Leap Year Means Keep Here....February 29, 2016

So. I have a plan. And I'm hereafter and forevermore going to try really really hard to implement it each week! But I am not perfect, so, we'll see how long this lasts (hopefully longer than my New Years resolutions lol)

This is my mass email. Mother dear, I am emailing you and everyone else separate from now on. So this is only a synopsis of my week. Here goes!

To begin: it totally does not feel like my birthday was just last week! It feels like that happened months ago! Looking back through our planner, so I could remember what happened and write them down for y'all, I just had my mind blown. It feels like forever ago haha! So sorry if my explanations are hazy, I am getting old ya know ;)

Monday was the best day of my life, as you could probably guess.

Tuesday was District Meeting, where I gave a training. Again. But I think I might have been able to bribe Elder Clark into not calling me anymore haha! I shared (as in gave most of) one of my gummy worm bags to the elders, and he ate pretty much half of it haha--it's like they say, way to a District Leaders good side, is through his stomach! Then that night we were at the Bruchez house for dinner. They're so great! Bobby was so funny trying to show off like all lil kids do. He brought out his Animatronic Yoda and we played with it like children for at least a solid 30 minutes haha. It was crazy! You'd say stuff and he would lightsaber attack you, or do the force, or say something clever. I mean seriously? The toys these kids have these days are crazy! Hoverboards and Animatronics and 3D TVs and and and...go play in some dirt kiddos ;).   Anyways, I digress. Back to my main point! The Bruchez's are awesome! It was so fun. And then after the dinner and desert and talking, we were able to answer her step-sons questions about the church. His questions were so on point, and the Spirit was present and strong during the entire thing. And we asked him what he was thinking about at one point, and he said "I really want to go read the Book of Mormon again tonight." He's pretty solid, I can see him getting baptized one day when he has the ability to decide for himself. :)

Thursday we had interviews with President, and I messed up. I blew it big time. I has happy and smiling and waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than I was last time. And he was sitting there kicking my foot and making me feel like he was my grandpa, and afterwards he shook my hand and I turned around to walk out the door and he grabbed both of my shoulders from behind and squeezed a few times, and basically I felt super loved and super happy about the whole thing and it was great. Until I learned from Sister Brown that there will be 19 new sisters this transfer, with 9 being English, and there is a high possibility I will train...Especially with the way my interview went. Aye ya yie I should have weeped and moaned and griped and been just completely terrible haha.  *sigh* I'm not ready to train! I don't even know how to missionary, and they want me to teach another person to? Yikes. But ya, so we'll see where that turns out in 3 weeks lol

Friday we went to an acupuncture appointment for S. Bulson. It was a pretty great 45 minutes to just sit and listen to the zen music and smell the incense and just be sorta skeptical about everything haha. But it worked! She's no longer punching or kicking me, or randomly falling on the floor. So whatever, it works for her and I ain't totally and completely in disbelief anymore. Just completely in disbelief ;)

Saturday we went to coordination meeting, where Elders Oakley and Clark proceeded to tell us they have no MSF and they have no food in the apartment. Last night they ate microwaved pancake mix because they had no oil... Lol! So when we got back to the apartment, I got thinking- we have soooooo much food here it's ridiculous. Half the stuff is just sitting in our cupboards not getting eaten. So I started chucking stuff in a bag to give to them. By the end they got a 20 pack of ramen, mashed potatoes, Cookie Crisp cereal, bag of starburst, box of gushers, 2 bags of these breadstick things, a box of couscous, 2 boxes of Mac n cheese, and 2 things of crackers. And when we showed up at their apartment with this huge bag, their eyes just lit up and they were so excited! They were like, "we love you! But appropriately!" Haha, I'm just so grateful God was able to give us the means to help them! I just love serving. And I love that God has given me the means, and the inspiration in which to do so. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do half the things I do if it weren't for His prodding and promptings. And I know that God truly does answer our prayers through other people, and that serving our fellowmen is serving God as well. Service is just so great!

Sunday we went to one of our investigators church services so that they would come to ours. So yes, I have in fact attended a Baptist church now. And yes, we were the only 2 white people in the building, and yes we got a lot of weird looks. But our investigator felt loved and said she looks forward to coming to ours. #WorthIt. The service was so....interesting...we were just standing and singing and clapping and saying hallelujah every other word. And there was drums and guitars and LED lights and dancers and holy moly it was a lot! People were up and about waving there hands as they sang and expressing themselves very...vigorously. Oh, and did I mention it was a Haitian Baptist church? So they spoke Creole and French too. It was an experience not to be forgotten for sure haha
Also on Sunday, I had an instance where I really wanted to just strangle my companion because I am impatient and quick to judge and I need to repent. Every Sunday we report our numbers to our District Leader at 9:30. Well, I thought it was weird when it hit about 10pm and he hadn't called. So I asked her where the phone was, and it was in her purse across the room...on silent. Not only had our District leader called us 8 times and texted 3 times, but the Zone Leaders had also called us a couple times. They basically thought we were dead. We switch off having the phone one day and driving the other, and it was her phone day. If it's your phone day, you should probly have the phone on you at all times, with at least vibrate on right? *sigh* anyways, all I can say is I'm super grateful for the Atonement that allows me to better myself and get over my proud and mean and judgmental self, because I need it.

A mission preps you for life like nothing else I can imagine. You learn about how the world works, finances, trusting others, the dynamics of working with others, the importance of being trustworthy, the products and discipline of hard work, the grueling task of not being able to just give up, knowing there is NO day where you can just slack off or sleep in or not work, getting out of your comfort zone and living there for 18 months, understanding that life is incredibly unbearably awkward- but embrace it, and thats not even touching on half of it, or the part of learning about yourself, or the Gospel, or or or or. Theres so much to learn! It's 10 years of experience packed and pressed and vacuum sealed into 18 months. Oi vay, its overwhelming- but i love it! Each and every day is a different story. A different adventure. A different testimony. A different witness. A different lesson. A different trial. All within the SAME choice. It all started with papers. A decision to serve. It's so cool to think about. I love it :)     ( mom, please share the above with Kasey <3)

So that's me this week. I hope you all have a wonderful week with all this Spring weather we're having- it's finally up to 50 today!!!! Even if it is raining...

Love you all!

Stay Jersey Strong.

Love,

Sister McAllister

P.S. My subject line is so clever right? *pats self on back* <----this is the pride im talking about hahahahaha :P

 Animatronic Yoda

 S. Bulson, her companion

 Marvel pants...who gave those to her???

 Subway run

20 Is Just 02 Backwards....February 22, 2016

HOLY MOLY IM A 5 YEAR OLD TRAPPED IN A 20 YEAR OLD BODY. How did this happen?!?!

haha, thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! i got to best friends and family anywhere :)

my week was great!-------

Monday we ate at a Chinese buffet with all the elders, so that was SO stinkin fun haha. It was us and then the 6 of them and we just had a blast. Honestly, I get a long so much better with elders than sisters most times, so I was just super grateful s. Bulson was willing to go, because she's not really...elderish...ya, that makes sense, right? Haha so anyways, it was a lovely bonding time and we had too much fun together!

And then that night we finally ended up being able to see S. Marcelus and Seven!!!! It's been toooooooo long since I've seen them, gah! It was just so beautiful. I love that family so much!

Tuesday was District meetings where I was again, for the 3 time, asked to give a training. Cmon people! Theres 6 other people in the district to choose, why me?? Haha, but it ended up being great because we were running overtime and he just asked me to give it this week instead. #AvoidanceTactics
We also had ourselves 6 hours of tracting planned because we had no appointments or anything. Well, because the weather loves us so much, it decided to have a torrential downpour/tsunami/hurricane/typhoon/making the ocean fall from the sky...lol! We got soaked. To the bone. It was cooooooold. But also, it was our miracle day. Funny how that works right? We found 2 new investigators and taught 3 lessons in the space of 2 hours. And we had only knocked 2 rows of doors in one apartment complex! AND one of them coincidentally is a media referral we had been trying to get a hold of for a week or so! We had been by her apartment previously at night, but she wasn't home, and since we had come in the day time this time, we had no idea it was that same apartment! Well, Tearra let us right in and let us share a lesson with her and her 3 kids right on the spot. We're going back to see her tonight too! And the other new investigator is a girl named Paulina. She let us right in as well and when we showed her "Because of Him" she was like "where can I get that video? Can you send that to me? Can I download it?" Lol, she was so excited about it! And then we sat there for at least 25 minutes and taught her all about the Book of Mormon and church and everything. She's just so willing to do Gods will. (Tangent time) sometimes it really amazes me how some of these youngsters are so spiritually tuned. Like when I was her age, and if I wasn't a member, I'd be more worried about good grades and sports than God. It's pretty inspiring to see these kids just wanting to be closer to Him.

And basically the rest of the week was awesome as well, lots of knocking and appointments getting cancelled, but lots of tender mercies as well. Saturday we actually met with the husband of the lady that let us in after the super was gonna kick us out. And he was so adorable! Lol, he had 2 chairs set up for us already and he had his Book of Mormon out on the table in front of him. We hadn't really taught about it the time we saw him before, and when we asked him if he had read it he said "no, I've been waiting for you to come back and teach me more!" So we taught him the Restoration and he's just genuinely so sweet. I can't wait to teach him more!

Sunday was a crazy day! We were at church from 11:30-6. It was ward conference, so all the stake leaders were there as well, and they had a lunch for them beforehand since they were just coming from the 3 hours of being with the Spanish branch. So we were there at 11:30 to help set up, 12:15 to eat, 1-4 for church and 4-5:30 for ward council, and then we stayed and talked to a few of the council members...so by the time we got out of there it was soooooo late haha. It was crazy! But also super fun. I love this ward so much, everyone is just amazing here.

And then we come to today. Just another ordinary Monday, another pday, another laundry and chores day, another grocery store day, another email day. But man, am I completely blown away by the outpouring of love I've received the past week! My inbox is flooded with emails and my couch with packages and letters- THANK YOU! You are all so stinkin amazing you make a girl want to cry! I can't believe just how many wonderful people I have the privilege to call friends and family. To say I love you guys is a terrible understatement- I cherish, adore, treasure...and all the other synonyms along that line that I cant remember right now.. you guys! Thanks so much for everything!!! I kinda basically want to live in one huge house with all of you at the same time and just have our awesomeness and fun times permeate the entire place. One day... hahaha :)

I've kinda run outta time trying to email 25 different people at the same time, so i apologize for the spaciness of this email (<--- although, i am a space person myself... *bu dum tsss* ;)

But just know that I love you all, and that this mission is SO AMAZING! WOW. I'm in love with it. I never want to leave and the time just seems to be going quicker and quicker and thats super alarming and its not supposed to be that way and im not supposed to hit my 8 months in 2 days because thats terrible and no. sorry. im staying in jersey- with my nametag- forever. the end.

Well, now that thats been decided, i shall bid you adieu.

J'aimez vous!

Stay Jersey Strong!

Love,

Sister McAllister

 

Funerals, Gloves, Food, and Other Such Things....February 15, 2016

Hola Everyone!

Yes mom i received yours and dads packages. i have named my giraffe Clint because i am such a nerd and its ok :)

Glad you had an awesome Vday! Those Elders sound soooooooooo fun! i wish i could know them haha, have fun at volleyball today

And yes, i am the senior comp, but S.Bulson is actually a transfer older than me. And yes, lol, her tics are...interesting. They become more and more frequent the longer we're together, and they change and evolve too. i think she has something like 50 normal tics that she cycles through. It's a learning experience for sure! 

Have fun this week with all your activities and such! yall are awesome :)

S. Kafu is from Sacramento, and E. Tui'fua sounds so funny!

It has been a very emotional, spiritual, and miraculous week. It'll probs be a long email today- So I'm going "back to the beginning. This is the beginning..." ;)

Monday, we didn't really do much for pday. Sister Bulson isn't athletically inclined, and I can't play bball if I don't have a sister to play as well, and were the only sisters nearby cuz the rest in our zone are 45min south...so we basically sat around the apartment alllllllll day. I was going stir crazy! Lol I just wanted to get out and run around, but I should get used to it since I got 6 more pdays at least with her.

Monday night we had dinner with Bishop Lindeman and his wife at Chilis. They are seriously so great, I love them so much! I feel so blessed being here in the Eatontown ward. I've learned so much just in the 9 weeks I've been here, so I can't wait to learn more from here in the next 6!

That night we also learned some startling news. One of the members, Br. Cabrera, passed away that morning from a sudden and fatal heart attack. It was so sad. I'd only known him for a month and a half, but he was so welcoming and kind. One of the memories I'll cherish is that S. Kafus last Sunday we had to get some more dying stuff done on her iPad. So we went to the FHC at the church thinking it'd be empty, but found it full of members! So we went in and chatted and laughed with them all and had a great time. As we were all leaving, s. Kafu was getting hugs from all the women as they were saying goodbye. Well, as you know, men can't hug sister missionaries, but Br. Cabrera laughed, said "what will they do, send you home?" And wrapped her up in a huge bear hug and said he'd miss her a lot. Idk, it was just such a warm moment, and now it's extra special.  I'll talk more about him later.

To the miraculous parts of the week:

Tuesday we had a great Zone Meeting down in Toms River! Afterwards we had an appt with our investigator Carmel. She's such an amazing lady! With us was Sister Lindeman who did SUCH an amazing job at explaining and teaching Carmel. And we committed her to meeting with us twice a week now! It was a very wonderful experience. And Carmel says she wants to come to church! We just gotta wait till March when she stops working on Sunday's...

Wednesday, the service at the food pantry was beautiful! Hahaha my favorite person was there, so we got to talk to her for a long time as we served. And the guy that always talked with us about stealing, and hustling, and all his many ferraris and blah blah blah, got fired for legitimately stealing from the pantry. So that was kinda nice for my ears lol. Ms. Annie gave us like 5 lbs of food at the end for helping out- so now we have bread and dessert and lasagna and chicken! Just beautiful.
Afterwards we went and knocked an apartment complex for a couple hours. Most people weren't home, or weren't nice. And we knocked into one guy who immediately told us we can't "solicit" here and that we should leave before we get caught. But we had the feeling we shouldn't listen to him, cuz we're rebels like that haha. But holy moly is God great! We knocked just a couple more doors before we did get caught (more on that later, it's kinda hilarious). We first met a guy and his 1 yr old son, and he was sooooooooooo nice. He immediately opened up and talked to us like we're actual human beings and it was just so nice of him I wanted to cry. Getting treated like less than dirt all day kinda gets old sometimes lol! So we talked with him, he opened up about how he has faith because his mom had a lot of mini strokes but she survived and is recovering and still good. Said he's not religious, but he knows God was watching out for her. We talked with him about the Book of Mormon and how it strengthens our faith and how it will help him with his family- especially in raising his kid in this crazy world. We testified of how it brings peace and happiness into our lives, homes, and families. And that families that abide by its principles are happier and more connected with each other and God. He gladly took it and said it'd give him something to read in his off time at work. Gave him our number and he said he'd call us for when we can come over next! So then We went and knocked a few more doors. And we get to another apartment where a real nice lady named Immacula opens the door and starts talking to us. Well as we're trying to talk with her, the apartment supervisor walks up the steps behind us. Now on that day (we couldn't have picked a worse day honestly lol) they were doing mandatory apartment checks, so he was out and about doing that and could see us knocking doors. Well he interrupts us talking with Immacula and tells us that we can't solicit here and we have to get a permit from the police, permission from the complex supervisor, and then permission from him. That we need to leave as were rudely knocking on the doors of people who have "young children, who sleep during the day, and who need it quiet".....uhhhh, ok, sorry to "disturb" all the people who are kind and just tell us they're not interested...only one man had a real problem with us sooooooo...I was rolling my eyes internally so hard lol! But this is the hilarious part- as he's telling us we can't do that, Immacula starts interrogating him about "why not"? She's like defending us and everything we're doing and basically tells him to shove it, and then SHE INVITES US INSIDE! What?! She just turns to us and is like "cmon girls, inside, let's talk." So we go inside and we teach her and her husband (who just had open heart surgery in Dec), and then she asks us to pray for him. So we pray for Beloné and the Spirit is SO strong in the room. It was amazing. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and it's healing power, left them with a copy, and our number and then left. It was beautiful! (More on them later)
THEN, we had an apt with our new investigator Patricia who was a Bible referral from Mormon.org. We had Sister Abraham with us and we taught her the Restoration. S. Abraham could not have been a more perfect team up for Patricia. Literally everything she said clicked with her, and they just connected SO well. Patricia agreed to all our commitments and we're going to see her this week again :)

Thursday we just did weekly planning and knocked for hours in the freezing cold wind. It sunk straight to the bones. The mix of the cold, wind, and dampness was just not fun. But work is work and it's got to get done! (Lol I just realized I unintentionally rhymed as I read through my email again;)

Friday we started off with a great coordination meeting with our WML Br. Murch. Then we went and had a great lesson with Sister Barnes about reading the Book of Mormon- after which she gave us her whole house as a gift. We got 2 boxes of pop tarts, a dozen eggs, angel food cake, Nutella, 2 cans of pillsbury biscuits, cereal, 3 cans of tuna, mashed potatoes, trail mix, cranberry juice, etc etc. You get the picture lol. Shes so sweet, we're just trying so hard to help her understand the importance of reading the scriptures. Then that night we had dinner with an awesome lady, Sister Bruchez. We actually found out her bday is the 18th, so we're going back over on the 23rd to celebrate both our bdays :)

Then we went from there to the Viewing for Br. Cabrera. Yikes. There was so many people there and it was in an actual funeral home and all these nonmembers were there being super somber and morose, and i was just awkwardly there. But it was good to be there for S. Cabrera. It was pretty sad, and i mean, being honest. Super creepy. You know how much i dont like the...viewing... of the person. I didnt even go up and look at Granddaddy for goodness sake, but i bucked up my spirit and went through the line. I just, dont like it, because its not them. Its so disturbing because thats NOT them. Anyways, thats my 2 cents on that. At the end of the viewing, his daughter gave a powerful prayer. I dont even think shes an active member, or wanting to be, but it brought me to tears and everyone else in the room too. The Spirit was so strong. And she was really just pleading with God in front of all of us- it made me realize how route my prayers are sometimes. Her desperation and sincerity and broken heart and just everything was amazing. She truly inspired me to pray more sincerely and just better. My empathy was on high alert that night- feeling the pain of all those ppl was kinda overwhelming- my blessing is sometimes a struggle haha, but Im grateful that i could know and feel just how much those people loved him.

Saturday we had an All-Mission Conference at which Brother Clayton Christensen (author of "Everyday Missionary", Harvard professor, former Area Seventy) spoke. His stories are awe-inspiring and wonderful! I would encourage each of you to read his book! I know i left behind a copy of it in my room somewhere, the book is just so great! It really shows just how much power and influence and capability we have to share this gospel with all those around us! its SO awesome!

Church itself is a whole nother story about the Spirit and the power I felt there- i could write like 20 more paragraphs all about it, but alas, im running out of time!

All i know, is that adversity is for our good!

I love you all! thanks for making my Vday the best! Im so blessed to know all of you!

Stay Jersey Strong!

Love, Sister McAllister

 Barbershop Quartet came to church to sing to the ladies

 Her new companion...S. Bulson

 creation from the play-doh she got for VDay

 Vday cards from Marah

 flowers from her dad

Valentine's from home

Super Bowl Sunday is a Missionary's Worst Nightmare.....February 8, 2016

Mother dear I love you so
(Like more than you seriously know).
And because of my love like this,
I believe this request should not be remiss:
Can I please oh please see without these frames?
A week and a half I've gone, though no one blames,
Without my cherished, beloved Eyes.
"Will I ever see again," my poor soul sighs,
"Without being confined by glass and plastic?"
I cannot see clock hands move with each tick,
Nor the ground's tricks as it's covered with sticks.
I wave at the blurred and fuzzy stuff,
Hoping they're people and not dogs with enormous fluff.
You see, I am a free soul that cannot be confined,
Yet these simple ocular devices bind!
My lenses are what I languishingly lack,
And I know you can provide stack upon stack.
So my Mother dear whom I love so,
I think you already know-
I am quite verbose and dramatic!
But that is why it is only pragmatic,
To fulfill this request and plea-
Will you please send a box of contacts for each eye for me? :)

Hola mi familia y amigos!

It's been a great and sad and wonderful and tough week. So basically the usual haha!

Monday s. Kafu and I spent the day in Toms River with s. Clarke and Brown as a last hurrah together. We all ate some fantastic Wendy's and talked for daaaayz. It was beautiful. Then we went to the Harrison's house with E. Clark and Holmes to have some YUMMY pork roll, egg, and cheese bagels and some fun convo. Those Elders are riots! Haha it was so fun to serve with them for one transfer! Then we had a great lesson with a less active S. Woods and she taught us how to make a shrimp pasta with broccoli! Ahhhhhhh, just delicious. So basically we ate all day and it was a beautiful last day to our time together haha :)

Tuesday was rough. Yikes, I didn't realize how much I love S. Kafu until she left haha. My brain and emotions need to catch up with the times! We finished packing and donating her stuff (all in all there were about 15 trash bags we donated), FedExed some stuff home, ate some BK, and then drove to transfers. There we unloaded her 3 bags into the "Dying" trailer and said our goodbyes. Ya know something? I had only hugged her like once before that time...I'm so terrible! Lol so we hugged, and she made me cry like the punk she is. And then we hugged again, and said some heartfelt goodbyes and stuff, made some promises of emails and weddings, and then it was over. Our glorious 7 weeks together was at an end, but it was time well spent haha. I love that girl too much, she cray for sure, but she cool. :)
S. Bulson hails from Auburn, WA (15 mi south of Seattle), she is 10 yrs younger than her 3 siblings, enjoys theater and choir, plays the guitar, favorite color is red, loves groundhogs, and has Tourette's. (Is that how you spell it? Idk [disclaimer: i have permission to share this...so ya]) So I am learning all her ways and her many motor ticks and things. It'll be a huge learning process for me, in patience, and in application- so here's to the next 7 weeks haha. It'll be great. Nothing like a motor and verbal ticking syndrome to keep you aware when you're tired! But she's awesome, quite the funny lil sprite- I think I could break her with my pinky lol :)

We have spent pretty much 24/7 of the past week doing my most FAVE thing ever about missionary work....knockin doors!!!! *crickets* yes please, hold your applause and cheers, I know it's hard to reign in your enthusiasm and excitement, but good on ya! LOL, I actually counted (is that terrible? I don't think so) and we knocked 248 doors in the past 6 days. That's in between our weekly planning, appointments, studying, church, and whatever else we had scheduled. Whew are my feet sore, but we met some pretty cool people. I met some people from Pakistan, Haiti, Jamaica, Nigeria, and  England to name a few. So it was a great time! We taught some lessons, set some return appointments, shared some laughs, and had lots of awko moments. It was great :)

Also, the Super Bowl is the worst thing ever invented on a mission haha. Do you know how many doors we knocked last night to only be rejected right off the bat cuz the game??? I mean ok, the rejection rate is super high here, but the game did NOT help any lol! On the other side tho- BRONCOS WON HALLELUJAH TAKE THAT WORLD! SUPER BOWL 50 IS OURS!!!!!  BOOM.

One thing that I love about my mission is that it is SO perfect for me. I was pretty sad after my initial excitement about coming to Jersey that I wasn't going foreign and speaking a different language. And while I would still love to be totally immersed in another culture, I am truly so blessed to be in this state where everyone is from literally everywhere in the world. God knows my desire and love for learning anything and everything, and also how much I love learning about different cultures. I've already learned a lot about Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Africans, Haitians, Jamaicans, Dominicans, Koreans, Ecuadorians, etc etc- it's been so amazing. And I still got 11 months to learn!! I'm so excited :D

So, I hear y'all are supposed to get 3 baptisms in the ward pretty soon with those AWESOME Elders you guys are always hanging out with!!! They're truly some boss missionaries holy moly! I'm so proud of them and I don't even know them haha. Give them a high five for me! It's so funny, but back home I can't remember ever having investigators at church, or anyone getting baptized besides Br. Smith, and S. Chamberlain? Idk haha, but now as I look through my missionary eyes I'm realizing how oblivious I was before! I didn't know our ward had less actives...I mean sure maybe a few here and there, but now I know that each ward has like at least over 20. And now I know what a Ward Missionary and Ward Mission Leader does, and what ward councils do, and this and that and basically I knew like nothing about the Church until I came out here hahaha. My eyes have been opened! It's pretty great.

And i refuse to accept the fact that the Parishes are moving. They will forever live there and I dont care what they say because I'm not gonna let them sell their house! lol, do you know where theyre moving to?

Happy Valentine's to you too! And Dad? Ya better keep that shotgun of yours close this weekend... ;)

Enjoy the sun! Love you all!

Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

 Her companion's "dying" days

New Transfer, New Comp, New Month, New Missionaries.....February 1, 2016

It's kinda funny how weather for the 2 of us keeps swapping places, when its 50 where i am it's snowing where you are!
My french will one day pay off with all the Haitian people here! One day i will use it for good- but today is not that day lol!
Oh my goodness will family scripture study be AMAZING! Reading the scriptures truly does EVERYTHING for us. It answers questions, helps us feel the Spirit, brightens our day, etc etc. Keep at it!

KK is not old enough to go to HS. I'm calling Horizon and telling them to hold her back! yikes, shes gonna tear the place apart haha ;)

This week was fun. Got a lot of "dying stuff" out of the way, like a LOT of that done...and still got more to do today- it'll be a relief when Tuesday happens haha! Love her to death, but there's just too much to stress about at the end.

My new comp is S. Bulson. She's one transfer older than me, and I actually have a pic with her from way back in August when we went to the temple. It should be an interesting transfer. i'm the senior comp, and I'm leading out the area after 1 transfer of being here...we'll see how this goes haha!

Monday I was in Elizabeth all day with Sisters Godfrey and Llana while S. Kafu went to Ellis and the Statue. It was a good day, I mostly just sat in the back of the car while the sisters got groceries and shopped and paid parking tickets and other misc boring things, but it was good. Those sisters are awesome! Then s. Kafu and I drove the 2hrs back to the south with all the traffic a long the way lol, such a long drive! Going to Denver for the temple will be no problemo when I get back!
Tuesday we had an AMAZING District Meeting! We first had a training by one of the counsellors in the mission presidency before the meetings to the whole zone. It was about how we need to sanctify ourselves. How we're the conduit for the Spirit to work, and if we're sanctified, purified, it allows Him to do His work. Otherwise we're ineffective and He can't work with us. He used an awesome demonstration with a light bulb, water, a wire, and salt. We're truly the "salt of the earth "! Haha  and then we had district meetings, in which I gave a training as well on How to Begin Teaching and Promising Blessings. And boy oh boy was it nerve racking, because of the meetings before and after the District Meeting, PT was there with his daughter Emily (who is about to go to Malaga Spain on her mission), and the zone leaders were there, and the senior couples were there...yikes! Haha I was so nervous to give it in front of PT, but I guess it went ok.  Then we had a Fundamentals Training after district mtgs given by PT. The only difference between a pro and an apprentice is the fundamentals. Same is true in all aspects of life! It was a truly inspired couple hours we all had together :)
Then we spent the rest of the day getting juked by appointments and rejected by people- so Satan works hard to make us not happy. But the trick is to thump him on his metaphorical head and tell him to leave you alone- CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY and you will be! Ain't nobody gonna make it otherwise... Including our wayward brother who's a meanie and likes to make others miserable like himself. Not today Satan.
Wednesday we spent our usual morning in the food pantry doing service and talking to our very interesting friends Gary and Dorothy. We also had a lesson with our investigator Carmel! She's progressing slowly but surely, I can already see her in the church, it's just a matter of teaching her to her understanding. Gotta become a better teacher!  Then we had dinner with the Woodwards. They are seriously the coolest couple ever and I can totally see y'all hanging out if you could. Their sarcasm and humor is on point! So great.
Thursday we weekly planned and cleaned the apartment for Transfer Cleaning. That took a long time haha, but it was so nice to see it so beautifully sparkly! (Not that it was terrible before *cough* ;)
Friday s. Kafu packed all day, got stuff out of the way, and we also went and had lunch with a less active who is so sweet. She's amazing truly. I have so much love for her. If a mission has taught me anything (which ok, I learn something new everyday!) it's that everyone deserves love and it is SO easy to love them. There's so many people in our ward at home I know I haven't really noticed becuz my view was tunnel visioned on myself and the couple people I knew. But holy moly when I get back y'all best believe I'll be besties with everyone! Haha
Saturday we saw 2 less actives were working with and it was just the best. I'm so grateful for all the people I've met out here, for all the things they teach me, and all the ways they have blessed my life. These people out here are amazing.

Sunday was a day full of goodbyes for s. Kafu. I took a lot of pictures yesterday haha, but it was an amazing Sabbath. I felt the Spirit so strong! I truly know that "man was not made for the Sabbath, [but] the Sabbath was made for man". It's such an awesome day to get true renewal and revival for the week! I would encourage you to watch the Apostles train the General Authorities on Sabbath Day Observance, it's on LDS.org. It's so inspiring and so spiritually rousing. I loved it! (And I especially loved the part where Sister Oscarson is coughing and Elder Bednar whips a cough drop outta his pocket like the prepared Boy Scout he is hahaha, it was adorable.)

Also. I have eaten Ghanian food now. It was glorious. Stupendous. Beautiful. Marvelous. Spicy. Tantalizing. Superb. Magnificent. Ah! I can't say enough about it! I had peanut butter soup, and an amazing rice and chicken, and some sorta black spice that's INSANELY spicy. Like I'm talking melt your mouth spicy cuz we all know Afticans are born with steel mouths and stomachs lol, it was amazing! I'm excited to eat there again in the coming weeks >:)

I love you all!

Stay warm.

Stay Jersey Strong!

love, Sister McAllister

 

 Graffiti Wall

 photo bombing

 She's a Jersorado-an

 S. Kafu packing to go home