Dec 9, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

I am doing great here in Kansas City. Kansas City is all white with all the snow that we have gotten this weekend.  This morning we went to the Zoo and spent some time there. We saw lots of animals but not every animal was out. The weather here has been very cold.  It has been under 20 some days.

Last Monday we went to the Plaza and walk down the streets and look in some of the stores. The plaza has tons of lights everywhere. We had dinner with the Laseur family and had fried chicken. We then had a great lesson after dinner with them. 

Tuesday we walked and bus. We tried to see some unknowns that bishop gave us. We were able to talk to only one of them. We tracked some but no one wanted to talk since it was very cold. We were able to meet with David and help him pay his tithing for the first time. We also gave Bro Hamm a blessing since he was going to the hospital the next day. 

Wednesday we biked and biked. We meet with Patricia and she is from Mexico and lived for 4 years in Arizona. She went to church in Arizona and wants to attend here. We then went to the Biggs and meet with them to see how Sister Miller was doing quitting smoking. We were fed homemade banana bread.  We then bike more to help Sister Brooks set up her Christmas tree. We had dinner with Sister Gay at Sally's, a Mexican food place. After dinner we meet with the Scott's they are both blind and are converts to the church.  They don't come as often since it is hard for them to make it to church. They can talk with you about movies for hours. They have seen tons of new movies.

Thursday we biked even more. We tried more unknowns in a different area and at one of the houses we didn't find him home but did talk to his next-door neighbor and she told us that she was looking for a church to take her family too.  We had dinner with the Sloops and had KFC. After dinner we went to see Alex with Bro Olsen and we taught her the word of wisdom and the Law of Chastity. She accepted to follow them.

Friday we had Zone training. It was on how to communicate to the ward better. We also were given instructions on what to do when there is snow and ice on the roads. We went out for lunch at Wendy's. After that we went on Exchanges with the zone leaders. Elder Christensen and I stayed in this ward and Elder Horne went with Elder Stevens to Blue Springs. We tracked a lot but no one was interested.  We helped Sister Gallardo program her new remote for her TV. We had dinner with Sister Pitt and Marlow and had home made pizza. We also gave Sister Marlow a blessing.  After that we stop by Bro Hamm's to see how he was doing. We help him sweep and go through mail that he had gotten.

Saturday we exchanged back after ward correlation. We taught Shirley and Martino more about baptism since I hope that they will be baptized this next Saturday. We had dinner with Sister Simmontons and she told us all about her car problems. She feed us meat loaf and green beans. After dinner we all 4 went to see Brother Smith. He lives very close to Sister Simmontons.  He told us his life story and about all the health problems he is going through.

Sunday we woke up to find it snowing. We went to church and only had 2 investigators there. After church Bro Ramirez took us to see Particia. We read with her and taught her about the restoration. Bro Ramirez had to translate part of it for her.   We had dinner with Bishop and his family. We had fresh salmon from Alaska. We then watched the Christmas Devotional with them. I enjoyed it.   It was awesome to watch.

I am still doing great here. I am enjoying the weather and the snow. I hope you are all safe and doing well this Christmas season. Thanks for the tree and the decoration. Thanks for the letters. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen