June 28, 2011

Sister Swenson, Elder Allen, and President Swenson.  They will be missed. 

To explain what is up/ why I’m on today, Tuesday and not yesterday, Monday.  Well we had an entire mission conference up in Concepcion because President and Hermana Swenson leave today for the states. We are going to have our new President starting today but I have no information on him because I’ve never met him.

So yesterday was amazing, really. We had the entire mission in one building, I saw all my friends from the MTC and we had a great time. But it was so sad saying goodbye to President and Hermana Swenson. They had everyone come up and say goodbye one on one so that was amazing, it will be hard to go on without them but we have to, so it will have to work. There were skits and funny pictures and it was a blast. We also had a group of elders do the hauka (Samoan dance) for President and I got a video of it, it was awesome!

Alejandro and Monica and Byron

Saturday we baptized Monica and Alejandro. They are awesome. I was shocked that it all worked out and they wanted it really bad at the end which shocked me because they never really wanted to until that moment. And Dagoberto received the priesthood Sunday, so that was awesome to see, really awesome to see actually. Alejandro will be getting the priesthood this week I think also so that is pretty awesome! I’m going to try to upload those pictures this time so you get to see all that, but the internet does go down a lot in here so cross your fingers! (Well so far so good)

We have all of the people that can be baptized soon baptized now, so it’s on the fun task of finding new people. We have 4 that are good investigators but only one of them has a fecha for baptism. 2 want to wait until January to do it, and the other is just a relatively slow mover progress wise. But I think we finally did it this month and hit the mission goal of breaking 100 baptisms in the month for the mission. We met the zone goal of 12 but we all know it was the Lord doing the work. I was just lucky enough to be a mouth piece.

The weather has gotten very cold and rainy. It’s pretty miserable at times, but oh my gosh those footy PJ's are amazing! All the new people in the house are jealous because they need like 5 blankets to sleep and I need just 2-3 with the footy PJ’s. They are a life saver and some of the best looking things I could be wearing! hahaha.

I had an intercombio with Elder Beaty from my MTC district yesterday and that was awesome! I think we might live together after the mission. For winter that is, and then find a way to add Joe Cory and Tanner. Well I have lots of time to plan it out I just know they are awesome, and I will be visiting Gibbs and Jackson in Provo because they are going to go to UVU so that will be awesome because I love those guys. It’s crazy they were so awesome comps!

This week we are just doing a lot of contacting and trying to get new investigators because we baptized all the great ones that were ready. And next week we might hit up the mine in Lota, I hear it goes under the ocean. And it’s cool for the first few minutes, but after that it’s the same, I don’t know we will see what is up and possibly go if the weather doesn’t close it.

But yes, how are you all doing? Trevor tell me what you ended up doing for high adventure, Andrew enjoy your running that’s great to hear, mom, enjoy no little annoying brats while on your summer break! Dad enjoy that stinking In-N-Out that I want so badly! Because they don’t have burgers here, unless you buy the pre packaged patty and fry it yourself but they just aren’t as good, you know? But yah that’s what I have for you all right now, I hope you are doing well. I hear next week we might have a northern zone conference and meet the new President, not this week but next. We will see, and I will tell you about him more when I meet him and all that jazz because I don’t even know what he looks like, hahaha.

But yah know I love you all, like always, stay safe and stay classy! Make sure you write me and have a good time without me and all, you better make sure that you don’t have too good of a time without me, hahaha

the pictures worked so enjoy them and the few videos, love you lots
Elder Kyle Allen

June 20, 2011

Well here I am, again, writing an email, do I sound sad? Well I’m NOT SAD because I’m sitting on a computer and writing. How can that ever be bad? I don’t get how some people don’t like doing internet, they are crazy!

I absolutely love the picture of Tillie, I might find a way to print that out and put that in my picture book. Speaking of which, happy late father’s day! Sorry I couldn’t say anything yesterday, but I hope you understand, I wasn’t exactly allowed to, so I didn’t, ha-ha.

So this week we had a normal week, worked a lot and got an 18year old to go to church with us, her name is Betsábe (which means Bathsheba in Spanish, ha-ha) but yah she accepted a fecha for baptism next month so she is great. We have 2 more baptisms this week, Monica and Alejandro. They have been tough ones to work with so the fact that they have not backed out yet is huge! Ha-ha but yah they should be baptized Saturday which is really exciting, all this work that I and Elder Jackson did is finally paying off, sadly not while Elder Jackson was here to see it.

Grandma and Grandpa I hear the wii is fun, that’s great! Enjoy doing the activity without actually doing it, ha-ha, just kidding.

I think the mine will be opening soon for people to visit it, hopefully, so we want to go to that for sure on a P day.

This week is the big conference for President and Sister Swenson, so we will be saying goodbye to them, that will be so tough and sad. I will miss them for sure!!!

So today we cleaned the apartment crazy good. I cleaned the kitchen and it looks sooo good! Well, for a missionary apartment in Chile at least. Ha-ha I now have a strange liking for cleaning dishes, with a sponge and soap, is that weird? Great, the cold water is getting to me!

We had some good completos today, dad you would love them, it’s a hotdog with chopped up tomatoes and palta (mashed avocado with a little of salt and lemon juice) and then mayo but I get it without that, obviously. They are really good and only 950 pesos, well, that does add up so I shouldnt say that, ha-ha.

I hope that all is well at home, Andrew enjoy the full day’s work, Trevor, the rapids! Family: the talk of Hayden Davis! And ask him if he got my letter before he left, I hope it made it to him in time!

Hello to Elder Erik Hansen. 

OH OH  and thanks for the email Tracie and Hilary!

Well I love you all, keep safe and enjoy yourselves

Love Elder Kyle Allen

June 13, 2011



My zone before last transfer



My new companion is Elder Nelson, he is from Texas, Austin I think, I’m not entirely sure but I know its Texas for sure.

I have the cell phone this cambio so I talk a lot in Spanish to people that it’s almost impossible to understand over a phone because they hold the phone way away from their face like Andrew and speak crazy fast, ha-ha just kidding Andrew.  But yah that’s the cambio, I don’t know what else to say, so I’ll leave it at that.

I got an awesome package from Goddard, that was so awesome, 2 ties and lots of American candy, man that was perfect! thank you so much God-dad´s!!! ha-ha

So this week we had a mission goal of each companionship getting into 25 houses. wow, that was really hard.  We got into 15. Some people in our zone did it and got the 25 but we just got 15.  That was really great and we got 12 news I think so that was a good week, and we will always have people to go to now.

Saturday we baptized Dogalberto so that was awesome, I’ll put pictures up next week because I forgot my camera. But yah Elder Jackson was sad he couldn’t be here for that, poor guy.

We have 3 fechas for the 25th to be baptized, so Lota Medio could end the month with 5 baptisms, that would be so awesome and crazy because that’s a lot, it’s happened before but yah that’s a lot.

The Swenson’s leave at the end of the month so I’m not looking forward to that. I love being able to call Hermana Swenson and just talk when I need to, she has offered me many dinners when I return so we might have to do what we did with Andrew.  I might try to live in their basement or something, hahaha just kidding about that second part.

Tomorrow we have the northern zone conference and we get to meet the new Mission President, it’s so sad thinking about president leaving. But I do get to see elder Ahart from my MTC district for the first time since the MTC so I’m super excited about that for sure!!! But still a sad thing for sure. I’m going to talk to Hermana Swenson a lot tomorrow, she’s awesome.

My Spanish is getting better, so I’ve heard. I don’t know, I don’t notice much because it’s something I use every day but others say it’s getting better. I can pretty much understand everything that people say, as long as its scripture language, ha-ha.

Quick story for all of you that have been praying for me to have the gift of tongues:
So I went over to Dogalberto´s house on Wednesday with a goal to put a fecha for that same Saturday because he was ready and there is no point waiting if he is ready, but putting a fecha was the ultimate goal. I starting teaching and teaching and talking and talking and I saw my companion and the young man we were with trying to jump in and speak but I just kept saying "I know they want to speak but I won’t let them because I know what I am saying you need to hear". I just kept talking and saying things I don’t know how to say. As you know he got baptized and that was one of the craziest experiences of my life. The young man gave a talk on Sunday and said "Elder Allen’s Spanish isn’t amazing as all of us know, but when he starting teaching I understood everything, he didn’t ask once how to say something, we all knew what he was saying and knew that he had more to say, and it wasn’t from him." or something like that. It was crazy. So thank you all for that, that was so not me and I’m so glad it wasn’t me because now I know what it’s like to be in those stories you always hear, hahaha.

But yah that was my week, it was exciting and stressful and interesting all wrapped into one

I love you all so much, keep safe.
Elder Kyle Allen

June 6, 2011

Elder Allen and Elder Jackson

So it was a surprising week. Elder Jackson, my companion,  is being transferred to Angol and becoming a district leader. I thought for sure I would have another combio with him but I was wrong, it kind of sucks, because we had a lot of fun and wanted to stay together but it all happens for a reason huh?

So I will be with elder Nelson, and I don’t know anything about him, but yah that’s my new cambio for 6weeks, I will still be in Lota Medio but with a new companion.

Saturday was Andrews’s birthday and HAPPY FREAKING BIRTHDAY TO YOU, YOU SEXY BROTHER YOU!!!!

Elder Allen, Natalie, and Elder Jackson

We also had a baptism on Saturday which was awesome. Natalie was the one that we married and she got baptized on Saturday. we had another planned (Dagoberto) and he had the interview and passed Friday night, but Saturday 2 hours before the baptism he went and saw a friend and that friend put a butt load of doubts in his head and said he wasn’t ready at all. So he called us up and said he didn’t want to be baptized, we called him a lot and tried to talk to him but nothing worked. He didn’t show up at church either so that was a really depressing thing that just all of a sudden happened. We dropped by his house last night and he wasn’t there and his phone is now off so I don’t know what to do about that. But yah other than that, great Saturday! hahaha.

So we got the footy pajamas and I must say, they are amazing. For just 10mil (about 20$ us) they are awesome, hahaha I love sleeping as Batman, hahaha and I must say, I look very like him, ish. They were a lot of fun, and some nights we have fights as our super heroes. Oh and Elder Jackson is Iron Man if you couldn’t tell, the lady made his circle too big and it looks weird but really funny. it’s very warm at night now.

Sunday President came to our branch and had church with us, and Sister Swenson was there too obviously. That was awesome, he raved about us like I’m sure he does to any branch, but he made some awesome statements like there are the best 6 missionaries, and the fact that all 6 of us baptized last cambio and just yah, it was awesome and he was awesome. I don’t think I used that word enough so, AWESOME AWESOME AWESOOOOOOOME, there we go, and that makes it better.

Well I hope all is well at home, glad you all had fun this last week in the sun, I spent it in blankets, jackets, and Batman footy pajamas. which I personally feel is cooler, but to each his own right, when in Rome.. . .

I’m trying to put a lot of pictures up to make up for the lack of the past few weeks so look for that. And if this letter is short it’s because of that and the fact that these computers suck and take forever to do anything so uploading and writing at the same time doesn’t always work, hahaha

But yah know I love you all, thanks Joe and Alyssa for always writing me every week. you guys are awesome
stay classy.

Elder Kyle Allen