You guys speak to people about Jesus, don't you?

September 9, 2013

Mom, o my goodness. I got the package today and it was the best ever!! Thank you sooo much!! I  loved it soo much!!!!! 

This week was probably the best we have had in Singen. I am not going to lie, I was really struggling. I was feeling like the worst missionary ever because our numbers were so low. I kept asking myself, why am I needed here in Singen??? Well finally I had a reality check-and it was so awesome!! I finally realized that maybe I am not neccesarily needed in Singen, but in all reality, I am the one that needs Singen. Seriously, being here in Singen, opening and training has been the hardest thing I have done on my mission. I have really had to get out of my comfort zone and push myself beyond my limits. But, because of it, I have been becoming the missionary that I want to be. I have learned how to contact, work with the ward, and I am still learning things. I decided I needed to stop worrying about how low are numbers are, and focus on living up to my potential as a missionary and focus on being the very best I can, and that is when the rest will fall into place. So that is what I have been focusing on, just trying to be the most obedient and best missionary I can be. 

One thing I have seen on the mission is that their are some missionaries that have this natural ability to be amazing missionaries right from the start. From the get go they have no fear and it doesn't scare them to be bold or to talk to people on the street. They just really know what they are doing. Then you have those other missionaries, who want so badly to be great, but they have a few more obstacles to overcome, or it takes them a little while to figure out their place as a missionary. I am one of those second missionaries. It has really taken me a while to become the missionary I have wanted to be. I have really, really, had to go out of my comfort zone and do things I have never thought I had too. And now after 9 months, I am finally getting there. I still have so much to learn, but I am grateful for Singen and how it has help mold me into the missionary I am today.

So we found this awesome potential investigator named Simplice. He is one of our bus drivers here in Singen and one Wednesday night when I was getting on the bus I dropped a ton of the pass along cards. He saw one with Jesus' face on it and looked at me and asked: "You girls talk to people about Jesus, don't you?" I said yes and we talked a little bit then I went to sit down because there were people behind me waiting to get on. He called me back up and I started telling him about the book of mormon as he was driving. He was so excited to meet with us and gave us his information. Then that night we got a text from him that said: "Hello Sisters in Christ, the time of good is the best...i'm happy to meet you sisters in Jesus name...Jesus is my savior, my redeemmer, my life...and my Lord... I love him, I adore him, I please you tonight to pray, may the holy ghost open my heart and my soul to his word...Amen in Jesus name." hahah Isn't that so great??? We had a lesson with him last night and it was so great!! He is so prepared. We weren't able to set up another appointment with him because he didn"t know his work schedule, but he is so excited to read more in the book of mormon. We feel so lucky that we were able to meet him!! We have high hopes for him as an investigator:)

So my branch here is so great. We need about 5 more people to be baptized in order for it to become a branch so everyone is really gung ho about missionary work. It is so great. The hole branch is just so loving and I have loved getting close with the members. Yesterday we had an eating appointment with Familie Zimmerman it was so great. Brother Zimmerman said something to me and it made me so happy. He said: "Sister Allman, you are so cool. Ya, you really just are so cool and everyone here in the branch just really loves you." That made me happy. It was really great to hear-especially when it has been soo hard.

but really. This week has been so much better. This transfer is going to be so much better as well. I am excited for the miracles sitting ahead of us. 

I love y'all so much!!

Sister Allman

You guys speak to people about Jesus, don't you?

September 2, 2013

O man. It sounds like both of you are having some much fun with your adventures in the British Isles. I am jealous! But like mckay said, after the mission, you can take both of us:) 

This week was good/really hard! We are having no sucess finding people to teach. We are talking with everyone, but we just can't seem to find those people being prepared to accept the gospel. I am not going to lie, it is SUPER frustrating. But it is okay, because like Ether 12:6 says, "you recieve not witness until AFTER the trial of your faith." O man, are we having trials of our faith right now, but it is okay. Seriously, the mission is the pure refiners fire. but o boy- I am learning so much. I am really struggling with the language as well. I just cant seem to get it down. Sister Freimann and the members are really trying to help me-and I am working way hard to do all I can. I am really nervous that my German is not going to be very good when I get home, but hopefully with diligence, hard work, and prayer/fasting, I will get it down. German is so stinking hard. 

One thing that has been really great about singen is that we have really been able to get to know the branch. President told us that he doesnt want us filling out time in our planner to contact or find, but that we should contact and find on the way to visit members, potentials, and less actives. So we have been going by so many people in the ward every week. Everyone has the coolest stories, and it is amazing to hear what they have been through and how they found the church. The members here are soo strong and just the greatest examples ever.

Tonight Eva, one of the ward missionaries is having a birthday party in the church for all the less actives. She is super close with a lot of the less actives, and is doing this just so the missionaries can come in contact with them. She as called all the less actives and have made sure they are coming, so today we are working with the gurney's to get prepared for that. How awesome is eva? She is constantly trying to figure out how to reach out to the less actives because she was once a less active herself. When members help the missionaries, it is the best!!

Well have so much fun in england, or ireland! Wherever you two are. Find One Direction for me and tell Harry Styles to wait for me:) heheheh

LOVE YOU GUYS

You guys speak to people about Jesus, don't you?

August 26, 2013

Hallo meine Familie! O ich vermisse sie!

Last week and this week, Sister Freiman and I have really been studying about faith. We have really struggled being here in Singen and not having anyone to teach. It has really taken a toll on us. We are both really terrified with street contacting and it has been a trial for us to find people. So we figured our faith wasn't strong enough, or something wasn't really clicking because everything we were doing kept failing. Well we finally realized that our faith was strong, but we weren't doing enough. For instance-2 Nephi 25:23-For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace  that we are saved, after all we can do. We both realized that Ya our faith was strong, but if we were really putting our faith to use we woud stop thinking about how scary it is to talk to everyone, and forget about ourselves- and do the Lord's work. Yes, we have been working hard these past few weeks, but we haven't been doing enough, and we weren't talking to enough people. Had we really done all that we could? No. So this week we really worked hard to put our faith into action. We prayed to have all the strength we could to talk to everyone and then put our faith to work. At the beginning it was so hard. We were rejected, rejected a little bit more, and again rejected, but we kept going. Sometimes we faltered and we would chicken out to talk with someone, but we were trying out best. Well then Thursday when I got back from an austausch I was determined to talk to EVERYONE and not let one person pass me by. After lunch we went out and I forgot about myself. I talked with everyone. It was crazy. The fear was gone. It was truely a miracle. The Lord was helping me. Then Sister Freiman wasn't scared, and she started talking to people too! The greater miracle about it was that we started finding potentials! One person after another wanted to hear about the gospel. We were able to find 12 potentials within 3 hours. That was such a huge miracle! We found 12 potentials all in one day, and that is more that I have ever found in one week! It was such a miracle, and I know it was because we did out very best and talked to everyone. The Lord blessed us and he led us to people. All we did was work and do our best-and then the Lord made up for the rest of our weaknesses.

I have learned so much since I have been on a mission. It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I am constantly being reminded of my weakness's and my shortcomings, but I have also experienced things that are going to help me into the eternities. A mission is really the refiner's fire, but I am becoming who the Lord wants and needs be to be and it is such a blessing.

Have yall read Elder Uchtdorf's priesthood talked "Four Titles?" Well Seriously, this talked has changed my whole mission. I read it a few times a week. There is a quote in it that has just affected me so much, and it has kind of been my motto lately.

"Perhaps it is true that we are weak. Perhaps we are not wise or mighty. But when God works through us, no one and nothing can stand against us."
Man, isn't that powerful?? I just try and remember that each day. I am soo incredibly weak. I can't do this mission alone. But seriously, I have learned and I have testimony, that when we let God work through us, we can be a powerful tool in his hand.

Guess What??? I got to be a missionary in Switzerland!!!! We did an austauch with the Sisters that serve in Winterthur, Switzerland and I got to go there and work with Sister Robben who is from the Netherlands for Wednesday and Thursday. I loved every second of it. They speak the craziest form of German down there so it was hard to understand, but I loved it. The people there were so open and nice and with their crazy Swizadeutsch accents they just all seemed so jolly to me. haha Not to mention, it was absolutely beautiful. It was such a great opportunity for me to work there. Sister Robben and I talked with everyone we saw, and the last person we contacted is going to be baptized. She is one of those people that you hear about that is prepared to hear the gospel. Her name is Bruda and she is probably 17 or 18. We stopped her and told her were were talking to people about Jesus. She stopped and said "O I have time for this!" We started telling her about the Book of Mormon and she was so excited. She told us that she had lived in Brazil for a while and always saw Elders and wanted to talk to them and get a Book of Mormon. She took the Book of Mormon and was so excited to read and meet with us again to learn more. It was seriously such a testimony to me that the Lord is truely preparing people to hear our message. 

Well thank you for all the prayers. They means so much.

LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Allman

Das ist mein Freund!

Hello Family!
I am sorry I am the absolute worst because I haven't taken any pictures, but I will take some soon!

Well, opening an area is dang hard. Man. One thing that I am really going to learn this transfer is patience. We are outside most of the day and talking with tons of people and getting rejected over and over. The rejection usually isn't mean, but when it happens so often and you are not having any sucess finding potentials, you start to get a little frustruated. That is why patience is GOLDEN when you open an area. I know as the weeks go by, everything will get better, but sometimes that is hard to remember. Finding people is just something that is not one of my strengths. I mean we talk with everyone but I can just never seem to get their information-BUT I know it will come with time. I have been studying a lot about weaknesses lately, and I KNOW that the Lord will help my weakness of contacting turn into one of my strengths. I just can't give up.

Good thing is- this week is going to be so much better!! Sister Freimann and I have really been trying to figure out what we need to focus on right now. We both had a strong feeling that we need to focus on the part member families and other families in our branch- so this week we have a lot of appointments set up with familes and one potential family so that is going to be way good.

Saturday our district had a Finding Day in Schwemmingen and we straight street contacted for 5 hours straight. It was so hot and we found no potentials. It was a long day. Sister Freimann has been having a lot of trouble with her feet because we walk so much, so she was in a lot of pain and she was really struggling. I suggested that she get a blessing from Elder Gurney. She was hesitant so I told her I was going to get one too. After I said that I thought " I really don't need a blessing, I am fine," but it seemed to me that she didn't want to get one on her own. So I decided to get one. I was thinking in my head if it was still okay if I got a blessing even  if I didn't feel like I needed one... I didn't really know what to do because I didn't want one either. Well when we got back to Singen, Elder and Sister Gurney picked us up and took us to their house. They are seriously such a great ehepaar (Senior Missionary Couple). They have done so much for us!! But When we got to their house they talked to us for about 30 minutes and told us some stories. It was in that moment when I really felt like I needed a blessing. It was so weird. It was like the Lord was telling me that I really needed to recieve this blessing from Elder Gurney. It was crazy because I didn't even really want one at first. Well the blessing was awesome! O man, one of the best I ever gotten. I know the Lord was really speaking through Elder Gurney. One thing he said was "You are so young on the mission, and you are definitely not ready to be a trainer." That sentance was very BAM hahah I completely agreed with it and I thought about it a lot. I am so young on the mission, I still have no idea what I am doing, and I am not adequate enough to train alone. But, I am not alone. The Lord is helping me every step of the way. If I was training without the Lord's help, I wouldn't be able to do it. But I can do it, because the Lord is guiding me. He went on a said so many other things. Two other things that stuck out to me were "Use your personality to find people," that was really cool because sometimes I feel like to be a certain way in order to be a good missionary, but this blessing reminded me that I need to be myself and use my own personality! The other thing was "People at home are relying on you right now." That was cool because it reminded me that I have not only the Lord with me everystep of the way, but I have my amazing family and friends back home who are my cheer squad also helping me every step of the way. Man, I am so lucky.

How awesome is the Lord? Seriously, I have experienced so much as I have been here in Singen showing me that the Lord really knows each of his children. We are never forgotten!!

Well my branch is just so great. There is the cutest girl and her name is Kim Joy. She is 21 and is down syndrome.  We have become best buds. She is constantly following me around in church. It was seriously the cutest thing ever because in sacrament meeting yesterday the Branch president was talking about how he was so grateful to have 6 missionaries in the branch and he was naming off all of our names. When he said my name, Kim Joy yelled "DAS IST MEIN FREUND!!!!" (That is my friend!!!) It was seriously the cutest thing in the world.

Well thank you for all the prayers. I love yall so much. Next week I will make sure to send pictures!! Well love you!!

Sister Allman

Ich fühle wie Singen!

July 22, 2013

Hello Family!

As you already know because of Michael, and Schwester Tranum, I am getting transferred. :( I am way sad, but I know the Lord has another plan for me. I am headed to Singen, Germany, a small town right on the border of Switzerland. I am serving in the Singen Branch, which is a part of the Zurich, Switzerland Stake. I think my area has a little bit of Switzerland in it to which is cool! I never thought I would have the opportunity to serve or go to Switzerland, but now I do! It is awesome. But, I heard the dialect there is pretty crazy, so I am probably going to have to re-learn German. Supposedly people speak there as if they are singing. haha I have heard it is really beautiful as well because it is in the area of the Bodensee. Besides that, no one really knows anything about Singen! haha There are no Sisters there right now, so I will be opening it. That means we have no investigators, no area book, a brand new apartment, so basically we will be starting from scratch. I also will be training, so on Thursday my companion will be fresh off the plane from the MTC. I am kind of freaking out!! When president called and told me I was  in shock. It is definitely going to be way hard, but I know it will be good for me. I know I will definitely learn and grow a lot in these next few transfers. I asked Elder Orchard and Gochnour to give me a blessing, and that has made things so much better. I have felt at peace, and I know that Singen is where I am suppose to be going. It is going to be an adventure for sure!

I have absolutely loved my time here in Munich. I have been through SO much here. It was here where I was in my darkest time, and here where I was blessed with so many miracles. I have grown so much here and I am so grateful. I love the people here as well. Mom and Dad, and I am so excited for you to meet some of them in December. Ya'll have to look out for Schwester Fisherlaudenbach, The Arnold's, Birko, Angela, Marja, Britta, the Mason's, and Schwester Matthies. (Also Schwester Tranum and Michael of course!) Ahh they are all just the best.

Our investigators are doing great. Have I told ya'll about Tao? He is from China and is just about the cutest ever. He loves the church so much, but he just has a problem with alcohol. He has been investigating the church for 2 years now, so when we first met him we were a little skeptical. He moved here about 1month ago and came and found us. He has made so much progress!! Even though he had investigated for 2 years, not once had he gone to church or read the Book of Mormon. Well he has been reading in the Book of Mormon every night and he came to church yesterday! He loved it. He was about 30 minutes late and felt so bad. In Sunday School he said the closing prayer and it was the cutest prayer ever. He asked Heavenly Father for forgiveness for being late, and thanked him that he could come today, and thanked him that he could read in the Book of Mormon. He is just the best. He has a baptismal date that he is working towards and I know he will be able to do it!!!

Marja is in Finnland right now. She went to the Temple and she said it gave her strength!! I was so happy. I am also happy because I get to come back for her baptism in 3 weeks!!! She is awesome. I can't wait for ya'll to meet her.

Well Missionary life is an adventure. I am so weak, but the Lord always fills in the gaps and helps me. I know that is exactly what he will do when I go to Singen. I know that if I rely on him and the Spirit, everything will be just fine!

WELL I LOVE YOU GUYS!

here are 2 pictures from last p-day, we went to Garmisch and went hiking!!

Sister Allman

Singen und Tanzen

Guten Tag from Singen, Germany!

Man, all I have to say is that I feel like I am in a completely different world. Munich and Singen are sooo different. I don't even know where to begin.

First off, The Lord answers our prayers. I have gained a HUGE testimony of that this week. Before I was transfered here, I had been praying to Lord for help with a lot of things. I was praying for:

1- Strength to be able to street contact. I hate street contacting and it really scares me. So I was praying that I would be able to overcome my fear. (We never had to street contact in Munich, we ubahn/sbahn contacted. So much easier! haha)

2-I prayed that my German would get better. My German is not up to par, so I was praying for Heavenly help that I could improve immensley.

3- I prayed that I could lose the 8 pounds that I have gained. Yes I know, not that much, but those 8 extra pounds have been killing my self esteem!

Well, the Lord answered all of those prayers by sending me to Singen. It was definitely not the way I expected, but every single one has been answered. How you might ask?

1- We are opening up the Singen area. We have NO investigators, NO area book, we have NOTHING. So we street contact. We are constantly contacting, because our main focus is to find investigators now. So now, I have no other excuses, I have to street contact!

2- I was blessed with a German golden!! So obviously, my german is going to get better because I am working with a native. I was so happy. Her name is Sister Freimann and she is from Hannover. She is so stinking cool. We get a long really well. She is 21- and her english is great and she is all for helping with german. She is blunt and told me my german needs a lot of work. hahaha but it is great, because she has already helped me so much. It was truely an answer to my prayers because it is really rare that Germans stay in Germany when they get sent on their mission here. They usually go straight to Switzerland because Americans can't serve there. I was the only missionary this transfer who gets to train a german, so I am so lucky!!

3- We walk everywhere in Singen. I feel like I am a pioneer on the trek. We walk and we walk and we walk somemore. It has some buses, but since it is small, there are not a lot. Our church is about a 45 minute walk a way too. So basically, I will be a lot more active which is awesome. Which hopefully means I will lose the 8 pounds I have gained:)

How cool is that???? The Lord really answers our prayers. It was definitely not in the way I expected, but so far he has answered all of my prayers. Prayer really works!!

I am not going to lie, it feels so weird being here in Singen. Just everything about it is so weird. I am in a completely different world. Singen is completely different from Munich-the landscape, the architecture, the people, everything!  Munich was a city of about 3 million I think, and Singen is a city of about 40,000 with little villages surrounding it. Singen is a really weird city to me. The architecture does not match the landscape at all. When I see most of the architecture, I think of th 70s/ghettoness. But then you look at the scenery surrounding it and there are trees everywhere and it is so green! It looks like you are in fairytale land! It is so weird! haha

I am excited to be here. It is so cool because I am with completely different missionaries, in a complete different state of germany, and just everything is so different. It is a new adventure and I am excited to experience it.

So these past few days have been great. We got here Thursday night at around 7:00. (We left munich at 12:35-had a 3 hour train ride to Stuttgart, then 1 hour layover, then 2 hour train ride to Singen). The Branch President, Relief Society president, one of the counselors in the branch presidency, and The Ehepaar  (Senior Couple-Elder and Sister Gurney) greeted us. They then took us to our new apartment which is SO nice. We have a huge bedroom, kitchen, dining room, and family room. It is huge and we have so much space. The whole branch had been working so hard to get it ready for us. Everyone in the branch contributed so much because they were so excited to get another set of missionaries. Awesome huh? well that night we had dinner with the Branch Presidency and the Gurney's at our apartment. They all had done so much for us, which was so nice.

Then Friday, Saturday, Sunday- was spent planning, contacting, meeting people in the branch, and having no idea what to do. haha I guess that is typical when you are starting from scratch with an area. The branch is really wonderful. There are 140 members and they just need 10 more people to be a ward. We have a brand new church house here that just opened in September which is awesome as well. The whole branch is super excited about missionary work, especially because they want to become a ward!

O sorry this is the longest email ever.

Saturday we had an appointment with a crazy less active- and i mean, literally she is crazy. It was the funniest appointment I think I have ever had. We walked into her house, and it was super dark. We sat down and she got us water. I saw that she had a ton of cds, so I asked her who her favorite singer was. She then looked at me and said "I'll show you!" Then all the sudden she put on this weird like Romanian folk music and started dancing for us. hahah We all danced in a circle for about 10 minutes, then all the sudden she was done, sat down on the couch, and said "Alma 50" then began reading. We read Alma 50 with her, then as soon as it ended she said "Okay, sis sonntag!" and gave me three huge kisses. Freaked me out a little bit. I wish you could just meet her though because if you saw her you would think this story is hilarious. haha I will bring pictures later.

Well I love you guys!! Thanks for all the prayers. Sister Freimann and I are working hard and are determined we are going to see a baptism before this transfer is over. It is going to happen. Ijust know it. heheh LOVE YALL!!!

Sister Allman

O here is my new address!

Kirche Jesu Christi

Sister Elysse Allman

Bruderhofstrasse 50

78224 Singen

Deutschland

ICH MAG DI

Guten Morgen Familie!!!

Wir hatten eine Wunderbares Woche gehabt!! So viele Wunder!!! Es ist wirklich fabelhaft!

Mom! How did you know I was going bike riding today? Did Michael email you about it? hahah He is the zone leaders investigator, but because they serve in our ward, we see Michael a lot as well. He is hilarious, you would get a kick out of him. He came up to me after sacrament meeting and said, "Your mom says she loves you!" I was so confused and then he showed me the picture he took of me bearing my testimony and said he sent it to you. hahahah O goodness. Michael is hilarious. 

So last week I told you a little bit about Pasquale right?? Well Monday night we had an appointment with him and it was amazing. He told us, "I wanted to meet with you tonight because I wanted to tell you how I have been feeling. Ever since I started reading this book and meeting with you two, I have been feeling something weird. I have never felt this feeling before, and I don't know what it means. I have always been able to control my feelings, but now I have no idea what is going on. It is freaking me out!" Lets just say Sister Smith and I were both really happy. He had been feeling the spirit. We met with him 2 other times this week and both lessons went great. The amazing thing about it is that every time we meet with him, he looks better. He doesn't look as dark. He looks more clean cut. It is so cool to watch this confirmation. On Friday we had an appointment with him at the Arnolds with another YSA Carla. Brother Arnold and Carla were both amazing joint teaches!! We talked about the Plan of Salvation with the Word of Wisdom. Brother Arnold is a convert, and has COMPLETELY changed his life around, and Carla went inactive for 3 years, and COMPLETELY changed her life around as well. They were able to testify to Pasquale about the blessings the gospel and the word of wisdom brings. The spirit was seriously so strong! Then Last night we had an appointment with him and then we went with him to YSA Abendessen(dinner) and ate all together with the YSA. He had a good time and ended up staying and hanging out with the YSA after we left. We were so happy. Seriously, when members get involved with missionary works, that is when miracles really happen! So you should help the missionaries just like the broadcast talked about, because members helping with missionary work is the best! THIS GOSPEL IS TRUE!!

Angela is great. Her confirmation was wonderful. Yesterday she was just so happy and came up to me and said in her Chinease accent, "Viele Leute kennen mich jetzt! Ich bin so berühmt!" ( Many people know me now! I am famous!) It was seriously the cutest. Everytime she comes in the room, everyone is so happy. She gave us and the elders all these little asian trinkets to thank us. We were all laughing so hard. Goodness, I love asians so much! haha

I love Munich. I am so incredibly grateful that I have had 6 months to serve here. Man. The investigators, the ward, the people, the missionaries, everyone is so AMAZING!! I feel so blessed. Everyday I wake up and just think about how blessed I am to be on a mission. I feel so lucky for this incredible opportunity. I can't even begin to describe how full my joy is. In two weeks we get transfer calls, and sadly I think I will be getting transfered. I mean I could be surpirsed, but I have been here 6 months-longer than most sisters have been in any of their areas. If I could get one more transfer here, I would be the happiest ever!! But if the Lord needs me somewhere else, I will be able to go as well. But O how I will be forever grateful to the Lord for sending me here to Munich, because I have met so many people that have changed my life for the better.

So this week I have studied alot about Ether 12:27. As crazy as this sounds, I love that we have so many weaknesses. It is such a blessing to have weaknesses, because when we truely rely on the Savior and work our hardest, those weaknesses can become our strengths. How amazing is that??? I realized that this mission is the perfect time for me to be able to really become the person I want to be. So for the past week I have really reflected on the person I am. I have written down all the things that I do, good and bad, and I circled all the things about me that I want to change. Now I am working to change all those things, and become better!! I want the mission to change me! I want to come home a different-better person than I was before I left. I made a little goal calendar and I have been working on some of the things. I am really motivated and it has been such a blessing. The Lord is helping mold me into my potential! Thanks for everything and all the prayers!!!!!! Ich habe dich so viel liebe!!!! Sister Allman