Sept 23, 2013

Sounds like everyone is doing really well. Those pictures are fantastic, sounds like it`ll be a cool place to go to when I get back. Today I am starting my last transfer in the mission, and it`s so crazy. To be honest I absolutely hate it, but ya just gotta do what you gotta do! This week was really cool, and a huge experience in leadership and helping others. I have learned that Good leaders will do anything and everything for those that they lead, but the greatest leaders will teach and show those they lead what they can do to be able to do it themselves correctly. That`s somethign ì`ve learned this week, and something i`m proud to be able to say i`m trying my hardest to do. We did divisions and I went with the intentions to just do the absolute best I could and to just show the Elder how things are done, but I realized it doesn`t help if I go and find 12 new people without showing him how to do it himself. THe concept of giving someone a fish, or giving them a fishing pole and showing them how to use it. It was really cool to learn that even more this week, and we`ve seen a lot of big changes in the zone because of it. I`m still training Elder Perez to be a great zone leader so that`s somethign I`m glad i`ve been able to show him. I love that stinky beaner so much. (don`t worry it`s not racist, he says that he admits that he`s a stinky beaner, and it`s even more hilarious when he says it in his mexican accent) plus we`re learning even more english every day whch is fun. We`re enjoying every single moment, and it`s just a blast.  It rained yesterday and its muddier than goodness. every single step you have to rip your leg out of the mud and hope it doesn`t soak through the bottom. My one pair of shoes already has a huge hole in the bottom, so it`s not the funnest to have to wear those. But i`m doing great! We did 5 baptismal interviews, and I love them so much. I love having someone tell me their testimony and to just see them light up when they begin to say how much they`ve changed. I`ts my favorite part ever.  A few nights ago some of the sister missionaries in the zone forgot their key in the church, and we had to run around way past the time that we had to be in the pension trying to find it and give it to them, so that was a crazy adventure, but just another part I love about being a ZL.  A few of the peopel we`re teaching haven`t been able to get permission from their parents to get baptized which is super rough on me, because they`ve got great friends to go to church with, they`re willing to go to church, and they usually go, but we`re working with them.  The Familia Arenas is so awesome. The mom was really sick and super down yesterday, but we went and taught her and just went really excited and encouraged her a lot, and she was so happy. It`s amazing to see her conversion already,a nd we are hoping she can get baptised next week.  This week we`re still teaching Tatiana, she has 18 years and she`s awesome. She`s that girl we found a few weeks ago, and she`s doig great, and we`re going to do the best to get her baptized this week. But thanks for all your prayers and everything. I loev you all and hope all is well!! Que estèn muy bien todos!!

Sept 16,2013

Sept 16

Como están todos?!

This week was absolutely awesome... The whole week it was actually getting really really hot here already, but even with that we kept working like crazy, and we found A TON of amazing people. Yesterday in church we had 8 investigators.... It was AWESOME. We woke up super early yesterday morning because we needed to pass by each of them before church, and a few live really far, but it was so worth it. There were actually so many that we needed to go wake up and thigns that we decided to do divisions with some Priests, and it got so crazy that only my companion had a cell phone, so i`m like waking up half of Formosa and sending them to church with messages to my companion so that he called me and things, and I had to call taxis to come and pick people up, and then I had to send other families with members. It was like a huge adventure from a movie. It was so awesome. I was super excited.  It was so much fun. I also had to give a talk yesterday in church, and it was really really good. I was so excited for having so many people in church that I just stood up, and started smiling, and almost laughing  trying to start my talk because I was just so happy, which made everyone else start smiling and giggling a little and it was pretty funny. A good way to start a talk.  But this week was cool, we did divisions with the Assistants, and it was cool because I got to go with the Elder that we did divisions with in Resistencia when I was a zone leader there, so we talked a lot about the mission, because he`s finishing in 2 weeks, and we have been through a lot together, so that was fun, and it was super sick because of those 8 people that went to church, 4 of them we found toghether in those divisions. We should be having a few baptisms this weekend so we`re excited about that. Please pray for Alejandro, and Juan, and the Familia Arenas, and Sofia. We are teaching a lot of people right now and we`re super blessed. We are finally seeing the results for all of our crazy days opening the zone and running around helping all the Hermanas missionaries and things, which is a huge turn around. Me and my companion Elder Perez are getting along super good. He`s definitely one of my favorites. We are constantly laughing, and we just have fun together, and enjoying everything which is awesome. I really hope he kills me. He killed Elder Weight, my companion in Resistencia when we were Zone Leaders there, so that would just be awesome. But ever monday we are doing what we did in Resi too, the Momento de Exito, where we do a conference call with the zone and each area has a few minutes to tell a successful story from teh week, and everyone can cheer and get all excited. It helps us to be united as a zone which is awesome.  But thanks for everything, I hope everyone is good. I`m doing great, it`s getting hot, so i`m getting the nice neck farmers tan again, so that`s awesome. But things are great, and we`re super excited! We`ve got transfers in 2 weeks so we`ll see what happens with my comp. I hope I just can finish here, I love this area so much.  Oh and a few days ago, the peple from the city came to spray the area for mosquitos because here the mosquitos have dengue and things, and it`s pretty nuts, and the dude has a big ghost busters machine thing, so as he was leaving we ran and chased him down and I asked him to use it, and I sent a picture, It was pretty sick! Ghost Busters! Haha but I love you all, have a great week!

September 10, 2013

Sept 10

Hey everyone! Pretty intense week getting the zone up and running with all these new missionaries and such: Almost all of them are coming from new missions and other existing missions, so they`ve adopted a lot of habits that just don`t have success here, but Italia Norte es bastante capo ch (my area is called Italia Norte). I really like it. The members are really awesome and we`re really doing a lot to change the new zone. We`re focusing a lot on the Spirit, and how we need to be guided. The mission seems to have lost a lot of focus on the spirit with all the new missionaries trying to do their own things from other missions and such, so we`re really striving to get focused again on what we need to be doing, and to remember that it`s the lord`s work, not ours.I want you to know that I have gained such a strong testimony in the last two weeks especially to know that the Lord really does put us where we need to go. I have gained a strong testimony to know that the Lord needed me to learn certain things i`ve learned, so don`t worry about anything, I know the Lord has each of you in mind, and whatever happens is what HE needs for you. Just trust him. Always look for guidance by the spirit, I know that he will answer us if you just ask him in prayer.I found out that sometimes the spirit is kinda like those old eight balls that you shake up and it`s got a few answers as the things floats to the top, we must go to the Lord with a specific answer or specific question, and ask him specifically so that he can answer specifically. I hope this helps, I felt like I needed to share it with someone, so I hope that you can all put it into practice! This week President Heyman called all the Formosa Zone Leaders together and we had one of the coolest personal lessons i`ve ever heard in my life. He talked about how faith is knowing something will happen and just doing it. And how Faith is a principle of the God`s. He got us all so focused on the spirit and it was so awesome. Yesterday me and my companion had to go to Resistencia for our Zone COuncel which was AWESEOME to visit Res-town again after not being there for so long. I also heard that my converts in Resistencia, Guillermo and Viviana, the ones that got married, well they were putting a kiosk in their house (a little store with all the little treats and things... there are kiosks all over here, just about every block) and they asked me what they should name it while I was still there, and I was just joking a little and said, Name it Kiosk Nephi... and my old companion that is still there yesterday says, hey Elder Allsup... Guess what Guillermo called his kiosk??? ANd I had totally forgotten, so I just said I have no idea.... then he tells me, He named it Nephi just like you said! Haha how cool is that!!! But anyways I am enjoying the mission more than almost any other time. Thigns are going pretty well, adn we`re finding great people. We found an awesome family that came to church, the Familia Medina and they are progressing really well. We are seeing the spirit change their Lives. I love you all have a wonderful week!!! 

Sept 2, 2013

Pretty crazy week to be honest... Monday my companion got bit by his first dog! That was pretty funny... But then we got some crazy news this last tuesday! So me and my kid were doing great, and to be honest I had really thought I was going to finish the mission in my last area, but I got a call from the Zone Leaders at like 9:20 Tuesday night and they said I was being emergency transfered because like 25 new missionaries had come mid transfer for their visas, and they said I was going to be a zone leader again, opening an entire new zone called Formosa 3! To be honest we both thought of that movie The Rookie, where the dad like retires and then gets called back into action... I think that`s what the movie is called... and it`s the exact same area where Elder Weight died, my companion in Resistencia when we were Zone Leaders before. He died here, and I have the companion that killed him, Elder Perez, he`s a "stinky beaner" as he says. (Mexican) Haha but he`s awesome, and we get along super good. I love the kid already. It`s pretty nuts. We have the youngest zone in the mission now. There isn`t one person that has more than 9 months. My companion is the oldest other than me, and he`s only got like 9 months. All the rest have 7 months or less. We also have 2 companionships of Hermanas, and they are really cool too, so that`s a big relief.  But I already love it, and we`re doing good.  I love it a ton here. It was hard to leave my kid though in my last area. Me and him were really good friends, but it`s been really interesting to see how all of this needed to happen, and how I learned so many crucial things my last few weeks there, to help prepare me for this new area and new calling. It`s been really awesome.  My comp hasn`t ever been a ZL before, so that`s been fun training him.  But i`m really excited, and really humbled so please remember me in your prayers! Today we spent all morning cleaning like crazy and just moving everything around. We also live with 2 Columbians right now and they are so hilarious. Seriously they remind me exactly of those two Transformers in Transformers 2 I think, the red and green one? I`m pretty sure that`s the movie... But you get the picture. I really am loving my mission again. Not that I didn`t before, but I forgot how much I love talking with allt he Elders and Hermanas every night, and answering their calls, and doing all the things they need. I love being super busy again in every moment. But it`s starting to get really hot here, so i`m getting used to that already. But it`s gonna be a great adventure, and i`m super excited! Hope all is doing well!! Love you all!!  

8/26/13

But this week was a little normal, nothing crazy! We had divisions and I went to the Zone Leader`s area, and the zone leader I was with got SUPER sick, so I just stayed in the pension as he slept so that was kinda wierd. But I ate Pizza in  cone which was pretty different, but really good.  We played basketball again with teh youth of the branch. I encourage everyone to read 3 Nephi 7:18-22 and it`s so cool to know that WE know by the same exact power as the old prophets. Even Joseph smith didn`t get his testimony by seeing God and Jesus... But by the spirit.  3 Nephi 6:13-147 True conversion attributes. Cristian didnt get baptized, and to be honest we can`t find him, so that`s a little rough. He just like disappeared from his house, but we had 2 ladies come to church yesterday, some references from some members, so we`re super excited about that! I love you all thanks for everything!! Hope you like the pictures ! 

8/19/2013

First photo: We cleaned out the baptismal font so we did some service for the chapel and we cleaned out a closet that was just hidious with old books and liahonas and things, and we found this HUGE BIBLE!!! It`s sweet. I wanted to keep it but felt bad, so we left it in the church hoping that we find someone that can`t read very little letters.

Second: Baptism of Javier Corvalan, and his family that we reactivated and are working on getting married!!

My camera died, so next week I`ll send lots of pictures, and the ones that weren`t able to be sent the last 2 weeks. Just to start out, something really cool that might help everyone is something I did yesterday in my studies. SIt down, and just start to think in the last year, how you have grown and changed. Take some time to reflect on how you have changed, what happened, and what you remember. Ponder on a few of the thigns that stand out to you most, and how you learned important things in certain circumstances.  Just sit and ponder, and WRITE it down as it comes to youI did it, and it was really cool to be able to see what experiences stood out to me most, and how i`ve grown as a person. 

This week was a little struggler for me, but just like always, it`s for our own good, and I learned and grew as a person.  We have been helping Cristian, the 16 year old kid we found looking for a less active family, and for some reason he just kind of stopped being excited to get baptized, which was really hard for me because he was progressing so well, even going to seminary and things, and we are still working with him. He came to church again so we`re still really excited, but we are going to see if we can`t baptize him this weekend. PLEASE pray for him, Remember him in your prayers.  We had transfers and nothing happened, so me and Elder Creer are together another 6 weeks, so we`re excited. I love this area a lot. THe members are so awesome. We have been helping a lot of the members that didn`t really get a hwole lot of visits because the city is so big, and we have been working with the Garcia family, and on thursday they actually gave us a whole pasta frola! It`s a huge dessert here and it`s the size of a large pizza in teh states, and it`s amazing. It is my absolute favorite dessert here, and the Hermana heard me I guess at lunch one time, so they decided to make us one, and that was a really cool experience for us.  My comp got an ingrown toe and tried to take it out himself, and of course just totally messed it up and it got way infected, so we`ve had to walk a little slower these last few days haha. The other day a member took us to one of her references, and we had a really powerful lesson with them. They are 3 people, Vanessa the mom, Diego the son of 17 years, and Ceci the daughter of 22 years and they seem like they are really prepared. Diego already said he`d go to seminary and things, so we`re excited about them, please pray for them too.  We`ve got quite a few baptisms lined up for the next few weeks so we`re really excited! Yesterday we asked permision to play basketball with all the youth of the branch, and we went ot play for a few hours, and it was a lot of fun to go play with them and for them to see a different side of us.  But we`re doing good. It`s finally warming up and getting hot again, so that`s good. But other than that it`s great. I really had a lot of spiritual experiences this week. I want everyone to know the reality, and truthfulness of the plan of salvation. Jesus Christ took part in EVERY single aspect, and he effected each part. I am so greatful for him and what he`s done in my life. He truly is our Savior. I finished reading Jesus the Christ and the book is absolutely amazing. I learned so much and it made me appreciate my Savior even more. I hope everyone can take a few minutes to really read more about the Savior and his life, and understand what it really is he did for us. 

I love each of you, thank you so much for your prayers and for your support. I hope all is well, and that eveyroen has a great week!! 

8/12/13

Pretty eventful week! We had a baptism!! I hope you can open the photos! If not let me know and i`ll go to a different computer next week and send you all the picutres from the last two weeks. But earlier in the week Elder Creer is still getting used to the food, well not really the food, more the quantity of food. So he actually threw up 2 different times after lunch because of how much we ate haha, so that was pretty nuts.  We had a ton of new people this week and a ton of lessons, which has been awesome. I`ve never just gone and done so much work in my whole mission. We`re like running to charlas it feels like, which is awesome. The youth of the branch are getting super excited too, becaues we`ve been asking them to come with us pretty much every single day we have a different youth coming with us, and they are loving it. I love this place so much... It reminds me of Alma 17:23... Look it up!  But we had Javier`s baptism, and it was great. We made sugar cookies to let everyone try and they all loved them with the frosting and stuff, so that was fun to do something differnt for them.  Yesterday that other kid we`re teaching came to church again, so we`re hoping he`ll get baptized this weekend and have back to back baptisms!! Wooo! But on Wednesday after our day, walking back to the pension there is a famous ice cream place that had a deal of 3 liters of icecream for like 40$ pesos no mas! so of course we bought it, and the girl working gave us free coupons for a free icecream cake, so we got 5.5 pounds of icecream for like 8 bucks, and my companion is the one who bought all that, so as we were walking out I just couldn`t resist, and I bought it too, and we ate basically all of it. So since wednesday we have eaten a total of 11 pounds of icecream between the two of us.... Pretty nuts. But I love it. We`ve been running in the morning too which is awesome, and some day swe go play basketball at a school near our pension, but it`s just freezing sometimes int eh morning. But i`m about to finish Jesus the Christ too. Im about 1 and a half hours away from finishing it, and i`m super stoked, I love that book so much.  But everything is going great, and we are just enjoying this amazing place so much, and wokring our guts out. I hope the pictures work! Thanks for everything. I wrote Tean and it is so wierd thinking that we`re doing the exact same thing everyday! I love you all, have a great week! 

First photo: We cleaned out the baptismal font so we did some service for the chapel and we cleaned out a closet that was just hidious with old books and liahonas and things, and we found this HUGE BIBLE!!! It`s sweet. I wanted to keep it but felt bad, so we left it in the church hoping that we find someone that can`t read very little letters.

Second: Baptism of Javier Corvalan, and his family that we reactivated and are working on getting married!!

Third: Me and my Comp Elder Creer, and the kid that got baptized and his awesome little brother that I just love to death, that little kid is so hilarious

Fourth Us and Javier coming out of the water

Fifth: Me and Tiago

Sixth: Me and Comp with the free icecream cakes that we got!

Seventh: me and my comp each Finished 5 1/2 pounds of icrecream each since wednesday!

Eight: So much icecream!! Loved it

(Pictures still not downloading...hopefully next week)