My Life

Well, this week was another week- haha. The holidays have been great and stuff, but I am excited for people to get back into their regular routine and for us to get back to more consistent weeks. This week felt kind of long and just nothing really exciting happened. On New Years Eve at 11:50 I woke up to millions of fireworks, aka bombs and shouting and horns honking and people screaming and partying and it was so, so, so crazy how much stuff was happening- haha. It was cool and I will absolutely never forget those moments sitting in my window looking at the fireworks of the city and the smoke that just filled the air. It was like an hour of constant fireworks and horn honking- haha- it was awesome!! The ZLs didnt get home till 2 am, so that was it's own battle in my head for the week but it turned out ok cause actually last night I sat down and talked with my comp and them and let them know how I feel. I cant allow disobedience to go on. They assured me it was only a seasonal thing (transportaion is down on the holiday) and they apologized, cause they all acknowledged they were in the wrong. Moral of the story- just talk with people and be bold enough to sit down and talk real with them. I think it was really good for me to do that. Anyways, this week was a good language week and I studied well and have been able to see alot of improvement. One of the tricks is still not to be to hard on myself but continue to push to grow. Kind of a hard balance to find. Anyway, we have had some good findings this week and I got to go on two splits and it was really good. This week has felt so long now that I think of it, haha. I have done a lot of work each day to teach and share and better myself in the language. I am now doing the majority of the teaching and trying hard to communicate with people outside of the gospel language I know. I am trying to be better at conversational stuff which is hard cause there is so many words to learn still -haha. Anyways, I think I am doing a good pace for now. I hope it continues to grow and get better. So our transfer day will be the 23rd and I could potentially train and I am not sure how I feel yet. I think I could do it but man, it'll teach me to grow up yet again. It will be hard, but I know I can do it. I have faith and confidence that whatever happens is exactly what needs to happen. Mangandi and me have had a couple moments of tension this week. They are easily resolved but I just can tell you I love Mangandi a ton and he's funny and a great guy, but I would not make him a permanent roommate or comp for life. I am thankful for all I have learned from him and I am praying he doesn't get trunky the last week of the transfer. I have big plans and how I want to work when I train and as I get more and more used to this mission. One thing I have seen is how different each missionaries life is and their mission and stuff- haha. I have seen missionaries with carpet and rugs and couches and stuff in their homes -haha, and I can say I have the same thing here -haha. Also, who knows how hard each missionary works. Each transfer is different and each comp is different and each day is different and man, who can know? One thing that keeps us all the same is our desire to serve the Lord. I love knowing I am doing his work and someday that's something that really helps me work though a language stumble or though an appointment that gets punted. So this week our investigators are doing ok but we really tried to expand our amount of investigators cause I know Elder Mangandi can work harder and I want to be busier so we got more people to teach this week and I hope we can really start some good progression. We need people to come to church so that'll be nice now that the holidays are over. Anyways, I am excited for this week to have zone interviews and we have a service project tomorrow which should be great! I cant wait! I hope to someday be assigned in the Province where there is so much more service to do. Here, it's actually not a super common thing. I can see now why this is one of the harder areas. Anyways, I am excited for this week we have a lot of good work to do and stuff lined up. I can't wait till I am older in the mission and this will all get so much easier to plan and teach and talk and share and find and all the good stuff we do. It's a grind, but hey, that's what I am here to do. I hope to keep doing good and gain confidence out here. I love the gospel and am thankful for the growth I have seen. I am thankful for this experience, no matter how hard or long or great it seems at times. One thing in our mission email this week was talking about opposition in all things, and I think it's true. Opposition is everyday and in everything and so we need to enjoy that opposition cause without sad you cant have happy, with out hard you can't have easy, and so now I am just learning a little more about these things and learning a lot more of life and myself. I know this is exactly what I need and I am thankful for it. Another week down, right? I love you all and am so thankful for all you guys do. Keep being amazing and I love you all.
Elder McAllister