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