11/04/19: Another reason to love cats...

 Well this week I got my first Dog bite! Definitely my fault because we were about to go knock a house with a fence around it and we heard some dogs and my companion said to be careful but I did not listen...all good though! just needed a band aid or two! Just another reason to solidify my love of cats!

We had a super awesome and eventful week the highlight of it being a baptism we had on Saturday! The baptism was for Hina and Leah, two girls we have been teaching for a while and they are just the sweetest!! They are a part of a huge Tongan family in the english ward and have cousins from New Zealand coming later this month that want to be baptized as well! During their baptism the entire family just started singing! It was this beautiful, traditional Tongan melody that everyone knew and wow it gave me chills!! Afterwards, we went to a huge party for their little cousin's first birthday. When i say huge party, i mean huge... like a full roasted pig on every table surrounded by people dancing and literally throwing money and flowers huge....all of this for a little one year old! it was awesome!!

We also went to the birthday party of Noemi and Gustavo's (a couple we are teaching) youngest son, Gabriel. Gabriel is 5 years old and fascinated by missionaries and invited us to his party! it was super fun and we actually got to talk to a lot of people there about the church!

Ok all i am writing about is parties but I promise that we are working hard haha! We have been working to help set up a spanish sacrament service at 7pm on sundays and yesterday we had it for the first time! We worked really hard to get the word out, and organize it and stuff but it was still super super small but one of the ladies that came told us that she had been praying for years that something like this would start up because she can rarely every come to church any other way. 

We also started help teach some temple prep classes for a couple people... there are classes available in Spanish right now but oddly enough not in english...

This week, one of our friends, Jessica basically set her own baptismal date haha! A little context on Jessica... she is apart of another really huge Tongan family in the english ward and has been learning and growing in the church for about 8 months... we have really been trying to help her work up to baptism but a lot of negative influences in her life have kept her back. This week though she attended church and, during fast and testimony meeting, she got up and shared her testimony!!! later that night we went to visit her and she told us that she had been praying and asking God if she was ready to be baptized and that she got her confirmation and that she wants to be baptized with her son! Knowing Jessica's full situation and story this is a miracle and a huge step of faith for her. I am so excited for her and just being around her and watching her overcome all of these negative things in her life has been inspirational! I can't describe how much I love her and how excited I am for her!

My spanish really started to improve this week and so i don't want to lose this momentum... I was able to share my testimony in spanish during our 7pm service and people said that they understood me... huge leap for Hermana Allen haha

Love you all!

Hermana Allen

Pictures- driving around town on halloween, Gabriels birthday party, Hina and Leah, a full roasted pig all for us.