Happy June!!

Hello family--things are going good here in Brasil--I am learning to be more calm and quit running from place to place. You can only do so much as a human being and you can only be satisfied and happy with your best AND LEAVE THE REST TO THE LORD!!  

This last week I baptized a young girl of 16 years. SHE WAS SUPER HAPPY AND LOVED RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST THE NEXT DAY.  This week our district: Me, Elder Boccia--the crazy, loves to tease and joke with people until the joke is like a dead fish and he´s still waving it around--I love him!, Elder Soares, the most humble and pure 21 year old I know, Elder Hatch, a Spiritual POWERHOUSE---HE ROCKED SOCKS WITH HIS TALK ON SUNDAY---PREPARATION PAYS OFF AND I WAS SO HAPPY FOR HIM! He spoke with such great simplicity and the questions he left for everyone were inspiring and the members were VERY QUITE THROUGHOUT THE MEETING! I love the sacrament, the reverence is getting better here in the meetings in Açailândia!! Our district was able to bring 19 people to Sacrament meeting this week---YES---THAT WAS A FIFTH OF THE ATTENDANCE!! Attendance this week was 120! We´ve already hit 155 since I´ve been here though so there is much to be bettered! 

Yes---JASON AND TONJA AND FAMILY---I´M SO SORRY I NEVER MENTIONED THAT I RECEIVED YOUR PACKAGE---SOOOO LONG AGO! It was wonderful and I LOVED it and I´m still eating the starburst. Elder Hatch, from Idaho Falls, Idaho ate one just this morning and was like----OHH STARBURST---YEES! I still haven´t made the cupcakes and Elder Soares is begging me to make them because he´s never seen such strange cup holders and he is amazed and obsessed and excited to make them! I think that we are going to make them and take them to a couple that was recently baptized and are preparing to enter the HOLY TEMPLE TO BE SEALED FOR ETERNITY, YES ETERNITY here in one year!! 

Well have a great week Scott and your talk is going to be AWESOME---remember that you are the to simply let others feel the Spirit and to leave your special, SUPER SPECIAL AND STRONG TESTIMONY OF THE LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND THIS HIS EVERLASTING AND TRUE GOSPEL! I love you Scott and you are going to be one of the best missionaries ever--just keeping being YOU!!! 

LOVE GREGG (Elder Allen) smiley face!

We have three baptisms this week--I´m super PUMPED! My hour is up---I´ll talk to you all next week--thanks for the e-mails I will go and read them!!

--Elder Allen 

Love you all!

Happy Fathers Day

 June 17,2013

Heeeey -----Happy Father ´s day Dad!! I hope that you had a great Sabbath day!! This Sunday was great and I sure am learning a lot here on the mission. Yes, I am learning and growing and I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World!!!

This week we scheduled to eat lunch with an investigator. He likes to make fun of American´s!! There is quite a bit of hate towards americans here and it´s all good because Elder Hatch and I just joke back with them and try to make fun of Brasil a bit. But really this division of countries and color of skin and this and that is all the work of the devil. Competition is good and healthy and fun but don´t ever let the competition go over the line. Work with all you have to win but then in the end realize that the competition was only to bring out the best in the two parties and that we are all working against Satan--working for God and that God wants to save all ALL OF HIS CHILDREN ---HE WANTS THEM ALL TO RETURN AND LIVE WITH HIM!! 

We are teaching a Portuguese Professor. I really like this lady and Elder Boccia and I are super excited for her to get baptized-- -she is reading para CARAMBA!! I just know that she is going to one day wake up and say---isssh--I already know that this is true--each visit we get one step closer. I feel that with most of the people here in Brasil you need a good 12 -16 visits to have a strong baptism. Your teaching, conviction and love as a missionary can go a long ways in those 12-16 visits. If you just pass information they will merely be convinced of the truth---testify with all you have and ask the Lord to help you strengthen your testimony every single day!!   

 

Our bishop is like the shortest guy in the ward--haha---it´s hilarious. We helped him move homes this past week and it was great! Lunch at his home was also fantastic. Elder Boccia and Elder Soares always like to make fun of me because I don´t drink soda. I told them that I could run faster because I don´t drink soda. After our service project we decided to run back to the house and I beat Elder Boccia- --  YES! It was a good friendly race and he still likes to make fun of me for drinking soda. 

Read Preach My Gospel and study General Conference---do ALL YOU CAN EVERY DAY TO BUILD UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND KEEP YOUR COOL AND BE CALM AND EXCITED WHILE DOING IT!! MAY THE SPIRIT BE WITH YOU.  

--Gregg 

Elder Allen

Awesomeness!!!

This week was super good and things were great amongst our district. I´m praying that God will allow our entire district to stay together so that we can make things better here in Acailandia. In fast and testimony meeting we had 155 people. Does anyone know how many people usually are in the sacrament meeting of the lakeside 2nd ward?? Elder Boccia and I had an AWESOME planning session this morning and we were planning and full of ideas and excitement--it was GREAT!! We have been helping a lot of young men prepare for missions. There are nearly 10 young men here in the ward that could be serving missions and so the mission president has asked us to work with a lot of them. We have family home evenings with their families, we give them our Preach My Gospel dvds and we go on splits with them and they make visits with us and I´ve given practically all of my ties away and now have like five ties and they are all purple, blue or brown. MOTHER!!!---if you could maybe send me some new ties that would be awesome--I can´t have anything super thin or super fat or bright Pink or Purple but if you could send like maybe 15-20 ties of red, brighter green, brighter, HAPPY COLORS, orange, etc. that would be awesome--but they have to be COOL TIES!!!--hah, no just kidding, but, if you could ask Nathan to maybe go shopping with you--he can pick out the swag!! How is  Tiffany doing????

Love you all!!! My time is up already. I´ll talk to you next week. 

--Gregg (Elder Allen) 

Happy Birthday Hyrum!!!

HEY HYRUM---HOW IS IT BEING SICK--I MEAN SIX--have you had a lot of people already tease you with this joke. Don´t let them get to ya--just tell them that you are six with an X! Hello family--how is life in the great city of Provo, Utah?? Life here in Brasil is great as always and it is really hot and I´m always sweating. Thanks a boatload for the great package that I received from everyone. I loved the new pants and the two new shirts are SPECTACULAR!! I love being a missionary and I am super happy to be living here in a place where I know that I will probably never get sick because it is ALWAYS SUPER HOT!! Nathan--how is the mission prep going?? Spencer, how are the merit badges. The best thing to do on your mission prep journey is to learn to LOVE PEOPLE AND TRULY DEMONSTRATE YOUR LOVE FOR THEM---list the three people that most frustrate you in your life and go do a BOATLOAD OF ACTS OF SERVICE FOR THEM and pray for love and show your love and then continue onward with faith and God will help your love to grow. I heard about Scott and the baseball deal---that stinks that he lost but, oh well, he´s always a great sport about things. ALWAYS BE HAPPY PEOPLE--DON´T BE A MOODY BUM--NOBODY LIKES A MOODY BUM. Be organized and never quit and listen to the Spirit the first second that he talks to you. Here is a small bit of what happened this week:  Don´t ever dwell on the past, just learn from it and look towards the future with great joy. I´ve learned a lot with this on the mission---you can´t be a perfect missionary and everything is never going to go as well as planned. The most important thing is to just LOVE THE PEOPLE AND ALWAYS BE HAPPY!!! You are going to work miracles there in Jamaica. This week we had a small meeting with some of the youth and the bishop of the ward. He talked of his love for the Savior Jesus Christ and at the end everyone had a turn to share their testimony. My companion and I taught a young man named Wanderson and he was baptized close to two months ago. He shared his testimony and started to cry and said that the other night he was reading the Book of Mormon and he just felt this huge feeling enter into his chest and fill him with warmth and happiness. He stopped and could barely even talk the rest of his testimony. IT WAS AWESOME!!! I´ve totally been praying for this kid to strengthen his testimony and I want him to stay strong. FOREVER STRONG!!! We were able to get his sister to come to the meeting and his mother came to a fireside with the Mission President and his wife!!! Yes--the whole family is PROGRESSING!! Jesus Christ lives and loves us--I know he does!!

I let Elder Hatch take over with the piano--he is a member of my district and is from Idaho Falls, Idaho!! I need a dog.--HAH, just kidding. Been hunting lately Nathan with all of the boys?? HEY ISN´T SCHOOL OUT??? How was the year for everyone?? I hope that you all had a FABULOUS TIME!! Today for lunch I made beans, rice, linguica with alho and it was SUPER GOOD!! Love you all. Thanks for being my supporting family.

Elder Gregg Allen

Happy May!!

Sent Monday May 20, 2013

 

Hello EVERYONE!! How was your week? Thanks for all of the great e-mails. This week some miracles happend here in the ward. Two families that have been inactive for over four years returned to FULL-TIME ACTIVITY!! The father of one of the families was called as the new young men´s president and the other family has three young men that were interviewed and prepared to recieve the priesthood--they are going to receive the priesthood this week! One of these three is nineteen years old and he is going to go and visit a few people this week with Elder Boccia and I!! I am receiving a boatload of awesome information from the Lakeside 2nd Ward---sooo many missionaries--that sure is awesome. The mission is great---you´ve just got to keep on top of things. I am grateful for the scriptures and for the General Conference talks. I know that Elder Boccia was sent here to be my companion for a reason and I now that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. This week I taught a lesson to a family that had two you boys drown this past week. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and Elder Boccia taught really well and with the Spirit. I am grateful for your constant example as always Amber--thanks for your e-mail---I will go and print it. I hope that you all have a great week, in Provo, in Poland and soon to be in OREGON---go DUCKS!! Spanish, Polish and Portuguese---yayo---what a great combo!! Love you guys.

--Elder Gregg Allen