Walmart, shopping for Investigators

So, part of missionary work is finding people. Especially out here because hardly anyone in the ward know any people in West Odessa (Our area). So it's really hard to get referrals.  And because there are almost no sidewalks, and stray dogs everywhere, people are not outside much. Haha so guess where we go to find people? You guessed it! WAL-MART! Haha we go there and walk around and help people load up their cars and then tell them who we are and tell them how our message can bless them. We have met some pretty nice people doing that! None that have been super solid, but it's just a matter of time!

I've been working on teaching People not just lessons. It's been kinda hard because I've been learning the lessons and the different points that need to be taught and how to make it personal. So now, I need to stop teaching to them and start teaching them! To not teach the lesson, but the person. Apply the Doctrine to them. It's been getting better! I like it! And just like Carter, we always need to have a "Get to it" Attitude! No slacking, but let’s go to work! And Be happy about it :D Attitude is everything. Whoo!

We were going through our book and found this lady that hasn't been taught since 2008. Her name is A. She and her husband E are pretty sweet. She is really solid. She read the chapter we left her and really thought about it. Oh! And I’ve been working on seeing people as they can become. Like Christ sees them. I see her getting baptized! And Him too!

Also, We are still teaching Bl and J! I love them so much and cannot wait for the day when they will get baptized! We had a really good lesson with them on Sunday and explained that they will receive their answer by coming to our church. Not by going to the Catholic church. And we explained it to them and the Spirit testified. And they committed to come! I really, really ,really want to be here when they get Baptized!

One of the reasons  J is scared to get her answer is because if she knows it’s true, then she'll want to share it with everyone else. HOW AWESOME IS THAT??????? SHE WILL BE A GREAT MISSIONARY SOME DAY! IN LIKE 4 YEARS!!! They are so Honest! I just wish that they would accept that they have been given their answer! I love them. And we gave Bl a blessing on Saturday. So that she would be comforted and be able to focus on getting her answer. After, she said "It feels fuzzy." She totally had the spirit touch her heart! It's only a matter of time!!! Whoo! (I'm starting to understand why Levi's letters are so crazy happy. It's because when exciting things do happen, they are amazing. Haha)

Another Investigator B, She's from the Philippines, has a baptism date for march 22!

Sorry! Ran out of time! Love you guys! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Love -Elder Allen

I'm staying!

Hey Ma!

Holy smokes. Lots of crazy stuff has happened. Carter is Soooo awesome! And Harris is Awesome awesome awesome! Haha. Yeah... you can sell Nigel (my car) if you want to. I think I worked him to death. He was such a good and fun car! I got so good at.... driving him.... :D Haha

I'm glad the farewells went good! This is crazy how everyone is growing up! Haha

We had transfer calls last night and.... I'm staying! Ha, I'm glad too because Elder Duffy and I are finally clicking and flowing better in our lessons. So, I hope that this next transfer will be really good! I love the people here! Some of them don't like us. Haha but that's okay! Because we are representatives of the Lord. And in 1st Nephi 19:9, it talks about how Christ showed love and Charity. And it’s our job to do the same!

Hey Mom, Have I ever told you that you are so cool? WELL you are! Thanks for raising me the way you did! I can tell how much I have learned from you now! Love you lots! And I hope that everything works out! And Temple recommend question I would focus on..... hmmm..... (I’m pretty sure this is one) "Is there anything in your life that needs to be resolved with the Lord ?" Anyway, it’s about the atonement. It's so important for us to understand it. And when we do, we understand Christ more, and when we do that, we are able to be more like him. I love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Allen

The Redmesa Connection

Haha it was way crazy to find out he was from Red Mesa! I got all excited! :D Haha. (side note, Nyla's cousin Renee Price Abbott’s husband Damian is working in the oil fields of Texas and just happened to be in Odessa on Sunday. A young Elder came up to him and asked him where he was from. Damian said Durango. The Elder said he had an Uncle who lived in Redmesa near Durango. Damian asked if he was Nyla’s boy. Hayden was so shocked! Damian asked if there was any message he could send to his parents. Hayden said to tell his mother he’s just fine.)  And I don't think I need anything. Thanks so much for the Package! I hope you got mine too. And don't worry, I shared like a good boy. Haha.

This week has been good! We had some good lessons. Our Most Promising Investigators B and J still have only come to church once and I've been teaching them the whole time. They still attend the Catholic church. And we KNOW that they have felt the spirit. They pretty much tell us that these things are true. What we think is that the Mom thinks that she already got the Holy Ghost from the Catholic church. So we are going to talk about Authority to them and really try to find out their real concern and what’s really holding them back. They are really awesome thou! And they read the Book of Mormon! So that’s great! I got a flat in my tire the other day. So I’m gonna get a new tube, or..... maybe I’ll go buy some goop instead. Not sure yet. Love ya'll! And let me know how your lives are! I got a E-mail from Wyatt! Beast!!! And from the Gutierrez  family! I love you all so much! Keep living the Gospel!

-Elder Allen

This is a Scripture Holder my mom invented for missionaries who loose their scriptures. ;)

This is a little man that I made from pealing my orange. Pretty cool!

This is some BURRITO AWESOMENESS I made!!!!!!! Whoooo!!! I love it! Thanks Grandma Harris for the recipe!

Like Ammon

Dear Family,

          I feel the need to clarify some of the references that Hayden makes in his letters. I’m not sure where the “Whoot, Whoot” came from, but Hayden has been saying that for years. He would use that expression in his text to his friends and it has stuck. He also quotes from a cartoon show called “Phineas and Ferb”. He will put these in quotation marks and name the characters like: Phineas, ferb, Candace, Perry, Isabella, Baljeet and Buford, to name a few. For the 4 months that he waited to enter the MTC he was very careful of the media he watched. This show was always clean and funny. Also he will add quotes from the BYUTV comedy show “Studio C” if you haven’t seen it, you can watch it on youtube. So funny.  Thanks to everyone for the support you give our missionary!

Nyla

This week was good! And we have been having really good success! Our work from last week really paid off! We had lots of lessons with Members Present and we had lots of really good, spiritual lessons. And of course, because of this success, Satan has been working on us. He's been trying to get us to feel down, frustrated, and have bad feelings like that. After I read the Book of Mormon, I always feel better! It's not just a book. I love it!
Also, I've been working on being humble. Like Ammon. I know that I am nothing without the Lord, and that everything good that is going on, the success we've been having is because of the Lord. I need to keep realizing that and working hard. I honestly feel like I'm not being the best companion I know I can be, and the best companion I know God knows I can be. I'm looking for ways to serve Elder Duffy.

I love you all so much! And Tell Jayden and Jared I love them too! I can't wait to hear all about them!

Haha this picture is more for Carter than anyone. But it's cool!

Love ya all!

Elder Allen:)

This is really for Carter.  Texas sized!

Confidence

Wahoo!!! Go Harris and get that Eagle! I miss Harris... Haha he's so funny! Tell him i say Hi! WOW HARRIS CAN ALMOST DRIVE! THAT'S CRAZY! 

Haha I love Brother Jex! I miss him a lot! And yeah... I lost a bunch of stuff at work... I miss work too! I love wood. And Harris is going!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Youth conference is the best thing! I'm way excited for him. I loved youth Conference when I went! I remember the day after youth conference I got the Melchizedek Priesthood! How crazy. That was forever ago. Like a year. Haha.  Harris will have a blast! And when he comes home, I bet you that he will surprise you with how much his testimony will have grown. I love that Kid.

Well, we are doing really good! We worked really hard last week, but had probably the worst week in numbers. But that only means that good things will come from our hard work! My comp. is really cool. We work really hard together and he loves the people so much.  He is a really good teacher and we have been working on how to teach together better. I've been working on my confidence. It's weird because and home I had no problem teaching or being confident. But for some reason at the MTC, it was hard. And here too. So I figure that it was the Lord cutting me down so that I can bring forth Good fruit!  So, I'm doing my best to be confident! Especially when I teach! 

 Bishop told me that JT would be in the bishopric some day. I guess that day is now. I love it! Tell them all congratulations! 

We have been working really hard, but our teaching pool is really low. We have like, no one to teach. So we are doing lots of finding and trying to coming up with different and creative ideas to find people. It's fun! There is this one girl that we are teaching. She's 15 and way smart. She's like a modern day, girl version of Joseph Smith! She is catholic (right now anyway) and asked her preacher about the God Head and Trinity. And he kinda told her that she should stop asking questions. And she said that she should be able to ask questions! And we told her that she should! She reads the B of M Almost everyday and we watched the Restoration DVD And she loved it! I know she felt the Spirit! I cannot wait till she gets baptized! Last Monday we also got dropped pretty hard by one of the most promising investigator that Elder Duffy had ever taught. So it was hard on him. But then after he was like, well, I'm not just gonna sit here and mope! Le's go work. So we did! It was really cool to see how converted he is!

Love ya all!

Elder Allen

Conference, Conference, Conference

 We had zone Conference this week and I learned a lot! It was really cool, and then we also had Stake conference! Woot Woot! And we had our new members come. They got baptized before I got here. um....We went on splits last week! It was pretty fun. And I rode my bike! I put it together all by myself! AND IT WORKED! I was kinds surprised! But happy. We are teaching a pretty good amount of people. We have two Investigators with Baptismal dates! Blonca and Jacklyn. Blonca is Jacklyn's mom. They are coo. And we are also teaching this Woman named Anabell. Her mom is pretty against her taking lessons from us but she knows it's true! She understands everything so well! So, will you pray for them? Pray that Blonca and Jacklyn come to church and have a good Experience? And that Anabell has the courage and strength to act on the faith that she has? Thanks so much!

How's Family home evening going? And All that good stuff? I know that you will be blessed from doing it, I promise that the family will get closer together, everyone will be happier, and that The spirit will be stronger with you in your hearts.  Harris will be more prepared to serve a mission and he will grow and be a stronger member. Ah man I miss Harris. He's so.... Awesome Awesome Awesome! Haha I miss Phineas and Ferb too! Hhaha. That's okay i guess... We cleaned our apartment today! Woot woot! I Love being a missionary! There are so many blessing from it! And I hope that you are all being blessed too!
 I'm loosing my Spanish!!! AH! Texas Spanish is so weird! And we barley speak it. But, I will learn! I just need to put in some extra effort. We made some really specific goals this week. I'm really excited to see the outcome of them. I know that faith is really powerful. And I pray that our faith will be strengthend. Love you all and thank you so much for all you do for me! And I am really grateful for all the E-mails I got!
JAYDEN WHITEHEAD! CONGRATS!!!!!!! YOU ARE AWESOME AND WILL DO AWESOME THINGS! I MISS YOU BROTHER! I love getting letters from David (Elder Aust) It's so good to hear from him. And from Joe Cary! He's been E-mailing me and I love it! Tell the ward I love them and that this work, that of the Lord, is the most rewarding thing we can do. So be great home teachers. Give referrals!!! They are so nice! Help out the missionaries there by helping them have people to teach! And Tell Wyatt and his family that I love them! I need his e-mail or something. Wyatt, I'm going to punch you in the face, because I love you! Haha Thanks for all you have done Brother! I love you all! Un-know guy is out! PEACE!

Con amor- Elder Allen  

West Odessa, TX

1/21/14

 Everything is going great! My Companion is Elder Duffy and he is the district leader! He loves to work hard and so do I so it's been good. We get along pretty well. We have two investigators with Baptismal dates! And we have a couple other pretty solid Investigators. We cover three wards. Spanish, 1st and 2nd ward. We don't speak a whole lot of Spanish in our area. Most of the lessons we've taught have been in English. But I'm getting better. It's kinda like Cortez out here. Lots of dirt. Except there are no mountains! None. Haha but there are a lot of Pump jacks. Pretty much everyone out her works in the Oil fields. There a quite a few less actives around here. So we are getting to work! Knocking is pretty fun too! Haha. Kinda miss Spanish, like in the language. But we do have our study time. Love you all! Do your best and have faith! Love you mom and the rest of my family! And Go 4th Ward!!!! Woot! Love you all!!!! As we put our trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ, he will take care of the rest. Keep doing your part! I read 3rd Nephi 17! Read it and study it! It's great! Love you all! And I would love some letters.... You can just send them to the mission home, and they will forward it to me. My Mom has the address for the mission home.( and mom, I need a new set of scriptures! I lost them in Mexico!! I need them in English! Please!! Thank you! Soon as possible! And some more CTR socks too! Long ones! Love you! We have a Dinner appointment tonight. I gained 13 pounds in Mexico. So.... we've been working out and trying to eat healthy. It's been good. We have been doing "Insanity" work outs in the Mornings! Woot!

I haven't been riding my bike yet. It's all been driving and walking. I put my bike together myself. Haha So... yeah it looks pretty good to me! And my companions bike is broken I think.

Elder Allen