Hello po! 

I am doing good.  I am healthy and happy and strong.  I can't believe how fast my wounds have healed!  All that's left are scars.  Missionary has become such a part of me.  It feels natural to work and preach the gospel.  

This week was a good week.  So many wonderful things happened.  This past week, we attended a missionary broadcast.  The broadcast was from the missionary department of the church.  There were changes in the missionary schedule and reporting that were announced.  It was exciting!  I don't think it would really interest anyone but missionaries....  It's all too hard to explain haha.  Basically, they are focusing the work on only the most important things and they are giving us more time to work during the day and more time to rest and prepare in the morning and evening.  It's all good changes.  I know that these changes from the Brethren are exactly what God wants for His missionaries.  The work is moving forward! 

My companion and I also attended MLC this week.  It was wonderful.  President and Sister Hiatt are amazing.  We talked about the changes from the missionary broadcast and talked about how missionaries can more effectively teach repentance to all.  The following day, I had my cycle-ly interview with President and Sister Hiatt.  They both commented on my English.... President Hiatt said that I sound like a Filipina when I speak English.  Sister Hiatt told me that I need to work on my English.  HAHA.  I guess that's a mark of a foreign missionary.  

We had a great "half day mission" with the members this past Sunday.  Us and the members split up into groups and went out to find less actives.  We found a TON.  Sister Delinila and I are excited to go back and visit them with members.  We are having meeting regularly and we just got a new ward mission leader who is a returned missionary.  The ward and it's members are getting stronger and are getting more involved in missionary work. 

This week we also attended a funeral for a young couple whose baby died at two months old.  The baby was born premature and as a result had all sorts of health issues.  The couple was sad, of course, but they seemed so calm and peaceful despite the sorrowful experience.  That peace came from the plan of salvation.  They each gave their testimonies in sacrament meeting on Sunday and each shared how grateful they are for the plan, how blessed they were to care for their little son for a few months, and how hopeful they are that they will see him again someday.  It was heartbreaking, but filled with hope.  The plan of salvation is so real, and I am so grateful for it.  Because of the plan and because of the Atonement, all that is unfair in life will be made right.  Life isn't always fair, but through the Atonement, everything will be.  Broken hearts will heal.  Scars will fade.  Hope and light and life will always prevail.

I LOVE YOU ALL & I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

xo Sister Allen

(another darling letter from Sister Delinila to the family)

hello mother sister allen and the rest of the family,

sister allen is healing really fast. even the members seemed surprised. i can see she is doing better emotionally too. she is strong and i thought to myself how amazing she is. she keeps saying how excited she is to be with you especially with Sage. i'll miss her when she leaves. we've gotten really close with each other. 

yesterday, the members planned out a farewell party for her and i can see how much they love her and appreciate her. i know its all because of how loving and thoughtful sister allen is. she radiates happiness and the members are just drawn to her. 

it is funny because when we were working out the police reports and stuff, sister allen told me that i remind her of her mom. i think it was because i was drilling on the staff guy who simply told us there was no way to find the guy who did that to her. thankfully, sister allen was there to calm me down.

im sure you would love to know more stories about sister allen. i thought you might want to know this incident from last week. this is part of the letter i sent to my family today:

On tuesday, we taught a less active family we were working on. their kids were screaming like crazy and running around the room. we had to pause midway through the lesson while waiting for the father to calm them down. while waiting, i whispered to sister allen that i will miss her once she goes home. she looked at me funny then frowned and blurted out "Don't say that! you're going to make me cry." then her eyes started to tear up. hah! i don't want her to cry but she's so cuuuuttteee...

take care!

Sister Delinila

A family home evening this past week.