Elder Allen Week#6&7 Ay Ay Ay, this has been the craziest week of my life. But It's been absolutely awesome.

Nothing really happened at the CCM before I left. We left Monday at 1230pm and got to the airport. The flight was supposed to be at 430, but it was delayed, and then it was delayed again, and we left at 1030. Meaning that we got into Lima at 430 Am, went to a hotel for an hour, and got up for the day. But that's alright, Elder Humphreys and I were able to place our fist Libro de Mormon at the Airport, we were talking to two ladies for about an hour and a half with our broken Spanish. But hey, we got the message across I think. 

Tuesday was such a long and boring day. We had to go get our Visa and Immigration stuff done, and that took hours upon hours, but that's all right. We got to the Mission Home (Kind of, it's really just a chapel and the AP's casa is across the street) And chilled for the rest of the day. And then fit 25 people into a house made for 10 max. It was fun. 

Wednesday is when the real mission began. We had interviews with President Stauffer in the morning, had some Shwarma, and then got our Companions. 

My Trainer is Elder Vierra, he's in his 20th Month, He's from Uruguay, and he's awesome. I'm the first Gringo that he has trained, so it's been a little hard on him, but for the most part, this week has been fantastic. We are in the Zone Pachucutec, in the Area Mi Peru. I absolutely love it here. It's nothing like Utah that's for sure. There are some paved roads, but it's mostly dirt. About half of the area is really poor and up on the hill, and the other half is in the valley (Idk, it's still on the hill but lower?). The people here are so humble and willing to talk to you. It's fantastic. The only problem is often times, they aren't home when you come to the appointment. But that's just how it is here. Esta Bien. 

I had my first Baptism on Saturday. She's a 14-year-old girl named Milady (Idk how it's spelled in Spanish) And she's awesome. It was an awesome experience, and I can't wait to get the chance to baptize someone that I've actually taught. 

Do you remember the 21st night of September?

My zone is fantastic. The district leaders are so cool, and about half of us are Gringos. and 4 of us are all new Gringos. Elders Humphrys y Martin are in the Zone, and In my district is Elder Jones. I didn't get to know him too well at the CCM, but it's been awesome hanging out with him and being able to talk to someone in English. He's a great guy. I've got on splits twice now with Elder Alegre, Jones's companion because their Area is just being reopened. He's awesome. Truly Alegre. He's from Bolivia, and such a fun guy. 

There have been too many spiritual and crazy experiences too write even 5% of them. But being able to testify of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer has helped me so much. My own testimony has grown so so much. We can really rely on Him for anything. He knows us, and He loves us. I know that's true. And I promise in His name, if you share this message with someone that doesn't have this joy in their life, you will know it too. 

One crazy experience we had was last night, we were up on the hill( The hike up there is comparable to the Adam's Canyon switchbacks, it's not fun. But hey, I'm already lighter, I need the exercise.) and we were looking for the house of an old investigator. And we could not find it. Anywhere. We asked many people, and were about to give up but decided to knock one more random door and ask if they knew. A lady answered and immediately said come in! It's freezing out there! (It was) We had no idea what was going on. Turns out she's an Active member but goes to the wrong ward. And she knew where the house was. What a crazy world. 

One other thing my testimony has increased on is the gift of tounges. My Spanish was not great leaving the ccm, but after 5 days here, I can say pretty much everything I need to say. The Spanish isn't nearly perfect, and I don't know a lot of the tenses, but I can follow basically anything that is said. And I know that's not by my own crazy lucky skill. It's a blessing from God.

This week has been long and hard, but it's been awesome. I love it here. I love serving the Lord. I love the food (My pensionista is great), and I love the people.

Today was chill, we basically just played soccer. I'm terrible. For now. 

I love and miss you all so much, and I hope that all is going well at home. Thanks for everything!!

-Elder Allen

Elder Allen Week#4&5
Elder Allen Week#4 Buenos Dias! 

It's crazy to me that I've already been out here a month! It feels so much longer, and so much shorter at the same time. This week was awesome! We've definitely got into a groove this past month, and not much new happens every day. It's just the same schedule- Wake up, get ready, eat, class, eat, class, eat, devotional/class, go to bed. It's not like its a bad schedule, it's just a little repetitive, and I'm ready for a change of pace. But I am going to miss my time here at the Mexico CCM. 

And here's the sad news of the week, four members of my district, my best friends, my family, are leaving on Monday. Nobody knows why, but yesterday we find a note on the door and Hma. Kim & Boyd, and Elders Nebecker & Phillips are heading out. We're pretty sure they're going to the Peru CCM for the week, but it's really sad. 4 of my favorite people are going to leave, and class is going to be so weird without them. It's going to be a long week. *Note for my friends soon to go on missions, get tight with your district, because they'll be some of your best friends for life. 

It is crazy that I'm already off to Peru in a week and a half. I feel so ready, and not ready at all. My Spanish has improved exponentially over the past month, but I still don't feel like I know enough. I'm really really good at saying what I know how to say and what I use a lot, but the grammar and the words I don't use often aren't really sticking with me. I'll get there though. I testify that the Gift of Tounges is real, because I took 2 and 1/2 years of Spanish, and didn't learn anything. And I'm a month into the CCM, and I'm a good enough speaker to get around. Long ways to improve though. 

My week was awesome, lots and lots of cool and spiritual experiences. We had our first TRC, which is where actual people come into the Arena (CCM) and we get to give them a short lesson. That was a lot of fun, I could actually understand what the lady was saying. My teaching skills have also greatly improved here, and Elder Humphreys and I give consistently good lessons, so that's awesome. 

The week honestly has just blended in together. On Sunday I was able to give Hma. Kim a blessing and everyone felt the spirit so strong, it was awesome. The new gym time activity is Volleyball, and every game I play I get better so that rocks. We played with the zone for like 2 hours this morning, it was tons of fun. I've officially been a part of my fist Tie Trade on the mission, got a sweet new floral tie from elder Tescher (He's the other District in our house, also going to Lima West, that district is tons of fun). Also, Go Cougs! Glad to hear that we started off on a good foot this season. Speaking of the Cougars, a guy in my zone, Elder Erickson has a full ride to play basketball at BYU, so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of him on the court in a few years here.

As always, I could write books about all the Spiritual experiences of my week. But two of my favorites and ones that all of you can and should do are watch Elder Hollands Testimony: The Book of Mormon is the Word of God, and Elder Bednar's missionary address called the Character of Christ. The second one is a bit longer, but if you get a chance, please please please go watch it. He talks about how Christ turns outward when the rest of us turn inward, and that's how we need to strive to be in life. We can not afford to have our testimony planted in the good works of the church or the apostles. We can't have a testimony of these worldly things because when something in them changes, your testimony is tried. We all need to have a testimony, for ourselves, that Jesus is the Christ, He is our Savior and Redeemer. Once we know that, we will never fall away from the gospel of Christ. Build upon his rock. Elder Hollands testimony is just so powerful and reminds us of the truth of all these things. Please go watch those videos. I promise that they will help your testimony grow. 

Other than that, not much has gone on this week. I'm ready to get out into the real world. It started feeling real when we found out that some of us are already leaving. As a reminder, please keep sending emails and letters! I love hearing from you all! I miss you all at home so much, and I'm thankful for your prayers and words of encouragement, but if you really want to help, get involved in the work! Make a Mormon.org profile, talk to an inactive or a nonmember friend, invite them to church, invite them to come unto Christ. I promise if you do, your testimony will grow as well. 

Love you and Miss you all so much! Sorry, my photos haven't been sending, the computer comes up with a new problem every week. This week the files are "too large". Hopefully, I can get it to work down in Peru.

Also, just fyi, our district group email is called Los Toros de Los Pantanos in case anyone was interested haha. Hasta Luego!

-Elder Allen

Elder Allen Week #5
Buenos Dias! This is it, everybody! My last 4 Days at the MTC, and then I'm off to Peru! 

My time here at the Mexico CCM has been fantastic. I've met some of my best friends in my entire life, I get to see a beautiful sunrise every morning, I've been able to begin to learn Spanish, but most importantly I've come to grow closer to the Savior. I'm excited for my friends that will soon enter the MTC, but I wish you English speakers would have to stay in for 6 weeks instead of 3 because these 6 weeks have been fantastic. 

This week has been a lot of leaving to the field prep- tons of seminars and going over what we've already learned. But it's helped a lot. Got my flight plans, a 5-pound Spanish review book, a filter water bottle (now I have 2 haha). And most importantly, we got our colored dots!!! We're officially old! On Sunday night we said goodbye to the 4 that left early, and that was sad. Class is weird without them. But that's alright because we'll bee soon to follow. 

The days are starting to blend together, and I honestly don't remember most of the week. But as our teacher Hermano Galloso pointed out, it's important to stay excited about the work. The habits you make in the MTC will stick with you in the Field. But yeah, more volleyball, trying to take cabinets off the hinges, etc. 

Even though it hasn't necessarily been exciting, it has been a really spiritual week, and that's been awesome. We had Elder Pindrick (?) of the 70 come and speak to us, and that was really good. It was about using the Atonement in our lives, and how it can help us in all things. A girl had a comment about the symbolism of Olive Oil that I really liked. In Christ's time, everyone relied on olive oil for nearly everything, food, light, etc. But the process to make it involves putting the Olive under immense amounts of pressure. It's similar to Christ and His Atonement, because of that pain and suffering that Christ endured for us, we have a source of Light. I really liked that. 

I've started to read Jesus the Christ, and man is that book big. But it is awesome. There's so much insight, and it has already helped me strengthened my testimony on the Savior. I recommend. 

Yeah, there's not much more to write. Packing has been stressful, but I think it'll all work out. Next time I email, It'll be from Peru! I'm excited to get down there and to really start making a change, and bring people to our Savior and Redeemer. But I'm also thankful for my experiences at the CCM. And I'm looking forward to the challenges that are to come. I hope I'll have a baptism to write about in my next email haha. 

Love you all! Please keep sending Emails! When I get to Peru, I'll be able to print them out and read them! Stay Safe, and have a good week!

-Elder Allen

Elder Allen Week#3 Hola Amigos y Familia!

This was probably the most spiritual week of my entire life. On Thursday we were able to go to the temple again (got to see the old video, that was fun), and it was awesome! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to go again while I'm here. On Friday, Elder Bednar came and gave one of the best devotionals that I have ever listened to. I could write a book about it. It was awesome. He didn't actually prepare a talk or anything like that. He led a discussion. The topic was mostly directed to Faith, and what Faith is. And all in all, he taught that faith leads to action, that with faith you can find the answers to your own questions. In that way, he taught everybody exactly what they need to know. He taught us that we don't necessarily need other people to answer our questions, because if we have the faith and put in the work, we will receive the revelation that we need to answer it ourselves. 

A quote from Pres. Bennett that I really liked is "If faith isn't moving those mountains, grab a shovel and start moving some dirt". It's important to do whatever the Lord asks of us. 

The other reoccurring theme of the week was the Restoration. In Bednar's devotional, he told us that the gospel is not restored (preterit tense), But that it is being restored (Imperfect/progressive idk). There is still so much that God has yet to reveal for us, and we have been told by many prophets that these next years that are leading up to the coming of Christ will have some of the greatest miracles God has ever worked. I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited for that. We also watched Joseph Smith, the prophet of the restoration, and had a discussion on him. I gained such a stronger testimony that he is a prophet of God. In the Doctrine and Covenants, it says that Joseph did more for the building up of the Kingdom of God on Earth than any other man, save Jesus. And I believe it. We also learned more about Emma Smith, and how even though she fell away from the church in the end of her life, that she still did so much to help build the kingdom. I love learning about the early days of the church. So many great people and prophets. 

Other than the feast of spiritual knowledge, the week hasn't been anything crazy. We're kind of just getting into the schedule now. I'm halfway done with my time at the CCM! That's crazy! We started playing a game called Guess the Latino- There are two teams in the district, and one person from both teams is the Latino who can only speak Spanish. You have to guess the other teams, so everyone just speaks Spanish so they cant find out. It's honestly so much fun. Some guys in my district picked a flower and planted it in a Mtn Dew can and put it in their room, so that's pretty awesome. Also, our anthem is Ye Elders of Isreal by the Lower Lights. 

And time is seriously broken. I've been here 3 weeks, but it somehow feels like 2 days and 2 years all at once. It's going so fast, but also so slow. It's really weird. 

There's honestly not much more to write except a little more about my district. My Companion is Elder Humphreys, and He's the District Leader. He's a fun guy, reminds me a lot of Dallin. Except he's from Texas, so yeah. You can imagine. I room with Elder Brown and Elder Manning, and they're tons of fun. Elder Nebecker and Phillips are pretty much Sean and Gus from psych, Phillips even tap dances so yeah. Despain and Peterson are awesome. Martin is a super funny guy, and Rockwood had longer hair than me before he came out. Hermana Boyd and I have like the same personality, but we're also like the completely opposite person, and Hermana Kim and I have this ongoing joke that we're related (She's Vietnamese (But actually Californian)) Because I found out that my Sweedish ancestors were also Kims. It's really hard to put these people into one line, it doesn't feel right. They're my best friends now, and they're all so unique and awesome people. I wish you all could meet them. 

The CCM is awesome. Three great meals a day, awesome teachers. We live legit the farthest from anything you can get, in casa 35. We're the oldest district in our zone now, so that's pretty weird. We're on week 4 now, it's crazy how fast (and slow) time has gone.

A few last things:

Go to https://www.missionarypackagemx.com and write me a letter. It's free, I can get them and read them any day of the week, and that way I'll have more time to respond and stuff while emailing. Pleaseeeeeeeeee  I want to hear from you guys. My district is 13F and mission is Peru Lima West (and if you know Spanish, write me in Spanish)

and lastly, I found a golden scripture. 1st Corinthians 11:14 - Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?-- When I get roasted by the Bible

I love you all so much! Sorry that the photos didn't work last week, I'll try and get them to all work now. If you want to hear more spiritual experiences from my week write me a letter and I'll get back to you, because I have a ton. Miss you all, hope all is going well at home! Til next week! Remember that God loves you!

-Elder Allen