Still working on Spanish

Hey family!

This week has been great! We've seen a lot of success with the Spanish people lately. The English work has been a little bit down. Since Joe and Gloria got baptized we haven't really had any progressing investigators in our English teaching pool. So we've been knocking a lot of doors with whatever extra time we have. We have some good potentials that have come from that effort, but nobody too solid yet. I do love the Spanish people. We met with a little Mexican family for the second item the other night, and they are just so awesome. It's a young couple named Oscar and Kristina, and they have a cute little five year old daughter named Katie. Elder Wagner and I found them tracting a few weeks ago. At the time they had just lost almost everything they owned due to a fire in their apartment building. They are are so humble and just have a wonderful spirit about them. I wish I could communicate with them. It's kind of frustrating sometimes to just have to sit in lessons and say nothing. I'm trying to learn a little bit, but I still can't really say much. I've gotten pretty good at saying prayers in Spanish, so I've been able to do that a little bit. I only really started practicing my Spanish about three weeks ago. I wish I would have started when I first came to this area. I bet I would be able to talk a little bit by now. Now I'll probably get transferred soon and I won't have too much ability by the time I leave. Oh well. I'm still so grateful that the Lord had allowed me to serve here with the wonderful Spanish people. We had a zone conference yesterday, which was awesome! Zone conference happens once every three or four months. It's a meeting where several zones get together and receive training from President Morgan, his assistants, and some other speakers. This time we got to hear from President Checketts. He is the Stake President of the Yorktown Stake. That was the first stake that I served in when I was in Newtown, so it was cool to see him again. He's a great leader and an exemplary priesthood man. He talked to us about being all the way focused on the mission and fully dedicating your time and effort to serving the Lord. He shared with us some stories from the mission he served in Los Angeles as a young man. I'm always amazed at how much people treasure times from their missions. Great men and women who have done so much good in their lives consider their missions their greatest accomplishments. I remember when I was at the MTC and Richard G Scott spoke to us in a devotional about how every good thing in his life is a direct result of the mission he served as a young man. This is an apostle, and he considers his mission the greatest service he has ever given. It's so awesome. A full time mission is a very special thing, and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to serve one. Well there's not too much else from this week. Everything is great. Just trying to enjoy every moment of the time I have left! I love you all, and have a wonderful week!

-Elder Allred

5 Months to Go!!

Hello family! Wasn't it just barely Wednesday? This week was so packed with different things that it all just went by in a big blur without me even knowing what day of the week it was. My weeks are falling off the calendar faster than I can keep up with them. I hope the time is flying for you the way it is for me. If it were up to me I would crank the speed setting down a notch or two. My fear is that my last five months will feel more like five weeks. When talking about missionaries wanting to  extend the time in their mission, I've heard President Morgan say this, "You shouldn't be asking for more time. What you should be asking for is more service." That hit me. I shoulndn't be wanting more months in my mission. What I should be wanting is more opportunities to serve in the five months that I have left. I like that perspective. Anyway, it was a wonderful week! We started with a mission conference that was held on Thursday down in the chapel at the temple. We woke up extra early to catch a seven o clock train down to Manhattan. The conference was great! Two general authorities, Elder David Evans and Elder Stephen Allen, came to teach and train us. They are both spiritual powerhouses. Elder Evans is currently serving as the executive director of the missionary department, and Elder Allen is the managing director of the missionary department. They are at the very top of missionary work in our church. They work very closely with Elder Bednar and Elder Nelson to direct the missionary efforts worldwide. I felt super lucky to have the opportunity to have some time with them. I'll remember that meeting for years and years to come. The topic of their training had to do with online proselyting. After using online proselyting for a couple years now, the church has evaluated how it has been used and is ready for a "reset". They talked to us about ways we can more effectively use the internet in our proselyting efforts. So for the next few months we will be retraining and relearning how to use our iPads, Facebook and the other online proselyting tools that we've been given. I think this will be a wonderful time to learn and grow and progress the Lord's work further in our mission. Very uplifting and edifying meeting. The next highlight was on Saturday. Another one of our investigators, Gloria, got baptized! I'm so happy for her. She has been taking lessons with missionaries for well over a year and attending church every Sunday for several months. Our other recent convert, Joe, congratulated her and told her he thought she was already a member. There were a few other members that thought that too. It's true. She's so well integrated into the ward now, you would have thought she had already been baptized. I'm grateful that she finally made the decision to be baptized! There are so many people that are happy for her as well. Many missionaries before me worked so hard to help her progress in the gospel. There were five or six RM's skyping in to watch the baptism. It's amazing to be part of this great work. As you work to help your investigators progress, you can be assured that the missionaries after you and the members of the ward continue to take care of them. I feel blessed that I was chosen as one of the missionaries to be in this area when she finally became a member of the church. She's awesome, and I look forward to another lifelong sister in the gospel. The final highlight of the week was on Sunday. Joe received the priesthood a few weeks ago. He's a priest, which means he has the authority to bless the sacrament. He was finally able to do that for the first time on Sunday, and it was such a sweet experience for me to be there in church to see that moment in his progression in the church. I was nearly moved to tears as I watched him break the bread. I was reminded of the first time I blessed the sacrament a few years ago when I was sixteen. Now I was watching him begin the wonderful journey that I've had as a priesthood holder in the church. One day he will be a Melchizedek priesthood holder and bless the lives of his family and members of his ward as he serves as a priesthood holding man. He's just such a good person. I'm grateful that he is my friend. Being a missionary is amazing. It's difficult but so worth it. Opportunities like the ones I have described today are some of the most beautiful moments that I'll ever have in my life. I love you all. Hope you have a wonderful week!

~Elder Allred

Gloria

Still loving Poughkeepsie! This week has been kind of crazy. We had a ton of changes in our zone with this last transfer. So everyone has been adjusting to their new areas and new companions. For the last twelve weeks we've had another companionship of elders in the ward that I serve in. They both stayed to do another six weeks as companions in this area, and we also got two Spanish speaking sisters in the area. With the sisters coming in they needed an apartment, so Elder Burton and Elder L'Esperance moved in with us and the sisters took their old apartment. It's been fun to have them living with us. We've also had a couple decently warm days this week. The last two weeks were frigid, and the other day I didn't even have to wear a jacket. It's giving me spring fever! That means baseball season is around the corner again. My favorite time of the year. Two big things coming up this next week. Tomorrow we are going down to Manhattan for a meeting at the temple. We're going to have two general authorities visiting our mission and giving us some training. Elder Allen and Elder Evans. I'm not really sure what their exact callings are, but they are basically at the head of missionary work in the entire church. They work very closely with Elder Bednar to oversee the church's missionary efforts worldwide. I'm very excited. This meeting should be a very uplifting experience. We had a Mission Leadership Conference with President Morgan, his assistants, and all of the other zone leaders in Scarsdale on Saturday in preparation for this meeting. I learned a lot there, and I'm sure I'll learn even more tomorrow. The other exciting thing coming up is on Saturday. One of our investigators, Gloria, will be getting baptized! She's been meeting with missionaries for a long time and has been attending our ward almost every Sunday for about a year now. She's already integrated into the ward really well and has been so prepared to make this commitment. I've seen miracle after miracle as my companions and I have taught her over the past three months. I'm so happy that she's finally ready to do it. The cool thing is that Saturday is also her birthday. That will be such a special day for her! Other than that everything is great here. I'm glad that I get to stay a little longer! Hope you're all doing well. Love you!!

~Elder Allred 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! 

It's officially 2015, the year I come home! I can't even believe it. I have no clue where the time has gone. When I think about the end of my mission, my emotions are all over the place. I'm so excited to be home with all of you again. But it makes me sad to think that this amazing experience will come to an end. So I try my hardest just to not think about it! Not the easiest thing to do haha. So much happened in 2014. It was an amazing year. I don't know how I'll top it this year. I'm off to a good start though. I am absolutely loving my area and the people we're teaching. Quick update on our investigators. Joe Starnes is doing really well. He's home in DC for the Christmas break, and we were able to have a Skype lesson with him the other day. He told us that he knows he wants to be baptized. He's having a tough time right now though, because his family isn't very supportive. They think that he's just getting baptized for his girlfriend. He's really genuine though. He told us the other day that he wants to do this for himself and that even if they didn't stay together he knows he would still want to keep coming to church. He's always really good to read his scriptures and to pray, and he really wants to do the right thing. Super cool guy. I'm excited about him. Duff Smith is doing well. He told us this week that he wants to be baptized too. He hasn't set a date yet, because he wants to tell his family first. I really like Duff. Most of our visits begin with me and him and talking about football for about 15 minutes. I love being able to connect with people that way. He said that he's going to be rebuilding some of his barns in the spring. I'm hoping I will still be here so that I can help him. I miss working with my hands. Our other main investigators are Gloria and Erica. Erica just moved down to Queens this last week. So we're Skyping with her right now and trying to set her up with the missionaries down there. Gloria is also moving soon but she'll probably stay here in Poughkeepsie. So we'll be able to continue working with her. The work is going really well. And we're blessed with a lot of great people to work with.The big news from this week is that Elder Romo is leaving today. We'll be dropping him off at the mission home this afternoon, and he will fly back to Utah tomorrow morning. Our time together was super short. I'm grateful that he was my companion. I learned a lot from him in just a few weeks, and I'm sad that he's leaving. He's a good dude, and I will miss him. I'm excited for him, though. He starts school at BYU on Monday. Pretty crazy! I won't get a new companion yet. So I will spend the next few days with the other missionaries in the ward, Elder Burton and Elder L'Esperance. I will find out on Saturday who my new companion will be. Then transfers are on Wednesday and he will come to Poughkeepsie. I can't believe the cycle is already almost over. I think I say it every time, but this was the fastest cycle yet. Only five more to go after this one. They will go by way too fast I think. Things are going really well. I love it here. I hope that I get to stay for a while. It was good to see all of you on Christmas for Skype. Looking forward to Mothers' Day! I hope you all have a happy new year and that this year is even better than the last. I love you. I miss you. I hope you have an awesome week. Thanks for all that you do to support me! 

Love,
Elder Allred