May 23, 2016 - The Work of Eternity

at a ward party

Happy Day!

Sisters Allan and Curneal

District activity on Pday - Cave Diving

Caving

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Wow, so many things to tell you this week! First, Monday was the best p-day I have ever have. We went cave diving for like 4 hours. It was so fun!!! And these were legit caves. It wasn't just walking into a large cave and that's it, but these were tiny spaces so we were crawling, climbing, squeezing in between rocks and everything. It was so much fun!

Also, I found my all time favorite food. It's called gyro pastalone. Pastalone is like lasagna but instead of pasta, it's amarillos (fried bananas) and then the gyro part is that instead of ground beef, it's lamb. It was sooooo amazingly good. I'll attempt to make it for you guys when I get home. :)

I never thought I would see the day when we would be allowed to wear pants! I don't think I will though because it is sooooo stinking hot so I'll think I'll stick with the skirt and I'll be sure to slather on the bug spray. :) 

This week we had a really cool experience. One day we felt prompted to go to a specific urbanization but we weren't really sure why, but we went anyways. Turns out that there had been a major car accident and one of the drivers had passed away leaving behind a 9 year old daughter and his 18 year old wife and many beloved family and friends. The Lord had guided us to that area and He placed many people in our path who had been effected by the accident and who needed comfort and peace and we were able to help them out and teach them about the plan of salvation. It was an incredible experience. Many times we don't know or understand what's happening in others' lives, but there are so many people crying out to God for help and guidance and we (having received the blessing of the fulness of the gospel) have the wonderful opportunity to be the Lord's hands and find those wandering sheep, those broken and torn apart souls, those hearts in need of mending. "because I have been given much I too must give." We've been blessed to know the truth, so now our responsibility is to share it with others and lead them home. 

also you should go look up this song and listen to it. It made me cry because it explains mission life so well. "The hardest thing I ever loved to do" by Nashville Tribute Band. It's wonderful. 

Also, dad I have a question for you. We met an investigator this week who has Colon cancer and she has had missionaries visit her in the past and she loves it and basically already knows it's true but she can't come to church because she doesn't ever leave her house. she's embarassed about her condition and is worried that something unexpected will happen with the bag. Do you have any advice that I could give her that would help her overcome that fear and come to church? Thanks! :)

This week I've been thinking a lot about the blessings in the scriptures that are promised to those who accept the gospel. I love what it says in 2 Nephi about Zion and what we'll be able to enjoy if we live worthy to enter in Zion.

   

2 Nephi 8: 3, 11 For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden,and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

 11 Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads; and they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

Doesn't that sound wonderful? Joy, gladness, holiness, thanksgiving, no sorrow or mourning. What if people understood these blessings? What if they understood the significance of the message we share? What if we could grasp the eternal promises that are awaiting the righteous and faithful? Would we come running? Would people be begging us to get baptized? I think so. If we could fully comprehend how happy, how joyful, how blessed we could be in the eternities, we would do absolutely anything to reach it. God has prepared mansions for us in heaven and we have been promised that all will be ours if we simply lay down our nets and follow Him and be fishers of men. Our sacrifices here on earth are nothing when compared to the greatness of the blessings we will receive. May we follow Him and be worthy of the glorious reward He has prepared for us. One day we can be made perfect and live in perfect peace and rest. One day we can reach eternal life and receive exaltation. One day we can live with Him again.

I love you all so much!!! Thank you for everything and I hope all goes well with wedding planning and graduation and school and work and everything! :) I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! :) 

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~Hermana Allan

May 16, 2016 - Miracles with Members

This week I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude for the mercies and goodness of God. He is All-powerful, and All-knowing and I know He is real. He has blessed us way more than what we deserve and I feel so honored and blessed to be a witness of His power and miracles here in Cabo Rojo. The Lord has made it known to me in so many ways why I needed to stay in Cabo Rojo for another transfer. There have been so many miracles and I'm so humbled that He trusts in us to be His hands to bring about His work. I love being a missionary!!! :) 

This whole transfer we have been having so much success! We are teaching and finding like crazy. And this week we had so many miracles with the members! It's so difficult to get even one member present lesson with investigators but this week we had 5 and we saw so many miracles from that! For example, we've been working with a lady named M. She knows this is the true church and she reads in the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized and everything but she's had two problems: coming to church and she smokes a lot. We've tried many different things to help her stop smoking but no of them have worked. Finally, this week, we were able to get a member in one of our lessons with her and that member was incredible and helped her so much! Ever since that lesson with the member, M. has cut how many cigarettes she smokes in a day in half and she came to church yesterday! SUCH A MIRACLE! I know that the members are the key to missionary work and that it can't be done without them. It's not the responsibility of just the missionaries but of both the missionaries and the members and when they work together miracles happen. 

Also, we're working with the sweetest girl named A. and her mom P. They are progressing so much and we've had so many wonderful lessons with them and I know they will be baptized. the only problem is again: church. A. just got a new job and hasn't been able to come to church but we're hoping that she'll come this next week and be baptized the 4th of June. If you could keep her in your prayers that would be wonderful! And M. too. :)

Also, while we were visiting a less active, her brother and sister came over so we got to know them and asked if we could visit them in their house and they said yes. Right before we went to our appointment with them we were talking to the elders about them and they said that the old elders that had been here had worked with them a lot and that they didn't have any interest and weren't going to progress. But we felt very strongly that we needed to visit them. So we went and taught them about the restoration and it was such a spiritual experience! They didn't know anything about the restoration and were soaking it all up and loving it so much. (I think the other elders had tried teaching them once but afterwards gave up and were just visiting them for the friendship and not for teaching them the gospel....). It was incredible how the Lord knew that they hadn't really been given the opportunity to accept the gospel so He placed us in their path to be able to give them that opportunity. Such a miracle! :) 

And we had zone conference this week! It was WONDERFUL!!!! One of the best zone conferences I've had so far. I love the inspired counsel of the leaders in the mission. :) And my interview with President was the best! This one was a bit different, because the whole time he was just asking me some really deep, profound questions and at first I was really nervous because I didn't think I could answer them "correctly" but it ended up being a really spiritual experience for me as I heard the Spirit telling me what I needed to say. I loved it :) 

And yes, I got the package! Thank you so much for sending it! The scripture cases are perfect. Thank you so much!

sunday was fun because we had two investigators there but also because there was a baby blessing! I must say, it made me a bit baby hungry.... Haha :) And then today we're headed off to some caves here in Cabo Rojo for a district activity. I'm super excited! Pictures to come next week! :) 

I want to share this thought from Elder Holland from General Conference: 

My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life. 

I testify that God loves you all so so very much. His love is unconditional, eternal, and all-extensive. It's available to each and every one of us and can be the strength we need to keep pushing forward. Never forget that He loves you. 

I also love you all so so very much and I hope you never forget that! :) Thank you for everything! You are in my prayers always and I know that the Lord is always with you as well in all you do. Good luck with school, mom and with the ward changes, dad! I love you all! 

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~Hermana Allan

P.s. oh and thanks for your spiritual thoughts this week. they were perfect! :) 

May 9, 2016 - I Cannot Be Shaken

Plan of Salvation Breanna made

Sister Allan and her trainee, Sister Curneal

Skyping on Mothers Day

Hello!!!!! I love you all so so so so so so very much!!!! I hope you all know that. It was so good to see you all yesterday. Thank you for taking the time to skype me and for all of your love and support. It was so good to finally meet Michelle and to see all your smiling faces! :) Mom, I feel so bad that I didn't even say happy mothers day until the very end, but just know, I was thinking about you basically all day. I just love you so much and I hope you had a wonderful day! Hermana Curneal and I were talking about mothers the other day and she asked me "what kind of mom do you want to be". I said "a good one..." Then she asked "what exactly is a 'good' mom?" I didn't even have to think about it when I said "My mom."  I really love you so much and am so grateful for all you do for me. And I'm sorry that I started crying at the end! It's just because I was so overwhelmed with love for each and every one of you. Heavenly Father has blessed me with not feeling homesick but I've definitely come to love and appreciate my family even more. I love you all so so very much!!!! :) 

We also had some really cool experiences this week where the Spirit guided us to be in the right place at the right time. It was incredible. We met an 18 year old girl, N., who is just dying to learn about the gospel. We had a short contact with her and left her with a pamphlet and when we came back to visit her the first thing she said was "can you help me understand this pamphlet. I really want to learn about this message." she has such great faith and I'm so excited to work with her! Also, one day we were contacting in a building of apartments and we both had the impression to pass by an old investigator who I had worked with a lot when I first got here in the trio, but then we had dropped her because she wasn't progressing at all. But we passed by this week and she just started bawling. She told us that it was the anniversary of her sons death and she felt so lonely and abandoned by God and was having a really hard day, but then we passed by and she knew that it would all be ok. It's incredible that God can use us to answer the prayers of His children and bring them the peace and joy that they are searching for.

I'm sorry I don't have a whole lot to share this week, but really it was a fabulous week. :) I just want to testify that Christ lives. And that we have a Father in Heaven who truly loves us. I know that if we put our lives in His hands, everything will be ok. We just need to trust in Him. I testify that this is the true church and the one true way that we can repent and be clean and become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. I've had so many people on my mission try to convince me otherwise, but thanks to the goodness of God I can echo the words of Jacob in the Book of Mormon that "I [can] not be shaken." This is the truth. There is no doubt about it. This is the way to achieve exaltation in the presence of our Eternal Father. 

In case you didn't know, I love you all so so so so so very much!!!! and I hope you have an absolutely wonderful week!!!! 

~Hermana Allan

May 2, 2016 - Teaching Frenzy

What a wonderful week!!!! Seriously this week was amazing. So busy, super crazy, and extremely exhausting, but wonderful. :) We finally found out how to balance out our lessons with the Boricuas insane ability to talk for hours and we finally got to use our time in an effective way. So we were able to teach and find SO MANY PEOPLE! It was awesome. As missionaries that's what makes us feel the most successful- teaching. If people don't let us in to teach, it's hard to keep going, but when we can teach we're filled with so much satisfaction and happiness. So it was wonderful that we got to teach so much this week. :) And we found a ton of new investigators! We're super excited to start working with them all and get them going towards baptism!

We had a cool experience this week with a less active. She suffers from depression so she usually locks herself in her house and never leaves and never accepts us in. But we've been praying to have the opportunity to help her through this and to find a way to get in her house or to get her out of her house. So one day we were on our way to an appointment and then we had the impression that we should stop by her house first. So we dropped by and there she was, outside going for a little walk to the end of her street and back. It was perfect. So we were finally able to talk to her and we set an appointment with her and were able to teach her two days later. It was incredible that the Lord put us in her path and just the right down. She was only going for a short walk and probably would have been outside for only 5 minutes, but we passed by within that 5 minute interval and were able to talk with her. It was incredible and I know it was the Lord that prepared her for that moment and led us to her. 

I found this scripture this week that made me think of you guys. Always remember that you're in my prayers and that I hope and pray that God will be with you always and will help you have the strength to keep moving onward. Moroni 8:3-

3 I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY mom and dad!!!!!!!! Thanks for being such wonderful parents. I love you guys so so so very much!!!! :) 

I'm loving my mission more and more each and every day!!! I've been thinking a lot lately about how the misison has changed me and about who I'm becoming and I've realized that the mission has changed me in so many different ways. It's helped me be more selfless, more aware of the small tender mercies of the Lord, more diligent in following the Lord in each and every moment, more confident, more happy, and much much more. I know that this gospel changes us. It helps us draw closer to our Father in Heaven and become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. And ultimately, it makes us happier. I'm so grateful for a God who loves us enough to refine us and mold us into better and happier people. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and give of myself to Him. And I'm so grateful to have such a supportive family in this endeavor. Thank you for everything you do for me! I love you!!!!!! 

Also, thanks for keeping up the blog mom! Last week while we were emailing I heard "Sister Breanna Allan, I wonder who that is". I turned around and apparently, (don't ask me how) the elders found my blog.... but it's looking great so thanks so much! :) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!!! I love you!!! And see you on Sunday! We're going over to bishops house at 5 and Hermana Curneal is going first so I'll probably be on around 6 or 6:30 which is 4 or 4:30 where you are. and only 45 minutes again, but it'll be great! I can't wait!!!!! See you all soon! :)

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~Hermana Allan

April 25, 2016 - "The Tempests of Life"

Hiking through some caves

Hello!!!! What a wonderful week! Basically everything was centered around A. and getting him ready for his baptism. And let me tell you, I have never seen anyone so prepared, so ready, and so excited for their baptism. He is amazing! He has such a strong testimony and I feel like he converted me more than I taught him. And his baptism was probably the sweetest moment on my misison so far. Hermana Curneal waited for him outside of the font and when he came out he just covered his face in his towel and wept. He knelt down and just started praying saying "Thank you God, thank you." It was the tenderest and most spiritual experience ever. This is what it's all about. Watching others come to know their Father in Heaven and then changing their lives to draw closer to Him and then seeing them experience the blessings and the joy that comes from the restored gospel. It's incredible. And President Boucher and his wife came down for the baptism too! It was such a wonderful moment. :) I was going to send a few quotes from A. but I forgot my journal where I wrote them down so I'll have to send some next week.... but just know that he's amazing and has such a strong testimony. :)

Also, today we had a zone activity! We visited some caves in the middle of nowhere. We had a gorgeous hour long hike in the mountains in the rain to get to the caves and then had a little "fireside" inside the cave. It was absolutely beautiful!!!!! I love nature and am awed by the beauty of the world. They truly do "denote there is a God." It was wonderful. :)

I got lots of questions from you guys this week so I'll try my best to answer all of them.....

Mom- The members sister that we had such a cool experience with- we actually can't visit her anymore..... her husband is completely against the church and told us we can't pass by again. It was heartbreaking. But we're praying that his heart will be soften so that he will accept us and more importantly, accept the gospel.

Dad- I don't know if I'm going to be able to get to all of your questions but I'll try my best.... Ward council is basically all about missionary work. He just gives the time over to us and we talk about our investigators and their needs and how the members can help us. The Ward Mission Leaders basically are only involved if we're planning a baptism. Favorite meals..... There's too many. :) I love pastalone, fried chicken, pollo guisado, tostones, temblaque, pinchos, etc. The meals here are almost always some kind of rice with beans and some kind of meat. So I really like it when it's something different.... :) For me revelation comes mainly in prayers and studying the scriptures. It comes more often when I'm really pondering on the particular question and diligently searching for the answer. The advice for Christopher and for Nathan will have to come later when I have more time to think and pray about it.... Thanks for the questions!

That is the cutest picture of Nathan and Michelle ever!!!! I can't get over their cuteness. Do I get an invitation? :)

Oh, and Mother's Day is so soon!!!! Yes, we can skype, we just have to find a member with skype first.... What time to you guys have church? We're trying to plan around your schedule and if I remember right, you guys have it in the afternoon and Hermana Curneal's family has it in the morning so we're not quite sure when we're going to do it.... It'll probably be later on in the day, maybe 4ish? I'll have a more sure time next week but really we can do it whenever so when would be best for you guys?

I was going to share a few thoughts from my studies this week with you guys but I also forgot that at our house.... just know that I know this gospel is true with all of my heart. What else could bring us so much joy and peace and give us so much purpose in our lives? Even when times are rough, it's the gospel that pulls us through. I've been reading the story of the brother of Jared in Ether and I found something that I absolutely love. It talks about the winds that tossed them around in the ocean and that pushed them under until they were buried by the waves, but even amongst all that, it was the same wind that continuously nudged them towards the promised land. We have our own winds in our lives that bring trials and tribulations but ultimately, they're also blowing us towards our own lands of promise. Those trials and tribulations refine us and help us become who we need to be and help prepare us for that promised land that God has in store for us. In your moments of struggle, don't get discouraged. But keep moving forward and think of how that trial is moving you towards that promised land.

I love you all so so very much and can't wait to see you in 2 weeks!!!!!! Have a super fantabulous week! :) :) :)

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~Hermana Allan

April 18, 2016 - "The healing power of the Gospel"

Hello family! I love you all so so so so so so very much!!!!!!!!! I just hope you all know that :)

This week was wonderful. It's been so exciting as we've been preparing our investigator A. for his baptism this Saturday. He is incredible. I feel so honored to have been chosen as the missionary to find him and teach him. He inspires me. Everything we teach he accepts without a complaint and is changing his entire life around. He's always had a pretty rough life and hasn't been involved in good things but he seriously has done a 180 in his life and it's incredible to see the change and to see how happy he is now. We talk to him just about every day and every time he always bears his testimony to us and thanks us for the wonderful opportunity we've given him to learn of the gospel of Christ. This week we taught the word of wisdom and he had a huge problem with coffee. He basically lived off of coffee. So every day we called him to give him our support and remind him not to drink coffee. One day when we called him, he said, "It's ok, I already did it. I dropped it and I'm never going back." what?! We were so happy!!! Also, one day we got a call from him and he was super depressed and was going through a lot of things and told us that he just wanted to "go home". We knew what that meant and it scared us to death. In that moment I prayed harder than I have ever prayed in my life and we called him probably like 5 times that day to make sure he was ok and to share some scriptures and positive thoughts with him. Then a couple days later he told us. "I'm a man of my words and before, I would never give you my word that I wouldn't take my life, but now, because of the knowledge of this gospel that you've given me, I give you my word. I will never do it." It was the most wonderful moment. The gospel truly heals us. It truly comforts us. It truly saves us.

Also, one day a member was giving us a ride to an appointment and when we got there they told us that their sister lived next door. He said she had never received missionaries before because she had listened to her brother and sister (who are members) talk about the church and it didn't interest her at all. We told him we would pass by when we could and then we left for our appointment. Well, our appointment wasn't home so we thought let's just pass by her now. So we dropped by and she left us in! We started talking a bit and halfway through, she breaks down crying and opens up to us and tells us all these things she's going through and that we were an answer to her prayers. It gave us a great opportunity to introduce her to the healing power of the gospel and she seems to be so receptive and I'm sure she'll find what she's looking for in the message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's incredible that God prepares these people and that they'll come to the knowledge of the truth in the right place and in the right time and it's up to us to make sure we're in the right place at the right time so that we are there for those who the Lord has prepared in that moment. It was such a cool experience!

Thanks mom for getting that package together! You're the best! Also, you should download FB messenger because there is a recent convert we're working with that has been sending you pictures of us when we visit her. And it has a cheesy video of us singing so.... yeah. :)

Hermana Curneal and I were brainstorming this week for how we are representatives of Jesus Christ and how we're like Him in our service. She mentioned something that I thought was really profound. She said that just like Christ is our advocate with the Father, we are the advocates for those we pray for. We plead for their souls and for the things they need and have faith that Christ will hear our prayers and bless them with the things they need. I thought that was really cool. We really can become like Christ in all things that we do. He is our example and through His atonement we can become perfected in Him.

Oh I guess you want to hear about transfers huh? :) Well...... drum roll please..... I'm staying here with Hermana Curneal! I was not expecting that at all. I'm going to have 5 transfers here or in other words, almost 8 months! Crazy, huh? It's weird because I get two skype calls on my mission and both will be here in Cabo Rojo... But I'm really excited. I have a feeling that it's going to be a great transfer! I know there is so much more work that needs to be done here and I'm so grateful that I have another transfer to work with these people and that I can be here for A's baptism! :) And Hermana Curneal and I get along great so it's going to be wonderful! :) and honestly I don't think it'lll feel any different from training. I really never felt like I was training. She was already trained. :)

And thanks dad for doing my taxes! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Good luck with school and work and everything!!!! :) LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

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~Hermana Allan

April 11, 2016 - "Finding Strength"

Sisters Allan and Curneal

District Photos

New companion for exchanges

Back with Sister Curneal

Hello everyone! This week we were so blessed with a countless number of miracles!!!! Last week we had basically started again from ground zero so this week we desperately needed new investigators and we found so many! Heavenly Father truly blessed us and helped us find these people and we're so excited to work with them this coming week. They all have so much potential so we're hoping for lots of progress, baptismal dates, and investigators in church on Sunday. The sad news is that our golden investigator, A., won't be getting baptized this Saturday. But don't worry, he's still golden! He's progressing like crazy and it's amazing seeing how much desire and conviction he has. He just had problems with transportation so couldn't make it to church on Sunday and he needs more time to quit coffee so we're moving his date, but I'm positive he'll be baptized by the end of the month.

This Sunday was a super difficult heart-breaking Sunday for me. We showed up a bit late because our ride came late so when we got there I just went straight to the piano to start playing. When I looked up at the ward, I was overwhelmed by the number of empty rows. There were hardly any members there.... It just broke my heart in two seeing how many people had let the small and simple things slip out of their lives and had forgotten about their testimonies and the many blessings of the Lord in their lives. It made me so sad. This has been the biggest struggle in my mission so far- having two wards to work with. They're still new and are so dependent on the help of the missionaries so when we work with one ward, the other ward crumbles. I've found it very difficult to support both wards at the same time. So this week was a bit rough, but honestly I've learned so much from this experience working here in Cabo Rojo. I've grown and been strengthened and I know that everything has happened for a reason. I'm just hoping and praying that these members can be strengthened as well and that this ward can pick itself back up and get going again. Your prayers would be much appreciated! :) 

Really I've loved my time here in Cabo Rojo. It's been hard at times, but I've fallen in love with the area and the people. I don't want to leave, but I most likely will at the end of this transfer. I've loved it here and I can feel of the love that God has for each and everyone of these people!

Sunday night was fun because we had a sleepover with the sisters! We had 12 sisters stay at our tiny little apartment last night and then left early this morning to visit the lighthouse and then go out to lunch. It was so much fun and I'm so grateful that I have had this opportunity to meet so many wonderful people and I'm so grateful for their examples to me and for their love. Pictures will come next week! :)

It looks like you guys had so much fun on the cruise! I'm a little jealous, but we'll just have to go on another one when I get back. :) Thanks for all the pics! I sure have a lovely family! And bendito, Nathan and Michelle are THE cutest couple ever. ADORABLE!

I really do love you all so much and am so grateful for your examples to me. This week I was filled with gratitude for our loving Father in Heaven and was reminded many times of His power and goodness. I know I'm weak and that alone, I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. I have so many faults and weaknesses that would hinder the Lord's work, but how grateful I am for God who loves me, is patient with me, and who helps strengthen me to be able to do His work. It's only with His help and by His power that we can work miracles in our lives and in the lives of others. Go to Him. Rely on Him in everything. He will be with you and He will help you.

Thanks so much for all you do! Love you all so so very much!

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~Hermana Allan