Week 37- A Spiritual Weekend

Friends and Family,

This week was great. I felt like we got back to work from having a couple slow weeks. We found some new people to teach and made the best of what we had. I went on exchanges with Elder Goodsell. He is a funny, chill Elder. He has the best smile. It can make anyone smile. He's just a goofy guy in general. He loved the abandoned six flags. We both thought it was the coolest thing.

We were able to go to the temple on Saturday. It was great! I felt the Spirit so strong. I know that is where heaven and Earth connect. I was reminded of the importance of each individual soul. The Lord really did bless us for going there. You don't realize the importance of the temple until you go through it and feel the immense power of the Spirit. Make it a goal to visit the temple often, or if you haven't already gone, strive to do so. I promise it will be the biggest blessing in this life and in the life to come.

I also had a great Easter. We had church in the downtown building. There was 10 missionaries there at once. Haha. But there were lots of visitors coming from out of town down there on vacation, so lots of unfamiliar faces. We had two Easter dinners. I was stuffed! both with food and the Spirit. I really enjoyed thinking about our Savior all day yesterday.

It ended with our Branch President pulling a prank on us and cracking an egg on all our heads. Good bonding experience. Haha. Kinda gross though.

Anyway, what a Spiritual week. I'm so grateful for all those experiences.

Love, y'all!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 36- A Day Downtown

Friends and Family,

This week was good. Not a lot happened until Saturday. We went on exchanges with the zone leaders that day. It was pretty fun. I was with Elder Allen(haha). Literally. We were trying to find someone at a hospital to give a blessing to. We ended up going to the wrong hospital, but we had already paid for parking, so we just walked a mile or so to the other hospital and found him there. Haha. It was an adventure. Then we went to an assisted living place for the elderly and met with two guys. That was way fun. Then a member took us out to Cain's! Wooh. I love meal appointments.

Leon is doing good. Still making progress. We are just clearing up all the specific questions he has now, so that will be good. Hopefully in doing that, he will come to love the gospel and really embrace it.

Brother Naquin isn't doing so good. He's still sick and there's not really anyone there that can always take care of him. Hopefully we can get him in a better environment.

This week was good. The exchanges got me a lot more motivated. I'm excited to go out and do the Lords work.

Love, Elder Chandler Allen

Week 35- Overcoming Opposition

Friends and Family,

this was an interesting week. Brother Naquin(Wilson) went to the hospital twice this week. Luckily they helped him feel a lot better and he should be getting home soon. We visited him a couple times, which he really enjoyed. It's tough seeing him go through this because he doesn't really have anyone else to depend on. I'm glad he found this church though so he can learn how to better rely on the Savior. 

We visited him, until I got sick. Literally. haha. I woke up with a cold and a sore throat. I think I got it from another Elder though. haha. Oh well. I was able to rest and feel a lot better. I'm still trying to get over it, but I still can go out and work. 

Leon is doing great. He wants to be baptized and is just waiting for a witness from the Spirit. He also wants to compare our doctrine with doctrine found in the Bible, so we are excited to find bible references for each point of the gospel.

Elder Passey is just about to go home. He is a great elder and example. I look up to him. He has grown a lot and has worked diligently on his mission.

I'm doing great! I'm excited to go out and work hard after taking a break to get over the sickness.

Love y'all, hope y'all have a great week!

-Elder Chandler Allen

Elder Allen, Elder Brosnahan, Elder Schaffer, Elder Passey at the WWII museum

Sister Fredrickson, Sister Meador, Elder Allen, Elder Brosnahan, Elder Schaffer, Elder Passey

Week 34-Manual Labor and Cooking

Friends and Family,

A lot of this week was spent doing manual labor and cooking. Haha. I learned how to pour concrete and how to BBQ some delicious steaks. We have been doing some service and a part members house, helping the Dad build a shed in the back. We actually found a less active who we didn't even know lived here from it and have made some other good connection's with a friend or two of the Dad's.

Leon came to church! We had another great spiritual experience with him as we watch the restoration video. That strengthen my testimony of Joseph Smith. I know he was a true prophet. I'm grateful that through him, the church was restored. We are now blessed with all the blessing associated with the fullness of the gospel. Just imagine if we didn't have the fullness now. It really is a blessing.

We also made some sweet and sour meatballs and tried the new cookie dough blue bell icecream. It was very good!

Stephen, a new investigator, has a lot of potential. We didn't even have to invite him to church. He wanted to go himself. He seems like he has a true desire to know the truth. I'm so glad the Lord led us to him. And honestly, I thought that we didn't have any success that day when we found him. We luckily followed up and found that he was sincerely interested. You never know what good you really do. Just keep trying your best, trusting that it's good enough for the Lord.

Love y'all! Have a fantastic week!

-Elder Chandler Allen