8/1/22: New comp, same area

 Lots has happened since the last time I wrote an email, mainly with transfers. My oldest companion Elder Aquize finished his mission and went home to La Paz. Alls well there, he got home the same week as his brother who was serving in Cochabamba and were excited to see one another after two years. We had a fun last week together and finished strong with lots of baptisms at the Noche Blanca so that was exciting. 

My new companion arrived that week named Elder Luna. The streak continues as he's from La Paz as well, so far all my companions have been from Bolivia. We get along great and as well work hard. Already super grateful for his enthusiasm and work ethic. One of the most Christlike missionaries I've ever met and he already come into the area and Zone with ideas to share.

We've had some great discussions as well. One of which we had last Friday was very difficult but very spiritual. We visited an inactive member my age who said she really wants to come back to the church. As we got to know her, she began to share how she had distanced herself from both her home and the church because in both she was suffering some pretty ugly abuse. She later told us the pain and weight of these experiences was just too much and she felt the only rest available was found in ending her life. She was desperatly searching for relief and help  Before my mission, I'm certain I could not have adequately guided her to an answer, but armed now with a testimony of the restorded gospel, I knew how to help. It this particular discussions, I felt the spirit guide both me and my companion as we shared the message of the most recent talk by Elder Holland called "Fear not, Believe only". His message shares that there is no relief or rest found in ending one's life. At this she asked us desperate, "¿Donde esta el reposo?" (Where is the rest?) When then shared Matthew 11: 28-20
  
"28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
   29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
   30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

The rest from pain, fear and the world is found in Christ and His atonement. The atonement covers all the suffering of the children of God and through this atonement Christ knows us and all the trials we face. The invitation stands for all us to pray and plead for Christ to take the burdens weighing us down, and in infinite love He most certainly will. The adversary has tricked many to thinking relief is found in vice, sin and even death. But the shining truth is relief is only found in the invitation offered in Matthew 11, it is only found in our Savior Jesus Christ.

It's a wonderful message we share. I'm glad to be apart of this mission. 

Hope you all have a great week!!
Elder Allen













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1/30/23: Updates from Trini

Image
  Had an awesome week. Me and my comp have really dialed in to the missionary work here and we got a lot of big thing coming up. The biggest is that la familia Coimbra has committed to baptism this weekend! There a big family but each and every member  has truly found a testimony of the restored gospel and a love for Jesus Christ. The older boys, Boris Jesus and Victor prayed and thought a lot about the decision. I'm actually very proud and impressed by their efforts to find an answer from God. They studied diligently in the Book of Mormon, had lots of questions for us and most importantly took their doubts and question to the Lord. Finally this last Sunday they gave a firm answer that they want to be baptized. I know their efforts will be rewarded with a firm testimony and commitment to the gospel. I'm glad they took the time to truly know for themselves that the gospel is true. Pray for la famila Coimbra. We also had a very special experience at zone conference. President ca...
Read more

6/6/22: General Authorities and Hospital visit

Image
  It's been a while since I wrote but a whole ton has happened. First off Elder Christofferson came to visit which was a special experience. It was cool to see the entire mission get together to hear a general authorities speak. We also got to hear some amazing insights from our area President who is in charge of all of North-western South America. He spoke on how to work with ward leadership better and how to help our leaders feel excited about missionary work too. After President Christofferson spoke touching on various topics each on felt catered to our missions needs. Both him and his wife had flawless Spanish which was quite impressive and inspiring for me. There was a brief Q&A, so I asked the question " what does it mean to be a special witness of Christ". He told us that actually the calling was actually to be a special witness of the name of Christ and then bore testimony of his name. That was powerful. We brought an Elder from our ward who was set apart the ...
Read more

12/20/21: Feliz Navidad

  This week we had our multi zone Christmas party which was an absolute blast. I got to see a lot of my friends from my last zone and as well as meet the herd of Americans that came in this transfer. I haven't seen so many white people in a while but it was good to hear a little English. We got to enjoy the talent show, each zone put together their own comedy sketch involving relatable jokes about the struggles of Bolivian Visa paperwork and getting dear John letters. As well we got to see some awesome south american music and dance as a part of the talent show. Later we had a giant white elephant gift swap, which me and my comp had been preparing for. We plan put an elaborate gift where the person unwraps sever layers of wrapping building anticipation until they reach the gift, two potatoes. Everyone got a kick out of that and even president was laughing at our prank. Of course we had a real gift but for some reason the Elder who picked it kept the potatoes and later they were sto...
Read more