Yes you read that right… so many new things and stories to share!
Crazy to think that it has been exactly a year since I received my mission call and I'm now coming up on nine months next week. The time really does fly. Last night we were in a lesson when our zone leaders called us with our transfer assignments. We ignored the call to continue teaching but then a few minutes president jardine called. We finished our lesson and called him back where he extended the assignment to me as a sister training leader...in the new Modesto mission. My heart fluttered and my stomach dropped. What a bittersweet moment to learn of this new assignment and area but to no longer be under the direction of president jardine. I remember when we first heard of the mission splitting back in December; and when I heard that I felt the same way I did when I opened my call letter a year ago: knowing that this is where the lord needs me. I feel so peaceful about being called to Modesto and know that this is where the Lord needs me. I feel strongly that I was originally called to Sacramento so that when the mission would split, I would be called to the Modesto area so that I could teach people and families that are waiting and ready to hear the gospel. I listened to an interview the other day by Elder Bednar when he was talking with the youth recently. And someone asked him what it was like to be an apostle and he told them that yes he does a lot of traveling and works with the first presidency but he told the youth that wherever he is called on assignment if it's here in the states or somewhere around the world, he always prays to find the one and leave the ninety nine. That one person the lord needs him to see or teach. Now, I'm nowhere near as spiritual as this man, obviously haha but I'm determined to find the "one" in each of my new areas within this new mission. My heart is full and I really am looking forward to the second half of my mission.
So I will now be serving in the Lodi zone with sister Wilson. This is her last transfer before going home. This is sure to be an interesting transfer! My new mission president is president Palmer. I will always love the jardines and for their leadership and council but I know that he has been called by the lord to preside over this new mission and that we will love and trust him just as much as we have president jardine. So we will stay in our assigned areas and starting July 1st those designated areas in addition to those within the Fresno mission will now be Modesto. I'm humbled for this opportunity and the trust the lord has for the new leaders.
I will always be grateful for serving here in el dorado. These 3 months have been difficult and the area challenging but I've had so much help along the way and I've been blessed to meet some incredible people. I have to tell you that I had a conversation with the sister we live with last week that has completely changed my relationship with Jesus Christ. It was so simple but has stirred something deep within and has made all the difference in the way I've been praying, reading, studying, thinking, acting etc. this has given me the opportunity to truly look at myself and the things or traits about myself and know that I truly can change because of Jesus Christ and his atonement. I feel a difference in myself, a deep desire to want to be a better person, someone more Christlike knowing whose I am and the potential I have to change. Earlier this transfer I found myself overwhelmed and stressed that I wasn't living up to expectations or the standards I had created in my head but I feel myself letting go of these concerns and instead trying to look and love myself the way Jesus Christ does, and with that change it has helped me to look and love others the way he does as well.
So it's been an incredible week. The lord is so good to each of us, this work is his. This gospel is his. And I am overwhelmed with the love he has for all of us, giving us trials and joys along the way to help us grow. It has been so fun to see all of the pictures of everyone and see such happy faces. I miss you all! You mean the world to me!
Until next week,
Sister Allen
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