interested in our message. Before we left I didn't know what to say, so I said, "Well, congratulations on your faith!" What? Awkward missionary moment. Even 6 months out I still don't know how to talk to people! But it's great, cuz we just laugh about it. I love being an awkward missionary :)
We've been trying to contact potential and former investigators this week...and it has been going really slow. One day this week we were just knocking on doors and calling people, and we pretty much talked to nobody. I told Sis. O'Brien, "It's usually the last person at the door who's interested!" It wasn't until the end of the day that we decided, let's just try to contact one more less-active person. It was getting dark, but we knocked on the apartment door and a girl probably in her 20s answered. She wasn't the woman we were looking for, but we told her we were missionaries and wanted to share our message with her. She let us in because it was cold, and she said she actually really needs help right now. She couldn't meet right then, but we gave her our number and got her number, and she said, "I'm really going to call you guys, because I really need this. My friend across the street would love to meet with you too, so I'm going to talk to her as well." We haven't set up an appointment yet because she's been super busy, but it was a miracle to see that it was the person behind that last door of the day who really needed us! We will hopefully meet with her this week.
We have the best ward mission leader! He makes sure we have a meal every night, and he is setting up appointments for us in the evenings to teach members because it's hard for us to find things to do after dark. He is so great, as well as the rest of the ward leaders. They are so supportive and just ready to help with missionary work!
We had an ice storm this week! Most of it has melted. But it definitely covered our car with ice, and it took us awhile to chip that stuff off. We shuffle across people's sidewalks so we don't slip :)
I have so much desire to teach people about the gospel. We aren't teaching very many people right now, and I have recently realized that I need to step up my game and talk to more people. I let way too many opportunities pass by. I cry thinking about how much I absolutely love the gospel, and I just want other people to have it! I am just so overwhelmed with the spirit, and I feel like Nephi when he says, "I pray continually for [my people] by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry. And I know that the Lord will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people." (2 Nephi 33:3-4).
The Spirit is so so strong on the mission. I feel it with me so much every day. Especially lately for some reason. I'm realizing so much more how my mission is not about me and about people recognizing my efforts. It's about doing all I can to bringothers unto Christ. What an amazing thing, that all this work we do as missionaries is for others. The purpose of this work is to make people happy. I just hope and pray that my efforts are paying off, even if we don't see the fruits of our labors. The work just moves forward.
Love you all so much. Thanks for all your support and prayers. Every missionary needs it. We sure couldn't do this without the Lord. He is amazing.
Sister Allen
P.S
One other thing I almost forgot, they're creating a new mission and moving two of the zones from Indiana to the Ohio Cincinnatti mission! Look at this website for more details: http://www.
So a lot of the missionaries here will have started their missions in Indiana and ended in Ohio! Crazy! We will see what happens...
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