Elder Allen's first apartment in the mission field.

Week 15- Rain!!!!

Family and Friends,

This week has been quite the week. I've been adjusting to a new companion. Elder Rush is great! He's just a go getter. I'm super excited to keep working hard with him.

We had a great zone conference this week. Very inspiring. We also had a funeral this Saturday. It was an older guy whose wife passed away exactly 2 weeks early, so they're together again! It was a sad funeral. But it was his time to pass on.

And it finally rained! A lot. It rained Saturday, and it came down fairly hard yesterday. It's still really cloudy and a little rainy right now. It's been difficult getting work done though because of the rain. We have been doing a lot of book work and calling people though. 

We got Bob to come to the ward Halloween party. He got to know many people. We wanted him to come to church too, but he wasn't feeling good. He was still recovering from going out to the ward party.

Darrell is doing great. He has changed a lot from when we first met him. He is now way more open and truly desires to learn the gospel. He is keeping his commitments. We just need him to come to church now. Everything is going great though!

It's been a good week. We are going to contact more people this next week and find more new investigators. I know that when we petition the Lord for his help, He will certainly give it. It's important to realize that all we have comes from Him. This work can't go forward without him. I know he has been helping us out so far. It's a blessing to see it first hand.

Love y'all, Elder Chandler Allen

Week 14- The Work is Rushing Along

Friends and Family,

I got a new companion this week. His name is Elder Rush. He is a very determined and spiritual missionary. He wants to baptize 5 people this transfer. I know that if it's the Lord's will it will happen. I get along with Elder Rush very well. He is super hilarious. 

We made a goal to contact at least 5 people a day. On Thursday, we had contacted 3 and we were on our way home. We took a different route through a neighborhood. We stopped to talk to one guy, and just as we were wrapping that up, his next door neighbor asked us to go over to her. She asked us why we hadn't ever been to her house and then told us that she wanted us to come teach her and her husband. What a miracle!!! I know the Lord provides a way for us to accomplish worthy goals. It is so neat to see the Lord's hand in this work. It doesn't get done without him. 

We have been trying to contact more college students, so we went to the homecoming parade and game. College is crazy. I'm nervous to go to college, but I know BYU is a good clean college. We were able to find some people that were interested. They are smart kids that want to have purpose in their lives. I hope we can meet back up with them soon.

And we went through all the old investigator contacts on our phone and contacted as many as possible. There were a lot who want to meet back up with us again. Even though it may have not been their time before hand, it may be their time now. 

I'm so glad I'm with Elder Rush now. I've already learned a lot. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I am so grateful for the many blessings God gives me and you. One of the greatest blessings is the spirit. I have been studying the Holy Ghost and came across a really awesome scripture this morning. It's 2 Nephi 26:11. It says when the spirit ceases striving with man, speedy is his destruction. How profound! We must always strive to have the spirit with us. He will help us overcome temptation and even get rid of temptation. The spirit is essential for day to day life. Do all you can to have the spirit with you. One of the best things to do is have scripture study in the morning, so you are equipped with the spirit throughout the rest of the day. Love y'all

-Elder Chandler Allen

Week 13- Study, Study, Study!

Family and Friends,

This week has been a roller coaster of a week. Haha. We had an exchange, zone training meeting, and transfer news. Good news! I'm staying in Natchitoches! I'm nervous to see who my new companion is, but also very excited. I'll find out tomorrow. Elder Lehr is going home in two days! It's so crazy and awesome. I'll miss him a ton. 

I was feeling fairly down for some of the week. I was frustrated because I felt like we weren't getting work done and I was just discouraged. I realized that I was missing out on the blessing of the spirit. I had missed out on personal study a few times. There was a very obvious difference in how my day went when I didn't take time to study than when I did actually study. I feel the spirit so much stronger when I put forth the effort to have a full effective study each and every morning. I have realized how important the spirit is. It is SOOOO important. The only way I can be an effective missionary is if I always have the spirit with me. So I am focusing on doing the things that will allow the spirit to always be with me. I hope all of you strive to have the spirit with you always as well. It is truly a blessing. You don't realize how joyous and happy it is to have the spirit with you until you actually put in the effort to allow Him to be with you. It is easy to stay discouraged and unhappy, but it is far better to keep the commandments, turn in humility to the Lord, and allow the spirit to be with you. I testify of that in the name of Christ. 

There were a few missionaries that had family members pass away recently. Please keep them in your prayers.

We had a great lesson with Angie this week. She's the a referral from Olivia. Angie is so ready! She is very humble and willing to accept the gospel. She is in a wheel chair and has muscular dystrophy. I know the Lord looks out for her. She is inspiring to me. She committed to baptism when she finds out if the Book of Mormon is true. I am so exited! I felt the spirit so strong when she committed. I know the Lord lead us to her through Olivia. 

I hope everyone is doing great. I challenge you to take time in the morning to study the scriptures. It starts your day off right. You are much happier all throughout the day. Love y'all!

Love, Elder Chandler Allen

Week 12- Conference Weekend Holiday

Family and Friends,

This week was great! We have been buckling down with our planning so that we can use our time most effectively. This also means that we are very busy. Haha. I walk into the apartment at night and just want to sleep. It's probably Satan tempting me to just miss daily planning for the next day. I need to work hard on overcoming that temptation.

Bob watched conference! He watched the first session on Sunday. He saw the three new apostles bare their testimonies. I honestly don't think he enjoyed it as much as he was expecting and it seemed a little too political to him. But he still wants to watch more. He is honestly searching to know if this gospel is true. He prays for God to tell him if it is true. I know he will receive an answer when God knows he is ready. Keep Bob in your prayers.

We brought cookies and a note to Olivia, but she wasn't there. I hope her heart is softened.

We were able to visit a lot of less active members this week. Darrel is doing alright. Often times our lessons get too complicated, so we are going to simplify them a bit, just like what Dieter F. Uchtdorf talked about in conference.

Conference was fantastic! It is kinda like a holiday for us missionaries. We get to have the overwhelming feeling of the spirit and get to have a break from normal proselyting. We watched most of the sessions at the church. I loved all the talks about faith. Neil L. Anderson gave a sad, but really good talk on faith. If we are obedient, our faith will increase. It's so important for our faith to increase so that we can withstand the evil influences of the world and so we can stand as a light to the world which was something that was talked about by Kim B. Clark I believe. I also really enjoyed the talks about allowing the spirit to always be with you and how important it is. That is probably the biggest reason the general authorities have emphasized keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, because we renew our covenants, which in return, God gives us the Spirit to always be with us.

Neill F. Marriot was from Louisiana. She's from Alexandria, which is the center of the zone I'm in right now. It was nice to here that southern accent during conference! Haha.

The talks about Mom's and women in the church made me a bit trunky because I was just thinking about how great and wonderful my Mom is. Mom's are truly saviors. They have such a sacred and special calling. Russell M. Nelson gave a great call to action to all the women. We truly need your help in the church. Some of the greatest missionaries are women. Women are essential in this church.

Thomas S. Monson gave great talks. I could literally just write down everything. Everything he said just applies to our lives. I was really saddened to see that he was struggling a bit towards the end of his talk. I know that he is inspired of God. I know that he receives direct revelation from God for these last days. I felt the spirit as he spoke. 

I hope all of y'all had a great conference weekend. Watch and read the talks again. I was thinking of how amazing it would be if we could feel the spirit that strong always. And we can. Let us apply what we've learned. Make goals to improve and check up on yourself regularly. You can look back and see your improvement from last conference. I love you all!

Love, Elder Chandler Allen

 Elder Allen and Elder Lehr got to go to Stake President Deford's home to watch General Conference.

Week 11- Ups and Downs

Family and Friends,

This week has been quite unique. We had many different things that got us really excited, stressed, happy, sad, peaceful, and frustrated.

I'll get the frustrating things out of the way first:

We may have to drop Olivia and her family. We have been working so hard with them. But when we were trying to visit her, she pulled up in a truck with another lady. The other lady asked us to come up and talk to her. She was a Jehovah Witness. She said that Olivia will be studying with her from here on out and that Olivia would let us know if she wanted us to come back. NOOOOO!!! I wanted to bash with her soo bad. I wanted to stand up for what I believe in. Nobody can tell me what to do! Haha. That's everything that came to my mind. We had to just walk away. We plan to just drop by Olivia and give her some cookies and let her know that we respect her agency and would love to come back if she really wants us to. It's crazy how all these miracles just lead up to this. I know the Lord will figure everything out though. We just need to try our best and it's up to Him and Olivia for the rest of it. She has to be converted, not us converting her. 

On the bright side, Bob continues to progress. We will focus on getting him to church this week.

It was a little crazy Saturday because we were planning a discussion at a members house where we would give a stop smoking workshop to one of the less actives. He showed up to church on Sunday! He really wants to quit. I truly hope he does. Keep him in your prayers.

We have an new investigator. Her name is Angie. She has muscular distrophe so she's confined to a wheelchair. She is very humble and just a great wonderful lady. We feel the spirit strong when we are there. 

We also are teaching a member's less active son. He hasn't come to church since he was a teenager and he's in his 30's so he has forgotten everything. He is really humble and has gone through a lot of trials. He is truly interested. He is our top priority right now. I'm so glad his mom gave him to us as a referral. His name is Darrel.

It's been a crazy week, but this next week, we will focus on finding more investigators to increase our teaching pool. I'm so glad the Spirit has lead us to the investigators we have now, and I know He will continue to lead us to the right people. And as we teach people, if we are sanctified, we will be endowed with power. It's such a cool promise. Sanctification was the topic of my studies this morning. As we use the atonement to become perfected in Christ, we become sanctified and purified. I will be focusing on becoming more sanctified so that I have that power given to me from God.

I hope y'all are having a great week. Be happy in your work!

Love, Elder Chandler Allen

Week 10- Gods Hand in the Work

Family and Friends,

We had a fairly busy week this week. We had multiple service projects again. We helped a less active move some stuff to a house she's building. Her husband isn't a member, but he is such a nice guy. They have some potential. Their house is also very nice. We also helped some members in the Many ward build their house. It is so cool because most of the wall are wood and there are huge windows that bring in a ton of light. That couple is so nice and they have such strong spirits. She shared a story about how she stood up for what she believed in and was let go from her job. She prayed to God and wondered why she was let go if she did what she was supposed to do. She got an answer that something better was coming. She eventually got a way better job that helped her retire easier and better. It was such a cool story. We also helped finished the deck at a member's house. I was sweating bullets up on the deck even though it wasn't even noon yet. Haha. That's how you know you're working hard. I love that feeling!

God's hand is truly in the work. I gained a much stronger testimony on the power of prayer. Olivia and her family have been really hard to contact for the past couple weeks. So Elder Lehr asked his family and the ward his dad is bishop over to pray for her situation to improve. We have done that and God provided a way for it to happen. We got a call during a meeting, but felt prompted to answer it. It was Olivia thanking us for the prayers. She had moved and was in a much better situation than before. She was soooo much more happy. She's no longer depressed. She had us over the next day. It was so neat to see God's hand in this wonderful family. We hope they continue to progress. Right now, they are searching for the right church. Pray for the spirit to lead her and her family to baptism. Our whole contact with them has been a true testimony builder. 

Bob kept his commitment again!!! We can tell he is really progressing. We see a brighter light about him. I love him so much. I hope he gains a testimony of Joseph Smith. That is the thing that is holding him back right now. Keep praying for him to have the spirit testify that Joseph Smith was a true prophet.

I was reflecting on my mission up to this point. I have realized that my testimony is much stronger. It's been tested, tried, denied, and challenged. I know that going through trials and having questions about the gospel truly strengthens our testimonies IF we search the scriptures, pray, and truly desire for this church to be the true church. That is acting in faith. This has solidified my testimony of the gospel. I know it's true. 

Hope y'all have a wonderful week. Look for God's hand in your life. That is such a testimony builder as well.

Love, Elder Chandler Allen