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