Ben

Ben

Week 89 - Texas Crayfish Day!


Week 89 - 4/3/17 - 4/9/17



This week was General Conference and as always, very edifying and uplifting. I hope that all yall were able to watch it or listen to it or had some other way of tuning in to hear it. I hope that yall all got answers to your questions and desires. I certainly did.

Other than that. Updates. Sorry for not emailing last week. We were super busy with Transfers and such. Keep it down! I didn't get transferred and that is ok. I did get a new companion though! His Name is Elder Brinkerhoff from Mesa, Arizona. He is a super cool guy! We are going to slay it this transfer here in Cleveland.

Luke went to the temple. But I wasn't able to go with them:( 

We were able to go to the temple another time though! This time with the mission. 




We had lots of meat. This is what Texas is known for people. And there is no better place than Cleveland to get your fair share of meat. 


Then a few pics of the old District all together!


And then a pic of Elder Brinkerhoff and I!


Love Yall!

--

-Elder Allen

Week 88 - 3/38/17 - 4/2/17

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Week 87 - 3/20/17 - 3/27/17



The blue bonnets are out in full swing and they are pretty.

I guess that means spring time, the time of year where we can make more new years resolutions! We can turn over a new life and forget about what's in the past and move forward.

Springtime also means allergies. Everything that can possibly bloom does in Texas.

The Sisters tried to beat my cookies this week. They didn't and everyone agrees that mine are better. So that's 10 points for the Elders.

We painted a fence. And I painted my name.


I played the paint again for another baptism this week.... I guess these things are catching on and I'm a decent piano player.

The baptism was super spiritual. It was for a man named Luke. He is in the Ward and we used to teach him, but he moved and now the sisters get to teach him. But he got baptized his last weekend. 

Tammy told us that she doesn't want to get baptized this week, but that it to for sure be within the next few weeks, which is an improvement! She has been sort of on the fence, but that's changed over the last few days.
We are super excited for her. She came to Lukes baptism and that's what convinced her that she needed this in her life! Cody didn't make it to church this week, but is still super set on getting baptized.

Well, going to keep it pretty short and simple this week. Here's a Spiritual Thought!

"A morning prayer and an early search in the scriptures to know what we should do for the Lord can set the course of a day. We can know which task, of all those we might choose, matters most to God and therefore to us. I have learned such a prayer is always answered if we ask and ponder with childlike submission, ready to act without delay to perform even the most humble service."

- President Henry B Eyring.

Think about it!

Love yall, bye!

--

-Elder Allen

Week 86 - 3/13/17 - 3/19/17

Hey Fam and Friends!

This week was a week of first time events. Lemme go through and I will see if I can list a few of them!



1. First time I have played the piano in sacrament Meeting 2. First time I have played the piano with other people singing...
3. First time I passed the sacrament to the Bishop.
4. First time I've had a snake around my neck.
5. First time I've been to a scrap metal place.
6. First time I've had a cat in my hood.
7. First time the Elders Meal calendar has been full for the next two weeks straight.

We had a super cool experience with me playing the piano and everything. The Sisters in the Ward had a baptism on Saturday and they were asked to sing Our Saviors Love. So naturally they decided to ask me, cause I'm pretty much the best piano player ever and I've been playing for my entire life. For those who don't me, that entire last sentence is a lie. Just about everything I've learned I've learned on my mission. So they pulled out the sheet music and told me to play it, which I semi reluctantly agreed to. It's Wednesday and the baptism is on Saturday and I am supposed to learn how to play a song that I've never played before right? So I do. When we practice Thursday, they say that the key is too high and that I need to learn a new key. So I do that too. Then they say that he music is a little interesting and I need to spice it up a little bit... so I do. Long story short, I write my own accompaniment to Our Saviors Love in about a half hour and spend the next half hour practicing. The baptism rolls around and we perform it and the spirit that it brought is incredible. It was awesome! I only messed up a few times;)

But apparently it was good enough to get an invite back. Bishop called us later that night and asked to perform tomorrow for Sacrament meeting. So we did.

I got to pass the sacrament and I forgot how much I love to do that. I got to pass it to Bishop and as ironic as it sounds, I think that it was the first time I have ever passed the Sacrament to Bishop.

We got rid of the washer. And the dryer that decided it wanted to tag along as well.

Our meal calendar has filled up. I guess people are starting to like us.

Love y'all! Have a good week!

--

-Elder Allen

Week 85 - 3/7/17 - 3/13/17


Fish, Sheep, & Goats




Good Morning!

Highlights of the week.

We went fishing today.

Tammy is getting baptized soon.

Cody is getting baptized soon as well!

I herded sheep.

We got to hold a baby goat at our Ward Mission Leaders house.

We had pizza for 5 meals this week.

Trying to figure out how to multiply matrices on our white board.

Exchanges! I lead out the English area with a Spanish elder with me. Fun!



More Exchanges tonight. I get to go to Spanishland.

We played basketball with the Spanish branch Friday night.

We played chair soccer for workouts in the morning with the Spanish elders.

Jack in the Box wrecked my insides.

Waffles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is life.

Taco Bell can wreck your insides too.

I buried another elder.

So he buried me.

Bananas and orange juice is always a good snack.

So is apple sauce.

Always put ice in you milk. It tastes better.

I made a quesadilla.

It rained. A lot.

Pollen is out in full force! Everything is coated with a thin layer of the stuff.

I didn't catch a fish today.

But I think I caught a turtle. 4 times.

Then the line snapped. 4 times.

Then I started thinking it wasn't a turtle.

Until another Elder caught it too.

And his line snapped, too.

We moved a washing machine in the back of our truck.

Pulled the axles off of a single wide trailer in our white shirts.

Only got a little bit dirty:)

--

-Elder Allen


Week 84 - 2/28/17 - 3/6/2917

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