Monday, December 29, 2014

Dec 29, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a great week, lots happening. Christmas was the Best day this week.
Tuesday was the exchanges with the Mound City Elders. I went with Elder Pickup to Mound City. He is waiting for a visa to go to South Africa. We spent the day in Blue Mound. It is a little small town. We talked to most of the people living there. We didn’t find anyone too interested. We had dinner with the Andersons. They are the Senior missionary couple in the Branch. They had invited a friend to dinner his name was Gormon. We taught him about the Book of Mormon. We then meet with Keven, a Mayor of another small town. It was a great day.


Wednesday we had district meeting. We talked about Goals and how to become better missionaries. We all ate at Taco Bell and we saw again the couple we saw last week eating at Subway.  We went out to La Harp afterwards. We tried some people there. We saw a pond that had a diving board next to it.  We had dinner with the Taylors. They had invited their family and ward members to come. We had dinner, sang Christmas songs, and acted out the Nativity. The missionaries were the Shepherds.
Thursday was Christmas!!! We had fun opening all the Gifts. We had lunch with the Greenwalls. The Taylors were also there. They had stockings with little fun gifts and Candy. We went over to the Patton’s to Skype. Brother Patton told us some funny stories from his mission and Christmas. We help unload firewood that his father in law brought over. We had dinner with the Hannons. We were expecting there to be lots of family and friends over. It turns out that they were all there for lunch when the Sisters were there.  We had a good day.
Friday was lots of tracting. We talk to lots about Christ and their Christmas.  In the evening we went out with Dr Guernsey to see some people. All of our appointments fell through. We were able to visit the Allens and give the Grandma a blessing.
Saturday we went to Humboldt, a little town that we cover. Not many people up and going.  We did go out with Carl and saw La Donna. Brother Hannon was able to bare his testimony. He enjoyed it a lot. We visit the Pass family and shared the Plan of salvation. We saw the Coopers and we taught the kids they have about the restoration. It was a great day.
Sunday we had Church. None of our investigators came to church. It was good anyway.  We were able to talk with the Edwards. They are very nice. We had dinner with the Taylors. We have seen them a bunch this last week. We were walking to a door when a car honked at us. It turns out to be the Porters dropping a kid off. We also visited with David. He is doing good still busy with kids.
I hope you all had a great Christmas. Have a great week and new year. Thanks for all the letters. I love you all.
Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Monday, December 22, 2014

Dec 22, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a great week.

Tuesday we had a busy day.  We went to the Assisted living place to play Bingo with the old people. They look forward for us to come.  We also went to Sister Wright’s. There we read 3rd Nephi chapter one with Tina and the Pattons.  We also tried Aj, he let us in and we answered lots of his and his wife's questions.  We also went with Brother Snyder to see Jim. The Lesson went awesome. Bro Snyder was the right member present. He was able to connect with him.

Wednesday we had District Meeting. It was us plus the Sisters and the Mound City Elders and Senior couple.  We went over great ideas to find people in different ideas. We went to subway for lunch. There was a couple there that the Sisters got an appointment with.  We found a couple of people that we got return appointments with. We had dinner with Bro Slaugh.  When we got out there was freezing rain all over.  The roads were slick. We were able to meet with Scott. He was cooking all kinds of food for his kids in his school class.

Thursday we had a busy day. We also found a couple more people that we gave “He is the Gift” cards. We had dinner with Aj and his Family. We had some great fried Chicken. We taught them all the Restoration. We set them all on baptism date for Jan 18th.  We also hear from a member of the ward that is in City council. That a guy we knocked on the door the day before had called the cops and was telling everyone that he doesn't want us to come back. We only wished him a Merry Christmas.

Friday we saw the Jessephs. We also went tracting and knocked on a ton of abandon houses. We didn't find many people that were home in this area.  We had dinner with the Hannons. We ate fried tacos.  

Saturday we had appointment with Brother Burkman. We then went to the Pass family to help build their porch. It was a fun project. It was muddy but we got lots done. They had a couple of dogs that were everywhere. Always where we wanted to be or in the way.  They had part of their family there that is not members. They have tons interesting stories.

Sunday was the ward Christmas program.  There were tons of people that didn't make it to church. Lots are in hospitals and sick. No one that could play the piano was there. Elder Hansen was the only one and played for the whole meeting.  It went good everything worked out.  We didn't get any investigators there.  I meet a couple that the other Elder Allen, The McMillians.  We got tons of bread from people most of it was banana bread.  We spent the day in Iola. We didn't have any of our return appointment work out.  We did get a referral for some less actives. We had dinner with the Taylors. We will be spending lots of time with the extended Taylor family this week.  We got to teach Steven. They had 3 week old puppies that we got to hold. They were so soft.

I hope you all have a great Christmas. I hope you are all safe and have a great week. I love you all. Looking forward to call home.

Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

1.  What time are you Skyping?  Any time is good.  Remember that if you want to skype at the same time as Andrew that is great but you have to be on a computer and not an ipad or iphone.
Would 2 our time work for you all? We have a breakfast with the Greenwalls at 11. We will be at the Pattons to Skype.

 2.  How big is the ward you are in?  How many towns do you cover?
We are about 90 by 70 miles. There are two main towns we visit often. We are like 3 hours from the mission office. We can drive for about two hours to get to bigger meetings in our stake.

3.  How many missionaries are in your ward?
We have a set of sisters and us.


Monday, December 15, 2014

Dec 15, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a great week. There was lots of driving to do.

Monday was P day.   We spent the day as a zone in Payola. We practiced for the Song that we would be singing for the Conference. We had a great time.

Tuesday we were walking and ran into a lady that we had met a couple of week ago. It turns out that she knows our recent converts and wants to come back. We did our service for the week playing bingo with the old people. It was fun.   They look forward to us and expect us to come.  We meet with Tina and Sister Wrights. We read out of the Book of Mormon. We read about Jesus Christ coming to the Americas.  We were able to get in with Floyd and we talked about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He told us over and over that he is a believing man. After dinner we were off to the Zone leaders place for the Evening. We stay there so we can get to the Mission office in a reasonable time.  On the way there I had forgotten to get gas. When we did get to a gas station the tank was almost empty. 

Wednesday was our All mission Conference. Everyone was there.  We had talks about our thoughts and about the things happening around us like the Book of Mormon play.  We had an awesome lunch.  It was Chicken and potatoes with Pie. We then had an all mission picture. Sister Anderson from my last ward came to take it.  It was a lot of work to get everyone in.  We had a Christmas program afterwards. Every Zone did a song. We did O little town of Bethlehem. It lasted until 5. On our way back we stop at Oklahoma Joe's. It is awesome BBQ.  We didn’t make it back to our place until after 9.

Thursday all of our plans fell through. We couldn't find anyone home. We did some tracting and everyone wasn't interested.  We meet an atheist. The evening was better.   We were able to teach RJ. We taught it at the Shaw’s. Everyone was sitting down but still a lot was happening. We had dinner with Brother Slough. We went to the Red Pepper.  It had moved and took awhile to find it.  After that we taught the Hannons the first new member lesson.  We then meet James an Investigator that was so close to Baptism before he got anti. Very unique person.  he was excited to come to the Christmas party. Turns out that he knows some members. 

Friday we did service for Linda. She needed help with cleaning out a shed. Afterwards we went to lunch at pizza hut.  We also went to the Library and I figured out how to put the video He is the Gift on DVD. We took it around to show it to everyone. We had dinner with the Adairs. They took us to El Pueblitos. It was good Mexican food. After that we saw the Pass family and the Coopers. We watched the movie with them. I love watching it. 

Saturday we talked to lots of people. We found a new investigator.  It was a father of a potential that we found a couple of weeks ago. We were looking for Tj but he wasn't there. He was in a drug rehab place. The Father was grateful for our concern and wants us to come back and share a message with him.  We had the ward Christmas party. Lots of people came. We had to use every table in the building.  We almost ran out of food. We had tons of investigators that made it. There was a program afterwards and it brought the Spirit in. 

Sunday we had Church. Not one of our investigators came. They came to the Party and not church. There was only one of the speakers that showed up.  After church we had Bishop's youth discussion it was on the Topic of patriarchal blessings. We were able to meet with a couple of people in Iola. We had dinner with the Taylors. It rained for the whole evening. Lots of water!! We were able to talk with the Kellers. They showed us all the new toys and technology there is. 

Thanks for all the letters and the Love this Christmas season. I hope you all have a great week. 

Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Monday, December 8, 2014

Dec 8, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,

This was a great week, lots happened.  Monday after shopping and emailing we went to the Body shop. We had to take the car is since it had a broken headlight. Before I had gotten here the Elders hit a deer and it broke the Light.  We did lots of walking that night. 

Tuesday we did even more walking. We had service at the rehab center with the old people.  We played bingo with them and they were so excited to have us come and spend some time with them. After that we had our weekly meeting at Sister Wrights home.  The less active Pattons came with their new baby and we also had Sister Pass. She is the only one in her family that isn't a member yet. We read the last chapter of the Book of Mormon with them.  We had dinner with the Guernsey Family. After dinner they took a picture of us and the kids to put on Facebook. By the next day there were like 50 likes on it.  We went to Brother Burkman.   We were able to teach him the shorten lesson on the restoration.

Wednesday it was another cold day.  We saw lots of people. One family was the Allen Family. They were so excited to have a Missionary with the name Allen.  We have been inviting everyone to watch the movie called He is the Gift. We did some tracting and found some people that I hope will continue to meet with us. 

Thursday we had weekly planning. We also got our car back. It was all fixed.  We were also finally able to visit all the people far out. In the evening we went to see Carl and Kim. I help them start their Family history, for us to be able to go to the Temple with them. After they started they were calling everyone looking for info to put in. 

Friday we woke up early to drive to Paola. We had zone training.  They stressed the Area book and us keeping it up to date.  It was a long training. After wards we went out to eat at a Chinese food buffet.  We had dinner with the Hannon. They made chicken fried steak. They were excited to go to the Temple the next day. 

Saturday was another early day. We rode with the Lees to the Temple. It was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive there and back. It was awesome to be in the temple. I was able to confirm Bro Hannon for his ancestors.  We went to Olive Garden and had endless soup and salad. I love their bread sticks. We spent the day in Iola afterward. We also saw the Pass family. They all said they would come.

Elders, The Hannons, Elder Hansen, Elder Allen

Sunday we had a surprise visitor at our ward. It was President and Sister Vest. There were 4 baby blessings in a row. Both Patton families had their babies blessed and the younger Pass Family had their two babies blessed also.  I taught Gospel principles, and we had president there.  We were able to visit Bro Swenson. He told us the same story over and over. He had a stroke and it hinders his short-term memory. We had invited people to come to the Devotional but none came. I enjoyed it.   

Thanks for all the Letters and emails. I hope you all have a great week. All ways remember the true reason we have Christmas. That is because of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen




Monday, December 1, 2014

Dec 1, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,

This was an Interesting week.  It was transfer week.

Monday was our P day.

Tuesday we still didn't know what was happening. We just went through out the day just expecting both of us to stay. We were able to meet with Josh. We read about Nephi and him building the ship.  We were able to go all the way out to the Crim's house. We went to drop off containers that they had given us with food in them. We were expecting that we couldn't stay since Brother Crim wouldn't be home. Turns out that he was and he let us in and we visited for a while. We had dinner with the Bueschers. Afterwards we had to go to the Stake Center to let Elder Avey interview some one for baptism.  We got the call super late informing us that I would be going to Iola, Kansas.
 
One last picture with Elder Avey


Wednesday I packed and we went by some people to say goodbye.  We went by Josh. He was going out to dig holes for post for a Chicken coup.  We were able to help him dig. We also saw the Johnsons. We even stop by the sweet shop to say good-bye to Harley.  It was sad havening to say good-bye to this ward.

Thursday was transfers.  We all meet at the Mission Office. My new companion Is Elder Hansen.  We are in the Iola Ward serving in Chanute. I hear it the closest place to the center of the United States. It took over 2 hours to drive to our place. I will be the Full time driver here. It was cool to be able to go somewhere I've never been before. First time serving all in the Kansas side. We had Thanksgiving with the Grams. They had lots of family over. Part of them are members and some are not. We had a hard time talking to people after dinner.

Kansas City Royal's horse
Friday was a good day. We spent the day in Spark and Erie. Visited members. There are like 50 people that live in Stark.  We had dinner with the Patton family.  It was great.  It is funny how everyone is related to part of the town.

Saturday we went out to Attona another town we cover and met some nice people. Tons of room between houses. We taught the Pass family about Eternal marriage. We also saw Carl and Kim, they just got baptized last Sunday.  They are going on the temple trip this Saturday so we might be able to go.

Sunday was great. This area is a ward but there aren't tons of people. It is like the size of a branch.  We have lots of great people here. We talked about the Book Of Mormon play that is coming to KC and how to use it as a missionary tool. We had dinner with the Taylors. We spent the day in Iola. We meet with David an investigator.  He lives right next to members. He had an old video game arcade plus a soda machine on his porch.

I am having a great time here. I hope you have a great week. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Nov 24, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,
This week was a great week for us.
Monday we spent the day with the Platte city Elders. We also got a car from the Sisters. It was the Purple one, the same that I drove in St Joe.
Tuesday we went to the Lindsy’s and had cookies. We visited with them and got to know them. They told us that we should only serve in one area so they don't have us leaving after just coming to an area. We went to the Library and learned about the movie the Church is putting out called “He is the Gift.”  We had dinner with the Bakers. They had invited their less active Son and his Family to join also. It was cool to be able to meet them. The kids were fascinated with us and what we do.
Wednesday we had district meeting. The topic was how we can better invite people to do something. We also talked about “He is the Gift.”  We had lunch at the Chinese Wok. We then went on Exchanges with Platte City Elders. I stayed here in this ward and Elder Tolmam came with me.  We were able to talk to a few people as we tracted. We had dinner with the Heckels. They took us to a Chinese buffet in Smithville.  We visited with Keven and answered some more questions that he had and talked more about the Temple and Church buildings. He said that he had taken his son over to the Temple to see it all lit up.
Thursday we exchanged back after studies. We then had weekly planning. We went by the Tallents to see if they could help us.  We first help him position his axel for his tuck. Then he cut off a lock on the bike Elder Avey was riding. It was an old lock fror an Elder that is gone.  Brother Tallent used an acetylene torch to cut it off. We had dinner with the Litsters and we watched the new video the mormon message about refiners fire.  We then saw the Balenskys and talked with them about conversions and what is needed to get one.
Friday we spent the day in Smithville. It rained part of the day. We went tracting while it was raining and talked to some great people.  We also meet Isaac's friends and talked with them. We went to Panera Bread with Sister Murphy. We were about to purchase our food when a guy we didn't know paid for it. It was nice to see that there are great people around us.  We stop by the Delows to ask some questions. While we were there we talked to Brother Dedelow about his Coworker. We also gave him a blessing since he was getting sick.
Saturday we had our meeting with the Litsters. We saw a big deer just walk past in their backyard. We also help the Bueschers set up their Christmas tree. We also had stake conference. Our mission president and his wife were there. There we heard some great talks.
Sunday was also stake conference.  The Holmsteads drove us there and back. We also had lunch with them. We were able to see the Hitchborns. We visited with them and learned about their life story. We had dinner with Bro Frieson. We then got a call asking if we could come by and give Brother Shanks a blessing.  We went over and gave him a blessing.  Very interesting how we thought of their names as we planned and turns out that there was a reason for needing to be there.
I hope you all have a great week. Have an awesome Thanksgiving. I keep you informed about transfers this week. I miss you all.
Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Monday, November 17, 2014

Nov 17, 2014


This week was an interesting week for us. We gave up the car this week so we were on bikes.  We also had the first snow.

First Snow
Tuesday was my first time riding bikes in this area. We did some tracting and we talked to some people. We even handed out two Books of Mormon.  We had dinner with the Wilsons. We had a tower activity with them and the kids were so happy to help. It's been getting dark faster so people are less willing to talk with us.

Wednesday was our Zone conference.   There were three stakes at this one.  The topic for the day was The Book of Mormon.  We were instructed how to use it more effectively.  Lunch was provided by our ward. It was cool that they had the opportunity to do that. We also talked to President Thomas, our stake president. He talked about how we should be working with our Ward mission leader, their roles and responsibilities.  We had dinner with the Shanks. They are a new family in the ward and Recent converts. We talk about Jesus and what he asks us to do.  We went with Brother Morris.  He drove us around and we tried a couple of people.

Thursday we had weekly planning.   We then went out and saw people.  It was real cold.  We found some more people to try to teach. We had dinner with Bro Frieson. He took us to Cheaters.  We were able to talk about his conversion story.

Friday we had Brother Johnson's Interview. Him plus Sister Johnson drove us to the Stake Center. There we meet the Zone leaders. One of them interviewed him.  We also went on exchanges. I went with Elder Hart to St. Joe.   We had a busy day, saw a couple of people and taught a couple of lessons.  We had dinner with the Case family. They cooked us a southern breakfast. In the evening we saw Aaron.  He was a guy that they tracted into. He was very interested and had read before we came back.  We read with him and his daughter. She was 8 and caught on to lots and was correcting her dad saying Nephi wrong.

Brother Johnson's Baptism
Saturday was when we exchanged back. We had the hardest time finding a ride to the church. We need to fill the font before the baptism. Bro Frieson gave us a ride since he was going to the temple.  The Baptism went great.  There were lots that came. Elder Goro and Dunn came.  The Johnson’s daughter and granddaughter came. They were in Harrisonville when I was there.  The Sister missionaries and us sang the musical number. It was if the Savor stood beside me.  Elder Avey gave a talk on the Holy Ghost after a couple hours notice.   We had dinner with them afterward.



Sunday Brother Johnson was given The Gift of the Holy Ghost. I had the opportunity to stand in the circle. Bro Keeney gave an awesome talk about why we need rules and struggles. Elder Avey and I taught Sunday school since Brother Listster was in Alaska.   We had dinner with the Painters.  It was fun to watch their little kids.   We had berry cobbler for dissert and it was so good.

Here is the answer to your question.
We are in the Platte City north Zone. There are 4 Elders and 4 sisters in our district, Newmark and Platte city. My companion is the District leader. 

Thanks for the emails and letters. I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Oh by the way transfers will be on Thanksgiving. There is a possibility that I will leave but won't know until Tuesday before.


Monday, November 10, 2014

Nov 10, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,

This was a great week; there was tons of service to be done.

Monday was a monthly missionary gathering at the Stake center. There were lots of sports played and board games to play. We had dinner with the Cantwells. We learned that he was on a video that was show in the World Series.
parking for Halloween party


Tuesday we did some service for an old lady in Smithville.  We raked more of her leaves outside her house from some giant trees that she had. We also went to the Johnsons to see if there was help needed. Bro Johnson is getting baptized this Saturday. It was cool that when we came over we were also able to answer some questions that just came up.  We had dinner with the Keeneys and they had invited one of their friends over for dinner with us and then to go to mutual.  We were able to answer some of her questions and talk about the Book Of Mormon.

Wednesday we meet all kinds of people, as we were tracting.  We talked to lots of people also handing out some Books of Mormon

Thursday, Brother Tallant went with us to do some service for a lady that we had tracted into a week ago. We filled like 10 bags with leaves and some of the bed of his truck.  Smithville has a drop off site for leafs and compost. So we didn't have to pay anything.  We also visited Josh and he has gotten busy with school and other activities.  We had dinner with Bishop and his wife. We had Jack Stacks BBQ. It is one of the famous BBQ shops here in KC. We then had a meeting with him, we almost stayed the whole night talking about the progress of the investigators and Members.

Friday was Zone training and we talked about the importance of Goals and how this mission has a goal of 500 for year. We all brought sack lunches so we could all eat together.  It was super fun. They also talked about asking everyone if we could come back to teach more. We tried that and got some referrals as we were tracting.   We helped the Elder Quorum move a less active family into a different ward.  We didn't have a dinner after service so we went to a Chinese food place to eat.
  
Saturday we attended a funeral. It was for Harley's wife. She was one of the people that founded Nellies, the sweet shop in Smithville. We are there at least once a week so we got close to them.  It was held at the First Christian Church here in Smithville. It was interesting to see how it was done at a different church. They used scriptures that we know more about because of modern revelation. There was lots of the ward that show up.   Afterward we had our meeting with Brother Litster, we had it at the Library. It was interesting to have it in the library.  We had planned to do service with Sister Thomas. She had something happen so she didn't make it home on time. So we went by some members looking for Service. We went to the Johnsons and they had more for us to do, plus more questions that they had.  On our way back I felt prompted to stop by the Austins. It was the perfect timing. We were able to visit with them and help them out a little bit. The Kissingers had made chili for us to pick up.  On our way there and back we saw tons of Deer.

Sunday was ward conference. We sang in the Choir. The stake president spoke and Bishop. They talked about how we need to be unified to get things done.  They used the Royals as an example.  They also talked about how technology is good but bad.  We need to be careful using it.  President Thomas in the last hour talk about being prepared for the second coming. He also talked about how we need to take it into our heart and be changed.  We had dinner with the Smiths and they had pumpkin donuts. We visited with the Shanks and shared Alma 34:37&38 talking about being Thankful since we have so much.

I had a great week. I hope you also had a great week.  Thanks for the Letters and have a great week. 
Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Monday, November 3, 2014

November 3, 2014


Dear Family and Friends,

This past week was a great week. We were able to do lots of service and talking to people.

Tuesday we started out the day by helping Bro. Tallent. We dug out his garden to replace the boards that made the raised garden.  We talked to him about his conversion story and how it has blessed his life. Later in the day we saw Sister Stock. She is a recent convert; she was having her birthday this day.  We meet her husband.  We had dinner with the Page Family.

Wednesday was our district meeting day. We talked about what we can used to find answers to gospel questions. We did some tracting at some duplexes that were in our area. We meet some nice people. We also meet some people that had lived here in Kansas City. They were living in the outskirts with very few neighbors. I also found a new pair of sunglasses on a grass field.  We went out with Brother Tibbs. We saw Josh and it was great that Brother Tibbs was there he just connected with him.

Thursday we went to the library and watched lots of the videos the church has made.  While we were at the Library we visited Quinn, the Bueschers son.  He was getting books for his trip to California. We had a great day visiting with some less actives.

Friday was Halloween!  We spent the day in Smithville.  We talked to the owner of a T-shirt place. He was informing us that we need to listen to the Radio and the news. He thought we were to uneducated in today’s world.  We started raking leaves for people in Smithville.  The House we picked was a house with tons of leaves.  While we were raking an old lady came out to thank us. She was so happy that we had come to help her. She had no one to call to take care of the leaves.  She was so grateful that she was crying.  We had dinner/ party with the Ashcrofts. After our dinner we were grounded to our apartment for the rest of the night. 

Saturday we had a busy day. We had our weekly meeting with Brother Litster.  In the afternoon we drove to the Stake Center. We help set up and prep for the Fireside that evening. Elder Avey and I also did parking.   The Fireside was for Jeremy and Jenny Guthrie.  Bro. Guthrie is one of the starting pitchers for the Kansas City Royals. He pitched in the 3rd and 7th game of the World Series.

Brother Guthrie spoke on what is success and how we need to achieve success. He also talked about goals and how they can direct our life.  He served his mission in Spain. While he was waiting for his visa he spent one day in this mission. He talked about how the visitor center and the Jail strengthened his testimony.

Sunday was Fast Sunday. We had lots of meetings before church. Church was great. We talked about sacrifice in the Gospel principles.  It is interesting how people have their own sacrifices that will help them grow.

Thanks for all you have all done for me. Thanks for all the letters and support you all provide to me. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen

Monday, October 27, 2014

October 27, 2014


Dear Family and friends,

This week was a very interesting week. We had the Royals in the World Series.

Monday we spent the day with the Platte City Elders. We had dinner with the Anderson Family. We help Brother Anderson build a Green House around his fish pond.

Tuesday we spent the day in Smithville. During the day we stop by the Candy shop in Smithville. While we were there we talk to some makeup sells reps. They were from Jefferson City. One of them had tons of Questions and we left her with a Book of Mormon.  We had the hardest time trying to meet with people while the World Series was on. Everyone we talk to was excited for the Game. Every one we tried to see was watching the game.
Dogs on roof



Wednesday was district meeting.  It was on how to be come more effective as missionaries.  We visited with Bro. Fugget while his kids were riding their bikes. We had dinner with the Johnsons. After dinner we watched Ephraim's Rescue with the Johnsons. It was a great movie. I enjoyed watching it, there were sad parts but overall it was great. They liked it also.

Thursday we did service for the Lindsys. We help them trim their trees before winter.  We had dinner with our bishop. We then had a couple of things to talk with him about. He talked to us for a long time. When we got out there was lots of fog everywhere.

Friday was a good day we used Mormon.org for a while trying to get familiar with it and how to get more people to visit it.  We went tracting and meet some nice people. We handed out Books of Mormon. I hope they read some of it and become more interested.  We had dinner with the Balenskys and we had ribs, they were awesome.

Ready to work
Saturday we visited with Bro Poe. He took lots of pictures while the temple was being built.  We saw some of them and they were cool. We also attended a pre World Series game party that some members were putting on.  We have a hard time meeting with people since they are busy watching the game.

Sunday we sang in the choir. We heard some great talks on Christ like love.  We had dinner with the Smiths and they cooked some awesome fish.

Today while we were at the library we meet a less active member that just wanted to talk with us. She has been seeing the Lord working in her life.  She is needing help.

Thanks for the letter and Emails. I hope you all have a great week.  I hope the Royals win the World Series. Thanks for everything that you all have done for me.

Love,
Elder Allen

Monday, October 20, 2014

October 20, 2014


Dear Family and friends,

This week was a great week.

Monday we spent the day in Zona Rosa, an outdoor mall. We had dinner with the Ashcroft’s in Smithville. It was a very rainy day.

Tuesday we spent the day trying to see people. We visited with Josh and he is doing good. We were also expecting the transfer call all day. It came in the evening after 9. Elder Goro was told that he was leaving to go to Independence 2nd ward.

Wednesday was a packing day for Elder Goro. We also went around to most of the members so Elder Goro could say good-bye. Elder Goro needed a new prescription for contacts so Brother Mack took us to his office and tested his eyes.   We learned that one of the less active member that we were seeing on a weekly basis got arrested. He will be in jail for a couple of years for downloading bad things on his school computer.

Thursday was transfer day so we went to Independence to the mission office. My new companion is Elder Avey. He is also from Arizona from Phoenix. He has been out the same time as me. We came together just two different districts in the MTC. We had dinner with the Litster family. We meet with Brother Hitchcock this evening to invite him to church. Since it would be in Kearney we were giving an invitation to everyone.

Friday we spent the day in Smithville. We used 



Mormon.org for some time. We also visited Josh and we talked about the Tree of Life. We were also going around inviting everyone to the Halloween party the next day. We handed out a couple of Books of Mormons. We even found a couple people that had member friends. I hope they turn into investigators. We had dinner with the Morris. They asked us to see the Shanks family. The Shanks are new to the ward and we visited them for a while. They got baptized the beginning of the year.
 
Saturday was our meeting with the Ward mission leader. We then did some studies before the party. The party was at the Kissingers.  We help with the set up and we did parking. There were lots of neighbors and ward members. We stayed through the whole party. Got lots of food to take home.

Sunday church was in Kearney since our building was being used for stake conference for the other stake. Church was great.   We didn’t have any investigators that came.  It was interesting to be in a new building.  We had dinner drop off to us since Bro Philips had to go into work. We then went around to see some of the members. We had a great evening. We met lots of people this evening.

Thanks for all you do for me. I hope you all have a great week.
Love,
Elder Benjamin Allen