My First 2 Days

Wednesday was probably the hardest for me. I took the leap of faith and came out to the MTC, but one thing people don't tell you about leaps of faith is that you are going to have to land on the ground eventually, and when you do, you will stumble some as you try and find your balance. That was me on Wednesday. In the Adjusting to Missionary Life publication, there is a self assessment you can take to see how stressed you are. It has categories for the different types of stress. Almost all of mine was physical. I was just so drained on my first day. Between staying up late the night before, waking up early to catch the plane, and being hungry, I was so drained.

I got some much needed sleep these past two nights, and I am feeling much better. I have a good routine now, rather than being herded around like sheep on the first day.

My companion's name is Elder McWhorter. He is the elder from Arkansas who is really good at pole vaulting. We get along great. He likes to talk to everyone. He is going to be great in Indonesia. We share a room with another companionship, our district leader Elder Pacheco, and his Canadian companion Elder Darby.

I have the coolest zone/district in the entire MTC. Our entire zone consists of 36 missionaries, but by the time I leave we will get that up to 100+. We all sit together for every meal. Our zone is the Indonesia/Malaysian/Tonga/Fiji/etc. zone. We have a lot of diversity. The Tongan elders are some of the coolest people. There are three missionaries going to Indonesia who have already been here at the MTC for their 6 weeks, and now are just waiting on their visas. They find out today if they are going to leave tomorrow or next week. They are already pretty fluent in Indonesian. I can't wait to be at that level, I just hope that I don't have to stay at the MTC waiting for my visa.

Everyone who works at the MTC is so great. I already feel their love for me. My language teacher is great. His name is Elder Rawle, and he only speaks to us in Indonesian. I can already understand some of what he is saying when he talks to other people fluent in the language.

I'm being taken great care of here at the MTC. Please don't send me heavy packages, and especially food (especially sweets). There is plenty of food here. I have just about everything I need, and I don't want my bag weighing too much when I fly out of here. At the MTC they let us check our emails every day, but I can only respond on Fridays. I love hearing from you guys, so write me often!

My first few days here I have learned a lot. My testimony has grown, and I am becoming a more dedicated servant. I really want to leave the MTC prepared to go out and preach in Indonesian. I know that God loves his children, and I want to invite others to feel of God's love by helping them build their faith in Christ. Before I can do this, first I need to build up my own faith in Christ. If Jesus Christ wants us to help others come unto him by believing on his name, then surely he wants the same of us.

Sincerely,

Elder Allen

Feel free to email Justin at MrJustinAllen@myldsmail.net.

Here are photos he sent of his companion and other missionaries that are going with him to Indonesia.

Elder Allen

Justin was set apart tonight as a full time missionary by President Darrell Haskin. He will serve as a full time missionary for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) www.lds.org for two years.

We take him to the Atlanta airport tomorrow morning where he will fly to Utah. Our friend Jared Tippetts is going to pick him up at the airport and drive him down to the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Justin will be in the Missionary Training Center for six weeks before flying over to Jakarta Indonesia.

We are super excited for him and can't wait to hear about his experiences. He will be sending us weekly email updates which will be posted to this blog.