Año nuevo!
Hola mi Familia!

Wow it was so fun to see your faces! Literally I have so much love for you all, I was so happy for the chance to have a short time with you guys for Christmas.  Kind of a bummer you couldn’t hear me very well, you guys were perfectly clear! 

So for Christmas Eve we had a huge dinner with Rosa and her family and then after at 11:00 we returned home and at midnight my companion and I though bombs were going off. Literally the streets were covered with smoke from the fireworks and honestly it was a little scary because ...well it wasn’t the safest thing hahaha.  Basically it just felt like New years...not Christmas, but it was still nice. Then Christmas day for lunch, we ate with a member and their whole family was in town and I was just so happy because it was like being slapped in the face with Argentina. We ate pig and for dessert fruit salad and the brother in laws were fighting over which team is better Boca or River (the soccer rivals here) ah I don’t know it was just great, felt like family. 

So yeah yesterday was my talk in church and I was just praying that I would have the gift tongues and literally it went so well! I wasn't nervous and I just got up there and talked and it was defiantly by the spirit!! Literally I wanted to cry and after everyone came up to me and we saying how my Spanish has improved A TON and that they actually enjoyed my talk. This was an answer to my prayers! I still have so much to improve on and learn but man it felt good to just know that I’m progressing! 

Also, yesterday the heat made me sick...after lunch my body was so tired which is like a normal thing for me so I didn’t think anything of it and then after our studies we went out and I felt like I was going to die. My body was achy and I had the chills and when we got back to our house I had a fever. Then last night there was a thunderstorm and we didn’t have electricity for about 5 hours, entonces I didn’t sleep because it was so HOT. But I’m feeling much better today! 

So all of our investigators right now need to quit smoking so that is the challenge we are working on right now. But the good news is that they all want to stop because they have such strong testimonies and a desire to get baptized which is literally a blessing! 

Ah I hope you all have a happy new year and mom and dad HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 

Can’t believe this week is my official 6 month mark! Yikes! The mission is flying by! 

Literally my mind is kinda blank of this week...sorry for this boring letter hahaha 

LOVE YOU

Hermana Allen 

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Eve Dinner Prep with Rosa and Cesar

"Mata Suerga... translation
Kill Mother in Law" haha

Hermana Allen's perspective while skyping on Christmas Day

Allen Familia- perspective while Skypeing Christmas Day

Buen Dia mi Familia! 

Wow this week was so so great! So my new companion is Hermana Aliaga from Santiago Chile, and she is so cute and we get a long great. She reminds me a lot of Hermana Aguilar, which just makes me happy. Some fun facts about my new companion just in case you wanted to know...She loves Coldplay, papas fritas, and she met David Archuleta when he was serving his mission...so yeah she is pretty cool. Oh yeah, also she loves the cello and freaked out when I told her I know how to play one.... hahaha I kind of forgot that was a thing I did until she started talking about how much she likes it. (Cough cough I hope someone is playing my cello while I'm gone). 

So like I know I say there were Milagros like every week, but guys THERE WERE MILGROS THIS WEEK. So Gladys is just like the best little missionary ever. She has some neighbors (Milly and Miguel) and we were talking with them and they were surprisingly very interested and after the lesson Milly said that we needed to talk with her mom. So the next day we found her mom, Olga, and she was so excited to talk to us. She said that she wanted to tell us an experience that she had, but was afraid that we would think she was crazy...hahah After I heard that I was even more excited to her story hahaha 

She told us how her son passed away a few years ago and long story short she had a dream/vision thing where she saw her son and he was an angel wearing all white and was in a place called in her own words ¨paradise¨. So yeah...we obviously taught her the plan of salvation and she was just agreeing with us the whole time we were talking. We left her Alma 40 to read about the spirit world because we didn’t have time to finish the lesson. We came back the next day and she read all of Alma 40 and read even more! She was so excited and gave us each a big huge and said I have been waiting to hear something like this! I feel like this book is a gift from my son. POWER of the book of Mormon right there. We finished the plan of salvation and also talked about the temple work for the dead and then she asked ¨So when can I be baptized?¨¨ hahaha Literally my heart is soo full with love and I'm really surprised with just how many people are prepared to accept the gospel, we just have to find them. Man my testimony just keeps growing here in Simoca. 

Also my last day with Hermana Nunez we put a date with a new investigator Mauricio. He is so great and comes to everything! We have only been teaching him for 2 weeks and he has told me that he wants to serve a mission. Basically our ward mission leader, Martin, is his best friend right now and like really Martin helps us so much. PS Martin is starting his mission paperwork! YAY.

I cannot describe how happy I am this Christmas. I feel so much more confident this transfer...I don’t know why, but I finally feel like myself and that I'm actually helping people. Truly this gospel is amazing.  

SO CHRISTMAS. Here in Argentina the tradition is every family have a big dinner at midnight Christmas eve and I believe its just lots of fireworks and people getting drunk so that’s fun. haha But we will be having Christmas with Rosa and we get to stay out until 11...that is my Christmas plan.

Also the Christmas conference with the missionaries and President was really fun yesterday! kind of sad it was only with Tucuman and Santiago and not with the whole mission but it was still so fun and also I met president Chaparro´s kids for the first time and the youngest is freaking hilarious. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and that you all think about how much Christ has helped you in your life. We are so blessed to have this gospel. SO BLESSED. 

Be brave little champions! 

LES AMO!!

Hermana Allen

Missionary  Bi-Zone Christmas Conference

Rama Branch Christmas Party

Ruben, Martin, Mauricio
 Rama Branch Christmas Party

Rama Branch Christmas Party

Hola familia! 

This week was so so happy and also so sad. Happy because RUBEN GOT BAPTIZD THIS SATURDAY! Sad.... because Hermana Nuñez is leaving me to be a sister training leader in Tucuman. She is going to be GREAT! But sad that we only had one transfer together.... currently waiting in Tucuman for my next companion. 

So I don’t have time to explain all the details of the novela of Ruben...you can ask me during Christmas. but long story short he moves out of his parent’s house, is currently living with Gladys, and understands the Law of chastity very well. hahah on Thursday I was on exchanges with Hermana Tate and it was the lesson where we were going to go over the baptism questions and I told Hermana Tate, we are going to explain the law of chastity very clearly because I don’t want him to get baptized if he is still having troubles with it. So yeah, also something really cool....I asked him to describe to me the first time he knew the church was true. He said before he met us he was living in darkness....a lot of family problems, problems with work, ect...but he said after he read and prayed about the book of Mormon he felt a light in his life. Ah this was music to my ears. He really is a prepared soul! Hermana Nuñez and I are just so happy for him and for his future. Literally he was just smiling all day Sunday after his confirmation.....hahah oh yeah and then we all walk into the Gospel Principles class and on the board it said ¨LA LAY DE CASTIDAD¨ hahaha Hermana Nunez, Ruben , and I all just look at each other and start laughing! it was great. 

So another miracle happened this week! We were contacting some references and we see a member from the rama on his moto and he says ¨hey I have someone for you to contact¨ music to a missionary’s ears. Anyways, we go to this lady’s house and she opens the door and says öh hi I don’t have like anytime right now but I have a question I want you guys to answer when I have more time¨ we were all okay great what is your question so we can come with an answer. She then asked ¨why are there multiple religions and only one God? ¨UM WE KNOW THAT ANSWER!” hahah we have an appointment with her tomorrow! hahah but seriously I wanted to ask ¨did you read preach my gospel?¨ After that experience my testimony has defiantly grown about the standard works and the questios of the soul are real. wow. 

Random Argentina facts:

-Saturday I was dripping with sweat allll day...it was gross!

-Watermelon season is here! I'm very happy about it...canned peaches for dessert is great and all...but watermelon is a good change.

-I get really excited when I see a Christmas tree...because there are not very many...and Hermana Nunez calls me a "Christmas fanatic"....yeah Christmas...iss that really a thing here? hahaha 

Hope all is well in California! Love hearing from everyone! 

Be Brave little champions and share the gospel this Christmas season! 

Con amor 

Hermana Allen 

The Highlight of the Week.  Ruben Gets Baptised!

Sad to part her companionship with Hermana Nunez
Transfers

Leonardo and his friends "fishing" for snakes

That face says it all... 

Primary Children of Simoca
Taken after their Primary Program

Ruben on his Baptism Day

So Happy for Ruben

 City of Tucuman- Emma waits
for her new companion to arrive.

Hola! 

This week was so good! Also one of the most physically draining weeks so far in the mission. First of all we had 3 children get baptized on Saturday, which was so great! They are so sweet! However Macarena was a little bit more challenging this week....she is really really shy and basically teaching her the lessons and preparing her for baptism was a trial of our patience haha lets just say Hermana Nuñez and I had to get a little creative teaching a 9 year old who doesn’t like to talk. hahah 

We had a service project for Rosa as a district this week. When we asked what she wanted us to do she said kill the cucarachas I was a little confused....but sure enough she had a huge pill of bricks and we had to move the bricks, and out comes a swarm of cucarachas! it was kind of funny. 5 missionaries stomping the ground for about 15-20 min...there was so many. Lets just say I don’t have a fear of killing bugs anymore....I’m a bug murderer. 

So it is really HOT. Wow. Humid. its great. So for the baptism we decided to make brownies! Hermana Nunez has this recipe from one of her old comps. We also put chocolate sauce and dulce de leche on top to make them taste yummy. At the baptism everyone was like ¨What is this? Literally concerns me that there are people in the  world that have never tasted a brownie. hahah After the baptism I asked Rosa if she liked the brownies and she said ¨si..but next time I think it would be better to not put the chocolate sauce and the dulce de leche on top because it was a little bit messy¨¨ hahah that was her way of trying to be nice and saying it was too sweet and she didn’t like it. 

So because this week has been so crazy and we literally had NO TIME, we only saw Ruben once. On Saturday night we called him to she if he was going to come to church and he didn’t answer. Sunday morning he didn’t answer. we were starting to get a little nervous because he always answers or sends us a text if he can’t make it to something. We decided to call Gladys and ask if she has heard from him. She told us that Rubens girlfriend got kicked out of her parent’s house on Saturday night and Ruben told her she could live with him in his parent’s house....literally our hearts dropped. Honestly I wasn’t frustrated that he broke the law of chastity or upset that he could'nt get baptized....I was sad that he felt like he couldn’t talk to us about it, or felt guilt. LIKE NO! That isn’t what this gospel is about! We all make mistakes and we are here to help him! He didn’t come to church and all day I was praying so hard for him.....Sunday night we try to call him again and HE ANSWERED. We asked him about the situation and he was acting all weird (I think his girlfriend was right there) but anyway he said that he didn’t break the law of chastity....and has been keeping is goals for baptism.....and that he would come to our appointment today! After we hung up we asked if he needed anything and he said ¨do you think you could send me a scripture from the book of Mormon to help me with my current situation? DE DIEZ. LITERALLY HE IS AWESOME! a tender mercy...tonight we will find out the details....but not sure if Ruben will have his baptism this week....keep him in your prayers. Literally Hermana Nuñez and I feel like his life is un novela ahha 

So Christmas! Another tender mercy....the church got a new computer with a CAMERA so we can skype for Christmas for 40min! And We get to choose the time so whenever you guys can :) Also I think the week of the 21st Pday is on Tuesday not Monday...so if you don’t hear from me Monday...tenga paciencia. :) 

LOVE YOU ALL! 

HERMANA ALLEN

Leandro

Baptism of Leandro

Baptism of Adriana

Baptism of Macarena

Baptism of Adriana

Mi Gozo es Completo!

Hola Familia

I loved seeing everyone together for Thanksgiving! How fun! Still no picture of Liz...cough cough ;) I’m so glad you were able to have such a fun Thanksgiving! My Thanksgiving was pretty great too! I HAD A THANKGIVING MIRACLE! No joke when I woke up in the morning I opened my window and there were 10 turkeys just chilling outside our apt. I’VE NEVER SEEN TURKEYS IN SIMOCA BEFORE! I think they came to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving! 

Um okay YOU MET HERMANA SMITH'S FAMILY!? So Happy about this you don’t even know! Ah like so special! Best thing ever!

Funny story for the week. We have been teaching this mother of a less active, but she is super catholic and I'm pretty sure she only listens to us because she wants her son to, and I quote ¨get to know such nice girls of your church¨ #marriage. Anyway, her sister was over and joined in on the lesson. And she was so so sweet! haha At the end of the lesson she said ¨Now how much do I pay you girls for your message?¨ Hermana Nunez and I just look at each other laughing. She kept trying and trying to hand us each like 20 pesos. Super weird feeling. Didn’t like it, but really funny at the same time. 

Ruben update. He has a baptism date for December 10th!! YAYAY! On Saturday we taught him the word of wisdom and I was so nervous because he finally was keeping the law of chastity and I was so worried that he would have a problem with the word of wisdom! After we taught him he said that he drinks sometimes with his buddies, but was more than willing to give it up (miracle!!!) Seriously I am so happy for him! 

We also have 3 little primary children that we have been teaching from part member families scheduled for baptism this Saturday....basically this week Hermana Nunez and I will be running around with our heads cut off. We have so much to do before the end of this transfer! It’s literally the best kind of stress :) So happy with the success in Simoca! 

This weekend was stake conference in Concepcion and president Chaparro was there and everything! It was really good and also It was mostly members from Simoca and missionaries....which made me kind of sad. I’ve been so blessed to be in such a strong rama (branch) I didn’t realize how many less active members there are in the other areas of our zone. My district leader said that Simoca has the highest attendance in sacrament meeting out of the zone. The conference was centered on missionary work and building up our testimonies and strengthen the ramas. It was very good! 

So now for my spiritual thought of the week hahaha. president has challenged us to read the BOM by Christmas, and I’m doing it in Spanish and can I just say it is so fun when I can read a chapter and have no problems understanding. This week I was studying Alma and in chapters 26-29 just hit me full of inspiration and guidance. I have been struggling to ¨be happy¨ sometimes. I would have such a great day and then something would trigger a negative thought and I would be sad for the rest of the day! It was so frustrating and I would keep trying to tell myself “be happy... it’s not true! be happy!” but I could just feel Satan sitting in my head and it was awful. When reading in Alma over and over Alma and Ammon repeat the phrase and my joy was complete. How can we have complete joy? In Alma 28 there was a war and many lives were lost. All the people felt pain and suffered, but the members of the church were still filled with happiness. (Alma 28:14). 

I made of list of every time Alma said “my joy was full” and the action that was associated with it. Literally the gospel of Jesus Christ and Missionary work made him happy! I then felt this overwhelming happiness for my mission so far. Coming up on 6 months it’s crazy to think about all I've gone through, the Lord has blessed me with so many joyful experiences, I am so blessed to have the gospel during those times of pain. there are so many people in the world who just feel the pain and don’t know how to receive te joy. I know this is like ¨Duh Hermana Allen”... but it is something that really helped me this week.

Keep living the gospel! BE HAPPY! 

Be Brave little champions! 

Hermana Allen

We loved meeting the Smiths while we were in Utah!
Thier Daughter...Hermana Smith was Emma's MTC companion. Also serving in  the Salta Mission.

Buen Dia! 

Not going to lie this week was really weird. Haha  A lot of traveling, but we still saw milagros! Tuesday and Wednesday I traveled to Salta for my visa paper work...boring. Friday we had zone conference with Presidente and that took all day, and then yesterday we had to be in our casa by 7 because of elections. Mom, I got your packages! PEANUT BUTTER. thank you. haha 

So Friday night we had time for one appointment with Ruben. When he arrived he just looked so sad. We asked if he was okay, and he just kind of shrugged and said he had a bad day and wasn’t going to come to the appointment with us, but decided to anyway. We shared a scripture with him about faith, patience, and hope in the mists of our trials. Right before the closing prayer he gets a phone call from his girlfriend, and comes back into the room sobbing. It was so painful to watch. His girlfriend broke up with him over the phone and said she doesn’t want anything to do with him. A very dramatic night....oh and we also found out that his girlfriend is my age! They have two kids.....Ruben is 26. Hermana Nunez and I were talking about it after of how we just felt so sad for him, but at the same time we felt so peaceful. Maybe this is his answer to his prayers. The next day he said that he moved out, is now living with his parents, came to church yesterday, and seems to be doing a lot better! We are preparing for him to be baptized December 12th! God is aware of our needs and the needs of others. 

Something that has been really frustrating for me lately is that I am from America. haha Sometimes the people here are so distracted by my accent or where I am from that they don’t listen to a word I'm saying. At first I thought that it was because what I was saying was bad Spanish or just wrong, but Hermana Nunez says I speak correctly. Literally I will be baring my testimony and people will interrupt me... where are you from? How long have you been in Simoca? The other day I was sharing a very personal experience and the investigator interrupts me and says ..."Have you ever been in love?" "Don’t you miss your family?" haha so random. My favorite question is... "Why are you here?" BECAUSE I HAVE A MESSAGE TO SHARE! haha so please listen! :) 

okay sorry for the venting. 

So I completely forgot that this week is Thanksgiving until I read your letter mom....haha HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Time is going by so so fast. This transfer is flying by!

Zone Conference was really good! We talked a lot about finding families to teach! I’ve never been so pumped to share the gospel! So another milagro....when visiting less active families we found two primary aged kids who haven’t been baptized and have started teaching them! At first I was a little hesitant with Leandro because his family doesn’t come to church and I wanted to make sure if he were to get baptized it was because he actually wanted to, and that he can have someone take him to church. Two weeks ago his family came, but then they missed a week. When we explained to him that we would have to post pone his baptism he was SO SAD. It was sweet. He is such a good example to me. Always wants to pray, and participate and he came to church with us all by himself yesterday! 

Fun fact about Hermana Nunez.

One day we were walking in the street as missionaries do, and she just starts singing...”I’m a Barbie girl”!!! Haha I just about died. Literally I love the random things people like or hear about America. One day a family asked me..."What do they eat in US?" uhhh...idk haha everything. 

In Argentina it is: carne and pasta. 

Sorry this letter is all over the place! Thank you for your prayers and love and support! Be happy! Be brave, my champions! 

Hermana Allen

Learning how to make Ravioli the Argentine way

Bus Ride to Salta

Hermana Allen with Hermanas from her MTC district

Group Photo
Mission Conference in Salta

Argentina Salta Missionaries

Empanadas, Elder Cook  
& Everlasting Friendships 
-make for a fantastic week!

Hola! Well I am just so happy. Like seriously so happy. The gospel is the best thing in the entire world! 

This week we had mission conference and Elder Cook from the quorum of the twelve apostles came and it was literally one of the most powerful meetings I have ever attended. Friday we left Simoca for a 7-hour bus ride to Salta, stayed in a hotel, had the conference and right after back to Simoca. 14-hour trip in total. Literally the moment I entered the hallway  (the end of a very long hallway) I see a Rubia wearing Hermana Smith’s Dress. Literally she came running down the hallway toward me! Hahah. She gave me the biggest longest hug and it was so GOOD TO SEE HER. Like I wanted to cry out of pure joy. I was just so so happy. We even got to sit next to each other during the conference and everything! There wasn’t enough time to catch up in total and I didn’t want to leave, but seeing her and hearing her voice was such a fun, sweet tender mercy from the lord. (PS her Spanish es de diez)

I got to shake Elder Cook’s hand...yeah I’m cool. Haha Literally the conference was so great and I learned a lot. All the speakers were AMAZING. I learned a lot of things that I think will help me be better and also help our investigators too! But I think the most powerful part was his testimony. Like wow. Also his blessing was so tender. During the closing prayer you could hear sniffling from all the missionaries...it was that good. 

Also Saturday was Hermana Nunez birthday! Since we were on a bus all day Saturday we celebrated today in the Casa de Rosa! I seriously love the people here. Everyone is family to me.

Saturday we got home around 7:30 and had an appointment with Ruben about the law of chastity. His novia still doesn’t want to get married...boo. He came to church again on Sunday and his testimony literally blows my mind. I asked him how does he know that this church is true. He just said I just feel this overwhelming peace and happiness. I am so impressed he recognized the spirit so quickly! He is a prepared soul. I have never been so excited to see someone change like this before. Please pray for him. 

So I just found out today that we have to go to Salta again tomorrow and Wednesday for paper work for my visa...that is kind of stressful because we are so behind from the two days we lost from the conference. SO Much work and no time! 

Mom, you asked me about my Spanish. I feel like I’m in this awkward phase were I don’t know Spanish or English haha. Hermana Nunez knows a lot of English and has been helping me with my accent. She asked me to describe my family in English so she could compare my English accent to my castellano.... literally I couldn’t do it...hahah Like in my head I was saying English but the words out of my mouth were Spanish.... but also I can’t really completely explain everything in Spanish...so its just awkward haha! But I am improving mucho and feel comfortable talking to people! 

It is starting to get hot.... summer is here and I have so much miedo. Tucuman is the 2nd hottest provencia en la mission. Santiago is hotter...so it could be worse. Basically all the members say that they don’t sleep in the summer and that in the afternoon there is no one outside and that people pull their beds outside because it’s cooler. Hermana Piava told me in the mornings they would get their blankets wet and put them in the refrigerator so that they could have cold blankets.... idk...but I'm sure I'll have some fun things to say about that. 

Love you all so much! 

Que Tegan un Buen dia, y Sean Valiente! 

Hermana Allen 

Salta Mission Conference

MTC District Sisters at the Salta Mission Conference

Salta Missionaries who were together in the same MTC District

Happy Day! Back together at last!
Hermana Smith and Hermana Allen

Simoca- with her new trainer Hermana Nunez from Paraguay

Learning how to make empanadas!

Hermana Allen
Excited about making her own empanada!

Casa de Rosa- Feliz Cumpleanos Hermana Nunez