May 25, 2015

                                                                                                               

Dear Family and friends,

This past week was a great week for us here in the Missouri Independence Mission.  Still lots of rain and mud.

Monday we meet with Jackie.  She is a lady that we found last week. She talked us for a while and confessed that last week she told us that she had called herself an atheist so we would leave. It didn't work.  We still talked to her and even came back and gave her a Book of Mormon. She is really Christian and enjoys when we come over and talk about Christ. 

Tuesday we had dinner with Andy and Amanda. They are a couple that we meet with a couple of weeks ago. They are the ones that invited a couple, which they are friends with. It turns out that he is there minister at the southern Baptist church. They feed us an awesome meal. This time we just invited them to read the Book of Mormon. We also got transfer calls and Elder Cluster will be going to Independence.

Wednesday we prepared for transfers. Elder Cluster packed and we went around saying good bye to people.

Elder Cluster and Elder Allen

Thursday we went to transfers. There were so many missionaries at the transfer meeting. I think it was the largest that I have been to. My new companion is Elder Rodgers. He is from Portland, Oregon.  We also got our tiwi unit replaced. It now works properly.  We had a great meeting with the senior sisters.

Friday we went to California. We had a great day finding people. We talked to a few people that were home that aren't usually home then. We also walked around the park that is almost a lake.  We also meet with Adam; he was having a large bon fire.  They were burning their shed.

Saturday we drove past the Rayls place and they were outside doing yard work. We stop and help.  Spent most of the afternoon with them. It was a great bonding time for us.  We also meet with Shawn. I was able to leave him with a movie to watch later.

Sunday we had the potluck after church.  We also help in primary again and talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It was a great, lots of good food. We had a great meeting with Maxine and have an appointment to come back and do some gardening with her.

The branch is doing good. We are trying to get our investigators to progress. The problem is they are just so busy. I think it is Satan trying to slow down the missionary work.

Thanks for all you do. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen

May 18, 2015

Dear Family and friends,

This past week was a very rainy for us. I think it rained everyday this week.

Monday we had dinner with the Sutfflebeens. Just before we had gotten there the oldest son named Logan cut his arm on some glass.  We went tracting and found three people that were interested and willing for us to come back. The very interesting thing is that it is three houses in a row.

Tuesday, we went to the nutrition place and peeled more potatoes. We went to the town of Smithton. We went tracting and found a guy named Tom. It was the last house that we were going to try before heading for dinner. He just moved in and is working for the ROTC at the High School. He was in the Army and his leader was a member that he trusts and looks up to. We had dinner with the Andersons. They live in the middle of nowhere. They raise goats and hay. We got to help feed the baby goats.

Wednesday we had the last district meeting for the Transfer. When we got back to Tipton we went out to find more people to teach. We found Seth. He told us that he had read the Book of Mormon before and would like to read it again. We had dinner with the Wilsons. They fixed us a whole authentic Hawaiian meal. It was awesome!

Thursday we went the Thrift store in Versailles. There is a less active that lives outside the mission working there. We walked away with 12 ties. We had a great day for more finding. We did talk to Kyle, the husband of a member. We meet an Rlds lady also.

Friday we got a call from the nutrition place wanting our help moving boxes around. We went over to help and had to arrange all the food by expiration date. They had a new policy where they can't use expired food.  They sent us home with lots of fibber bars and granola bars.  We went to a town called Clarksburg. We hadn't ever been there. It has a population of about 300. We talked to a few people. One was a high school student that runs cross-country. Most of the roads in the town are dirt and very muddy at this time.

Saturday we went down to the Hagstons. We went with Brother Davidson, he has a truck that makes it in and out easier. The parent were the only ones home so we talked to just them. We talk about the Temple and about starting their Family history.  We did make it out without having to push. We had Justin come out with us again. He is leaving/ moving to another state. We tried tons of people with him most weren't home. We saw this turtle that was in the road. A car tire hit him and sent him shooting to the other side of the road. We went over to see if he was okay. He was! Just all scuffed up. When we got back to our place for dinner we found a bunny on our porch. We caught him with a plastic bucket. We did let him go after petting him. There was an event happening here called a tractor pull, where people pull a sled with weight. We drove past it and found Tom parking cars. We got out and talk to him.

Sunday we had Church. We help with primary again. We all sung missionary songs like “I hope they call me on a mission”. We meet with Brandon, he's the one that flagged us down a couple of weeks ago. He thinks he is a member but we can't find his membership information. He had a goal to quit smoking.  We had dinner with the Pattons. We meet with the Taylor and read 2 Nephi 4 with them.

It was an awesome week. Lots of finding so I hope we will be able to teach more in the coming up weeks. This week is transfers. I think I will be staying in Tipton, but I don't know. It will be my last transfers. Thanks for all you all do. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen

May 11, 2015

Dear family and friends,

This past week was a good week for us. It is very muddy here in Missouri with all the rain we have gotten.  

Monday, All the missionaries in the zone met up to spend some time together. We tried to go bowling but wasn't open. We did go to the Beards and played some pool. 

Tuesday we went to Otterville. We did some service with Brother Parker. We help him with cutting down some trees. Brother Parker is a beekeeper. We got all suited up and help him open some beehives and inspect them. Didn't get any pictures but was super fun. In the evening we saw John and read some form the Book of Mormon with him. We also meet with Kittery and her husband. They are nice and willing to study about our church. 

Wednesday we spent the day in Tiption. We were trying a person close to our house. On our way there we had this man yell at us to come back. It turns out to be a less active that recognized us. He just moved in and was surprised to see us. I hope we will be able to help him become active again. We also were tracting and met a couple that seems interested; it was the last house we knocked on before dinner. We also visited Makalalha she wasn't home so we talked with everyone else there. They have a new person renting the basement. We got to talk to her and talk about Missionary work and what we do. Then a family, the Hagstons, stop by. We have been working to help them to become active. It was great timing.  

Thursday we went down to the bottom of our area. We spent the day with Justin and tried to visit a whole bunch of people with him. It was great to be able to use him. 

Friday we had Zone training. It was good, lots of good things taught. We went to another good BBQ place. We also went on exchanges. I went with Elder Arnison to Carrollton. We had a good afternoon there. We walked the whole evening and talked to a few interested people. The town is super small that you can be anywhere in less than 15 minutes. It is their biggest town to work in. 

Saturday we exchanged back and went down to Versailles. It rained most of the trip. We did get to do some finding and found a guy named Matt. We meet with Shawn and talk about how people can over come smoking with the Lord.  We stop by Celo and Wades and they were finishing moving out and were able to help a little bit. Sad that they are moving out of the area. 

Sunday was Mothers day!! Church was all about mothers. We got to Skype home which was supper fun.  We stop by the Wasmens and they were having dinner. We stayed and answered tons of Questions plus talked about the priesthood and where we got it. Super awesome because we both had our line of Authority and used them. 

Thanks for being awesome! Have a great week. 

Love, Elder Benjamin Allen

May 4, 2015

Dear Family and friends,

This past week was a great week for Elder Cluster and I here in the Tipton branch. 

Monday we had a barbecue with the Ranneys and Wasmens. The Wasmens are a family we are just starting to teach.  We had a great barbecue and awesome conversation.  They connected and went great together. 

Mennonite Sandwich from last week

Tuesday we went to the Nutrition place again. We pilled potatoes and help with the dishes. I love doing dishes since they have a large automatic dishwasher.  We then had awesome day in Otterville. We were able to contact a referral and the lady was nice and receptive. We got an appointment this coming week.  We also meet some other people. There was a couple that we met that is 7 day Adventist but are starting to question their church's beliefs. 

Wednesday we had district meeting and Oil change in Sedellia. We had a great time with the other Elders. On our way back we stop by Tiffany.  She was home and Cleaning out her car. We talked with her for a while. Turns out that her grandma is a member in the NewMark ward that I visited often. It was perfect timing for us. I love how that happens. We had dinner and correlation with the Snyders. 

Thursday we went to down south to Versailies. We got permission to leave the mission to see a recent convert. We went tracting. We went down a street; one of the houses had the remains of a yard sale but the people not there. One of the things was a weight set/ bench. Later in the evening we stop by again. They were home and real receptive to our message. The problem is they are moving out of the mission. They still wanted to sale the weight set, we bought in for real cheap $15. I'm glad that we have a larger car it all fit but not much more room.  We got home and talked to Jesse. He talked to us for a long time; he's going through a real hard time. We were home by 9:30 but didn't get inside until latter.

Friday we went to California but we had a hard time finding people that wanted to talk with us. The highlight of the day was dinner with the Wasmens. They had us over for dinner and lesson. It was an awesome meal. They have been reading everything we been giving them. They have tons of questions and want to learn more. We spent most of the night there with them. 

Saturday there was great weather here.  We had a great day of appointments all lined up but none of them worked out. We did meet with Brian, he's musician and an artist. We were eating at McDonald's and saw Justin. He was the one out of the mission.  We did talk to some people, turned out to be a good day.

Sunday, Church was good, the Wasmens came and the daughter also brought a friend. It was great that they came. Church went well. We showed the “Because He lives” video in Sunday school.  We also help out in primary and talked about Joseph Smith and his father and the faith they had. I love helping out in primary. We meet the Charles family here in the branch. The parents are both converts and we heard there conversion story. I love hearing peoples conversion stories. 

I hope you all have a great week. I hope you all have a great mothers day. 

Love,

Elder Allen.