iPad

Wow this week has flown by so fast that I'm still trying to convince myself that it even happened. The biggest news is that I've been training Elder Savage. It's such a great experience for me. It's teaching me so much but at the same time, it's one of the more stressful things I've ever done in my  life. It's hard to have to remember everything that's going on in the Newtown area and set up Elder Savage to be the best missionary that he can be. That's a lot of responsibility! It has been good though. Elder Savage is one of the happiest people I've ever met. He's also one of the loudest lol. Let's just say that the dude likes to talk. And you all know how quiet  and soft spoken I am. There have been a few times at dinner appointments where I maybe have said like ten words, because he just rambles on and doesn't give me a moment of silence to speak. It's been wonderful though. We're teaching pretty well together and still have some good things going on with investigators. We met with D on the second day that Elder Savage got here. D is still progressing really well, and he and his Mom were at church again on Sunday. One of his concerns a few weeks ago was that he didn't want to stay for all three hours of church, but now he's been to the whole thing twice. He has been in with the Deacon's quorum, which is awesome. Brother Arend is the teacher for that class and Beau Arend is in there, too, so they're doing a great job welcoming him into the group (in case you didn't know, the Arends are easily my favorite family in the ward). We only have a few more things to teach D before he can be baptized! The whole situation with him and his Mom is just a miracle. To see him choosing this path for himself is so cool. Even better is that his Mom is back in church now. She was on the "Do Not Contact" list for the missionaries here for like twenty years.That's how against going to church she was, but miraculously she's back now! We're meeting with K again tonight at a member's house for another lesson. I'm glad she's still meeting with us. Everyone needs the gospel in their lives, but especially her. She's at a fork in the road right now. If she chooses the gospel, her life will be happier and brighter than she could ever imagine. If she chooses the other road, she'll be setting herself up for a very tough life. Anyway, that's about it for investigators. J.S. hasn't answered any of our calls or texts for close to a month now. We're praying that things are okay for him and that we'll get back in contact soon. Another pretty crazy thing that happened this week is that every missionary in the mission now has an iPad! We're only the ninth mission in the world to receive this technology to work with. We got them last Friday, and have been using them since. We're converting our area book, our daily planners, and everything that we need to know about the area onto the iPads. Seriously, did you guys ever think that I would be using an iPad and getting on facebook as a missionary? I know I sure didn't. It just goes to show that the Lord's plans are much bigger than ours. With this new technology, we will be able to reach just about everyone in the entire world! Which wouldn't be possible through just door to door tracting alone. I feel so blessed and amazed to be one of the missionaries that's trusted to be a part of  pioneering this era of missionary work . One day we will look back on this time and I will be able to say that I was one of the first missionaries to start using this. It's so exciting! Please keep liking and sharing my posts. I really want for the messages to reach as many people as possible. Other than that, I'm still just kicking. Every day goes by faster than the last. I can't even believe it. Being a missionary is the greatest thing that I have ever done for my life. I hope that you're all getting excited for the holidays. We're going to be having Thanksgiving dinner with the Knibbe family in the ward, which will be great. The day after, the Arends are having us over for my birthday!! That will be a bunch of fun. Then, before you know it, it will be Christmas and I'll get to see all of your faces on Skype!! I love you all so much. Have a fantastic week, and remember that God is real and that He loves you!!!

Love, 

Elder Allred