Week 18- Attitude

Friends and Family,

This was an up and down sort of week. During the middle of it, I was super motivated because we were seeing the Lord's hand in the work and our investigators were progressing. We had high hopes. But then towards the end of the week, I started focusing too much on the negative things. I realized that my attitude affects the work as well as how much I work.

Chris, the investigator who is on date for baptism next month, was doing really well, then tried to drop us all of a sudden! We replied back trying to help him remember how good the message made him feel. He said he was just struggling and depressed, because he has bipolar and PTSD. We haven't seen him since, but we will visit him and help him through his struggles. Help him see that the atonement will make weaknesses strengths.

We were able to give Bob a blessing to help him sleep better, since he had really been struggling with that lately. He said that the blessing started to work even during the actual blessing! He felt at peace. I know his faith and God's power helped him feel at peace. I'm glad we were there to serve him.

As for other investigators, not too much different. We visited a former investigators house. At first they put up a wall and said they didn't want to learn more about Joseph Smith, but we were able to build on similar beliefs and they said that God may want them to join the church in the future. The spirit certainly softened their hearts. It's a blessing to see how a visit really changes the attitude in the home, even by the end of one discussion.

Hope all is well. Love y'all!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 17- What just happened?

Hey family and friends,

This week has flown by. So many awesome things! I hit my 4 month mark yesterday. I really don't know what happened these past few months. They seem like a blur. I guess just adjusting to the mission.

We were able to serve with our investigator David, a young college student. We helped him sand walls and paint them. It was awesome doing some home construction again. Elder Rush looked like jack frost after sanding. Haha. David has a lot of potential though. He is a stellar guy.

We met a guy named James on the way to one of our appointments. He told us that we had dropped a pamphlet off a while ago(the first day me and Elder Lehr went out together) and he had recently read it and actually prayed about it. He got and answer! He had a dream of the the first vision. He says he is looking for the right church. We invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon after sharing some things about gifts of the spirit, because he had questions about his dreams. He is a very intelligent young guy who asks lots of great questions. I love that so much!

A miracle or two happened yesterday. A bunch of non-members showed up to church! It was a crazy week. I think mainly for the primary program. It was awesome to see so many people. One of the members brought a non-member as well who is looking for the right church. We are going to teach him tonight in the member's home where he can feel the spirit. His name is Shawn.

Another miracle happened. Elder Rush thought about one of the investigators we dropped because he was moving. His name was Chris. Elder Rush called him to see if he had moved yet and Chris said that he wasn't going to move at all, and that he had been reading the Book of Mormon we gave him and he felt like he needed to join the church! What just happened! That's what I thought. Heavenly Father certainly has prepared this guy. It's a miracle! He has some struggles he needs to overcome, but he is very humble and willing to do so. We have a baptism date for next month. Hopefully I stay for it, but it doesn't matter as long as he is baptized!

This week has been so awesome! There have been so many miracles and blessings from God. I am filled with so much joy and humility as I see God's hand in the work. None of this would have happened unless he was in the work. Hope y'all are doing great! Love each and every one of you!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 16- Simplify

Friends and Family,

This week has been full to the brim. I feel like we were constantly doing something, which was awesome! There were a couple days where we were out on our bikes all day. Haha. We are getting kicked into shape. 

We have been focusing on the lessons this last week. We have been studying the doctrines in the lesson. We have been focusing on keeping what we teach very simple and brief so that they have a powerful spiritual experience that sticks with them. If a lesson drags on, they lose focus and lose the spirit. It has worked. I know the Lord has helped me in my efforts. I thought it would be hard, but after practicing a little, I was able to teach a great first lesson that flowed very well. Hopefully we are able to meet back up with the guy I taught it to. He even accepted a Book of Mormon.

We contacted a referral that the Sisters gave us. I wasn't expecting much out of it, but the guy actually let us in. He is a preacher at his church, but it doesn't sound like he is set at that church. Hopefully we get to see him this week.

We ran into someone doing yard work and asked if we could help. He let us help and we discussed the gospel with him. He said that he was a non-denominational christian because he believed that truths were lost that were in the Bible. We instantly jumped on the opportunity to share the Book of Mormon with him, which is the most correct of any book. We are going to visit him this week and give him a Book of Mormon.

This last story is awesome and I hope it leads to success. We always see a man biking around who yells go BYU at us. We finally talked to him at the library one day. The spirit lead us there and he said the spirit told him to talk to us. We gave him our number and told us to call us. He actually did! No one usually does that. Me and him talked for almost an hour. He said that he was struggling in life right now. His kids won't talk to him. He has some regrets. He is older now. He is a less active member. He wants to be active again. I know the Lord has prepared him. I know that the Lords hand is in this work because none of what happened was coincidence. I hope we are able to visit him again this week.

Hope all is well! Love y'all

-Elder Chandler Allen