Week 12: Almost 3 months!

 Last picture with our zone before a bunch of them get transferred!

Yo everybody! This week has been freaking awesome. I've got so much I could put in here but Im gonna try and keep it kind of short for your guys' sake haha.

So, this past Saturday I actually got to baptize my first person ever! Her name was Vilma Benitez and she was an investigator of the sister missionaries in our area. The sisters asked me if I wanted to baptize her since I hadn't done it yet and of course I said yes! No lie I was pretty nervous cause it was in Spanish and I did not wanna mess up lol. But I got it first try and it was awesome. She was so happy after and bore her testimony in front of everyone there. She said she felt so warm and like a new person when she came out of the water. It was so cool to be able to be a part of that, definitely one of the dopest spiritual experiences I've had out here!

Alright now here's the best part of my week. This legit blew my mind. I've been really frustrated with Spanish because it's soooo hard to understand people. The past 6 weeks I've been studying a ton and trying to get it down but it's been like impossible. I had been praying every single night for the gift of tongues but really didn't see any progress. I kept trying though cause I knew I had the gift, I just need to keep working and I'll notice it more. So, we're knocking some doors in this building, and this guy from Honduras answers and his mom invites us in. We start talking to them and had a good lesson about God and their beliefs and the book of Mormon, but I couldn't really understand when the mom talked to me. I remember just sitting there, and really just trying to know what she was saying. I didn't try and think about what I needed to say, just really what she was saying so I could help her. All of a sudden, I understood EVERYTHING. Like seriously everything. I responded and she loved what I said, and I honestly don't even remember what I said. It was insane though I legit understood every single thing she said after that. So that was on Thursday, and ever since then I've been able to understand so much better its insane. I can respond easily now and know what to say and can almost always know what they're talking about. It's so crazy. So that was the dopest thing this week by far!

 Last picture with our zone before a bunch of them get transferred!

Another cool thing was right after that lesson with the guy from Honduras. We were walking down the street, and these 4 girls stop us and start talking to us. We found out that they were members from the Dominican Republic and they wanted to come back to church! We set up an appointment for tonight actually so we're super excited to go over and get to know them. It was so random though, but so dope how that stuff happens all the time!

So we live in this place called hunts point, which is apparently the worst place of the Bronx. It's pretty dope though because all the gang members here love us. I was on a split with my zone leader and we were walking around, and ran into a guy. Apparently he is part of a gang and said if we need anything he's got us, and that if anyone messes with us he'll go after them with his boys 😂 so funny all these dudes like legit love us. Feels pretty good though knowing we're pretty safe haha.

Well that's all I got for today but I love you all! Update me with your lives and let me know how you're doing, keep Killin it back home!

Love, Elder Allen

 Literally the worst car ever