January 14, 2013

Good morning! Hope you guys had a fun week. I sure did. We went on 'splits' this week with the Volgograd missionaries. They are so cool, elder S and elder M. Also it was fun going around with elder miller because we came in at the same time so we know the least Russian. haha exciting times when you don't know what is going on and at the end of a conversation you realize you agreed to buy beer for somebody. haha. I told this guy we don't drink and he said well how do you live?! I just said Snickers and Coca cola and he started cracking up. Good times. also I really hope I get to serve with elder S, he is a stud. I told him after the mission I am going to fly up to visit him and go to lake Tahoe with him.

I am still doing well and I am not too cold. It is still relatively warm for this time of year I think. Which is weird because December was freezing and all of a sudden it warmed up. No complaints here.

This morning we went to the gym with I which was fun/interesting. We just worked out for an hour or two and then went to help him buy a new computer and we gave him a spiritual thought afterwards. It was crazy, I read his teaching record for the first time and he has come so far since the missionaries started teaching him. It is great to see his spiritual progression.

Also my resolve to be more obedient is paying off! On Tuesday a guy ran up to us and we started to talk. Apparently he met with missionaries a few years ago and loved being with them. He went to all the activities and church and then got in an argument with a member and decided to stop coming. That happens alot here, but he wanted to call and apologize to the girl and stuff. and so we met with him, he had some questions about the Book of Mormon (he already had one and had read some of it). and he also came to English club, even though he doesn't speak English. Then he stayed for our spiritual thought and also institute! He is a cool guy. He didn't come to church on Sunday so we will meet with him a few times this week and hopefully he comes next week.

Love you all, dad I hope you feel better and mom I missed your email this week. Maybe you should get off the missionary mom web site and write me an email! haha just kidding, but...sheesh! haha love you mom!

Scott

Happy New Year!

Hello again! Thanks for all your emails they are always fun to read. Also I got Christmas cards from the Booth's and Kimball's. J. street wins again. And I got the package! It is perfect. Although I am not sure about that pillow case thing ha I sent a picture let me know how I did. The laffy taffy's will be perfect for english club. Also I read the part of Grandpa's book that he sent me. It is great! he sounds like quite the stud missionary, I bet I could use some of his tips.

This week was great. On Wednesday we had the branch Christmas party which was a hoot. We were in the play (I was a wise man of course) and then there was music and dancing and a Russian Santa Claus. It was cool because one man in the branch who was recently baptized invited a friend who is a journalist. He was a great guy and even made a speech saying how he went to the first LDS church building in Russia when it was dedicated. He said just about how cool he thought it was and he has even gone back since, just because he likes the building. Then when the party started he asked if he could do anything, so the branch president told him he could dress up like Santa Claus if he wanted, so he did! haha it was great, we gave him a Hymn book and a Book of Mormon and got his phone number. As he was leaving he mentioned how great the atmosphere was in the church building.

Also on Friday the president over the European East area came and spoke at our zone conference. He spoke from 8 in the morning until 5 at night! But everything he said was helpful and he really changed the attitude of the missionaries, I think. At least mine! He said because it is a rule to wake up at 6:30, if you wake up any later than that you are plainly starting your day off with disobedience. Wow, I had never looked at it that way before. So needless to say I made some new years resolutions because of what President Bennett told to us. He used to be mission president over the Russia, Samara mission and he told us some cool stories of conversion in Russia.

New years was exciting also, even though it was just me and elder R. We had 'free time' from 9 to midnight so we stayed up and watch all the fireworks. So many fireworks! we were standing on the balcony and crazy people were shooting fireworks out of their windows from like the 8th floor haha! I never in a million years would have thought that I would experience a New Years in Russia of all places. The next day we went out to the city to talk to people and it was a ghost town! I'm not sure if they were sleeping or relaxing or hung over but nobody was outside. Kind of strange but now we are back into the swing of things.

We tried calling a few less active people from the branch but of course they said call back after new years. Which actually means call back on the 10th of January because everyone is pretty much off work/school until then I think. So we will call them back!

It is still super warm here it is so weird. There was like a 30 degree swing from 2 weeks ago to today and now the snow is all melting and turning into muddy slush. I don't want to jinx myself and say I prefer the cold to the mud but I think I do. Every morning I wake up fearing that 'today is the day' that it freezes over again but it hasn't yet. Interesting.

Well happy new year thanks again for the package! I need to learn how to wear a scarf so I can use the one you sent me. When it gets cold again. I love you all and miss you like crazy but I also love it like crazy here. Thanks for your prayers, keep sending them this way.

Scott

This was a fill-in-the-blank candy bar card.  Inspired by Jay.  Created by Amy and Jason.

Elder Reed, Russian Santa and Elder Allen!

Christmas in Volgograd Russia!

I'm not sure if this is his apartment or another missionary apartment where they spent Christmas.  In any case, it has all he needs for Christmas!

I LOVE and MISS this missionary!  His smile is contagious and you just never know what he will say next! He looks so comfy...he must feel right at home in Russia!

View from Volgograd apartment  (before snow)

View from Volgograd apartment

Outside the WWII Museum that the missionaries visited Christmas Day

Scott said this was very interesting.  He loves WWII History

RUSSIA WEEK 6

(No letter last week.  We got a phone call instead!)

Happy new years! с новым годом! Christmas was great and it is still being celebrated here in Russia. It was so awesome to talk to you guys although the camera we have is garbage so I had to be a foot away from it so you could hear me.. Oh well. And of course as soon as I hung up I thought of more things that I wanted to tell you! Maybe on Mother's day. I am glad you all had a great Christmas and I didn't know that all the the Allens would be there, that is so awesome. And it is weird because the last memory I have with you guys is the Grand Canyon so that is what is fresh in my mind and when dad said something about it being last summer that seemed weird to me. Because it seems like just yesterday that we were there.
 
 It was a good week here in Volzsky, and it warmed up a ton! Then it started snowing again on saturday so I guess winter isn't over yet? I figured I will be just fine in the shoes I have so you don't need to worry, I'll be fine. And mom I'll answer the questions you had: the branch building is only a 5 min. walk from our dome and it is in a two story office type building. The church owns or rents the second floor. There is no branch mission leader that I know of, because the branch is so small. There isn't even a full Branch presidency.

 And Elder Reed is cool, he is from Logan Utah and plays basketball and has been on his mission for a year and a half. The elders in center Volgograd are also super cool, elder miller from my mtc group and elder Sprouse. They are both dang funny and it was fun being over there for Christmas. We were planning on going there tonight for new years but that isn't going to work out.
 
The branch is doing a Christmas party on Wednesday so that will be fun. The missionaries are in a choir type thing with some of the younger members of the branch. It should be pretty fun, we are singing some Christmas songs and there may be costumes involved-- I'm not sure haha. But it's cool because I feel like every christmas season I don't understand why we really celebrate Christmas and then it always hits me right in an instant, and I kind of feel the true meaning behind the holiday. ha that sounds kind of strange when I write it down, but anyway when we were practicing our songs we sang Silent Night in Russian, and just while we sang it felt so awesome and I thought about Christ's birth and what a blessing that was to the world. It reminded me of a really long time ago, like when I was a little kid when we sang Silent Night in German at a Christmas party. I don't even remember why we sang that back then, especially in German but that has been a cool memory ever since we did that years ago.
 
Also happy birthday to Hunter and Taylor! Go make it a new years to remember.
 
We are still doing missionary work here during the holidays, although it is getting cold so nobody wants to talk to us. So we planned to contact all of the less active members in the branch and reach out to them, and also see if they might know anyone who would be interested in the gospel. Hopefully it is successful, I feel like it will be more so than talking to people on the streets, but we will see.

  Sorry for such a long and boring letter. I still enjoy doing this, it helps me feel Christ's love for people and see people in a light that I never have before. I love you all and hope you have a fun new years!

Scott
PS Oh also I will get dearelders on Wednesday or Thursday so tell people to write! (go to dearelder.com, click on write a letter, choose Rostov-na-dona Russian Mission, and write him a letter!  It will be  printed and delivered to the mission home and then to him! no stamp or address necessary!)

Monday December 17, 2012

RUSSIA WEEK 4

So winter decided to show up here in Russia! Dang on Monday we woke up and looked at the thermometer and it was not good news. It has been like negative 10 to 15 this week, but it's not as bad as it sounds cause it's in celsius so I think that is like 15 positive in F. It isn't the temperature that is killer it is the wind! It is like rexburg, and it is supposed to snow a bunch this week so I am nervous for that. no, I haven't bought any boots or a new coat. I am not sure if I will need to but if I get too cold I will go buy something. I stay warm though, I am learning the art of layering clothing. And I forgot to bring a beanie so I went and bought one in the market the other day.

So on tuesday we had a sweet thing happen. Me and elder Belnap were just walking on the street trying to talk to people and all of a sudden someone grabs my arm from behind, so I turn and its a younger lady. She started out (in english) saying can I talk to you, I really need to talk to you. Obviously we said yeah we can talk. So she was asking us all these questions like how long we will be in Russia and stuff like that. Apparently she teaches english to a group of teenagers and she said they began to ask her questions about religion and Christ and she thought we could answer them better than she. So she suggested maybe bringing her group to our Sacrament meeting and we said that'd be great, we gave her our number and info for church so I am optimistic that something good will come of that experience. It was an answer to my prayers, because ever since it got cold people decided they didn't want to talk to us anymore.

Church was good yesterday. As church was starting the branch president asked if the two of us missionaries could speak. It was pretty frightening but ended up that we only had enough time for Elder Belnap so I may be speaking next week, who knows? I need to prepare a talk just in case something like that happens again.

The branch here is not big, but the people who come are very faithful. There is an awesome family (branch president), a couple other small families and some older men, and younger girls who are about 25 yrs old. 

I finished the Book of Mormon this week and I decided to pray about it again. Although I do not see any visions or anything of that magnitude, I still truly feel in my heart that it is the true doctrine of Christ. And I am grateful to have it's guidance in my life. Mom that is a good idea to read from the new testament about Christ for Christmastime, maybe I will do that..

Something surprising that we just found out is that Elder Belnap is getting transferred! That came as a huge surprise to us, we were planning on being together for at least a couple more months! So he leaves on Tuesday for Rostov and my new companion is Elder Reed, I think he is from Logan UT.

Since it was Elder Belnaps last p day up north, maybe for his whole mission, he wanted to do something cool. So we were planning on spending the night in Volgograd with the zone leaders and going to a museum here today. But we found out the museum is closed today. So we spent the night anyway and hopefully we can find something fun to do here in Volgograd today. I think we are going to McDonalds for lunch though, that will be good. 

About skype, can you send me like amy's skype account info or someone's so that I can sign in and then I will call moms? I will call you guys, and I will let you know the exact time next week. We are going to call from the branch presidents house.

Glad to hear you are all doing well! Tell hunter I say hi, I sent him, ashlyn, amy and jason letters last week. Ha it will be funny when they get them because there are like 12 stamps on the envelope. I love you all, see you next week!


-Scott

PICTURES!

RUSSIA WEEK 3

First Breakfast made in Russia!

In front of apartment building

Bedroom!

Typical street...RUSSIA!

Random building?  I'm sure it made Scott really, really happy to see this building!

First P-Day adventure.  Mother Russia

according to Google...
The Motherland Calls, also called Mother Motherland or simply The Motherland, or The Mamayev Monument is a statue in Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad.
The model who posed for Mother Motherland, Valentina Izotova, a native of the city, is still recognized for her resemblance to the statue. She was recruited by Lev Maistrenko, an artist who was working on the memorial complex in the early 1960s. According to some sources the statue was partially inspired by Winged Victory of Samothrace, with somewhat more extended drapery. Marshal of the Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov is buried in the area of the monument.
Measuring 85 meters (279 feet) from the tip of its sword to the top of the plinth, The statue is at our number 1 of 5 tallest statue in the world.  (FYI:  the Statue of Liberty is 46 meters, 151 feet tall, #3 of the tallest statues in the world)

according to Scott:
Yesterday we went with some other missionaries in the area to the statue I told you about when we talked on the phone last week. It's called Mother Russia if you want to Google it. It is amazing, and I took lots of pictures. It has an almost holy atmosphere, kind of like at the tomb of the unknown soldier. There is so much history here and we got to see a glimpse of it.

Elder  Allen's official name badge

Monday December 10, 2012

RUSSIA WEEK 3

 

Hello, I sent a few pictures so that should make you happy! To answer your questions, I can print off emails from you guys, I get dearelders rarely (only if I go to Rostov or someone from there comes here).

 

I am definitely still loving it here in Russia. I'm having many 'firsts.' Today I had my first Russian haircut haha it was funny because obviously I don't know vocab for a haircut and so she'd ask me a question and I'd just say yes or no depending on how I was feeling at the moment. But it looks good. Also we are making some Borsch (english spelling?)- or beat soup for the first time today. It is good that Elder Belnap is a good cook or I might be in trouble. He made some dang good pizza on saturday night! It almost competed with the Cowley's pizza oven pizza. Almost. Tomorrow I am going to go out on a limb and attempt to make french toast. We'll see how it goes.

 

Elder Belnap is a great companion, and not just because he's a good cook.. He helps me with my russian and teaching people. And I found out he likes cars and top-gear so we found some common ground! And he knows all the ins and outs of the city and Russian culture so that's helpful.

 

I'm glad you and Amy had a fun time in Hawaii! You should send some pictures. And Jason and dad survived ok without you two it sounds like. And Jason looked classy in his winter formal picture. I like that tie. Ha I heard ties are only like 3 dollars here so I only brought like 4 ties. And I have yet to see a tie here, although I don't doubt they are 3 dollars--if I could find them! So I continue with the 4 I brought, and Elder Bingham gave me one as a parting gift.

 

What else do you guys want to know ha? The other day we were on the street and we had a good little lesson with a guy and then he put out his hand like he wanted to shake hands, so I took off my glove and he grabbed my hand and started to read my palm! haha he said I wasn't very argumentative and then he judged Elder Belnap's hand and said he was argumentative. Nice guy.

 

Church was good yesterday. The ward here has some good, strong members that are super willing to help out with anything. The 2 sister missionaries in our area spoke at church yesterday about feeling the holy ghost and did a really good job. And I blessed the sacrament and said one of the prayers. I like church here because everyone knows everyone and it feels kinda homey.

 

It sounds like everyone is good! I think I lost the sheet I had with everyones birthdays on it so sorry if I don't give someone a shoutout.  The Big judds burger Taralynn sent me a picture of looks so good!  Hopefully he had a fun birthday. I still don't know when we are going to skype, either Christmas morning or evening (for you guys). If I'm thinking logical than I figured we are basically halfway around the world, since we are 11 or 12 hours difference.

 

Love you all! next week!

 

-Scott

TUESDAY! December 4, 2012

RUSSIA WEEK 2

Whew! Ok, so yesterday was p-day and we went to the branch building to email and the internet was not working there. So we went to an internet club in Volgograd and it was closed. Today we've been searching for a way to use the internet and we finally found a place here in Volzsky to email. So right now I am surrounded by a ton of Russian teenage gamers.

This week was great! We have spent a majority of our time on the street talking to people. It is actually really fun and I think its the best way for me to improve my Russian. We talk to anyone who will listen and tell them about the gospel. People here are a little different, but not in a bad way at all! I thought that missionaries would always get yelled at or cussed out but so far no one has done that to us. Either they just ignore us or say they don't have time or actually talk with us. But everyone is nice and fun to talk with, and they have so much insight on life. Like the other day we went to talk to this man and he was like hey that's women's work, you should be out driving tanks and flying airplanes or something haha. We said we only take 2 years of our life because we love God!

On Thursday we had our last (and my first) 'english discussion.' The mission president is re-vamping the english club and is starting out only in the main cities. So we won't do it in Volzsky anymore. Although we still meet with our investigator and his wife and practice english with them, which is good.

Yesterday we went with some other missionaries in the area to the statue I told you about when we talked on the phone last week. It's called Mother Russia if you want to google it. It is amazing, and I took lots of pictures. It has an almost holy atmosphere, kind of like at the tomb of the unknown soldier. There is so much history here and we got to see a glimpse of it. I'll send the pictures when I can.

I bought some envelopes today and I have some letters to send to Jason, Hunter and Ashlyn. And I'll probably write a few more to family. Take some pictures for me in Hawaii you lucky ducks! I got the ones Amy sent and it looks like great weather and everything. Here the weather isn't bad yet. It is probably in the 40's during the day and rainy most nights. It snowed once but melted pretty fast.

And don't worry I'm eating well. I don't remember if I told you last time but they have everything we need here. For breakfast I usually eat cocoa puffs and lunch I usually help elder belnap cook something big like pasta or chicken or something and then for dinner I make some fried eggs because that's the only thing I know how to make haha.

Elder Belnap is an awesome guy. He is alot like Tucker Denton and even though we don't have a ton in common, we get along well and I learn lots. His Russian is really good too, so that is good and he is helping me with that. 

We are working out when we will call you on Christmas, probably sometime in the morning. I can't wait to talk again and see how everything is going. I am doing fine here and russia is awesome. Mom I don't think there is another address to send stuff so the mission home is fine. I love you all and will talk in a few weeks on skype!

-скотт аллэн

Monday November 26, 2012

RUSSIA WEEK 1

Sooo! I am halfway around the world. Weird. But also awesome! Sorry if I don't have time to reply to all your emails, p-days are too short! Also thanks aunt Jill and Ashlyn C for the dearelders, they were a good welcome to Russia present.

So I'll start from where we left off talking to you from SLC. We flew to NYC and then took a bus to our terminal and got all checked in at the gate. Then me, elder Lambert and Elder Miller decided to go find some American food one last time. So we wandered around the terminal and finally found a burger king. As we were getting our food I looked down at my watch and thought oh crap we barely have time. So I was super nervous we were going to miss our flight, and we turn the corner to our gate and there was nobody there! Shoot. So I grabbed my bag and stuff right as the lady was saying "last call jfk to Moscow!"

Then.. We flew to Moscow which was exciting because I could hear russian chatter on the plane and stuff. We got to Moscow and at the MTC they told us the church would have someone there to take us to the embassy and get our second passports. As it turns out, that info. is outdated. So we sat by the baggage claim for an hour and a half wondering where these people were. We tried calling the mission president, which is a story in itself..

So we couldn't get the payphone to work. I mustered up enough courage to ask a russian lady if we could borrow her phone or if she could help us call this number. I thought we were having a pretty good conversation going in russian, she said she couldn't help us and then I asked one more question and she said "Ich Weisse Nicht." If you don't know what that means, I'm prett sure it means I don't know-- In German!! Haha me and elder Lambert turned around and I was like I'm pretty sure that last thing she said was in German and he said yup. So that's when I realized my russian wasn't as great as I thought it was haha..

So we basically had no idea what to do so we said a quick prayer and decided to go up to the aerofloat booth which was our airline. We got off the elevator and guess who we saw? Two old people in nametags! We were like hey are you supposed to pick us up, and they said umm no. But they were the mission president and wife of the yekaterinberg mission, just on their visa trip and happened to run into us and they knew exactly what we neded to do. Miracle! So again we were among the last to get on our flight and a few of us almost missed it but we didn't.

Next we got to Rostov, finally, and did some paperwork then went and had a nice dinner with the Prows's. They are so nice! We went straight to bed and in the morning had some training and I met my trainer, Elder Belnap from fort worth texas. He is a great trainer and missionary. I'm so glad to be his comp and we get along really well.

After training, about 7 pm saturday night we got on an overnight train to Volzhsky It was a bit rainy in rostov and so there was a group of us walking our bags in the rain to the trainstation, it reminded me of when me and dad first got to vienna looking for the hotel in the rain. Pulling luggage around in a foreign country, haha. Oh, and yeah I said 'overnight train.' I was so excited they had beds on the train because I was so dang tired! The average temperature on this particular train was 95 degrees farenheit. So perfect sleeping weather haha. And of course Russians are superstitious about drafts so we couldn't open up any windows. But I was so tired I slept well reguardless of the temperature. It was a train straight out of harry potter or polar express or something. A steam engine with little compartments of 4 beds. 

We got here in Volzhsky just after sacrament meeting ended and went to the rest of the meetings, where I could understand only 60-65 percent of what was being said and someone asked me a question during the lesson and I just looked at them like a deer in the headlights haha. Church was great though, our investigator was there. He is such an awesome investigator. He walked around church with a massive jug of mtn. dew haha. He wants to be baptized and he comes to church and everything, but his wife is against the church. Think of ways we can help him to be baptized please! The only time we meet with his wife is during english club..

Today we did some contacting in the morning, one thing that is interesting about our mission is the elders only contact men and the sisters only contact women. One of the main reasons being we are looking to find priesthood to support the branches. After contacting we helped the sisters move some things to their new apartment, went grocery shopping (I convinced my comp to buy us some Coke!) and now we're emailing. Whew.

Sorry this letter is super long, just so much is going on right now! I am so tired, last night at like 9:30 my comp went to take a shower and I figured I'd look at flashcards until he got out. That wasn't the best idea, I was asleep within seconds! Haha so I slept with my contacts in. Our apartment is actually pretty nice. The outside doesn't look super appealing, 6 story concrete building like all the home buildings here, but the inside isn't bad. I even have my own room! I'll try and send pics..

Thanks for everything, there is alot more to say but I don't have too much more time so I'll tell you one more thing. The drivers here are awesome, I swear everyone drives like they are in a high speed pursuit haha. I've never seen a bus peel-out until yesterday. So we were driving with our investigator and he was blasting Rhianna and I blinked and all of a sudden thought what the heck is going on?! I am in a car flying through the streets of Russia listening to Rhianna haha. Awesome.

So there you have it, until next week peeps. I hope everything is awesome in arizona, it sounds like you all had a good thanksgiving. Amy and mom be safe in Hawaii! Take pics for me and think of me freezing my rastafarian ne'ne's off here in Russia while you're on the beach. I love you all and miss you tons! Talk to you all on christmas.

-Scott

notes to Scott from District friends...

We got a small package from Scott this week.  He included some notes that were written to him from members of his current district.  They were very fun to read!  

#1
Elder Allen!  Its been so fun having you in the same district!  Your sense of humor has been a blessing to everyone in that tiny room, especially your Russian phrases and drawings!  I always appreciate the comments you make during district meetings, etc and the energy you have to always improve and strengthen your testimony.  We're for sure hanging out after when I can talk in Russian and not fake my way through a lesson with "Nick."  Thanks for having such a good attitude about all the changes you've been through here at the MTC. Its been such an example to me and will be a blessing to all your companions!

#2
Elder Allen!!!  I am seriously so grateful for the opportunity to have had you in my district and gotten to know you!  I have always loved and appreciated your witty and sassy comments, they always made me laugh.  You are going to make a wonderful missionary.  You have always been true to yourself and don't pretend to be something you're not.  and people will love you and trust you for that!  Thank you for your great example!  Thank you for being you!!!

#3
Elder Allen
I have know you much longer than anyone else here and feel you have grown a lot closer to God.  I enjoy the happiness you bring to the class and your humor in the dorm room.  You are a very smart  person and a great teacher of the gospel.  Every time you taught me, I could tell you knew what you were talking about, loved it, and knew it was true.  I am happy we are going to the safe mission and I wish you the best of luck!  I hope we can work together sometime in the field to bring others unto Christ.

#4
Elder Allen, you've been here for 12 weeks, don't you know that "bibblio"/ "dudues" means book or something?  I have appreciated your sassy comments for the last several weeks.  I have also seen you grow from a little zucchini to an amazing missionary.  I expect great things to happen over there and there to be thousands of Mormons spotting the land. Darrel.

#5
I am so glad that you are in our district.  It has been great to get to know you (though I'm still planning on interrogating you one day).  You are patient and hardworking and I know you'll be a great missionary to the Russian people.

#6
I am very happy you ended up back in my district!  Thank you for your example of hard work and being able to laugh.  You seriously are so funny and you made the MTC enjoyable.  I'm impressed how quickly you are picking up Russian and I know that through your continued hard work you will speak amazing Russian.  The people of Rostov are lucky to have you.  I know you are going to do great things there.  I admire your testimony and always appreciated your spiritual insights.  Keep up the good work.  You are amazing!

#7
Oh,  Elder Allen.  I'm not sure I can ever get the picture of you dancing the twist out of my mind.  I'm really not sure how you felt about getting moved around so much BUT it worked out well for our district.  You make me laugh!  And you are very kind to those of us who struggle with the language...you never made me feel bad in our lessons for not knowing much.  I feel like, especially, those inactive members are going to love you!

Fun, huh?!  

I just wish he had some like this from ALL the people in ALL his districts!  

He has met some wonderful friends at the MTC.  

We are grateful for his time there and the things he shares with us.

Wednesday November 14, 2012

MTC Week 10

Hello again! It was a great week here in the mtc, one more until I leave for Russia!! Very exciting. Thanks again for the dearelders and I got your package thanks alot! I sent you guys my sd card today but I couldn't think of much else to send.

 

It was fun talking to Amy on Monday! I had so much more I wanted to talk about but I froze up when you answered haha. I could have talked for a bit longer but oh well, one more week. I forgot to tell you I got my travel plans! woo hoo! My flight leaves SLC at 8 o'clock I'm pretty sure. and we leave the mtc at 5:00. So I am planning on calling you sometime between 6:15 and 7:30.

 

At 8 we fly from SLC to NYC and then only have about an hour layover time there so I doubt I'll be able to call you then because that's not a whole lot of time. Plus I guess I'm the 'travel leader' so I will have to be on top of finding the gate etc. Then from NYC we fly straight to Moscow. Moscow Russia!! And from what I understand we will have 12 hours in Moscow and we may go see red square or something then fly in a smaller plane to Rostov. Rostov Russia!! And my baggage limits are less so I might have to send a couple things home if I run out of room. Checked bags are 44 lbs each and carry on is 22.

 

It was sad to see the Ukrainians leave yesterday! I can't wait to see them after the mission. I never quite understood why Hunter was always wanting to hang out with his mission friends but now I know! These guys are all so awesome and I am so excited to hang out with them and speak Russian and talk about the good old days.. But elder Bingham got delayed! So I'll get to see him until we leave and I'm not quite sure when he heads out of to Donets'k.

 

Last night's devotional was really cool, it was a member of the 70 who talked about the law of consecration. He talked about a guy named John Tanner who was converted a long time ago. He devoted so much time and money to the church and he helped us keep the Kirkland temple for as long as we did. There is a church video about him you should go watch it!

 

Did I tell you that my companion spoke at mission conference? I can't remember if I did or not, but on fast Sundays they have a 2 hour long meeting where usually the mtc presidency speaks. A couple days before we sat next to the presidency in the cafeteria and Elder Schneider shared his conversion story with President Brown. So in mission conference president brown asked Elder Schneider to go up and give his testimony. It was awesome! And then they called him into their offices afterwards and he may be speaking on Thanksgiving day, I'm not sure.

 

The new russian missionaries come in today! Which means I'm gonna be a Russian MTC grandpa. Weird. We started our new schedule yesterday, and I get to have Brat Duffy again! one of my original teachers, he is way cool. He just graduated from the mariott school and he's waiting for his girlfriend to graduate to move to cali to work. Also he just took the CPA exam! What a stud. So our days are fairly normal but the last hour of each class block we go in to help the younger districts. Yesterday me and elder Schneider did a demonstration for them talking about receiving revelation through church attendance. It is fun to help out and to pretend we know what we are doing.

 

There ya have it folks, another week gone by here in provo. It's weird that I'm spending 3 months of my mission here in the mtc, that's 1/8 of my mission! I mean everyone likes the mtc but let me talk to some people in the real world!

Speaking of the real world, yesterday I burped and it tasted kind of like j-dawgs. I know thats a lot of info for you but it gave me an idea. Every tuesday they have hot dogs here so I was thinking someone in provo should get ahold of some j-dawgs sauce and get it to me before tuesday.. haha if it doesn't happen that's fine--just a thought.

 

I love you all, sorry for the long letter!

 

-Scott

Wednesday November 7, 2012

MTC Week 9

Thanks for the pictures! My SD card reader doesn't work on the MTC computers or else I'd send you the sweet pictures I've been taking. Did you take any pictures on the segway tour? When do taralynn kory and bowen go back home? It looks like you guys are having fun with them!

 

Thanks for the dearelders and thank the Sumsions for the Coke and cookies!! They were delicious.. I'm glad you liked the package I sent with all that random stuff in it. Ha and that 'Allen family reunion' shirt I found in the lost and found. I thought it was pretty funny because mom wanted to go to Durango before I left so I grabbed it. And that paper everyone signed is from my original district, I don't remember why they made it.

 

Well, the MTC is still good. Mom you are too busy, because I tried calling you a couple times this week again. I forgot my social security number haha so I was calling to get that so that I can call my bank to get my debit card to work in Russia. So dearelder me and tell me when I can call you at home to get that.

 

Also what are your plans for thanksgiving? Are you running the turkey trot? Because that is when I leave, so I'm hoping that my flight is early so I can call you before you leave for the run. What time do you usually leave to go to the race? I'll get my travel plans on Monday so I can give you more info on that next week. It will be so amazing to have real, American food for thanksgiving. Supposedly there is a Cafe Rio in the SLC airport!!

 

It's been super sad last night and this morning because one of the coolest guys in our zone went home to clear some things up. He will be able to come back in 6 months I think, and then go to Kiev. I'll miss him so much! But it was cool last night right after we heard he was leaving I got in bed and started reading the scriptures where I left off and one of the 1st scriptures I read was Alma 17:13. I thought that was pretty cool. I'm so glad he will be able to come back because he was such a good missionary.

 

The Russian is still improving, I am excited to be immersed in it. ha ha I started using the headsets in the devotionals for the international missionaries so I listen to it in Russian which is sweet because it's all church stuff so so I can actually understand it.

 

Have a good week, I think there's a new york times article about the protests in Russia against missionaries maybe you can find that.

 

4 more years! 4 more years!

Scott Allen

 

Wednesday October 31, 2012

MTC Week 8

Happy Halloween! Thanks for the dearelders and emails.. I sent you a package on monday so hopefully it will get there tomorrow or friday. I just sent some stuff that I thought you'd like. There's an awesome poem about russian missionaries I tried to send but I couldn't get it in time. I'll send it to you before I leave the mtc though. That is so fun that Taralynn Kory and Bowen are coming! What is Bowen's first Halloween costume going to be? Take some pictures for me.

So this week has been anti-climatic. The most exciting thing that happened was I got another letter from kevin boyer! That was awesome, and I wrote him back yesterday in Russian--I'll give it to the missionary going to Samara when we leave.

 

Also speaking of when we leave... Guess what? of course our visas got delayed!! We were supposed to get our travel plans tomorrow and leave on the 12th but they just came out with a new visa for 'preachers' so that is why it is delayed. So now I'm leaving.. drumroll... november 22nd! Ahhhh! Everyone who is not going to moscow is delayed. (but not people going to ukraine). So I have no Idea what we will do for the extra week and 1/2, because we won't have any teachers.? They will have to be with the new younger districts.. It will also be weird here without elder Bingham, Roggow and Manning who are going to Ukraine.. I feel most bad for elder Schneider though because he was most excited to leave and he got delayed the most out of all the missions, he doesn't leave until the 26th!

 

Just another day in the life of my MTC experience haha

 

Other than that of course my week was great. A couple weeks ago a general authority spoke at our fireside and said that he reads the Book of Mormon, 10 pages a day, every day. I thought that sounded like a good little system so that's what I have been doing. I think it is an awesome way to read! I like it more than going by chapter because sometimes chapters are super short and others are long.

 

Also this is a random thought but I think the MTC is ruining my taste buds! I remember the first day I was here I got a glass of the caffeine free coca cola they have here and almost spit it out because it tasted so watered down. And now I have to admit I enjoy it! ahh.. The first thing I'm doing in the slc airport is buying a real one haha! It is always nice to eat a 'real' meal at the temple on p-days.

 

Sorry I don't know any more of the story about Elder Manning's friend who was called to mainland China. I told you everything he was told in the letter. Elder Manning is going to Kiev, UK and he is companions with the missionary from Germany, elder Roggow. Who, the other day, casually threw out that his dad drives a Ferrari! sheesh I thought we were closer, it took 10 weeks for him to tell me that haha

 

Have an awesome Halloween tonight. That is fun that they are doing the party in the yard again, I was thinking last night that one memory I have is skateboarding with Taylor and others during the Halloween party at our house. And I concluded in my mind that that was 2 years ago! Holy cow does time go by fast nowadays. Those used to be the good old days and now these are my good old days.

 

Tell Hunter that I'm sorry I haven't written him, I need to do that! But if he wants to get anything sent to Erica he can send it to me and I can give it to the missionaries I know who are going to her mission. Also did Nathan Christiansen take Jake out to lunch yet? Hopefully he has.. Do I remember right that he has a girlfriend over there now? Atta boy!

Tell Jessica Congratulations and she should send me an invitation! That is so cool that she is getting married in a couple weeks.

 

Again thanks for everything, I love you all have a fun Halloween! They're putting up the Christmas lights here, so you must be slacking ha just kidding. The only think I can think of that I might need before Russia is more contacts. Bye!
 

-Elder Allen

MTC Week 7

It's p-day, it's field trip day!

How is life? It sounds pretty hectic for everyone, I hope you're feeling a little bit better! Go 30th ward tonight! Thanks for the dearelders, and thank the Ellsworth's for the chips/salsa and Sister Kimball for the treats. Does she speak russian or did hunter write out that note to me? I enjoyed it, especially because I could actually understand it haha..

Life in the mtc is great. The beginning of this past week was kind of boring but the past few days have been exciting. Oh and me and elder Schneider got called to be zone leaders, if I figure out what that means I'll let you know.. ha just kidding it just means we make sure everyone in the zone is doing good and talk with all the district leaders then report to the presidency.

Yesterday was exciting! Sometimes the church lets people come from around the world to see the church things, temple/welfare square, bishops storehouse, byu, mtc. So a big russian news station came yesterday, and our district was recommended so they came to our class and filmed us a little bit. They filmed us doing language practice, and introducing ourselves, etc. And then they called out Schneider for an interview and he ended up touring them around the whole mtc! he was gone with them for 45 minutes. Apparently it was politically driven, because of the mitt romney situation. They were trying to prove that the church is preparing our generation to be world leaders--through missions. Ha one of the questions they asked elder schneider was whether or not he will run for president after his mission!

Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal but I thought it was cool. The day before, a church public relations guy came in and told us some stuff and one thing he said was that we may contact more people through this one thing than the rest of our mission.. I don't know about that but apparently it is a big tv station, I think it's called REN. They are going to send us the link to the video so I'll forward it when I get it.

Speaking of politics how are the campaigns coming? I heard there was another debate a couple nights ago. Who won??

I am so excited to go to Russia! Did I tell you already that I got a letter from kevin? It was sweet to hear from him, he said Russia isn't how he thought it was going to be but it is amazing.

What are your plans for thanksgiving? Turkey trot? I have been preparing myself! I have a plan to run a turkey trot in russia on thanksgiving. I started running the other day and I've been running 2 more laps every day. I started at a mile and 10 laps equals a mile. So I have no idea how far I'll be running by the time I leave because I don't feel like doing the math.
It snowed this morning while we walked to the temple! I think we might even get some more tonight. It's not sticking down here but there is a layer on the mtns. It's good to finally have some change.

Has there been a change in the stake as far as girl's mission calls? I heard some crazy statistic from the deseret news but I can't remember it, something like a 471% increase in mission call applications since the announcement. Sure is crazy. Here's a cool story--

Elder manning's friend got his mission call and it just had a phone number in it. So he called the number and they asked him to come to salt lake for an interview. In the interview they said he is going to be one of the first missionaries going to mainland china and they just wanted to tell him face-to-face! That is so cool huh?

Let me know how life is, Amy thanks for the carmels and starbursts!! Love you all and miss you a ton!

Scott

Pictures from 10/17 letter

"Older" missionaries going to Samara

Candy Stash

Elder Bingham and Elder Allen (last night as companions)

MTC Week 6

This week was pretty good, just about the same as every other week here has been.

Yep the mtc is going by fast which is awesome! Everyone around here is freaking out though saying they don't have enough time to learn the language.. But I just want to get to Russia! It sounds like six flags and carlsbad were fun, did you go to cessy's? and tell the pothier's I'm sorry my starburst cost them 1.25$! I finished writing the letter and was about to seal it and I asked elder bingham if you can mail a starburst in a regular envelope. He said he didn't know, and I said me either and threw it in haha.

Tell Marcus I'm not sure whether or not he will have his mtc time cut short but I'd think so. The younger russian districts that came last week have 9 weeks instead of 12 though.

Guess what? I got a letter from Kevin Boyer, and it came from Russia! It was awesome to hear from him. He told me to take advantage of being in the mtc and America because everything is dirty and smells like garbage over there apparently. I'm going to write him again and send it with the samara missionaries when we leave.

Since conference was so exciting last week I forgot to tell you that elder Bednar came and spoke at our tuesday devotional. We were sitting in the choir like an hr. before it started and it flashed on the screen that he was coming. So we ditched out of choir super fast so we could get front row seats! He spoke just about how to review conference talks. He said he goes through each talk and looks for 1) doctrine 2) invitations to act and 3) blessings promised.

The new Russian missionaries came on wednesday! They are all awesome guys, the ones going to rostov are cool too. luckily. also luckily, they are actually good at basketball so we have some better games going nowadays.

And on sunday Daniel and Jon forrest were in sacrament meeting with us! it was awesome, their uncle is in our branch presidency. So we talked for a while and then I saw them at the temple again. We were standing there at the temple and daniel said hey lets call your mom real fast. I did not object but I told him I wouldn't hold the phone. So he put it on speaker and it rang and rang and you didn't answer!! so I could have talked to you if you weren't busy but I did get to hear your answering machine message.

Also I know Daniel told you but I blessed the sacrament in Russian! it was awesome. I was pretty nervous so I practiced it so much and in the end I had it memorized haha. I still used the card though-just in case. The water prayer is interesting. Because the regular form of water is 'vadoo.' when it gets declined in the prayer you have to be careful because if you say 'vodoo' that means water and if you say what you think it should be- 'vadoo' that means you bless it 'in hell.' crazy russian.
Yeah I still go on splits with elder bingham to play basketball everyday and we eat meals together so I see him fairly often.

Amy thanks for sending the carmels! I haven't gotten them yet but I am looking forward to when I do. And I enjoyed your stories this week, especially the porta potty one. Your life is so entertaining.

Jason good luck with tryouts when they come up and the stake tournament. It sounds like you had an awesome time in cali, I am beyond jealous! The funnest thing we do here is go to the vending machines and buy hot pockets so I can't even imagine the fun you had at six flags. That place is so fun. Don't tell mom but it might even be more fun than disneyland. any new music that I am missing out on?

Dad thanks for your dearelders they make my day. I didn't know you say the sacrament prayers in german every week in your head. That is so cool, I want to do that with Russian. It sounds like work is fun and the yard is looking nice. I thought I'd never say it but I wish I were there so I could help out with the yardwork.

Mom I wish you had answered your phone on sunday! It's ok though I'll talk to you in less than a month. And then on Christmas. Sometime this week I challenge you to just RELAX for 20 minutes and enjoy the beatiful day.

Taralynn, Kory and Bowen- Thanks Bowen for the dearelder! You are getting way too big. Guess who spoke last night in the devotional? Elder Bowen! He spoke in conference and he came and spoke to us again last night. I hope Kory gets something hunting when he goes next.

Anyway I love you guys! I'm going to try and send a couple pictures to you today, it's hard with these dinosaur computers they have here. Talk to you later. Answer your phone next time! haha

-Scott

MTC Week 5

What is up!? The mtc is still the same, it's getting a little monotonous but I'm sure that's how it is for everyone. It's still fun though. And in a way all this change is kind of good for me because it makes the time go by a little faster. Also I've gotten to know pretty much every Russian missionary, since I have been in a district with at least one companionship in every district. The new missionaries will come today, and I am so excited! There are 6 that are going to Rostov, I think. 4 guys and 2 girls, but they will be in the opposite zone.

My new district is fine, and I get along with all of them. It is a bit different though because there are more sisters than elders. There are 6 sisters and 4 elders! Our teachers are good, they are a little bit behind our old district but I enjoy the extra review I get. And my companion is a really hard worker, we've been getting up at 5 the past few days to study the language. I can definitely see why these missionaries were called Russian speaking because they are so dedicated to learning the language! And I think Russian is honestly the coolest thing I have ever studied. My teacher was talking to us the other day when some of us were bummed about how little of russian we know and he told us that the mtc is one of the most efficient ways to learn a language. He said "you've been here for 6 freaking weeks, and if a Russian professor came from any university in the nation he would be impressed with how much you already know." Then he had us watch 'finding faith in Christ' in Russian to show us how much we do really know.

So general conference was mehh, alright.. SIKE! It was insane! When Pres. Monson announced the new age change the whole mtc went nuts! Everyone was screaming, girls were crying, it was entertaining to say the least. But the first thing I thought was that I better see Jason before he leaves!! Maybe he should come to Russia to pick me up. I also hear that Russian speaking missions run in the family, in a way. So many of these missionaries here have had siblings serve in Russia. So I'm calling it right now that Jason is going to Donet'sk Ukraine. I had so many plans for the two of us before he left, I wanted to go to BYU together and make it the best snowboarding season ever! But obviously the prophet knows more than me..

Also I think this new age change is great for sisters! It removes the stigma that goes along with them serving a mission. People won't think they're doing it just because they couldn't get married. So all the girls in Mesa need to go! There's no excuses now.. My teacher is the executive sec. in his ward and he showed us the list of all the people who called him to start the process. Like 15 girls and 1 guy haha.

I could sense the urgency for missionary work in conference. And also my teacher reminded me that we need to continue to pray to open new areas of the world. The prophet asked us to do that, and alot of people have forgotten to do it (including me). But the last time a prophet told us to pray for this was Spencer Kimball, and that was right before the Berlin wall FELL and the red curtain FELL! So the Lord knows his will and he will hasten it when the time is right. I'm pretty sure the time is about to be right! But God won't open new areas if we are not prepared, I think.

Also for the new missionaries they are permanently shortening all the language courses and time in the mtc. Every one will be shortened by 1/3 which means russians will only stay 9 weeks, spanish 6 weeks, english 1 week, etc. They are building a new building here at the mtc in the short future (8 stories tall!) So you can see all the pieces fitting together, missionary work is about to get alot more awesome!

So I've got a funny story.. The other night I woke up at 2 or 3 a.m. and I honestly had no idea where I was. I started yelling and for some reason I thought I was in a warehouse or something. I went and looked out the door and I was like oh. I'm in the mtc. great.

Well I love you all even though you are in CA without me. Are you going to carlsbad to? Take some pictures and have fun! Amy have fun in Mesa, but not too much fun. haha your letters are the best! I laugh through every one. I am super excited for my carmels to get here! and if you wanted to send my obama shirt that would be great! The black one that says hope. I gotta represent during the elections, ya know? haha no really I just want to get people riled up. Courtney and Ben from the Bach split up, whaaaa? Perfect, now I am one step closer! When she tweeted me, that was the first step. So we're making progress here.

Jason me and Elder Bingham were so excited reading about your 35 pt game! haha that is so awesome. Did you get an Iphone yet? Maybe when you make the team dad will get you one *cough cough*. But really, I miss you and whenever anyone asks me what I miss most from home I say hands down I miss my brother most. Your future is so bright! Continue to make friends with everyone and have FUN! I'll see you soon enough.

Mom I miss you too! I'm glad you were excited to hear Rostov in conference. haha I may or may have not been asleep when he said that and my comp basically gave me a heart attack waking me up.

Dad have fun in CA. thanks for all the dearelders and all your support. I can't wait to skype all of you from RUSSIA!

Talk to you all in a week, send dearelders! Thanks Allen's for the candy! sorry again for such a long letter

-Scott

MTC Week 4

Hey everyone, it's P-day again!

 

Thanks for your dearelders, and Aunt Dawn too. I'm glad you had fun in Idaho with bowen, he is getting really big! Happy birthday to Kory on saturday right!? Hopefully he gets a day off for the big day. And it's conference too! I am excited for conference here in the mtc, I don't think there is an mtc choir this time-bummer. And if there is then I'm not in it! And that is awesome that you guys are getting Jason the new Iphone! One of our teachers has one and it is sweet.

 

So Obama is still president over here because guess what? You'll never guess. I got a new companion!! Ahhh! Everytime I get comfortable with something they throw a 180 at me. It's crazy. Yesterday my branch president called me in for an interview and he was talking about how he had like 21 companions on his mission and all this stuff and he was able to help so many people, and I was like cool story bro.. and then he said he decided to switch my companion and I was thinking whaaa? seriously? So who knows what's going on around here. I was joking with bingham after and I said I'm pretty sure next week we are getting called to Equador or something haha.

 

So with 5 weeks through in my mission I have been in 3 districts, 2 zones, had 2 companions, 9 different russian teachers, and lived in 3 different bedrooms!

 

I feel ok with the decision, and my new comp is cool. But Bingham has been having a harder time, partly because his new companion is a little odd. We were still in our own beds last night and we were falling asleep and all of a sudden he punched the wall and walked out. (at like 11 oclock). So I let him be out there for 10-15 minutes and then went out to talk with him. He will be fine, he just feels tired of all these moves and everything. But he is doing better today..

 

Our week was good, we taught alot and I learned alot of Russian. We committed both of our 'investigators' to baptism this week. Ha but I feel like it is not going to be this easy over in Russia! There is a computer program with a ton of russian church vocabulary and it I know most of those words. And my speaking is improving, this week I worked alot on russian grammar.

All the 'older' russian missionaries left this monday. I'm gonna miss them! Kevin Boyer is so lucky, all the coolest missionaries were going to his mission. And all those guys gave me a ton of their stuff. I got a few notebooks with missionary's  vocabulary and lessons and stuff, a nerf basketball hoop, a ton of food, a hackie sack, etc. I got a picture with all the missionaries I was really close with, hopefully I'll get some pictures sent out today.

 

The older missionaries leaving got me re-excited to go to Russia. Because at this point in my mission, it feels like the mtc IS my mission. Like I'll be here for 2 years. But seeing all of them get their travel plans and packing their suitcases made it feel more real. Next week the 'new' missionaries will come in. That is exciting! Hopefully some cool ones will come in that are going to Rostov! Oh, I forgot to tell you, so now that I'm in this newer district- there are 3 missionaries going to rostov. So I will get to know them a little better..

 

Grandpa Allen I met someone that knew you at Mesa High.. His name was Elder Goodman, and he served a mission in russia, in Rostov. So that's all I know about him, maybe you'll know who I'm talking about and maybe not. He said one of his brothers dated aunt carrie or something, I don't know..

 

Well I love you guys, and I am hopefully going to send a package for you today.. Have fun at SIX FLAGS! Without me!! Tell everyone I say hi.

 

Scott

MTC Week 3

Dear everyone,

Bowen is crawling now?? I want a video or a picture!

Anyway how is everything? How long are you and amy in Idaho? What is Kory hunting?

Thanks again for the dearelders and package, and thank the Ellsworths for the cookies! We are loaded with candy and food. Someone came into our room and dumped a ton of candy on our desk and we don't know who it was. and then Elder Bingham got a package with 3 loaves of homemade cinnamon bread and some candy too. then you guys sent me that package with sweets in it, and then with the Ellsworth's cookies we basically have our year supply.

So on Sunday we got to go watch the Brigham City temple dedication, which was so cool. Maybe I have been to a temple dedication before, but if I have I don't remember. So anyway it was awesome. My favorite part was the temple president's talk. He talked about habits, and making good ones. He promised blessings if we make good habits and then he said "how can I promise you these things today? Because I know whose house this is." So cool huh!

The language is picking up again. I can understand pretty much everything the teacher says and I can write well but speaking is still the hardest. I can speak, but I still can't decline all the words properly when I'm speaking. Because of all the cases, you know? In Russian you have to change every word depending on the type of sentence. I finally memorized that case chart! and I can apply it to writing but not speaking because you have to think so fast. cases are awesome. It's kind of more effective I think because you eliminate words like am, of, is, etc.

The older missionaries leave next week! I've made friends with all the kids going to Kevin's mission because they are the most normal. And I'm friends with a sister going to Rostov. there are just two going to Rostov next week.

 Jake Jarvis gave me a squirt gun before he left and I snipe people in the hallways from my bed. And I accidentally shot my roommate as he walked in the door and he flipped! But he didn't know it was me. He was like who did that! turning around in circles getting all riled up haha so I said it was me. He's like No squirt guns are allowed in my room! end of discussion!! So mom don't worry, I still have parental guidance here in the mtc, good old Elder Holloway.

Me and Bingham got called to be sacrament meeting coordinators. So we go and prepare everything and choose people to bless/pass. We passed the sacrament this week and we're working up our courage to bless- because it's in Russian! I think I'm going to bear my testimony in Russian on Sunday so I'll let you know how that goes haha. And I'm pretty excited for conference! We are trying to figure out a way that we can watch it in our classroom so we can have blankets and stuff.. if it's allowed..

I got a letter from Hunter! It sounds crazy, but I think he is having fun. And he said he is getting big. He said he was about to go through the 'gas chamber.' I'm not sure what that is but I think it's like pepper spray and stuff. I hope.

Jason I hope homecoming was fun! thanks for the pictures and email, I think your date was the cutest in the group. And what are you, popular or something- getting asked to winter formal already haha! crazy!  I'm glad you tore it up in church ball, better than I ever did back then.. my comp says to youtube Jason Williams highlights. Apparently he is like a white Allen Iverson but more stylish.. I went hard in ball yesterday! because there is this new kid who is way good so I crossed him up a few times and hit some jimmers in his face! I was pumped.  And you should take Elder Binghams sister on a date haha she is a junior too. It'd only be an hour and 1/2 to pick her up..

Amy have fun with Bowen and take pictures!

Dad thanks for your dearelders.  It sounds like you're working hard and staying busy. I'm trying to stay busy too. Elder Bingham says he thinks he'd like you. The other night were just quoting seinfeld back and forth. So he knows his seinfeld. Also I saw your 'I'm a mormon' page. I need to make one of those sometime.

Mom thanks again for the package and everything. don't miss me too much but also don't forget about me! I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun with Bowen this week. That's sweet that you got to take those people to lunch in Rexberg.

Taralynn and Kory. Is it snowing yet? Boise state is doing pretty good I hear, well actually all I know is that they beat BYU so maybe they're not that good. Let me know if you get anything on your hunt.

So grandpa knows Bingham's grandpa Terry? Were they good friends? He is in the Gila Valley temple presidency now. Was he a farmer? because that's what Elder Binghams family does now.

Did grandpa have fun on his campout, other than the skinned up elbow? at least he tripped over a tree root and not a rattle snake.. I bet it's getting cold in Strawberry, it's a bit chilly here this week

Oh I almost forgot, you'll never guess who I met here. This kid that lives in our building lives down the street from the Duck Dynasty family!!! Oh man I envy him.. and he has also met the people from swamp people. What a lucky guy.

Sorry my letter is so long!  Love you all and miss you!!

Elder Allen

Tell Joann I'll take care of Chris for her so she doesn't have to worry! Yesterday we were walking and noticed a huge classroom, like 2 times bigger than ours and there were half the missionaries. And their desks were nicer and they had whiteboards, with a view from the 5th floor! So we asked where they were going and they said Mexico City, so maybe Chris will get lucky and be in that fancy classroom.

Scott also wrote a short letter to his Dad--telling him that one of the main reasons he is on a mission is because of the example Jay set...and the way Jay still talks about his mission experiences and the people he met there.  He commented on their trip to Austria this spring and what a good memory that will always be. 

MTC Week 2

Well, we got letter #2 from Scott yesterday.  It didn't come as early in the day as the first one, but it was complete with pictures!

(here's some highlights!)

 

September 12, 2012

Everyone!

So if you guys remember my letter last week, a majority of it was about how amazing my district is. Well guess what?

It no longer exists!!

 

 For some reason unknown to me they split up only our district. So me and my comp aren't in the same district/zone/ward/classes as any of the friends we made the first week! Honestly it was so hard at first, I couldn't think about it because it made me so upset. But I will be fine. We still hang out with our old zone as often as we can. We went to the temple with them this morning and we have our same roommates. (kyle litzenberger and tyler jones)

Since we were new to the ward me and my companion were asked to give our testimonies in sacrament meeting. That went well. Our new 'Mission President' was president of the Moscow mission for a while.

Russian is coming along well. I feel like I'm the only person here that is not stressed about learning the language. So I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We can now teach the basic lessons, but we need a script for the most part. One other thing that stinks about our district split is that we don't have the same teachers we had before. Our old ones were the greatest. One was that investigator I was telling you about from Ukraine and the other 2 go to BYU.

All the 'older' missionaries who are going to Russia are really cool and they help me out a lot with learning the language.  

Oh, I think I mentioned our 1st 'investigator' in my last letter. He is honestly one of the coolest people I've ever met. He grew up in Ukraine and was converted when he was 20 then went on a mission to Moscow. When he was taking the discussions he would hang out with the missionaries all the time. And he said it took over 100 lessons before he was baptized! 

  

 

 Dad asked if I knew 2 sisters (literal) that are both going to Russia (two different missions). Yes I know both of them! One is (was) in my district, she is the missionary me and my companion gave the priesthood blessing. And she is doing fine now. But apparently they said she was going to have to have surgery on her throat or something, but that was before we gave her the blessing.

Well sorry these letters aren't very organized; my brain is on another level at the moment. I blame it on the Russian.  I love you all and miss you! Thanks for your prayers.

 -старйшинa Scott Allen

I wonder how many statues Scott will ride in Russia?!

 

  

Scott's roommate from BYU was in the MTC with Scott two weeks.  Elder Jarvis left Monday for Chile.  Scott says he sees lots of Mt. View missionaries, which is always fun.  He asked about cousin Marcus's call--which should come this week!!  It would be great if they could be in the MTC together for a time