November 11

So overall it was a really good week. I went on exchanges with Elder Moser this past Tuesday and I learned a lot from him. He has been out for like 30 months so hes had some experience on his mission. I went on exchanges on bike this past Friday as well with Elder Tui'One and that was fun except my butt hurt a ton from riding the bike. We taught some cool lessons as well and I am lucky to be in a truck! 

We are going to have 2 baptisms next week! One is the friend of a member who is really cool and the other is the grandma of this family that got baptized over the past couple months. She is super stubborn but she is going to follow through this week! We are super excited for these baptisms though!

I got to see Elder Beeston and Elder Baltazar on Tuesday on exchanges at dinner which was cool! We are like the three best friends that anyone could have, We are the three best friends that anyone could have, We are like the three best friends that anyone could have and we will never ever never ever never leave eachother! I also got to see Baltz yesterday at a baptism! We got to hang out! I luv u guys!

Yesterday morning we went to help the city set up 1,775 flags for Veteran's Day. A bunch of members were there too. Thats a lot of flags!

We are halfway through the transfer though and we still got a lot of work to do! Elder Dixon and I are getting along good and we are really getting into the work! 

I thought I had some more to say but I forgot so I will see you all next week!

Elder Allen

Well there goes another week!

November 18    

Time has seriously been flying by! I am having fun out here and we have a lot of work going on and There will be at least one baptism this next Sunday and hopefully 3! I am excited and ready to keep going and to get more people ready to get baptized. The one for sure that will happen on Sunday is David who is the friend of a member and he is 18 and we talked about missions and everything this past lesson and he might start thinking about preparing for a mission which would be legit! He is a cool guy and taught us how to make horchata pretty easily. 

We are having interviews with President Smart on Tuesday and that should go good. We also went to the temple this past week and that was awesome! I learn something new every time I go there!

Well I don't have too much more to say because I sent out some decent emails already and I want to play basketball so I will see you all later! I love you mom!

Elder Allen

November 4

So we had a pretty good week! 

It started off on Tuesday when we went to MLC and I got to see Elder Baltazar and Elder Beeston! We hung out! I am really starting to not like being a Zone Leader because you have to really worry about others areas and your own and sometimes there is drama going on in the zone and you just feel pulled in so many different ways. Its cool though because we had ZDM on Friday and that went pretty good. The zone seems excited and they seem like they want to get to work now. Hopefully we can reach our zone goal of 7 baptisms for November.

Halloween was fun! We watched Ephraim's Rescue, a church movie, and then came home and played Munchkin! It was fun overall but we still aren't allowed to go get candy! I might dress up next year for Halloween just for fun! 

We had a kid named Alex on date for this past Sunday and Saturday morning we got a text from him saying he is going back to his old church so we were bummed about that but that night we found a new investigator named Moises and he came to church and then a member brought a non-member to church and we taught him afterwards and he is on date as well. The work is progressing there is just a bunch of things that happen that cause people to fall through and it stinks!

Hey dad have you got any info back on my memory card?

In the next package can you send my hard drive as well?

On Saturday we helped a family move down to Escondido and they gave me one of there cows they had outside! Its pretty heavy and its sitting on my desk (it has some huge nuts) HAHAHA! It reminds me of when Ethan and I were little and we played with cows all the time.

 

My Spanish is pretty good now and I don't have to think very much at all of what I want to say, it just flows out which is cool! Its about time too, 14 months!

Thanksgiving is coming up and I am sooo excited! We get to play football and eat a ton! 

Christmas will be here in no time as well and I have no clue what I want, maybe some money to buy some protein because I work out hard now! #gettinhuge

How is Mazie? I haven't heard about here since you said she was pregnant! If she died tell me, I don't want to get home in a year and you tell me then.

I did share the beef jerky you sent and I have been saving mine and hoarding it like GOLD!

I got a letter from Sophia with a bunch of smarties in it but the letter broke and there was only like 5 or 6 left in the envelope but I still ate them!

Well thats all, I hope you are having fun back home! I am having fun here and this week looks like it will be pretty warm!

Elder Allen

1st Week with Elder Dixon!

So Elder Dixon is pretty cool! We get along well and have a ton of work to do. We only had 2 investigators come to church so we were bummed about that but Alex was one of them and he should be getting baptized next weekend. Elder Dixon is from Ogden Utah and like sports. He really like lacrosse and we have fun talking about sports. 

So since Elder Santos left I had to start doing work haha just kidding Santos!! We have a ton of work though. We have found a bunch of people and lots have dates to be baptized. They just have to come to church and that is always the hardest thing for people to do. We are going to baptize a bunch though which is cool!

My A1C was 7.4 so I am doing better and I think it is because I am working out a lot better in the mornings. I want to get it lower too so I got to stop eating so many tortillas and beans and rice!

We saw a Ferrari! Check it out!

Elder Allen

Elder Dixon

We got the mission meeting tomorrow! So I get to see Baltz, Beeston, and Santos! We are so gonna hang out hardcore!

Well I am bummed that Dad broke my memory card and I really hope that you guys can get the info! That was like 5 transfers of pics and stuff! I know its my fault for not sending it home sooner but yeah, try to get the stuff!

Could you send me my hard drive? I have a bunch of stuff that I want to put on there and then I will send it back home.

Here is my grocery list mom: Bread, Juice, Yogurt, Tuna

I miss you all and can't wait to see you!

October 21, 2013

Well Elder Santos is going to be the new AP and I am getting Elder Dixon. We are going to tear it up and baptize! Elder Baltazar is a ZL with Elder Beeston and I am soooooo jealous!!! They are going to hang out hardcore! I miss them already! Elder Laparra is leaving! I hope he has fun adjusting to the normal life!

We have this cool kid named Alex who is the friend of a Christian who got baptized a month ago. He came to church last week and he is on date for the 3rd of Nov and he is super solid. We have some other people that are promising. The thing that stinks is all 5 people who were going to get baptized this past weekend all fell off and either dropped us or want more time. We have lots of work to do!

Buckeyes are still undefeated!

I will try to get my memory card out next week because today will be super busy!

Nothing else is really going on so thats all I got. I miss you guys! I gotta go move stuff around! Love ya!

Elder Allen

GO BUCKS

Time is Flying!

October 7th, 2013

So this week was pretty crazy because it was full of meetings! We still got our fair share of lessons in but this week should be better. Some of our investigators came off date too because they couldn't make it to conference. We have some others on date too and we should be having some baptisms coming up!

Conference was super cool! Elder Holland's talk was really cool! It reminded me of how cool the resurrection will be. Elder Uchtdorf then destroyed less actives and those who get offended at church. Hopefully we can use that when we come across someone who needs it.

I got to see Elder Laparra for the last time at the meeting in Riverside and he is leaving to go home in 2 weeks. It was pretty sad but he better keep in touch!

Nothing else too big happened and I gotta go to the bathroom so maybe I will jump back on in a few hours and add something!

Elder Allen

GO BUCKEYES!

Half way through the transfer?!

September 30, 2013

Not sure what this is but I will find out!

Well I don't have any notes for the week so I am going to have to wing it! I also am going to throw in some random stuff too because my mom wants to here stuff like that haha!

Well I was able to see Elder Richards 3 days last week and I learned a ton! We had some great lessons and had 7 people come to church. One was a family of 5 and they are really cool. They have a 4 year-old daughter and I had to play tic-tac-toe in my planner with her all through sacrament just so she could sit still and not worry about leaving. They are pretty cool though and the dad really loved church and so did their other older kids. The mom is a little hesitant but she should come around. 

Yesterday I got to go back to Moreno Valley, my first area, with Elder Prieto, my 2nd companion, for a baptism! It was pretty cool! I got to give the talk on the Holy Ghost and it was cool to see everyone from that ward! The girl who got baptized was Katrina. She had to get married to get baptized and she got married on Saturday and then baptized Sunday. I love baptisms and seeing the people I used to teach. 

I have to get some page protectors, pens, and print pictures out at Walmart today.

I will probably buy some bread too and make some eggs in a basket! I made them earlier this week and I love eating eggs! I buy the flat of 5 dozen eggs at a time but they usually last me a month.

Happy Birthday Ethan! I miss you man! Have some fun back home for me! Send me a picture of your bow and your new scope for it! I love you bro!

hummm well I have still been keeping my journal going and I am excited to be able to look back and see how I felt at different points on my mission.

We had a ton of fun last night! We put all our beds in the living room and talked a bunch till we fell asleep. This is a super fun area and our apartment is super cool.

Well I gotta go! I miss you guys!

Elder Allen

PS Go Buckeyes!! 

Well there goes another week!

September 24, 2013

I am having a blast here! We are tearing it up! We had a baptism this past Sunday. Christian Estrella lost his records and he is 16 and wanted to change his life and come back to church because he was into some bad stuff. It was a pretty easy baptism because he was for everything and grew up in the church when he was little.

We were able to see Elder Richards of the 70 and he taught us how to improve our teaching and how to be better missionaries and leaders. I learned a ton and we did what he taught in one of our lessons and it worked great. We are going to be a lot better now. Elder Santos and I kind of got in a couple of arguments this week but we talked it out last night and we realize what we need to do to improve our companionship. I got a lot to learn from this Uruguayan!

Well I am still excited to be here in California! It is cooling down here and I am excited for the upcoming holidays too! The Hispanic food is super bomb and I am going to want rice, beans, and tortillas when I get home haha!

I am going to send my card home and its got tons of pictures which are pretty cool. There is a place in my area here where a scene from the first Fast and the Furious was filmed and we just took pictures of it this morning! It is where towards the end of the movie they hide the cars by a water tower and then they drive down to rob a big truck. Elder Santos loves the Fast and the Furious movies and can basically quote the whole series.

Well I gotta go but hopefully I can help you fill the gun safe when I get home dad! We only need like 45 more guns right? I miss you all! Have fun in Ohio! 

Elder Allen

PS Go Bucks!!

Pretty Good Week!

September 2, 2013

Well like it says, we had a pretty good week. Nothing too crazy happened at least that I can remember. So I will go on with my notes.

I ripped my suit pants yesterday. From crotch to crack! I sewed them this morning though and so hopefully they will last me another year. Good thing I have another pair of black pants though!

I finished my first journal! I am going to start my second and probably last one tonight. It is cool that I will be able to go back and read what I wrote down.

We get to eat at Dairy Queen for free once a week and its so good because its so free! I usually get a lg smores blizzard too which is super good.

We have transfers this weekend and hopefully nothing too big happens because I like who we live with and how our zone is. I love meeting new people though because I feel like I make tons of friends every 6 weeks!

We had a baptism yesterday too! Her name is Adriana De Anda. Her 3 daughters got baptized before I got here and she basically has been ready this whole time she just works on Sundays and this was her 3rd Sunday she got off and so she got baptized! She had family who were members come from Sacramento and tons of people came from the ward and it was full!

There should be a picture at the bottom

Well I think that is all I got. I hope everyone has a good week! I miss ya!

New Transfer!

September 9, 2013

Elder Allen

Well nothing too big changed in our zone. I will still be here with Elder Santos and will still live with Baltz and Prieto. There will be 3 companionships training and we have to go on exchanges with them and the district leaders so that is 6 exchanges! Our teaching pool is a little low so we have to find some more people. We have to drop some people too because they don't want to come to church or do anything on their own. This was the fastest transfer ever though! That 6 weeks flew by! I am nervous because I always here that time always speeds up more and more. Other than all that nothing else happened and I gotta go! I hope you all have fun! I miss ya!

Elder Allen

I got another email right after his from 

Elder Baltazar and it said this:elder allen is soooo annoying 

Looks like he has a great friend!