Monday, Dec. 23, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

I've been thinking a lot about why God loves us, and how I can feel His love more often. I realized this week that the Spirit of God is the spirit of love. In order to feel His love more, we need to be worthy of His spirit. That is by obedience. We have this right to the constant companionship of God's spirit, or in other words God's love, and that is conditional upon our willingness to accept God's will and obey Him. I've noticed that when I am more obedient I am more receptive to what God wants for me, and I have a more accurate understanding of His love for me. When I am less obedient, I have more of a skewed perception of God because I don't feel Him with me as much. When we receive light, God gives us more light! The gospel is black and white, but it is harder for us to discern between right and wrong when we are farther away from the light! I love the principle behind obedience!!

Well, all of our investigators are home for the break, so our plan is to just not teach anybody. Just kidding :) We are getting creative! We are focusing on less-actives and meeting with people we've met who live around our apartment. This will actually be a blessing because we'll finally have time to try people we haven't been able to for weeks! We're praying that our investigators who are committed to baptism will be able to talk to their parents and keep their testimonies strong while they're home. 

Christmas Conference was a success! Our kazoo performance was very first for the talent show, and we got a pretty good response. :) It sounded pretty great, almost like real trumpets.

I spoke on hope, among some other sisters who spoke on other Christlike attributes. The first half of the mission conference was very spirit-filled, and it really helped me remember the meaning of Christmas and how grateful I am for my Savior. 

We are putting together a Chinese class during the break, and we're crossing our fingers that people come! A lot of our Chinese investigators are going home for the break, but hopefully the ones who are staying will be able to come.

Love you all! Merry Christmas!!! What a wonderful time to be alive!

Love, Sister Allen