Discipleship

Picture from Joe's Baptism

Hola Familia!

My Spanish is getting pretty good huh? Just kidding. I still can't really speak Spanish, but I think it's getting a little bit better every week. I said the orar (prayer) in a Spanish lesson last night, and it was easily the best prayer that I've said. It seemed to flow really well, and everything that I wanted to say came out smoothly. It was awesome. The lesson was with a part member family, the Santos. Mom and dad are members of the church but haven't been active for a few years. They have three adorable kids that haven't been baptized. Their mom doesn't want to force them into being baptized and has left the decision up to them. The two daughters are 8 and 10, and the son is 7. Since their parents don't go to church their primary teacher has been picking them up faithfully every week. They love going to church and are super involved in the primary. So the whole time I've been here we've been trying to help those two daughters commit to a date for baptism. They're so smart and are more than ready to take the big step. Well last night we had that primary teacher go to the lesson with us. She's actually moving out of the ward this summer and wants to see the girls be baptized before she leaves. The Spirit in the lesson was incredibly strong, and I just felt so good. As we talked to them about baptism again they seemed closer to committing than they ever have yet. They still wouldn't commit to a date last night, but they said they would think and pray about it this week and tell us the date when we come over next week. I love them so much. I've realized lately even more how important charity is in doing the Lord's work. It's amazing what pure love for the people can do. That's why the Savior was so powerful during His earthly ministry. He had absolute perfect charity for the people. We should look to Him as our exemplar in everything that we do. Another thing I've been thinking about lately is discipleship. It's something that Elder Allen and Elder Evans talked to us about when they visited our mission a few weeks ago. As my mission draws closer to its end I've found myself pondering on what kind of a servant I will be when I am no longer privileged to literally wear the Savior's name on a name tag on my chest. I've worried that as a return missionary I won't feel nearly as productive or effective as I do now. When the general authorities spoke to us about discipleship it opened my eyes to a whole new concept that I hadn't been considering. Discipleship begins the day we are baptized and make our first covenant to serve the Lord. It continues as we grow. My responsibility to be a disciple of Christ has lasted through high school and college and now continues on my mission. Why would it end when I get released as a full time missionary? Any member of the church anywhere (missionary or not) has a sacred responsibility to be a disciple. It gives me comfort to know that I will continue to serve Him. In my callings in the church, as a husband and father one day. I will be a disciple of Christ. Even in the classroom and the work field I will be a disciple of Christ. In the social world I will be a disciple of Christ. I can be a disciple everywhere. I love that. I've been thinking about it a lot. Elder Evans said something in our meeting that I loved. He said that our missions are the time that we've been given to prepare to be return missionaries. As I become a disciple in the mission field, I am preparing myself to be a disciple in my return missionary years. This principle of discipleship has changed my entire life. It's given me the perspective that I need that I didn't have before. I could talk all day about what I've been learning these past few weeks, but I think I'll leave it at that. This gospel is amazing. My mission is amazing. And all of you are amazing! I love you all so much. Have a fantastic week!

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