Hello everyone!! How are you? I hope you've had a great week! From the emails back from home, I've been reminded that it's summer in the States! of course it's summer here too, but there's kind of no difference in the weather from December to June- it's still hot haha so I forgot that it's actually summer! :)
I love serving a mission. Anyone who's thinking about serving one...GO. As in I don't think you could go wrong for dedicating your life, thoughts, heart and efforts to God. The blessings that will come to the people you serve and your family are many, but especially for YOU- it is worth it. You learn what really matters in life and while life was good before, my heart is full of gratitude that I'm out here because it's added a fullness, completeness, satisfaction and direction that would have been lacking it I didn't serve.
My thoughts this week come from my Book of Mormon reading this week. First off, there is power in that book. Do not push it aside or say you are too busy. You're too busy BECAUSE you don't read, so make time:) Everything will work out I promise:) Anyways, in Mosiah 15:7, it says
"Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death,
the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father."
Our Savior is the perfect example of love and sacrifice for someone else. He never thought about Himself and allowed everything He was, everything He accomplished and lived for, to be given COMPLETELY to what His Father needed. I had an experience kind of similar, and so I'd like to share it with you. I'll just copy it from the letter I wrote to our mission president:)
Anyways...with our area, things are going amazing. Really:) Our teaching pool has been dwindling the last couple weeks because all of our investigators are getting baptized haha! It's a great problem to have! But...we have a pipeline! :) So earlier this week I was a little worried about it, because I didn't want to finish our baptisms and find out we have no one else. But there are several things I know for sure: about obedience, faith, love for God, sanctification, consecration...and I KNEW that if we just did those things and kept ourselves single to the glory of God, that the Lord would provide. I also remembered one your letters in Ang Tinig, after Sister Victorino passed away, about having the faith not to be healed and it kind of applies the same way to our areas- of course we need to have faith that we'll be able to find, but I also know that we need to have the faith to CONTINUE TO OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS and do our best, even if circumstances aren't what we wanted. And so I prayed and I remember telling Heavenly Father that of course we wanted new investigators, but then I also promised Him that if He saw fit that we would have to wait for a little while for them to come, that would be ok too and that I would still be faithful to Him. It's a hard thing to describe, but it was one of the most sacred, heartfelt and honest prayers I've ever had as I made personal promises with my Heavenly Father. And so we just continued to work in faith and hope and love, and lo, Heavenly Father did give. My heart is full of gratitude and reverence for Him. I love Him. We found 2 investigators because they accidentally came to our church instead of Jehovah's Witnesses, and then when we went to teach them, we found 2 less active members that have been looking for a chapel for years! One of our members also gave us a referral and we're pretty certain she will be baptized in July:) The blessings have been many, and although I know that we'll never ever be able to repay Him for what He gives, I do know that obedience and consecration and giving our all to Him calls down the powers of Heaven in a way I've never understood or imagined before.
I know God lives. I know He loves us and this is His work. Our whole lives are His work:)
I love you all and thanks again for everything! Keep being happy and working hard! Forwarded is a copy of our mission newsletter, the one I referred to in earlier. It's beautiful :)
Love,
Sister Allen
I love serving a mission. Anyone who's thinking about serving one...GO. As in I don't think you could go wrong for dedicating your life, thoughts, heart and efforts to God. The blessings that will come to the people you serve and your family are many, but especially for YOU- it is worth it. You learn what really matters in life and while life was good before, my heart is full of gratitude that I'm out here because it's added a fullness, completeness, satisfaction and direction that would have been lacking it I didn't serve.
My thoughts this week come from my Book of Mormon reading this week. First off, there is power in that book. Do not push it aside or say you are too busy. You're too busy BECAUSE you don't read, so make time:) Everything will work out I promise:) Anyways, in Mosiah 15:7, it says
"Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death,
the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father."
Our Savior is the perfect example of love and sacrifice for someone else. He never thought about Himself and allowed everything He was, everything He accomplished and lived for, to be given COMPLETELY to what His Father needed. I had an experience kind of similar, and so I'd like to share it with you. I'll just copy it from the letter I wrote to our mission president:)
Anyways...with our area, things are going amazing. Really:) Our teaching pool has been dwindling the last couple weeks because all of our investigators are getting baptized haha! It's a great problem to have! But...we have a pipeline! :) So earlier this week I was a little worried about it, because I didn't want to finish our baptisms and find out we have no one else. But there are several things I know for sure: about obedience, faith, love for God, sanctification, consecration...and I KNEW that if we just did those things and kept ourselves single to the glory of God, that the Lord would provide. I also remembered one your letters in Ang Tinig, after Sister Victorino passed away, about having the faith not to be healed and it kind of applies the same way to our areas- of course we need to have faith that we'll be able to find, but I also know that we need to have the faith to CONTINUE TO OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS and do our best, even if circumstances aren't what we wanted. And so I prayed and I remember telling Heavenly Father that of course we wanted new investigators, but then I also promised Him that if He saw fit that we would have to wait for a little while for them to come, that would be ok too and that I would still be faithful to Him. It's a hard thing to describe, but it was one of the most sacred, heartfelt and honest prayers I've ever had as I made personal promises with my Heavenly Father. And so we just continued to work in faith and hope and love, and lo, Heavenly Father did give. My heart is full of gratitude and reverence for Him. I love Him. We found 2 investigators because they accidentally came to our church instead of Jehovah's Witnesses, and then when we went to teach them, we found 2 less active members that have been looking for a chapel for years! One of our members also gave us a referral and we're pretty certain she will be baptized in July:) The blessings have been many, and although I know that we'll never ever be able to repay Him for what He gives, I do know that obedience and consecration and giving our all to Him calls down the powers of Heaven in a way I've never understood or imagined before.
I know God lives. I know He loves us and this is His work. Our whole lives are His work:)
I love you all and thanks again for everything! Keep being happy and working hard! Forwarded is a copy of our mission newsletter, the one I referred to in earlier. It's beautiful :)
Love,
Sister Allen