Finding

Hey family! 

We had a really good week! President Morgan attended a mission president seminar this past week and got some inspiration for our mission. The big thing is that he made a big announcement last Monday. He has really felt the need that our mission needs to do more finding. The work is broken into different categories, depending on the activities that you are doing. There are meetings (church, conference interviews, missionary training meetings, etc.), studying, planning, teaching, service, and then there is finding. The view that most missionaries have about finding is that it's kind of a last resort kind of thing. If you don't have any teaching appointments or anything else to do, you have to resort to finding. That usually comes down to knocking door or street contacting. Just trying to talk to anyone about the gospel and getting new investigators. Like a majority of missionaries, this area is the toughest area for me. Out of all of the other responsibilities I've had in the mission, the toughest thing for me is still to approach a random person and start a conversation. Especially a conversation that leads into the gospel. I've gotten much better at it in 20 months, but I still have a long way to go. Anyway, President Morgan announced that he wants us to schedule atleast three hours of finding per companionship per day. It's been really cool to implement that this week! We've seen really positive things across our zone in the South Manhattan area. Everyone seemed to jump right on board with us in this new endeavor, which was a huge blessing! As a result of our focus in finding we ended up contacting, as a zone, about 250 more people than we did the week before. We also saw that our zone was able to teach a lot more. It was really cool for me and Elder Coburn. Up until this week I've been a little bit frustrated. We have a really good teaching pool in our area with some awesome investigators. For some reason we just haven't been able to consistently meet with all of them. It was really cool how when we started to focus our efforts in finding, we met with all of our investigators this week. When you do what the Lord asks you to do, He showers the blessings! This week is a prime example of that for me. Another cool thing from this week was that we had a regional broadcast on Sunday. Elder Kacher (of the Seventy), Sister Reeves, Elder Andersen, and Elder Hales spoke to the entire Northeastern area of the country. So congregations throughout New York and other surrounding states met in chapels on Sunday and viewed the broadcast from Salt Lake City. It was a really cool opportunity to hear from them. I learned that Elder Hales grew up in Long Island, so that was pretty cool too. Sister Reeves gave an incredible talk about repentance and the Atonement. It really touched me. She talked about how so often we get caught up in being too embarrassed to go to your Bishop when you need to repent. We put off repentance in fear of what others might think of us. We even sometimes think that what we've done is too much. That we're not worthy of forgiveness. These thoughts come from the adversary, the author of all lies. When we finally build up the courage to repent and ask for help we find that the Lord is ever so quick to forgive. I loved her talk. Then that afternoon we attended a baptism. The most unique baptism I've been to, because it was a baptism in the deaf branch. There are four Elders in our zone that work in the American Sign Language program, and it was one of our investigators who got baptized on Sunday. The Spirit in that service was so strong, and I felt so lucky to experience that and be there to support this good brother. Other than that, everything is great! We're headed to the Yankees game this afternoon!! I have the coolest mission in the world. I'll try to email a little bit more after the game. Love you all! Have a great week!

~Elder Allred

Joe's Baptism

** A bit of commentary from Mom here... we sent  Elder Allred some money to get a new suit yesterday. It was great that he found such a good deal on the one from Goodwill, but we felt like he needed one more in his line of work. A member in Poughkeepsie could get him 60% off at JC Penney, so he got this one. Hopefully between the two he can get through the next 6 months. Yes, that's right. Just 6 months!!! 1 general conference, 1 Skype.  6 Fast Sundays. Mom is also happy to see that he seems to be keeping his little apartment nice and clean. Ah, I love this guy so much!! ** 

Dear Family~ 

The highlight of this week was definitely Joe's baptism on Saturday. Thanks to the amazing leaders in the Poughkeepsie 2nd Ward, the service went perfectly. Easily the smoothest baptismal service that I've been to. I could go on and on about how every little detail of the baptism was perfect, but I don't have enough time to do that. I'll just highlight a few things that really made the day special. The first was right after Joe was baptized. Right after he came up out of the water, they closed the doors that separated the font from the  people watching the baptism. Joe turned right to me and just gave me a hug. That man is my brother. There is just something special and indescribable about the bond between brothers. It's something that I can't really explain. I gained a brother as I stood with Joe in that font. I look forward to an eternity of that brotherhood with him. That was the first thing. The next thing was that I loved the words that Bishop Berardi said as he took a few minutes to welcome Joe into the ward. One of the things that he highlighted is that wherever Joe goes in the world he has a family in the Church. He openly acknowledged that Joe is a college student who will only be in Poughkeepsie for another two or three years and assured him that he has a family in the ward here. He went on to say that no matter where life takes him, if he will plug himself into a ward or branch unit in the church he will have support and love and family. So true. I've learned that as I've served in four different wards in the mission now who have all taken me in as one of their own. Bishop's words about the church family really struck me, and I know they struck a few others in the room as well. The last thing that hit me at Joe's baptism was when he bore his testimony at the end of the service. It was just so powerful and so inviting of the Spirit. He started by thanking the missionaries. He said that he's very grateful for what we do and that he admires our dedication. He also said that he prays for us every single night. It's interesting because we always pray for the people that we teach, but you never think that they might be praying for you, too. It also hit me that the influence that we can have on another person's life is often more than we even realize. He bore a  beautiful testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and said that there is no way he could deny that he was a prophet of God. He called this gospel the truest thing in his whole life. The most powerful part of his testimony was when he told us how he gained  a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. He said that one day he had been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. He picked his copy of the book up and held it to his chest. He described just feeling this exciting rush of emotion. When he put it down and picked up just a regular book he didn't feel it anymore. Then he picked up the Book of Mormon again and felt the exact same rush that he felt before. He recognized that as an undeniable communication of the Holy Ghost. That had to be such a powerful experience for him. It's interesting how God communicates to all of us in different ways, and we all feel the Spirit in different ways. I've never felt anything like what Joe was describing, but my testimony of the Book of Mormon came just as his did. It was a manifestation of the Holy Ghost as a result of sincere reading and prayer. I am continually impressed by how much Joe has been prepared to receive the Gospel and how well he has received it. I'm filled with gratitude for the Lord placing Joe into my life. He's had a bigger impact on me that he will probably ever know. I secretly hope that he will move to Utah one day so that I can be more closely associated with him. I'm just so happy that I made the decision to serve a mission. If I hadn't chosen to do it, I never would have had such powerful experiences like these. By the end of the week I'll have less than six months left to be a full time missionary. I can't believe it's coming so close to the end. It makes me happy, sad, excited and several other emotions all at the same time. I look forward to more amazing experiences like these over the course of the next six months. I love you all. Thank you for everything that you do for me. Have a wonderful week!! 

Upcoming Baptism:)

 Mom is SO jealous that Ty got to see the Yankees bike and Jorge's jersey 

At the gorgeous OCC showroom. One of his top 3 best Pdays ever! 

Life is great! The work is going really well here in Poughkeepsie. Our investigators have been progressing pretty well, but we're running into some concerns with some of them that are difficult to meet. One of our investigators told us a few weeks ago that he wants to be baptized, so we've been working with him to get him there. He has some pretty big concerns to work through before he can be baptized, though. We actually had a pretty frustrating lesson with Brother Smith yesterday. I love him with all my heart, but he is a very stubborn man. He has this whole theory about Joseph Smith and the Word of Wisdom. I won't go into the details, but it's super untrue and pretty disturbing. It's been a roller coaster with him, because he's so sincere about knowing that the Book of Mormon is true and that ours is the only church with the fullness of the truth. He even admits that he knows Joseph Smith was a prophet of God but tells us about how he thinks he was a really bad person. It hurts to hear that kind of thing about our beloved prophet, who I respect so much for his leadership and his character. Anyway yesterday was just more of the same disagreement on the Word of Wisdom and whether or not outlawing coffee was revelation from God. I walked away feeling very discouraged and a little angry. I didn't show it while we were with Brother Smith, but I sure did vent my frustrations to Elder Wagner in the car. I couldn't really think straight, and Elder Wagner couldn't either. So we decided that we should just pray. I prayed that we would be able to think clearly. That we would be able to put aside our frustrations with Brother Smith for the time being and just focus on the people we would be contacting and teaching for the rest of the night. I'm so grateful that I did! About an hour later we had a lesson with Joe. I haven't seen Joe for about a month. He's been visiting his family in Washington and his girlfriend, Jordynn's family, in Utah for Christmas break. We tried to set up Skype lessons with him, but it never really worked out. It was great to see him again. He looked really happy. When he and Jordynn walked into the room and sat down, I noticed that he had a brand new quad with his name engraved on it and a new CTR ring. It turns out his visit to Utah was awesome, and he spent the eighty bucks or whatever it costs these days to get himself a nice set of scriptures. He told us that his family still isn't completely on board with his decision to join the Church but he knows that he needs to do it. He told us that he's ready to be baptized! We were able to set a date for his baptism on the 31st of January, next Saturday. I just felt so incredible after the lesson with Joe. He's such a good guy. I know that the way the lesson turned out was an answer to the prayer I described from earlier in the day. If I had still been thinking about Brother Smith and still frustrated, I don't know if the lesson with Joe would have turned out so well. There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord is fully aware of each one of us. Doing the Lord's work is more and more amazing all the time. I'm grateful that I still have a good amount of time to have these kinds of missionary experiences. There is still so much ahead of me in the next seven months! Well that's the big thing from this week. Other than that everything is great! It's pretty cold here, but I think January will be the worst month. It will start warming up before we even know it. Thank you all for everything you do. Remember that God loves you and that He answers your prayers. I love you all so much. Have a wonderful week.!! 

Hello Brothers

Hello everyone! 

I can't believe it's already Wednesday again! This week seriously went so fast. I told you last week about how I talked to President Morgan in my interview. I talked to him about how much time I have left. I can seriously feel it just slipping away so fast. It's good, because I know that it won't feel like too long before I get to see all of you. It has its bad side though, because I love being a missionary, and I never want my time to end. This is honestly the best thing I've ever done in my life. The person I am today wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the challenges and triumphs that the mission has brought into my life. It's a difficult thing, but I also have so much fun all the time! I've just learned so much, and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. I had a big wake up call this week when I got an email from Jackson Jones and one from Spencer McPherson. They've both completed their missions and are now returning home with honor. I can't believe they're already at the end. Pretty soon the rest of my friends will start going home, too, and then it will be me. It's all going to go way too fast now! Anyway, I just have to keep the mindset that I need to enjoy the mission while I'm still here and not worry too much about what or when the end is, which actually isn't too much of a difficult thing to do because the mission is offering a lot of things right now to enjoy. On Saturday, Rafael and Noel both got baptized!! It was incredible. I don't think there are words to describe the way I felt, but I'll give it a shot. There were a few moments over the course of the baptism on Saturday and the confirmation on Sunday that really stuck out to me. I'll share some of them. Rafael and I have a really good relationship, and he actually asked me to perform the ordinance for his baptism. I always like it better when they ask a member of the ward to do the baptism. There aren't many better ways to start a solid relationship of trust. I felt honored and lucky that Rafael asked me though. Right before he went in to the font, I just gave Rafael a big hug and told him that I love him. He replied that he loves me too, and we walked in. It was a really powerful moment. That confirmed to me that Rafael is my brother, and that we will be close to each other for the rest of our lives and into the next. Another powerful moment this weekend was when Noel got baptized. He went right after Rafael and asked Bishop Kelly to perform the ordinance. I just stayed there in the back of the font area in my wet clothes and watched from the side. It was really cool, though, because I was the only one with the perspective looking at Noel head on. When he came up out of the water, he just took in a deep breath and smiled. His facial expression said everything it needed to assure me that he felt good. The last moment I would like to share was on Sunday at the confirmation. Rafael went first. I, along with Elder Raine, Bishop Kelly, and three other guys from the ward stood in the circle. After Rafael was done, Noel walked up to sit in the circle. Right before he entered into this circle of Priesthood holders and sat down, he said very quietly, "Hello brothers." That was a tender mercy from the Lord for me! I could feel how much Noel trusted us and acknowledged that we really were his brothers. So awesome. I'm so excited for both of these guys. They are already wonderful members of the church. Not to forget Kristina either. She is incredible! She's always super excited about paying her tithing every week and is looking forward to going to the temple. I love these people so much. All three of them have had a special place in my heart, and I'm incredibly grateful that I've been here to help them come unto Christ. I love this work so much. There's no way I can deny that this is the work of the Lord and that His all powerful hand touches it every single day. Anyway, it goes without saying that things are going well for me here. Some days are rough, but it's that way with any phase of our life. All in all, I just love everything about what I'm doing here in New York. I hope you're all doing well. I miss you, and I love you!!!

~Elder Allred

Saturday Is A Special Day:)

Hey family! 

I hope you all had a wonderful week! Everything is good here. I don't think I fully realized it until this week, but I have seen some incredible miracles since I've been in Harlem. On Saturday, Rafael and Noel are getting baptized. They both had their interviews in the past few days and both passed! Both of their conversion stories are incredible in unique ways. Noel has been awesome. Elder Raine and I were just out knocking on doors his first day here. The very first door that Elder Raine ever knocked on on his mission was Noel's. Whenever I used to hear people tell stories like that I thought it would never happen in my mission.  But here we are. We've been meeting with him two or three times a week for the past three months, and he's getting baptized! He's just such an honest and humble man. He will be an awesome addition to the Harlem 1st Ward. Rafael is one of the best friends I've ever had in my life. He and I have a really good relationship, and we've both grown together in the Gospel over the last four and a half months that I've been here. I remember the very first time that I went over to teach him and Kristina. I could just tell that there was something special about them. I remember feeling the Spirit so strongly and I could just feel the strength of their faith. I knew they would both eventually be baptized. I'm excited to continue to watch them grow in the rest of my time here, and I'm excited to keep that relationship with them for the rest of my life. I hope you all get to meet these people one day. They are incredible. I've learned so much about charity in the time that I've served here in  Harlem. I love these people so much. I've expressed that love to them time and time again, and I've shed a few tears over the intense emotion of love that I have for them. There aren't words to express how grateful I am to have them in my life. Saturday will be such a special day! Everything else is going really well too. I had the opportunity to have another interview with President Morgan on Monday. He is such a good man and has done more for me that I could ever repay him for. He leads the mission with love and care. He has developed a relationship with me on a personal level that means a lot, and I'm so grateful for him. They say behind every good man is a good woman. Such is the case with President Morgan's wife. Sister Morgan has honestly been like a mother to me here. She provides the kind of care that only a mom can give. I'm so grateful for both of their dedicated service to this mission. In my interview with President Morgan I told him that I can feel my time slipping through my fingers and that it kind of scares me. So, I asked him what I needed to focus on to make the most out of the rest of my mission. It couldn't have been a better time to ask. This weekend he was in Palmyra at a special conference with Elder Holland! (Crazy right?) I can't imagine how awesome that would have been. He said that he got to spend a little one on one time with Elder Holland, and when I asked President Morgan that question, he relayed a message that Elder Holland had given him this weekend. That was pretty powerful and the advice he gave me will give me a lot of direction for the next ten months. One last thing from this week was that we had stake conference, and it was really good! Saturday afternoon we found out that all of the missionaries in the stake were going to be singing a musical number for the Sunday session. So we showed up at the temple early so we could rehearse. Luckily the song was Called to Serve, so it wasn't hard for anyone to sing. It was really cool! Oh yeah, and my highlight from the 120 day challenge this week was Alma 14:26. Alma understood that strength from the Lord was totally dependent upon his and Amulek's faith. Such is the case for us. The divine help that we receive is only as strong as our faith in the Savior is, and the way we gain more faith is by fully living the doctrine of Christ! Anyway, life is just so good. I love it here more and more every day! Thank you all for everything you do, and don't forget that Jesus loves you! !

~Elder Allred 

Kristina's Baptism

 Elder Allred, Elder Ross, Kristina, Antonio, Elder Raine, Elder Orellana

 Kristina, Bishop Kelly, Antonio

Elder Allred, Rafael, Kristina, Elder Raine

What an incredible week! I just love missionary work so much, and I have seen such amazing miracles as I've done it in Harlem. As you all know, Kristina's baptism was on Saturday. I've been a little bit stressed out over the past couple of weeks leading up to this. Planning for a baptism is not a very easy thing to do. There are so many assignments to make for the service, paperwork to fill out, scheduling the interview, worrying about whether the baptismal candidate will actually pass the interview, just trying to make sure the whole experience is perfect for your investigator, etc. There's a lot to think about!  But it all came together really well, and all of the stress was worth it. Our ward helped a lot. Our ward mission leader was amazing! His name is Brandon, and he's a really cool guy. Originally from Utah. Bishop Kelly was actually the one who baptized Kristina, which was awesome.  He's a really good guy too. I've learned a lot from watching him lead this ward over the past few months. Then one of the ward missionaries, Darren, confirmed her on Sunday. It was so great to see the ward members so involved in the whole thing. A lot of miracles were seen this weekend. I'll just highlight the one that stuck out the most to me. After Kristina was baptized, there was a part in the program for her and Antonio to bear their testimonies. Oh I forgot to say that another guy got baptized on Saturday as well. Antonio has been taking the lessons with the other two Elders in the ward for awhile, and they were both ready at the same time. It was really cool that both of them got baptized! Anyway, Kristina got up in front of about thirty people and bore a beautiful testimony. She expressed gratitude for the opportunity that she has had to meet with us missionaries. It was amazing. I was trying to hide it, but I couldn't stop the tears from coming. When I met Kristina, she  was too nervous to even say a prayer in front of me and Elder Monson. And there she was bearing her testimony in front of a big group of people. That moment really hit me. I could see how much the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed this individual. As she has applied the things that we've taught her, she truly has been strengthened and healed through the powers of the Atonement. This is really what it's all about. This is what we are trying to help people do as missionaries. And as I watched Kristina on Saturday night, I felt so blessed that the Lord trusted me to help her come closer to Christ. And then on Sunday after she was confirmed it was crazy to watch her entire countenance just change. I could almost physically see her being "sanctified (purified) by the reception of the Holy Ghost" (3 Nephi 27:20). She came up out of the water on Saturday night, cleansed from her sins. But it wasn't until she received the gift of the Holy Ghost that she was completely sanctified. It was incredible for me to witness that with my own eyes. It was such a testimony builder to me of so many different things. The fact that we have the true Priesthood authority of God on the earth today. The fact that I have been found worthy as one to hold that Priesthood authority and act as an instrument in the hands of the Lord. The fact that without receiving the saving ordinances, we cannot return to live with our Father in Heaven again. That we need to be baptized by water and the spirit, and then go on to live worthily and receive our further ordinances and make further covenants in the temple. It's just so much to think about and so much to be grateful for, and it hit me so hard this weekend. I'm so excited for Kristina as she begins her eternal journey as a member of the true church of Jesus Christ. We've also been teaching her boyfriend, Rafael, and I think he is pretty close to being ready to be baptized as well. 

I just love it here so much. I love Harlem. I love the people I interact with. I love the ward members. We did a big service project on Saturday morning with the ward cleaning up a park. It was just so much fun working with the group of saints that stay strong in Harlem. Not really the easiest thing to do. I had Bishop Kelly's little boy following me around and helping me pull out the big roots of the trees we were removing. Working side by side with these people made me realize how much I really do love them. There are so many people here that I could turn to for help, and I'm grateful for their support. There's only two more weeks until the next transfer, and I fear I might be leaving. I've been here for awhile now, and Elder Raine is just about done with his training. I just really don't want to go. Whatever the Lord had in His plans for me is for the best though. No matter what happens, I will just have to hold my head up high and look forward to the future. I know this email is already super long, but I just wanted to finish with one last highlight of the week. The Book of Mormon challenge! I can't believe we're already a month into it. This week's chapters were great. The ones that really stuck out to me were in 2 Nephi 31-33. Chapter 31 got me so excited as Nephi focused all of his writing on the doctrine of Christ, which as you all know is what I've been searching for as I've studied. The thing that really impressed me is that this is the very last thing Nephi chose to write about before he died. After all of his amazing stories and teachings leading up to this point, the doctrine of Christ was the most important thing he felt he could talk about to close his remarks and end his teaching in the book that he knew would reach the hands of millions of people to bring them back into celestial glory and to gain their salvation. Chapter 33 Verse 15 was especially impressive to me, "... for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey." Nephi was the perfect example of one who understood and lived the doctrine of Christ. He not only taught it to his people, but he actually lived this doctrine himself. He was obedient from the beginning right to the very end, and he endured the way he was supposed to. What an amazing example! I loved it. I hope that those of  you who have taken the 120 day challenge are still excited about like I am. Anyway, I'll end with that this week. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week! 

~Elder Allred