Week 39: Hi everyone,
Sorry I don't have a lot of time to write- I've been enjoying reading about all your adventures, and lost track of time haha. But here is a part of the letter I wrote to President Clark. Today was a good week and I love being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I also love the Book of Mormon so much. My testimony of it has grown tons this week. I love you all and I know this is the work of God. I also know that even when we make mistakes, or when people reject us, that that's ok. It happened to even the best of missionaries. I was reading about Lehi's dream and thought about that- Lehi was a prophet, but even his own sons wouldn't listen to him. But he still continued to be a prophet. People even rejected Jesus Christ, but He was still the Savior. People may reject us or we may fall short, but we're still missionaries.
And so anyways, to the letter...
Yesterday was one of my favorite days here in Baler so far. We didn't have any investigators come to church, and at first I was a little disappointed, but as I sat before the meeting, I just felt Heavenly Father's love for me and that everything was ok. of course I am not perfect, but He knows I tried and at the end of the day, that's all we can ask. But I was so happy yesterday because even though we didn't have any investigators, 4 of our LA's came!!!! And they were so happy to be there!! I was so happy for them and there were a lot of people there as well. 125!! That's 125 souls that fought off the dregs of the world yesterday morning and listened to the good word of God. And our classes were wonderful too:)
After church, Sister Punzalan invited us to lunch at her house and then we had our studies. After that as we got ready for work, we knew that one sister had said she'd be coming to work with us, so we were just waiting for her, but when she got there she brought 3 other members!!! We went on splits and all our lessons were wonderful! I felt the spirit so strongly and I LOVE working with the members. There's something so special about sitting in a humble, small house in a tiny town kind of far-away from anything else, listening to the ocean a little ways away and talking about the truths of the kingdom. We taught investigators, and our last lesson was to a LA- and again, I felt unity, genuine love, and strength as we sat under a single light bulb, discussing what we can do individually to fight off the temptations of Satan.
There's a lot of sin here in Baler. I guess there's a lot of sin everywhere, but I know that for every minute a person spends reading the scriptures, praying, sharing the gospel and overcoming the natural man, Satan's power if pushed away just a little bit more. I also realized that as missionaries, especially 2 foreign, young missionaries, we NEED the members. This isn't just about the numbers of LMPs either- but it's for us all to be strengthened. As a unit, as investigators, personally...we need one another and we can't do this alone and I'm embarrassed for thinking that I could do it alone. So it's our goal this week to really work with the members now:)
But I love you all so much! thank you for your love and prayers- Anicia's husband passed away on Thursday. He was only 49 but had bone cancer in his hip, so if you could pray for her especially, that would be a great help to her.
Take care and always remember that this is the true church, God loves you and salvation is within our reach if we endure to the end.
Love ya'll!!!
Sister Allen :)
Sorry I don't have a lot of time to write- I've been enjoying reading about all your adventures, and lost track of time haha. But here is a part of the letter I wrote to President Clark. Today was a good week and I love being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I also love the Book of Mormon so much. My testimony of it has grown tons this week. I love you all and I know this is the work of God. I also know that even when we make mistakes, or when people reject us, that that's ok. It happened to even the best of missionaries. I was reading about Lehi's dream and thought about that- Lehi was a prophet, but even his own sons wouldn't listen to him. But he still continued to be a prophet. People even rejected Jesus Christ, but He was still the Savior. People may reject us or we may fall short, but we're still missionaries.
And so anyways, to the letter...
Yesterday was one of my favorite days here in Baler so far. We didn't have any investigators come to church, and at first I was a little disappointed, but as I sat before the meeting, I just felt Heavenly Father's love for me and that everything was ok. of course I am not perfect, but He knows I tried and at the end of the day, that's all we can ask. But I was so happy yesterday because even though we didn't have any investigators, 4 of our LA's came!!!! And they were so happy to be there!! I was so happy for them and there were a lot of people there as well. 125!! That's 125 souls that fought off the dregs of the world yesterday morning and listened to the good word of God. And our classes were wonderful too:)
After church, Sister Punzalan invited us to lunch at her house and then we had our studies. After that as we got ready for work, we knew that one sister had said she'd be coming to work with us, so we were just waiting for her, but when she got there she brought 3 other members!!! We went on splits and all our lessons were wonderful! I felt the spirit so strongly and I LOVE working with the members. There's something so special about sitting in a humble, small house in a tiny town kind of far-away from anything else, listening to the ocean a little ways away and talking about the truths of the kingdom. We taught investigators, and our last lesson was to a LA- and again, I felt unity, genuine love, and strength as we sat under a single light bulb, discussing what we can do individually to fight off the temptations of Satan.
There's a lot of sin here in Baler. I guess there's a lot of sin everywhere, but I know that for every minute a person spends reading the scriptures, praying, sharing the gospel and overcoming the natural man, Satan's power if pushed away just a little bit more. I also realized that as missionaries, especially 2 foreign, young missionaries, we NEED the members. This isn't just about the numbers of LMPs either- but it's for us all to be strengthened. As a unit, as investigators, personally...we need one another and we can't do this alone and I'm embarrassed for thinking that I could do it alone. So it's our goal this week to really work with the members now:)
But I love you all so much! thank you for your love and prayers- Anicia's husband passed away on Thursday. He was only 49 but had bone cancer in his hip, so if you could pray for her especially, that would be a great help to her.
Take care and always remember that this is the true church, God loves you and salvation is within our reach if we endure to the end.
Love ya'll!!!
Sister Allen :)