Elder Carter Allen
2111 Austin Ave #6103
Georgetown, TX 78626
Monday, December 13, 2010
First Letter from Texas!
I dont know if you got my letter yet, but i wrote you and told you that my new address is
211 austin ave #6103
Georgetown, TX 78626
I'm In Georgetown up above Austin. My companion is elder Roland. Hes from Las Vegas. Hes pretty cool. hes is a good teacher and i'm learning alot. he likes cars to, but not as much as i do. we were both put into this area brand new, so we dont know a whole bunch of what were doing, were both trying to figure it out. He just came from Serenada tho. There the ward just above us. were in the Georgetown ward. haha this ward is like the whole city of Spanish Fork, and i'm not exadurating! we are only assigned to one ward, and just the area in the ward. I'm not used to that, the missionarys back home covered just the area, and as many wards (like 20) that were in the area. but they actually closed down the Serenada area of the mission for a while. nobody was being baptized. so they took everyone out and sent them somewhere else. so They took elder Roland and sent him with me. so he does know the area pretty well, just not great. they are getting rid of the apartment in Serendada to, so we have been slowly moving everything we want to our apartment. today we are going to get a big desk and everything else. It's been pretty crazy. our apartment is a huge mess. today we are going to clean and organize everything.
This area is a car area, so i havent gotten to use my bike yet. actually i havent seen it yet. when we got to the mission home on wedneday, they said they never got it. but then they called the bike shop and its there. there going to send it up to me on friday. we are driving a truck (05 ish Chevy Colorado) so we will put our bikes back there and be able to ride a little. i'm excited for that. haha i've been getting a little car sick tho, my compainon does only use one foot to drive, but sometimes i cant tell. its funny how me and Tanner would always drive full throttle, and hard on the breaks and we would never get sick, but with elder roland i do. hmmm wierd.
The first day we were here they took us down the the Alamo and gave us a quick history about it (its really not as interesting as i thought it would be) then we walked around and handed out copies of the book of Mormon, I have mine away to the second guy i talked to, it was pretty fun. I think working at Auto Zone really helped me be more comfortable talking to people. but its still kinda hard. then that night we slept in a small apartment. there were 11 of us in a really small apartment. I was so ready to know where i was serving so i could have some space. So now I'm up here in Georgetown. Its just me and elder Roland, but its still crowded because of the huge mess left by the other missionarys. well get it all cleaned up today tho.
we are teaching someone that the other elders were teaching before they left. His name is MOE. hes a crazy fat old man :) he is going to be baptized on Christmas day at 2:00 pm. That will be fun. we were also left with a few other investigators that should be close to being baptized. it's exciting.
All the people here are really nice. its allot different than Utah tho. when people just have normal conversations one of the first things they ask someone they meet is what church do they go to, then if they dont go to a church they say come to mine! there not doing it just to get them to come, but just because church is what they do here. They dont care what church you go to, just as long as you go to one. in Utah we dont really talk about that a whole lot, I think we are alot quicker to judge everyone. Elder Roland always makes fun of me because I'm from Utah, "The Factory" as everybody here calls it. but i don't care, i like utah just fine, and i dont plan on living here when i get home.
oh Elder Roland really recommends using dear elder out here to. he thinks it only costs as much as a postage stamp, but hes not sure. he said it just goes to the mission office, then they mail it to me from there. so i get it alot faster. but whatever works i guess.
I think next P-day we are going to try to take pictures of some of the cool churches around. we were going to do it today but we have alot to do with moving apartments and junk. well i still have to e-mail my president, so i should go. I expect an E-mail next week!!! you could even mail it to me so i know what i'm going to say back so i dont waste time thinking.
Talk to you soon, I love you all
Elder Carter Allen
211 austin ave #6103
Georgetown, TX 78626
I'm In Georgetown up above Austin. My companion is elder Roland. Hes from Las Vegas. Hes pretty cool. hes is a good teacher and i'm learning alot. he likes cars to, but not as much as i do. we were both put into this area brand new, so we dont know a whole bunch of what were doing, were both trying to figure it out. He just came from Serenada tho. There the ward just above us. were in the Georgetown ward. haha this ward is like the whole city of Spanish Fork, and i'm not exadurating! we are only assigned to one ward, and just the area in the ward. I'm not used to that, the missionarys back home covered just the area, and as many wards (like 20) that were in the area. but they actually closed down the Serenada area of the mission for a while. nobody was being baptized. so they took everyone out and sent them somewhere else. so They took elder Roland and sent him with me. so he does know the area pretty well, just not great. they are getting rid of the apartment in Serendada to, so we have been slowly moving everything we want to our apartment. today we are going to get a big desk and everything else. It's been pretty crazy. our apartment is a huge mess. today we are going to clean and organize everything.
This area is a car area, so i havent gotten to use my bike yet. actually i havent seen it yet. when we got to the mission home on wedneday, they said they never got it. but then they called the bike shop and its there. there going to send it up to me on friday. we are driving a truck (05 ish Chevy Colorado) so we will put our bikes back there and be able to ride a little. i'm excited for that. haha i've been getting a little car sick tho, my compainon does only use one foot to drive, but sometimes i cant tell. its funny how me and Tanner would always drive full throttle, and hard on the breaks and we would never get sick, but with elder roland i do. hmmm wierd.
The first day we were here they took us down the the Alamo and gave us a quick history about it (its really not as interesting as i thought it would be) then we walked around and handed out copies of the book of Mormon, I have mine away to the second guy i talked to, it was pretty fun. I think working at Auto Zone really helped me be more comfortable talking to people. but its still kinda hard. then that night we slept in a small apartment. there were 11 of us in a really small apartment. I was so ready to know where i was serving so i could have some space. So now I'm up here in Georgetown. Its just me and elder Roland, but its still crowded because of the huge mess left by the other missionarys. well get it all cleaned up today tho.
we are teaching someone that the other elders were teaching before they left. His name is MOE. hes a crazy fat old man :) he is going to be baptized on Christmas day at 2:00 pm. That will be fun. we were also left with a few other investigators that should be close to being baptized. it's exciting.
All the people here are really nice. its allot different than Utah tho. when people just have normal conversations one of the first things they ask someone they meet is what church do they go to, then if they dont go to a church they say come to mine! there not doing it just to get them to come, but just because church is what they do here. They dont care what church you go to, just as long as you go to one. in Utah we dont really talk about that a whole lot, I think we are alot quicker to judge everyone. Elder Roland always makes fun of me because I'm from Utah, "The Factory" as everybody here calls it. but i don't care, i like utah just fine, and i dont plan on living here when i get home.
oh Elder Roland really recommends using dear elder out here to. he thinks it only costs as much as a postage stamp, but hes not sure. he said it just goes to the mission office, then they mail it to me from there. so i get it alot faster. but whatever works i guess.
I think next P-day we are going to try to take pictures of some of the cool churches around. we were going to do it today but we have alot to do with moving apartments and junk. well i still have to e-mail my president, so i should go. I expect an E-mail next week!!! you could even mail it to me so i know what i'm going to say back so i dont waste time thinking.
Talk to you soon, I love you all
Elder Carter Allen
Friday, December 10, 2010
San Antonio, Texas
This is a nice letter we received from the Mission President's wife, Sister Jones:
Dear Missionary families,
Your wonderful sons and daughters have arrived safely in San Antonio, Texas! Their plane arrived on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. President Jones and I and our assistants were there to greet them as they came down the escalator. They were enthusiastic and happy to be here! We loaded the mission vans and returned to the mission home for lunch and an orientation. At around 5pm they headed to the Alamo! After learning a little about the history, they were divided into companionships and went out, Book of Mormon in hand, to make their first contacts as Texas missionaries.
Later, we returned to the mission home for dinner and a slide show. Tomorrow we will meet in the morning for more orientation and then your son or daughter will find out where they will be serving and who their companion will be. We have excellent trainers for each of your sons and daughters and we know they are where they are supposed to be. We will be sending a letter to you soon with a picture and more details and their address. P-day is on Monday so you should expect an email from your missionary. If you have mail or packages to send, for now, we recommend you send them to the mission office at the following address. If it is a Christmas package, please mark it with a bold "C' in the bottom left corner.
Your wonderful sons and daughters have arrived safely in San Antonio, Texas! Their plane arrived on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. President Jones and I and our assistants were there to greet them as they came down the escalator. They were enthusiastic and happy to be here! We loaded the mission vans and returned to the mission home for lunch and an orientation. At around 5pm they headed to the Alamo! After learning a little about the history, they were divided into companionships and went out, Book of Mormon in hand, to make their first contacts as Texas missionaries.
Later, we returned to the mission home for dinner and a slide show. Tomorrow we will meet in the morning for more orientation and then your son or daughter will find out where they will be serving and who their companion will be. We have excellent trainers for each of your sons and daughters and we know they are where they are supposed to be. We will be sending a letter to you soon with a picture and more details and their address. P-day is on Monday so you should expect an email from your missionary. If you have mail or packages to send, for now, we recommend you send them to the mission office at the following address. If it is a Christmas package, please mark it with a bold "C' in the bottom left corner.
Your Missionary's Name
C/O Texas San Antonio Mission
404 East Ramsey Rd, #105
San Antonio, TX 78216
If you have not already sent a Christmas letter, please do so as soon as possible. You can e-mail it to me and I will print it out or you still might have time to mail it. We will have the missionaries read their letter at our Christmas Zone meeting on Dec. 21st. If you have any questions, please contact me at this e-mail.
Thank you for sending these well prepared, extraordinary young men and women to serve with us! We'll take good care of them.
Love,
Sister Suzanne Jones
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Off to Texas, Yeehaa!
Carter called this morning at 8am from the SLC airport. It was so good to hear his voice. He said he was glad to be on his way to Texas and finally getting to be in the great outdoors again. He said to tell everyone thanks for the letters and he hopes they don't stop. We will have a new address for him as soon as he knows it.
From Carter's letter:
"Elder Decker is leaving tonight so he was packing everything. Holy Cow! He was not having a good time. I spent 1 1/2 hours packing all his junk! I felt like his mother!! Goodness me. We ended up collected 88 bags of chips and we ate them all tonight. This will be the last letter from the MTC. It may be a while until you hear from me. I'll write when I can. I love you guys!"
From Carter's letter:
"Elder Decker is leaving tonight so he was packing everything. Holy Cow! He was not having a good time. I spent 1 1/2 hours packing all his junk! I felt like his mother!! Goodness me. We ended up collected 88 bags of chips and we ate them all tonight. This will be the last letter from the MTC. It may be a while until you hear from me. I'll write when I can. I love you guys!"
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Christmas Address
For Christmas packages send to:
Elder Carter Byron Allen
404 East Ramsey Road Ste. 105
San Antonio, TX 78216
Elder Carter Byron Allen
404 East Ramsey Road Ste. 105
San Antonio, TX 78216
Pictures
Because Carter is Carter, he sent 8 pictures of the heavy equipment used in the MTC renovation.
Letters from the MTC
This is a compilation of a few letters he has sent. As you can tell, he emails like texting.
Right now we are sitting on the floor. We have been here for an hour. We are waiting to get seats for a devotional. We then will be doing a service project.My Thanksgiving was ok, but nothing can compare to Uncle Bill's cooking. I really wanted to go to the Tisdale's for Thanksgiving, and all that good food!
My companion's name is Elder Brown and he is from Lindon. We get along really well, he's cool.
How are my dogs? I miss them. You should send me pictures of everyone, and the dogs to :) Alice sent me some pictures of Thanksgiving, it looked like fun. Grandma and Grandpa are funny :) oh in my letter I sent yesterday, I sent my memory card. so just wipe it clean and send it back :)
I got some cookies from JT yesterday and a nice letter and a picture from Braden. I wrote him back and mailed that yesterday . Sister Boothe sent me and Austin some way good peanut butter oatmeal thingys... they were good.
I am excited to get out of the MTC. I'm learning alot, but I really just want to start teaching and go to Texas. The MTC is good, but it gets old really fast. Jacob said the days go slow, but the weeks fly. It already feels like I've been here forever!
Thanks for everything that you have sent to me! it always makes me so happy to get packages and letters! Well my laundry is almost done, so I'll write you soon. Thanks again, I love you all!
Love
Elder Allen
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