Wednesday, January 1, 2014

December 30 Letter

Well, I really only have a handful of exciting things to share.

First and foremost: I am down to 180 pounds now!! Haha something real nasty? I maxed out at about 195! Haha ooof. Missions. Now I'm really only 5-10 more than I came out at. Luckily, Six Months to Sexy starts soon.

Unfortunately, the fact that Six Months to Sexy starts soon means that I hit my 18 month mark this week :/ can you even believe that? I think I might extend an extra 3-15 years. That seems like my most reasonable option.

Well, I'm going to have to make this one quick. Luckily I already talked to you on the phone this week so you pretty much know everything already. I have spent the past little while emailing Bill Shughart and Shannon Peterson from the Huntsman School to make sure I have a future. I also bought a calculus book from Barnes and Noble so that I won't be a mathematical idiot when I get home. Haha p-days will just be glorious from now on.... whoever's decision it was for me to minor in math was an idiot. (Just so we are clear, it was mine.) But, we are going to Niagara Falls, so I only have another 10ish minutes to write!

So, I'll just express my love for Asians! Guo Jian's wedding was on Saturday, and he invited his whole research department, which turned into about 45 Chinese, 6 Indians, and a white guy. Ha they are my favorite people ever. First, I love how awkward Guo Jian is. Especially when they kissed... haha it was the most hilarious thing in the world. He's just a super awkward guy. But then all of his friends are just so nice! I think I'm marrying a Chinese woman. It's the best way to happiness. We seriously had the coolest conversations about religion with everyone we ever talked to. I think we ended up teaching six lessons to different Chinese people. I love them!



I really don't know what else to write about though, since Christmas was so recent. It's crazy to think that I don't get anymore Christmasses. Haha I kept making fun of Elder Christensen, though. We are allowed to watch animated G-rated movies on Christmas, and we were trying to decide what to watch, so I told him, "You decide. It's the last movie YOU get to see for another 365 days!" 

I've been reading through some of my other mission journals. I'm on my fifth one!! Haha the problem is that when you write everyday, you REALLY get a picture of what my mission is like. Hahaha I'm sure I'll appreciate that a lot more someday. For now, I really like about 65% of it, but it definitely includes a lot of my frustrations, angerings, and distractions haha. I may have to do some serious editing before I ever let my posterity read them.

On Thursday we were on exchanges. So, while we did some great work, most of it is with people I'll never work with again. It definitely made clear that being bold is a good thing, though. I feel more chicken in my own area, because it's with people I don't want to offend at all. But, for instance, we went to a less active man's house, and I was able to be super upfront with him and really encourage him to come to church, and, lo and behold, he was there! He's a really great guy, that seems fully Mormon still, even though he hasn't come to church in some 25 years.

Oh!! We also had a great experience with David Payne. He is a returned missionary, son of the last bishop, everything, but hasn't come to church in years. He married a member of a different church, and went from always being there on Sunday to sometimes to never. Well, his mom really felt like he was ready for us to stop over, so a few months ago, we did. To his mom's surprise, he let us in and really started talking to us. He's kind of an awkward guy, so it's hard to explain why this is so surprising. Well, this Friday he had us over for dinner, and we were able to line up a whole plan for hopefully introducing his wife to the gospel soon! He came right out and said that he really wants an eternal family, and that he feels like she's finally to the point where she might listen to us. It's so exciting! The whole ward is pretty pumped about it, actually. Bishop Van Ry actually went through Young Men's with David, so he's stoked. The Paynes are obviously excited. Everything about it is just wonderful!

Well, I really am out of things to say.... so I guess I'll depart!

I love you, but I don't miss you!
Elder Allen

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