October 2011

October 3, 2011

So I’m now starting my third week.

It’s pretty awesome, oh and Josh Hilburn isn’t my companion, but he and the elder that he is training both live with me and my trainer, and we all cover the same ward. So my companion, who is one of the zone leaders and another district leader might have to go on splits for a 24 period, which means I might have to go on splits with this elder whose been out for like 8 weeks, still being trained. He is from Nicaragua, I think that is how you spell it, and he doesn’t speak English. So if it does happen I should have a pretty interesting day.

I’m starting to be able to understand bits and pieces of most people, and there are a few people who i can understand pretty well, and i can have a conversation with the bishop here. Mainly because he is Colombian and his pronunciation is way better than anybody else.

I’m sending a few pictures on this email, they are not the greatest, I’ll send better ones next week.

A lot of our appointments fell through this week, but that’s very normal. As a new missionary I have to do a total of 4 hours of study each day, 1 for personal study, 1 for language, and 2 for companionship study. So we usually don’t get out of our apartment till around 1. Also because of the culture here, we get up at 730am and go to bed at 11:30pm, which is an hour behind regular missions. It’s really nice.

Love you all

Elder Allison

October 10, 2011

Hey thanks for all those points on conference, they were really good.

So work here is kinda hard. Our 2 main investigators keep having to postpone appointments, even though we have had such good and spiritual lessons with them. But on the bright side, there is this family that we have been teaching, Yoao and Angelica. They have 2 little girls and we got them to come to church last Sunday, and although the only stayed for sacrament meeting, it was good. They both have admitted that they know the Book of Mormon is true, but they both work and it has been difficult for them to come to church. So me and my companion, Elder McKnight, and Elder Hilburn and his companion have been teaching them together. My companion is from Kansas, and he is going home at the end of this change. He is really good at Spanish.

Just so you know, a change is 6 weeks, and is how long you are with your companion for at a minimum. Every 6 weeks we will get a call on Sunday night from the president’s assistants, and they tell us if we are staying in our ward, or leaving. Then the next day the whole mission meets at a chapel and you find out there who your companion is, if you are getting a new one.