The Book of Mormon

Out here in the mission field we are given this wonderful book, evidence of Joseph Smith's calling, something anyone can hold in their hand, read, and ponder about. I know the Book of Mormon to be true scripture from God! I, along with millions of others around the world, have had that witness of its truth from the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon has that power to convert any mind and to strengthen any testimony. Its is one of the only books worth re-reading in the world! There is no way to have a shattered testimony while reading it daily. If there is one thing I have found in common with the people that go inactive at church is they stop reading it! For it would be impossible to leave the church with reading it! It is the strongest tool in the Lord's work! And I promise anyone who is reading this that if they have a desire to come closer to Christ and read this book they will come to know that He is their Savior. That they will grow a greater love and they will know that he has restored his church again on the earth through a prophet today!
This week I finished my reading of the Book of Mormon. It was amazing with over 7,000 references to Christ, its easy to call it "Another Testament of Jesus Christ"! This week has been really fun, we did get two new investigators last week and yesterday we gained two more on the way back from Kitchner, where we had an amazing Zone Conference. OK, so last week we went to a little town south of where we live to drop by a less active member who we wanted to visit, only to find he wasn't home and actually moved out a month ago. So we started walking the area, looking for people to teach. When we cam across a man working on his Cadillac, named Troy. We got to talking to Troy and he didn't seem too interested. Then we asked if he has ever had the chance to read the Book of Mormon, he jumped off his car stool and brushed his clothes and hands off and started heading to the door. He told us to follow him and teach him about it! Elder Bishop and I looked at each other, smiled, and went inside. We talked to him and his wife Janice about the wonderful message Latter-Day Saint Missionaries share, which is that God has called a prophet for us today, just as in the times of old. That the church Jesus Christ himself has formed many years ago has been restored. With it also that proper priesthood power that even Jesus sought for. It is why Jesus had to be baptized by John the Baptist! Anyways, they listened and Troy was almost jumping for joy because he says he has always had a problem with church and what we shared just made perfect sense and answered all his questions, it was music to my heart. After teaching them we went to a park to eat our sack lunches, great way to save money! Then while we were sitting there, 2 ten year-old kids with potty mouths came to play on the playground. One of them hollered, "Hey what are you doing?" I answered "eating an apple." He then asked if e could have one. So, looking at Elder Bishop, we both yelled sure! He ran over to claim his prize and then noticed our dazzling looks, inside out good looking suits, an our amazingly good ooking ties. He asked, who do you work for? I swallowed a bit of my apple and replied, "Jesus." He said, "Oh, do you believe in him?" Elder Bishop spoke up saying,"yup! Sure do, do you?" Then this bright young man started thinking said, "Well, I dunno, I never really thought about it before." Haha! This crazy kid! Elder Bishop while still eating, pulled out a pass along card and told the kid to go there and check out the website. That's my crazy story for the week.

We had Zone Conference yesterday, with about 24 missionaries in our zone, we met down in Kitchner and disussed the Book of Mormon. Ugh! Such a powerhouse meeting! I didn't want to leave, but we closed with our testimonies and took off. Then, on the way up we had Owen Sound's missionaries in our car and we wanted to do a drop by on a referral we got on Sunday. We dropped the Owen Sound missionaries off in a little farm town called Moorsfield, then we drove to see Justin. He was playing out in the front yard with his two kids aged 2 and 4. We talked to him or a bit and then he invited us in. We taught them a WONDERFUL 1st lesson about the truth that has been restored here on Earth. We left him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read with a few sections highlighted for them. Its just so amazing out here. I love this work! I love my Savior Jesus Christ and all that he has done for me. I know it is through my Savior Jesus Christ that I will be able to return to my Father in Heaven on day. I know that as people read the Book of Mormon they too can come to know the truth of our message. Thank you for taking your time to catch up on the ultimate mission life of Elder Allen. next week I will have real pictures of me and maybe my living quarters! Haha! I love you all and I thank you for all the support!
Love,
Elder Derek Allen