Summer in St. George: MONDAY October 7, 2013

ColoradoCity Lunch Break

Hello, how's it going?

A friend emailed me last week and asked if the mission was hard.. Ha! She said missionaries never say anything about it being hard til they come home.. Well I'm gonna be honest. This past week-2 weeks has been hard.. I think she jinxed me ;) But It's interesting because I thought if I could make it passed the first transfer or 2 and I would be set.. I would be good to go.
Well the first 2 transfers were great! Didn't cry once and never felt home sick.. Didn't think about home and nothing distracted me. When I got told 2 months ago I was coming out here to Kaibab was the first time I cried and that's just because I was gonna miss my "mission mom" and I was told Kaibab would be tough. I wasn't ready to leave my comfort zone in St George.
But I did what the Lord asked of me and I came here with faith. It was surprisingly easier than I thought when I first came out here to the boonies but it just seemed like the adversary was working on me more and more every day. Sister Roth and I got along great but of course we had our spats. But I got through it and now I am training. Which is tough stuff!!!!! Sister Hollander is great! Like fantastic! She's a great missionary, companion, and friend. She tries her hardest and definitely puts herself out there more than I probably did when I first came out. But as senior companion and trainer all the weight of everything is on me.. If we don't have investigators, or they don't come to church or not very many lessons.. I feel like it's all on me. But the toughest part is that they say just be exactly obedient and you will be blessed! Well I don't know how we could be any more obedient!!! It's hard when you see disobedient missionaries having success.. That's what gets me down. I think I care to much what people think.. or I know I do. I just want people to see us for how we really are. We work hard and have been trying our hardest!! But as I've pondered this a lot the past week I have realized that it really doesn't matter what others think but that Heavenly Father and Christ know the intents of our heart and know we have been trying our hardest!
This whole week I kept asking 'how can I be a more successful missionary?' Well yesterday as I was reading from the October ensign I found this talk:

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/10/how-can-i-be-a-successful-missionary?lang=eng

Yes it is called How Can I be a Successful Missionary. You think God heard my prayers? He does!!!!!!! God is real, but so is Satan and that's the scary part. But if we can just always push forward with faith and that positive attitude we will be alright.

Our numbers may not have looked the best this week on lessons, I swear 75% of our lesson cancelled! We tracted and contacted a whole lot this week with no success there! And some of our less-actives are super stubborn... But I can focus on that or focus on the positive. We were able to get 2 new investigators this week!!! Who hopefully will start progressing more. We were able to meet with Sommer and Bruce, which is a less-active and potential investigator, and have another appointment set for this week! Levi, one of our potentials, will be officially moving back into our area this week and he is so golden!! And we got to hear from the prophet and apostles! General Conference was AMAZING!!!!

So yes, a mission has its ups and downs of course, but it's because of the love you have as a missionary for the people you serve. It's hard when people drop you or they continue with their bad habits but the blessings and happiness of the mission is all worth the heart ache and hard times. It has amazed me how much I have learned about myself and how much I have learned about our Savior. And I would not trade it for anything!!!

"Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."

President Dieter F Uchtdorf

Love, Sister Allen