Aug 26, 2013

hey yal,

So yeah heard about the new temple film..... haven't seen it yet but heard it is indescribable and makes the whole experience a million time more spiritual.
 

As for the suit.... we're lookin around. I don't want the one I have now lol so I'll keep lookin. Want a nice window pain suit if ya know that pattern. Tried an 800 suit on 2 weeks ago that had it and it was so fly for a white guy haha. No JCPenney round here. That shirt and package you sent were great! Thanks so much! I'm outta money for the month so it'll come in handy haha! Perfect timing. The shirt was a little tight around the arms, guess I'm getting bigger haha but it's white and not grey so it works hahaha! Glad to hear Jenna and Meg are doin good. Show Jenna the Mormon Message about that Tyler kid that played basket ball. It's called..... "a work in progress" or

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-12-0160-a-work-in-progress?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2010

We got 2 new baptismal dates! These amazing parents from Brazil and they love us to death and when we told em we pay for our missions they practically wanted to live with em.  It was hilarious but they are amazing and he knew the church 10 yrs ago but didn't take it so he is super serious about it now and believes everything...... so great!!!
 

Then we had Zone Conference and I had to conduct the meeting. I was so nervous idk why it's just conducting.... not like a talk or anything but I was. It was weird.... but it went well. President bought a new truck and he let me and E. Barber drive it. haha it was fun! 

 

Then the interesting part... E. Haas(from my MTC group. the red head one) was in my zone and he was sent home Saturday. He stole $600 from a LA member of his ward and was absolutely trashing the missionary title in his ward..... one of the mission presidency was the former chief of police for the city of San Jose and basically interrogated him and told pres he was guilty and so we went down that Saturday and boom Haas was sleeping in his own bed that night. I was sad for him at 1st but then I wasn't...... let me explain. So the Lord works in mysterious ways.  We were supposed to get a mini missionary last weekend to see how missions are but he couldn't come til this weekend. And it worked our perfect because Barber and him worked Santa Clara and me and E. Barney went to Los Altos ward for the weekend. It worked out great and seeing the condition of the ward and how there was not a hint of trust or care for the missionaries in that ward I was so glad Haas was gone. Barney is a super hard working country boy from Rexburg and he is so ready to work. We just contacted when we got there, went through referrals and street contacts to start up the area, and we got tons of potential investigators.  E. Barney was telling me how he was learning so much and was finally able to feel the spirit again. It was great.! That Sunday, the way we carried ourselves and had fun but were pro and showed the work we did in the progress record put a huge smile on the Bishop probably the 1st smile towards missionaries in 6-9 months. It was a great feeling and the ward just swarmed us because Barney is really new too and it was only his 2nd week, so everyone wanted to meet us and see if we were good missionaries or not. And we got like 4 referrals just from how we acted and carried ourselves, which means that the members had like zero faith in the previous elders. So it was good and then people called us after church asking if we would eat with em and such.  It was a total change of culture in the ward. Apparently Haas was trying to get with the young women and just terrible things like that, lying and stealing, and making it sound like missionaries are a joke. But that will all change and now I'm torn because I love my Santa Clara ward and the members and the friends I have there but I also really want to work in Los Altos to get that area on fire! Maybe I'll ask president to demote me to a missionary to work Los Altos for awhile. (we're a trio right now... Barber, Barney and me in Santa Clara) and we're meeting pres to discuss how to move forward. I'd love to work Los Altos. We'll see where the Lord wants me I guess.

So all in all a crazy week....
 

Hope yal have a good one! How's Duke? and KK?

Love ya

-Elder McAllister

Aug 19, 2013....One Year This Week!

hey yal

So glad to hear about my awesome athlete sisters. Way to go! Meg's a rockstar and is gonna get a scholarship to Baylor this year. Jenna's gonna break the JV outsides knee in the locker room and is gonna get bumped up and Kayla's going to invent a new sport and mom and dad will just have real sore chops from the bleachers all day everyday. haha

Sounds like yal had a real good week. Wow Meg just got her license and you let her go to the west side of town on her own. Man I remember I got mine and yal tried keepin me on like a 2 mile radius from the house haha but I'm glad she's enjoyin it and I would say mom's enjoyin her sleep but I know you still probably wake up to make sure they are up and if not, then the garage will wake ya up and boom wide awake haha. ......still know ya like a book after a yr away lol.

So for my yr mark...... me and Workman, my MTC comp, are gonna burn a shirt :) it's a ritual.... like you know how they say Mormons are cultish? well it's cause the missionaries hahaha jk but it should be exciting and funny. It's at a member's house.

Speaking of shirts and such so this week alone I ruined 3 of my 3 long sleeve shirts. and a few ties lol. one a big car grease stain down the back of a shirt. another pen marks(got that out mostly) and the other from a luau and getting dirty somehow idk how. but at least I got one haha! and the tie got a giant grease stain down the front. oh well. and I haven't bought any clothes in like 5 months anyway just FYI.

We're still lookin at suits. I found that pattern that is just stunning! haha so hopefully there's one that's pretty cheap. We're gonna go to brooks brothers today I think. But hopefully before next transfer I'd like a new one. And maybe one of those satin stripe or patterned white shirts but that's not as necessary. Well I guess price em out today and go from there. What's too expensive? $100000000? or maybe $999999? haha jk I was thinkin the 200 range + or - 50?

E. Barber says there's alot of McAllisters down in Kanab lol. He's good. Really hard working and he's been a ZL for a yr now so he kinda out ranks me. But we are pretty even in like how we do things I guess is the way to say it. He's a spiritual giant.
 

So this week was fun. Went to the golf range with a member who coached me up a bit and I'm gettin better slowly. Just to lose it all for the next 6 months before I might go again lol but it was fun.
 

So church yesterday idk what it was but I was just sooooo happy. The whole day..... no idea why. I guess because I know all the people, plus maybe cause we had like a dozen of our LA that we work with show up and plus our WC was super happy with the work we did and maybe cause everything finally clicked for me and I see the real joy of missionary work. Or maybe I just had gas. Who knows! haha but it was a great day.

Well gotta run. Can't wait to talk to yal later. Good luck on the games. Go big or go home! Play like it's the last game of the season every time. and have fun :) that's the secret to winning..... is having fun.

Love yal

-Elder McAllister

Aug 12, 2013

hey yal,

haha I'm glad I haven't grown up tooo much yet.... I like bein a kid way too much for that haha.

Good luck Jenna and Megan. yal are gonna be varsity. I just know it. Well Jenna maybe JV.... sorry yer only a freshy.

haha yeah Sis McFarland is a total facebook creeper lol. She was hounding me for it for ages so I finally caved but I didn't know if it was you or not cause it was a baby picture of me I think?? I don't know but yeah it threw me off and set off the McFarland's "awwws" when they saw it lol so now I know what you do on facebook when I'm gone!! haha yeah he's the one that called me Elder Caskcall, but he's gettin better
 

So transfers. Ketywan went home. Was good the whole meeting then last prayer looks up at me afterwards and is bawling....... it was so hard to say goodbye. I absolutely love that Vanuatuan. Then once I put it behind me and was focusing on working, he called Wednesday mornin to say goodbye again before he got on the plane. Man I broke down.. He was such an amazing missionary and just a great friend. We had so much fun together. He taught me sooo much and we had the best of times. My favorite time was at the Yuen's when we pied Bro Yuen in the face. sooooo funnnyyy!!

Now I'm with Elder Barber, he's from Kanab and is awesome.... real reserved for the 1st few days then I called him out on it and he opened up and is hilarious! The next Brian Regan, seriously he's hilarious. The areas gettin better and better as we go and I now feel like a ZL and am doing ZL things since we're in the same companionship now. It's good, real good.

I'm realizing I'm not a very good missionary. With Kety gone and Barber in, I've switched from bein the lead, to learnin which I love. I'm just disappointed in myself for not being to a higher level I should be at. But it's humbling and eye opening so hopefully I'll be improving.

Love ya guys and I did know it was your anniversary. For some reason I was thinking it was the 18th + or - a week, so basically I knew it was in August haha I'm getting better at remembering things.

love yal! oh BTW, Barber and I are thinkin about gettin new suits Jos a Bank has a buy one for 300 get one free so we'd split 150 each. just so you're aware. It'd be kinda nice for a yr mark. or maybe I'll wait til 6 months left. idk we're just gonna look today. Let me know what your thinkin. and we'll get a plan in motion.

Love yal! Hope dad and Kayla and of course Duke are doin good.

-Elder McAllister

August 5, 2013

hey yal,

Sounds like one heck of a week! Jenna's gonna have so much fun vb all day everyday. I wish the guys had something like that, then maybe I'd be good. lol Way to go Jenna... just work hard, don't get frustrated, relax, and have fun. You only play good if you relax and have FUN. Trust me, I know.

Sorry to hear about my great Aunt, but whenever I see a funeral or memorial service all I can think about is the mercy of our Heavenly Father and his wonderful plan of happiness. It's so perfect in every little nook and cranny.... it's perfect and it's full of happiness. I look at those passing away as movin to the 2nd mile of the 5k of life.

So crazy stuff happened at church! A member came up to us both after the meeting and he's a very monotoned quiet yet spiritual giant sorta guy. Lived in the ward 40yrs and was bishop, ward mission leader, stake high councilor and more.... came up to us and said that in 40 yrs of missionaries we were in the top 10. Figure missionaries are in an area for 6 months.... that's at least 80 missionaries that have gone through Santa Clara. It was really humbling and a gratitude filled moment. He was even chokin up a little. We gave him the biggest hug and he just smiled at us. It was such a somber moment.(idk if I used somber right)

Ketywan leaves tomorrow. Then I'll get my new comp. dunno who yet.  This past week has been a ton of goodbyes and triple the ton of food. I feel soooooo fat... like 30lbs of straight meat and potatoes the past 4-5 days. Luckily yesterday was Fast Sunday and so I didn't eat much.
 

Oh! Speaking of Fast Sunday. I fasted for missionary work, which was the 1st time I've fasted for not myself in awhile and in church a guy came up and wants to change his life around and me and Bro Yuen are workin with him now to get him back into the church and possibly a job with Bro Yuen's construction company. It was sooooooooo big of a testimony to me how quick the Lord can answer our fasts which are like turbo prayers.

Really great week. I'm whatever about the cologne, impulse buy and I forgive the kid and so it's all on him to make restitution now or if he chooses to get away with it he will answer for it at the judgement bar. His choice... I'll be the big person!  I shouldn't of impulsed bought that anyway.... my fault.

I'm startin to stress now.   I'm the senior ZL for the zone and I'm 1 transfer out as a ZL. lol We'll see what happens I guess but luckily most the ZLs are pretty good guys.  Some are wound up tight and stiff as a board and some are alot like me so we'll see who I get. Jackson, my best bud, is a ZL now so I might get him..... hopefully!
 

So last thing. Transfers alway bring drama. "oh I don't want to go", " this has been heck, get me outta here" "why am I not leaving, I hate it here" "oh I'm gonna miss yal so much" "whine whine whineee.........." and one of the elders I briefly knew in Morgan Hill texted me outta the blue tellin me he was throwin in the towel and goin home cause he can't stand his area. It was sure tough to talk him calm down. It was so eye opening to me as we talked to immense(see learning new big words) consequences that follow dishonorable releases. It woke me up because there were and are definitely times when I'm like there's no work, this is wastin my time. But now I think back to this instance and that'll keep me out more focused. This elder is stayin and stickin it out which is a blessing in and of itself the emotions he had before. But what I believe did it for him was that his future wife and kids will either get blessed by his mission or suffer because he called it quits. Different people respond to different cords I guess.

Have a fun week, can't believe only 4 months til Christmas.... maybe this time I'll get to see yal haha! we'll see. Have fun this week.

-Elder McAllister

Ward mission leader and family with Elder McAllister and Elder Ketywan......saying goodbye to Kety!

July 30, 2013

Hey yal,

So this has been a crazy week.

Gotta go to Santa Cruz and do beach volleyball and oh it's so much better actually on a beach. fantastic fun! yes Ketywan's leavin this week.... he's so trunky and nervous. But it's good. It'll be interesting to see how this transfer will turn out cause both of the ZLs have already been 6 months in the area so one of us gotta stay. We'll see who..... might train..... might not.... who knows. I'll know Friday lol

I'm sorry life's hard Mom. But as they say..... hard as things may be, the Lord has promised us angels on our left and on our right to bear us up and He always keeps His promises. Took me a long time to learn that but it's true. And temple attendance can definitely grow that and help. I had my own outing with struggling with people. I'll explain later.

Jenna will do great with vb.... I wish her the best!
 

Glad Meg's senior pictures turned out. Can't believe she's a senior.... that's crazy!
 

Thinkin about buyin a ukulele rather than guitar cause it's easier to transport. Don't worry, not gonna buy one anytime soon but it'd be cool. Maybe Christmas or somethin. They're cheap here... 100 for a nice one Ketywan says...... islanders know best lol

I'm sure gonna miss Ketywan...... he's a great guy.

Our zone's gonna get like 1/3 of em switched out so we'll have alot of new faces to work with... it'll be good.

 

So this week was good..... with 1 big negative.... no bueno.
 

The good 1st..... went to Santa Cruz and played vb on the beach. soooo much fun! I loved it and Ketywan is so good at volleyball. Had a giant and absolutely delicious burger..... best one I've had I think. So good and I didn't get sunburned ;) haha all the makins of a good Pday.
 

This week we taught 25 lessons! It was great especially in such a hard area!  We however have a lot of missionaries sick which is no bueno but hopefully the best comes of it.
 

So the negative....... so 3 companionships broke into our apartment (via Ketywan's key) and hid with Nerf guns. So when we walked to the front door, ours were on the floor. We took em, guessed what was about to happen, and ran into a fire fight! It was a blast so much fun but when we cleaned up and everybody left, the cologne I bought with my bday money was gone. So I looked through the whole apartment, every last nook and cranny, and nothing. So I called each companionship and got it down to 1 who kept sendin my calls to voicemail and not answering my texts. Then I realized one in that companionship already had the exact same brand as mine so he wouldn't take it and so I know who it was and he lies straight to my face and idk what to do. I'm a missionary.  I can't just walk in and get in a fist fight even though that's what I wanna do. I can't call president cause that will be a huge waste of his time. So do I cut my $45 loss and deal with it or try and fight it more? I just don't know because it's a lot of money. His trust with me already is out the door, down the street, around the bend, and out to Mexico on fire. But I just dunno what to do..... I'll keep prayin on it and see what ya say.
It's sad the elders will steal from each other and then lie about it. Burns trust and hurts their eternal salvation.... I pray to love him because I seriously wanna wring his neck. But that won't solve anything. I'd like my stuff back or at least him to admit it so we can start building the trust back. We'll see what happens.....

The life of a missionary.....almost to my 12 month. Time's slowing allllloooooootttttt probably because I've been in the area so long. I think I'm ready for change since I've tried all my tricks on this area. We'll see what happens.

Love yal..... have a good week

-Elder McAllister