7/23/18: Tal pal crimen

With Mario before he went to the temple in Manhattan for the first time!

Buenos Días!

This has been such an awesome week! We've seen tons of miracles and had a lot of our progressing people come to church which was sweet. We got to go on splits with President Teuscher after our interviews! We went street and train/bus contacting and this guy is a spiritual giant. So cool!

We had a legit lesson this week on Saturday night with this guy named Guillermo and his nephew Alex. They had been street contacted by the English elders and then by the other Spanish elders. Once they got passed off to us we went over to teach them, and one of the first things that Guillermo tells us is that he felt something different as he talked to the missionaries. He said when they told him about Joseph Smith he felt goosebumps. We shared the Restoration, and when we told him The First Vision, he said he felt the same way. The Spirit completely filled the little room we were meeting in and both he and Alex couldn't deny that what we were saying was true. Guillermo came to church and after we showed him the baptismal font, and he listened to a member's testimony, which he said motivated him to keep reading and working with us. Someone asked him if he was a member, and he said, "That is in the works!" 

Split with Elder Wu!

We've been listening at night to this testimony of a convert named Bill Carpenter from the 80's. He was studying in Catholic Seminary to become a priest, but left it to study with the LDS missionaries and eventually got baptized against his family's will. He later served a mission, and had a profound affect on many people. One such experience was with an older lady he met, who read the book of Mormon in whole the first time she touched it. When that woman later was baptized and confirmed, she recieved her patriarchal blessing and asked Elder Carpenter to read it. He refused, saying that she needed to because it was personal. She insisted and finally told him that she hadn't been able to read for 30 years because of her eyes. She said she knew the Book of Mormon was true because when she looked at it, she was able to read it... 

Obviously after listening to this we were all pumped out of our minds as missionaries, and he shared some cool thoughts that I would like to include as well as some of my own. He began speaking about missions as a whole, and said, "One thing we need to know is that our decision to serve or not to serve affects the salvation of other people." I can't imagine how many people I wouldn't have met if I didn't choose to serve. It's easy to say that everything is a coincidence, but if we are honest with ourselves we realize that everything is perfectly planned by a perfect father in heaven. If we have decided not to serve and still have time, DO IT! Someone is waiting for you to bring them salvation! 

FaceTime with Alex from my first area (baptized almost a year ago!)

As I was thinking about this, I read a talk by Elder Uchtdorf titled "A Yearning for Home." It talks about how every human being at some point has been called on by God to start their journey back to their heavenly home. I firmly believe that EVERY one of us has had that call, whether we have listened to it or not. We will continue to recieve it, with the hope from God that we answer it and begin that path back to live with Him. For some people, that call comes through missionaries. We are called by God to call them to come unto His son Jesus Christ, and that is just the push some people need to change their lives and realize the amount of joy that comes through the gospel.

In 3 Nephi chapter 17 it talks about how Jesus Christ visits the America's and heals and blesses the people there. In Verse 6 it says, "Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you" 20, "Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept..."

Split with Elder Ortiz!

Jesus Christ is ALWAYS filled with that same compassion for us. He wants us to come unto Him. The perfect example of manhood and deity cries for us. We need to heed that call, whether it be by going and serving a mission or simply acting in the manner he did. As we do we will have a "fulness of joy". We will be converted to the gospel, which means we will "Have a spiritual witness to the truthfulness of the gospel." This will lead us to change, and to change others.

Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Adam Ray Allen
New York City Mission
700 White Plains Rd Ste 315 Scarsdale, NY 10583