Monday, December 17, 2012

Remembering the Savior at Christmas


I know that the Christmas spirit is that of amplified love, joy, peace, and giving. In this time that we think about the Savior, we remember his humble beginnings which eventually lead to his eternal sacrifice and his triumphant return. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, He has been since the foundation of the world and will be for eternity.  We should live every day in the Christmas Spirit, always with a fullness of love, joy, peace, and giving always in remembrance of the Savior.

Elder Eli Allen

Monday, December 10, 2012

Typhoon Bopha


Editor’s Note:  It was a scary week as typhoon Bopha headed for the Philippines. It hit Mindanao, about 400 miles south of Eli, and left 600 dead and 100,000 homeless, those affected by the storm can use your prayers. Then Bopha turned back toward Luzon.  It looked like it would pass off to the north, but then it headed straight east...straight for Eli.  Bopha had 98 MPH winds when it turned for Luzon.  But miraculously, the storm fell apart as it came ashore.  It looked like it came across the Cagayan Valley as a few bands of ferocious rain between midnight and 2am Friday night.  We watched the satellite loop over and over.  It was pretty cool to watch it break up as it headed for Cauayan.

Kumusta!

We heard a little about the typhoon, but I didn’t realize it had caused that much damage, or even headed up this way.  Honestly, we couldn’t even tell there was a typhoon up here besides a little rain and cooler temps. Besides that, no damage here in the Cauayan mission. Thanks to your prayers. 

This is an insirational message, ala the Philippines.
That explains a lot. Puroks are the way little towns
are divided up. Thats my area.
Elder Elgan heads home Wednesday. I tried to convince him to extend his mission about 10 months, but no luck.  Elders Huffstutler and Hamblin were supposed to have 2 more cycles after this one but they have been cut down one cycle and go home in January.  Everybody’s leaving me. I need to make new friends.

The Plan of Salvation is difficult to teach here, because they don’t really understand concepts like that.  In America you can ask simple questions like, "Have you ever thought about where you’re going after this life?" and they may say something like, "Of course, who doesn’t?" or, "I’ve always wondered," but here you ask that same question the answer is almost always, "No."   They just don’t think that way.
 
The Cauayan Zone
But you understand the importance of the Plan of Salvation. which we all need to understand, because it is what the Gospel’s all about: Eternal Families.

I love you very much. Thank you for your prayers. I’m sure that’s what helped us out up here.
This is funny because its really how tagalog is.
He is asking if the other guy is going down.
The other guy is saying he is going down.

Mahal ko kayo,

Elder Allen