Hope you find what you're looking for!
God placed this scripture in my path on February 1st, aka the day I started eating sugar/chocolate again, and I thought I'd share. He has a sense of humor, that's for sure.
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Today my mom told me the groundhog saw his shadow, which would explain why the tulips are peeking out of the fertile stomping grounds of Alexander Nobel and Robert Burns.
Then again, I can't trust anything I hear because it's all passed through dozens of missionaries, gentiles, and druggies alike before it gets to me. So what I've pieced together about the real world is that it's slowly being destroyed by plagues, locusts, war, and earthquakes in divers places. Did I miss anything? Let me know so my street corner sermons about the second coming can be more accurate.
Wow, hey there I just love my mission. I love Jesus Christ, and having an excuse to think about him and talk about him all the time is just the best.
I'm sitting in a doctor's office in Glasgow right now as I write this, not because I'm dying but because Sister Christensen might be. I did think I was going to die the majority of this week though. Jordan didn't respond to any forms of communication (including showing up to his house and looking through windows, and I wish I was kidding) for SIX DAYS until we got a call from an unknown number ~Saturday morning~ in which he explained that his phone broke and he didn't relocate our number until now.
To back up, (which I can't do unless Sister Christensen hops out of the car and assists me) this week was a ride. I wish I could remember what happened, but alas, I've been associating with too many of my geriatric friends this week and they're beginning to rub off on me.
Speaking of which, on Monday night, after we had a mission wide Family Home Evening via zoom, we found the most lovely old man named Willy. He accepted a Book of Mormon and said we could come back later in the week to pick it up. We stopped by again on Friday, and he said unfortunately he's only made it through six chapters so he'd like to hold on to it....which absolutely elated us! He was cooking his wife breakfast at the time, but asked us what happened after this life so we told him we had some answers for him and would come back!
Aaannnnd...the rest of my email will probably revolve around food, because I CAN remember what I ate this week. First things first: I ate a gold bar and here's why:
Hey. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I love Scotland and I love being here for the reason that I am. However, it's not a walk in the park. The reason my emails are so preachy and semantic is because I really don't get a lot of chances to teach throughout the week so all my passion builds up for 6 days and overflows into your laps because nobody wants it over here, and maybe you don't either but thanks for pretending. We go days, sometimes weeks at a time without setting up an appointment to teach someone new, which is why they are so special when we do!
On Thursday morning we had to go into the town center for an errand, and I said out loud, "this is the part where we run into Joshua and Johnathan." They are brothers from Papa New guinea that we are friends with and have been trying to set up a lesson with! LO AND BEHOLD, later that very day we see them walking down the street, but we are in our car at this point so we followed them and they went into a grocery store so we were like, "oh yeah we need to buy juice" and went in there, bumped into them in the crisp isle, and set up a time to meet at the library!!
GOD IS GOOD. As a reward for setting up a first lesson, we got to eat a gold bar, which is the best candy known to man. It's a biscuit covered in white chocolate / caramel and is the perfect incentive for getting anything done. We actually got to eat two of them this week!!
Onto the next food.
We went to Glasgow on Friday for exchanges, and I ate a pulled pork fajita salad which rejuevenated my taste buds and enlightened my soul. Fun fact about me: the more genuinely happy I am, the more crooked my smile is. So you can see by the picture that I was VERY happy to be eating mexican food again! I got to spend the day with the one and only Sister Burnham, the smartest, most confident, most best missionary in all the land. She taught me how to teach simply and seize the day. We saw lots of miracles, made some really good quesadillas, and taught lots of lessons, which also contributed to my mega smile!
On Saturday, after getting the before-mentioned phone call from the prodigal son, we met with him and retaught the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Something has always seemed so lacking whenever I teach that lesson. My words feel empty and hollow when I tell people that they should have faith, repent, be baptized and confirmed, and endure to the end to receive eternal life. Why should we REALLY be doing those things? What's the meaning behind it all? What IMMEDIATE results will they see if they do it?
I found my answer in the talk "The Fourth Missionary" which was given to me by a friend that has changed my mission from the inside out. It says,
"The purpose and essential blessing of life is to be changed to become more like the Lord, to realize the full measure of your potential. This process of change, this process of evolving, becoming, is the object of the gospel. Change is the design of faith in Christ, repentance and baptism. Redemptive change happens by the power of the Holy Ghost. But it happens only if and when your heart is right. It happens only if you do not fight against God. It happens only if you unconditionally surrender your will to the Lord." Yeah! I like that! I know our Saviour lives and that being happy is a choice that each of us has the grand priviledge of making. Think long and hard about what you want from life and turn your desires (the good and the bad) over to the Lord this week and see what marvelous good he can do with it! I love you all and wish you all the happiness available in heaven and on Earth! Please let me know if there's any way I can help you!
Sister Allen
