Time Flies!

I can't believe I'm already on week six! We do transfers every six weeks, so that means that next Wednesday a lot of people will get switched around. We'll know by Saturday who's leaving the area and who's staying. Pretty crazy! I will probably stay here for the next cycle. Hopefully Elder Kroff stays too. He's been here for five cycles now, so that's about seven months. There's definitely a possibility of him leaving. Most of the time, though, your trainer will stay with you for your second cycle, because it takes 12 weeks to finish training. I don't want to lose him just yet! He's a great trainer. This last week has been so busy. We spent the day last Wednesday cleaning the apartment for conference cleaning checks, which took so long! We started right after we e-mailed, cleaned until 10, and went to sleep.  The missionaries that have lived in our apartment in the past definitely didn't take good care of the place. The point of that story is that I had zero time to write letters last p-day. And I won't have any time to write any today either, because we're going to a zone activity in Ossening, which is about an hour away. So, I might be a little slower writing back. I'll do my best though! On Sunday night, we went to dinner at a non-member's house. Some of the Elders helped her move into her new apartment a couple weeks ago, and she was so grateful that she wanted to thank us by feeding us all dinner. Her name is S. and she has two little kids. Her kids have some kind of special ability where they can listen to a song and play it back by ear on the piano. She said it happens with one in every ten thousand people, so they are really good at the piano. Her ten year old girl played for us and it blew me away. Her hands were moving so fast! I've never seen someone in person that's as good as she was, and she's only ten. It was so cool. Also, as we ate dinner, S. asked us why we came on missions. We all basically got to bear our testimonies to her and her family. Afterward she began to ask questions about the Church and the Book of Mormon. She got really excited about bringing her and her kids to church this Sunday. How cool is that? She's not in my area, so Elder Elliott and Elder Fragiacomo (the other guys that we live with) will be teaching her. I felt the spirit so strongly, and it helped reassure me why I'm here. The Lord has prepared people for us to teach that will be receptive of the Gospel. We go through rejection after rejection, but when we keep trying, the Lord trusts us enough to bring people to us in His way and His time. It's so cool to see those miracles all the time as a missionary. Everyone faces rejection. Metaphorically, everyone gets doors slammed in their face all the time. But if we don't let those rejections discourage us, we all get our own S's  in our lives. The Lord blesses us for enduring through all the temptations and the struggles. This is true for me, as a missionary, and I know it's true for all of you too. Miracles are all around us. Great or small. We just have to recognize them and thank the Lord for them. Another cool thing that happened this week is that our mission was visited by a General Authority. We all went to Scarsdale yesterday and got to hear from Elder Bruce A Carlson of the second quorum of the Seventy. He's a retired four-star general of the Air Force. What a privilege it was to hear from him. He talked about four things we can do to become more consecrated. Smile, focus, be obedient and open our mouths. I really like that first one. Always smile. It's true with everything in life. Not just missions. If we aren't enjoying what we're doing, then we're doing it wrong. That's why I always like to tell you guys to smile. Enjoy life. Enjoy it every day. The Lord loves us so much and he wants us to be happy. So, let's be happy! Happy with everything that life throws our way. Count your blessings and remember the miracles that you've seen and the blessings that you've received. I love you all so much! Have a fabulous week! 

Love, 

Elder Allred 

Memory Card!

Hey y'all!

Thank you so much for the package! That was such an awesome surprise. I feel terrible, though. Apparently we can't have iPod Touches. With the internet capability, it's against the rules. I feel so bad, because it looks like you worked so hard on it :( The music selection was awesome. I looked through it once before I put it in the envelope to see if there was any music on there that I can't listen to. Pretty much all you can have is like Mo-Tab, EFY, church music. If it's on Deseret Book and the lyrics are uplifting or gospel related then it's good. The memory card is in here! All of the buildings on there are the different churches around here. I haven't even taken a picture of all of them yet. That's probably about half. There's tons! Much different from Utah, where there's like maybe a Baptist church in your town. lol. Well, I love you so much!! Elder Kroff says he loves you too! Love you!

~Elder Allred

P.S. I LOVE YOU!!!! 

With churches on every corner in the Northeastern U.S. , it's easy why Joseph Smith wasn't sure which one to join! 

Mom LOVES this one! 

 MTC Zone Leaders Elder Allred and Elder Steiner

Elder Kroff and Elder Allred in Bethel, Connecticut. 

One more of Elder Ockey:) 

First Sacrament Meeting Talk in the Mission Field

September 8, 2013

(Elder Allred says he only had one hour to prepare this talk, but it went pretty well:) 

Good morning brothers and sisters. It's good to be here this morning, and I'm grateful to have this opportunity to speak today. I"m very new to being a missionary. In fact, this is my first area. You all know my companion, Elder Kroff, and so you probably all know why I am loving the mission life. He is a great example to me, and I've already learned so much from the two weeks that I've been able to serve with him. Just to introduce myself a little bit; I grew up in Nephi Utah. I'm the youngest of three, with an older brother and an older sister. After I graduated from Juab High School, I went to Snow College in Utah for a year, where I made the decision to come on a mission and now I'm here. 

Well, of course I was asked to speak on missionary work this morning. I still have a lot to learn about being a missionary, but one thing I do know is what kinds of things prepared me to serve a mission. One of those things is the youth programs that the church has to offer. I was raised in an active family, so I had the privilege of growing up participating in those youth programs. So, I want to talk a little bit about how I think that opportunity had prepared me to be a missionary. One way that it has done that is through the leadership of these programs. Bishoprics, Scout leaders, Young Men and Young Women leaders, primary teachers and Sunday School teachers. These are the people that lead the organization of our youth programs. Without them planning activities and sacrificing their time and efforts, youth programs would consist of a bunch of kids running around and not learning anything. I recall one young mens trip that I went on when I was fourteen. One of our leaders had had experience with white water river rafting. So he planned a trip one summer  to take our group down to southern Utah and raft the rapids of the Colorado River. Because he had experience he was able to lead us and teach us how to work together to steer the raft and handle the rapids. Today, that is one of my fondest memories I have of growing up. I didn't know it at the time, but Brother Woodland was teaching all of us how to work together and rely on your companions, and in a more exciting way than other activities. From the things I learned on that trip, I became better prepared for the mission field, when I would have to work well with my companion and other missionaries and rely on them to help me become a better servant unto the Lord. This is just one example of a time that I learned something valuable from a church leader growing up. There are several others that I'm grateful for. Another way that church youth groups helped me be prepared to serve a mission is through the examples around me of other kids my age. In Alma Chapter 53, verses 20 through 22, we read 

"And they were all young men,and they were exceedingly valiant for courage; and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all-they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him. And now it came to pass that Helaman did march at the head of his two thousand stripling soldiers, to the support of the people in the borders of the land on the south by the west sea. "

I can relate very well to this story. Most of my friends growing up were active members of the Church. We did everything together. We went to school together, we hung out together, we played high school football together. Most importantly, we went to church together. We went on scout trips and youth conferences together. We helped each other learn and grow through the programs of the church. I was blessed to never be put in situations that would contradict what I learned at church and knew to be right. Instead, I was uplifted by the righteous examples of friends that encouraged me to stay strong in the gospel. Today, many of my best friends are serving missions. From Oregon to Jamaica to Denmark and all over the world. What a blessing it is that I have those good examples in my life, that helped me know what righteous paths to choose and helped me make the decision to serve a mission. 

I'm grateful for the programs that this church has to offer. Which programs helped raise me to be prepared when my call came to serve a full time mission. I have a testimony of the youth programs of the church. 

First Baptismal Date!

Another great week! We have been very busy this week! On Saturday our stake had a day of service and we went to help out with it. The service project was at a homeless shelter in Danbury, the Dorothy Day Center. We cleaned up the shelter a little bit and retiled some of their floor. It feels so good to serve others. It's awesome how much you look forward to doing service projects on your mission. At home, you usually have so much stuff going on that it's hard to find time to do service, especially on weekends when you just want to relax, but on the mission the top priority is to do things for other people. It's awesome! We had some great lessons this week as well. We finally met with J.S. . We gave him a tour of our chapel in Newtown. He is already so ready to do this and find out for himself it it is true. He even accepted an invitation to be baptized! He's going to prepare himself for baptism on October 19th. SO cool! Also we have been meeting with K. I don't know if I told you about her yet, but she's twenty years old and lives in Brookfield, about fifteen minutes north of where we live in Bethel. She has also committed to be baptized on January 4th. The Lord is blessing us so much! With these two baptismal dates, He is putting a lot of trust in us as missionaries. We're excited to do our part to help them. We know that they need to find out for themselves whether or not they want to get baptized. The only way they'll know that is by the power of the Holy Ghost, so we will do everything that we can to invite the spirit in our lessons. As long as we do our part the Lord will take care of the rest. And if Joseph and Kimberly are ready and open to the spirit, then they will come to know that this is the true church. I love being a missionary so much! And I love being here in Connecticut. The leaves are already starting to change colors. I'm so excited to see a New England fall season! I'll make sure to take lots of good pictures of the trees for you. I hope you are all doing well, and I miss you! Stay strong and know that I'm doing well, and that I'm happy! Remember to smile and enjoy every single day! I love you all and have a wonderful week!!

Love, 

Elder Allred

Sandy Hook

Well, we have had a great week! On Saturday, we got to go to a baptismal service at the chapel in Newtown. That's where my ward meets, and it's the only baptismal font in the area. There were four baptisms, and they were all converts through the Spanish program. There's a little Spanish branch in Danbury (which is about 10 minutes from where I live), and it's brand new. They just got their building in March. The spirit at that service was amazing! It reminded me of the commitment that I made to our Father in Heaven when I got baptized, and seeing the joy on all four of their faces made me so happy. The whole thing was done in Spanish, so I couldn't understand very much of it. Luckily my zone leader sat next to me and translated for me a little bit. Elder Kroff played a musical number on the piano. He's super good with music. He can play piano, violin, and guitar. He can probably play other instruments too that I just don't know about.  Missionary work is awesome! Remember how last week I talked about consecration. I have strengthened my testimony of it so much this week! As we put forth the effort to be consecrated, we saw blessings from the Lord because of it. We tracted in Sandy Hook on Saturday, and we found three different houses that said we could come back. We also found two others on Monday and Tuesday. It's super cool to see the blessings from the Lord when we put our part into it. We'll be teaching J.S. for the first time on Thursday. I'm so excited for that! I can't wait to meet him and help him see what the gospel has to offer him. We went to Costco today for groceries. No better place for shopping, but I was sad to see that there weren't any pretzel rolls. We all pitched in and bought a Costco card, which went under my name since I'll probably be in the area longer than anyone else. When we checked out we had lunch there and I threw away the receipt. Whoops. They had to call a supervisor to work out letting us go without it. As soon as he came over, he took one look at us, and said we were good, and walked away. I don't know if he knew we were missionaries or not, but we could tell he trusted that we were honest. Haha the advantages to wearing white shirts and ties! Sorry this is kind of a short e-mail, but thank you for all the love and support. Remember that through the power of the Atonement, we can overcome anything and become better! God loves each and every one of us. I love you all so much! Hope you have a good week! 

Love, 

Elder Allred

Is that Kyler Ockey????

We got some pictures today! Yay:) Elder Allred  and Elder Ockey crossed paths in the MTC

MTC Zone Leaders Elder Steiner and Elder Allred

Elder Allred's first companion in the field is Elder Kroff

And the requisite selfie:)

Hey everybody! So I'm gonna start doing something new with the e-mails. I try so hard to e-mail everyone back, but it just doesn't work out usually. I wish I had more time and could talk to everyone more! But it's so great to hear from everyone, and I love to know how everything is going! Anyway, I'm gonna start doing a weekly e-mail to everyone as a group. That way you can all know what's going on and how I'm doing. I'll still do my best to answer everyone's questions, but I don't know how it will work out. So if there's a super important question that anyone wants to ask and I don't answer it, then keep asking and I'll get to it. Haha. Also, I don't have as much time to write letters as I wish I did. So, if it takes close to two weeks for me to return a letter, then just know that I haven't forgotten about you and that I still love to hear from everyone! I love receiving letters, and I love writing them as well. I'm really on the Lord's time here. I'm so busy all the time! But that's a good thing. He needs me right now, and I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to give so much of my time to Him. The mission life is treating me great. We have a standard set by President Morgan for everyone to strive to be consecrated missionaries. As I have grasped this idea, it has been such a blessing. Basically what it means to be a consecrated missionary is to leave every desire that you have on altar of sacrifice. You have to completely turn your will over for God's will. We have also been given a goal by President Morgan that every companionship in the mission has one baptism. It's important to remember that numbers don't matter. I don't care if I don't see a single person convert in my two years here, as long I know that I am doing everything in my power. However, I do know that if Elder Kroff and I do all that we can to be consecrated then we will see that blessing of having the opportunity to have a baptism in our area. I've already seen the blessings of being a consecrated missionary. We had a zone meeting on Monday about how we can all work toward consecaration, and so on Tuesday I really thought about what I could do to improve. I came to the conclusion that I need to open my mouth more and have confidence. I don't have as much knowledge of the gospel as I wish I did. But what I do have the Holy Spirit can work with. I need to leave that fear behind of not being able to answer someone's question. Elder Kroff and I were able to meet with a guy named Rob on Tuesday, who hasn't met with the missionaries for a few months. We had a great conversation with him and I look forward to helping him know more about the gospel. I know that him letting us come over was a direct blessing from the effort of being more consecrated. On a note other than spirtual, I am having so much fun here! The people are super nice and the missionaries that I work with are so fun to be around. I laugh all the time! I don't have much more time to write, so I won't be able to answer anyone's individual e-mails today:/ Just know that I love you all so much! Thank you so much for the letters and the packages. They are amazing! Hopefully I'll have more time next week, and I will also try to send my memory card to mom soon so you can see more pictures! Love you all! Remember to smile and enjoy life! And just know that I'm doing awesome and you don't have to worry about me. Have a great week! I love you, I love you, I love you!!

 

-Elder Allred

Connecticut!

Connecticut is so great! There are so many trees everywhere. It's hard to have a sense of direction here, because you usually can't see farther than the end of the street. I'm used to looking for mountains to know which way to go. Luckily we have a GPS in our car. Oh yeah, I didn't have to buy a bike. We drive a 2013 Chevy Cruze. Which is awesome, other than the fact that I'll probably get fat. haha. Especially because the members feed us all the time. It is beautiful here though. I'll probably be up here for a while, so I'll get to see fall upstate. I bet that's gonna be so pretty. Turns out I can have an iPod. The rules on music is anything you can buy at Deseret Book. Within reason though. So anything church music from Deseret Book. Pictures would be great too! I love ties! How cool is that about Sister Arend? She's awesome. They're a great family. The work is going great. I've only had one lesson with an investigator which is a little weird and different than I thought it would be. We have a few others scheduled though. And some less actives. We also have a potential investigator. You will never guess what his name is. Joseph Smith. I"m not kidding. Hopefully he will meet with us soon! Well, no crazy stories yet. The members are taking good care of us, and we've been able to do a little bit of service. Hopefully we'll have more meetings with investigators soon! Love you! 

~Elder Allred 

P.S. Keep sending letters to the mission home! That's the best way.