District Leader :)

I can't believe today was transfers again. It seems like I just barely sent you guys the pictures of me with Elder Kroff, Steiner and Fronk from the last transfer meeting six weeks ago. This cycle has been good. As far as teaching people goes, it has probably been the slowest cycle of my mission yet. We just haven't had much going on. Since President Morgan's training that I told you about last week we've been doing a little better. On Thursday we taught this guy named Jeff. He's a potential investigator that I've been trying to get in contact with since I've been here, so it was awesome when he finally let us come over. I felt the Spirit so strong as we taught his about Joseph Smith, the Restoration of the Gospel, and the Book of Mormon. He also just happened to have a friend over at the time we scheduled our appointment. As we taught, his friend was listening and asked if he could have a copy of the Book of Mormon. He got up and left before we finished up, so we weren't able to get his contact information. He has our card though so hopefully he'll read and get interested and contact us. It was so cool. It feels so good to teach a solid lesson like that. When we get those opportunities are some of the times that I am most happy. We also started working with this guy named Eddy, who was baptized in Haiti about 20 years ago. Shortly after he was baptized he came here and lived in Florida for a few years before moving to the Bronx. He hasn't been to church since leaving Haiti, and he came on Sunday! We've already taught him twice, so hopefully we'll get to continue working with him. Other than that, there's not too much going on. Elder Rydalch and I will be staying together again this cycle in the Bronx. Our district leader got transferred, and President Morgan called me to be the new district leader here. I'm pretty nervous but excited for this new calling. My capacity to serve and love will increase so much, and I know I will learn a lot in the next six weeks. Things are good, and I'm excited for this next phase of my mission. I miss you and love you all so much! 

~ Elder Allred

April 23

Hey everyone~

I'm a little bit later than usual today. I hope you guys didn't think I forgot about you! I hope you all had a happy Easter! I know I sure did. Our speakers on Sunday were Elder and Sister Brown from Rexburg, Idaho. They've been serving here in the Olmstead 2nd Ward for about eighteen months. They were called here for ward support and to work in the Manhattan temple. They'll be going back home to Rexburg next week. They have contributed a lot to this ward and will definitely be missed. I've really come to love those guys a lot since being here in the Bronx. Before my mission I didn't think we would work with senior couples at all, but we actually do quite a bit of work with them. This week has been really good. On Monday, all of the missionaries in Manhattan and the Bronx got together and had a meeting. President Morgan gave a specialty training on setting goals and having faith. It's always good to have big meetings like that. It really helps motivate me to be a better missionary and to work harder. The last couple of days since then have been awesome. Elder Rydalch and I have been working extra hard and trying to find people to teach. I can feel the power that is there as we are both exercising our faith more. I don't know if I said it in my last email or not, but things have been a little down lately. The work has just been really slow, and we've been struggling to find consistent people to teach. In my three months here, we haven't really had anyone other than Theresita that has progressed, and we only worked with her for a couple of weeks. The whole time I was in Newtown we always taught Declan and Kim. So, to go from that to nobody at all is a little rough. Like I said though, we're working hard and trying. We've talked to a lot more people lately and some have even showed some promising potential. Hopefully things will pick up soon! Other than that, things are good. I'm having so much fun with Elder Rydalch and our roommates. We can all sit and talk for hours with each other. There haven't been too many times in my life that I've laughed as much as I do now. It's awesome! Probably my favorite thing that we all like doing together is sing country music. I miss it so much! I hear it in the gym every once in a while though. They played an Eli Young Band song this morning. We all loved the Yankees game last week. It was seriously incredible. That was probably the fastest three hours of my entire life. I could have sat in that stadium forever. I can't wait until we can all go to a game together next summer! The only bummer was that I didn't get to see Jeter play :/ There is another Wednesday afternoon game scheduled against Tampa Bay in July. I'm gonna give it awhile, but I'll be asking President Morgan if I can go to that one too. Hopefully he'll feel generous enough to let me go to two in one year. I just really want to see Jeter play in Yankee Stadium so bad before he retires. We'll see what happens. Well, we get shot calls on Saturday night. That's where we find out where we will be serving for next cycle. I can't believe it's already that time again! I think I say it every six weeks, but it's so true that each one goes by faster than the last. It's kinda scary how fast it goes actually. Hopefully Elder Rydalch and I both stay. We're pretty sure Elder Sorenson will be going somewhere else and Elder Kohli will be staying. Next cycle is Elder Kohli's last one, so I really hope I get to keep serving around him before he goes back home to Ogden. He and I have become really good friends in the last five weeks, even though he's a Braves fan. I guess we can still get along. Haha. Anyway, I'm doing really well. I'm happy, I'm healthy, and it's almost summer! Nothing to complain about. I hope you are all doing well too. You should all know that a good amount of the reason I'm still out here is because of you. Because I know that God is watching over you and sending extra blessings your way. That might be a selfish reason, but it's one of mine. There are definitely other reasons, but you guys are a big one. I miss you all so much. I wish I could be with you, bit I know that the day we are all reunited will be indescribably joyful because of the difficult time that it has been to be apart. Thank you all for everything that you do for me and for the love and support. I'm sorry for how bad I've been at writing letters. I'm trying to do better. Just know that you're in my thoughts and prayers every day. I love you, I love you, I love you!!!

~Elder Allred 

PICTURES!!!

Elder Allred, Elder Sorenson, Elder Rydalch, Elder Kohli

WHAT!!??? A Yankees game:)!!

Hey everyone, 

Things are good! I feel like this week went by faster than any other of my whole mission yet. It's already been a week and a half since the wedding and General Conference. Time goes too fast. Before we know it, summer will be upon us, and then I will be a year from coming home. Before my mission, everyone said it would go by fast. I believed them, but I didn't realize just how fast it really would be. It reminds me of that song by Kenny Chesney, "Don't Blink". If I blink, I might just miss something cool. Just thinking of that song reminded me of something. Our apartment right now consists of me, Elder Rydalch, and Elder Kohli, all country boys from small town Utah. Our other roommate is Elder Sorenson from Vegas, so he's a bit of a black sheep here. Anyway, the three of us have been on a huge singing kick lately. It's so great to have good friends. The mission buddies will be some of my best friends for the rest of my life. I think every day this week we've had ourselves a little jam session in the apartment remembering all of our favorite country songs. It's awesome! We even got the Vegas boy to sing a little bit of T-Swift with us haha. I just want to listen to music so bad. There's plenty of good missionary approved music, but it's just not the same as my favorites from home. I guess that's all part of the sacrifice I have to make to be here. Things have been a little down as far as the work goes. Just about a month ago, things really started booming, and new people to teach were coming up everywhere. Since Theresita dropped us a couple weeks ago though, things have just really slowed down. I've tried my hardest not to let it get me down, but it had put me into kind of a weird funk. The other day, I had the chance to go on a split with my Zone Leader, Elder Staheli. I was talking to him about the area and how I was feeling. He really encouraged me and told me that he has noticed my hard work. He said that I was a good example to the other missionaries in the zone. It really was cool of him and I could feel the sincerity of his words. Elder Taylor (my trainer's trainer) was a ZL here last cycle. He helped me a lot while he was here. He's actually one of the AP's now. The guy that replaced him is Elder Tancayo, from Hawaii. Another really cool guy. My whole mission I've had awesome leaders who have encouraged me and gotten me through the hard times. That's a huge blessing. Anyway, things should hopefully be looking up soon. We had an idea to start a free bible study class at the church. We handed out a whole bunch of flyers and posted some in businesses that would let us. Hopefully people will be interested and we can maybe find some people to teach that way. All we can do is work hard and do things the best way that we know how. Whether we teach people or not is up to the Lord. We're just His instruments. Our only job really is to stay worthy and be out there talking to people. We had something pretty cool happen on Monday. We were outside contacting people, and this guy came up and started talking to us. Turns out he is a member from Anaheim who lives in Provo now. He was in the Bronx for a few days working. He was so excited to see us and took us all out to Taco Bell for dinner. It was so cool of him! The guy was hilarious, and he actually knew one of our Sister Missionaries, Sister Makanesi who is from Anaheim too. That was a really neat experience. It's so awesome how much people care about us missionaries and want to take care of us. I'm incredibly grateful for all of the love I have felt from others and the support I've had in my service to the Lord. 

Okay, last thing for this week's email. Yesterday it was way rainy. The Yankees had a game scheduled with the Cubs, but it got rained out. We found out from a member that it was rescheduled for this afternoon at 1:05. So since I'm good friends with one of the AP's, Elder Taylor, I gave him a call last night. I told him what was going on and asked if there was any chance at all that we'd be able to go. He's really into baseball too, so he was excited. He called President Morgan and asked him. President Morgan, being the great man that he is, gave us the okay! I'm going to a Yankees game today!!!! Me, Elder Rydalch, and our two roommates are all going together. If any of you have MLB.tv, watch for a group of four guys in white shirts and ties. How cool is this you guys? I live in the Bronx. A Yankees fan from little Nephi, Utah. And I'm going to the stadium to watch a game today. There's no way anyone could tell me that God didn't place me here. He could have me anywhere in the world right now, but He has me here. If that's not a big bright neon flashing sign that says God knows me personally, I don't know what would be. He knows us all. There's not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that this is true. I hope you all know that too. He knows you and loves you. He cares about you and watches over you. Sometime He might even take you to a baseball game! Needless to say, I'm so excited!! I am living the dream right now. I'm being take care of so incredibly well, and I'm running out of room to count all of my blessings. I'll take some pictures on my iPad today and send them. Have a great week everybody. I love you all so much!!

~Elder Allred 

General Conference with Elder Hausenfluck

April 10

General Conference was so good! I honestly think that this Conference weekend has been my favorite one ever. It's hard to choose a favorite talk, but I'll just highlight a few that I really liked. On my mission, I have come to love Elder Bednar so much. Studying from talks that he's given in the past has helped me understand the Atonement so much better. So, the talk that he gave on Sunday morning was one of my favorites. He talked about how our spiritual loads are what get us through life and what allow the Atonement to work for us. I really related to that, because I've seen that to be true in my life. There are people in this world that have gone through way more than I can even imagine, but in my young 20 year life, I've seen a good amount of struggles myself. It's because of those struggles that I have been motivated to rely on Jesus Christ and allow his Atonement to heal the hurt and make me a better person. It's kind of a weird concept. The hard things in life are the things that make us better and that we appreciate. That ties in with one of my other favorite talks from this weekend. Also in the Sunday morning session, President Uchtdorf talked about having an attitude of gratitude. Be grateful for everything. Every aspect of your life is a divinely created gift from God and has a purpose. Whether we know what His purposes are or not, we need to be grateful for Him and for everything that He has provided us with. Okay... one more highlight from General Conference. You all should have seen the smile on my face when President Eyring spoke in the Priesthood session. He started out by talking about how his childhood baseball hero was Joe DiMaggio. So cool! He later went on to talk about how the example that Priesthood holding men will set for their children and for young men that they associate with. It made me think of how it meant to me growing up, having so many great leaders in the church. I have so many great memories of scout camps and young men's activities. More important than any other leader was having a father who held the Priesthood and showed me that example. I didn't fully realize it as a kid or as a young man, but that was the greatest blessing I could have asked for. It played a very key role in bringing me to where I am today. If any of you haven't had a chance to watch all of the sessions of this General Conference yet, please do! You might not think so, but somewhere in the array of talks, there is something specifically for you. Something that will answer a question that you have or give you guidance that you didn't even know you needed. It sounds like the wedding turned out well. I'm so glad! I"m so happy the video worked too! Now I can feel like I was a part of the celebration. I don't have too much time to email today, so I'l have to cut it a bit short. The weather is finally consistently warm, so we're going to take advantage of it and go check out the zoo today! Just know that I'm doing really well and loving the Bronx! I love you all so much. Have an amazing week!

~Elder Allred 

Keep going, keep growing, keep trying.

Hey everyone, 

We had interviews with President Morgan yesterday. Interviews usually happen once every two or three months. I'm always incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Being able to talk one on one with him is really inspiring and motivates me to keep going, keep growing, and keep trying. When leaders fulfill their role in a loving way, it makes a huge difference. I'm learning a lot from that man. There's no getting around the fact that when you are a member of the church, you will, at one point or another, be called to fulfill a leadership responsibility. To have the example that I do from President Morgan is doing a lot to prepare me for any of those callings that the Lord has in store for me. Whether they be in my home and in my duties as a husband and father, or whether they be in other church organizations as well. I'll be ready, because I've seen great examples and have learned some things about how to be a good leader. Not only from my mission president, but from all of the other great leaders that have influenced me throughout my entire life. I think the most important thing about being a leader is love. You need to love the people that you are serving. That will give you the motivation to be a great leader and to help people. Anyway, in our interview I was talking to President about a goal that I have. As you all know, I'm kind of a quiet kid. I've always been fairly shy around new people, and I don't say too much until I get to know people. That's just imbedded in my character. So, needless to say, being a missionary has certain challenges for a quiet guy like myself. I'm here to preach the gospel and to invite everyone to receive the blessings of the restored gospel. That's impossible to do if you don't talk to anyone. The goal that I discussed with President Morgan is that I want to make contact and talk about the gospel with at least one person each and every day. That is aside from any specific look ups to people we have an address for. We're just talking about a random conversation on a bus or out on the streets. One person daily. Now, that's far from where I should be. I should talk with people everywhere I go. I thought that with this goal though, I would be taken out of my comfort zone just enough. Just enough to help me begin to grow. Just like with anything in life, you can't expect to completely change all at once. If my goal was to contact a hundred people every day, I would feel like it was impossible and that I couldn't do it, and I would most likely not contact anyone. So, I'm taking this on with the small steps approach. President Morgan was really excited about my goal and wants me to report on it every Wednesday in my weekly email to him. He is excited to help me with this and with anything else I need his help with. I know that as I work on talking to random people and getting over my fears, I need to involve the Lord. As I pray often for strength, I will receive strength. With His help and through the enabling power of the Atonement, I will become a street contacting machine! There's a scripture in Phillipians 4, verse 13 that I really like. The Apostle Paul proclaims, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Through Christ, Elder Allred can quit being a wuss and talk to people. Haha. I want you all to know that if you will allow Christ to help you, you can accomplish anything as well. There are definitely a lot of things that you can do on your own, without anyone's help. However, with Christ's help, you can do all of those things and more, and it will all be much easier, because you will have the added strength which only your perfect and powerful brother can provide. There was a lot I was going to say today, but my email is already getting pretty long. I'll just wrap it up by expressing my excitement about the wedding. I can't believe that it's already three days away! The time has flown. Zack and McKenna, I want you to know how happy I am. Sad that I won't be there, but happy that you're getting married! One of the main purposes we have in life is to have families. I wish that more people in this world would recognize that. There aren't very many people in the Bronx that do. Very rarely here do I see complete families with a mom, a dad, and children. It's really sad actually. Having a family provides you with more happiness than anything else the world has to offer. So, you guys are making a good choice. Your lives will be more complete and happy, because you will have each other. To the rest of the family, I want you all to make this the most special day of Zack and McKenna's lives. I know that it's hard to not have me there to celebrate with you, but don't think about it. Don't spend any time focusing on what it would be like if I were there. Focus only on the joy that it brings to see a new little family being established. Thank you all so much for everything that you do for me. Have an incredible week. I love you with all of my heart! 

Love, 

Elder Allred