Erica, Lisa, YSA, and exchanges....November 21, 2016

Ok, I sincerely apologize, but I have like no time today to email. We went to an appointment earlier because he couldn't meet any other day, and we had to travel 40 minutes to get to the zone activity. Sooooooo, I'm forwarding my companions email. Sorry if it's weird and doesn't sound like me and talks about me in the 3rd person. I'm trying to fix it :)

Tuesday

Today was Role Play class and District Meeting! For Role Play class we did family time, so we were all assigned someone the other night to compliment them and tell them what we appreciate about them and share it with the whole zone. We also talked about prayer, how if we don't ask we won't receive. We did an object lesson: one person was the Holy Ghost, then there was someone blindfolded and the rest of us were tempters of Satan! He could only ask questions to the Holy Ghost of where to go. It was interesting afterwards as we talked about it all that we assume that the Holy Ghost or Heavenly Father will just tell us where to go but really we need to ask, they are ready and willing to answer!  After we finished district meeting and had lunch we helped out some Morristown members with a few things to set up for the Special Cresche event! We got home talked to Sister Harriott for a bit then got on the road to drive to Pennsylvania! We have a family that lives there who comes to our church. The Elders also joined us and we had a fun evening. 

Wednesday 

Today we had a miracle happen! During our companion study Sister McAllister saw that she had a message on messenger and it was from a lady who she met 2 months ago knocking doors. We messaged her on Friday to see if we could meet and we never heard back from her until this morning and we met with her at a dunkin doughnuts! She's the cutest thing in the whole world!! We talked about the difference of our religions and she was so surprised how similar our beliefs are. We are praying that she will continue to desire to meet with us. We went home had lunch then headed to service! We played 21 again with Helen and the Elders. Helen was hilarious today, we were all laughing nonstop it was so fun :) next we headed to go see the Teets! We met with Sister Teets and read the Book of Mormon with her.  Then we drove up to Morristown to exchange companions with the STL's! 

Thursday

Today we got up and did our studies and were waiting for the other sisters to join us. We grabbed pizza and had lunch together before we started our weekly planning! Weekly Planning was good, tiring but all good. We were super busy most of the day, we had linner with a less active named Fabricio! It was really good and we had apple pie for dessert which was divine! We asked if we could share a message and he said yes but then he was like oh I was reading in the gospel principles book about prayer and I need some help with a few questions. It was so great we were so happy to help clarify the story of Enos and it was interesting because the wording that bugs him is that god is a jealous God yet he's perfect so we are trying to study up on that for him! . But Sister McAllister and Sister Pace had a great night! They found 2 new investigators which is awesome!! I'm super excited to meet them. We also found an investigator near our house and her name is Ronda! This woman has gone through 3-4 sets of sisters but she wants to meet with us! Sometimes they just need to meet the right missionaries and we pray that we will be able to help her in every way possible! 

Friday

We all got up and got ready then did our studies then afterwards we took the sisters to the church to get their car. Once dropped them off we went back home to finish our weekly planning and to make brownies for some members! Next we had service at Bristol Glen and we played matching games and help make decorations for their thanksgiving dinner! These women are super funny, they can't remember the matches even though they just saw what they picked up. We had fun with Helen, she's my favorite :) Sister McAllister afterwards had to call one of her recent converts to see if they will be going to the temple next week for her endowments so I just hung out for a bit. We were suppose to have 2 lessons with 2 less actives but they both juked us....lameos. We decided to run the brownies to neighbors so we went to the Trunk's sadly they had a babysitter so we weren't able to talk with Sister Trunk but it's all good. We were talking to Sister Harriott before and she asked us to grab her Diet Coke and chocolate ice cream from friendlys! She taught me a new float, Diet Coke and chocolate ice cream! Haha it's interesting :) so we were able to finish our night out with her as we talked about certain things for the ward, how we both want pomskys, Ellen and jazz! It was a fun Friday night with Sister Harriott! I love her to death! :) 

Saturday

This morning we went to the church to do family history with Sister Mathusek! Bingo was super fun today! I have a new boyfriend, he calls me tootsie! I was playing bingo for a woman who fell asleep haha and had to wake her up when she got a bingo. Then we had to go to a store to get Sister McAllister a Gatorade because that's what our mission nurse said to do. We then had dinner at the Thompson's! They are so kind, I was admiring their Christmas decorations :) we had roast, mashed potatoes and blueberry pie :) it was so delicious! We were talking about why missionaries have to get their endowments out before they go. We were thinking because we needed more knowledge of the plan of salvation and jazz but the real reason is the protection of the garments. It all makes sense because we are constantly protected! If you go to a ghetto area and there are gangs everywhere they tell you if anyone bothers us we tell them so they can solve it haha! I'm so grateful for all of the prayers that are sent to us everyday. In the temple, families, random people throughout the world praying for missionaries! I am trying to take full advantage of this because when this comes to an end I won't have the constant prayers blessings me haha! Well it's starting to rain and get cold, here comes the fun! :) 

Sunday

It snowed!!! But melted Later. We got up early to eat waffles made by our ward mission leader as we discussed our peoples we are teaching! Then we had ward council and talked about the Christmas season coming up with parties and sub for Santa. Church was really good! We went to gospel doctrine today and I learned that it's a commandment to study Isaiah....what? Haha oops I'm usually skipping over it because I don't understand! Now I know we really have to read it and ponder. Also this comment made in Relief society was really cool, instead of asking your children what they learned that day ask them when they felt the spirit that day because it's very important to teach your children at a young age to recognize when they feel the spirit! I thought that was so neat :) after church Brother Carroll called us in a panic and asked if we could come help him. His health is really decreasing, it's scary and sad. We made him lunch, threw his laundry in the wash, did his dishes and situated his oxygen tanks outside and in his car. He couldn't walk 10 steps without running out of breath and having to sit down, he had to get another oxygen tube to help. So he had 2 things of oxygen pumping at once because he was not getting enough. I never want to get old, he says he's ready to go and he knows it's coming soon. We ran to the Murray's after and had dinner there! This family kills me, they are hilarious and so weird but I love them to death! :) we ran over to Gene and Sister Menendez's house because they invited us over for their grandsons birthday party! He was turning 1, we had some cake and talked a little then headed out. We headed to the church for our YSA thanksgiving dinner! It was really fun, we all just laughed and partied the whole time then played phase 10 for a bit. 

Sorry I didn't email really! But just know I love this area and hope that I get to stay here for next transfer! I'll let you know next Monday what's gonna happen. Hopefully good things! Also, I might get to go with Laura from Plainsboro to the Philly temple on Saturday for her endowments...with Sister Bulson!!!! I'm super excited and hope it all works out. Please pray that she'll be able to make it :)

I love you all MUCHO!

Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

 exchanges

 Newton graffiti

 YSA Thanksgiving dinner

Cookie Miracles...November 14, 2016

This is a story all about how cookies spread the gospel through our town, I'd like to take a minute just sit down your buns, and I'll tell you how we became queens of a place called Newton. West side of America born and raised, on the mountains is where we spent most of our days- chillin out, relaxing, acting all cool, playing in the snow while they cancelled school. When a couple of guys who were up to some good, started calling us on missions using the priesthood. I got on one little plane, and my mom had fears, she said "what will I do without you for one and a half years?"

Anyways, lol! Yes. Cookies are a beautiful way to spread the gospel and get into people's houses- that was my original point, but then I got too absorbed in the rap. What can I say? I'm a prime rhymer.....I'm so lame *facepalms* 

COOKIES work miracles! With the mission focus on less actives lately, we've been being stiffed by a bunch of them as we've tried to make return appointments, and first appointments, etc. But, when you tell them you want to drop off cookies, they want you to come over that day. We were able to meet with 2 new less actives, and see 3 others that have been tricky, all because of cookies! The way to anyones heart, is through their sweet tooth haha! And no, it doesn't technically count as trickery- it's service. Yup. Totally service.

Speaking of service, this week we had a blast on Wednesday at the nursing home. I can't remember what I've told all of you about it before- sorry if this is a repeat! We go to Bristol Glen in the memory wing and do puzzles/play games with the folks there. What's special is that even though they ask you the same question 50 times in an hour, they also have a vague recollection of who you are! Helen is the lady we work with most, and she is hilarious! We were playing a card game with her and the Elders, and each one of us were crying from laughter. She's a hoot. Then, we got a huge group of them together and helped them exercise. The trainer would throw a beach ball to each of them and having them throw it back as part of the exercising- well, he skipped over me naturally, and Helen goes "hey! Don't skip people. That's not nice." So he had to come back and throw it to me lol! It was a fun time though, it really uplifted my spirit that day.

We were also able to see Sis Morse this week. She's an elderly, mentally and physically handicapped, woman who lives in a nursing home. She got to go to the temple Saturday and get sealed to her family! She was so excited! She couldn't stop talking about it, and we were so glad she would be able to make it. It's been amazing to have the opportunity to serve her. I was there when we went over to help her fill out her My Family booklet, and now 2 months later she's been to the temple to be sealed to them all! She's such a sweet soul, and I'm grateful I got to be a part of the process.

Speaking of temples: LAURA IS GOING TO THE TEMPLE IN 2 WEEKS WITH ME AND SIS BULSON AND IM SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!! Please please please please please pray for her that she'll be able to stay out of the hospital!!! She's been looking forward to it ever since August, but her health has been too rough. I've been looking forward to this ever since I met her in April in Plainsboro! This is gonna be amazing!!

This week we had lots of miracles. One being that we were fed a record 5 times this week!!!!!!!! We are so blessed! It ranged from lobster tails, to a quaint French cafe, to steak, to chicken, to hot dogs over a fire and some chili- and I loved every single one of them. Yes mom, even the hot dogs. I know, I know, but please stop staring at the screen in shock, you'll scare the children haha ;)

Another miracle was that President didn't send me home! Haha just kidding, we just had interviews with him on Friday. I love President Taggart! He's such an amazing man. Their family is wonderful. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know them all and to have served around/with them here in NJ! 

But the biggest miracle this week is Leonard. It was 8pm and super dark, and we were going to find another less active. The address we had didn't have an apartment number, and we pulled up to a house with 2 doors on it. One door was dark and silent, while the other had lights and people laughing inside. I knew we needed to knock the one with the lights, but as I stood

on the porch, I felt that we should also knock the dark one, just to give our full effort. Down the stairs came a Hispanic man a little older than us. He didn't speak much English, but he did confirm that the man we were looking for lived next door. As we fumbled through what little Spanish we know, we asked him if we could show him a video in Spanish. We pulled out "Gracias A Él" and afterwards all he said was "Jesus, si." All I could says is "Sé que estas cosas son verdades." (I know these things are true.) Don't ask me how, but we were able to get his phone number, and give him the Hermanas number. We went away from it thinking that he wouldn't be too interested, and it would probably be just another random contact. Wrong! The Hermanas texted us that night and said they had just gotten off the phone with him and had an appointment for Friday! Then, on Friday, they talked to us and said that Leonard is golden! He is so prepared and he's been looking for the church ever since he moved here from a Mexico a month ago. Oh my goodness!!! Sister Hall and I started jumping around we were SO happy! God seriously takes our small efforts and makes them grand and amazing. I had no idea I was even listening to the Spirit, but now looking back, I know He guided us to Leonard. I would have knocked on that door otherwise. I'm so grateful He's directing this work, and that I get to be a part of it. Leonard is now a progressing investigator!

Alma 37:6-7 "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

I love you all!!!

Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

 mission life

 treats from home

 sister activity

Horace the Deer....November 7, 2016

A couple awesome and a couple crazy things happened this week! 

First of all- we got to go to the TEMPLE!!!!! Ah sweet relief. Best day of the past 6 months haha! I love the temple so much- the second I walked in I felt peace and joy and a sense of calm serenity. I wanted to just fall asleep and spend my whole day in there. I'm glad I got to go with this zone too, so many of my friends are here! We also got lost trying to get out of the City....so we ended up walking for an hour trying to find our bus terminal that would take us out. We walked past some signs that said Times Square on them, but we didn't go to the Square itself- so close! Haha   And then we got in line for a bus and learned it doesn't take cash, you have to buy tickets, so we rand back downstairs to buy them, and then came back up to only have a 40 minute wait until the next bus showed up. Let's just say we all got to know one another really well! And we got lots of pics of Manhattan.

On Thursday we had the chance to help 2 different people move. One of them being a nonmember, and the other a less active. We were able to establish a connection with the nonmember, and she was so grateful for our help. We were able to uplift her and her boxes lol, I'm a regular comedian, I know. But anyways, we got our workout in that day, she lived on the 2nd floor! I was so sore the next couple days.

A funny thing happened Friday morning: we had to run to WalMart to pick up some medicine for S.Hall, and in the process we bumped into a less active. We started chatting and then out of NO where I feel an arm sling around the back of my neck across my shoulders....the less actives face got SO scary lol! It turned out to just be my pal Billy, and don't worry, he took his arm off right away. The less active looked at us and was like, "I was gonna deck him in the face!" Ah. It's nice to know I've got some friends who got my back if anything ever happens haha! But Billy's so cool! I love that kid a lot. I want him to come back so bad, it kills me that he's going through such a rough time right now. He reminds me a lot of some people I know from college, gosh, I just want to be his friend and I want him to come out west. Super cool kid.

Saturday we went to Ellis Island and had a blast! I love going there so much!

Sunday we literally came within a foot of hitting a deer. And the craziest thing is that we had talked about it 5 minutes before it actually happened. It was SO scary! I thought for sure I was either going to kill the deer, or it was going to kill us! It popped up out of the dark, like daisies! Also, some really creepy things have been happening with our apartment lately, and let's just say I'm super grateful for the hope and happiness of the gospel. And I'm also glad nothing worse has happened to me, but it's still been suuuuuuuper creepy.

I have to go, it's almost 6, but I love you all! Sorry my email was kinda lame, we did zone sports and even did a sister activity beforehand. Also, we played gator ball for the first time in a year...so beautiful!

Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

For Scotland!!!....October 31, 2016

This week has been amazing! We've seen so much progress with the area, and we've been having lots of fun adventures along the way. :)

 So first the fun awesome stuff, and then I'll finish with the fun spiritual stuff!

On Saturday we had the trunk or treat/chili cook-off for the ward. It was SO fun! The chili was awesome, and the people hilarious. Some of those costumes were just too good haha! We passed out pass along cards with candy taped to them, and you know, the kids go around 10 bazillion times, so they should have a nice stack to hand out later lol

Last night and tonight we have a curfew at 6pm, because only here in Jersey would they create something called Mischief Night and let everyone run rampant through the streets...I love this state haha! Last night we had dinner at a Members house, and to get there you have to drive through a backwoods road for a few miles. Well, we drove back in the dark, after it had rained, and even with the brights on you could hardly see anywhere. Let's just say I almost hit a deer and 3 baby raccoons while I was driving haha! But don't worry, I missed them all. Later, S.Hall and I painted our faces while we went through area lists and tried contacting our people on the phone or through FB. I tried making mine look like the Scottish flag, but also look tribal and war paintish- yeah, looks nothing like either, but whatever lol! And S.Hall was a tiger. It was a pretty fun night :)

Oh! Saturday we were running around helping the members get ready for the cook-off, while also running to appointments, when we saw that our street was covered in tents and cool merchandise. We stopped to try and talk to a few people, see if we could get anywhere with them, and we met a lady selling LuLaRoe. Now, idk if any of you know what this is, but it's literally the cutest clothes I have ever seen in my life! I was so excited to see she was selling them!!!! But they're also the most expensive clothes of my life...so no bueno for cheapo me haha. But we talked with the lady and got to know her a bit- she was so sweet. She's truly awesome! And after we got done talking she grabbed some leggings and gave them to us for free! And maaaaaaaan are they comfy and soft and they actually fit me and it was just beautiful! We've been wearing them every night right before bed because that's the only time we can haha- it pays to be a missionary!

Ok, spiritual missionary awesomeness time!

Lately there's been a focus in the mission to go and find the less actives and bring them back. President Taggart was inspired with a way to go about doing this called "the Invite". We show the video "Because of Him" and then go through the process of the Invite. Each time it brings the Spirit so powerfully, they really feel of God's love for them! So S.Hall and I have been going around doing this on all the less actives we can find. This week we found 6 of them, of those we have 3 part member families, and 2 people that want to come back and want to get back to the temple!!!!!!!! We've met some truly amazing people, and I feel successful in a way I haven't for a while! It's been so exciting to see them feel the Spirit and have that desire to come back.

Also on Friday we were able to have dinner with the Cook family in Blairstown. We don't go there too often because it's a good 35 minute drive away, but we decided to block out a whole day to go there and find less actives and others that we can teach. We ended the night at the Cook's house, and they invited their neighbors over! Mary is a sweet old lady who lost her husband last year and is taking care of her autistic son Josh. We talked a lot with them, and they've actually been taught by Elder and Sister Dunn (senior missionaries) last year, so they have a BoM and she knows that families,can be together forever. Super awesome! She wants to meet with us regularly now!!! It was so cool to see what good comes out of doing service. The Cooks have been splitting Mary's wood for the past few years, and then this happened! Nothing you do is ever wasted guys!

Ok, last thing, I don't want this to be super long for you all. On Tuesday we had our normal roleplay class at 10, district meeting at 11:30, and then afterwards we had fundamentals with President at 2. Such a long day haha! He was training us on the Invite and how to do it successfully. Well, the time came to roleplay it, and he was going to pick 2 missionaries to come up, and ROLEPLAY IT IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE ZONE.....ya. You've probably already guessed where I'm going... the second he started describing what he was going to do I started thinking "oh man, please please please please please please please PLEASE do NOT pick me not me not me not me please" etc etc etc.  K well, as I'm thinking that i think "the fact that I totally dont want to do it probably means he's definitely going to pick me. President can smell fear, I bet he can hear my thoughts right now...don't make eye contact! No wait. What if he picks the ones who avoid eye contact??? Ok. Look at him. But not excessively, just normally? C'mon act innocent! Don't be overly confident, but don't look like a wiener either! What if.....aaaaaaaaand he picked me...... *internal screaming*" I was literally sweating SO hard. I was nervous and I had to go to the bathroom and I was sweating and I was jittery and I wanted to pass out and fall through the floor and do ANYTHING to make it so I didn't have to be standing there in front of the whole zone and my leaders and President! Ugh. I wanted to cry.......aaaaaaaaaaand you guessed it. I did. *facepalms* I literally cried my eyes out, lips quivering, unable to talk, in front of EVERYONE. Blah. But in my defense, it wasn't from nerves, it's because the Spirit was epically strong in the roleplay. These 2-3 minute videos the Church has produced are spot on and beautiful. It hit me so hard watching it, and then as we talked to "Mitch and Marvin" (aka our zone leaders) I didn't have to wonder what to say, I wasn't worried about all the missionaries looking at me and judging my lack of skills, I was focused on the Spirit and on what the two of them needed. It was an awesome experience, one I hope to remember forever- even if it did give me a heart attack haha! So in other words, I'm grateful for President picking me to do a slightly humiliating and embarrassing, but building and strengthening roleplay. In front of 20 other boss missionaries. 

Ok ok! I'm done for now, sorry for the long email haha!

Love you all!!!
 Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

 

Reject the Prefect (it rhymes and it's HP, therefore it's applicable)....October 24, 2016

Hello everyone! This has been one looooooooooong week that's just
seemed to fly by now that I look back at it haha

I have a new companion! Sister Hall from Kaysville, UT- can't escape
those Utahans for very long... lol :)  we get along well, and though
it's been a huge adjustment for her coming from Secaucus to the middle
of nowhere Sparta, it's been great! She has a form of narcolepsy
(never been diagnosed or anything) so it's been interesting seeing the
many ways and places a person can fall asleep in haha. She's cool, and
it's been a fun week! Seriously, I love how much I've been able to
serve and help my companions on my mission! I've had some with the
most random of trials, but it's been a huge blessing to me to be able
to have the ability and chance to help them, but to also receive
advice and help from them too. I love this mission ☺️
#ShoutOutToPastComps

One trunky comment: I hope I die in this area.
Ok moving on!

This week we've really seen the members come out of the woodworks,
probably because there's a new person they can pick on, but it's been
super awesome and we've seen some miracles from it! We had a few
dinner appointments this last week that were such a blessing to go to-
seriously guys, if you can do anything at all for the missionaries:
FEED THEM! Doesn't matter what or where or how or when, but feed them
and you will literally make their day haha! There's nothing like a
home cooked meal, or fast food, or anything for that matter. Anyways,
this week we've really been able to get to know the members better and
I feel like I'm definitely building up my relationships with the
people here. There's a couple YSA age people that I know I'm gonna
stay in touch with forever!

Ok, I'm going to share a bummer experience with you, and then I'll end
on an awesome one.
Saturday we went knocking in a neighborhood for 2 hours, we were
determined to knock on every single door and we were not going to
leave until we did. We ended up staying over our dinner time because
we were so sure that the Lord would bless us with people to teach if
we knocked every door. Well, half the neighborhood wasn't home, and
the other half? Let's just say, they weren't very nice. One man got
really mad and told us to get off his property right now, he stood
there with a shovel in his hands till we got all the way down his long
driveway- then he kept yelling at us for a few houses as we continued
to knock. People are so grumpy haha! Then of course, after about an
hour and 30 minutes of this I started to cry. It just really hit me
that all we're trying to do is help these people, we're literally
bringing joy and hope and happiness straight to their doorstep, and
they won't receive it. S.Hall and I were more bold than I have been my
whole mission, we were straight forward and simple, and they just said
nope. I was crying because I realized this was just a sliver of what
the Savior felt during His ministry. He was "despised and rejected of
men...a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" and yet all He
wanted was the joy of His brothers and sisters- He gave His whole
life, every moment of it, in the hopes that the people would receive
it. And then the last lady we talk to, I'm sitting there tears
streaming down my face and she says "what are you doing out right now,
it's too cold!" To which I reply, "we're trying to bring happiness to
people's lives through Jesus Christ but no ones listened to us so far.
Will you?"....slam. Lol! I love my mission. Not even being sarcastic
right now, I sincerely love it. I'm so grateful for all the
experiences I get. For the chance I have to better understand my
Savior and all that He did for me. I love Him so much.

Ew, so enough mopey. Now to the miracles through the Spirit! We
decided to knock the neighborhood by the church, which ok, it's been
knocked a bajillion times before, but why not once more? Haha! So
we're going and lots of stuff happens yada yada...ok! We knock on one
house and a young man comes to the door named Paul. We start talking
and then share the "because of Him" video with him, then his mom comes
down and starts watching it to. We talk a little more with Theresa,
and she's pretty hardcore into her religion, but Paul seemed to be
open. But Theresa starts walking us down her driveway so that was that
we thought. We go down the street more, knocking doors blah blah
blah...and then! It's time to walk back to our car so we can go to an
appt. We started back and we saw 2 girls, heavy makeup and tats and
jewelry everywhere, smoking by their car. We cross to the other side
of the road (the whole time I'm thinking, man, I should talk to
them...) and we call out that we like the shirts, etc etc, and we keep
walking. We get about 20 paces away when we both turn to each other
and say "we have to show them the video" so off we trot back towards
their car. At first they're super standoffish, but then one of them
says "you should show that to my parents, they would love
that!"....her mom is Theresa. Her brother Paul. What?! So she opened
up a little more as we talked about them, and then her friend Kim
wasn't really interested, but Michelle said we could show her the
video. We pulled it out, and NO joke Kim put out her cigarette and
watched the video too! Intently! Aw man. They both started chatting
with us and opening up to us, it was a complete 180 change from when
we first started talking with them! We've added them on FB, and hope
to continue it all. It just goes to show that the Spirit is awesome
and you should always listen to it even when you're lazy or scared.
Scriptures from my studies this morning:
D&C 64:33 "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying
the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth
that which is great."
D&C 68:4-6 "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the
Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be
the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the
voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.Behold, this is
the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants. Wherefore, be of
good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will
stand by you.."

Love you all!!
Stay Jersey Strong.
Love, Sister McAllister

 each one of these ladies have been each others companions....crazy how that works

 new comp loves Diet Coke just as much as S. McAllister

 Fall in NJ

 new area

 new comp....Sister Hall

 she won't see these ladies again before they die...BOO

Cocoa-Bolo....October 17, 2016

Dearest family and friends, *ahem* IM STAYING IN SPARTA FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!! Sadly, Sister Burk will be leaving me, but who needs her anyways when I've got Sparta?? Haha jk, I'm gonna miss her, it's been a great 6 weeks! Maybe one day I'll have a companion for longer than that...haha! My new companions name is Sister Hall, she's from Kaysville, UT and has been out for 7 months. She's actually coming from Jersey City where she was companions with my bestest friend Sister Charles for 4.5 months. We're all interconnected in some way haha!

I just have to say how much I LOVE this ward- and how excited I am that I get to stay! I feel like the area is really going to pick up this next transfer, we've started the ball rolling this transfer, and now hopefully we'll see the fruits of that over the next 6 weeks. I'm hoping I get to leave from this area, I don't want to "one and done" for Christmas time and all that jazz lol! Ew....speaking of going home....I got my flight itinerary and thus passed out for awhile in shock and disgust. It was the weirdest, grossest email/feeling I've ever gotten. And that's enough about that, because I'm totally never talking about this again until the week before haha!

So this week we got to go over to our WML and RS president's house to have breakfast with them and make PENS!!!! That's right. I have made my own pen. I can stick that accomplishment on my resume and I bet I'll get millions of jobs! It was super fun, and I loved getting back into woodworking again. Took me back to high school :)

Me and Sister Burk have been having lots of fun this transfer, but I'm ready for change. I think that's one thing I've definitely learned on my mission- the power and awesomeness of change! Before my mission I hated it, sometimes I still do, but I sure appreciate the potatoes out of it. I love having a fresh start, a new beginning. This is gonna be the "best day ever!"

Love you all! Have a great week :)

Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

 awesome district

making my own pen

 pumpkin cookies from home

"I'm King of the Rock. And There Ain't Nothing You Girls Can Do About It."....October 10, 2016

Hey Everyone!

This week we had Zone Conference, 'twas great! I got to see a bunch of my friends again, and I got to see Sister Bird before she goes home next week. I love that girl, she's a forever friend for sure! I'm so grateful for the mission- for the chance I have to meet so many awesome people that I never would have otherwise. I have so many lifelong friends that I met out here :)

Super weird, but this Zone Conference was my last one, the next one is after I go in January...so I bore my testimony with the rest of the missionaries going home in the next 3 months. Ah! So creepy. I'm so old lol. I'm not ready for all these "lasts".

I can honestly say I absolutely adore the Taggart's. I mean, I always have, but the time I got to spend around them on Friday at the conference was awesome. They are like my 2nd parents out here, and I'm real excited for the chance that I have to be friends with them throughout my life. They mean so much to me!

Also, I love the Stevenson's in my ward. He's the ward mission leader and she's the relief society president and they are both AMAZING! He's sarcastic and random, and she's eclectic and wonderful and together they are the couple I want to be when I grow up haha! I have a lot of respect for the both of them, and I really look up to them. They have had a huge impact on me in this area :)

In other news, I just got back from hiking a mountain! Well, a mountain for NJ...but a hill anywhere else haha! It's the highest I've been in 15 months #1800.  One thing that stinks is that my asthma kicked in for the first time in a yearish, but it was so beautiful to feel the wind, the chill, and hear the wind through the trees. That's my favorite sound in the world, I could listen to it for hours! It was a spectacular view too, and there were even some trees changing colors, so that was cool. The colors are super vibrant out here, I love it. I'd take my burning lungs for that any day ☺️

And funny story: I have found out there IS such a thing as toooooooo obsessed. I think myself a very proud geek, but man, i am MILD compared to some people. We met this lady last night and just started talking to her. We brought it to the gospel and started talking of Jesus Christ and showed her a video and everything, but she literally would NOT stop talking about LotR. Now, I love Middle Earth just like the next guy, and I would even label myself "obsessed"- but yikes...it was almost scary haha. We added her on FB so we could send her more videos and awesome links, but ALL I have gotten from her is endless links and pics and LotR quotes for 24 hours. I never thought I'd say this, but I had to block someone because they fangirl too hard! I know, I know, I'm one to talk, but I seriously am astounded by the fact that she's able to send me 25 pics in 2 secs, with the movie quotes...in English AND in Elvish. Hahahaha help!

The work's been slow this week, we were able to pick up a new investigator: the husband of a less active that we're meeting with tomorrow for dinner (yay Hispanic food!) but that's about all. We've just been finding awkward people that only want to talk about LotR and not Christ haha

I have faith that this week will be awesome though! The last week of the transfer usually is :)

I love you all!
Stay Jersey Strong.

Love, Sister McAllister

 comps

High Point

Zone

 Saying goodbye to Sis. Bird