Email: February 10th, 2011

Hey everyone. How was your last couple of days? It's weird because I just emailed you guys and not much has happened since Monday except on Tuesday we taught Wilson and Loong, The kids in my last email. We taught them the plan of salvation and Wilson had really good questions. Loong doesn't seem to have much interest right now but he'll come and listen which is good because he can feel the spirit. We also gave Wilson a baptismal date for next month!!! I really hope he gets baptized. We had a chance to ask him about what keeps bringing him back. He said that he has a good feeling and that he knows that it can help him be better. He says he doesn't think it's boring, except for sacrament meeting, and he really likes to learn the stuff in priesthood and Sunday school. He's such a cool kid.

On Wednesday we had our moves calls and I was a little worried that Dastrup would be moving but we are going to be together for another six weeks. YES!!! I love Elder Dastrup. He's really a good example for me and when he bears testimony you really can feel the spirit. Yesterday when we were finding we ran into this one christian guy on the street and told him about Joseph Smith and prophets. He told us that there were no prophets on the earth today and that the Bible says so. My first reaction was to prove to him with the bible that God will always call prophets and I'm arguing with him about authority and stuff but then Elder Dastrup just simply bears a simple testimony about the restoration and God's love for us. I'm still trying to learn to not use my own knowledge but to just bear testimony. Elder Dastrup is really good at that.

I'm really grateful that Heavenly Father sent me here where the majority of people aren't christian. It's so much easier for me to teach someone with a Buddhist or no religious background, rather then Christians. I can't imagine how much different Jon's, Richard's, Todd's and Jake's missions were. I think it would be a lot harder. I'm excited to swap mission stories with you guys when i get back. Anyway I love you all so much. I hope you have a good week this week, oh, and Elder Carrey just reminded me this week is Valentines Day so I hope you have a good one of those =) Love ya

Love, Elder McAllister

Email: February 7th, 2011

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't email last Thursday. It was Chinese New Year and everything everywhere was closed. This email will be short because I'm still going to email this Thursday which is in a couple days so I'll save most of it till then. I just really quick want to tell you a story about how amazingly powerful the spirit is. So a couple weeks ago me and my amazing companion Elder Dastrup ran into these two seventeen year old kids on the street. There names are Wilson and Loong and they were what we call in Chinese Fei Jai or Punks or gangsters or however you say that in English. We asked them if they think families are important and Wilson said no. So we asked him what was most important, and probably just trying to act cool, he said money is the most important and then asked us to give him money. I told them that i am also very poor. We just quickly shared about how the gospel blesses families and then got there numbers. At the time I thought the numbers were probably fake or that they would never actually come to a lesson. So a couple days later me and my amazing companion Elder Dastrup are doing calls and we get to both of these kids numbers and kind of joked about them and how funny it would be if they actually came back. Anyway I called Wilson and he actually answered and I asked him if he remembered us and he said, yea your the poor white guy I met on the street, and we laughed about that for a second and then I asked him if we could see him the next day and he said if he had time then he would call us. Usually that means no in a polite way. So the next day comes and we didn't really expect him to call but randomly our phone rang and it was Wilson and he said that he wanted to see us so we went and met him and Loong at the MTR station and took them back to the church. We showed them around and stuff and they kind of treated it like a joke but I think mostly just to act tough or something. But we sat down with them and had a really good lesson and at the end they said that if they knew it was true they would be baptized. Totally awesome but anyway a couple days later Wilson came to church and was totally bored out of his mind. He fell asleep in every class and at the end we asked him if the next day he would like to go to Bishop Mak's for FHE. He's like, what more meetings?!?! haha We explained that FHE is a little different then church and any way he came and actually was pretty bored at that too but there was food so that part was good. So we're just thinking that there's no way this kid is going to still come back for more. But then last Saturday we called him to ask him to church and he said that he's coming and he's going to bring his friend Loong with him. They both show up and again totally bored and again fell asleep in most of the meetings. After we found out that durring the last week the young men also invited them to go to a BBQ activity that we didn't even know about. So, anyway, me and my amazing companion Elder Dastrup have been trying to figure this out. Why are they coming when they know perfectly well that they will be bored out of there minds? These kids are not the type to go to church and they aren't the most well behaved kids. They were both kicked out of high-school for reasons I don't know. Why would kids like that still be coming to something so opposite of them? We haven't really had a chance to talk to them about it yet so we still don't know. Maybe they are feeling or experiencing something they've never felt before and they like it or they're curious. I don't know but i do know that Heavenly Father loves them just as much as He loves any other of His children no matter what decisions they may have made in the past. I know that when they come to church and spend time with members they can feel that love from their Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost. I don't know what decisions they will make from here, that's up to them but i have learned an amazing lesson. No matter who we are, where we are, what things we may have done in the past, whether we're rich or poor, tall or short, fat or skinny, loved or forsaken by others, no matter how or what our lives may be, one thing will never ever change and that is the Love from our Father in Heaven. He is constantly looking at us through loving eyes that don't see us as we see ourselves but He sees our true and great value and potential. He is constantly reaching out to us and I've seen it. On many occasions I've been blessed to be my Saviors hands in reaching out to others. Me and Elder Dastrup love these two high school drop out, punk little kids. Not because of the choices they have made in the past but because they are children, sons, of God. They have worth and value and need this Gospel just as much as anyone. I'm so tired of pride or the idea that we're better or worse then others. I wish i could constantly look at myself and others the way Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father do. I'll probably be working on that my whole life but it'll be worth it.

I guess my short email got a little long haha. I just want you all to know that I've seen the Holy Ghost touch the heart of these people and I've seen there hearts change. I know that God loves us and that he sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for us so we can one day return, with our families, to there presence. I love my mission and i wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love all of you so much. I hope you have a good next couple of days and ill talk to you on Thursday.

Love, Elder McAllister

PS this last Thursday we went to Big Buddha and I'm sending some pictures. The one with the sun really bright in the background is a picture of the seven oldest missionaries in the mission. The other one is me and five of my old companions. the last one is me and elder plumb trying to do Kung Fu

Email: January 27th, 2011

Family!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! How are all of you doing? This last week has been really crazy and hard but lots of miracles =) That's how it works, when you get to a hard time in a week, a month, a year or just a hard time in life, if you show your trust in Heavenly Father by just doing the simple things that He's asked us to do and endure then you will see miracles. We never know what's going to happen in the future, we'd like to think we do and we should plan for what might happen, but Heavenly Father knows and he will prepare us as we righteously follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost. This last week a lot of plans that we originally had have fallen through, and investigators that we're progressing have slowly stopped, and some days it seems that for hours not one person will stop to talk to us. But on the flip side as me and Elder Dastrup keep going just doing what we're here to do (smiling while we're doing it) we've seen so many miracles. The other day someone canceled a lesson but because of it we were able to be somewhere else where someone needed us and were able to share the gospel with them. Yesterday two punk kids that we thought wouldn't come to a lesson or have any interest, both came and really felt the spirit. Tuesday was a really hard day for us. It started out good. We had plans for two new investigators to come for the first lesson and then we were going to teach our golden investigator brother lam. One of the new investigators canceled and Brother Lam said he was to busy that day. But the first new investigator came but it didn't turn out like we hoped. We got through the lesson pretty good but then he just started arguing with us and pulled out his Bible and a bunch of anti Mormon papers that he wrote and just started bashing on Joseph Smith and our church. We really just tried to keep calm and bear simple testimony but he just kept insulting us and our testimony. I finally just cut him off and i told him that if you gave me all the proof in the world that Joseph Smith was a fake prophet, that the Book of Mormon was false and this church is not true and put it all in front of me, None of it would shake my testimony that Heavenly Father has given me through the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God, That this gospel is true and that the Book of Mormon is True. I know because of the effects that I've seen from it in my life and most of all because of the happiness that it's brought to my family and the love that it's helped me develop for them. Then he said something that really pissed me off, He said, Family has nothing to do with any of this. I told him that Family has EVERYTHING to do with it. With that we were done. We said a closing prayer to try to get the spirit back and we left. You might think what miracle came from that but i know that even though the testimony that I shared might not have effected him but it really effected me. I can tell you right now that bearing testimony builds testimony. I walked out of that lesson yes a little angry and mad but also with a stronger testimony of the restored gospel then I had when I walked in. I've seen so much on my mission. Evidence on both sides that the gospel is and isn't true. But even the evidence that it is true isn't as strong as the simple still small voice from the Holy Ghost that it is true. I know it is with all my heart. I love you all so much! I'm more grateful every day that i was able to be in this family. I'm so grateful that you have endlessly shared and taught me the gospel and your testimonies. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and He really wants to help us through our hard times, and celebrate with us through the good times. He is always there.

I hope you all have a really good week. I'll talk to you soon.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder McAllister

Email: January 20th, 2011

Hey Family!!!! How was all of your guys' week? We've had a lot of blessings this week. We've been able to find a couple new investigators this week that are GOLDEN! One of them, Tracy, who was refereed by her friend Olivia randomly on the street. We started teaching both of them this week and Olivia originally didn't have any interest, she just came with Tracy as a friend. But after the first lesson she totally has interest now. haha I love the Spirit. He really can change peoples harts if they let him in. The only thing is that Tracy lives in Tin Shui Wai which is really far away out of our area and zone. We'll have to turn her over to those sisters soon. But Olivia lives here in Tai Wai so we'll be able to hand her over to the sisters here. But they are both coming to church this Sunday!! =)

This other lady that we found last week, Ms Wong, is totally golden. She is from mainland so her Cantonese isn't really good so we turned her over to the mandarin elders. She's practically read the whole Book of Mormon already and seems to know more then we do about it =) haha She's really poor and she cuts hair on the streets just to earn a little money to help her family in mainland. So me and Elder Dastrup are going over to her "Shop" after emails to get our hair cut to help her out. Her shop consists of bamboo rods to hold her tarp roof up with a chair and a 5" by 8" mirror. There's places like this all over Hong Kong so it's normal but just sad that it's all that she has. But she's totally awesome and she's a really happy person.

We just started teaching another investigator last week, Emme. She is the older sister of a member in our ward, A-Jay, who is out on a mission right now. A-Jay's mom is also a member of about a couple years. Emme is pretty tough and it'll be harder to get though to her but we've had a couple really good lessons with her. We have a member that is actually A-Jay's girlfriend that is also really good friends with Emme help us out. Emme is willing to meet with us but she just doesn't seem willing to pray on her own. That's what we're working on right now with her. I can see her getting baptized though. She's just needs to be willing to really try.

That's pretty much it for our week. We're just getting ready for Bro Lam's baptism on the 30th of January and really excited about that and also Allen on the 13th of February. They are both big miracles!

I love my comp Elder Dastrup. He's really helping me and pushing me to be better and not get too truncky for home. haha He's really helping me a lot and I'm really grateful for him. I love how Heavenly Father sends certain people to you at certain times in your life to help you along.

I love you all so much!! I hope you all have a really good week. and ill talk to you soon.

Love, Elder McAllister

Email: January 13th, 2011

Hey Family!!! How are all of you doing? This last week was so amazing!!!!!! I'm starting to get to know the ward better and our investigators. We gave two of our investigators baptismal dates, Brother Lam, and Allen. They are so amazing and humble. We've had a lot of good spiritual lessons this last week and me and Elder Dastrup are getting pretty pumped upped about this moves. Yesterday was probably one of the best days of my mission. First off on Tuesday night we weren't able to get any body scheduled for Wednesday and we would have the whole day for finding. So we decided to just go all out. We planned to walk out of the apartment on Wednesday morning just like the stripling warriors and just literally talk to everyone that we see. We set a goal to get 15 people's phone numbers, and to hand out 3 Book of Mormons. Pretty good goal since the most phone numbers i ever got in a day was 6. So Wednesday morning, yesterday morning, we woke up, did our work out, did our studies and then we hear a knock on the door and it's President and Sister Chan. They came to do a surprise apartment check and to do interviews. SSOOO glad the apartment was clean!! haha Anyway i love President and Sister Chan. We had interviews with President Chan and got a good spiritual boost. After they left we finished our studies and got ready to go out. We said a prayer telling our Heavenly Father about our goals and asked for his help to achieve them. Then we walked out the door and I wouldn't say we totally looked like the stripling warriors but I felt like one on the inside. =) We got on the MTR because we live in Mong Kok we have to take the MTR everyday to Tai Wai. We tried to talk to a couple people on the MTR but no luck. So we get to our area and have a quick lunch at our favorite restaurant. SOOO GOOOD. That pumped us up and then we headed out. Our area is pretty small so we find in the same spot almost everyday. It's this bridge that everyone walks on so there's always a lot of people. So, anyway, as the day went on we had little miracle after miracle. About when we had two hours left we decided that we needed some Hot Chocolate. It's seriously FREEZING right now here so we get hot chocolate a lot. And while we drank them we did some calls and we were able to schedule some people that we haven't been able to get a hold of in a long time. Miracle after miracle. And the end of the day is coming and we still have 2 Book of Mormons to hand out. We finally get one out on the bridge but still have the other one and no matter how hard we try no one will stop to talk to us or take the Book of Mormon. Finally it was time to go home. We had to stop by the mission home to pick up a heater for our apartment. While walking up to the mission home we see a couple mandarin missionaries. We talk to them for a second and this random guy is walking by and Elder Reber starts talking to him. He was from mainland and speaks Mandarin. The Mandarin Elders wanted to give him a Book of Mormon but they didn't have one, so we whipped out ours and gave it to him. MIRACLE. Heavenly Father was totally testing us to see if we would keep finding despite the rejection and cold and because we did we were able to be in the right spot at the right time with a Book of Mormon. So we were able to give out 3 Book of Mormons and we got 17 phone numbers. More then I ever have got in one day on my mission!!!

Totally awesome day!!!!!! haha I'm so grateful to be here. It's hard and sometimes it totally sucks but I'm learning so much and i wouldn't want to be anywhere else doing anything else. The other day we had a lesson and the investigator asked why the world sucks so much. There's so much bad stuff. and we just explained that the bad helps us apreaciate the good. If you can learn to have Joy during the hard sucky times, how much better will be the good times =) I'm so grateful for my companion Elder Dastrup. He is helping me to keep going and to push myself. He's a huge blessing to me right now.

I love you all so much and I miss you. I know that the gospel is true with all my heart and no matter how much proof that the world gives me that it's not true and I will never deny that I KNOW its true. I love the words of Joseph Smith when people tried to convince him that the first vision didn't happen, "I knew and I knew that God knew and I could not deny it." So powerful!!!!! I love you all so much! I Hope you have a good week.

Love, Elder McAllister

Email: January 6th, 2011

Happy New Year!!!! 2011!!!! So cool =) How are all of you doing? How was your New Year? I'm loving my new area, Tai Wai. On the first our ward had a really fun activity for the New Year. We all got on two buses and then toured cool and historical parts of Hong Kong. I felt like I could be a tourist for my first time in Hong Kong. We stopped by in West Point to have lunch and I happened to run into one of my old investigators, Simon Wong, from West Point. It was way cool to see him again. The Bishop of Tai Wai is so cool. On every Monday we go over to his house for FHE with some investigators and his wife makes some really good food. Last time we had ribs and potatoes, cheese bread and some really really good cake =) Totally American style.

Right now we have a few investigators that are amazing. One of them Brother Lam is the coolest guy ever. He just got back from visiting his son (who is a member) in San Fransisco and when he got back he wanted to take the lessons. His Wife is still in San Fransisco helping with there new grandchild but will be coming back soon and I hear that she wants to take the lessons as well. YES I love FAMILIES!!! haha

Another one of our investigators, Allen, is only 10. He is going to be baptized in a few weeks. His mom is a member but his dad isn't but neither of them appose him getting baptized. We taught him plan of salvation last week and he already has the coolest testimony.

The other day we found a new investigator. He's a vegetarian. He's a really nice guy and he believes that eating meat is the worst sin you could make. He told us that Jesus Christ was a Vegetarian, Buddha was a Vegetarian, Mohamed was a Vegetarian..... and he told us that he wants all the members of the church to be Vegetarian. It's very important to him. Everything revolves around Vegetarianism. haha We didn't want to argue with him and we don't care if he's vegetarian just as long as he understands whats most important so we just started teaching him lesson one. Every single principle we taught all somehow came back to vegetarian =) haha And then after we taught the first vision the first question he asks is if this Joseph Smith was a vegetarian. haha I love being a missionary!!

Elder Dastrup is amazing! He's got so much fire and ready to work. Tai Wai is a pretty small area so we have to find in the same place every day and it gets pretty hard but we've been having some success so we're totally excited for this moves together. We're pretty sure we're going to dominate everyone =) haha

I love you guys so much and I hope you all have an amazing week.

Love, Elder McAllister

PS I KNOW THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!!

Email: December 30th, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! =) How are you guys?!?! It was so awesome to be able to talk to all of you on Christmas!!!! I hope you all had a good Christmas. On Christmas night for us we went to a members brother's house who isn't a member and had dinner with them. They have a little interest in the gospel and hopefully we can start teaching them soon. Oh, by the way, I moved!!! I'm not in Tai Wo anymore =( They moved me to Tai Wai but I'm going to be living in Mong Kok in my old TST apartment. Really crazy but I'm way excited! My new Companion is Elder Dastrup who is also from Elder Jolley's MTC group. I'm still in the Tolo Harbour zone but just in a different district.

This last Sunday and yesterday we had a pretty amazing miracle happen. On Sunday a recent convert, Rita, took us over to her brothers house after church and we started to teach him for the first time. He used to hang around a bad crowd and has done a lot of drugs and this weekend he is going to rehab but he seemed so humble. Rita's whole family are not members and they have a lot of problems. Rita's mom is always worried about her children but after seeing Rita change after learning about the church a few months ago she started to be interested. And after we taught Rita's brother, that night they had dinner together as a family and Rita's mom was in shock with the change in her son, just after one lesson. Rita told us that her mom cried because she was so happy. And then yesterday Rita was able to bring her mom and brother to a lesson and when Rita said the opening prayer she couldn't stop crying because she was so happy that her family was finally there listening to the gospel. Her family gives her a lot of pressure and she's been under a lot of stress lately but she knows that the gospel can and will change them. It was so awesome to see it though and to feel the spirit there in that room. I wish i could stay there to continue teaching them but I know that I need to be here in Tai Wai right now. I love you all so much. I'll give you more of an update next week after i get settled. I love you all!!!!!!


Love, Elder McAllister

Email: December 24th, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! How are all of you?!?! How is your Christmas going? This email will probably be short because I'm going to be talking to you on the phone tomorrow so I'm so excited to talk to all of you!! I'm planning on giving ALL of you a call on your Christmas eve night. I'll be calling probably sometime between 8:00 to 11:00 Christmas morning my time so that should be around 6:00 to 9:00 Christmas eve night your time. So be ready!!! I can't wait to talk to you.

I just want to share something that I've learned this year for Christmas. In Hong Kong Christmas is a lot different then the states. Most people don't really even know what the true meaning of Christmas is. It's pretty much one hundred percent commercial. So one thing that me and my companion have been focusing on is to help others remember why we celebrate this day. The other day in church a member who had a son on a mission gave a talk and told us that his son sent home a Christmas card and wrote inside Merry Christmas. But the way he wrote it was Merry in a normal size font and then CHRIST in a much bigger size and then the mas in small letters on the bottom. He didn't write anything else in the card about it but this member said that this really touched him. Without having to say anything his son reminded his father about the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is about our Heavenly Father's loving gift to us, His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I love the scripture in John and I can't remember the chapter or verse or even how to quote it correctly right now but it roughly says, For God so loved the world (each and every one of us) that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever would believe on him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. I know that this scripture is the true meaning of Christmas and I know that Jesus Christ did come to the earth to do the one thing none of us could do for ourselves, the atonement. He loves us so much and knows each and everyone of us. I asked my companion, Elder Dodd, the other day what Christmas is all about, Giving or Getting, the Lights or the Tree and so on. He simply said with a smile, It's about love. The love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have shown to us and love that they hope that we will show to them and to each other. I really hope that all of you can remember the real true meaning of Christmas this year. That doesn't mean you can't have lights, trees, presents and all that. But I want to challenge all of you this year maybe on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning to kneel down as a family and in humble prayer thank our Heavenly Father for the most precious gift of all that he has given us, our Savior Jesus Christ and for all the many other blessings He has given us. I promise you that if you do this not only will your Christmas have more meaning but the Holy Ghost will testify to each of you the truthfulness of the atonement of Jesus Christ and will bring you closer together as a family. I love you all so much! I wish I could be with you but I know that I need to be here and i thank my Heavenly Father that I am hear and I hope that he will watch over all of you especially at this Christmas time. I love you and I'm so excited to talk to you tomorrow, so don't forget to turn on your phones and be ready =)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Love, Elder McAllister

Email: December 16th, 2010

Hey Family!!!! How are all of you doing? Any snow yet? Today it was 8 degrees C and 95% humidity. Hong Kong cold is different then California and WAY different then Utah cold because of the humidity. But I'm loving it!!! =) There's only eight more degrees for it to drop so it would snow but that won't happen. I heard that a long long long time ago it hailed once in Hong Kong only for a couple minutes but it's never snowed here. I asked the ZLs if we could do a mission wide fast this year for it to snow on Christmas morning over all our chapels. They said no. =( haha Anyway I hope you are all enjoying the Holidays. I wish i could be there with you. Christmas in Hong Kong is really different then from the states but us missionaries are trying to change that =) haha. This weekend we are having an activity and we are going to make Gingerbread Houses with our members and investigators. We can't use real gingerbread because it's so expensive out here but we are going to buy some biscuits or gram crackers or something. Our zone just got new sisters this week and they said that they can make some frosting so it will be way fun!!! =)

This last Sunday we had steak conference with President Prat from the 70 and the temple president and President Chan. It was way good and we got a few investigators to go to it so it was even better. It's really interesting how church to missionaries is way different then church to members. We don't go so much for ourselves but for our investigators. The other Sunday we didn't have any investigators come to church so for the second and third hour me and Elder Dodd just went finding. But when your really working your hardest and sacrificing that's when Heavenly Father will bless you. The other day me and Elder Dodd contacted a Kidd on the street named Syler. We shared a little with him and gave him our number and got his. Later that night he texted us and asked if he could see us so he could ask us questions. We saw him yesterday and we were able to share the Restoration with him. He's from another church and didn't really seem to accept all that we said but he said he wanted to see us again so we scheduled him for next week. We can't control how many people will accept our message but we can control how often we open our mouths to share the message of the Restoration. Just gotta keep going.

I love you all so much!! I hope you all have an amazing week and a MERRY CHRISTMAS next week. Just to let you know our P Day next week is on Friday because our mission Christmas party is on that Friday. So i should be emailing then but I'll also be calling the next day which is your Friday (Christmas eve) night. I love you all.

ＭＥＲＲＹ ＣＨＲＩＳＴＭＡＳ

Love Elder McAllister

Pictures!!!!