Dear Family and Friends,
...Bloomington! I'm staying in Bloomington. We were anticipating transfer calls last night and really had no idea what to expect. The assistant called and said, "You have to guess who is leaving." I said, "Um...neither of us." He said, "Well, Sis. Clark. You are...staying. And Sis. Allen. You are...staying." Ah! We were shocked! We're pretty excited to be here on IU campus another transfer. Bloomington is an incredible area and the members are so proactive in missionary work. We are meeting a lot of their friends and we are still teaching a few people who are so prepared and have such a strong desire to learn.
We met with the Chinese girl we are teaching who is preparing for baptism in December. She had read 3 Nephi 11 like we asked her, and she said it really helped her understand what Jesus Christ did with the people. She's never learned about Jesus Christ before, so we talked a lot about what He did. In the beginning of the lesson she said, "For awhile I have been wondering if this is really something I should do, but this week for some reason I really felt like I should follow Jesus Christ. I don't know why, but I just feel like it's what I should do. I can feel myself changing." Ah!! Missionary work is worth it for experiences like this! We asked her if she believes God is her father, and she said, "I believe He is there and He helps me, but I don't feel that father-daughter relationship yet." Before we were meeting with her, she didn't even believe in God. Now she prays every day and she knows she wants to follow Jesus Christ. Amazing!
We have been continuing to meet with the girl who called us a few weeks ago to follow us on campus so she could write an article on LDS Missionaries. Her professor loved her first draft, and she has been coming back with more and more questions for each new draft of her paper. She has been working on a profile of Sis. Clark and is just fascinated by everything we tell her. While we've been answering her questions, we've also been teaching her the lessons, and we have taught the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday she watched the first session of General Conference and asked, "So can I watch the other sessions online?" She asked to see the baptismal font, and she had lots of other questions. She is praying about a baptismal date. Sis. Clark and I are in awe at how this has all happened, and we know it is all God's hand! We have done nothing but be where we need to be and teach her the lessons, and she has an amazing desire to finish the Book of Mormon and learn all she can about what we believe.
I have gotten extremely close to the Lord these last 3 months, and my favorite thing to do lately is to pray. I love talking to God and pouring out my heart to Him.
Something that I loved from General Conference was the talk about teaching by the spirit. He said that yes, developing our teaching skills is important, but more important is that we are living worthily of the Spirit and allowing our lessons to be directed by Him, so that the Spirit can be the real teacher. That is something I want to be better at as a missionary.
I tried to send this last week but I'm not sure it sent...We now have a mission facebook page! Take a look--the link isfacebook.com/indymission .
Love you all,
Sister Allen
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