My mom´s hands look like empanadas...

DISCLAIMER: MY MOM´S HANDS DO NOT LOOK LIKE EMPANADAS THIS IS A QUOTE FROM ANOTHER MISSIONARY PLEASE DO NOT FRET. Love you Mom.

Heyyyyyyy!!! Here we are, back at it. Yet another Monday. The weeks here in Uruguay are so fast and so slow. I feel like I got here yesterday and also like I've honestly lived here for a full year. It's been 3 weeks. This week was INCREDIBLE. Stuffed full of miracles, laughs, and mosquito bites. I love my life.

MILAGRITOS:

• This week, we've been having daily challenges from our zone leaders. Things like sharing a scripture with 4 people, visiting a member who hasn't come to church in a while, finding one new person who wants to hear more about the gospel, and so on. Well on this particular day (do not ask me what day it was I have no idea) the challenge was to share a scripture with four people. So me and Hermana Gilbert set several hours that day to go out and find people. We literally talked to EVERYONE. Every single person who passed us on the street, whether or not they looked like they were gonna kill us for talking to them. Some people ignored us (pro tip, if you ever want to not talk to the missionaries, don't pretend they don't exist. We are all aware it´s youre there and so are we. It's literally just awkward for you and no one else), some people with a simple "Hola cómo esta" gave us a solid "I'm not interested" and some people we talked to for a bit. And every time we asked if we could share a scripture, they said no. This went on for like 4 hours ahahaha. So then we were like dang okay no scriptures shared its cool whatever. So then we went over to the other hermanas apartment to drop something off because we had about 40 minutes till 9pm (our curfew haha) and we told them how we hadn't found anyone. And with the most confidence in the world, Hermana Wilson tells us to say a prayer, walk outside with as much faith as we can muster, and the Lord will provide. So all 5 of us sisters said a prayer, and in the moment I KNEW without a doubt that we were about to watch miracles happen. So we go downstairs, split up on a little mini exchange, and me and Hermana Wilson go down the street along the lake, and who else is standing there but exactly four men just randomly fishing in the dark. So we walk over, say hi, talk for a bit, and ask if we can share a scripture. And they said yes! So we shared a scripture, kept talking for a bit, they weren't interested, and we headed back. It was incredible. We asked the Lord for it so directly and specifically and He delivered, no questions asked. In addition the other hermanas shared a scripture with two people. So in 4 hours we didn't get a single person, but with an extra prayer and some added faith, we shared it with 6 in less than 20 minutes. God is so good. And He is SO real. Makes me wonder what bigger and grander things I can ask of Him.

• Okay this is SUCH a miracle. Ugh I had to keep a poker face this whole time cause I was so incredibly happy. So Sunday night, we went to our Bishops house for a family home evening, and we had invited a member of our ward, who hadn't been to church in years. She had said she was going to come but last minute said she couldn't. We were pretty bummed, but right then, the bishop's wife came inside and said that she was just talking to their neighbor and she invited her over for this family home evening, and she was going to come! So then Sandra showed up. And she is INCREDIBLE. Oh my goodness she just radiates goodness and Christlike love, and she's not even sure if she believes in Christ. We start off the lesson by talking about the Holy Ghost and how it works and experiences we've had with it, and she tells us like 5 different stories of things that happened and how she felt peaceful, or comforted, or guided, or anything like that. And we told her over and over that that was the Holy Ghost in her life. And she was like okay yeah makes sense. Then I don't even know how we got talking about this but we then started talking about life after death and what happens after we die. And so many times she goes "obvio." which just means "obviously". Haha she had never heard what we were saying before, and yet she just knew it was true. Then we shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon, which led us to explaining what the Book of Mormon is, and she is just like well of course this makes sense. And we were like yep it sure does. So essentially this family home evening went on for 3 hours and 3 preach my gospel lessons and a full pineapple upside down cake later, Sandra is going to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true and read it, and come to church on Sunday. And that. Is a milagro if I ever heard of one. I am so excited to see the Lord work wonders in her life.

THINGS THAT MADE ME LAUGH:

• One of the Hermanas, the one from Chile said "My mom's hands are so chubby they look like empanadas". Highlight of the week honestly.

• Also up at the top is "La Roca es mi unicornio" in reference to Dwane Johnson being this particular member's fantasy man that she thinks about all the time. No one tell her husband.

• TBH there was a lot of other things that made me laugh this week but I can't for the life of me remember any of them so here we are. Hope those two will suffice for the next week.

BUT I'm starting a new section of my email this week. And it is..... MY ALFAJOR COUNT!! I eat so many alfajores that I figured I should count them. First, to be impressed with how much I've eaten, and to try to reach goals I didn't think possible, and second, to look at the little number of alfajores and maybe think to myself "hmm maybe I should control myself". You'll be able to see in the next few weeks/full year which one I lean more towards. So, without further ado:

ALFAJOR COUNT: 25 (for reference I just checked and I've been here for exactly 24 days)

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: Okay so Spanish is so fun if I haven't mentioned it. One of my new favorite things is that the meanings of "to hope" "to wait for" and "to expect" are all one word, esperar. HOW COOL! One of my favorite phrases in english is simply "expect miracles" because the second we stop limiting God, and expect Him to do incredible things in our lives, which is exactly what He has told us He will do (and I don´t know about you, but he's never broken a promise with me) then we give Him the power to work miracles in our lives. I was reading a conference talk this week, called Yearning for Home, by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, in October 2017 and DANG y'all should read it. It's unreal. One of my favorite quotes was "the God of the universe will work within and through you, magnifying your humble efforts for His purposes." One of the phrases we say in our apartment all the time is"missionaries are worthless". Kinda funny, kinda true. We are just young, (sometimes) humble kids telling God to take control and He does. He just uses us as His instruments. His work is going to go on no matter if we´re in it or not. So what a blessing for Him to let me be a part of it. I get to fly across the world just to watch other people´s eternities change. That is SO kind of God to let me do that. And He has promised miracles in my life, my family's lives, and the people around me. If I wait for, hope for, and expect miracles in my life, then God delivers. Every single time. HOW COOL IS THAT??

Anyway this is getting long but I hope yáll have SUCH a great week. Keep on partying hard and expecting miracles!! NOS AMO!

- Hermana Allen