Ron and Carol Allen Family

March 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
When all is said and done, this alone will matter. All else will be as the chafe before the wind or as a dream that is vanished forever. 2 Nephi 9:51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your alabor for that which cannot bsatisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and cfeast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

Surely the Lord has blessed us to be connected to Him and to each other forevermore. What we have done for our selves will be of little consequence without someone with whom we can share the miraculous experiences and feelings of existence. What we have done for and with others in unconditional love will be magnified forever through Jesus Christ—of joy, of friendship, of family. D&C 15:6 And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to adeclare brepentance unto this people, that you may bring csouls unto me, that you may drest with them in the ekingdom of my fFather. Amen.
The process of true repentance through Christ our Savior brings joy that never gets old or becomes boring as with the selfish pleasures of this world. These are feelings and understandings that have been distilling upon our souls as we have raised a family and served in the Church over the years. The clarity with which these truths have searched our souls since being on a full time mission is absolutely breathtaking. Alma 26:5 Behold, the afield was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the bsickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your csheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.
6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the astorm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.
7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the aharvest, and they are his; and he will braise them up at the last day.

Incident to walking the path of repentance with these dear brothers and sisters, members and non-members alike, has come love, understanding, and joy as with members of our own families. When we bear one another’s burdens and together break every yoke, break the bands that bind and help one another come out of bondage then we establish eternal bonds with each other and God, our Father, that cannot be broken. D&C 123:7 It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with whom we shall be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and achildren, who have been made to bow down with grief, sorrow, and care, under the most damning hand of murder, tyranny, and boppression, supported and urged on and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the ccreeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the hearts of the children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been growing stronger and stronger, and is now the very mainspring of all corruption, and the whole dearth groans under the weight of its iniquity.
8 It is an iron ayoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of bhell.
9 Therefore it is an imperative duty that we owe, not only to our own wives and children, but to the awidows and fatherless, whose husbands and fathers have been bmurdered under its iron hand;
10 Which dark and blackening deeds are enough to make hell itself ashudder, and to stand aghast and pale, and the hands of the very devil to tremble and palsy.
11 And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart—
12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are ablinded by the subtle bcraftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to cdeceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they dknow not where to find it—
13 Therefore, that we should waste and awear out our lives in bringing to light all the bhidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—
14 These should then be attended to with great aearnestness.
We can become connected to God and to each other forever. John Hynes, Leslie Cahalin, Pheobe Kenmore, Wilma Muir, Chris Seed, Daryl Cronin, Phil and Christine Taylor, Tegin, Liz Clarke, Ning Sananuah, are a few names of those that are forever friends because we have walked the path of repentance together.
We have been blessed to help them feel God’s love in their lives from which comes a great desire to repent: to forgive one another, to attend church and take the sacrament, to stop using tobacco, to stop using alcohol, to read the scriptures, to pray always, to love each other as Christ loves us, to talk with the Bishop, to live the law of chastity, to get married, to seek to obtain and keep a temple recommend, to seek after their ancestors and love them all the way to the temple, to pay a full and honest tithing, and in short to follow our Savior’s perfect example and keep His commandments. The invitation to repent is administered with unconditional love, fervent specific prayer and fasting, and the very real bearing of one another’s burdens. James 1:27 Pure areligion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To bvisit the cfatherless and dwidows in their eaffliction, and to keep himself funspotted from gthe hworld. When we help each other to become disconnected, unspotted, from the world, we become connected to each other forever. Is this not what we do when we home and visit teach, when we teach a class, pass and administer the sacrament, administer to the sick, seek out our ancestors and attend the temple on their behalf, speak kind words, make and keep sacred covenants, and love one another?
The Restored Gospel was first taught on the Isle of Man by John Taylor. After much success in Liverpool, he decided the time had come to take the Gospel to the Isle of Man, to the people called Manx. He therefore left for Douglas on 16 September 1840, accompanied by Elder Hiram Clark and Brother William Mitchell. In summarizing his mission to the Isle of Man, Elder Taylor wrote: I would just remark that the truth came off victorious in the Isle of Man, and although I may say with Paul that ‘I have fought with beasts at Ephesus’, yet I feel thankful to my Heavenly Father that I have escaped unhurt. The standard of eternal truth is planted there, many are rejoicing in the liberty of the gospel of Jesus Christ….and many more are believing and on the eve of coming forth…..There have been seventy baptized in all; thus in spite of all the combined powers of earth and hell, the ‘Truth will prevail’.
We rejoice in your blessings, your friendship and love. Thank you for your support and love. The smile in your hearts warms and blesses us. Love always, Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Carol and Ron, Elder and Sister Allen.

Dear Family and Friends, 29 Jan 2010



Being a child of the Living God is absolutely amazing! We are miracles everyone! In all of God’s creations, more numerous than the particles of the earth, we, His children are the best, we are awesome. We ......Chris is ready to baptize his brother Luke 20 Jan 2010. Chris was baptized 2 months ago in Scotland.....
are at once, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. We are family and God is our loving Heavenly Father.


We continue to be overjoyed for the sacred experiences we are having here on the Isle of Man and with the precious territory of loving people to the core through the power and blessing of our Savior. There comes in the Bargain (God’s Promise), the shared burden of heartache and pain of those we are privileged to know and love. As we know, the physical afflictions are much easier to share and bear than the spiritual wounds of the soul of which the Savior personally experienced “the pains of all men”.


Recently a sister who had embraced the Gospel with all her heart, someone with whom we had shared some very tender and sacred moments, at a time of despair and discouragement over failed cancer therapy, turned completely away from the Church requesting no contact with anyone in the Church. We and all who have come to love her are heartbroken—we can learn much about .....After baptism of Luke .......
the Savior’s love for us from such experiences. This is part of what we covenant with the Lord—that we bear one another’s burdens and mourn with those that mourn.



Last Wednesday was a fantastic day not unlike most days. In the morning, Elder Allen passed his Isle of Man driver’s practical test and so qualifies for a UK driver’s license which is required after one year in the UK. Sister Allen will take her test the 3rd of March. The reason for the separation is: If we both failed the test, neither one of us would be able to drive for a month.
On the north end of the island we met with a dear young man in the Jurby prison. He is a member and we love sharing scriptures and Gospel truths with him. He will be in prison 4 or 5 years on drug charges—he is a bright, tender hearted lad who loves the Gospel. His story is tragic like many. His father is awash in alcohol almost .....Christmas morning on the Douglas water front.....constantly and his mother rejected him when he was a young boy. His desperate quest to be loved and accepted has brought to him at the age of 21 much pain and suffering from repeatedly broken promises.



From Jurby we traveled south to Onchan for a meeting with a couple baptized in August. He recently was ordained an elder. They are preparing for the Temple endowment. We share with them about the temple and family history. Reading and pondering the scriptures together truly nourishes our souls and prepares us to make sacred covenants in the Holy Temples.



From Onchan, in the middle of the island, we traveled to the south end of the Island to meet with a young mother, her 14 year old daughter, and her non-member partner whose father is Muslim. The mother has not come to Church since a very bitter divorce

.....Andrew Clague and son Matthew, a child of record.....

because someone in the ward sided with her former husband in the custody battle-- And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall (Helaman 5:12).

We are teaching them the Gospel with the hope and prayer that she and her daughter will return to Church and that her partner will come to know the Church is true and be baptized, that they will get married—that repentance and forgiveness will win the day. After sharing with them the plan of salvation, he said “it seems almost too good to be true” and, after a pause, that he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.

Such miracles have happened many times before over the world and can happen here. This is every missionary’s bright hope. In Ether 12:3-4 we read: “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the

.....looking east toward the Irish sea from our apartment .....

souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being lead to glorify God.”

Again we traveled to the extreme north end of the island for a meeting with a dear lady, whose friend we met on the ferry. We have met with them four times before, they have come to church. We have enjoyed meals together, shared the Gospel and have shed tears together. She wants to get married, he will commit and then gets scared and runs. She knows the Church is true and wants to get baptized and has agreed to do so in

five weeks. Karen first became acquainted with the Church through a friend in England. Our meeting with Jonathan, her friend, on the ferry was not by chance. Our meeting with Karen was tender as we shared some Book of Mormon scriptures and testimony of the Restored Gospel with her. We returned to our apartment by 11:00 PM tired but fulfilled for the wonderful day we had had on the Isle of Man.

Our hearts are tender for the families of those dear friends at home who have recently suffered the loss of a close family member. We remember with much love and fondness our associations over the years and rejoice in the Promise given each of us that the feelings and sharing will continue in the not too distant future and in a far, far better place.


Thanks again for your love, prayers, and friendship. We love all things beautiful and you are all at the top of the list. Wherever we are and no matter our circumstance or our present endeavor, this

.....This scene is constantly changing.....

is our joy and blessing: “Therefore, hold up your alight that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the blight which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed. And ye see that I have commanded that anone of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might bfeel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation.” 3 Nephi 18:24-25.

Love always, Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, Sister Allen, Elder Allen.

2 November 2009

Dear Family and Friends,
All experience is precious. We participate in sacred teaching moments almost every day, often with the young missionaries, but always with the Holy Spirit in some measure and often in abundance.
A few days ago we shared a gospel message and scriptures regarding the temple with a beautiful lady, widow, and mother of five grown children. Before she was baptized, she shared this spiritual experience with us:



Our little flat with new member guests and missionaries, l to r Christine, Phil, Wilma, Elders, Joan (of whom we write)The missionaries had been teaching her. They were inspired to come one evening unannounced and date her for baptism. After being seated and offering a prayer, there was a moment when no words were spoken, none were needed nor could any words convey the feelings that were felt. She looked at a picture of Michael, her husband, on the mantle and felt his presence and certain approval that she should join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tears flowed then and tears flowed when she related the sacred experience with us. She is preparing to enter the temple as soon as allowed and do all the work necessary to be sealed to her departed husband and father of her five children all of whom live in the UK.
I share the Gospel with this lady everyday. Liverpool ferry dock. Departing for the Isle.At the time of the above mentioned recent message about the blessings of the temple, a month following her baptism, this dear sister had just started chemotherapy for breast cancer and was feeling a little burdened although her attitude and continence is always bright. At the end of the message, the young elders said they wanted to sing to her. They knelt on the floor, opened a hymn book, and in sweet harmony, sang all three verses of “Nearer My God to Thee”. The experience was very special for all of us and again tears were evident as the Spirit warmed our hearts to overflowing.
Sharing the Gospel brings the greatest joy we can experience in this life. The joy of sharing the gospel comes with more frequency perhaps to full time missionaries but is by no means the exclusive “property” of the set apart missionaries of the Church.
D&C 18:15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the akingdom of my Father, how great will be your bjoy if you should bring many csouls unto me!





Sharing the Gospel with each other in our recent district meeting on the Isle of Man In each and every sharing-the- Gospel experience where the Holy Ghost is present, we have experienced joy, such as blessing a baby, anointing and blessing the
sick, praying for a brother or sister on both sides of the veil, teaching in the class room or in the home, providing sacred ordinances in the temple for ancestors, teaching a child by example and by word, kneeling in family prayer, reading the scriptures as a family and with your spouse, visiting a brother/sister in the hospital or in prison, declaring by word and deed the Lord’s good news at all times, in all places, and in all things.
We are sharing the Gospel with this recently married couple helping them to become more active and preparing them for the Temple. Hop Tu Naa (Halloween)How do we cry repentance unto this people? Could “this people” be my spouse, my children, my friend, my neighbor, my ancestor, my enemy, my family, my brother, my sister, my friend? And could “crying repentance” simply mean loving your neighbor as yourself by sharing of the Restored Gospel that sings in your heart like a fire is burning? Could it be that all experience is precious bringing repentance, forgiveness, and love into the lives of all with whom we are privileged to be? Could it be that God’s every word will be fulfilled “whether by mine own voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same”? Could it be?



Alex and Christina Buck with whom we share the Gospel as their Valiant leaders. Their mother is from Hungaria and these children speak more than one language. They wanted to do a silly picture with us, after we took a good photo for a Talent Night







Since 1830 the Restored Gospel has been shared by millions to millions and will continue to be shared from one end of heaven to the other until the Lord comes and the earth be filled with light and truth as the waters cover the deep.
Between 1840 and 1860 tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints embarked from these docks on ships that carried them from their homeland to gather with the Saints in America.
Among these were many of our fore bearers. The family statue could easily represent our great grandparents.
Statue of convert family leaving the Albert docks, Liverpool, England 1840 to 1860My great grandfather joined the Church at the age of 22 and emigrated from Newport, Shropshire, from these docks on the ship Jacavia in 1854. His son, Joseph married my grandmother who emigrated from Warwickshire from these docks in 1908 when she was 19. The missionaries taught her the Gospel in England. Tens of thousands of people have been blessed and will be blessed for each faithful Latter-day Saint baptized. One can multiply into many among those who are faithful to their covenants from those early converts in England as well as those baptized today.
Painting of the Albert docks, Liverpool—1800’sIn 1837 on a ship like these, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve, Joseph Fielding and Isaac Russell, Willard Richards, John Goodson, and John Snider disembarked on these docks. They knew no one, had no place to stay, no place to preach, and had little or no money. They knew they had been called of God by a Prophet. They knew the Restored Gospel was true. They had the Book of Mormon and knew it was true.
Douglas, Isle of Man. The promenade arches around the bay for 2.5 milesElder John Taylor first shared the Restored Gospel here with the people of Douglas 17 September, 1840, after first contacting his wife’s girlhood friends. Leonora Cannon Taylor grew up in Peel on the Isle of Man. As he set foot on the Isle of Man, John Taylor’s lonesomeness for Leonora came flooding back, for it was here, he knew, that she had spent her youth. He allowed himself to think also of her privations and suffering and the ordeal of separation they both endured, but he comforted himself by crying inwardly: “A few more struggles and the battle will be fought, the victory will be ours.” The “minister” from America soon organized a branch of the Church on the Isle of Man and left it in good hands when he departed in mid November. Among those baptized were Charles Cowley who had been “seeking and praying for correct information concerning the will of God”, and John Quayle who, with his family, was convinced that John Taylor was an Apostle with a message from God. We are all engaged until the conflict is over. Happy are we! Happy are we!


We love you all. Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Elder and Sister Allen

Dear Family, Oct. 24, 09

It is so great to hear about your activities and getting ready for Halloween. Here they call it, “Hop to Nae” (which is manx Gaelic). Still the same they have costumes, go door to door for candy (sweeties) and have fun parties. They do have pumpkins, but tradition is a “sweed” (large turnip). The sweed is very hard and they use a lot of pressure to open a center cut small enough and deep enough for a candle. Then the children hold the sweed, like holding a large carrot with a candle in the top and walk around with their own ‘torch’ (we would call it a flash light or candle light). They seem to like the pumpkin carving better as the pumpkin is soft to cut into and easier to carve for the children. We are in an apartment where no one can come in unless we open the gate and door, so probably no ‘trick or treater’s for us this year.

(The above picture Dad and I with Anita a Young Adult, just taken two days ago.)

We have invited the Elders over for a birthday dinner for Elder Shull. The Elder’s can’t be on the street on Halloween and Elder Shull’s birthday is a couple days earlier and so we decided it would be a good evening to have them for dinner and we will probably play one of our missionary DVD’s for entertainment.

We send our Happy Birthday wishes to all the October birthdays. Hope that everyone has had a great birthday. Derek, your birth just past and Luke, your birthday is tomorrow. Our thoughts and wishes are with you for each birthday. We think about you as I look at the calendar pictures and we pray for you always with each prayer.
I know that Luke you will be looking forward to your baptism as will Ethan and Natalie in December, so I’m going to send you a picture of Laurance, who was baptized a year ago and chose to be baptized in the Irish Sea, which surrounds this island. Some of the beaches on the island are very rugged and rocky and much of the surface if sheer cliffs where there is no beach. However on the southern part of the island there is a lovely sandy beach and one that they could walk out far and deep enough to baptize him. They had to wait for a wave large enough to cover him, Brother Clark raised his arm and said the words… and then they had to wait for the wave. He had to have two witnesses in the water also to make sure all was covered. Quite a process and the sea is cold, so those on the sand were ready with blankets and towels to dry everyone off. I’m sure they all rushed to their cars to get out of the weather after this baptism. Laurance was beaming.

So Luke and Ethan, you can find much blessing to know that you can be baptized in the warmth of the church, in warm water, with many loved ones near to be a part of this special covenant that you will be making.


We have told you in earlier letters that a lady (Wilma in her kitchen with us for tea) from Scotland was baptized in July. Since then her niece Sain (Shawn) has been baptized here on the island and in Scotland her older son Chris and her mother who live in Falkirk, Scotland (Trevor you may know where Falkirk is. South and east of Edinburgh.) Now her younger son Luke, who is 10 years old and a very active boy is going to be baptized this Saturday (Halloween). The missionaries jump on their trampoline before they started to teach. It seems to help wear him down a little before they try to get him serious. However, Wilma told us that he is starting to give good prayers and even bless the "guys from the church" (rather than the Elders). The missionaries have been working with him and making each lesson fun and exciting.

We have district meeting every Tuesday morning with the Full time Elders. One of them is the district leader and so he plans the meeting. This last week we did a scripture chase, getting ready for zone conference. Well you can imagine how well Dad would do with that, so the challenge was on. I think Elder Shull got 20 first and Dad got 11 and Elder Miller 7 and I just sat and watched. Pres. Bullock had a list of 125 scriptures taken from Preach My Gospel. So the idea is they put out a few words and then rush to find the scripture. It was a fun meeting for the Elders and I enjoyed watching them hurry to find the reference.

Here is a picture taken that day as Elder Shull is now going home the first week of November. He is from Pennsylvania, convert of 3 years, going back to Pennsylvania and planning to attend BYU in January to major in medicine. He is a very spiritual and loving young man, feeling the anxiety of leaving the mission and going home. He has been brought up by goodly parents and we feel that when we are together. He knows what a celestial day is like.

Elder Miller is from St. Anthony, Idaho. A cowboy that rides the bull’s at the rodeo along with his father. His dad breaks horses and so does Elder Miller. He is the oldest in his family of 4 , 3 boys and 1 girl, a true Idaho boy (I would know). He love the mission and is learning to serve with all his heart, might, and soul. We enjoy these Elders and they are very good to us.

Every morning Dad will either run or walk with me. When he runs, he will go about 5 miles and then came back along the road to see if he can find me. I walk about 3 miles each morning, rain or shine. Sometimes the wind is so strong, we feel like we are about to get blown off the island. Other days it is calm and peaceful. The weather seems to change with the tide and now it is getting closer to winter, we find it a little cooler, but not uncomfortable. This island is freshly washed and cleaned almost every day. We have no pollution. Sometimes we get the fog or mist, but the wind blows the island clean, the rain washes it good.

We love you all so very much. We pray for you each and every day. We miss you especially when it is your birthday. Especially on the special events, like baptism and turning 12 year olds. (Colby’s your names will be coming). Wish we could be with you when your baptized and when you go to the temple to do baptism for the names we sent.

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa