Ashley's Mission Email #20

Ve Tus Bendiciones!

Thanksgiving! I´ve decided how perfect this holiday is. Even if they don´t celebrate it here. We get to remember all the things we´re thankful for in preparation to think about the biggest blessing of all...our SAVIOR. Anyways, we have a thanksgiving dinner planned with the familia Diaz. They are so awesome putting on a dinner for us Americans! And they´re friends with Presidente Corbitt so him and Sister Corbitt will be there too. 

So Valentin! He´s a totally different person. Yesterday he asked what he should tell his friends in the streets when they ask him why he´s joining this church. He told us that he tells them because he knows the Book of Mormon is true and that the church is true. We were like, thats perfect! Your testimony is one of the absolute best ways to share the Gospel. He said he was planning on inviting them to read the folletos. His baptism is right after transfers so we´ll see if I´m still here to see that, but even if not, I´m excited for him!

Our little ballet class is going great! I´m so proud of the little girls. We´re going to do a little presentation during the ward Christmas activity so that parents and friends can come see and can be here to enjoy the rest of the activity. 

So challenge for this week...invite friends to church. We´re leading up to the Christmas season.  (At least around here, you´d think Christmas was next week with all the lights and trees.) There is no better way to celebrate than to learn more about Christ and His Atonement. We can do that by taking la santa cena every week! How special!

I KNOW MY SAVIOR LIVES. He is my Best Friend and Redeemer and I love having this opportunity to share that with others.

Love you all!

Hermana Allen

Christmas in the Church. El arbol de Navidad!

Ashley's Email #19

Preacher's in the Streets!

So this week I attended my first leadership meeting. Well I spied on my first leadership meeting.... I'm not a leader but my comps are so I was there too, obviously. It was actually really fun! I learned a lot and got a lot of ideas on how to make my teaching better and how to be a better missionary in general. Pres Corbitt is like the best mission president ever. Seriously, all his ideas are inspired.

Also one night this week we were walking to an appointment and there were these huge speakers set up on a street corner and these preachers were just preachin really loudly and saying how everyone needed  to come to God. And there were people on each side of the street waving their bibles in the air and there were these teenagers in costumes doing this dance. It was all pretty exciting stuff. This country is full on Christians. thats for sure. It’s wonderful that they have such a strong basis because then we are here to build on that and show them that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored. 

We set some baptism dates this week! One with Valentin. he is about 20 something years old and was a little bit of a crazy guy but he's really changing. It’s amazing what the gospel does. We gave him a calender so that he could track his progression towards baptism and so he wrote the resurrection of Valentin on his date. Haha 

I am SO happy for Tricia and her family! That is sooooo exciting! I wish I could be there, but please send pictures.

So the power went out last week before I sent pictures but here are some new and old pictures.

Love you all!

Love,

Hermana Allen

Ashley's former companion, Hermana Given. Ashley's new companions, Hermana Goff and Hermana Munoz.

Ashley's Email #18

My New Comps!

Hola!

So I am now in another trio with Hna. Munoz and Goff, the sister training leaders. We´re not sure how permanent it is but 

I´m learning lots from them. Hna Munoz is from Costa Rica and Hna Goff is from Gilbert. Special transfers will probably be coming sometime soon, but for now, here we are :)

So this week has started to be a little more normal. Not really because for right now, we have 1 companionship covering 2 areas and we´re still sorting out our time and how we are going to help our investigators in both areas. But the ward members are stepping up and helping out. So many times this week, we´ve called a member to cover an appointment for us and they do! Gladly. They go over and pretty much teach a lesson for us. Its awesome! It just shows that this is the work of the members and the missionaries are here to help out. Not the other way around.

So I want to tell you about a family that we are teaching. The familia Urena. there´s the mom the dad and 3 little girls. They are awesome! The 3 girls come to our ballet class every week and ask me about it every other time we see them. One of them told us the other day that she wants to be an Hermana when she grows up so she can teach others about Christ. The mom told us about this dream she had after she had been praying about if this was the right church. In the dream she walked in to our church building and apparently we were standing there welcoming her. It was so neat. (People here really believe in dreams as revelation...) So they are working on their papers so that they can be married and then baptized! I love them.

Well it's great to hear from you all! I hope everything is going well. Until next week!

Love

Hermana Allen

Ashley's Mission Email #17

It’s a good thing I like surprises!

I think we broke some sort of record this week with the number of comp divisions and intercambios. We had about 4 between Monday and Wednesday because someone was always a little sick. But then Thursday Hna Martinez started having lung problems again (that was why she came back here from Mexico). Well we ended up in the Assistants car on the way to the hospital. They told her she had to stay the night so Hna Given stayed while the Assistentes took me back. (Another intercambio but I promise I had Presidents permission for that one...) Well fast forward to translados which actually happen tomorrow. Hna Given is leaving to be Sister Training Leader somewhere else. Hna Goff and Munoz are staying the same and Hna Martinez would be my comp, but they have decided that she will be going home. So for now I am in a companionship with Hermana Liders. Super complicated I know, but like I said... CRAZY week.

Anyway in the middle of this all I´ve just learned how much God has His hand in everything. Somehow I have been really calm in a situation where I would normally not be. Also the work is still progressing even though we now have 1 trio companionship and 2 areas to cover. (Which really is only working because the ward members are stepping up and helping us teach our investigators, sometimes when we can´t even make it to the appointment!) Heavenly Father´s work will not stop. It´s our choice to help it along or not, because it´s us that will be changed from the experience. 

Anyway, Love you all!

Love 

Hermana Allen

Emergency Room Fun!

Service Project!

I gave in and got a bum bag! These things are like giant fanny packs. All style has gone out the window... Haha, but it's comfy!