On the Move

The news of this week is that Elder Teh, the Area President will be speaking to us tomorrow in Santiago.  It's a pretty big deal, so we are all getting pretty excited for it.   I was bitten by a small child this week during a dinner appointment.  He drew blood and I thought about calling Sister Carlos about Rabies, but I didn't.  Elder Quentin L. Cook is coming to the mission in August, as well.  This is apparently the first time an Apostle has come to this mission in a very long time, so it is very special.  Besides that, this last week was pretty normal. Oh, and I moved again.  I have had 3 areas and lived in 5 houses now.  I've moved twice in the last two cycles from houses that missionaries had lived in for decades before. Thats all the news from Ramon.

I love you all very much.

Elder Allen
"Mahal kita" means "I love you" or technically "you are my love."  "Kita" is a sub for 'ko ka' which just sounds funny.  But this means that "mahal kita" is saying "I love you (singular)," if you want to say "I love all of you" or "I love you guys" its "Mahal ko kayo." "mahal nila sa akin" means "they love me" and you can see how that gets complicated.  Just a small lesson in Tagalog.


Mahal ko kayo

Dragons

Elders Samar, me, Lasay, and Valdez. 

Kumusta!


Ramon is a nice place.  I'm slowly learning the area and relizing that I know a little Tagalog.  I just today got a package from Grandpa Fred. A whole box of Cromers popcorn and peanuts. You cant imagine how excited I was to get that. I dont know how im gunna eat it all, though.  Mosiah 20:11 ends with "...and like dragons did they fight."  I think we should all go to bed at the end of the day and ask ourselves, "Did i fight like a Dragon today?" Whatever it is you do, you need, you love, or you believe, fight for it like a dragon.

I love you all, and i know you can do it, whatever it is.

Dad, do you remember when you told be about the time you saw the "Church of God - Zillah" in Washinton?  I often think about that, as unimportant as it may seem, it reminds me that sometimes as a religion you just have to laugh at yourself.  I love you and mom for the things youve taught me and the knowledge you've given me.

Mahal kita,

Elder Tadena, after surgery to repair
his shattered leg when he was hit by
a motorcycle. Did I mention I got to
spend the night in the hospital?  

Elder Allen

Sorry I'm a little short on time today...

Me with a power line, safely hung out
of the reach of children under 3.

We met this guy dancing in the street,
so I joined in with my awesome moves.  

Me with Elder Hamblin, ZL.

Me with Elder Lasay...I miss him.

New Area for my Birthday!

Kumusta!

I’m 20 now... depending on where you are in the world. I was transferred this week to Ramon in the Santiago North Zone. It’s a ward. Whoopie! My new Companion is Elder Sister. He’s a nice kid, I’m killing him this cycle (that means he’s going home at the end of this cycle).

Me with Tay Quejas (Chaos).
My one success in Jones.

There’s an elder here who I had meet in the MTC.  Elder Jimenez, turns out he was best friends with my cousin Kelen Packard in Houston Texas. He told him about me earlier but he had forgotten my name and Kelen just mentioned me again to him.

Elder Huffstutler, who I’ve spent a lot of time with since I came to the mission, is now Assistant to the President with Elder Miole.  They were both together as my Zone Leaders in Alicia and now they are the Assistants to the President together.  That’s awesome.

In my New Area we have a dinner appointment every night, so I will probably gain all that weight I lost in Jones back.  I'm also excersizing regularly now because I have food too.

Me, Elders Samar, Lasay, Valdez.

Elder James, My companion in the MTC took my place with Elder Lasay in Jones. I gave him the down low and wished him good luck. I feel bad for him, it’s a tough area.

My last two weeks in Jones I actually lived in Angadangan because of some stuff going down in Jones and got to kill (send home) Elder Justin Valdez.  He was awesome to spend time with and he’s back in Utah now.

Don’t worry, I got the birthday package last Monday night after emailing. Thank you so much for everything in it. It was great.

So this used to be the Illagan Mission. It’s the only mission in the Philippines that’s completely land-bound, it takes the longest time to get to our mission from Manilla (the mission above us gets to fly in), and we haven’t been to the temple in who knows how long.

That’s what’s going on right now.

An angry monkey.  

I love you all.

Mahal kita,

Elder Allen

My Companion

Kumusta!

Elder Lasay

It's acually been a hard week, but I will tell you about something I'm grateful for; my companion, Elder Lasay. The work may be tough but I've always got someone to talk to. He's a funny kid and we can always tease each other and have fun. He's great at frying anything and he likes eggs. He's a great gospel teacher, and he wants to teach in the Manila MTC when he gets home. He's always got a funny story about a past companion or a past area. I'm grateful for him as a companion and a friend. He also helps me a lot with my Tagalog even though his first language is Visayas. It's important to see the good in your companion, no matter what differences you may have.

I'm sorry I don't have much else to tell you.

I love you all, and I'm thankful for you all.

Rain Keeps the Jungle Green

Kumusta!   My people of the  US.  How goes life?

                                                                           

We have had some Typhoon type rain in Jones a little this week. It didn’t stop us from working though, we were just very wet.  I’m going to try a new thing, a list of fun things that happened this week.

The jungle near Jones.

We started the week playing football Monday morning in Angadangan for our Preparation Day.
We had a Zone lunch after district meeting this week in Alicia.
We had dinner at the Mission Presidency First Counselor’s house (president Ribuca) on Tuesday night.
On Wednesday we went out into one of our far Areas, Deligan, where tay Libron bragged about his newly acquired scar from his Surgery.
We then walked back to Jones which took about 2 hours. Good exercise.
On Thursday Elder Huffstutler came out to Jones from Echague on splits with me. We made spaghetti and chased some dogs.
On Friday we trudged through the rain. And went to the 63rd birthday party for a very far off member.
On Saturday, we visited the members and invited them to church.
On Sunday, some of the members came to church. A few less actives were there and a woman who had run away from her husband even returned to church.
The man who rings the bell and passes the sacrament at the Catholic Church here in Jones, is a member. He came to church a little late because mass ends at the same time our church starts.

A potential new house for us!

 Although it was a good week, it did not start so well. Elder Forrest, who I met on his first day in the MTC, went home last Tuesday.  An "Honorable Discharge", for medical reasons. We all miss him though. He was the life of the zone. Also the same day, another American Missionary decided to go home. Two less in one day. Also as a side note, the one Filipino who was going home with me at the end my mission was sent home because it turned out he was gay.

So that sums up our week. 

Holding a black lab puppy,
 its very rare to see a  real dog.

I love you all.

Have a great week.

Love,Elder Allen

Tale of Two Toenails

Kumusta!

The good doctor at work.

Last week after emailing, Elder Lasay and me went to DeVera's hospital in Santiago to have my ingrown toenails removed.  I had been dealing with them for six months and was tired of ‘em.  We get to the hospital but none of their surgeons are in.  So we tell them we'll come back another day. But before we leave they sit me down and send my companion to the pharmacy and he comes back with 1000 pesos worth of stuff.  He doesn’t know what it’s for, I don’t know what it’s for, and the doctor barely seems to know what to do with it. He starts mixing it all together and sucks it up into a big syringe then throws a paper into my lap. The paper requires my signature for this 'shot,’ which I don’t want. On the paper it says 1) this may cause paralysis and other really bad stuff ,and 2) we would have to stay for an hour after the shot so they can watch me. I don’t want it.  I say we'll just come back another day, but the doctor insists that I have to sign this and I have to stay.  But if we stay, we will not be able to return to Jones because in less than an hour, vans will stop going to Jones, then we have no where to stay and its all just a disaster, but they wont let me leave.  So I call Sister Carlos and everyone I can think of, but no one answers.  We keep calling until we get someone who gets President and Sister Carlos. Sister Carlos yells at the doctors over the phone to release me while President translates. After negotiating for a while they finally let me put my shoes on and leave... after signing so 'refusal of treatment' paperwork. so the next day, after district meeting, we are asked to go up to Cauayan to get it looked at up there with Sister Carlos.   We run around trying to find a surgeon. We get to a hospital with a bunch of doctors just standing around in nice doctor clothing, we ask for the surgeon and one runs off saying “I’ll get him!” then out of one of the far off rooms comes a big fat guy wearing jeans and a tucked in polo. He has a key chain on his waist and he definitely looks more like the janitor. He looks at it and has me lay down, pulls out some scissors and numbs my toes. (which might be the most painful thing I’ve ever felt--who knew that could hurt so bad?)  Anyways, I’m missing part of my toenails now. cool huh?

The family together again! Via Skype on Mother's Day.
Weird, I know, but I was happy to get us all in one picture.

On Sunday, we had tay Quejas (pronounced “chaos”) come back to church for the first time in over a year--after punching an RM at a baptism over a year ago.   Missionaries have been trying to get him to come back for a year, and he finally came back and everyone loves him. (The RM he punched totally deserved it.  Long story.)  He gave all the credit at church to 'two white elders.' 

Also we finally got tay Ibarra to come back since he was baptized 7 weeks ago. And tay Libron has returned from the hospital and is a little quieter now, and is probably going to keep his garments on more often.

That has been my week.  I love and miss every single one of you. I can't wait to see you again.

This is  the rat we had been doing battle
with for the last two months.  We win.

Mahal Kita,

Elder Allen

This is the inside of a typical bus.
No one seems to know why they are
all missing those seats.

Change is Good. Really.

Kusmusta!

Before last Wednesday there were 7 zones in the Cauayan Mission; Tugugurao, Roxas, Ilagan, Cauayan, Alica, Santiago, and Nueva Viscaya. Now there are 11 Zones; North Tugegerao, South Tugegurao, Roxas, Burgos, Cauayan, Ilagan, Alicia, North Santiago, South Santiago, Bambang, and Solano. No more Neuva Viscaya, it has been split into Bambang and Solano.

I lost Elder Elgan and gained Elder Lasay. Elder Elgan became the ZL of North Tuguegurao, the hottest place in the mission, but he seems to be loving it up there.

Me and Elder Lasay are trying to help our Branch, but it is hard. We barely broke 30 at church yesterday.

Here’s a day with Elder Allen: It’s super hot all the time, we walk maybe an average of 5-6 miles each day. Right now our branch presidency is having a hard time. They’ve all gone inactive and our attendance to church is dropping. I shower every night with a ladle. You have to sleep with a fan on you on full blast or you wake up in a pool of your own sweat. We wake up occasionally and chase rats and cockroaches out of our bedroom and bathroom. I wake up at 6:30 (if you’re obedient, which I try to be) prepare till 8 then personal study for an hour. Then have comp study for an hour. I continue to study till lunch. Then we eat and start work at about 1. We get chased by dogs, get yelled at, teach a lesson, wade through a swamp, kick a dog, get chased by dogs again, we run through the typhoon-like rains back to the apartment at about 8pm. We make a nightly plan and I write in my journal and study a bit more. Then dinner, shower and go to bed. Crazy day, right?

I’m on the Lord's errand. He never said it would be easy, He said it would be worth it. The Church is True! Tell your Family! Tell your Friends! Tell your Neighbors! Those that accept it fully into their hearts and live by the word of God will receive the promised blessings from the Lord and gain eternal life and happiness no matter how hard life may be.  I only wish someone would open their heart to the truth. I know it to be true with every fiber of my being and every hope of my soul.

Mahal kita! (I love you).

Ingat ka madapa ka. (take care not to fall on your face) ;)

I’m sorry no pictures today, I forgot my camera, but I love you all so much and hope that you are appreciating your lives ;)

Things I need: an exercise mat. (because we can’t touch the floor and that makes it hard to do sit ups.) another towel. (because one isn’t enough to dry off my awesomeness... or one extra would just be nice to have) tooth picks/floss things in a bag. flossing made easy. flossing is hard. Garments- 3 or 4 pairs. Please and thank you. And contact solution.  And skittles and M&Ms of course, cuz they are awesome and there are none here.  Those are just some things I would like, feel free to throw some other surprises in there or whatever.   I just sent a package to you today. Hopefully it will get to you, or that was 2,400+ pesos down the drain for shipping alone!

I love you. love love love love

Elder Allen