Hola fam!

SO this week has flown by again. We unfortunately didn't have much time to work this week, with meetings and temple and a few things the ward mission leader wants us to try, they are good, but unfortunately take time, which is such a rare and precious commodity. We have 2 baptism dates before the end of the month, one is a 16 year old, Claudia, she wants to get baptized, but we haven't gotten permission from her parents. SHe actually lives in the area of our zone leaders, but she comes to church with her boyfriend and his family in our ward, so we're teaching her, and the Zone leaders went to her house and taught her mom, which apparently was an interesting experience, she had a lot of questions and then the dad came home drunk and mad, but they have an apt to go back tonight and talk to them again. THe plan is tomorrow for the baptism, and we are praying that her mom will give her permission. Our other baptism date is for next saterday. He is the boyfriend of one of our menos activos, they are going to get married next sat, and then he'll get baptized. with these 2 and the 3 from the other Hnas in our ward, we're on track to meet the goal for the ward. We also have another investigator that we're working with that says he'll get baptized in December(which for him is a huge step) he still hasn't come to church, but he has been talking to the missionaries off and on for most of his married life and all of his family are members, he just hasn't had the desire to be baptized. His daughter and her husband are supposed to come in December and stay for a few weeks and he wants his son in law to baptize him. The family has been having a rough time, one of their sons has a brain tumor, and a few weeks ago the tumor got big enough that he can't walk, before that he couldn't talk. He's going to have surgery on tuesday. We are praying and fasting for him.
We have found a family that went to the temple open house, (our menos activo and her boyfriend brought them) One of the members was supposed to pass to bring them to church, but she had an early meeting and forgot, so they were ready to come, but no one came to bring them. We're having a noche de Hermanamiento tonight, and they said they'd come. :) we'll call and remind them this afternoon while we are waiting for pres and hna Cordon to come and inspect our house.
I continue to find things interesting and funny to me here. Yesterday I was looking at our toilet paper, and I discovered about every 5 squares is a dog with a stop sign that says ¡parè!(stop!) whichis funny because 1 we have used 5 rolls of this TP before I dioscovered this disign, or realized what it is, and 2 none of the stop signs here say that. they all say alto(and all that I saw in guatemala as well). Another funny thing is the other night I discovered that there are frogs that make the sound that the guns for laser tag make. We were trying to figure out what that noise was, (it was dark, and all we could see was a little bit of land and then a wall) so we asked one of the youth, and she said it was a frog. If 1 I hadn't been in a very poor area of central america, and 2 if the sounds were a little closer together I could have believed that some one was playing laser tag on the other side of that wall. It was interesting, and funny to me.
THis week I have been studying about sacrifice(it is what I am teaching tonight in our noche de hermanamiento) and I have been thinking about how we have to be ready to give everything to heavenly father, and sometimes he asks for everything, but more often than not he only asks for a little. But so many people say yes I love Christ and I would do anything for him, oh, but I can't not work on sundays, or I won't be able to eat, oh and paying tithing is just to much to ask, I don't have enough as it is. I can't not play soccer on sundays, and not watching the game on sundays, that I just can't do. He asks us to be obedient, and sometimes(almost always) that requires that we sacrifice something to be obedient. Sometimes it is inconvenient, or hard, or it may even seem impossible, but for the lord nothing is impossible, and if he asks us to do it, he will provide a way that everything will work out in the end. We just have to take the first step. Like the story in Matthew 14 22-33, we have to have the faith and trust to step out of the boat, and then we have to keep out eyes on Christ and not allow the storm or the negative voices or difficulties to pull our eyes from Christ, and we will be able to do the impossible, like walk on the water.
So our job is to be willing to give everything we have, our time, our decisions, our worldy possesions if we have any, to be obedient to the commandments. Sometimes it will require everything, but if we aren't willing to give the little that he has asked of us, how would we ever be willing to give everything.
I have found that the world is pretty black and white. We are obedient or we aren't. A splash of cofee in your chocolate is still coffee. And while we can say that for some reason or another that rule doesn't apply to me, I am the exception, the reality is that the rules and commandments are for everyone. And that 'I am the exeption' is just an excuse to be disobedient. Our agency is a great gift that we have to choose which teacher we will follow, and let's face it if we aren't following christ and being obedient to the commandments, and counsel of our prophet, apostles, and other leaders who have been given the resonsibility to be representatives of Jesus Christ in his kingdom here on earth, we are really choosing to follow the other teacher(Matt 12:30). A quick analysis of the motives and purposes of each of these teachers helps us know who we really want to follow.
option white: Jesus Christ and Heavenly father; Purpose: to help us obtain eternal life, and to help us be able to live in their pressence again.(Moses 1:39 for behold this is mywork and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man) Motive: Love.
OR option black: Lucifer, purpose: to make us miserable like him(2 Ne 2:27), motive: Hatred.
Which teacher would you prefer to follow?
Ok I think thats really all I have time for,
Love you all, Love Hna Allen