Feb 23, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week was a good week for us.

Monday was my birthday and we had snow here. It was real bad in the morning. There wasn't much for us to do when it was so bad outside.

Tuesday we had a meeting with Bro Snyder and we read the Chapter on how Nephi broke the Bow and what he had to do to fix the problem. We also had lunch with Brother Greenwall. He wanted to feed us but evenings are to busy for him. It was awesome to get his insight in how to help some of the people in Iola. We had our Bingo with the Old People. We also meet with Tina and Sister Wright, we brought Carl with us since the males we usually have couldn't come. It was a great experience for him.  We also had dinner with the Hannons. While we had our appointment with at Sister Wright’s there was tons of snow that just came in a short time.  We got transfers calls real late. Elder Hansen was to go to Flemming Park. I would get Elder Tolman.

Wednesday was packing and sick day.  Elder Hansen got all of his stuff pack.  I got a stomach flu so we weren't leaving the house much.  It wasn't fun.    We spent the night with the Zone leaders in Spring Hill.

Thursday was transfers. We drove all the way to Independence. Transfer meeting is a great time. We get to see all the Missionaries that we know and chat with them. I love going to transfers. I get to see all the missionaries and the office staff. We had a full load on our way back.  We had the Mound City Elder also with us. It was almost evening when we got back.  The funny thing is I already know Elder Tolman.  He was in the Platte City Ward when I was in New Mark. We even went on exchanges.

Friday we met a member that lives in Buffalo. She had just gotten bad news so I hope us stopping by was good for her. Shows her that the Church is still there for her. We had dinner with the Harts. It was their first time in years since they weren't active for a long time. They are loving being back in the Church.  We also meet with Mark, we read the intro with him.

Saturday we tried to find Percy but couldn't find him at home or with his friends. He just walks up to us when we were getting out of our car in the evening. We also read with all the non members and Investigators living in the Shaw’s place. We were able to tract since it was like 50's outside. No one wanted to speak with us, too busy doing things.

Sunday we had church and our meetings.  Sister Olsen (one of the Sisters) gave a talk on Charity.  We had Rj that came. It was great. We had a good evening. We did a little driving trying to see people in out skirting towns. Overall it was a good evening.

Thanks for all the letters. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen

Feb, 16, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week was a good week for us. This morning it was snowing. 

Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Mound City Elders again. I went with Elder Pickup to his area. On our way back we got a call from President Vest's phone. He called to let us know that Elder Pickup's Visa was in. Elder Pickup was excited to hear that. We did some tracting and walking on dirt road in the Golfing community. Not many people there were open to listen to us. We had dinner with the Senior couple. We had a great teaching appointment with a guy.  It was awesome since he had read and learned from what he did read. I got to testify that his answer would come. 

 

District Missionaries

Wednesday we had district meeting. It was about how our investigators need to come to church before they will progress.  We ate at the Mexican place again and the guy came out with all the plates of food on his one arm. I will try to get the picture from the other missionaries. We went out to Gas and La Harpe to see people. Most of them weren't home. We did stop by the Hoovers. They told us some stories back from when they had the missionaries living with them. We were able to help him with a couple of projects he had. In the Evening we stop by Scott's house. We help him and his dad finish some parts of the remodel they have done.  

Ward Missionaries

Thursday was great weather for some tracting. We were tracting down Main St. there was a lady that said to go talk to her husband in a shop on Main St. We didn't think much of the request to talk to him. We finished the street plus another. It was an hour before dinner and we remembering that we hadn't see him. We went by and he was expecting us, he gave us hot chocolate and we talked. He was nice but not to interested in our message. I'm glad that we went to the shop to talk with him. I wouldn't of like to not show up and leave a bad impression with him of the Missionaries. We had dinner with the Adairs. Brother Adair was able to find the house of his coworker. 

Friday we were able to read with our investigator Doug. We read the first chapter with him. We went to the Shaws in the request for a blessing. When we got there they were needing help with loading some furniture to take to a friend that had lost it all in a House Fire.  Our timing was perfect. I'm grateful for the Lord putting us in the path of others to help them. We had dinner with the Hannons. We had a steak dinner since it would be the last time with Elder Hansen if he leaves this transfer. We then Contacted the Referral form Brother Adair. His name is Charles and was super nice to us. We talked for a while on his porch. I'm great full for the members doing missionary work and their examples.  

Saturday we drove to Stark to see the Isoms. They weren't feeling well so we told them we would come back. We read the Book of Mormon with the Sister’s investigators. We also saw the Pass family and talked about the blessings for paying tithing. We also saw Joy Allen and RJ we talked about how the spirit teaches and instructs/ warns us. 

Sunday was good. We didn't have any plans or appointments but the day filled up.  Didn't have anyone come. :(  We did have an awesome talk by a High Council member. He talked about our spiritual foundation.  After Church we went to Bro Slaugh place. We went out to Stark to see Mr. Ford. Bro Slaugh is helping him with his family history. He wants to get it all recorded before he goes to the spirit world.  We read Alma 40 with him to try to bring more peace to him.  We had a great meet with Nate Mckinney. We talked about our spiritual foundations that we must have. For most of the Evening it was hailing and snowing. 

Thanks for all the letters and Happy Birthday wishes. I hope you have a great week. 

Love, 

Elder Benjamin Allen

Feb 9, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was another crazy week of weather.

Monday we spent the day in Paolla with the other missionaries in the Zone. We had dinner at McDonald. When I was about ready to pay, the Manger came up and asked if I would give the Guy behind me a hug. Turns out to be my companion. He gave us both free dinners for participating in the game.  We saw Joy Allen and our investigator Rj was there so we were able to go in and teach.

Tuesday we did some tracting. We meet a guy named Jerry. He is blind and real nice. We saw his brail copy of the Bible. It was 5 huge books.   We had our weekly bingo with the Old people. They were so funny with us being early. We also meet with Sister Wright and Tina. We read out of the Book of Mormon with them and it turns out what one of them needed that day.

Wednesday was bitterly cold. No one wanted to talk with us with it being so cold. We had planned to go up to Iola for the day.  When we started to leave for Iola the snow started to come down.  We made it there safe and meet with a couple of people.  We had dinner with our ward mission leader and his family.  We then saw the Edwards. They had gone down again to Oklahoma. They were shocked to see the snow.  They just had gotten a jeep and have crazy stories of what they have done.

Thursday we held weekly planning. It went good, most of our investigators are struggling to keep all their commitments.  We are running out of things to do to help them keep them. We went out with Brother Hart in the evening. He lives in a town that doesn't have many people. We went to the McGuires. She told us about her conversion story and we talked about how it has blessed their lives.  

Friday was Zone training. We had to wake up earlier to make it there on time.  It was focused on how to become smarter working missionaries. We also talked about how some of the people we find are interested in listening to us but aren't willing to keep their commitments. We need to focus on those prepared for baptism. After our drive back we meet with Mason. We watched even more Mormon messages with him.  We had dinner with the Stolls. They are very old but still up and going. They have tons of great advice. We meet with Mark and Michelle again taught them the restoration. It went good just he always had a story to tell after all the Questions we asked him.

Saturday we had a busy day. We meet with Carl and Kim.  Carl had broken a rib when he fell this week.  They are doing good though. We also taught the Pass families about the sealing power and the blessing of the Temple.  We also talk to these two ladies sitting on their porch. They weren't interested but had a couple questions about the Church. 

Sunday on our drive to Church our car began to shake real bad when going highway speeds. We had an awesome sacrament meeting.  We had speakers speak on the Sacrament and how to prepare for it.  They spoke the things that we wanted to teach some less actives but didn't know how to go about doing that. There was also Bishop's youth discussion after church. We were invited to attend, there was food plus the topic was education and goals/ dreams.  We meet with Nate McKenny and his wife. We were able to commit them to read the Book of Mormon,

Over all this week was good just still struggling to find investigators that will progress.  I hope you all have a great week.  Thanks for all the Support.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen

Feb 2, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Elder Hansen and I had a great week.

This week was a usual week for us. We did lots of finding, trying to get more people to teach.

We had bingo and the old people were excited to see us since they haven't done much with most of the patients being sick.

We had district meeting. The topic for this week was talking to everyone that we meet or pass and inviting them to learn more.  We did role-plays with us being at taco bell.  We went to El Charro a Mexican restaurant. The guy being our waiter brought out 6 plates of food on his left arm.  In the evening the ward had their pine wood derby race. It was fun to see some of the cars these boys made.

We saw Mr. Ford. He is our 91-year-old investigator. We watched the Restoration Video with Him.  He always has stories to tell us. He has tons of miniature Airplanes that he has built and flown. He lives in a town called Stark. There is only 3 active building in the town, two churches and a bank. There is like 10 people living in this tiny town.

We read with RJ this week. It was him plus the sister’s investigators. The Shaws weren't there so there were fewer things to distract. We read the tree of life with them. We are struggling with him to keep his commitments and be fully committed and engaged.

We were able to find Brother Akins home. He is supper nice and I believe he would come if his job allowed it. He gave us 4 referrals to see family and friends. While we were trying to find one of the referrals, we meet a man that had us come over. He had see us around before and been to Utah. He told us about all of his neighbors. I love it when someone knows his neighbors. Most people don't.

We went to a new restaurant called Nu-grill here in Chanute. We went with the Adairs. It was good, we recognized some of the cars and people they had on the walls. They went out with us to see the Hannons and to teach them the last new member lesson. It was great we were able to talk about temples and about eternal families.

We meet with Mark again. We just stop by and he and his wife were there plus a Friend. Mark had looked at the Book of Mormon and read part of it. We were able to answer his question. His friend also became an investigator when Mark was on the Phone. She has been through some rough times. She said she would be back over next week and would read the Book of Mormon.

We also saw the Pass family. We read with them out of Moroni 6 where is talks about church and the purpose. Satan is trying to keep them from coming by keeping them busy with tons of good things.

It rained almost all of Saturday and part of Sunday. When Church was about to start the rain turned into snow. By the end of the night it was 16. Sunday night was a rough night for us. The super bowl was on and it was freezing outside. 

I hope you all had a great super bowl Sunday. Thanks for the letters and the support. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen

Jan 26, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week was a great week for Elder Hansen and I. The weather is still nice and warm. 

We went on exchanges with the Mound City Elders. I went with Elder Michelson to his Area. We spent the day driving and trying lots of Referrals that they had received. We had dinner with the Anderson's.  They are the Senior missionary couple that are called to serve and help in that area. We went out with the Branch mission leader to teach a new member lesson to Donna. 

We had District meeting this week. The topic for the day was the purpose of missionaries and our roles. We also talked about fulfilling them. 

We saw Scott. He and his dad were working on an addition to his house. They were having an Electrical problem. I was able to help them fix the problem. He has been super busy with work and finishing the house to be able to come to church and meet constant with us. 

We also meet with Mason.  He is a less active member. We watched some Mormon messages with him. 

This week we also got the Oil change in our car. The Shop we went to was super busy. 

It was Elder Hansen's Birthday this Saturday. We didn't do much special on that day. We did do lots of tracting since most of the people we wanted to see weren't home. We did hand out a couple of Books of Mormons. One of the books we hand to a lady named Hallie. She is a home care nurse and we didn't get and address or phone number. There is no way to contact her so we hope she reads the book and finds a way to contact us.   

We had ward conference this past week. There were lots of people that came to participate in the Conference.  None of the Priests show up early so Elder Hansen and I blessed the Sacrament. It was my first time as a missionary.  In Sunday School we talked about the roles that we all have. The most important is we are Children of God. We are given 3 things to help us with the Responsibility to get back to our loving Heavenly Father.  There is Prayer, Scriptures and the Holy Ghost.  In Priesthood we talked about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood.  I enjoy it when we have ward or stake conference. 

I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for all the letters and Emails and the Support. 

Love,

Elder Benjamin  Allen

Here is an Email that Benjamin's brother Elder Andrew Allen received.

Here is an email I got this week. It is funny that Benjamin got to meet them.  -Andrew

Hello Elder Allen!

I was going through our past letters and finally found your email address. We've been looking for it since Christmas to send you an email.
Guess who we met at Christmas time in Iola?! You probably already know by now, but we wanted to send you photographic proof that we did meet and hang out with your twin over the holidays. It was great to meet him. We had to constantly say, this isn't the Elder Allen we knew in Larned because we would start joking around with him like it was old times. You guys REALLY look alike! But we could easily kid him about table saws like we did you! ;)
Anyway, we want to let you know how proud we are of you and your brother! Your parents raised you both very well.
Thank you for the Christmas card and for keeping in touch with us on your mission. It's been great to hear from you.
Keep up the great work you are doing for the Lord! The Gospel is true and it brings true happiness. Have a great new year.

Sincerely,
Tessa and Glenn McMillan

Jan 19, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was the warmest week that we have since the start of winter. It was a great week to be finding more people to teach.

We have done a lot of tracting this week. We have found lots of potential people. There was one that told us that he was actually looking for a new Church and he would read from the Book of Mormon.  We also found a guy named Mark. He let us right in and talked with us. He was there for our return appointment also. He had lots of Questions about the second coming. We told him that the Book of Mormon had what we needed to be ready.

Sign we see everyday.

We have been teaching Tina at Sister Wrights. When she came this week she also brought on of her grown sons named Gene. We had a great experience reading Alma 7.

We didn't have any investigators that made it to church. We did have the less active Pattons that came. They stayed for all 3 hours. We have been inviting them to come when we teach Tina (so we can have a Male with us). I think that has helped them.

We went out to the Yates Center (hay capital of the World).  We stop by a less actives members place. They are the Oatmans. He is a member and the rest of the family isn't. They let us in and we visited for a while. We then talked about church. They had a bad experience with a Baptist church in town so they haven't been going. They committed to come next week. It was awesome how they are being prepared by the Lord.

There was also Zone training this week.  It was awesome. They trained on how to have faith to find. They also adapted more of the rules to help us be more consecrated to the Lord. It is interesting how with these changes here on my Mission is making me still learn and try and experience more.

I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for all the Letters and support that you give me and all the other missionaries.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen

The musical is the Anti one that makes fun of the missionaries and The Book of Mormon.

Jan 12, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week was a great week for us.

This weekend we had Member missionary days. This is where we have  members with us for the whole day. They would take pictures to put on Facebook and experience the missionary spirit. We had a lot of missionaries that came out with us. I think this will help them share the gospel more.  It was done since we have the Book of Mormon musical here in Kansas City.

This week we also had some great lessons. We had a member that had shared some info about the Church with a friend. His name is Ashton. He called us wanting more info since we was looking into doing a report on Mormonism.  We went over to his house and taught the Restoration and it was awesome. I hope he reads from the Book of Mormon that the friend gave him.

We visit a 91-year-old man and his daughter, which is a member.  They told us stories about how they saw miracles and the Hand of the Lord in their life. It was cool how some of the stories were before they were introduced to the church.

We went out with Brother Slaugh and he took us to see some of his friends and             co-workers plus we tried to see some members. It was awesome to meet some of the people that help Iola run. I hope this exposure to the church will spark their interest.

Transfers were this week. Turns out that we will be staying together for another 6 weeks. Not many changes happened to the missionaries serving in this stake. Elder Hansen had been out for a transfer less that me. He is from Utah.

We live in Chanute and we spend the most of the time in Chanute. We live in a small house in town.  It has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. There is a washer and dryer plus a covered carport. It is nice when it snows or rains ice during the night.

There are a small number of members that live in Chanute and lots that live in towns that are spread out.  Some members can drive for an hour to get to Church.

Everyone is getting sick around here. The Hospitals have been almost maxed out. They locked down the Assisted living place so no visitors could come. We couldn't go play bingo with them this week.  We even had members that went to Wichita to the hospital there.

I hope that you all have a great week. Thanks for all the letters and emails. I miss you all.

Love,

Elder Benjamin Allen