May 15, 2017

Me and Hermana Alexander ❤❤❤

Sister Griffin ❤

Sister Mühlestein & Sister Griffin ❤

I saw Sister Kearney from Freeport !!!!

My awesome Zone!

ALCAPONES LEIR : SNEAK PEEK.

We have is investigator, Craig. This is what he texted us this week
after our church tour with him. He's quite the character. I'll tell
you more about him later. Haha.

BESTIES!

Hello everyone , just wanted to say THANKS to all the moms in my life! There are soooo many of you who have touched my life for the best, in more ways than you know. Never ever forget how powerful your influence can be upon people. I am who I am today partly because of your help as great mother's to me. So muchas gracias !!!! 

This morning, Sister Mühlestein, I and the hermana's got to go to 
Al Capones Lair.  

It was in downtown Rockford, and they're tearing it down soon. The man showing us the place said when they bought the old bank they didn't know Al Capones Lair was there. It reminded me of the super old Batman movies with the Penguin and their secret hide out. 

I found out I "get to" wear glasses ALL the time...which is good cause some kids don't even get to wear them haha. It's been such a blessing, cause I was struggling with so many migraines and headaches and now they're gone. #blessings

We were talking to the eye doc lady, and she read my chart.   She  said," Karigan--wait Karigan is your name? Oh I love that!"

Me: "oh thanks.  I got it for my birthday." 

Eye doc lady (laughs) "Why couldn't you have been in here a year ago when I had my baby?" 

Haha it was sooo funny. Then she saw we were missionaries and said she's met missionaries before,  " Are you from Utah too?" When I told her I'm from Texas, she was super pumped. Everyone thinks all missionaries are from Utah-- but NOPE, NOT ME! Haha. 

During District Meeting I got to help with a role play by teaching with one of the Hermana's in Spanish. It was so cool.  My Spanish is coming along.  Kimmer & Kieran,  ya better watch out, haha. 

Ok y'all I had a BIG AHA moment this week. How cool is it that I get to serve where Joseph Smith died fighting for all I'm fighting for now on my mission too. 

He fought soooo hard for all of us to have this gospel, to have the Book of Mormon and temples and so many other things. He loved great and died great. 

He fought courageously for such a great cause and I'm honored to follow in his footsteps here in this mission. This really is the best mission in the kingdom because of the fact Joseph Smith & so many others walked the VERY paths I walk. 

" Illinois must atone for the blood of that man" 

So MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) is a meeting that President Griffin, the Assistants, the training assistants, zone leaders, and sister training leaders go to. It's a meeting full of people who have usually been out pretty long in the mission. (But it's starting to become younger and younger leadership.) We sometimes get to train at, but I don't really want to.  PSYCH, Sister Mühlestein and I did train, and it went super well. We got to talk about the Book of Mormon, and it was awesome. I was just super super nervous because all of the leaders were gonna be there and that's who we were training but again it went well. We role played a LOT before and God really helped calm my nerves through the Holy Ghost. Man, I'm just soooo grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost.   I have NO idea what I'd do without the Holy Ghost. He's my right hand. 

Miracles : 

• today as we approached an isle while grocery shopping this lady says, "hi Sisters".  We both were so shocked. She said she just talked to some other missionaries (probably  the Hermana's) and she's straight from Moscow, Russia. SAVANNAH TOTALLY THOUGHT OF YOU :)
• finally met David.  He said he was simply curious at first, but then he struggled to learn. Other Sisters he met turned to a spot in the Book of Mormon,  and he said that made a HUGE difference for him. I know the smallest things we say or do so make a positive impact on people's lives.  I've seen it. 
• Sister Mühlestein made homemade Alfredo ! #browniepoints 
• In the same day, 2 ppl spoke Latin and I got to relate since I took it in high school 
• We found 4 new investigators this week! And our our goal was 2. God is sooo good! 

Funny moments : 

• We had a lesson set up with an investigators in a members home, and he canceled on us.  We told the members and they said "well, aren't you still coming? You can still come  for dinner." We had just finished dinner, but felt we needed to go and help uplift and encourage this family with a message haha. We told them we were sorry we didn't realize they wanted us to come for dinner too, and they thought we were crazy that we didn't just assume. We were laughing so hard that night. Oh my haha! It could've been worse .... one time I've had 3 dinners 😳 no bueno!  

I recently read this story and it really hit me : 

“It’s true, isn’t it? Then what else matters?”

I met a naval officer from a distant nation, a brilliant young man who had been brought to the United States for advanced training. Some of his associates in the United States Navy, whose behavior had attracted him, shared with him at his request their religious beliefs. He was not a Christian, but he was interested. They told him of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, who gave his life for all mankind. They told him of the appearance of God, the Eternal Father, and the resurrected Lord to the boy Joseph Smith. They spoke of modern prophets. They taught him the gospel of the Master. The Spirit touched his heart, and he was baptized.

He was introduced to me just before he was to return to his native land. We spoke of these things, and then I said: “Your people are not Christians. What will happen when you return home a Christian, and, more particularly, a Mormon Christian?”

His face clouded, and he replied, “My family will be disappointed. They may cast me out and regard me as dead. As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me.”

I asked, “Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?”

His dark eyes, moistened by tears, shone from his handsome brown face as he answered, “It’s true, isn’t it?”

Ashamed at having asked the question, I responded, “Yes, it’s true.”

To which he replied, “Then what else matters?”

These are questions I should like to leave with you: “It’s true, isn’t it? Then what else really matters?”

-- 

I can testify what this says IS TRUE.  If the gospel is true then what else really matters ???? NOTHING.  Whatever happens to me on my mission like rejection and people being rude--WHO CARES--Jesus Christ walked this lonely path and so can I. He was rejected and so am I.... how cool is that to be standing shoulder to shoulder with the GREATEST ONE WHO EVER LIVED???  Lemme give you the answer ...So cool ! 

I have been able to fight for this gospel truth with the strength of God for the last 18 months. He has given me miraculous strength and mighty power. I know it's all him. 

Keep fighting cause time is running out.  I feel sooo much the urgency of this great work MORE than I EVER have before in my ENTIRE LIFE. I feel like I still have sooo many more people to "fight"  for,  people to meet, lessons to learn. So I'm seriously soaking in EVERYTHING God wants and needs me to learn and do. 

I wonder if this is how it's gonna feel when Jesus Christ comes again. Ahhhhh, I just wanna be prepared to meet him. I DON'T wanna procrastinate, and I wanna be ready. 

I've been ponderizing scrips everyday--one from the Bible and one from the Book of Mormon, and it's become such a blessing to me. I've seen such a difference in my life as I've done that. They are treasures to me. Here's one I found this week: 

Alma 56:56 

56 But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fall upon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this cause did the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.

I'm grateful to be able to teach & testify of Jesus Christ for 18 months. 

And I'm grateful to be in Rockford. I love it here. The people are my people. 

Illinois is the land of my people. 

Love Hermana Allowitz 

May 8, 2017

Lol. Our district leader, Elder Stewart-Chester had this up for district meeting this week. We really couldn't get into district meeting without doing this. We were both so nervous but we made it in. Later he told us because  of the role play we did, he has FULL confidence in our proselyting abilities and noticed we both have a lot of experience haha. "Whoosh". It's cool that others can voice our strengths, and it helps people so much. Something I learned from this is how IMPORTANT IT IS as humans that we voice positive things we feel and notice about others. It helps them way more than we think. So I wanna invite y'all to go this week to voice good things to people when you see it or notice it. Follow the promoting of the Holy Ghost to lift and encourage and inspire others. It only takes a few minutes. 

So like I ALWAYS SAY .... 1,2,3....GO AND DO....1 Nephi 3:7 :) 

Sister Mühlestein & I are back together!! And now we are taking over Rockford 2nd ward! I am soooo pumped !!! #doubketrouble #tendermercy

The ward already had me pray in sacrament meeting, and I'll be giving a talk in a couple weeks 😂 Bishop Holden is so funny. He said this will be like my "farewell talk". 

Hermana Gowens ❤#del sur la campana (hopefully my Spanish is right here 😂) 

Sister Hatch is so wonderful!!! 

Madi, oh Madi is so amazing ! She's so kind and is gonna be a fantastic missionary one day. I know it. Madi is a precious treasure in this world...you won't find many teenagers like her.

And this is Fernanda. She's Sis. Almonds 7 (almost 8) yr old grandaughter. She's been helping me w/ my Spanish & I help with her English and gospel stuff. She's so amazing. We've been teaching her, and she's totally gonna get baptized. I know her example will re-activate her inactive dad (and mom whose not a member). I have high hopes for their family!

Sister Salmond & Brother Wilson.
Sister Salmond always ALWAYS w/out fail gave us donuts every Sunday cause she works at a fresh bakery. ANYONE who knows me knows that is bad 😂😂😂😁
And Brother Wilson makes the BEST smoked BBQ anything! And he even has Texas BBQ sauce to go with it. He knows what's up! He's hilarious. He kinda reminds me of Buddy the Elf and Jack Black combined.... and that's a good thing, trust me 😂

Sister Smith from Naperville! HOLY COW 🐮 THIS WOMAN IS AMAZING! She made me pumpkin chocolate chip cookies before I got transferred AND has done sooo much more for me than just feeding me delicious food. She's definetly an angel and a kindred spirit. #tendermercy #Godlovesme #2ndmom

Remember a couple weeks back I told you about the guy Sister Ward and
I found in Pontiac? The one we were totally inspired to talk to...the
one who had just returned from talking to his probation officer?
Well here he is...Steven.

This is Sarah, my investigator from Naperville whose on date for July 15. I KNOW she's gonna be baptized soon. She's seriously so amazing! She's definetly a HUGE role model to me.

A Freeport trip wouldn't be real without THE BEST ICE CREAM ON EARTH!!!!

LITTLE CUBS FIELD ... look familiar? #freeportflashback #tendermercy

Post baptism!

Pics from Freeport flashback!
Sister Rosenwinge...southern belles back together.

Someone was saying something ridiculous ... probably some Texas "joke" or, no, it was probably a "getting old/you're going home" kinda joke...which FYI, is not actually funny 😑

We all served in good ol' Freeport & finally got to go back. And even crazier .... we ALL started off our missions here too. Everyone was so surprised to see us back. It was so cool!

Brother Mulnix is still the ward mission leader, and he's doing awesome. Probably one of the funniest people I've ever met!

Judy & her kids! Dea just got baptized. They're awesome. This family has been through SO MUCH, but they're still going strong. They inspire me!

Hey y'all! from good ol' Rockford! It feels sooo good to be back in the corn hood/boonies with my corn people! I've loved my mission so much but the Rockford and Peoria stakes have definitely  been my favorite ! 

I am so grateful for the lessons I'm continuing to learn. I know God sends us to ppl when they need us most and God sends people to us when we need them most.  I'm grateful for the promptings of the Holy Ghost in my life, because they have led me and my companions to people who we never would've met otherwise. And so many people NEED the peace and happiness, help and reassurance, healing and power the gospel brings. I'm so happy to have the honor and responsibility to bring that to others lives because it brings soooo much happiness into my heart. My heart could seriously burst right now with how happy it is. It's like a bunch of fire crackers inside just wanting to burst because life is so good right now. God is seriously soooo good y'all.  I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am! Missions are the best. Definitely the best thing I've ever chosen to do! LIKE EVER!!!! FOR REALS!!!! 

For example , here are some miracles that'll give you just a glimpse of how amazing this great work is...

• Brandy 

Holy cow. She's amazing. She's the girlfriend of a super inactive member whose super hostile towards the church. It's sad because she has the strongest testimony of Joseph Smith,  Jesus Christ, and KNOWS it's all true. She's had the missionary lessons (who knows  how many times) and I'm pretty sure she knows the gospel better than me. She wants to get baptized soon bad, but can't because she needs to get married first (she and her boyfriend are living together, but he won't marry her). She is just trying to be patient and wait, cause she doesn't wanna break her family apart. We had such a powerful lesson with her and her daughter Stephanie. Holy cow, even Stephanie (age 8) knows the gospel better than me 😂.  I hope she is totally gonna change her fathers heart.

• Jim 

Amazing miracle...he came to church. He's been looking forward to it for awhile, but hasn't had a Sunday off in YEARS.  He FINALLY got Sunday's off.  He told his workers not to even bother calling him in, because he won't be answering his phone, cause Sunday's are important for him, and so he can go to church. I'm soooo blown away! He LOVED church yesterday & felt really welcomed. He felt peace, which he said he hasn't felt in YEARS. We invited him to be baptized and HE SAID YES!!!!   He said Yes at first meeting with us simply because he was curious, but now he's MORE than interested. He is SERIOUSLY thinking about becoming a member. 🙀 did your jaw just drop too ? I hope so, cause this is A MIRACLE!!! 

Gonna be baptized! 

• Delphine 

She's an 80 yr old woman who reads the Bible  and other churchy books. She's inspired me to read and study more about the Bible. My comp, Sis. Mühlestein, has too.  Theyre  awesome. Seriously Delphine asks some of the most thoughtful provoking, inspired questions I've ever heard. They're hard ones, but they help me grow and learn--which is what I need. So this is good ... don't worry y'all, an 80 yr old woman is keeping me on my toes.... no need to fear. 

**** CRAZY. COOL STORY:

CRAIG: BROKEN CAR WASH LEADS SISTERS TO THE ELECT.   Today we were going to get our car cleaned at the $3 car wash (cause we are missionaries and ain't got no $$$). But when we got there, it was closed. We were like WILLIS YOUVE GOT TO BE JOKING RIGHT? But no need to fear, because there's another one (a little more $ but not too bad ) right next to Target. We will go to target, then to the car wash. 😂😂  [**RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU HAVE A TARGET ADDICTION ** -- ha , jk don't do that silly. You'll look super funny raising your hand while looking at your smart phone or computer screen and people will think you're crazy. Haha it's ok, all good people are :)] Anyway, the storal of the mory is.... when we were walking back to get into our car at the car wash, one of the workers asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses.  [if I had a dollar for EVERY TIME ppl think that's who we are, I'd be rich!] and we obviously said "NO" WILLIS.  He kept asking more questions and said he's been looking for a church home and asked for the church address and our number. We got his number and will be calling to set up a lesson and let him know about church. 

His name is Craig. So basically the real storal of the mory is ....

It was a MIRACLE the other car wash was closed. I have such a STRONG testimony that God places us where we need to be at the VERY time we NEED to be there. I KNOW there's no such thing as coincidences. I know God has his hand in every part of our lives. 

I seriously LOVE the Bible and Book of Mormon so much !!! They're life lines and guides to us if we take the time to sincerely read and ponder their wonderful treasures. Our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson, gave a wonderful talk this last conference in April about the Book of Mormon & the importance of reading it DAILY and pondering it. He's getting old, and I'm not sure how much longer he will  be with us, but I KNOW (especially since his days are numbered) the fact he gave a talk about the Book of Mormon is SO IMPORTANT!!!! The prophet said it , and most importantly God has said it!!! So LISTEN UP please. 

I wanna invite all of y'all to go and listen and read his talk again. Then make a Book of Mormon game plan to read and ponder it daily.

I can promise it'll change your life forever, because it's changed mine.  I honestly didn't really enjoying reading the Book of Mormon pre mission, but my heart has changed and I LOVE IT. I turn to it for everything, cause that's where I know my answers from God are gonna come from. I KNOW when you're feeling low, the scriptures are the BEST place to turn. Because I've felt so low at times, but every time I turn to the scriptures, the Lord brings me HIGHER. 

I KNOW the scriptures have the power to do that for you too. 

You just gotta have the faith, desire, and make the time. 

It's never EVER too late. Start today. Start now. NO EXCUSES. 

Love Seester Karigan Ällowitz 

May 1, 2017

Sister Hatch

My crazy Zone!

Sister Havey & Hermana Alexander ❤ the 3 musketeers!!!

The Barrios family! They're helping me on my Spanish. And they're awesome !!!

Guess Who? YES NAILED IT, I got the greatest privledge and blessing of meeting Sister Virginia Pearce. She is so full of grace and wit and humor. And is so knowledgeable about the gospel. She's awesome! Definitely a great role model. She reminds me so much of President Hinckley. ❤

Oh I got to see Sister Fredlund. She sent me a sunshine package. She's so in tune w/ the spirit. Seriously so cool. Love her.

Also saw Sister Lynette. She's so sweet, too. Such an angel in my life !!💜💜

Fav quotes: 

• Elder Riccardi:  “If you want to punch Satan in the mouth...open your mouth and preach."  Seriously, Satan and his buddies are straight up JERKS! DON'T let them into your life! Tell them what's up and to LEAVE. YOU DESERVE BETTER, so open your mouth and preach. Whether it's about the Gospel of Jesus Christ or simply being more positive .... it's all a part of this great plan. Just do it. 

• Pres. Guuyman:  "study President Monson's words so you are prepared to LIVE them. We need to love in such a way that we are examples of President Monson's words!"  If we don't study God's word, how are we supposed to know what it even is or what we believe?? We can't. It's just like the Chicago Bulls trying to play basketball without knowing ANY of the basics or fundamentals. They know how to play the game because they practice. 

One of my soccer coaches would always say, "we play like we practice, and we practice like we play."  I KNOW the same principle applies for the gospel.   If we don't know what the gospel is or what we say we believe, there's no way we will know how to put them into play. So GET PRACTICING. and watch the Bulls for me :) 

Miracles: 

So it's funny because I'm pretty sure I've eaten more Chick-fil-a in the last 3 months than I ever have in my entire life. It's been a great place to proselyte. We don't go around introducing ourselves. We simply just buy food and eat. People ask us questions, and we answer them. It makes you feel soon good, especially when you always get rejected when sharing the gospel. The Chick-fil-a people are so nice. They have the BEST customer service  ever! So the storal of the more is, if you're feeling down, go to Chick-fil-a and ask for Carol. She's got your back:) haha. Carol is the older woman who always takes care of us there.  A couple times ago she said to me, "oh hello! I knew you came in, but I couldn't remember which week"😂😂😂😂   Hey, anything for the gospel. Sister Sarah Smith took us there today for lunch, before I leave Naperville tomorrow. She also made me some  pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  They're my favorite and to die for. I love Sister Smith. She's so thoughtful. 

• Steven 

We met him while in Pontiac on finding exchanges. He was outside  his house pulling his trash in, and then walked in his house. But I felt promoted we needed to talk to him. We were able to talk to him about the gospel. It was so cool, cause the spirit was so strong. And he said, "Wow. This is crazy.  I'm not normally here during this time. I just got home from my talking to my probation officer. I was just about to go do other stuff and wouldn't have heard you. I really love Christ and learning about him." I was like ....🙀🙀🙀🙀 WHAT DID HE JUST SAY? Ha. That's cool. So he's now a new investigator the sisters are teaching. So cool that even when it's awkward, when we follow promptings, God will bless us! 

• Sarah Thurman

Holy cow...she's literally been to hell and back. She's so awesome, and has such a strong desire to change and become better. She has the greatest desires and has changed my life. It has been cool cause it's really hard for me to open up to people and be vulnerable.   But she's helped me do that, as I've felt promoted to share personal experiences with her.  She said they've helped her a lot and she really appreciates my vulnerability. I know when we get to know others and share things with them we grow closer, but it needs to be the right time. 

• Younger Sarah 

We were stopping by a former investigator and this 14 year old girl whips around the corner and asks if we are missionaries...if we are from a far away place to preach the gospel, and if our dresses are homemade (lol, that was the best part 😂)  She said she loves missionaries and wants us to teach her family. So we walked a little with her around the neighborhood a couple streets to teach her family.  That's never happened to me before. God is really blessing us. 

• Many new investigators pool, Gods blessing us so much right now.  At the beginning of the transfer we only had 1 investigator and she was being wishy washy w/ us on commitments. NOW we, no joke, have 12 investigators  we are actively teaching. Wow right? Not because of us, but because of the lord.
• 
  
• ** Nate & family

We found Nate while knocking doors about 8 weeks ago, while he was outside playing ball with his family. He knew a little about the church, but didn't wanna listen. We kept going back, and this last Friday we knocked and he finally answered and said, "wow. You're back. You've been mightily persistent, cmon in."  We taught him and his wife, Susie, about the Book of Mormon and this awesome gospel. It was sooo cool cause he said it was our persistence that got us in their house. Haha. Sooo cool. "Never ever give up! 4th floor, last door" :) 

• *** oh my gosh I got to go back to Freeport w/ Sis. Kibbons !!!! My comp had an investigator getting baptized ( we both started out there), and I taught the family once. So it was so cool to be back where I began. Oh it felt so good. 

*** I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED TO ROCKFORD.  I get to be in the same zone I started in when I was just 6 weeks fresh from the MTC. AND....Drum roll please...I get to be comps with....SISTER MUHLESTEIN AGAIN!!!! I trained her, and we were companions almost a year ago. I AM SOOOOO PUMPED. THIS IS GONNA BE A GREAT TRANSFER. It's gonna be like a Sister Nogueira transfer. I'm pumped !!!!! Oh God is soooo good. 

Love you all. 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Allowitz