To the Statue Today

Great week! I can't believe I only have three more left! Things are going really well here in Manhattan. Elder DeGraw and I are teaching a cool investigator named Christian. I may have told you a little bit about him before. He's awesome. 17 years old. This week we took the bishop's 19 year old son with us to our lesson with him. What a great experience that was! We talked to Christian about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I've taught this lesson so many times on my mission, and it is more true to me now than ever. President Smith invited all of us this week to study Joseph Smith History, verses 1-20. That's been a really cool thing for me to focus on right here at the end of my mission. I have absolutely no doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he truly was called to restore Christ's church, complete with the power of the priesthood and the Book of Mormon. I'm grateful for him. I've had a lot of people question my testimony of Joseph Smith in the past two years, but nothing is going to break me. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon. I'm reading it now for the fifth time on my mission, and it has proven again to be the truth. I hope you all can feel my love for the gospel and for the opportunity that I have to be a member of the restored church. We had interviews with President Smith yesterday. He's a good man. I love him and his family so much. It's sad that I don't get more time to serve with them. Sorry for the short email this week. We're going to the statue today! Hopefully I'll have time to get on later this afternoon and email a little more. Have a great week1 See you soon! Love you!! 

~Elder Allred

Six More Weeks in the City

The cost of discipleship is that you have to allow your will to be swallowed up in the Father's will. You have to give yourself up and let go of your desires, even if those desires are righteous. Sometimes we want good things, but the Father has better things for us. My desire was to finish my mission in Danbury. I love Danbury. The people here are amazing, and I will forever be grateful for the time that I've had to serve here. If the first few sentences of this email haven't given it away yet, I'll tell you what's going on. I'm being transferred again. We got the call on Saturday night. This one was a tough one for me to swallow.  Still is. When we got the news I was pretty upset. I was angry and hurt. This wasn't the way it was supposed to end. I was supposed to stay in Danbury, watch Brother Dan and his son be baptized, and come home rejoicing. I didn't understand why I couldn't just have that. Was that not a righteous desire? Would I not be able to serve the Lord well in this area for six more weeks? I didn't sleep very much on Saturday night. In fact, I crawled into bed still angry, hoping I would wake up in the morning feeling better about the whole thing. I woke up Sunday morning, still upset. It has taken me a few days to overcome my emotions. I've started to think about the Savior. Not comparing myself to Him, but did He not have a similar (much more intense) experience? When He was in Gethsemane, knowing that He would soon be crucified, and asked His Father if there was any way He could not go through with it. "Nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done". For a moment, He wanted to pull the plug on the whole thing, but He so quickly understood that His Father's will was much more important than His. He had agreed to be the Savior and fulfill the Plan of Salvation. He was on His Father's errand and wasn't there for Himself. I was being very hard-hearted and selfish when I was presented with this change. I've been reminded in the last few days that I'm not on a mission for myself. I didn't agree to serve a mission so that the whole thing could go my way. I did this to serve my Father, and I ought to be willing to do what He asks. I'm still sad about leaving Danbury. It breaks my heart. But at least now I have calmed down enough to realize what I need to do. There is a scripture in the Old Testament that has become a motto for me in the past few months as the homestretch of my mission has come with a lot of unexpected turns. Isaiah 55:8-9. His ways are always higher than our ways. The Lord had a purpose for me being in Danbury for six weeks. He has a purpose for me in the six weeks I will spend in my next area. I don't know when I will see or understand that purpose, but all I can do is put my trust in Him and move forward with faith. Now that you see a glimpse of how I feel about this transfer, I'll tell you where I'm going to finish my mission. I'll be in a family ward on the upper east of Manhattan, back in my last zone. My area boundaries are partially the same as what I was covering when I was in the YSA ward. Then I was covering the whole east side of the island. Now I'll just cover about 40 blocks North and South. I'm sure I will love the area and the people, and I'm quite sure it will be difficult for me to leave there in six weeks. One more thing I wanted to share with you guys this week. I finished reading the Book of Mormon this morning for the 5th time. Just as true as ever. I have a personal goal to read it again before I come home in six weeks. Last time I did a timed Book of Mormon read was when some of you joined me for the 120 day challenge, which I thought was amazing. Now I have to do it in just 42 days. You don't need to read along with me for this one. It will be a lot of reading, and I have the luxury of having an hour each morning to study the scriptures. I would encourage you to continue to read the Book of Mormon at your own pace each day. I promise you will be much happier if you do that. I'm excited to continue to allow this amazing book to change me for the better. Now we're on the last lap everybody. I'll see you in six weeks! This will be the shortest six weeks of our lives!! See you soon. Love you!

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!! 

Merry Christmas

Hello Everyone! Merry Christmas!! I can't believe it's already this time again. I'll talk to most of you on Skype tomorrow, so I'll keep this email short. I mostly just want to talk about the Book of Mormon challenge. I read Moroni 10 this morning and finished. I can tell you that I took Moroni's challenge. I prayed for a witness of the Holy Ghost that this book is true, and this promise was fulfilled. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that to be true just as much as I know anything else. What an incredible experience this has been for me, and I'm so grateful that some of you joined me. My testimony of this book has become so much stronger over the past few months. I've seen miracles in myself and in others with this challenge. I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It is a powerful testament of our Savior, and I don't know where I would be without it. It is my rock and the foundation of my belief, it is the reason I'm even on a mission, and it has brought me nearer to God than anything else could. I hope you have all had similar experiences over the past 120 days, and I hope that you will continue to read from the Book of Mormon. I"m excited to read from the first chapter of First Nephi tomorrow! I love you all so much! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and that you can feel the Savior's love for you during this very special time of year! Thank you for all of your support! I've received several packages, letters and cards this week that I'm super grateful for! I love you!!! 

~Elder Allred 

Second Cycle Training Elder Raine

 The roommates in Harlem

 Harlem Zone 

A mural that reminded Elder Allred of his mommy:) 

Hello friends and family! 

Well, today was transfers. I can't believe it's already been six weeks since the last transfer meeting. Elder Raine and I will be companions in Harlem for another cycle. I was so relieved when I got the news that I would be staying. There was a small chance that I would leave, but I was pretty sure that since Elder Raine is only halfway done with his training I would stay and finish. I just don't think that I've completed the Lord's purpose for me in Harlem quite yet... so it will be good. My district isn't changing too much. I get to keep four out of the same five missionaries. We're only losing Elder Poulsen, because he is returning home to Utah. We will also be gaining two new district members. The sisters here have been covering both the Harlem family ward and the Harlem YSA. This transfer is bringing a lot of sisters into the mission, so President Morgan opened up the YSA ward area, and two new sisters will be working there. It will be great to have more missionaries to get to know and to serve with. I just love this calling so much. I've gotten so close with this district in the past six weeks, and I'm excited for more memories to be made in the coming weeks. Our investigator, Kristina, is doing really well! Yesterday we taught her about the law of tithing and fasting, and she said that it made total sense. She's ready to start paying her tithing after she gets baptized. That was the last lesson we needed to teach her before her baptism. So, now we're just working on scheduling an interview with her for this weekend, and as long as the interview goes well she will be baptized on September 13th! I'm so grateful that I have had the opportunity to teach her and Rafael since I've been here. They have both learned and progressed so much in the past few months. You might get sick of hearing me talk about the doctrine of Christ, but this doctrine has really changed them both as they've been able to apply the Atonement in their lives through it. This brings me to the last thing I want to talk about in my email this week. The 120 day challenge! It's so exciting to me that so many of you have joined me in this challenge. Already I've learned so much from my study of the Book of Mormon. I've begun to highlight anything that pertains to the doctrine of Christ that I find as I read, and there is seriously something on every single page. As I read the stories in the beginning that I've heard a million times before, I am gaining new insights that have never come to my mind. One that I would like to point out has to do with Laman and Lemuel. Of course, everyone knows these two as the wicked brothers of Nephi. Always complaining and murmuring. Constantly turning away from the righteous decisions of their younger brother. The thing that has impressed me is that on a number of occasions they soften their hearts and follow their brother  for a moment. Several times it says that they "humble themselves before the Lord" sometimes more than once in a chapter. In the first 18 chapters that I've read so far, it even says a couple of times that they repented. Every single time they humble themselves or repent they are forgiven, and they receive immediate blessings. What I really like about this is that it shows you how the doctrine of Christ works for everyone. Even for Laman and Lemuel, so after countless "humbling themselves" and repenting, even after seeing an angel with their own eyes, turn around and harden their hearts and go back to their wicked ways.  It doesn't matter how many times they mess up or how bad they mess up. They are always welcome to turn back to the Lord and ask for forgiveness, and He gives it to them every single time. The same is true for you and me. We all make mistakes in this life that leave us feeling a little guilty and shameful of ourselves. We even sometimes make mistakes that are pretty big ones. Ones that we've made in the past. Ones that we promised ourselves we would never make again. And when we slip up, it feels like there's no hope for us. It feels like we will never be quite good enough. That's what is so wonderful about the doctrine of Christ and repentance. Just like it was in the case of Laman and Lemuel, we can always turn back to the Lord and receive forgiveness for our shortcomings. None of us are unqualified for the infinite love of our Father. No matter what we do. I've learned this truth from experience in my own life. I've changed a lot over the past twelve months. I still make mistakes every day, but I know that I can always talk to God before I lay down and go to sleep and ask for forgiveness. It's such a beautiful thing to me that we have a Father in Heaven who offers us this kind of love. This truth is only being solidified for me as I take in everything that the Book of Mormon has to offer about the doctrine of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I want you all to know that there is nothing you could ever do that would disqualify you from repenting and feeling the power of the Atonement of Christ uplift you, strengthen you, and change you. I hope you can all feel how powerful this has been in my life and how strongly I feel about it. I love you all more than you could even imagine! 

~Elder Allred

Beginning 120 Day Challenge

TY'S DISTRICT ON ELDER ROSS'S BIRTHDAY 

**120 DAY SCHEDULE IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!**

Hey family! This week has been great! I can't believe how fast this cycle has gone by. It's already been six weeks since I got the call from President Morgan that I would be training Elder Raine. We'll get the call on Saturday night to know if I will get transferred or not. It's not very likely that I will, because Elder Raine is only halfway through his training. This has been one of the best cycles of my mission! For two reasons. One is that the work has picked up a lot, and we've seen some real miracles in our teaching pool of investigators. Of course you hear about Rafael and Kristina all the time. Those two are awesome, and I'm looking forward to Kristina's baptism in a few weeks. From the day I met them a couple months ago until now, I've seen the Doctrine of Christ working in their lives and changing them. Kristina came to church again this week and loved it. The ward has been awesome at making them feel welcome, and we've been able to take a few members with us to lessons with them. Then we have some other investigators as well that I'm really excited about. Noel and Barry both have baptismal dates for the 27th of September. We just got a couple new investigators this week as well. The work is great! The second thing that  I have loved about this cycle  pertains to my calling as the district leader in the Harlem English district. I've had the opportunity to lead two separate districts now, and both have had one thing in common. They have been full of missionaries that support me and teach me so much about how to love the work. I have so naturally felt  the Christlike love flowing through me for these few individuals that the Lord has trusted me to lead. I don't know what it is that gets me so emotional about these missionaries, but I would do anything for them. In almost every district meeting that I teach I bear my testimony at the end, tears well up in my eyes, and my emotions get the better of me. Too many missionaries have seen me cry haha! It's good though. I know that I always have friends that care about me and that I can turn to when I need them. The other highlight to my week has been the 120 day challenge! I'm excited to hear that some of you will be joining me! I know that we will all benefit as we do this together. The thing that I'm really focusing on as I read through the Book of Mormon this time (this will be the fourth time I've ready it front to back) is looking for the Doctrine of Christ, otherwise known as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in every chapter. Since I had no clue what the Doctrine of Christ was before my mission, I'll explain for those of you who don't know exactly what I'm talking about. The Doctrine of Christ is what Jesus taught the people in Jerusalem in the New Testament as well as the people that He visited in the Americas, which we read about in the Book of Mormon. It consists of five steps that will bring us closer to Him: faith, repentance, baptism (or renewing that covenant through the sacrament and making further covenants), receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end (continuing this pattern throughout your whole life). So I'm looking for ways that Lehi and his family and everyone else in the Book of Mormon lived this doctrine, so that I can understand it better. I can tell you that striving to live the Doctrine of Christ in the past twelve and a half months has changed my life completely. It has unlocked doors for me that I never thought were possible, and it has allowed me to be changed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As we read the Book of Mormon together between now and Christmas, I am excited to understand the Savior's teachings more deeply and continue to become better through his Atonement. There is no doubt in my mind that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel. It may sound like I'm supposed to say that because I'm a missionary, but I really do mean it. I have a testimony that that book changes lives, because it has changed mine. I love you with all of my heart, and you're always in my thoughts and prayers. Have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Elder Allred

120 DAY CHALLENGE SCHEDULE

25-Aug	1 Nephi 1-3
26-Aug	1 Nephi 4
27-Aug	1 Nephi 5-8
28-Aug	1 Nephi 9-10
29-Aug	1 Nephi 11-13
30-Aug	1 Nephi 14
31-Aug	1 Nephi 15
1-Sep	1 Nephi 16-17
2-Sep	1 Nephi 18
3-Sep	1 Nephi 19
4-Sep	1 Nephi 20-21
5-Sep	1 Nephi 22
6-Sep	2 Nephi 1
7-Sep	2 Nephi 2
8-Sep	2 Nephi 3-4
9-Sep	2 Nephi 5-6
10-Sep	2 Nephi 7-9
11-Sep	2 Nephi 10
12-Sep	2 Nephi 11-12
13-Sep	2 Nephi 13-15
14-Sep	2 Nephi 16-20
15-Sep	2 Nephi 21-23
16-Sep	2 Nephi 24-25
17-Sep	2 Nephi 26
18-Sep	2 Nephi 27-28
19-Sep	2 Nephi 29-31
20-Sep	Jacob 1
21-Sep	Jacob 2
22-Sep	Jacob 3-4
23-Sep	Jacob 5
24-Sep	Jacob 6-7
25-Sep	Enos-Jarom-Omni
26-Sep	Words of Mormon
27-Sep	Mosiah 1-2
28-Sep	Mosiah 3
29-Sep	Mosiah 4-5
30-Sep	Mosiah 6-7
1-Oct	Mosiah 8-10
2-Oct	Mosiah 11-12
3-Oct	Mosiah 13-15
4-Oct	Mosiah 16-17
5-Oct	Mosiah 18-19
6-Oct	Mosiah 20-21
7-Oct	Mosiah 22-23
8-Oct	Mosiah 24-26
9-Oct	Mosiah 27
10-Oct	Mosiah 28-29
11-Oct	Alma 1-2
12-Oct	Alma 3-4
13-Oct	Alma 5
14-Oct	Alma 6-7
15-Oct	Alma 8-9
16-Oct	Alma 10
17-Oct	Alma 11-12
18-Oct	Alma 13
19-Oct	Alma 14-15
20-Oct	Alma 16-17
21-Oct	Alma 18-19
22-Oct	Alma 20
23-Oct	Alma 21-22
24-Oct	Alma 23-24
25-Oct	Alma 25-26
26-Oct	Alma 27
27-Oct	Alma 28-30
28-Oct	Alma 31
29-Oct	Alma 32-33
30-Oct	Alma 34
31-Oct	Alma 35-36
1-Nov	Alma 37-38
2-Nov	Alma 39-40
3-Nov	Alma 41-43
4-Nov	Alma 44
5-Nov	Alma 45-46
6-Nov	Alma 47
7-Nov	Alma 48-49
8-Nov	Alma 50
9-Nov	Alma 51-52
10-Nov	Alma 53-54
11-Nov	Alma 55-56
12-Nov	Alma 57
13-Nov	Alma 58-59
14-Nov	Alma 60-61
15-Nov	Alma 62-63
16-Nov	Helaman 1-2
17-Nov	Helaman 3-4
18-Nov	Helaman 5
19-Nov	Helaman 6-7
20-Nov	Helaman 8-9
21-Nov	Helaman 10-11
22-Nov	Helaman 12-13
23-Nov	Helaman 14-16
24-Nov	3 Nephi 1
25-Nov	3 Nephi 2-3
26-Nov	3 Nephi 4
27-Nov	3 Nephi 5-7
28-Nov	3 Nephi 8-9
29-Nov	3 Nephi 10-11		ELDER ALLRED'S BIRTHDAY!!!!
30-Nov	3 Nephi 12-13
1-Dec	3 Nephi 14-16
2-Dec	3 Nephi 17-18
3-Dec	3 Nephi 19-20
4-Dec	3 Nephi 21
5-Dec	3 Nephi 22-26
6-Dec	3 Nephi 27-30
7-Dec	4 Nephi
8-Dec	Mormon 1
9-Dec	Mormon 2-3
10-Dec	Mormon 4-6
11-Dec	Mormon 7-9
12-Dec	Ether 1
13-Dec	Ether 2
14-Dec	Ether 3-6
15-Dec	Ether 7-8
16-Dec	Ether 9-10
17-Dec	Ether 11-12
18-Dec	Ether 13-15
19-Dec	Moroni 1-2
20-Dec	Moroni 3-7
21-Dec	Moroni 8-9
22-Dec	Moroni 10