SIMOCA! 

Hola familia! 

Okay I have absolutely no time and we went to like 5 other places with internet untill we found one that was actually open...so sorry you will proabaly have to edit this mucho!

I LOVE ARGENTINA. I LOVE MY AREA. I LOVE MY COMPANION.

I´ll just start from the beginning. So Monday was a 3.5 hour flight to Atlanta, then a 10 hour flight to Buenos Aires, then another hour bus ride to another airport. A 2 hour flight to Salta Argentina and then another hour bus ride to the mission home. The moment I stepped off the plane in Buenos Aires I felt at home.  It was really werid. It was exactally how I pictured it and I just know this is where I'm supposed to be. I feel an incredible love for the people. My mission President is so so nice and I love him. My first interview with him was so great and he already gave me some great advice that I have been trying to work on this week.

Tuesday we stayed in a hotel and Wednseday we did some visa paper work and met our trainers. My companion´s name is Hermana Paiva. She is from Brazil and speaks ZERO english hahahahahaha. No joke the first day was really rough. We had to take another 6 hour bus ride to our area and there was very little talking. Thankfully I can understand everything she says! I ADORE HER. She is an amazing missionary. The way she teaches....wow....missionary goals. She defiantly pushes me outside my comfort zone. Doing lessons she will kinda force me to talk...which is REALLLY good for me even though it scares me so much. Everyone seems to undersrtand my kindergarden spanish...so that's good. haha after everything I say, it feels like I just ran a maraton or something and they just give me this look hahah idk. This is her last two transfers and she extended just for me!  She knows Hermana Smith´s comapnion really well! Speaking of which....I was really hoping when I was in Salta that I would see Hermana Smith walking the streets, fighting dogs, but I haven't seen her yet! Maybe for Christmas or something! Also in her letter from last week....read it....its exactally how I feel about the language. like to a T. 

Okay my AREA. I'm in little city called Simoca in Tucuman. Literally everything you hear about Argentina is true! DOGS EVERYWHERE. Delicous food. I LOVE MATE. I didn't think I would like it, but It's all I have for breakfast.

First Area Simoca Tucuman 6 hours Bus Ride from the Mission home in Salta

I was not prepared for it to be FREEZING. Today was the first day that I didn't have to wear my winter coat haha. But I think from now on its going to start heating up! Yaaaaay.

Sunday was the best day. I had to give the classic ¨lets watch the gringa bare her testimony for her first Sunday.¨ It actually wasn't bad and I wasn't nervous to do it for some reason. The spirit was just so strong. In Simoca, it's just a small branch and they meet in this small concreate building. The rest of the sacrament meeting involved me sitting in the back row bawling my eyes out as each member who just went to the temple this past week bore their testimonies. They took a whole week to travel to Cordoba to go to the temple for the first time and thier testimonies were beautiful! 

Now I'm sure you are wondering how my Spanish is doing. Well the accent is like impossible hahah. I can't understand anyone. All I hear is zzzzshsshshhschchch. However, when people imitated it in Arizona they were WAY dramatic about it. haha It is BEAUTIFUL. Basically it's just Spanish with kinda an Italian accent. 

We have 3 investigaors who are planning on getting baptized! wahoo! Maria Rosa was supposed to get baptized next week, but she didnt come to church so we have to delay it. apparently her mom doesn't want her to join the church. Hermana Paiva told me that her son was shot and I think this week was the annaversary of his death :( We went to talk with her today and she set another date for the 18th! 

ROSA. Rosa is my favorite. We are basically best friends haha. She has to wait for her divorce to go throuigh before she can get baptized. She has the best personality I love it. So you know how in America we put an O and the end of the word to make it ¨spanish¨ like as a joke, well Rosa will put a TION after every spanish word when she talks to me hahaha. I love her. I teach her and Hermana Paiva English during almuerzo and I realized how hard English is...man oh man. 

Oh we have bikes too so that is fun! There is this one dirt road that I love. On one side is farm land and on the other side are these small little cement houses with a little soccer field, I cant help but smile everytime we ride down it.

OKAY AH SO MUCH TO TELL! NO MORE TIME! SORRY I'LL SEND PICTURES NEXT WEEK! LOVE YOU! 

Hermana Allen 

PS when I tell them my name, they say "oh that's easy" haha

10 Hour Flight from the US Atlanta to BA Argentina September 21, 2015

Salta Airport
President Chaparro, Elder Petersen and Hermana Allen

 Salta Airport

Headed to the Mission home in Salta

Hermana Allen Meeting Her Mission President 

The newly arrived missionaries with their trainers and President and Sister Chaparro

President and Sister Chaparro with Hermana Allen

Tres Traveling Hermanas

After over 28 hours of Travel 
They all make it safely to the Mission home.  

Hermana Allen with her Trainer Hermana Paiva from Brazil

 Argentina Bound

This morning I will be leaving for Argentina! EEkkk!! I am feeling all sorts of feelings. Hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm excited for this new adventure! 

I will first fly to Atlanta and then arrive in Buenos Aries Tuesday at 9am. Not sure what will happen after that, but that is part of the adventure. I'm definitely going to miss Mesa. I can't wait to come visit after the mission. Hermana Aguilar is staying in the area, so I am excited to hear about Tierra Rica and Eden Park Ward! 

This week Brittani accepted a baptism date! I am so excited for her. She is just so awesome! My mind is literally blank. I have no idea what to say in this letter. 

My last night here there was a Spanish fireside and it was the best way to end my time here in Mesa. All the Spanish missionaries were there and President Jenkins gave a great talk. I can totally understand when white people speak Spanish ahahahah. The spirit was so strong, recent converts shared their conversion stories, I just LOVED It.

I'M SO HAPPY YOU SAW HERMANA MELLA AT THE MORMON BATTALION. WORDS CANT EVEN DESCRIBE MY HAPPINESS. I Love her. Visit her all the time. Also Mom, you two look so a like its crazy!

Also in preparation for my Argentina journey, I have been studying this week about weakness. I read in Mormon 9:31. Basically it says that we need to thank God for our imperfections. I think sometimes I'm so focused on God taking away my imperfections, that I never take a moment to thank Him for them. Imperfections allow us to change. grow, become like Jesus Christ....it's amazing. I know when I get to Argentina a LOT of my imperfections are going to come out. A LOT. I'm going to try really hard to thank God for them and to see how I can become better. He will make weak things become strong. Sorry this letter is so lame. I love you all so much! I have been so very blessed to serve in Mesa!! 

Hermana Allen

Phoenix International Airport with President Jenkins 

Ready to board the airplane

Peace out Mesa

Last Mama Allen Cookies for the next 16 months.

Arizona Beauty

Mesa went the extra mile to welcome Hermana Allen

Part of the Hermana Allens time in Mesa was spent serving in the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors' Center

Her Golden Investigator now has set a date to be baptized

Mesa Temple Visitor  Center

The "Goodbye Tunnel"
Leaving the Mission Home in Mesa

A visit with Hermana Allen's MTC Companion Sister Mella
-Serving at the Mormon Battalion in Old Town San Diego

People Just Need to be Loved
Hola Familia! 

Okay this week has been busy busy! We had a ton of service opportunities, which has been so fun! Because of the crazy storms, there has been some damage. A trailer park neighborhood had a few houses that were completely trashed, so we were able to help out and clean up a lot of debris. It was fun to see the neighborhood staring at us while were were picking up these houses. A few people even brought out their lawn chairs haha which I thought was super funny. 

WE HAVE A GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR FOR YSA. Her name is Brittany. Hermana Smith if you are reading this....HER NAME IS BRITTANY. #MTCjokes

Brittany is so sweet and so prepared. We had out first lesson with her in the Temple Visitor Center on Thursday and she has already been to church 3 weeks in a row! She told us that she knows without a doubt this church is true, she reads the Book of Mormon, has a testimony, and the lesson we had with her was amazing. The spirit was really strong as the members shared their personal experiences with the church. I just really love this gospel. The gospel makes so many people HAPPY. 

So we have also been teaching this girl names Erica. She has a lot of family that are LDS and again our first meeting with her she told us that she feels like the Book of Mormon is true as well as Jospeh Smith. This week we taught her the Plan of Salvation and I did this huge long thing to work up to see if she wanted to be baptized and then she said "Im already baptized" Then I started to talk about the difference between baptism with the Catholic church and the LDS church (because basically every Spanish speaker I talk to is Catholic) and then I realized that I just assumed she was Catholic without even asking. So then I stopped myself in the middle of what I was saying so ask what church she was baptized into and she said the Mormon church. Oh. haha 

Hermana Aguilar and I just looked at each other feeling really awkward. hahah So apparently she is just menos activo and we didn't even know it....yeah I know...

The end of the week ended up being a little rough for Hermana Aguilar and I. Things were not going as planned, there was a lot of frustration, and just a lot of random things that members or people would do that would make us feel real inadequate. Sunday night comes, and going out tracking was something that I really didn't feel like doing at that moment. We actually went to stop by Erica's house, but she wasn't home. As we were waiting at the door, I had a past investigator's name come to my mind. It was followed by a similar feeling I felt when I went back to go talk to that random lady who was walking her dog last week! So I decided it was the spirit. 

Back Story:

The name that came into my head was this woman named Jansse. Her husband was listed as a potential in our area book, so we decided to go check them out to see if they where interested A few weeks ago.  She didn't want to let us in, but then a bee stung my finger so she let us in to take out the stinger (miracle) and we were able to sit down with the family and read the Book of Mormon with them! However, it went really bad. I remember her sons were crying and keept playing loud music and she was frustrated and the spirit just wasn't there. She kept saying that she is stubborn and not interested in learning more and we really thought that was the end of it. Hermana Aguilar actually dropped her afterwards. 

SO as you can imagine I don't know why her name came into my mind right then, but she lived in the same apartment complex as Erica so we checked it out. As we were walking I was praying that I was acting on a spiritual prompting. No joke we walk up and we didn't even knock, she just opens the door. She was actually happy so see us and let us in. Honestly I dont remember what happened but I defiantly was crying during that lesson. It was probably the most spiritual experience I have had since being out in the field. I KNEW God sent us to her. Turns out she is INACTIVE TOO. I dont know why, but we keep accidentally teaching less active members thinking they are not members. Erica was baptized in Mexico and Jansse in Guatemala. Anyway, Jansse started to cry and told us that she wants to go back to church she just feels like people will judge her (she isn't married to the father of her children (Jorge) but they living together). It makes me so sad when people don't want to come back because of this! PEOPLE JUST NEED TO BE LOVED. That is what this Gospel is all about. I didn't say much, but I was praying for Hermana Aguliar the whole time they were talking. It was a "Teach people not lessons" moment. GUIDED BY THE SPIRIT THE WHOLE TIME. I am typing so fast, I don't know if this makes any sense so sorry about that. Basically I am just so happy because of that experience! I was praying for an experience like this and I know that God answered my prayer. Maybe the experience from last week prepared me for this week, I dont know, but for the first time I was able to really act on a prompting that I recognized. 

We also went to the temple this week! So amazing. The Mesa Temple is so unique! I felt like I was in Solomon's Temple or something. Super ancient looking and so beautiful. 

I haven't heard any information about my visa yet, so I'm assuming I'm staying for another transfer? We shall see! 

Be Brave Little Champions! 

Hermana Allen 

YSA Memebers with our
"Golden Investigator" Brittany

Aftermath from the storm in Mesa.
Area that we helped with clean up

Mesa Arizona Temple

Some of the Hermana's from my District

Hermana Duran Hermana Willes Myself and Hermana Aguilar- Mesa Arizona Temple

8 year old girl from a memeber family
we gave baptism lessons to before her baptism

Backyard Taco in Mesa
So good I had to take a photo

HOLA. 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous LABOR DAY. 

This week has been such a blur and I feel like nothing happened, but I will do my best to report. 

Thank you all for the lovely emails. Emails make a missionary's DAY. Es la verdad. 

So funny story, my first day in the field Hermana Aguilar and I street contacted this one guy named Jesus and he was both YSA and Spanish which is like the best thing ever. We talked with him, gave him a Book of Mormon, but he didn't seem interested. He did however, give us his phone number. A few days latter we called the number and his mom answered and was like "Im a Jehovah's Witness ...blah blah blah ..something rude" and then hung up. So we decided that was a no go. However, this week we have been focusing on finding more people to teach, so we decided to go to this random neighborhood and knock on some doors. The 2nd door we knocked on this woman answered the door and was all  "Jesus no esta aqui." 

Hermana Aguilar and I looked at each other super confused. I was thinking she that she didn't want religion so she was saying "Jesus isnt here"... or something? After a few minutes of us standing at the door being really confused she said "I talked with you guys on the phone awhile ago, are you not looking for my son, Jesus?" IT WAS THE JEHOVAH WITNESS LADY. hahahahaha 

The spirit is so true. We didn't think we would ever find Jesus again haha. So we started talking to his mom and she was actually way nice (wasn't expecting it). And then she started talking about me to Hermana Aguilar because she thought I couldn't understand her. She definitely said "Oh my son thinks the gringa is cute" I felt soooo AWK. Then Jesus pulled up in his car and the look on his face was priceless. hahah he got out of the car and said "I didn't think you guys would find me again" HAHAHAHAHA I DIED. Classic missionary moment right there. He still wasn't interested but that is okay!! I don't know why Heavenly Father sent us to that house, but it wasn't a coincidence.  

Milagro. 

On Wednesday all the new missionaries got their iPads. We were all able to sit together without our trainers with President Jenkins for about an hour and talk about the struggles of a new missionary as well as asking ourselves "who are the missionaries we want to become?"... and how it isn't going to happen overnight. IT WAS WHAT I NEEDED. I told him about my problem with being too self critical and how it has been really hard to tune Satan out sometimes. I think I just needed to hear that it is NORMAL. I still sometimes feel like a lost puppy and have no idea if what I'm doing is right, but that meeting reassured me so much :) 

haha It's funny, when I tell people I'm going to Argentina the members all kinda sit up in their chairs a little higher and say " CHE? CHE. CHE CHE CHE!" hahaha I think it is so funny but also at the same time freaks me out that I'm going to have to get used to a whole new accent soon so then I don't think about that. The President of our branch, his two sons served in Argentina, so they have been giving me a little bit of the low down. 

Yesterday a lot of people were out of town so our small branch of about 50, was down to like 30 people. I'm pretty sure every family bore their testimony. It was probably the best testimony meeting I have ever been to. First of all, I had the gift of tongues or something for that hour because I could understand EVERYONE. Second, everyone gave such a pure and simple testimony of gospel truths. It was perfect. I also bore my testimony and it was kinda funny because I am so used to only saying my like 5 things I can say...so that was my testimony and then I think it started to sound like a prayer....hahah I dont really remember but I'm glad I did it! 

I know I feel the spirit, but I have been having a really HARD time trying to figure out when the spirit is trying to tell me to do something. One morning this week I not only prayed for the spirit but that I would be able to recognize it. Later that day we were driving in our car and there was this woman walking her dog outside. We drove past her and I had the thought you should proably go talk to her, but in my head I was like no that is so weird to pull over and park and go back. Way out of my comfort zone. But then I got that feeling in your heart when you know you are supposed to bare your testimony or do something and then the thought came "this is a spiritual prompting. you can choose to act on it or not" So I said to hermana Aguilar "can we turn around" and she said "to go talk to that lady?" and I said "YES." hahah she was feeling it too. 

Turns out the lady has a son who converted and is now a member but she was so Catholic and wanted nothing to do with the church, but invited us in gave us water and cake and talked with her for about 30min just about her life and it was nice. She wasnt open to hearing about the gospel, but maybe she just needed someone to talk to? or maybe I was one of the seven? or maybe it was just an experience that God gave me to learn what a spiritual prompting is. I know Im probably feeling the spirit all the time, but during lessons it just feels not as good as it did in the MTC...like the spirit isnt there as much. I'm learning and Ill figure it out. I think that is one thing I want to have down at the end of my mission....I WILL BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT THE SPIRIT FEELS LIKE. Gah. So many things to learn. But what a great time to finally strap in and find out. :)

The most spiritual experience I had this week was on Saturday. Remember Julio? The guy that randomly came to church one day without taking any of the lessons? Well on Saturday we FINALLY were able to sit down with him and teach him the Restoration and it was not a pleasant experience. He was kinda angry because we couldnt come inside because there was no woman in the house, so I think he got offended. Then he kept interrupting us to ask random questions that had nothing to do with what were were talking about. I'm pretty sure he had the intention of just teaching us and he said "if you had a woman with you I would show you this 2 hour long video...blah blah blah" It was the first time someone said to my face that Joseph Smith was false. That he didn't even exist. Wasn't a real person. It took all of our energy to not defend ourselves, but we just sat there and listened and tried to get through the end but he wouldnt listen. I left feeling really sad.

Right after that appointment we had planned to meet with a new convert, Lucia, from the YSA ward to watch the Jospeh Smith movie at the Visitors Center. I just love that movie. I felt the spirit so strong. I even received some personal revelation on things I can do better. The one thing that really stood out to me was just how much Joseph Smith trusted God. Trusting in God is something that I have completely needed to rely on since being on my mission. It is getting a lot easier to trust Him. I think it is because I have looked back on some experiences on my life where I had to trust him and I have always come out of those experiences HAPPY. Maybe it is easier now because of those experiences and probably also because I have been reading The Book of Mormon like never before and praying so so much. 

After the movie Lucia shared her conversion story. She is such a strong and active new member, I would have never have guessed her story. She is amazing. I am just surrounded by so many amazing people all the time. The world is full of goodness and good people. We are so blessed. 

I love you all so much. I am so happy here in Mesa, Arizona. Time is flying by! 

Please keep my investigators in your prayers. LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. 

Be Brave Little Champions. 

Hermana Allen

Hermana Allen Celebrates Her 2 Month Mark