Shakira and Kermit the Frog have the same voice

Hi all! Hope life is good over there! We're still hanging out in Maryland, and partying it up while we're at it! I seriously am loving my time here so much. If you counted the amount of times I've said UGHH ITS SO PRETTY THE LEAVES ARE SO PRETTY OH MY HECK THE TREES GAHH ITS SO PRETTY you'd have a number that equals two very annoyed companions and many "mhmm we know"'s. ahahaha my comps are awesome. Still got Sister Weight, who is AMAZING and brilliant and so funny and I love her so much. This week, we got Sister Winder! She is THE cutest and is so bubbly and loves to talk to everyone, and I love her so much. Pretty awesome stuff. 

ALSO! URUGUAY UPDATE! The update is that there is no update. Sad day. BUT I figured I'd include in this email what I do know. My friend Katherine (remember her? Coolest person ever, got called to Uruguay with me) got to Uruguay this week!! Seriously so cool. So they are sending people, which is awesome! From what I can gather, I'll be one of the last groups to head out, since they are trying to send the missionaries who are in the MTC and don't have reassignments, and also the missionaries that have been reassigned for a while. So I'll be here in Maryland at least for the next few weeks, at most for the next few months. I still havent gotten an email about my visa info, so once I get that and fill it out, it should be pretty quick. But for now, Maryland has my heart and I am happy to stay here as long as they'll let me. 

This email is going to be a bit different, since it was kinda a wacky week with transfers, the first half of the week was us getting ready to have a third comp, and the second half was us getting to know and figuring things out with Sister Winder and getting her up to speed in this area. So instead of laughs and milagritos, we'll do highlights! 

• The subject of this email is a topic of discussion that has been a source of contention in the companionship. Respond to this email and let me know your opinion on the subject. 

• We had 3 member lessons in one day! It was so fun, and we got to know our members better, and we went to my favorite house, the member who's parents only speak spanish! Except her parents weren't there. So that was the saddest day ever. But she is the sweetest and I love her. 

• We got to teach our friend Jeff!! We've been trying go get in contact with him for like months, and finally I randomly (or mirace-ly) I found him on Facebook and reached out to him there, and he responded! He's so cool, wants to know all about the church, and wants to come to all our activities. And had a dog that was allllll over us during the lesson haha. But he's awesome, but also has some pretty hard things going on so if y'all want to pray for Jeff I would be eternally grateful. He's so cool and needs the gospel so much and has already felt the spirit and God's hand in his life. He's the coolest. 

• Kinda big news that may or may not affect me a TON, our Stake got split AND our ward is combining with another YSA branch, which is so funny, because Sister Winder just came from that branch, where she had spent 6 months, and now she's back in it. But this means areas are going to be redrawn and missionaries are going to be moved all over the place. So EITHER literally everything changes with a possibility of them not needing so many missionaries here, so I get transferred out, OR nothing really happens to me. Living on the edge folks. BUT ALSO THIS MEANS WE GET PRYNCESS BACK!!!! Ya know? My favorite friend? I dunno if she will be in our area, but now she will be in our ward which I literally could cry about. She's been gone for two weeks and I already miss her so I'm SO glad she's still stuck with us haha. 

• We did insane amount of cold calling, cause Sister Winder loves it, so we probably called like 70 random numbers this week. Which gives you a lot of voice mails, and a whole lot of funny stories. One girl was definitely only 12 and she had Spanish music BLASTING and said she couldn't hear us and then told us to call back tomorrow and then didn't answer when she called back. Another guy seemed in a rush to hang up and he was like sorry I don't speak English so I was like oh it's okay I speak spanish (obviously in spanish) which really threw him for a loop and then I got to talk to him about God and the temple which was so sick. Loved it.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS!!

 

Man, I've been thinking a lot about the gospel (duh) and life and such, and I've had some really cool realizations this week. 

• First off, agency is annoying, isn't it? I mean, it's great and all when you have it, cause making choices for yourself is awesome. But when other people make choices? And they choose something that doesn't benefit you, or even something you KNOW won't benefit them? It's annoying. Whether that's big, life altering choices that they're choosing wrong, or simply just doing something that bugs us, it's annoying. When we just look at their choices, it's impossible not to get frustrated. But what if we looked at more? What if we looked at where they came from? If we look at their stories, and their challenges and their triumphs and the people they've loved and the things they've accomplished and gotten through. Well, when we look at all that, its impossible not to love them. Because suddenly their choices make sense, and even if they don't, those choices don't seem like that big of a deal in the grand scheme of their life. Instead of saying "Dang, they blew it again." We might say "Wow, look how far they have come". So the key to love is to know someone's story. In addition, who knows our story the best?  God. He knows our story better than we know our story. Which is why He loves us so much. I invite every one of you to go learn more about someone else's story, or to assume the best in other people's stories when they make choices you may not agree with, and become more like God in the process! 

• Everyone knows the story where Peter walks on water. And then he falls, and Christ catches him. I think that story applies to all of us. It's been used over and over, time and time again. And every person has a different take on it. So I'm sure this has been said many times, but I had a thought this week. Christ said "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" What if that first phrase was amazing? What if Christ meant it as a compliment? Peter HAD faith! It was a little bit of faith, it didnt get him all the way, but he had the faith to get out of of the boat and walk. That is a lot of faith! So what if Christ was saying, you had a little faith! I'm so proud of you! Now, let's work on the doubt, and have a little more faith next time. I think Christ was encouraging him. Peter walked on water. He performed a miracle. Well, Christ did, but Peter had the faith to make it happen. I think Christ was proud, and encouraging, and wanting to take Peter's faith and make it so much more. 

ANYWAY!! Hope yall have a great week, and you know Christ is encouraging you and right next to you with every step, and that you can all see others with the love of God! Pretty much I love you all!! Keep having a good life!!

 

-Hermana Allen