Week 81- Elder Golden's Visit

Friends and Family,

This week was great! We had a seventy come visit our mission. Elder Golden, who is from South Africa, and his wife came to our stake conference and our mission zone conference. It was amazing! He has so much knowledge, and his understanding is so deep and covers a lot of doctrine. It's really neat to hear him speak. Plus he's a captivating speaker. It was just a really good weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed.

On Sunday, we had a little time to do some finding, and we were able to meet a couple of people. It was great! We tried to talk with everyone. When we were heading home, there was some people just sitting outside. I had some fear about talking with them, because from a distance, they seemed kinda serious, and I was just thinking we would be late if we talked with them, but we just did it anyway... and it totally worked out! They were both so nice and open. The man was asking all about our missions and stuff. Super nice people. We will see them this weekend, so that will be nice. 

It's just been a really good week. We got a new senior couple, the Pixton's fed us, and Elder Golden came, along with Elder Blueth, an area Seventy. he talked on how our personal righteousness determined our faith. He's very loving and nice.

This has been a good week!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 80- Trio Week

Friends and Family,

This week was great! We have had a good week full of hard work and fun. It's enjoyable being in a companionship with Elder Castillo and Elder Otterstrum. I look up to Elder Otterstrum. I feel he is a great missionary. He works hard and has an enjoyable time doing it. One of my favorite companions. It was a great trio. Two great companions makes the work enjoyable and we are able to support and push each other more. We have been working both Houma and Thibodaux this past weekend or so, but at transfers, Elder Otterstrum will get a new companion, and Elder Castillo and I will go back to just working Thibodaux. That will be fun. 

We were able to tract a couple apt complexes, finding some new PIs that are interested. Some are students going to Nichols. The Spirit is leading us to the right people right now. Those that are open. So hopefully they keep the commitments.
Last night, we tracted into a young couple that just moved in. Really nice and we made a good connection with them. The Houma Elders will follow up with them.
We are being more bold and loving at the same time. It's enjoyable. I don't feel bad about being straight forward and simple because I love the people I'm teaching that much. We were able to promise an investigator couple in the name of Christ that if they got married and baptized, that God would provide their financial needs. The Spirit was so strong. It was just such an enjoyable week. We worked hard, felt the Spirit, and had a lot of fun. I'm loving it right now!

I love y'all. I'm excited to stay in my area with my companion. We are going to keep doing our best. I'm excited! Love y'all!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 79- Exchanges with a CAR!!!

Friends and Family,

We went on exchanges at the beginning of the week, and it was so nice to have a car again. haha. Walking and biking can wear you out, but I will happily continue doing it I guess. Haha.

Exchanges were fun. I was with Elder Long. He is very nice and happy, and he loves engines and cars. Pretty neat. He taught me a thing or two.

We had a neat experience. We felt like we should knock on this one house. The man who opened the door seemed super familiar to me, like I had seen him at a restaurant before and he had stood out to me. We started talking about the Restoration, and he said that he knew some members and that he had remembered me from somewhere as well. Really nice guy. Pretty busy, so we will try back again randomly.

They assigned the new mission President this week. His name is Ross Varner. He is in commercial real estate and played for BYU football a while back. President Hansen said they were a great couple. I'm excited, although I will only be with them for a couple weeks.

It's been a good week, and I'm excited for an even better one.

Love, y'all!

Week 78- Hot and Cold

Friends and Family,

This week, the weather has been a little crazy. At the beginning, it was pretty warm, probably in the lower 70's, then one night we went to bed, and the next morning, it was freezing! Haha. I guessed it snowed up in Northern Louisiana. It didn't here, but there was some ice. It's alright though. I feel it warming up already though.

We were able to meet with a couple people this week. Kevin is a really nice and quiet guy. We shared the Restoration with him, and it all made sense. At the end he prayed, saying that he needed that in his life right now and he asked if it was true, even telling God that he needed to read and ponder the pamphlet he received. Just a good lesson and it boosted our confidence.

We also met another guy again. He was a friend of one of the members. His name is Malick. Super nice and driven guy. He respects what we do, and also his friend who's a member, so he's open to listening to us. Really neat!

There's an awesome member of the ward here. Super amazing conversion story. He just sent in his papers to leave on a mission. His name is Donald. Super strong testimony and he is not afraid to share it. One of those kids who you can tell he has the Spirit from how loving his eyes are. Pray for him. We are excited to see where they send him!

Love Y'all!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 77- New Year? What?!

Haha, Friends and Family,

I can't believe it is a New Year. It's so great! When I realized it was a New Year, I felt accomplished for some reason, like I had just survived another year of my life. Haha. It was honestly fun to think about that and all that has happened and what will happen in the future.

I love my companion Elder Castillo. He's a great story teller and has some fun stories. Haha. 

Yesterday was great. I decided to make a goal to pray with faith, believing it would happen. I prayed we would be led to the right people to talk to and we were! We would just get a feeling that we should knock on a specific door or try some apartments, and we were able to teach two lessons, one of them setting up a return appointment. The Lord is very merciful to us when we humble ourselves.

I love y'all and know y'all will do great with New Year Resolutions!

Love, Elder Chandler Allen

Week 76- Christmas! Year 2

Friends and Family,

This Christmas was awesome! We had some great families that fed us and it was awesome getting to talk with my family. It was encouraging. I'm excited to go out and work harder. Knowing that I'm going home in a couple months really motivates me to finish off strong. No trukiness! haha.

My new companion is Elder Castillo. We knew each other up in Baton Rouge. He is a Spanish missionary, so I'm excited to find some Hispanics in this area to teach.

The first night we were companions, we were out biking. The lady we were trying to see wasn't home, so we just biked around the corner. We felt like we should knock on one door specifically. It ended up being a younger couple who just moved in. They were sort of open, and he said we could come back. It's great how the Spirit leads us to the right people. I love it.

Christmas was great. We spent time with two different families. We got a couple gifts from some of the families in the ward. They made it feel as much like home as possible. We had some gumbo, ham, fried turky, oyster dressing, and some other good stuff. All in all, it was amazing. And I loved talking to my family and seeing their faces. I can't believe that's already over. Time is going by quick. I hope to enjoy it and keep working hard. Love y'all!

-Elder Chandler Allen



Elder Castillo

Week 75- Now I'm in the Bayou

Friends and Family,

I'm in Thibodaux(tib-a-doe). haha. It's awesome. We live right on the bayou. The first time tracting here, we met an older guy, and I hardly understood half of what he was saying. Haha. He had such a thick cajun accent. It was awesome! The ward is great down here.There is a lot of potential and people to work with down here.

One of the families we are teaching are Scott and Tammy. They have great potential. Scott read through a lot of the Book of Mormon already. He asked about 1 Nephi 13 and asked where the plain and precious truth were that were lost from the Bible. Amazing question, and we lead him to the intro page to the Book of Mormon where it says that it contains the fullness of the gospel. Great lesson, and we had a member there to back everything up that we taught. Just a great night.

My companion is Elder Shuck. He's awesome. We get along really well. Just super nice and always looking for a way to serve.

I love it down here. I'm very excited for the future. Love y'all and Merry Christmas!

I know that Christ is my Savior. I feel it everyday as I kneel down and repent. That's where I get my motivation to share the gospel. Look for ways to do that in your lives.

Love,

Elder Chandler Allen

The Thibodaux Apartment

Elder Shuck and Elder Allen