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Dear Mom, Dad, Tyler, Brandon, Bryson, Alyssa, Ethan, and Ashlyn;

I have already started to cry and I haven't even typed anything yet!!  That is just typical of the last few days, I suppose.

I couldn't be more grateful.  For everything.  I don't know how this email will go, but if it is horrible I guess you can take it out on me on Wednesday. :)

Every moment on my mission has been so special.  Every smile, every tear, every really hard day and every best day ever.  Every member, every investigator, every potential and contact and bishop and companion has taught me so, so much.  I am so grateful.

Last night and this morning I have come to some conclusions.  Funny, because they are the same conclusions Dad came to on his mission.  The only things that really matter are loving God and loving people.  Sometimes, and especially here at the end of my mission, I have felt a lot of pressure.  A lot of people telling me, "Make it count!" "Make it the best weeks of your mission!"  "Treasure every second!"  And then I get stressed. "Am I making this count? Am I happier than I have ever been?  Am I the best missionary I have been?  Are we teaching enough, are we talking to enough people, are we being obedient enough?"  And then I lose it - I lose what is really important about missionary work.  It takes away from the joy that makes the Lord's work what it is.  His work is about people and Him.  I won't forget it again. :)

I am excited to see you all.  I hope you know that. :)  It is going to be some gooooood times!!  Everyone is so excited that I get to be home with my family for Christmas.  And so am I. :)

I am also stressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a lot to do today to make everything fall into place.  Pray for me, please. :)

Our missionary purpose is this: "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End."  To be honest, isn't that the purpose of every member of the Church?  Just insert the next covenant where it says "Baptism."  It could be the Endowment, the Sealing, or simply going to church next week to take the Sacrament.  My purpose won't ever change.  Isn't that great?

Missionary work is definitely the hardest, deepest, most meaningful work in the world.  It is great to help.  It is hard when people don't accept the help they need.  It is great to be people's angels.  It is hard to not be perfect.  It is great to learn that it's ok to not be perfect.  I am learning so much, and have learned so much.

Mom, Dad, Ty, Brandon, Bryce, Alyssa, Ethan, and Ashlyn; I know that God is real.  I know that He is our Father.  I know that the greatest Gift that this world has ever received is His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the one Thing that has never changed, even when everything else has.  He is the only One that was with me walking into the MTC, getting on that plane, and landing in the Promised Land.  He is the only One that was with me through Sister Ward, Hermana Campos, Hermana Jackson, Hermana Day, Hermana Brooks, Hermana Sokolowski, Hermana Fisi, Hermana Hansen, Hermana Marsh, and Hermana Hernandez.  He is the only One who saw a stuttering, not-confident Spanish-learner receive the gift of tongues through many months and a lot of practice.  He is the only One who knows all of my friends in Olympia, Windy Ridge, Valencia, Lake Nona, and Semoran.  He is the only One who has seen Kara Allred learn, grow, change, repent, feel, love, and become more like Him over this sacred 18 months.  He'll come home with me, and help me start a new chapter of my life.  I wouldn't have it be anyone else.  He knows.  And that's the beautiful thing about it.  For every single one of us, He gets it.  He's lived it.  He understands.  Every rude rejection, every broken heart, every hard day, every opportunity missed has been chipping off the rough edges of my character.  Every renewed hope, every answered prayer, every lesson learned, and every mistake forgiven has made my testimony a little more deep and a little more mine.  I love my mission.  I guess there isn't much more to say than that.  Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me these 18 months to try and serve You.

I have so much to share with all of you when I get home.  Please be patient with me as I adjust to a new life as a better person.  I really do love Him, and you, so much.  

See you soon.

Con amor,

Hermana Kara Allred

Florida Orlando Mission

June 2013-December 2014

"and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose"

It has been, yet again, the best week ever!!!!!  So many awesome and miraculous things have occurred! :)

First, let's just get this out of the way:  Mom, you asked some questions in your letter that I should probably address about coming home.  Here we go!  

I have a lot of mixed feelings.  In a letter I got from President and Sister Berry, I liked the way they said it.  They said they were sure we all had a lot of "tender and mixed feelings," and boy is that the truth!  I am happy to have served a mission.  I am very happy thinking of all of the good times I have had, my past companions, my old areas, the people I have worked with, and the miracles I have seen.  At the same time, I feel nostalgic (classic me) thinking about all of those same things!  I feel proud of what I have done.  I also wonder if I could have done more.  I am excited to be at home with all of you in my beautiful state for Christmas.  I am also sad to leave my home and all of my family in my beautiful state next week.  It has been such a sacred and wonderful experience to be a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is such a beautiful place for me.  I know it needs to end; it is how it is supposed to be.  There are a lot more things for me to do in life.  But it is so special to be a missionary. So special.  I can't really explain how I feel, but I tried my best.


On the other hand, I am totally anxious about coming home (surprised, anyone?).  I don't know why, but I am kind of scared too!  It is just going to be an interesting change in dynamic.  I am glad that we will be busy because it is Christmas; it would be horrible to come home in like the middle of summer where nothing is going on! 

Anyway, that is how it is going inside of my head I guess.  I am excited to see you - not going to lie!!

So back to this week of amazing miracles!!

I have really been trying to focus lately.  Because of that effort, I believe, we have been the recipients of blessings pouring out of the windows of heaven!!  A lot of these blessings also have to do with the "He is the Gift" initiative.  I hope you have seen the video.

A. is doing, well, ok.  Please pray for him to have the desire to change his life so he can be baptized!  He came to the Christmas devotional at the Church last night, which was awesome.  He is really cool.

D. is also doing alright.  We had an awesome lesson with her this week, where we were able to answer some of her questions about the purpose of her life with the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation.  Wow, isn't the Gospel wonderful?!  Always has been, always will be! Back to how I feel about coming home, I am glad I learned to love the Gospel before my mission.  I have changed so much, but living the Gospel was always a part of me.  Thanks for raising me that way, Mom and Dad!  It will make it easier re-adjusting to normal life. Anyway, please pray for D. that we can meet with her again!!

So we have been attempting to share the He is the Gift video with basically anything that breaths and has two legs.  It has brought so many miracles!!  One of these was M and E.  We found E taking a smoke outside of her house.  Her apartment complex was one that Sister Hernandez has felt like we should be finding in (thankfully - we have 5 new investigators in that complex!).  Anyway, we asked if we could share a short video about Christ and Christmas and she agreed.  We went inside and met M, her son-in-law.  They loved the video.  We bridged into our purpose and introduced them to the Book of Mormon.  They loved it.  M was asking all kinds of awesome questions about the Book, and he was thrilled to have it.  After our lesson, Sister Hernandez went to the bathroom and in that 5 minutes I covered Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, and eternal marriage with them because of the questions they were asking!!!!  Haha they are so prepared.  M specifically.  We talked to him yesterday to confirm our appointment for tonight, and he said he had been reading and had questions.  He also said in our lesson that we could come by every day during the week because he only worked on weekends (haha we will have to teach Sabbath Day soon).  MIRACLES!!!

The next day, or maybe a couple days later, in personal study I was stuck.  I didn't really feel like studying the things I was thinking of for our lessons.  I wanted to feel the Spirit and be guided by Him, so I prayed for direction and opened Preach My Gospel to a random page.  It was Former Investigators.  Haha I smiled and was confused because it was so random, but read it anyway.  I was really moved and excited about doing visiting past investigators from what I read, but it was still just random.  Later that night, we had an appointment fall through and ended up doing some finding in a complex that we are rarely in.  I remembered what I had read this morning, and we remembered a former that we had thought about before in the complex.  Apparently, he had requested the missionaries to come online.  At his house, we found his mother and father, whose daughter is getting sealed in the temple in January!! Part-member miracle!!!  We will be teaching E. and R. again later this week. :)  Personal study miracles!!

Also, we had found M. walking in her complex and shared the video with her.  We set an appointment and went back to see her.  We were able to teach her and her son, B., and they both accepted baptismal dates for January 24th.  They are so very prepared, especially B.  He wants to change his life forever and get closer to God.

Last but not least, last night we were doing some walking around the said miracle complex sharing the video.  We walked to this strip in the complex, but no one was outside.  We were about to go back and find more people (usually talking to people outside is more effective than knocking doors), but we figured we were there for a reason and decided to knock on the two doors with lights on.  Let's just say, one minute we were out on the street and the next minute we were sitting on a couch looking at mission pictures!!  L let us in her home and told us her children were members (her granddaughter piped up, "I'm a mormon!").  Her son served a mission in the Dominican Republic (she showed us the pictures).  She has never been baptized, and misses going to church here. We taught her yesterday and will be teaching her again this week!

Seriously, it has been the best week ever.  Thank you for your prayers.  Our companionship has been doing great this week too.  I tried to serve, and the love followed. :)

I also got to do a training this week on the Spirit of Elijah with Sister Hernandez.  It was awesome.  If you don't have a testimony of the Spirit of Elijah yet, get it now!

I love life.  I love you all.  Have the best week ever.  Talk to you soon.


Love, Hermana Allred

The best week ever!

I have so much to talk about this week! I hope you are ready!!! :)

Thank you again for your increased prayers.  Things have been going great in the area and in our companionship.  On Monday, we were able to teach an awesome man named A.  His wife died some time ago and he is living here from Puerto Rico with his son and grandchildren.  He used to be into church with his wife, but after she died things changed for him and he hasn't been as into it since.  It was awesome to be able to testify to him how this message could help him and help him to feel his wife's presence more strongly.  I know angels are real.  We are trying to help him live the Word of Wisdom so he can be baptized soon, hopefully in January!

Heavenly Father has been so good.  He has let me have a little walk down memory lane for the last few weeks - how appropriate. :)  It all started on Tuesday!

Tuesday night, I was thrilled because Sister Cabrera signed up on our meal calendar.  Sister Cabrera as in Keren's mom (the one who got baptized in January).  I couldn't have been happier to be sitting again in their wonderful home, listening to primary music with Emily and eating arroz con leche just like me and Sister Jackson did. :)  I was so happy.  And to only add more happiness to the best meal ever, who should knock on the door halfway through but Sister S (a less-active member I worked with a TON in Windy Ridge)!!!!  We had a very happy reunion.  Wow, it was just so awesome to remember all of the good and spiritual times I had last year.  I loved it. What a blessing. :)

On Wednesday we had an awesome day because we were sharing a little Thanksgiving video with anyone we could meet!  It was an especially spiritual experience to share the video with several ladies outside.  We testified that God had sent us to them and two of them started crying.  I almost started crying also because I felt the Spirit a lot!  We got their contact info to come back and see them.  It was so awesome.  That was a happy day.

Thursday was the BEST THANKSGIVING EVER!!!!!!  We had three dinners, which was awesome.  The first one was with the Elder's Quorum president's family and a few of my favorite members of the branch.  The next was with the Ramirez family and a Muslim family they have been working with.  The last was with the Aquino family, who are related to the Martinez' (the ones who got baptized in May).  That dinner was especially awesome, and here is why:  On Tuesday, we met someone at the library named T.  He was very nice and interested in the message, but declined a return visit because he is in the process of moving.  When we offered any service at the end, he said, "Actually, I don't have any family here and I have nowhere to go for Thanksgiving.  Is your church doing anything, or do you know anywhere I could go?"  We looked at each other and told him we would see what we could do. :)  Sister Aquino agreed and went to pick up T. on Thursday night.  He immediately began asking questions once we were all at the Aquino's about the gospel and what we do.  We testified of prophets, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, baptism, you name it!  He told us he was spiritually hungry and knew there was something missing from the Bible.  It was so awesome.  He will be meeting with the English Elders to investigate the church!  It was also so cool to see this man, without a family member anywhere near, spending Thanksgiving with a loving family.  They took him right in!  I don't think he will forget that ever.  I will do that too.  It was awesome.

Friday was another walk down memory lane as I did my last exchange in my first area - Olympia!!  I smiled as I slept in the same bed that I did on my second night in Florida last July.  I loved being in that apartment; it brought back the good old days. :)  The best part of the exchange was having dinner with good old Brother Si (you remember Si, right?)!  He was very excited that I was coming over.  He made dinner, had a special candle on the table, brought us out flowers, and blasted none other than John Denver (haha that was a little awkward... we hardly had the heart to burst his excitement, so we just asked him to turn it down).  Being in that garage brought back a ton of memories.  I loved listening to his testimony of Heavenly Father's love, how he had changed his life since he met us for the first time, how he has a call to be a missionary at the Bishop's Storehouse (he works there twice a week), and how he has shared the Gospel with people at the bus stop.  I was so grateful to be there, seeing how he had matured in the Gospel.  Oh how I love that mechanic voice and big heart!  It was a special blessing.

All week we have been sharing the new He is the Gift initiative.  If you don't know what that is, look it up!  It is the best thing ever.  Miracles abound because we have been sharing it with everyone.  The prophets are inspired!

Really, He is the best Gift that has ever been given to me.  I love Him so much.  I love that He came to be born into this crazy and wicked world to save me, a sinner.  His gospel has changed me forever.  I am so happy to be representing Him as best as I can.  I continue to learn and relearn every single day - and I am so glad and eternally grateful that He is forever patient with me.  He helps me learn again and again.  His voice is not one of harsh condemnation, but of quiet reassurance and strong support.  What a blessing it is to remember Him and to be a part of His work and His love.

Best day ever. :)

Love, Sister Allred

The Lord Giveth

Here we are, at the end of another week in Orlando.  It was an interesting week!  We are really having an interesting time trying to adjust to the new area and find new investigators - it worked last time, so it will probably work this time if you could pray for us to find more people to teach! Thank you thank you in advance.

R. who was scheduled to get baptized last Saturday, is currently missing in action.  We think he is still on his trip in Miami.  Please pray for us to find him so he can be baptized!!

Saturday was especially awesome because I was able to go to the temple with the other missionaries who are leaving in December.  I was companions for the morning with Sister LaForce, who is serving in the English ward where we are at.  It was so, so awesome.  I loved to be in the temple and feel such peace.  I was able to receive revelation for some questions I had.  I felt so uplifted and so happy.  At the end, we all had a chance to sit in the Celestial Room and, well, account to the Lord for what we have done with His time.  This has always been the scariest thought to me!!!  But as I was sitting in the room, praying, I was so happy.  I was so at peace.  I still have some good weeks to give, but as I accounted to the Lord, I could tell that He was happy and proud of me.  I have been anything but a perfect missionary, and I continue to learn and re-learn lessons about being better, but I knew that that was ok.  It was an incredibly spiritual experience, and put a wonderful tone on the day.  Plus, on the way home they gave us permission to stop for lunch, so I took Sister LaForce to my favorite place in Orlando - the taqueria on Oakridge (Windy Ridge area)!!!  It was awesome and it reminded me of the good old days with Sisters Campos, Jackson, and Day. :)

I have such a strong testimony of obedience.

I also have such a strong testimony of the redeeming power of Jesus Christ, our Savior.  What a blessing that is.

This week we were blessed to find and teach several new people!  Recently they instructed us to teach the first lesson to English people that we find before passing them off to their respective missionaries.  We were able to find 5 different families/individuals in the last week or so that fit in that category, and it is so great to be able to start them off on a strong foot.  It is also nice to be a blessing to other missionaries as we have been passing off these wonderful people.  I love being a missionary!

On the other hand, it has been especially difficult this week for us to find investigators that we can teach.  We have tried so hard to follow the Spirit, talk to everyone, and go one more step even when we are tired, but we haven't seen fruits in our investigator pool yet!  I guess it is a good thing to once again realize that the Lord is in charge - He gives, He takes away, and He tries our faith and dedication to Him.  Hopefully we will be seeing some awesome fruit this coming week!

One blessing was teaching Re.  We were able to teach him briefly yesterday - he had already read the Restoration pamphlet that we left him, and he is excited to come to church with us this Sunday!  We at least have one new person to be working with, and what a blessing that really is!

Mission life is so good.  We had an awesome Zone Conference this week in the which I felt the Spirit a lot.  I love President and Sister Berry, I love the prophets, I love you all, and I love the Savior Jesus Christ. :)

Have the best Thanksgiving ever!!!!


Love, Sister Allred

Hermana Allred with President and Sister Berry

Sister Conger

Hermana Fisi

The beautiful Orlando temple and a beautiful missionary!