July 30

Hey everyone! 

I hope you've all had a great week! I definitely have. Elder Raine is a great missionary, and we've been working super hard. I'm grateful to have him as a companion. I'm super tired all the time. My new responsibilities as a District Leader and a trainer are keeping me plenty busy. I would be lying if I said that it didn't stress me out a little bit. There is just so much to think about. So many people to remember and assignments to fulfill. Stress can be good though. It motivates you to do the things and accomplish more. I think that's one of the biggest things that the mission has taught me. How to manage stress and use it as a positive thing instead of a negative thing. I'm still working on it, but I'm a lot better than I used to be. Here's an update on how the work in Harlem is going. We've been working with this couple, Rafael and Kristina, for the entire seven weeks that I've been here. Since the first day that I met them, I could tell that they were special and that they had so much faith. I've seen both of them progress so much in the past month and a half and it's been incredible to watch. This last Sunday Rafael came to church with us for the second time! That was really exciting. He wasn't feeling super well but knew that he needed to come, so he fought through it and came! He's a trooper. Kristina hasn't been able to come because she always has to work, but this coming Sunday she will finally get a day off and be able to come! I'm so excited for them. They had a baptismal date set when I got here, but about a month ago they dropped it and haven't wanted to set another one since. I think they will be ready soon though. They just keep making the right steps and progressing. They're awesome! The other big one that we're working with is the Strungys family. They're a less active family that we're trying to reactivate. It's super difficult to teach them, because they have seven kids, and it's always just incredibly loud and chaotic when we go there. They've made some progress though and have now come to church twice since I've been here. The oldest two boys went to a young men's activity and really want to go to an upcoming scout camp. That family needs the gospel! They would be so much happier if they would all jump in together. Other than that, we just have a whole bunch of other investigators and less actives that we try to work with regularly. Nobody else looking close to baptism  yet, but that's okay. I personally measure success based on two things. Neither one of them is the amount of lessons that I teach or the amount of people I baptize. The first thing is whether or not I feel like I'm trying to help others and if I have love for them. The other thing is whether or not I feel like I'm changing and becoming a better person. All I can say is that I definitely feel like my mission has been a success thus far. I think I've made a positive difference in the lives of a few people, and I am most definitely a much better person than I was 11 months ago. I'm excited to see how I will be able to progress even more in the next twelve months. This experience has already changed my life for the better, and I know that I will be eternally grateful that I chose to come out here and to stay even when it would be easier to raise the white flag and come home. One more thing about this week is that I had to say goodbye to someone that has had a huge impact on my mission and on my life. Elder Taylor finished his mission and returned home to Salt Lake last week. It was really hard for me to say goodbye to him. He probably doesn't realize just how much his example has meant to me. Since I first came into the mission I looked up to him, because he was my trainer's trainer. A few months later he was my Zone Leader in the Bronx, and for the past few months he has served as an Assistant to President Morgan. His leadership and example have helped me with so much on my mission. I'll always be grateful that I had him to look up to.  Anyway, that's about it for this week. Life is good! I'm happy and healthy and loving the mission. I couldn't ask for anything better. I still miss you all so much and wish I could be home with you. But, the good news is that the next time you hear from me, we will be a day away from my one year mark! (As if  you didn't already know that. haha). Have a wonderful week! And please let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help any of you. You do so much for me, and I feel like I am never able to give you anything in return. Thanks for everything. I love you all!!!

DL, trainer for Elder Raine

Hello friends and family! Well, today is transfers again. I cannot believe another cycle has gone by already. The scary thing about these six week periods of time is that each one that goes by leaves me with one less to be a missionary. And after this next one goes, I'll have less than half of mine left. I'm sure this one will fly by too. That's mostly because of my new callings. This cycle I will be training a new missionary again! The hard work and responsibility that goes into this leaves you no time to think about what day it is and only time to help your companion and be a good example. My other calling is to be the District Leader for the Harlem English speaking district. I've already trained once and been a District Leader once, and now I will have the opportunity to do both at the same time! I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about this. I feel like this enormous amount of responsibility has just been laid on my shoulders, and the weight I have to carry just tripled. That's a good thing though. Stress and work is what pushes us and makes us grow. Every major lesson I've learned on my mission has come to me in times are a little bit more trying. So, I'm excited for this new challenge. It will be good for me as well and help me refocus. I had a ton of fun with Elder Monson these past six weeks. We got along really well and did some awesome work together. Being in this companionship also had its downfalls though. Watching Elder Monson prepare to return home was fun and exciting but also a little hard on me. The natural man inside of me was jealous and wished that it was me coming home to see all of you. I still worked hard, but my motivation level dropped slightly. So, it will be good to have a brand new missionary as a companion. That "greenie fire" is exactly what I need to get me back into my groove and completely pumped about the work in Harlem. The entire atmosphere of this area is going to change. The apartment will be a lot different too. We live with the Zone Leaders here, and one of them (Elder Linton) just got transferred to the Bronx. So, Elder Smith got a new companion as well. His name is Elder Burr. I served around him in the Bronx for a little while. He's a great missionary and a hard worker. It will be way different but good. I'll miss Elder Linton, but his leadership is really needed in the Bronx. I'm really going to miss Elder Monson too. He and I have been through a lot together in these past six weeks, and I'm glad he was by my side. I consider him like a brother. I'm excited for him to continue his life in Utah and move on. He'll do great things. I"m excited to build that relationship with my new companion as well. His name is Elder Raine, and I can already tell he is going to be an awesome missionary. He's from Brea, California. I've only known him for less than an hour now, but I can already tell he's excited to be here and ready to go. We will do some great work in Harlem together and see some miracles for sure. I'm grateful that the Lord has chosen me to fulfill this role at this time. I'm sure there are a hundred other missionaries in this mission more worthy and qualified than I am for this, but the Lord has chosen me. I have a testimony that He chooses His leaders for a very specific purpose, and I've been able to see so clearly that every time I'm in a leadership position it's so I can learn something new and improve. So, I'm excited for what the Lord has in store for me. Thanks again for all of your love and support. I miss you and love you all. Have a fantastic week!
~Elder Allred 

Fast Sunday

This week has been awesome! Especially on Sunday. I woke up forgetting that it was the first Sunday of the month and that I was supposed to fast. So, first thing in the morning, I went into the kitchen and guzzled down a Kool-Aid. Then I looked over at Elder Monson and saw him eating a bowl of cereal. For some reason that is what made it click for me. I was so tempted to just give up and not fast since I had already had something to drink. Then I started thinking about all of the people that we're teaching and all of those who we had invited to come to church. I knew I had to start my fast for them right then. So, I said a prayer and began my fast. Best decision I could have made. We had a few less active members show up and three investigators, two of which had never been before. The other one was Norman. I think I told you about him last Wednesday. He's the Jamaican guy that just walked into the church last Sunday out of the blue. We had been keeping in contact with him all throughout last week, and he sounded like he might not make it. But he showed up! We were even able to talk with him for a little while after church and teach him a great first lesson. He is really enjoying his experience with our church. I'm way excited about Norman. Jamaicans are by far my favorite people to teach! Then after church we had a busy afternoon teaching three more lessons. Today was just incredible, and I saw small miracles from the moment we stepped out of our apartment to the moment we came back home. I"m not saying that these miracles wouldn't have happened if I had chosen not to fast. I think it really helped a lot, though, and it increased my faith in that specific principle. If we will just do those things that we know the Lord has asked us to do, our lives will be so much better! Especially when it's easier to do something else. I'm just so happy with the work this week. We've kinda been having some struggles with the people we've been teaching. Some have dropped, some are just being flaky, and some we've had to pass off to other companionships. It's been pretty frustrating. A lot of potential has just come out of the woodworks this week, and our teaching pool is finally freshening up. It's really exciting! Elder Monson and I are having a ton of fun together, and we get along super well. I can't believe he goes home in two weeks! When I came into the mission he was over his year mark. It's crazy how fast it goes! I look ahead at another year, and it feels like an eternity. But I know I'll look back, and it will feel like it was only a couple of months. Hope you're all doing well. I miss you with all my heart, and I love you!!! 

~Elder Allred 

This is Zion in Babylon

Hey everyone! 

This week has been great! I can't believe this cycle is already halfway over. Elder Monson is such a good companion. We get along really well with each other and do some great work. It seems that when you have a companion that you really enjoy working with, you don't get to stay with them for very long. I'm kinda bummed that we will only be companions for three more weeks. I guess we'll just have to make the best of them and make sure Elder Monson's last part of the mission will make him look back and be happy about the work he did in Harlem. The way that missionary work is moving in our mission is really cool. President Morgan is such an inspired man and leader. In the past few months he has put a huge emphasis on setting inspired goals, having the faith that you will reach those goals, and putting in the necessary plans that will help you get there. I've always had struggles with planning, and we do a lot of it as missionaries. I don't know why, but I just really don't like it. So, when President Morgan brought this out I was less than excited. But as we have put some things into practice, I've started to gain a new perspective on it. In the last couple of weeks the mission has started to do a new kind of planning called monthly planning. This is where you focus on an individual that you are teaching and plan out what needs to happen before they can be baptized. You start with their baptismal date and then plug in when they need to be interviewed, when they need to meet the Bishop, when they need to come to church, when they need to be taught each lesson, and all of the other little things that need to happen for them. This requires a lot of extra work and is kind of tedious. These plans are also subject to change as the Spirit directs and as investigators progress differently than you thought they might. It gives you a really good perspective though and helps you have a visual of how much work needs to be done with these people in order for them to reach their goal. Like I said, President Morgan is a very inspired man. I think this new practice will really help us as missionaries to better prepare people for baptism and help more people stay active after they are baptized. The work of the Lord is progressing and hastening all the time, and it is so cool to have a front row seat to it all. We had an awesome experience this week that showed me that miracles really do happen and that the Lord is always preparing people to receive the gospel. We were at the chapel on Sunday waiting for church to start. About a half hour before sacrament meeting started, one of the YSA members came over to me and introduced me to a guy named Norman. He said that Norman just came into their sacrament meeting and sat down. He started talking to him, found out he's not a member, and introduced him to the missionaries. So cool! Norman is from Jamaica and is visiting his cousins here in Harlem for about five months. I had the chance to give him a Book of Mormon before the meeting started and explain to him what it is. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I testified of the promise given to us in Moroni 10:3-5. If he would just read the book, ponder it in his heart, and sincerely ask God if it was true, he would gain a divine witness of it from the Holy Ghost. It was so incredible to watch him as they started passing the sacrament. He opened up the Book of Mormon that I had just given him and began reading from 1 Nephi. This was just such a cool experience for me. The Lord has prepared Norman to come in contact with us. He was prompted by the Spirit to walk into our church on Sunday morning and followed that prompting! This is truly the Lord's work, and He is doing it in His way. I'm just here for Him to use as a tool to further progress His children and to bring them unto Him. It's amazing! We also had a less active family come to church on Sunday for the first time. The Strungys family. Elder Monson and I found them a couple days after I got here. They live up in the Polo Grounds, which is a huge project across the river from Yankee Stadium. It was so awesome when they walked in and sat down. Brother and Sister Strungys have seven children, so they took up an entire row by themselves. Just like you might see in a Utah ward. Haha. Anyway, I'm excited for them to continue to progress and become fully active in the gospel again. I'm seeing miracles all over the place, and it's incredible! Oh yeah, one more cool thing from Sunday. For the fifth Sunday lesson, the Bishopric talked to everyone about attending the temple and how we should make it a priority. Bishop Kelly ended the meeting by telling us a story about when President Hinckley dedicated the Manhattan temple. He said that a few times President Hinckley used the phrase, "This is Zion in Babylon". I thought that was really cool. In the midst of all the craziness and sin in New York City there stands a temple. Right in the heart of it all is the house of the Lord. It truly is Zion in Babylon. I then thought about the ward I am currently serving in. The congregation of saints here in Harlem is tiny compared to everyone else that lives here. But the chapel on 128th and Lenox makes a difference on the entire surrounding area. It's a little oasis from all the craziness of Harlem. Then I also thought about our role as missionaries. I've heard President Morgan say a few times, "Just you missionaries' presence alone makes a positive difference on the areas where you serve". A few representatives of the Lord walk around Harlem every single day and make it a little bit better of a place. What a privilege it is for me to be one of those few trusted to be here and to make a positive impact on this place. We are Zion in Babylon. I just think that statement is so profound. As members of the church (even in Utah) I think we all need to have that perspective and strive to build a Zion in Babylon. The world we live in gets more and more wicked all the time, but if we can stay true to the gospel we can make a small difference in the world. Well, that's about it for this week. I'm off to a Yankees game! Love you all. Have a fantastic week! 

~Elder Allred