This Greenie is so BLESSED

Hermana Alley with her mission president and his wife, "This is the Place" monument in Salt Lake City

Holaaaa Familia y Amigos!!

Oh my I just wish I could hug all of you, the love that Heavenly Father blesses his missionaries with to share with others is so much. Also because I have a taste of what it means to be a real missionary now, I respect all missionaries and returned missionaries everywhere so much more now! Thank all of you amazing people for serving the Lord with all your heart!! This is demanding stuff. If I wasn't here for the reasons I am, no one could convince me to do it.

OK so, I'm going to start with talking about the Salt Lake City East mission! Any of you out there who don't think Utah is diverse, you would be surprised! I am covering the Mill Creek 3rd ward(Spanish speaking) with my trainer Hermana Dorsey and we've met people from (get ready for this list) Iraq, Bosnia, Brazil, Guatemala, China, Colombia, Mexico, Holland, Ghana, Ethiopia, Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela. And some missionaries from New Zealand and the Philippines and Puerto Rico. SO cool. Everyone has a story. What I like about this is knowing that I didn't have to go so some crazy country in the world on my mission. The world came right to Utah! I'm speaking Spanish obviously, and there are plenty of Hispanic families here. We use our Spanish every day. The Spanish speakers we don't find ourselves the English elders often refer to us! They're awesome. Oh and cool thing, some sisters I met who came from the Provo Mtc who are new with me this transfer are now serving in Burmese and Swahili branches! Crazy! So many languages here.

For example, one of my favorite lessons we taught this week was to three young adult guys, two from Colombia and one from Holland, one member, one less active, and one investigator. We taught the lesson in Spanish, but sometimes switched to English because the guy from Holland understood that better. And sometimes he would switch to Dutch with his friend so he could clarify some things. 3 languages going on at the same time!! Woah the gospel is true because we could somehow all understand each other. The language of the Spirit knows no language barriers. OH and the funniest thing about that lesson was we had to have it outside on their apartment steps because mission rules, us Hermanas would need to have another woman there. But they were great sports and we talked about Jesus Christ out in the cold and it was fantastic! Its already cold here in Utah, hello Fall! And snow on the mountains lol...

Another way cool lesson was when we tracted into these Chinese sisters and they let us in. They didn't have much of a concept of God, and we taught them how to pray for the first time in their lives!! Sooo powerful. We're going to try to pass them off to the Chinese Sisters.

We've also been teaching a part member family, the [A]s. Their kids are so cute and they have brand new twins. The wife is a member but her husband is not. He's willing to learn more though so we've been teaching him. He's really attached to his Catholic upbringing though(all latinos seem to be Catholic) and wants to be sure that this Church is right before he acts. We've been talking a lot about faith and invited him to be baptized, but while he was thinking about it his wife jumped in and started pressuring him and then he got defensive and said no. Please pray for him! We are trying to help him understand that we don't ask anyone to renounce the faith they already have, we only have more to offer in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

So many more cool families to talk about, but sufficeth me to say that I love Hispanics! They are so open and accepting and affectionate. They're always willing to talk with us even if they're not actually that interested in our message. I think people in the US, who tend to be mind-your-own-business people, could take a page from their book. If I've learned anything this week, it's amazing who you can meet and what you can learn when you literally try to talk to everyone on the street! Challenge to you all, start a conversation with someone new today, even if its a neighbor you don't know very well. We could all benefit from being more caring to those directly around us yet those who we don't always notice.

A word about the natural disasters around the world, in case any of you are wondering I just barely missed the earthquake in Mexico City on Tuesday. I left the country the day before. Any of my missionaries still in the CCM, please tell me more about it! Are you ok?? With stuff like this and the hurricane in Puerto Rico and such, we hear from a lot of our members and investigators that they have families in those countries. And they are worried! To them and to all of you who worry about goingson on the world, I share this scripture: "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." D&C 123:17 I testify that God loves all of us, and that no matter what happens, peace and happiness is always possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we never have to have the Spirit of fear, but "whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world" (Ether 12:4) Don't lose faith!

Haha also some comments about serving in Utah, I often feel like we're playing the game of not only who speaks Spanish, but who is a member of the church. There are lots of members of the church here of course, but tons of people we meet aren't active anymore. My job as a missionary is to invite EVERYONE to come unto Christ, so no matter if someone wants to listen to us, I believe that everyone we happen to cross paths with isn't a coincidence, and I want to leave them with the message that God loves them. That knowledge is so powerful, none of you forget that!

Ok now to explain how my transition is going into missionary work, its a process! Quite the emotional roller coaster between feeling powerful and feeling inadequate. You RMs know how it goes. The day after I arrived here and got

some pep talks at This is the Place monument from president(my mission president is so great), i dropped my bags at my apartment and my trainer said, we have like four appointments tonight! I was thrown into the work! We teach a LOT of lessons in this mission. It's so awesome there's a lot of work to do. This transfer our area got split too, so we have a set of Spanish elders and us Hermanas in our one ward. Oh and I forgot to mention our area is one of the smallest areas in the mission so we're walking! Woo! Meet more people that way.

Oh my there's never enough time but OH one more thing yes it's a thing that we can take our investigators to general conference in Salt Lake!! Sad story though, we actually had tickets to women's conference on Saturday but couldn't go because our sweet Hermana who was going to come couldn't. So we watched it at her house instead with her adorable kids! I would love to take someone next weekend though, anyone have tickets they could speed send me in the mail like right now? At least three? Serious question. I would love you forever, not that I don't already.

Anyway, despite the ups and downs of the mission I really am so blessed to be here! With any hard times we have, I am blessed with a greater measure of joy in other times! Christ lives, this is His church, and it is my privilege to share it with others.

So much love and hugs to all, I'm so sorry I can't respond to everyone! But please write me! I'm back in the states now! Send me your addresses so I can write you too!

My mission home address:

Hermana Adison Alley

Utah Salt Lake City East mission

3487 S 1300 E West Entrance

Salt Lake City UT 84106
United States

Con Amor,

Hermana Alley

*note from Hna Alley's sister: for those who are less familiar with "Mormon" lingo, the word "Greenie" refers to brand new missionaries in the mission field

Also, if you are curious about what we believe, twice a year there is a large worldwide conference for the Church, where we receive counsel and guidance from Church leaders, which is what Hermana Alley refers to here. Be sure to check out General Conference this coming weekend on lds.org. Anyone is welcome to watch!

A few last pics from the CCM, the airport, and Hna Alley's first week in the field!