Jon's Missionary Letters

  Qué tal qué tal. This week was a fun one so lets jump right in. First off, we have some more people on date for baptism! They are very nice and very humble people. The hermana is named Mireya and likes the idea of the temple and wants to go, so we're helping her out with that goal.  We also have another family that is progressing very well and is feeling more at comfort in the branch. The hermano is a member, but has been inactive for years and has a wife and 2 daughters that are not members. We found them weeks ago through knocking doors and they recieved us super well. We had 2 crazy powerful lessons with them about the sacrament and family prayer this week. They came to church and want to come back! So that's exciting! Ok now for the goofy stuff. This week we had a little earthquake (terremoto) in the area. Don't be alarmed, they're actually quite normal here. Usually they're really tiny and hard to notice, but this one was enough to wake everyone up in the cit...

  Bueno bueno, ¿qué tal mis amigos? I'm not gonna lie, this week wasn't too eventful. Still good tho.  We taught some good lessons, invited some people to church (like 30) and 2 of those people came, so that was cool. We're trying to teach about how going to church actually is important for our relationship with Jesus. People in Mexico (and in general) don't really believe that, but it's all good, that's why we're here. Something that was actually pretty cool was we met a dope family of members from Colombia/Venezuela. They're immigrants looking for a better life in the states. They have 6 kids with a 14 year age gap from oldest to youngest (exactly like my family). We met them when they came to the church building about a week ago hoping for some help from some people in the branch here. The branch totally pulled through and gave them food and blankets and places to sleep. W branch.  My comp and I wanted to help out too, so we made some pancakes for the...

  Yo, another week has occurred. It was a good one. Less catholics, which is cool. We also had a baptism! So I'll jump into that.  The people that were baptized this week are Fidel and Carmita. They're a couple in their early 60s, and I've mentioned them before in my emails, cuz they're awesome. We found them my first sunday in the area and they've been attending church super consistently since. We've had a lot of help from the members in their conversion, which is awesome, cuz they had some huge changes to make. Their devotion to the church and Christ is amazing and a giant testimony builder for me. Funny story from the baptism: So my comp baptized Carmita I baptized Fidel. After the ordinance, Fidel came out of the font and was like "ahhh, gracias, ya eres mi padrino" meaning (thank you, now you're my padrino). For those of you who don't know, a Padrino is a name in spanish for the catholic priest who baptizes the babies. So Fidel, joking of ...

  Man, ngl, this week was... interesting. Haha, there were a lot of angry Catholics. Usually there's at least one or two for the week, but this week there were an unusual amount of them.  The word "plancha" directly translated means "to iron" (like a shirt) but the way it's used here is more like "to yell at" or  or get angry. I use it this week cuz it felt like a lot of the Catholic people we interacted with were very angry and felt like "planchando" us. So yeah, it was a good time. Honestly not a lot happened this week, just another one of those vibe check weeks on the mission. Kinda like God snapping his fingers in your face to make sure you're still awake. One cool thing tho is we went to the temple with the Elder's Quorum on saturday. It was cool, did some baptisms and a session. Always a solid experience at the temple. We also went and got some banger roadside carne afterwards. The place definitely had no sort of health code...

  Hola. Back at it again. To start off today, I'll explain the title, "hole with birds". Today for p-day we went to a place that's famous because it has a lot of parakeets and other birds that live in a really big hole in the ground. It was cool. We did in fact see a lot of birds. This week was epic cuz we had some more baptisms. Larry (14), Darwin (12) and Wiliam (9) all accepted the invitation to follow their buddies Christian and Daniel (some guys we baptized at the beginning of the transfer) and be baptized. It took a good amount of work with them, but man it's awesome to see the fruits of our labors. They're super excited about recieving the Priesthood and helping with the sacrament, and they are super earnest with their learning about Christ. It's super awesome to see. Some other success we saw this week was with our friends Carmita and Fidel, we put them on date for baptism! They are both super faithful and love the members of the branch here. Fidel...

  Hey all, what's poppin? I can tell you what's NOT poppin, comida china (or as the people here call it, comeeda cheena). This week we decided it'd be a good idea to hit up the local mexican-chinese place for lunch one day. So we did. Bad idea, especially the day before we move houses (more on that later). Turns out comida china had it out for us and didn't want to sit well. Especially for my comp. Saturday we moved houses, cuz it was the only day we could get someone with a pickup truck to help us. We moved cuz our old house had an unholy amount of functional/reasonable living situation problems (orders from Presi). So we packed up and bounced. Only problem was our dear friend comida china (mentioned earlier) knocked us off our feet. We'd have been bed-riden saturday if we weren't moving houses. But there we were, half-zombies, loading up, heading out and moving in. I don't think I've been more tired on the mission than I was after all that while being ...

  Hola mis amorosos y marvillosos projimos. I hope we are all doing well. This week was cool cuz we did a lot of surprisingly successful finding. Usually when we knock on doors the fruits are few and far between, but this week we were blessed with being able to find the right houses and people. A cool story of the week (a classic-type story that you've all probably heard from other missionaries) was the first door we knocked on friday we were let into. We started by asking how their day is and a quick introduction of ourselves. The dad of the family, who was home on a rare day off from his work, told us that he was baptized in the church at 8, but fell away after his dad died. He's been away for over 14 years due to various circumstances, but is excited to talk to us more and respark some of his good memories in the church as a child and youth and introduce his family to us! The cool part of the story is that it was the first door we knocked on for the day and the slimness of t...

  Casi Hermanos y Hermanas, casi... I almost didn't get one out today guys. That would've ruined a nearly 5 month streak. But nah, here we are, I gotchu, I know y'all are probably on the edge of your seats and scratching your heads thinking "golly gee, when's Elder Allen gonna get his email out today?" But fear not.  In all honesty, this week was a little slower, but still good. We did a lot of meeting with members, inviting inactives to church and other activities and reading Come Follow Me with those people. We have developed some good relationships with these members, it's cool to see. I would write more, but I'm short on time. Scripture of the week is Matthew 5:48, "be ye perfect". Won't lie, I suck at keeping this commandment. All of us do, but that's why we have Christ and His atonement! Each day we have opportunities to get better at trying to be perfect.  Thats all I can throw down today, have a good week! Adios! - Elder Allen...

  Hola mis queridos amigos, ¿qué tal? I am doing great. This week was packed, but I'm gonna try to keep it short. (Says every missionary ever).  First off, the good. We had some baptisms this week. Originally we just had one planned for our buddy Christian, but then his cousin, Daniel, came up to us the night before the baptism and said he wanted to be baptized the next day with Christian. So we called our DL and he made a make-shift baptismal interview work. When I say these guys were ready for baptism, I mean it. They've been coming to church for 3 and half months and have yet to miss a day of early morning seminary, according to our Branch President (their teacher). I'm super excited to watch these guys progress in the church and help their family and friends out too. Next up, the bad. This week we have been living without power in our apartment. The company cut our power tuesday morning and we've been without it since. There are a whole host of reasons why we don...

  Hola hola, como estamos. Well guys it happened. I dun got transferred. Lowkey kinda sad cuz Arriaga was progressing well. But now I'm here in Cintalapa.  Here are some fun things about Cintalapa:  • It is the closest area to my old area I possibly could've gone, but that doesn't stop it from being 20 degrees cooler (it's way nice) • There are more mototaxis than there are actual cars (there are over 1000 in the whole city) • It is the biggest area in the mission (we walk a lot, and we also just have dozens of neglected pueblitas we don't have time to get to...) • My comp is only a generation older than me in the mission, but we work together super well • I saw rain for the first time in 3 months! (My last area is way hot and rainless for most of the year) I don't have a ton else, nothing crazy other than transfers happened this week, but hopefully this next week is solid. We do have a baptism coming up here though, which is exciting. The kid who's gonna be...

  Bueno Bueno, another week screeches by in Arriaga for me. They're moving fast, that's for sure. They kind of all feel the same? But at the same time they're super different. I don't even know anymore, all I know is somehow I've been a missionary for 4 months, but it definitely still feels like September...  Now that's not to say I haven't gone anywhere in learning, I've definitely grown and learned a ton. I guess my companion likes the way I plan and teach, cuz I've been leading most if not almost all the lessons we've had the past few weeks, and handling the weekly and lesson planning. I enjoy it, and he does too, so I guess we found a groove. Spanish isn't even a question anymore, which is a huge jump since when I first got here. Not perfect, not even close, but sufficient to do what I need to. El don de lenguas es reál. This week we landed some more awesome people on date for baptism. They have awesome faith. Susana, a mother of 3 young ...

 ¡Felizzz Año Nuevooo! It's 2024 baby! Somehow... this year was wild for me, idk about you guys. It's been a blast though. First of all I would like to apologize, I haven't emailed since last year. (Lol dad joke, sorry, someone had to make it). Now to anwser the question some of you may be asking... Does Elder Allen have a phone now? The answer is actually yes! Woohoo! The office missionaries pulled through, and with,  a timely trip to Tuxtla for an immigration appointment, I was able to recieve a new(ish) one. Now I can actually write a proper email. New Years is fun in Mexico, we got invited to eat at like 4 houses yesterday, but only made it to 2. And we ate like kings. It was epic. Mexican food is top tier in my opinion, especially with a cold glass of "Coca" or Horchata to wash it down. The streets are empty today too, it's fun walking down a street that would usually be packed with Motos and Camionetas and people and see it empty. Everyone is asleep from...

  ¡Felíz Navidad todos! Christmas is awesome and we should all remember why we celebrate it. Because Jesus atoned for us, and thats why His birth is so significant! Its an awesome time in the year, and super groovy in México too.  Alma 7:10-12 is the Scripture for the week. Christ's Atonement and what that means for us. A favorite in teaching for me.  Anyway, the email is way short this week cuz I don't have a phone... I done got mugged and gotta use my comps phone for stuff today, so I'm pressed on time with emails and stuff. But I gotta keep the streak up! So he gave me a little time for this one today. It's also Christmas, gotta email on Christmas. The Mugging story if you really want to read it: There was a dude who approached us on the street as we were on our way to our Branch Christmas party, and he looked pretty interesting. He then asked us to walk with him, pointing to a gun he had in his pants. We did not. We asked him what he wanted and he asked for the grin...

  Buenas dias Hermanos y Hermanas, espero que sus vidas estén bién chído. This week has been a good one. Unlike last week (if you read that email) we had some sweet success this week. This email is a day late cuz our p-day was moved to today because we had a zone conference/christmas thing yesterday and had 0 time for p-day things. For starters I wanna announce that Juan Antonio has been baptized! Poor guy had to wait 2 weeks longer than he was ready for various planning reasons, but we got it done on friday. The cool part of it was we got to baptize another little boy named Yonotan on the same day! So we got 2 in one for that day! Yonotan asked me to baptize him, and it was truly an honor to perform his baptism and help him and his family see the fruits of coming closer to God through covenants. A man who's a member of our branch, and a good friend of the family of Juan Antonio baptized him. More on baptism and success... we got 2 more wonderful sisters on date for baptism this we...

  ¡Bueno Bueno! This week was a little slower, but still good. It was transfers and I am still in Arriaga with Elder Garcia. When I say it was a little slow it's cuz basically all of our appointments that we had set up with our new references from the week before cancelled or weren't able to meet for some reason. So that was a little tough. But we're gonna hopefully get in some lessons with them this week! Chambeándo is a Mexican word for working, trabajar and obra are other words for work, but Chambear is the most common you'll here in Mexico, apparently it's only a Mexican thing. I title this week's email that cuz that's what we've been doing a lot of. Tonsss of contacting and finding new people, less active members and sharing scriptures and messages with members and other folks this week. It wasn't the most fun, but that's what it is sometimes. I know we and the people we have shared with will be blessed for our efforts eventually. God always...