Goodbye tights, Hello short sleeves

So it just gets warmer and warmer here. I'm actually in short sleeves and no tights today, can you believe it? I can't. It's really great for missionary work because more people are out and about just sitting with their families in parks. And everyone is happier and more open meaning their more willing to listen. It's wonderful! I think I'm going to love spring. Już.
  The most amazing thing about being a missionary is teaching with the spirit. I had a few lessons this week where I know for a fact the Spirit directed what happened, and because of that the needs of the investigators and members were met in ways that I was not able to do alone. We asked one of our investigators, who I love dearly and have been working with most of my mission, to be baptized again this week. And when she said no, and I didn’t really understand the reason why because of the language barrier, I didn’t know what to say. And so I said a silent prayer and then all of the sudden, it was there in my head. I wish I could say she now has a baptismal date.. but I think the response full of love, but still a firm testimony that this is right, was important for her and for me. I am so grateful, that the Lord came to my aid.

I think I've always thought gifts of the Spirit would be easier to use. For instance, the gift of tongues means you just wake up speaking a new language right? So wrong. It's lots of hard work and stupid mistakes and prayers for help. The same with the promise in the scriptures that you will always know what to say when you need to. Well yes, He helps you, but you have to prepare yourself and practice answering hard questions that people might ask with your companion, and be actively engaging in your scripture study and studying with investigators in mind.

I know this is the true church. It is the Church of Jesus Christ once again on the Earth in its fullness. I think so many people get it in their heads that we worship Joseph Smith or Mormon or Thomas S. Monson and that is so far from the truth. I am grateful to all of those valiant prophets of God that make sacrifices to serve the Lord, but I worship the living God. I know that He is my Father in Heaven and that He is aware of me and my life and my struggles. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I can make the changes in my life necessary to live with Him again and this prospect fills me with joy. I am grateful for the message I have to share with the people in Warszawa.

Spring is Coming

Hello family and friends from the beautiful city of Warsaw, Poland.
It truly is a beautiful day here. I can't tell you how grateful I am for the spring weather. It just wakes you up and makes you excited about life when the sun is shining and it's not 17 below 0 Celsius.

Stuff:

• This week was fat Thursday. It's right before lent when everyone eats as many pączki or donuts as they possibly can. Our goal was 10 a piece, but we got really busy in the afternoon and evening and only had time to eat 7. Probably not the worst thing in the world that I ate 3 less donuts than planned.
• I think I'm forgetting little things about the United States. Like what it's like to drive in a car and not on tramwejs and what Americans think is cool and generally eat besides McDonald's. What it's like to live in a house and understand all the conversations around me and read billboards without looking up words in a mini-dictionary.
  
• When you go to the meat counter, or meat store, half of the selection really is sausage- Poles say kielbasa. Sooo good. 
• I love the Book of Mormon. Every day I am more and more convinced that it is from God for us in our times. Ja wiem że Księga Mormona jest prawdziwa i jest darem od Boga dla nas dzisiaj. It is powerful. Ona ma moc. (As a quick Polish lesson, there are genders in Polish and because Księga ends in an "a" it is feminine. Therefore, you always refer to it as a she.)
• More Polish: Tak=yes, No=Ya, Nie=no .........łatwy, no?... Easy, right?
• One of my goals, desires, hopes is to find a family that can learn about the restored gospel together. To love it together.
• When you work hard on something and prepare for the blessings, they come. Prawda to jest.
• Can you believe it's March? I'm glad that I'm so bad at math or I'd start freaking out at how fast my mission is going.
  

I've had a really great week. I'm working hard and love it here. Hope you all are doing well. Thank you for all your love and support.

Scott, sorry to here about your ACL. I will be praying for you Scott and your surgery. I'm sure everything will be fine and you'll recover fast. I know that it must be discouraging, but keep working hard and having faith and Heavenly Father will help you through.
Josh, wow you're getting tall. I don't believe it. I love you, keep working hard at school and playing hard too. You've always been such a great kid and I'm proud of you. Mam dumę z ciebie.
Well that's it for this week, lots of love.
Siostra Allen

P.S. YES YES YES I would love the right address to that family that the O'Briens know. As soon as they can get it to me we'll go visit.
P.P.S. I'm pretty sure I did send a thank you card to them, but they might not have gotten it. Mail here isn't quite reliable. Speaking of mail I've sent you all a few cards. have you ever gotten them. you only mentioned receiving the package I sent.
P.P.P.S. THANKS for the picture. It was so much fun to see you all, and I can't believe how tall Josh is.
P.P.P.P.S. I can't wait for the package, you're the best.
pppppppppppppppppp.s. Thanks for the addresses too. :)

Beginning of March 2011

It took me a little while to settle into Warsaw, but now I can honestly say I LOVE it. The last couple days I've been saying goodbye to this beautiful big city and the people here and having quite a difficult time thinking about myself anywhere else. I feel like I'm just figuring out how to be a good missionary and how to serve these people and how to get around town. I even had a couple people say that they were going to pray that I didn't get transfered (one of them being the Branch choir director:) ) Well, much to my suprise and delight, their prayers were answered. That's right- I'm staying in South Warsaw with Sister Leppanen for another two months.Sorry you all probably think I have a boring mission with only one city and two companions for 8 months of my mission, but I'm happy to be here and excited for the hard work we're going to do this transfer. I'm glad you had such a great stake conference. They are so needed to keep us focused on our eternal goals and how to work towards them in our life today. I am soooo grateful that we have living apostles who can give us God's direction for our times. We actually had District Conference this weekend too. Our district president (like stake president) is moving and so they called a new one and reorganized the mission presidency too. So lots of leadership changes. They are great men and I know they have been called of God. I'm sure everyone says this, but something is happening in Poland right now. Somethings really amazing and powerful. If you talk to the members they can even feel it and are starting to get excited. I know that this is a result of our renewed focus and desire to be 100% obedient as a mission. When we are obedient he has to bless us. How cool is that? We can count on blessings when we are following God's commandments. Anyway, I'm so grateful that I get to be here right now and be apart of the changes that are happening. There are people here that are ready to change their lives, they just need to be boldly invited to do so. You asked what Co to jest? means because you saw it in a picture on a white board we did. It means "What is this?" Super simple. Draw the plan of salvation and just start asking people if they know what it is. This gets them to stop because they're curious and then you can just testify that we're children of God and he has a plan for us. Some people aren't interested in religion and move on, but most people what to hear what you have to say. I love it. And when you talk about divine truths like that, the spirit has to testify.

February 2011

 Hej-

Loved the story of cat and mouse! Sooo funny. Glad to know the cat still has it in him and that you successful saved the mouse. Glad you all are doing well and that you're safe and sound. What exactly happened to Scott's knee, I never heard? Hope everything is going well with his healing and he'll have a good surgery. (Thanks for the scripture Scott. I love to share this with investigators when we are talking about prayer. It's such an amazing simple truth that prayer can "direct thee for good". It's good to be reminded)

I actually got your package on Friday. We were miraculously home during the day because of weekly planning and the postman called on our domofon, I was SO excited. I might have already eaten the entire HUGE bag of Reeses Pieces. So much for the great diet I've been maintaining. Actually that's a lie, while I do eat relatively well with pasta and sandwiches, we buy tons of chocolate and nutella, but we make up for it by walking all over Warsaw. I've actually lost some weight in the last months which is weird because most people gain weight, but if you don't eat out a lot and serve in Europe, you stay in shape.

What else is new. We had an awesome weekend here in Warsaw. 5 people got baptized in Warsaw and 1 in Wroclaw- A mother and daughter in the first branch. A great guy named Emmanuel and a rockin' awesome couple in ours. He's investigated the church for a while aka 20 years and possibly knows more about it than I do. It's great that he's finally acted upon what he knows is true and that his wife was able to be baptized with him. That is amazing faith.

By way of other news transfers are next week, this transfer has gone by so fast. So next Monday I'll know where I'm going if I'm going. I really can't count on it. I very well could stay right here with Sister Leppanen. Sorry my mission has been so boring - 1 city for 6 months. But I really do love Warszawa. I told President he could keep me here if he wants to. I love the members and there's lots of work to do. But I'm sure I will love wherever else I'll serve. We're in Alma right now as a mission reading the Book of Mormon and I love it. Alma is my favorite book. So many great story's and powerful doctrine. And now I'm loving all the amazing missionaries in Alma. Recently I've loved Alma 7:15 which counsels us to "fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you". That's something I'm still working on and something I'm inviting everyone to do. Fear not, live as the Savior has shown you. That is the way to happiness. What amazing faith it takes for us to actually do this. It truly is a miracle, every change we are able to make to live as God has directed. I love it.

I sent some fun pictures. There's Sister Leppanen and Sister LeFevre on transfer day. There's the wedding a couple weeks ago. Me and all the books I used during study... ridiculous. Stare Miasto, or old town from last P-day when we climbed to the top of a tower to look over it. Me with a cowboy store because I am a cowboy at heart, at least I was one at Chaparral. And Me with Ania one of my favorite people here. I give her singing lessons sometimes, really we just have fun singing together. And the last one was taken 15 minutes ago so you can see what I look like today! Love you. Hope you enjoy.

Siostra Allen

P.S. Could you also send me Gospel Principles in English. I love it! And we often teach from it at church, so it would be nice to study in English first and then Polish. Dzięks.

Valentine's Day

Sister Nielsen with the sister missionaries in Warsaw District

Glad to see she has many opportunities to sing

Birthday Wishes

Cześć wam!

Happy Valentines day! That's kind of weird to say. I forget about holidays sometimes. We planned to do a bunch of phone calls after P-day tonight to set up meetings with people and then this morning realized that that would probably be a bad idea. We were going to annoy everyone on their dates- chyba nie, maybe not.

How was your week? Pretty good. We had some really great lessons. That's what you live for as a missionary, the times when you can teach really awesome investigators and the spirit is there and they have good questions and a sincere desire to understand what you are teaching. It's the best. Men are great to teach, but I like to teach women most. I feel a sisterhood or somethings with them. I love blasting the worldly motto that you are nothing unless you are beautiful or successful- no, not true. Everyone is a child of God and therefore, inherently has worth. The more they pray and read their scriptures, the more they internalize this and it's amazing to watch.

What else is new here? Hmmm. We had an awesome! Zone Conference on Friday. It's funny that whenever I have something that is going to be very spiritual in my life, the day or week before is horrible! Thursday started out really well. We had a lesson and then a white board. And then the legs of our whiteboard froze a bit and we couldn't fold up the board to take it on the tramwej and put it in the office. After fiddling for a little while I was out of patience because it was cold and just dragged the whole white board onto the first tramwej that went by. Unfortunately it didn't go where I thought it was going and it took us forever to get back to the office. That followed by a flaked meeting and contacting on a street where no one was walking I turned to Sister Leppanen and said, "I hope you realize that Satan wants us to feel really frustrated right now so we loose the Spirit and can't learn everything we need to at Zone Conference tomorrow." And then everything made sense, we laughed a little bit at how comically wrong our day had gone and were ready for the spiritual outpouring of the next day. I know our leaders are inspired. Every single portion of the conference answered questions I had had or clarified things that I have been wanting to work on. So it was great!

I went to a wedding on Saturday. Two members from first branch are now married! In Poland, you basically get married in the Catholic church or the court house. There are very few other churches that are allowed to legally perform the marriage, also very few churches that are even recognized as churches. So this was a civil wedding and they're going to the temple, I think next month. It was fun, and kind of cool to say I've been to a Polish wedding, but temple sealings are so much more amazing.
Speaking of weddings. I heard one of my roommates is going to be having one of her own! I wrote you a letter today, but I still just want to say CONGRATULATIONS LANDEN!

I think I just finally processed the fact that I'm not coming home for a while. That this isn't just another semester abroad. That this is where I am, and this is what I'm doing until further notice. And you know what, it's hard, but I love it. And I'm learning so many amazing things about Poland, and the world, and the gospel, and people, and myself.

We have the fullness of the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ. He is the way back to the Father. That is the Plan of Salvation in a nut-shell. It's simple and completely possible. I know this to be true.

Have a great week.

Sister Allen

P.S. Could I ask a favor. You can't get CTR rings here besides the really cheap kinds and there is a really awesome new convert I'm working with named Alex. She is sooo amazing and I know she would appreciate a real one. It can be CTR or WS the polish version. But just in the next package that would be really cool. You can take it out of my account if you want.

życie jest dobre (Life is Good)

Cześć
I had no idea Scott had gotten injured or what classes he was taking. I am glad to hear that Hollie, Matt, Kieran, and Cady are doing well. And I'm happy to hear that Josh has some good friends to hang out with. That really is so important. I'm sorry to hear about Brother Milner. That is really tragic. I am so grateful that they know about the Plan of Salvation, that we can be reunited as a family. That is one of the greatest rewards we're all working towards.

I don't think I mentioned Andrzej before. About a month ago, we were doing a white board and I stopped a lot of people. One person I talked to was named Andrzej. I only talked to him for a few minutes. Told him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He didn't want to take a copy of the Book of Mormon because he didn't have a bag to carry it home in, doesn't have a phone so he couldn't give me his number, and because of an irregular work schedule didn't want to set up a meeting. To be honest, I thought I'd never see him again, and that he was just nicely rejecting me. But a few days later he called and asked if we could meet.  He was the beginning of the week of miracles I talked about in January. We invited him to prepare for baptism on the first meeting and he accepted. He is probably one of the nicest men I've ever met. So full of faith and a desire to do the right thing. He quite smoking in less that a week and never looked back. We visited with him and his sister and her husband- he has a wonderful family who is super supportive, and this Saturday I got to attend his baptism! It was such a great day. I could literally see the changes in him as we met with him each day.    It is amazing to see the Atonement work in someone's life so apparently.

Who else are we teaching. We are teaching the mother of a YSA in the branch. He is really funny and good friends with the missionaries, so we know him pretty well, but I don't think he knew that his mom was meeting with us. Haha. Then one day we decided to invite both of them to have lunch with us and a senior missionary couple- The Hardings. It was really fun and he was really suprised. Her name is Anna and she is just great. I have a testimony of the spirit being felt at church. When her son joined the church I think she expected it to be a phase that he went through, but she came with him sometimes. I really believe it is through the joy and love she's felt at church that her heart was softened and she was ready to accept the gospel. She is so sensitive to the spirit when we teach, it is the highlight of my week when we meet.

You asked what we learn at the leadership training conference- we talk about mission goals and how we're going to achieve them. We're focusing on really applying the advice we received from Elder Kopishke when he was here a few months ago. We're already really seeing a lot more success. So it's great.

Things we can't get here- Reeses, good salsa, ranch, brown sugar, cake mix, ball point pens- the really cheap kinds.

Love you, hope you feel better mom.
Sister Allen

                                           Training new senior companions

                                           Gotta Eat right!!!  She goes out alot.

Hey Family and Friends-

I had the most amazing experience this week. I have seen miracles happen!   I swear, I didn’t do much different this week, nor was it the week where I felt like I did everything perfectly. On the contrary, there is so much that I still am working on. The Standard of Excellence are goals set by the mission president for companions to work towards and stretch themselves. They include everything from how many Book of Mormons you hand out to how many new investigators you gain. It's a great compass for us to keep balanced and not spend all our time hanging out with new converts or just tracting. Ideally there is a little bit of everything. And we reached the goal in all 9 areas this week!

Here are just a few of the miracles I witnessed this week-

The 2 people who now have baptismal dates--- they told us they wanted to meet and we just followed through and invited them to set a date and they did.  

Member referrals- The woman who gave us two referrals. We only met with her because I accidentally called the wrong number on the branch list. I really don't think it was an accident.

Book of Mormons- we placed 4 in less that 30 minutes last night on a White Board. My trainee placed one by her self in Polish! And I just walked up to two guys and told them what the Book of Mormon was in 3 sentences and asked them if they would be interested in reading it and they said yes. And then they brought their friend over and he wanted one too. It was insane!

And the member lesson- it was the last thing we needed and none of our investigators were available. At 6:45 pm we ran back to our apartment and just started calling potentials that we had never met with before. One of them said they could meet.  There was a branch member who is unbelievably supportive and came on the lesson with us in an hours notice.

I really feel like I did nothing, but the Principle I learned was this: we are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. Just do everything that you have been asked to do, and expect miracles.

Sister Leppanen and I are so grateful to be the recipients of so many amazing blessings. We both have felt hounded with thoughts of inadequecy and frustration this week and I will testify that the mission challenge of reading the Book of Mormon together right now is the only thing that has gotten me through. Each morning when I open my Book of Mormon I can literally feel my power and strength to withstand all those thoughts increasing. I don’t think I could do missionary work without that time everyday. If nothing else, I have come to love the Book of Mormon on my mission like I never imagined possible. 


Oh the referral that Sister O'Brien gave me. We went and found the address. But they don't live there. Could you have them double check the address or maybe give me a phone number or e-mail so I can ask them where they live. And tell them they should definitely come here. It is so amazing. I swear Poland has hidden treasures. No one ever thinks to visit Poland, but it is beautiful and there is soooo much history.


I'm glad you all finally got your Christmas presents. And tell Josh GREAT! JOB! for me. I'll have to see him play next year when I get back. Sounds like he's doing great. I'm so happy.


I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and unending support. I read Elder Hollands conference talk again this week and thought of you all. Thank you for everything you do.


Until next week.
Sister Allen

22nd Birthday Week

Hej-

It doesn't exactly feel like my birthday. Not in a bad way- there are plenty of wonderful people who are taking care of me on my birthday in Poland.  For example, Sister Leppanen made pancakes this morning and let me take a nap, I opened some cool presents (thanks by the way- they are awesome!), and after this we're going over to the other sisters' apartment to make a cake. I think holidays just aren't as big a deal on a mission because there is so much else to focus on.

Despite that, like I said, it's been a great day. I'm so happy to hear that life is good back at home. That you finally got the pot that I painted this summer, and that you finally got the package that I sent you over a month ago. Hope you enjoy them. Love you.

As far as my week goes, it's been great. I've learned so much. I think what I've learned most is how important work is to missionary work. It's exhausting. You always have to be doing something that is helping you progress towards your goals, helping you help people come unto Christ. You can't just go home and take a nap when your tired or stop tracting when it's below zero weather. But, work is so much more fulfilling. There is a day for rest (which for missionaries is not Sunday), but during the week just work. This is so important. I just want people to understand that we're not just another company standing on the street trying to get their money- we're volunteering our time and energy to help them find the happiness that God has prepared for all of his children. I know that Jesus Christ really is our Savior. I know that faith in Him means something. We can't say that we believe in Him and then disregard what He taught. We have to strive everyday to be better to be obedient to His commandments. I know that this brings us happiness and freedom from the negative consequence's associated with breaking the commandments. I love this gospel. The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

I love you all. Have a great week.

Siostra Allen

New Companion

Cześć wam-
I LOVE my new companion! Her name is Siostra Leppanen and she is from Helsinki. She speaks Finnish, Swedish, English and Polish. Luckily I speak two of those languages, kind of. She is really cute and has a wonderful testimony of the gospel. She loves the Book of Mormon and has so much fire for the work.

Miracle story of the week. The first day we tracted, someone let us in. Just to illustrate how amazing that is, I didn't get invited in once, while tracting during my first transfer.

It was a nice Ukranian woman, which made communication interesting, but she said we could come back later this week. This is going to be such an amazing transfer! Right now I feel like I'm just swimming in the blessings. Heavenly Father qualifies who he calls, and I feel like he is giving me the strength and abilities to be the kind of missionary I need to be. The gift of tongues is so real. I am able to put more sentences together and understand so much more than I every was able to before. I know that there are going to be challenging and frustrating times in the next weeks, but right now I'm so grateful for how much fun we're having trying to speak Polish and do missionary work.

Yes I got the Christmas package and it changed my life. Those socks are soooooooooo warm. Instead of wearing 3 pairs of normal socks, I can just wear those and be fine. And the gloves are super warm too. Now my hands don't freeze when we're street contacting and I have to have my hands out of my pockets because it's bad form to talk to someone with hands in your pockets. Dziękuję bardzo. Jesteś super!

It's so weird that it's January, a new year and that my birthday is around the corner. Mission time goes by really fast. The days seem long because they're jam packed with things to do and places to be, but then the weeks and months speed passed. I'm glad to hear that all is well at home and that you had a good holiday.

Kocham was
Siostra Allen