April 28, 2014

This week has been long. Had meetings and tracked down less actives and referrals

Monday we had P-day.

Tuesday we had Zone Conference. President Bell and the AP came to Salina to be with us all day. It started at 9 am. We left Great Bend at 7 AM to be at the Church building before 9 AM.  Elder Pack was doing car inspections and helping missionaries fill out incident reports and had The Vehicle Olympics: where missionaries compete for bragging rights (and an extra 100 miles for the month). The Great Bend ward helped with the lunch. President Methvin from the stake presidency had us play a game.  We finally finished at 5 PM.

President Bell

We even had visitors stop in to say hi. Brother Taylor and his wife stopped in to talk to us. Brother Taylor was one of the first AP in the mission when it split. He was an AP until he went home in October. Then he proposed 8 day later and got married about 8 weeks later.  Brother Taylor and his wife both talked about his mission. Sister Taylor talked about the timing of his mission call to the time he left on his mission. If he would of left in May when he was available he would not had the opportunity to help start the KWM and help President Bell.

 

Andrew and Brother Taylor

Wednesday morning we helped Sister Siefkes mow her lawn. Then we had Weekly planning. Then we taught seminary before mutual. During mutual we had a lesson with Jim and Shae at the church. Jim and Shae are doing good. We are working with them to get married. Then we had a lesson with Cristina and Cristal.

Thursday we had time to contact less actives and referrals. Lots of these less actives were not home. Then we had dinner with Sister Mcowan.

Friday we drove out to Larned. We had lots of Referrals and members in Larned to contact. Then we had dinner with the Perezs.

Saturday we first went over to Cristina and Cristal to help them with their sink. Then we went out to Hosington to see the Curtis family. When we got in and sat down Elder Nelson pants ripped.  The inside seam of his pants ripped about 15 inches. This was funny to see his reaction and also the Deiah Curtis. It ended up that the Sister Curtis had a sewing machine but did not know how to use it.  I was able to get the machine to work so we were able to fix his pants.  Then we had a lesson with Jim and Shae and Brother Cromie. We were able to talk about temples.

Sunday we had Church. None of our Investigators came to church. Then we had a lesson with the Curtis family and Morice Yarmer an investigator. Then we went to the Carlitions for dinner. The Carlitions invited a less active to dinner and we were able to meet this family.

Thanks for all the letters and the Emails

 Love Elder Andrew Allen

Shoes that have been worn for 10 months and new shoes

April 21, 2014

This week has been great. The Great Bend Ward had a baptism and the Mission President came and visited.

Monday we went over to Brandon and JR’s to play with the soccer ball with them. Then we had dinner with them and Cristina and Cristal.

Tuesday we had district meeting. Brother Voss in the ward was able to drive us up to Hays. District Meeting was long but we were able to talk about the ideas we had to share the video "Because Of Him" Then we got back into town and was able to see a few members and less actives. Then we had dinner again with Cristina and Cristal and family. We then were able to have a lesson with them about Jesus Christ and show the video with the family.

Wednesday President Bell came to Great Bend to Interview Edwardo for Baptism. After the interview President Bell took us four missionaries out to eat for lunch. He took us to Perkins. After lunch we went with the Spanish elders for Weekly planning then he told us that he would also come to ours. But President ended not coming to weekly planning with us because he had to get to Wichita for a meeting. He then told us that he would come to the baptism on Saturday and also work with us on Saturday and stay for our talks on Sunday. I was not looking forward to Sunday because president would be there when I was talking.  We ended up going to teach a lesson with Brandon and JR. After our lesson we played ball with them. Elder Nelson sprained his ankle while playing.

Thursday we ended up doing Weekly planning. After weekly planning All of our appointments ended up falling through. Even our dinner had to bring us dinner because Sister Hudson was called to work.  It was a long day.

Friday we also had a long day. We were able to have dinner with the Sheffield family and show the Because of Him video with them.

Edwardo

Saturday we had a Baptism at 11. Edwardo got baptized.  Lots of the ward members came to the baptism. Even the AP came to the Baptism. We showed the “Because of Him” video between the talks and the baptism.  Every one liked the video.  After the baptism Elder Nelson and I went to Lyons a small town to work with the less actives. We were able to visit Sister Hickling and the Enfield Family.

Sunday was Easter Sunday. In ward council Elder Nelson and I presented the training of working with the ward to pick 5 families and fellowship and work with them for 4 weeks. The ward Council liked the plan that was given to us from Elder Martino of the 70.   Then we had church. Elder Grow And Elder Nelson And I all talked in church. My talk was about CPR (Church Read Prayer) and how it will bless our life. During church we showed the “Because of Him” video to the entire ward. We then had Easter lunch with Cristina and Cristal and Family. Then at 5 we had Easter dinner with the Siefkes. Sister Siefkes even asked us to help her prepare the meal for her.

This week was great.  Hope all of you are doing Great. I love all of you and hope you all had a great Easter.

Love Elder Andrew Allen

A Miracle in Great Bend.

We were visiting a less active in the Great Bend Ward. Their cousin Chris, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was visiting with them for a few weeks. Chris has a daughter that he was working to get from her mother in Tulsa. He had been going to court for the last 4 years to work on getting his daughter back from her mother who is a drug addict. We meet with Chris on Tuesday and talked about reading each night and praying and coming to church would help his life. Elder Nelson felt inspired to tell him if he would read and pray and come to church that he would be able to get his daughter back. On Thursday he left to get down to Tulsa for his court on Friday morning. That Friday night he called his family in Great Bend and was able to thank us and talked to us about his Court hearing. He had be give a week from the Judge before he was able to get his daughter back. During that next we he continued to pray and read and go to church. Chris Finally got his daughter back after 4 years of work. This is cool to see how Chris put his trust in the Lord and was able to get what he wanted. It might not all ways happen this quick but if we put our trust in the Lord but we will always see the blessing in our life.

April 14, 2014

This week was great.

Monday we had P-day. We then had dinner with the Enfield family. We had Family Home Evening with them. We talked a lot about CPR (Church, pray, Read the Book of Mormon) in their life. This was a fun night with them.

Tuesday we had district meeting. After district meeting I went on exchanges with Elder Jacobson.  We stayed in the Hays ward. We did service and had meetings,  dinner and lessons.

Wednesday morning we drove to Rush Center to meet back up with Elder Nelson. Then with Elder Nelson and I went out and did Service and had a lesson with Brandon. Had dinner with the Siefkes. Then after Dinner we had lesson with Cristina and Cristal. We talked about what they read and answered their questions.

Thursday we had weekly planning. After weekly planning we went to the Office Product store and got papers copied and laminated for our ward and us. Then we had time to call all of the referrals we received this week. We had 6 new referrals by Thursday.  In a normal week we might get one but we got 6 in half a week. We then had dinner with the Philips family. They made us cook for this dinner. This was fun because Elder Acosta And Elder Grow both do not know how to cook. Elder Nelson and I had to help them a lot to cook breakfast food. The food turned out good and now one has died from it. After dinner we visited the Jenifer Tervino’s Family. They were not there but we were able then to try other less active families.

Friday we had a fun time working with our less active and investigators. Then we had dinner with the Schied family in St John. It was sister Schied birthday. This was the first time to have dinner with this family. After dinner we were able to stop in with Cristina and Cristal and family and talk about the Book of Mormon and talk about Stake Conference.

Saturday we had Stake Conference. At 11 am we went to visit one of the referrals that we received. His name was Jim Wonsetler. He is friends with Brother Crone in our ward. We taught him and his girlfriend the restoration lesson and invited them to be baptized on May 24th.  They said that they would read and pray this next week. Then we left at 4 PM to drive to Salina. Sister Douglas was able to drive us up to Salina. The Adult session of Stake Conference was about missionary work. Elder Lawrence Spackman from Canada came and talked to us about the importance of using tools we have been given to help us in missionary work. Then At 8 pm we left to drive back to Great Bend. We did not get home till 10pm. There was a storm when we drove home.

Sunday Stake conference stated at 10am. The stake broadcasted it to all of the church building through windows media player. This was nice not to drive back to Salina. Cristina and Cristal and kids came and watch it with us. All of the talks were about missionary work.   

After this we went over to Cristina and Cristal house for lunch and to talk about conference and their reading. We were then able to see the Curtis family and Talk about CPR in their life. They then fed us dinner. We were also able to follow up with the Sheffield family about the commitment we left with them.

Today we were able to teach Seminary today at 6:30 in the morning. There were only 2 students that were able to make it to day. Deiah Curtis and Carter Sheffield.  This was nice to have a small class to teach. We were able to talk about the prophecies in 3rd Nephi.

This week we had a busy week. We received 8 referrals and now have 3 on baptism date of May 24th. Hope all of you have a great Easter Sunday.

Love,

Elder Andrew J Allen

Picture of the storm.

April 7, 2014

This week was great. I was able to watch general with a less active family and investigators.

Monday we had P-day. We played games and also emailed. We had dinner at Sister McCowan. Sister McCowan had a great meal prepared for us to have. After dinner we had a lesson with Lin Smith. Lin Smith came to church a few weeks ago and this was the first time we were able to have a lesson with her. Lin’s brother, in Colorado, is a member and asked us to start to teach her.  When we got to Lin Smith’s house with Sister Siefkes she asked for us to come back on Wednesday.

Tuesday we had time to work with several less actives and meet several nonmembers.  We meet with Chris Smokes a less active that is related to the Trevinos in our ward.  He is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was visiting his family for a few days before his court date to get his girl back. Elder Nelson told him that if he would read and pray for the next few day before his court he would get his daughter back.  We had dinner with the Thomas family. After dinner we had a lesson with Cristal, Cristina and Brandon we talked about how we can build faith by reading and praying and Church attendance.

Wednesday we had weekly planning and then a lesson with Lin Smith. This lesson went wonderful because Lin already believes some of what we taught but she promised to read and pray. Sister Siefkes also helped a lot because they knew each other from nursing school. Then the Phillips brought dinner to the church for us. After dinner we had a lesson with Cristal, Cristina and Brandon.  We talked about the Word of Wisdom. This was a great and difficult lesson because it does not have weed in the Word of Wisdom.

Thursday we knocked a lot of doors and not a lot of people wanted to talk. We also had lots of lessons with less actives and members. During the day we got a call from Chris telling us that he was going to get his daughter back in a week. It was nice to hear that he did what he needed to do so he could get his daughter back.  We then had dinner with the Hudsons. They live in Pony Rock, Kansas. Brother Hudson showed us all of his air soft guns and equipment. Brother Hudson has his own Air Soft field and Game field.

Friday we had a meeting in Salina for Zone training. Sister Douglas drove us up to Salina and back. During this meeting we were trained on using Church tours and using the CPR plan for less actives. This CPR plan helps members build their faith and knowledge about the gospel. The First Step is to read the Book of Mormon. Second is to Pray about it and before each reading time. Final step is to come to church.  This was a great Training. Then we had dinner with the Sheffield. About 2 weeks ago we had a water blowing hair challenge with them and Elder Grow lost. So this time we wanted to get them back.  Elder Grow was in Hays for the day so Elder Gonzalez was with Elder Acosta. Before Dinner we told Elder Gonzalez how to play and how to get Aliva back. It was great to see Alivia wet with water.

Saturday we went over to Cristal, Cristina and Brandon to watch General Conference. Every one had a Question before we started. So we spent both sessions with them on Saturday. Then we went to the church for the priesthood BBQ before the last session on Saturday.

Sunday we went back to Cristal, Cristina and Brandon’s to watch General Conference. We had a great time and were able to see our Question answered by the speakers. All of them loved to hear conference. Then after dinner we went to The Soile family. They live in Saint John. This is about a 30 minute trip from Great Bend. At the Soiles house we had a fun time looking in their Tornado shelter.

Brother Solie

Tornado Shelter

Thanks for all the Emails and mail. I hope all of you are doing great and are not sick. Thanks for every thing. I hope all of you can apply something you learned from conference to you life.

Love,

Elder Andrew Allen

March 31, 2014

This week has been long. Everyone we were teaching except 2 families has dropped us. We were sick and had exchanges.

Monday we had p-day. Then we went over to the Sheffields for dinner. After dinner the family and us missionaries played a few games. All of these games involved a missionary getting wet. Elder Acosta and Elder Grow both got wet. We all had fun.

Tuesday Elder Nelson and I got up in the night and were both sick. We got food poisoning. This was a long day. Only Elder Nelson and I got sick. The Spanish Elders and the Sheffields were all healthy all day. We stayed in bed all day and even attended district meeting through a conference call.

Elder Allen

Elder Nelson

Wednesday we were lots better. Elder Nelson was a not a 100 present better but able to go out and work. We were able to see several referrals and have a lesson with Jenifer Trevino’s family and have dinner at the Siefkes. The Spanish Elders we late to their house but we had a great time because this was our first big meal in 48 hours. Then after Dinner we went over to Cristina and Christal house for a lesson. We taught them about how to be truly converted to the Jesus Christ and following the commandments.

Thursday we had weekly planning.  After weekly planning we were able to have a lesson with Brandon and Jr. Then we had dinner and went out to find few less actives in the ward.

Friday we went on exchanges with our district leaders. I went up to Hays with Elder Gonzalez. Elder Nelson went with Elder Jacobson in Great Bend. In Hays we went and meet lots of members and less active members.

Saturday we exchanged back. Elder Nelson and I went on visiting less actives and having member motivation lessons. We meet some less actives that are so against the church they were not happy we know were they lived and even stopped by.

Sunday we had a fast Sunday and 5th Sunday all in one Sunday. We had 2 investigators at church and a lunch after church. This was a great Sunday. We also had a chance to talk with Bishop about the ward and what he would like us to do to help the members of the ward. We talked about helping the members build their faith so they can have a strong foundation in the gospel. We came up with 3 things members can do. First is family and personal scripture study. Second is praying as a family and personal. The final thing they need to do is go to church each week.

I hop all of you are doing great. I love each of you. Thanks for all the prayers and all the mail. Thanks for every thing. Hope all of you remember to read the Book of Mormon and pray and go to church.

Love

Elder Andrew J Allen

March 24, 2014

This week has been great. We had lots of lessons and lots of driving.

Monday we had the car shooting. About 7:30 am in Great Bend, Kansas there were 3 shots fired. This was out side our apartment. Elder Nelson and I did not think any thing about it. Then at 10 am when we went out to our car we found that our car was shot. This round would have gone into our window of our bedroom if we did not have the car. The trunk of the 2014 Ford Fusion now has a hole through the trunk and through the wheel well.  The two other shots hit another car and the neighbor’s door.

Tuesday fill out the incident report and all the paper work for the church involving the mission car. We helped Elder Farnsworth pack and get ready to leave the ward. We had dinner with Brother Schwinn and also visited with Cristina Trevino’s Family.  We had a lesson about reading the Book of Mormon and praying before hand. The Spanish Elders left for Wichita a 6:30 pm to make it to transfers on Wednesday.

Wednesday we did not have the car but we had weekly planning and worked on our area book. Then we went over and visited with Brandon Trevino. The Spanish Elders finally made it back to Great Bend after getting lost and driving slow. Elder Acosta is now with Elder Grow from The Mexico MTC.  We then were able to visit with Brother Crone and Brother Robinson. We then had a lesson about the Book of Mormon with Jenifer Trevino and family.

Thursday we had a day of trying referrals from the ward and also Salt Lake. Most of them were not home. We had dinner with the Hudson’s and also then had a great lesson with Brandon Trevino about forgiving and helping his family come back to church.

Friday we had district meeting in Hays. Sister Douglas drove us up to Hays. We had a great District Meeting. Then we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I went With Elder Johnson and Elder Nelson Went with Elder Nye. Elder Johnson and I went to Saline for the day.  We had a great member take us out for dinner. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and the history and similarity with the history of the Egyptians. The zone leaders stay with the Smiths in their ward. Sister Amy Smith was a Jensen from Mesa. Her parents live in the same ward as Grant Allen. This was funny to find some that knows a relative in Mesa.

Sunday we had Zone Leader stuff and paper work in the morning. Then after lunch we planned to meet the other elders in Holy-rood, Ks to exchanges back. Elder Nelson and Nye got lost on the way from Great Bend to Holy-rood. Also Elder Nye took our phone with him to Salina.

Sunday we had Wad conference. The Salina Stake Presidency came down and Brother Smith brought our phone back to us. President Knapp talked about how the family can help and be benefited by the church. This helped the members in our ward by talking about how church functions can help teach us and help our families. Then we had dinner with the Enfields. We talked about seminary and family home evening and family scripture study. Before dinner we did not know what to talk about for our lesson and when we were riding with brother Enfield to his house we felt impressed to help the family with reading and praying and FHE as a family.

This week has been great. Thanks for all the prayers and letter.

Love Elder Andrew Allen

March 17, 2014

This week has been fun. Survived an armed shooting in Great Bend. Had interviews with President Bell and had 2 investigators at church.

Monday we had p-day. Emailed and shopped and washed the car. Then we had a lesson with Jenifer Trevino’s Family.

Tuesday we had weekly planning.  Then after weekly planning we went to visit with Brandon and Jr Trevino. We played ball with them and talked about the Book of Mormon. Then we went to follow up with Jenifer Trevino and family.

Then we had dinner with the Solies Family at the church.

Wednesday we had interviews with President Bell in Salina. We left Great Bend at 7:30 am and got to the church building in Salina about 9 am.  We had training by Elder Neeley about working with the unbaptized Youth and Part Member Families. Then President Bell interviewed all of the missionaries in the Flint Hills Zone. This was great to talk to President about the area and how I was. I learned a lot about why I am in Great Bend and how I can help Elder Nelson and the other missionaries in the district. We finally got back to Great Bend at 6 pm. We then had a dessert contest at the Siefkes. I made peanut-butter cookies.

Thursday we had a lot of biking. We had a lot of appointments cancel on us. We were able to see old investigators and referrals. Then we had dinner with the Brother Schwinn in Hoisington. 

Friday we had less luck with our appointments. We saw Brandon Trevino and Cristina and Crystal. Cristina is a member but has not come to church in the last few years. Crystal is her friend and is not a member. She has been reading and studying the Book of Mormon.

Saturday we helped the Shelfield family move 2 miles down the street. This was a nice move. They had every thing ready and coordinated with the ward to have several trucks there to help. There was lots of manpower and lots of space. We then went to Lyons and had several lessons. The Berkhimers feed us dinner.

Sunday we had church.  We had 2 investigators at church and several less active at church. Brandon and Christina and Crystal all came to church. This was great time because they stayed the whole time. They learned a lot and felt the spirit. After Church we had studies and updated our area book. Then we went had dinner with the Spanish Elders.  Then we went to Jenifer Trevino and followed up on their reading.

Then Monday, today, about 7:30 am in Great Bend, Kansas there were 3 shots fired. This was out side our apartment. Elder Nelson and I did not think any thing about it. Then at 10 am when we went out to our car we found that our car was shot. This round would have gone into the window of our bedroom if we did not have the car. The trunk of the 2014 Ford Fusion now has a hole through the wheel well. We had to call the police and have them come and fill out a report. They then found the two other shots. One hit another car and the other hit the neighbor’s door. They have not found the shooter yet but no one got hurt in this incident. Thanks for all the prayers.

Love,

Elder Andrew J Allen.

PS can I have another pair of the shoes sent to me in Great Bend Kansas. and Happy Birthday Mom.