Feb 24, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we had a great week.

Tuesday we went tracting and found two new investigators. We found Juan and Teira we were also able to talk with lots of people. We also meet some less active members that we didn't know. 

Wednesday we had district meeting. We were taught on how to invite and commit people to church and to read the Book of Mormon.  We had lunch as a District at Chus, all you can eat place. We then took our car in to have the horn looked at.  The horn had died a couple of days ago. After taking it in we walked home and got our bikes and rode to the chiropractor and then back to the repair shop. The weather was so nice it was sunny and the snow is almost gone.  After getting the car back we went to work. We tracted and saw some people. While we were out we had a prompting to go see Sister Burchett.  It turns out that she was finally home and that her husband was also home. They told us that is was rare for them to be home at that time. They also were talking about bring their boys to a church.  We had a great visit with them. We also went out with Brother Steeby and saw people that we have been trying for weeks. 

Thursday we meet with Mr. Gibbs and taught him about the restoration. I was able to recite the first vision to him and the spirit was real strong there. We went to the hospital to give a lady a blessing that isn't a member but her daughter is. We had dinner with the members we live with. We had ribs and they were awesome. In one hour it went from sunny to rain to hail to snow and back to sunny.

Friday we had a great visit with Bro Swope. He is a less active member that is real old and has a hard time hearing things. We found lots of people that had moved.

Saturday was a busy day we had a member bring by pizza from Papa Murphy’s for lunch. We found some more investigators; one was Justin an insurance agent. We also found Chad, he and his family just moved here and looking for a church. They also have a copy of the Book of Mormon and have lots of Mormon friends. We have been inviting everyone to the fireside we are having this next Saturday. We also went to the post office down in the second ward to pick up a package. They were holding it there since there was not enough postage paid.

Sunday we had lots of meetings to attend in the morning.  Church was good.  We had some talks about being spiritually feed with the scriptures. We didn't have any one make it to church. We learned that second ward is getting a set of sisters this next transfer.  We had dinner with Vockels they had invited the Hesslers over also. We gave Brother Hessler a blessing afterwards. We meet with Shannah and the Dinnings.  Shannah didn't come to church since she was felling sick.

Thanks for Everything. I hope you all get better and have a great week.

Love

Elder Benjamin Allen

Feb 18, 2014

Dear Family and Friends

This week was an awesome week. 

Monday we did the usual things like shopping and played Basketball. We had dinner with Bishop and his family.  We talked with them about missions since they have a son working on his papers. We also introduced them to the family mission plan that our mission president created.

Tuesday we went to the hospital and gave Sister Hessler a blessing, she is in the hospital again. While we were tracting we gave away 4 copies of the Book of Mormon.  We talked to a lot of people and found 3 new investigators. We taught Russ about the Book of Mormon. He committed to read it this week. We went out to Savannah in the evening, we tried to see some people but most of them were not home. We also had a hard time finding houses since it was so dark.

Wednesday we spent the day in Wathena, Kansas. We saw Robert who is not a member but his mom is. We talked to him about the church and what he knows about the church. We saw some other less active people and some former investigators. We had dinner with the Whiteheads. He is the new Elders Quorum president. After dinner with them we spent some time just talking with him about the area and the missionary work in this ward. After dinner we made the drive to Kansas City. We were asked to stay the night with the New Mark Elders since we had a big Zone Meeting the next day. 

Thursday was the Big Zone Conference. We had Elder Martino from the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy.  The Conference was made up of the north top of the mission. The conference was awesome.  The spirit was very strong there. Elder Martino talked about the Atonement and the blessing we have because of it. He also talked about using the right member at your teaching appointments. He left us with a blessing when he left. We were all able to shake his hand. 

Friday was Valentines Day. We had lunch with the Embreys and they took us out to eat with the Sisters. We then tracted more and found out that many people on the church records don’t live there anymore. We meet with the Rudels that evening.

Saturday was a busy day. We had breakfast with the Eddington. Then we helped with some electrical problems he had in his attic. After we were done there we went out to Savannah and helped Angelo clean out a house that renters had moved out of. There was tons of trash in the house. We spent awhile there cleaning.  We had dinner with the Dinnings. I got to help in the kitchen making the soup that we had for dinner. 

Sunday was my birthday!!! I had an awesome birthday. Church was good we had one of our investigators there. We had dinner with the Cochrans. After dinner we calibrated by birthday at the Dinnings after we taught Shannah their friend. Thanks for all the cards and packages. I hope you all had a great Valentines Day. I hope you all get better if you are sick.

Love 

Elder Benjamin Allen

Here is a picture of me in the Attic. 

Feb 10, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was transfer week. Elder Englund left to go to Weinberg and Elder Alexander came up to St Joe. Elder Alexander is from Washington. He is two weeks younger that me. He was called to one of the missions in Brazil but is waiting on his visa. He has been out for 6 months. He was serving in Kansas before here.

Last Monday we went down to the Stake Center to play basketball and we had a Big Nerf gun war. There is a member that owns lots of Nerf guns and accessories. It was fun.

Elder  Englund and Elder Allen

Tuesday we were snowed in. The Cars were shutdown. I help Brother and Sister Farnsworth clean and do things around the house. We only went out with Bro Farnsworth to go to Bro Stocket's viewing. It was like 10 miles away and it took us forever to get there since the roads were not plowed and there was like 5 inches on the roads. We got 9 inches where we live. 

Wednesday I shoveled The Farnsworth’s driveway and helped out around the house. I helped bake and cook food for the luncheon after the funeral. We were allowed to drive like an hour before the funeral. The funeral was great. We heard lots of stories from his past. I felt the spirit real strong and a feeling that I would see him again. I helped Elder Englund pack all of his stuff for transfers in the morning. We had dinner with the Dufrains and we talked about their missions and what effect it had on the rest of their life. After dinner we went to the Kincades so Elder Englund could say good-bye. While we were there the Sister Missionaries called wanting our help since they were scared and didn't know what to do. They had been asked to feed the Bell's Dog and Birds. The dog was in his house and they tugged on his leash and he didn't come out so they were scared that he was dead. It turns out that he wasn't.

Thursday Angelo drove us down to transfers and the drive was nice. We did see lots of cars on the side of the road. We all meet in the Gym of The Stake Center in Independence. There were 105 missionaries being transferred in one day. That was the largest ever in this area. We got back safe and sound. We had weekly planning and took care of paper work. Then I changed the brake lights in the car. They had gone out the day before.

Friday we saw Gene, we read Enos with him and talked about how his answer would come. We tracked for a while and tried to see some unknown members in the area. We had a busy day full of missionary work. It was great to be able to finally do studies with a companion. We talked to tons of people but weren't able to find any one to teach.

Saturday was another busy day. We were able to get lots done. We even went to the hospital to see a member that was there. While we were there to see Dorothy we talked to her son Robert and he wanted us to help him become active. We find lots of people that say they are active in their churches. We talked with people that the ward hasn't been able to find for a while.

Sunday we had church and it was great. The talks were awesome. It was about being grateful for what you have. We didn't have any one make it to Church this week but next week will be better.  We had dinner with the Eddingtons. He served his mission in Brazil so Elder Alexander spoke to him and even read the Book of Mormon in Portuguese.  This Saturday we are helping him do some repairs and he is going to have a friend there also helping that isn't a member.

I am doing great and love serving the Lord. Elder Alexander is awesome and I am glad that he came to serve with me. We have so much work to do in this area.

I am Excited for my birthday Sunday. I hope you all are doing great. And have an awesome valentines day. Thanks for the letters and the support and Prayers.

Love

Elder Benjamin Allen

Feb. 3, 2014

Dear Family And Friends,

This week was a better week. We were able teach more and do some more service.

Monday we played basketball with the zone leader and his companion and the Sister missionaries. We played for hours. We had dinner with the Robations in the ward. They work at the bishop's storehouse. We were able to talk about what missionary experiences they have working there.

Tuesday we received a call from the Aps wanting to inform us that they were coming up to spend Wednesday with us. They came up that night and stayed the night with us.

Wednesday we all woke up on time. The Aps had forgotten their suits so they had to drive back to Independence to pick them up. District meeting was great.  It was on how to find people to teach. That was what we need since that day I was going to be with Elder Perrish and we had planed to go tracting for most of the day. We were able to find a lot of potential investigators. We also were able to find some people home that we haven't be able to for weeks. Elder Perrish is an awesome Elder and has lots of experience. It was awesome to be able to spend the day with him and learn from him.

Thursday we had weekly planning. It is nice to be able to plan a head of time what we want to teach in the upcoming week. We had dinner with Bishop and his family but an hour before they called saying that bishop was in Kansas City and wouldn't be home until late. So their sons Robbie and Joseph took us out to eat at Chilies. We had a great time. We talked with Robbie about missions and about his papers. He is working on submitting them

Friday we had gotten approval to go to the Temple. We woke up to find that it had snowed during the night and was still snowing. We still go ready and left hoping the Temple would still be open. We were able to make it to the Temple and it was open. I am glad that we went and not cancel even with the snow.  I meet a Sister Brost that came up to me thinking I was my brother Elder Allen.  When we left I felt uplifted and just ready to do better and be a better missionary. I also felt that my Heavenly Father understands and is grateful for what I have been able to do with this trial that He has put in front of us.  After that we drove up to Craig, which is at the top of our area. We were in the car for hours. We tried to see some less actives and contact a referral. 

Saturday we had even more snow fall. They had to shut the cars down for the morning. We had lunch with Angelo he took us to an all you can eat buffet. Elder Englund ate to much so we spent the rest of the day home since he was throwing up and not feeling well. While we were home I help Brother Farnsworth fix some things around the house and just help him get things done.  We also learned that Brother Stocket died. He was the member that the missionaries had lived with before I had came. We went over and saw him almost every week. He was fighting cancer but still had a great attitude to life. I loved him and was sad that he had to go.  This Gospel helps us know where our family members go when they leave this Earth. I am grateful for this knowledge and comfort it gives us to know that we will be able to see them again. I know that Sister Stocket will be able to be with him again.

Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. It was a good meeting. We had lots of testimonies about Brother Stocket. Sister Dinnig wasn't feeling to well so she didn't make it to church so Sister Thompson taught Sunday school. She did an awesome job. We had dinner with the Dinnigs. They even had Shannah over and we talked with her about Fasting and why we do that.  Elder Englund was so happy that the Sea Hawks had won the game since he is a big fan of them.

Transfers are Thursday and we think that Elder Englund will be leaving.  I hope my new companion want to work hard.   We have lots of work to do in this area.

I love you all.  Thanks for the letters and the prayers.

Love Elder Benjamin Allen