Tyler and Taylor

As you all know, today is transfers. Sadly my time in Poughkeepsie has come to an end. I wish that were an April fools joke. Poughkeepsie is an amazing place. I remember when I received my mission call and I looked at the mission boundaries online. Something about Poughkeepsie was so interesting to me. I remember just looking up pictures and information and wondering if I would serve here. I think that may have been the Lord preparing me for these past eighteen weeks. Poughkeepsie will always hold a very special place in my heart. I have come to know a loving God here more than I've ever known Him before. I have been a witness to incredible miracles, and it is absolutely undeniable that the Lord's hand was the main functioning mechanism in those miracles. What made Poughkeepsie so special was the people. The people here are amazing. English and Spanish. I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve among the Spanish people. I love them so much. I've learned so much about them. I couldn't really speak to them too much, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the Spirit that I felt as I was among them. The Holy Ghost speaks in a universal language that brings all people together. I will miss Poughkeepsie so much, and I'm really down about leaving. It's hard to say goodbye to a people and a place as special as these. I know, however that the Lord has a wise purpose in all things. He no longer needs me to be in Poughkeepsie. I have done what He needed me to do here, and I have personally progressed in the way He needed me to. Now He needs me in South Manhattan. Back to the city. There is a possibility that this will be the last area that I serve in on my mission. I only have three cycles left. It's very untypical that you serve in an area for only one cycle, so I think I will for sure be there for two. Unless I get transferred somewhere else for my final six weeks, I will end my mission in Manhattan. This will be a much different area than any that I've served in. I served in the city before, but I was in the Bronx and Harlem. Much different worlds than the wealthy part of the island at the bottom. The ward that I will be serving in is a young single adult ward. I've come to love the family wards that I've served in so much. This will be a wonderful experience for me. I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for me and the people there. I almost forgot to mention my companion's name. Elder Coburn. I'm pretty sure Elder Coburn is from Manti, but I might be wrong about that. I'll know for sure soon enough. I haven't really served around him too much, but fro, what I hear he is a great missionary. I think that he and I will have a lot in common and will work great together. Change is good. It can be uncomfortable and can make us stretch, but it is good. I'm excited. I'm also incredibly excited for general conference this weekend! It will be my last general conference as a full time missionary. I can't wait to receive the revelation that the Lord has in store for me. If I don't email you back personally today, I apologize. Today is going to be a busy busy day, going from the very top of the mission in Poughkeepsie to the very bottom of the mission. I'll try to have more time to email next week. I love you all and have a very Happy Easter!!

-Elder Allred

4 More Cycles:)

This week is transfers again! Good news is that I'm staying in Poughkeepsie! I have at least six more weeks in this amazing place. Each cycle goes faster than the one before it. I only have four more chances to say that. Elder Kroff will be flying home tomorrow. Crazy! I always said that when Elder Kroff went home that's when my mission would really fly right to the end. I didn't think that would sneak up on me so fast. Having four cycles left is kind of the point that makes you one of the "old" guys in the mission haha. All of the sisters that flew out in my group are finishing their 18 months and going home as well. If I was a sister missionary, I would be on an airplane tomorrow. I'm so glad that's not the case. I don't feel like a year and a half is quite long enough. I still have some more serving to do. Good thing I have six months left! Well that's the only big news from this week. Other than that everything is going well. The work in our area is still moving along well. Joe is still doing great. He was going to bless the sacrament on Sunday, but our ward didn't meet because the roads were icy. This Sunday he will probably be able to do that. We had a Family Home Evening with him at a members house on Monday, the Ashworths. The Ashworths are an awesome family in the ward from England. They've been awesome at friendshipping and being with him through his transition into Mormonism. We will have to give some of our investigators to the sisters when they get here on Friday, but it will be good. It will allow us to have some more time to find good people and focus more on some of the people that we haven't been able to. We've seriously been so busy that we just haven't had time to meet with some people. So it will be good to have more missionaries to visit more people. Anyway, that's about all I've got this week. Sorry this is kind of a short email. Have a great week everyone. Love you!

~Elder Allred 

Elder Wagner

Hello family! A lot of change this week! Elder Romo went home on Friday, which was pretty sad. He was a really good companion. I felt like our five weeks together was way too short. I learned a lot from him though, and I'm grateful for the time that we had to serve together. For the past few days  I have been working in a trio with Elder Burton and Elder L'Esperance, the other elders that are assigned to the Poughkeepsie 2nd Ward. I think I might have told you all of that last week, but I couldn't remember. Anyway, here's something new. My new companion will be Elder Wagner! He actually came out in the same cycle that I did. I saw him in the mission home the first night, and I don't remember seeing him much ever since then. We haven't served around each other at all. I may have seen him at the Christmas Devotionals or something, but that's pretty much the only time we would have been in the same place at the same time.  Anyway, the point is I don't really know him. I'm excited to get to know him and work with him! I've heard really good things about him. He got called to the Spanish speaking program, which is good. We really need it here. Since Elder Romo left we haven't been able to visit any of our Spanish people. So it will be good to be able to go visit them again. Elder Romo also had a big responsibility in the ward. None of the members know Spanish and English well enough to translate for the Spanish members. All of the meetings are in English, and there is a small handful of members who don't speak English at all. So Elder Romo has been the translator for the ward. Not having him there on Sunday made it kind of tough. So it will be really good to have Elder Wagner here! Anyway, transfer day is always crazy! So I will send you a longer email next week to update you on how our investigators are doing and everything. I"m doing well! Loving Poughkeepsie! I hope that I stay here for a while. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week! 

~Elder Allred

Mucho Gusto!

Hey family!
First thing is that I'm sorry I wasn't able to do much emailing last week. My day was pretty crazy. Left the apartment in Harlem at about 8 am to go to the city transfer meeting at a chapel in North Manhattan. Then I left from there at probably like 12:30 to go to the upstate transfer meeting in Ossining, NY. We arrived in Ossining right in the middle of a snow storm. So by the time the upstate transfer was over at about 4 we needed to start on the hour long drive to Poughkeepsie which didn't leave me much time to email you guys. So if I left any of you hanging or with unanswered  questions I'm sorry! Anyway, Poughkeepsie is great! Elder Romo is awesome. He is nearing the end of his mission now, so he will go home in about four weeks. Hopefully we can have some fun and get some good work done before that happens. We're getting along really well. I've known him since the very beginning of my mission when I was in Newtown and he was serving in the Spanish Ward in the neighboring town of Danbury. The zone leader area here in Poughkeepsie has to have at least one Spanish speaking elder because there is no Spanish Ward in Poughkeepsie. However, there are a few Spanish members of the church here and some investigators who speak Spanish.  So some of the lessons we teach are all in Spanish and I pretty much just sit there and try not to fall asleep while Elder Romo teaches. Haha. I've been getting pretty good at praying in Spanglish, and I know a few phrases now. The other day we were eating lunch that a Spanish member prepared for us, and I looked at her and said "Mucho gusto!" Apparently what I said to her was, "Nice to meet you." What I meant to say was, "Me gusto mucho." Which would essentially mean, "I like the food a lot!" She understood that I don't speak Spanish and that I was trying. It was really funny though! We live in a small town just north of Poughkeepsie called Hyde Park. Elder Romo and I live in an apartment all by ourselves. It's quiet but nice. I'm definitely way more in my element here than in the city. Driving around the small towns up here reminds me of Nephi and Ephraim and makes me realize how grateful I am for the country life. I'm happy to be here! We're also plenty busy. We have a few pretty consistent investigators that we're working with who you will hear lots more about  as I get to know them better. Thanksgiving was great! We had dinner with a family in the ward. We were at their house for close to five hours. We ended up playing chess and just chilling. It was nice to kind of kick back and relax a little, especially after the crazy day we had the day before. A couple other families had us over for pie afterwards. So no need to worry. I was well taken care of! Although nobody had my favorite chocolate cream pie it was a great day! Haha. And my birthday was great too! I got all of the packages and everything the day before, so thank you all so much! You're the best! Well that's about it for now. Life is great! It's nice to slow down a little bit again and take some deep breaths. Living in the city for almost a year wore me out! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you're all doing well. Love you!! 

Elder Allred

Puh-kip-see

 Sister Kovac, whose Mom is a friend of Elder Allred's Mom

Sister Torres, who is Elder Allred's cousin Kylie's  BFF since they were teeny little girls:) 

Big week! So as most of you probably know... today is another transfer day. I'll just cut right to the news. I'm being transferred out of Harlem! President Morgan called me at about 9:45 Saturday night and told me that I would need to pack my bags. He also informed me that I would be released as a district leader and that he is calling me to be a zone leader. So I will be going to Poughkeepsie, NY, to be a zone leader with Elder Romo. A mixture of emotions filled me after I got that news. I'll explain a few. Sadness: I love Harlem so much! As you can tell from the emails that I've sent since coming here, I've had some incredible experiences and really feel like I've fulfilled my missionary purpose here. The people I've met are incredible. It was so hard to say goodbye to them over the past few days. Just so many amazing people. Members in the ward that I really look up to. Investigators. Other missionaries. Little pieces of my heart are scattered all throughout Harlem. Excitement: change is always exciting! I know that there are new opportunities to learn and progress just waiting for me in Poughkeepsie. It will be kinda nice to be out of the fast paced and tiring lifestyle of the city. I love it here, but it has for sure made me tired. I could use a slow down, and I'm excited to get back into a taste of the quiet country life. Nervousness: being a zone leader is a huge responsibility. I will be expected to train and help a lot more missionaries now. The effect that a zone leader has on his missionaries is incredible. I will need to learn to lead by example and love. I know that I am capable. That's why the Lord is calling me to do it. It will be a challenge though, and there will be a lot on my shoulders. I let my weaknesses scare me a little bit too much sometimes. Anyway, these are just a few of the feelings that I've had over the weekend. There are several more! It's just been so crazy and busy! Packing up your whole life and moving on a three day notice leaves you with a lot to do in a little amount of time. I will miss Harlem so much! This place will always be a special and sacred place to me. Some other news is that my roommate/zone leader, Elder Smith, was called to serve as an assistant to President Morgan. He and I are really good friends. We came to Harlem together and have lived in the same apartment for almost six months. I'm excited to have him leading the mission, and I will be able to continue working closely with him since I will be serving as a zone leader. Zone leaders have pretty frequent contact with the assistants. I'm ready for what is ahead in the next part of my mission! I know that I will see miracles in Poughkeepsie! Elder Romo is a great guy too. I've know him since the beginning of my mission. We were in the same zone when I started in Newtown and again in the same zone when I went down to the Bronx. Really good friend of mine. So I'm excited to see the work that we will be able to do together. Anyway, life is great! I love the mission so much! It's really scary how fast it is slipping through my fingers now, but I'm just trying not to think about it and continue serving the Lord the best I can. I hope you all have  a wonderful Thanksgiving and that the Cowboys lay down a good beating on Philly! I love you!!!! 

~Elder Allred 

Harlem

~NEW COMPANION, ELDER MONSON~

 Hey everyone! So, I know that you all know today is transfer day. So, I'll tell you the news right here at the beginning. I was released as District Leader, and I've been transferred out of the Bronx to Harlem! I'm pretty sad to be leaving the Bronx. I've really loved it here. This last cycle was awesome. I got really close with a lot of the people I served with. Especially Elder Rydalch and the guys in our apartment. Elder Kohli will be going home tomorrow, and it was sad to say goodbye to him today. He's a good guy, and we've had some good times together. For his last district meeting, Elder Sevy and I put together a song for him. Since we all love country music, we decided to sing "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins. We re-wrote the words for him and put it into a missionary version. It was really cool. I was way nervous to sing in front of the whole zone, but it turned out so well! Anyway, I don't have much time to email today, so this one isn't going to be very long. I'm excited to start working in Harlem! My new companion is named Elder Monson. He's from West Jordan. This will be his last cycle. He'll be going home at the next transfers in July. It should be a lot of fun. These next six weeks will fly by! Adjusting to the new area and watching Elder Monson prepare to go home. I'm excited to have more stories to tell you next week. Thanks for everything. Sorry for the short email this week. I love you! 

~OLMSTEAD ZONE WITH ELDER AND SISTER SNOW~ 

District Leader :)

I can't believe today was transfers again. It seems like I just barely sent you guys the pictures of me with Elder Kroff, Steiner and Fronk from the last transfer meeting six weeks ago. This cycle has been good. As far as teaching people goes, it has probably been the slowest cycle of my mission yet. We just haven't had much going on. Since President Morgan's training that I told you about last week we've been doing a little better. On Thursday we taught this guy named Jeff. He's a potential investigator that I've been trying to get in contact with since I've been here, so it was awesome when he finally let us come over. I felt the Spirit so strong as we taught his about Joseph Smith, the Restoration of the Gospel, and the Book of Mormon. He also just happened to have a friend over at the time we scheduled our appointment. As we taught, his friend was listening and asked if he could have a copy of the Book of Mormon. He got up and left before we finished up, so we weren't able to get his contact information. He has our card though so hopefully he'll read and get interested and contact us. It was so cool. It feels so good to teach a solid lesson like that. When we get those opportunities are some of the times that I am most happy. We also started working with this guy named Eddy, who was baptized in Haiti about 20 years ago. Shortly after he was baptized he came here and lived in Florida for a few years before moving to the Bronx. He hasn't been to church since leaving Haiti, and he came on Sunday! We've already taught him twice, so hopefully we'll get to continue working with him. Other than that, there's not too much going on. Elder Rydalch and I will be staying together again this cycle in the Bronx. Our district leader got transferred, and President Morgan called me to be the new district leader here. I'm pretty nervous but excited for this new calling. My capacity to serve and love will increase so much, and I know I will learn a lot in the next six weeks. Things are good, and I'm excited for this next phase of my mission. I miss you and love you all so much! 

~ Elder Allred

Springtime in the Bronx

Elder Allred's final P-day with Elder Hansen was spent in Chinatown

 Transfer Day... Elder Allred got to see his companion from the MTC, Elder Steiner. His trainer, Elder Kroff and Elder Fronk. Elder Allred looks SO happy!!:) 

He loves us <3

Hey everyone! I can't believe how much the work has picked up in the past couple of weeks. As I told you last week, we started teaching Theresita. She is doing really well. I can't remember if I told you or not, but the first day we met with her was the day she was getting baptized into another church. I was really nervous, because I didn't know how we were going to explain to her that her baptism was a good thing but that it wasn't done by the proper Priesthood authority. We ended up having an amazing lesson with her on Wednesday night. Before we could even get started teaching her, she told us that she had read the pamphlet we gave her on the Restoration, which talks about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the fullness of the Gospel, including the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the Priesthood authority being returned to the earth again. She said that as she read it, she felt that her baptism was a good thing but just didn't feel completely full. She told us that she knew she needed to be baptized again and that she would be coming with us to church on Sunday. It is incredible to see the Spirit working in people. We didn't even have to teach her this stuff before the Spirit was able to testify the truth to her. It just goes to show that we are not the real teachers. Our role is to live worthily enough and study hard so that the Spirit can work through us to teach people. The Spirit is always the real teacher, and we missionaries are just one vehicle through which it works. We had an incredible rest of the week teaching Theresita. Our zone leaders had a baptism on Saturday for one of their investigators, and she came with her daughter Juanita. The next day she was fifteen minutes early for sacrament meeting. she seems to really enjoy it and said that she cried a few times during Relief Society. She will definitely have some adjusting to do as she gets used to how our worship is. LDS meetings are much more silent and reverent than a lot of other Christian services. She is used to singing loud gospel music and shouting amen in the middle of someone's talk. It's okay though. She'll get used to it. And as she feels the Spirit more and more, she'll know that she is where she needs to be and that she's found God's true church. Besides Theresita, we've gotten in contact with a few other people this week. Not that numbers are super important, but we taught more lessons this week than I've been able to in my whole mission. The work has picked up in our area so much. I know that this is all the Lord's doing. Everything happens in His time and in His way. He prepares people to receive the Gospel and allows us to work with them when He's ready. We're being incredibly blessed with those opportunities all the time now. It is always nice to have a full schecule!  Of course, this exciting time for the area is coming just as the cycle comes to an end. Just as things get going smoothly, the Lord switches everything up! I guess that's His way of keeping us on our toes. Sadly, Elder Hansen is leaving the area and going to New Paltz, NY :/ We got along so well! Six weeks of being companions was way too short. Especially since this cycle went by so much faster than any cycle yet. It  definitely does not feel like I've already been here for a month and a half. Before I can catch up with the time, it will already be summer, many of my good friends will be going home, and I will be hitting my year mark. It's right around the corner. So yeah, I'm sad to lose Elder Hansen. He's had such a good impact on me and is an incredible example. I'm sure he and I will be lifelong friends. I'm excited for my next companion though! His name is Elder Rydalch from South Summit! Another Utah companion! Haha. Big surprise there. That makes more than half of my companions being from Utah. I've heard that he's a really cool guy. Elder Kroff was actually his MTC companion and said that he really enjoyed their time together. I'm excited for what this next phase of my mission has in store. Like I said, the area is on fire, and I'm getting another cool companion. Plus, the weather this cycle is going to be so much nicer! Spring time in the Bronx! Hopefully we'll be able to use one of our p-days to pop over to the zoo. Life is good! I'm loving it. Have a great week everyone. Remember that God is real. He knows what each and every one of you might be struggling with and knows how to help. Never hesitate to turn to Him, because He loves you. I know that's true. Enjoy every single day and keep on smiling! I love you, I love you, I love you!!! 

~Elder Allred