Hi, have you seen enough of me yet!?!

(Kara carrying on the Christmas Eve Eve tradition of sleeping in front of the tree)

 (Florida snow!)

It was so fun to talk to you all on Christmas!  Mom, I am sure you are wanting to know, so I will tell you about the rest of my Christmas.  After we talked to home on skype, me and sister Jackson went out to our car, looked at each other, and cried.  Haha we had forgotten that things were still happening like normal at home.  But then we were fine and went to a member of the Olympia ward's house for a lunch/dinner, which was so awesome because it was American Christmasy, which we have been having a lack of!  It was fun to be there with them and a few other missionaries.  We then went to a family in our ward's house who said we could come, and there we had leftover tamales on paper plates for Christmas dinner.  Haha they were just around like it was a normal day!!!!!! Because they did all their big stuff the night before!!! Anyway, we shared a message with them, and Sister Zuniga was all sad and crying because their son just left on a mission a few weeks ago and she missed him.  As part of our message, we talked about a Father whose Son also left home on Christmas so He could save His brothers and sisters.  It was a cool parallel to talk about and I think it helped her remember why her son is serving.  Then we went to visit a less active member and give them candy, then we went back home to finish our studies!  Haha it was like 8:00 on Christmas night and we were doing grammar exercises in our Spanish books.... Merry Christmas! It was great.

So this week was a classic mission week, full of some pretty big ups and some pretty big downs.  This week sister Jackson was not feeling great, and after Christmas I guess I was just kind of depressed.  But we both just wanted to work so hard and have good attitudes.  on the 26th we had a few hours of tracting planned, and we did not feel like it at all!  We locked up our bikes in the complex and said a prayer together asking for better attitudes and the will to keep serving.  We finished, and Sister Jackson lead us to a third floor door.  We knocked, and Maria answered.  We ended up sitting down with her inside and giving a lesson, helping her download the Book of Mormon on kindle, and inviting her to church.  She was super open and excited about everything, and hopefully the YSA sisters will start teaching her soon.  What a miracle!

Another night, we were having the same kind of attitude.  Really wanting to be good missionaries, but just not having the energy.  We prayed in our hearts and set to work on a neighborhood that a missionary here told us about.  One door we knocked on had a family inside from Colombia.  We offered to say a prayer with them, and they were very kind but said they were very Catholic.  After talking to them for a bit, the mom mentioned that her mother wanted us to come in and say a prayer with her.  This older lady was sitting in her chair, and couldn't talk or use her hands too well.  We said a prayer with them, and talked a bit to them more.  There was the older sick lady and her husband, as well as her daughter with her husband and kids.  We had offered them a card before (which they turned down), but after the prayer the daughter asked for one.  They told us to come back and visit with the mom some more, and we happily agreed!!  Hopefully the door to their hearts will continue to creak open through loving service. :)  So after we found them, we were so excited!!  We probably danced around a little before going to the next house, and I thought, "I should say a prayer to thank Heavenly Father for that!"  But we got to knocking again, and I forgot.  Before we found the family, almost every house had opened the door.  But after, we had like 3 in a row with no answer.  I realized why - we had forgot to remember Him who made all of our miracles possible!!  I quickly said a heartfelt prayer in my head, thanking Him for helping us and for giving us success.  After that, we found/set up appointments with 2 other people who spoke Spanish!!  One is the father of a family.  So many finding miracles this week!

Our investigators are doing awesome.  C. is still smoke-free and working towards his baptism.  Their family continues to amaze me.  Also, D. came to sacrament meeting this week and agreed to be baptized on January 26th.  We are so excited to help this man come closer to Christ.  He says that since he has been reading the Book of Mormon every day, he is more calm and isn't sad all the time like he used to be.  These are the real-life fruits of reading the Book.  They are immediate and noticeable!  I love doing this.  It is real, and it is good!!

So this week I did something that was so awesome for me.  I wrote down everything from home, all my friends, the things I like and the things I plan on doing, and sealed them in an envelope.  On the front of the envelope I wrote a scripture that basically says, "He who is not willing to lay down his life for my sake is not my disciple."  I put it in my drawer where I could see it every now and then.  I really just want to give myself to Him and His cause.  It is hard to withhold part of your heart from Him, because then you aren't at peace.  After I sealed it all up and gave it to Him, it was easier to do what I needed to do and I was far more willing to do it.  Haha here is a silly example:  on Sundays we don't exercise, and so I actually had time to curl my hair (I figure getting ready every once in a while is good for my mental health).  Haha that never happens!  After church, it was pouring rain and I needed to back sister Jackson up in the car outside.  "looking cute" was one of the things on my list, so I laughed a little and gave it up to the Lord.  It was so awesome, because doing that little thing made such a difference.  Before, I might have let it put me in a mood.  I would have grumbled about being in the rain and it ruining my hair on the one day I did it.  I would have been embarrassed all day doing all the things we had planned.  But because I gave it to Him, I was so much happier!  I didn't really care.  It was funny instead.  That's what happens when we give ourselves to the Lord - in the end we are happier.  Anyway, that was a good experience for me.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!  I hope you have a very happy new year.  You can count on me being sound asleep at12:00 (who am I?!).  And, knowing me and Sister Jackson, we will probably move the clocks forward and have a little party of our own at 10:00.  :)  Have a great week!

Love, Sister/Hermana Allred

This picture is classic Kara! 

 Enjoying her package of Utah leaves.

Feliz Navidad!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!  

If you are worried about mine and Sister Jackson's Christmas, you shouldn't be.  We have so many plans!!!  We are definitely bringing our mattresses into the main room of our apartment tonight and watching one of our Church Christmas videos, and we bought eggnog and peppermint icecream for treats.  I got the package!!! All of the presents are sitting, dutifully wrapped and waiting, under our beautiful tree.  Plus, we have meals set up with members so we will have things to do. :)

So funny thing about Latino culture.  When they say "Christmas," they actually mean "Christmas Eve." Apparently, they do all the big fun stuff on Christmas Eve.  They have a huge dinner and then stay up until midnight and open their presents! What?!  Haha fascinating.  I never knew!

So there are some big changes afoot in the Florida Orlando Mission.  One is that we are now allowed to go to the temple twice a year, in January and in July!!!!!!  I am so very excited to be in the temple again and to be strengthened there.  The other change is that we are becoming and online proselyting mission, which means I will be on facebook in a few weeks.  I keep my old account and go through it to make it more professional, and then we can teach people online also.  They have seen many blessings from reaching out to people through this. I can't talk to people from home unless they are participating in a lesson or are nonmembers that we can try to start teaching.  I know you will be good at this, but please tell everyone not to try and chat with me or post on my timeline.  The work is moving and changing - how exciting!  Along with this, we can't have blogs anymore, which means you are going to have to take all my letters offline.  They don't want it to somehow link to my profile and so my investigators can read about themselves.

Investigator update: we got dropped by one of our star investigators, N, this week.  That is sad, but we still have some great people we are working with!  C. stopped smoking this week.  That is a miracle.  He is still working on his divorce papers and has a very solid date for February 9th, so he can get married and live the word of wisdom.  What faith we have seen in their family as they quit jobs, give up addictions, talk to lawyers, and fast until 8 at night in order to put their lives the way God wants them.  They know and they act!  It is the most amazing thing ever, and we feel the Spirit very strongly with them as they change.  Please pray for him and his wife and son L. 

We had this amazing Christmas devotional for the mission on Friday.  I sat there in the chapel, listening to the musical numbers and speakers, and I was so full.  I had this joy and wholeness well up inside me that just filled me up and made me so happy.  I love Christmas, because that is what it does to people.  I cry just about every time we sing the song "Silent Night."  Son of God, love's pure light!  Wow.  What an awesome message we have for everyone about Jesus Christ.  He was born, He lived, and He lives today for us.  He fills our lives with joy and happiness and peace.  I love breathing deep in and feeling this peace with myself and God.  Maybe things don't go right all the time.  Maybe I don't fill my purpose like I know I should.  Maybe sometimes I miss you all at home.  Maybe sometimes I am tired.  But all of that can be and is swallowed up in the joyous message that we can find peace for eternity.  That our adversity and afflictions are all but a small moment.  That we live now to bring our testimonies to those who are lost.  We taught a man this week named D.  We asked him why he wanted to talk to us, and he said it was because he was lost.  He needed a change.  We read John 3:16 with him.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  In Spanish, the end says, "no se pierda," which translates to not get lost.  D. is finding purpose through the Book of Mormon and the message it brings of a Shepherd who is always finding His lost lambs.  

Is this not the most exciting thing ever, that we can all be involved in helping people not be lost?  Thanks for being such great examples to me of everything we should do as members.  This week, me and Sister Jackson watched a lot of the videos on hasteningthework.org to see if we wanted to share any. I challenge you to watch them and catch the wave!  I love having brothers and sisters all around the world in the gospel.

I love Christ and what He's done for me.  I love learning about everything out here.  I love that He is purifying me and shaping me to what He wants.  I love you all so much and can't wait to talk to you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Hermana Allred

(Kara's nativity snowflake that she made for her investigators)

(Hermana Allred and her tree.)

Learning and Living

Is it almost Christmas, or is it almost Christmas?!  What a great time of year.  People are happier, and it is easier to bring up Christ in conversations.  Plus, we have a great tree, a million little decorations around our apartment, chocolate charts, and awesome members to take care of us.  We love it!

So funny story I forgot to tell you last week.  It is about E's baptism.  Me and Sister Jackson showed up about 50 minutes early to make sure everything would run smoothly and practice our musical number.  One of the wards, Bumby, was just getting out of church, and we ran to ask one of the Bumby missionaries Elder Jackson if we needed the baptism record at the service, which we forgot to bring (surprised, anyone?).  We said, "Elder Jackson! So we have a baptism at six, and we forgot-" "To fill the font?!"  Elder Jackson said.  We blinked. "No. ... well, I hope not.  Wait, maybe we should check." (It was the Elder's job [or so we thought] to fill the font).  Sure enough, we cracked open the door to the lapila (font) and saw it bone dry with a cockroach shriveled up in the bottom.  All of the missionaries there (there were 4 sets of us) were horrified because it takes 2 hours to fill the font.  So, all 8 of us missionaries proceeded to run around, using all the sinks in the chapel to fill up pots, vases, and salad bowls to fill coolers which Elder Call promptly took to dump in the font (Elder Call is the hugest guy ever and played football for Dartmouth before his mission).  We were laughing but almost crying and running around trying to do all this stuff to get the font filled!!!  It was chaos.  But hey, we did it!  What a classic first-baptism missionary moment.

So, family, I would like to tell you this week about finding people to teach.  Members come to us all the time with the problem - I want to share the gospel, but I just don't have any friends who aren't members.  I don't know anyone to share it with.  How can I be a missionary?  This might be your problem in good old American Fork Utah.  Here is what I have been telling the members lately.  If you only work/see/go to school with members, then you need to expand your social circle.  This is something we have been emphasizing in the ward - you need friends before you can help them accept the gospel.  Here is what I think is most effective - find those people that are always there, and become friends with them.  Let me explain!  There is always that person.  The guy who always gives you your receipt at the gas station.  The lady who always checks you out in the lunch line.  Your foods teacher.  The mailman.  That neighbor you always see outside.  They are everywhere!  The first step is to introduce yourself and to remember their name.  This is the easiest thing in the world to do, and after that it is easy to start talking about your lives, little by little.  This is something I learned in high school, to just make friends with everyone you could.  I also learned that from Dad, because he is always talking to people at the store by their first names from their name tags (brilliant!).  This strategy has turned into referrals for other missionaries too!  (We are always working on the ladies in our apartment complex. :) )  It is so simple and so effective.  I challenge you to introduce yourself to one of those people this week!  Good luck. :)

So this week, I have learned a lot of patience.  We had three bad days in a row, when everything was falling through and we ended up at the end of the day with two hours left and nothing to do because we were out of back-ups.  I learned that we need to do better at planning those!  It was discouraging and frustrating.  At two points this week, before we got out of our car, we prayed to survive - to have the strength to keep going.  And you know what was cool?  We knocked into two people on these two separate occasions that were just for us.  They were so nice.  They gave us candy.  They said they would always be there if we needed a friend in the area.  Neither were ready for the gospel, but they were answers to our prayers.  Sometimes, we get so busy here and are so sure that God looks out for other people that we forget that He loves us too.  He loves His missionary, Hermana Allred, and He will send people to her just like He sends her to others.  I love that.  I am grateful for people who are ready to be answers to prayers.

Missions are the best!!!!!  I love being here.  I love the ward and really do love the people here so much.  I am finally learning enough Spanish to let my personality through - I can make jokes and stuff. :)  It is great.  Life is great.  Merry Christmas!

Love, Sister Allred

**For a Youth Activity our ward had all of the missionaries send their testimonies to be read at Mutual last week.  Here is Kara's.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!!  I loved it and the testimonies.  You are all the best. :)

A mission is the hardest but best thing you will ever do.  I have grown so much that it is just amazing.  I have especially grown in my love for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I want to tell you that He really is our best Friend.  I have seen Him change the lives of people here in Orlando.  Everyone needs something.  Some people need relief from a heart burdened with guilt.  Some people need a spark of happiness in a time of sorrow.  Some people need a friend when they feel they are alone in the world.  Some people need strength when they think they are too weak to handle the demands of life.  Some people need purpose in a world that offers none.  Every need can be met through the Hands of the Gentle Master.  When I turn to Him, I find relief.  I find comfort.  I find joy and peace, every day.  Don't we all need that?

I know that Joseph Smith saw this very Christ because of a simple prayer and a sincere heart.  I am grateful for a God who sent a prophet for me, Sister Allred.  He knows me and wants me to know Him.  He wants you to know Him too. 

Do everything you can to love the Savior now.  Live with Him first.  Write in your journal and live your testimony.  This is what makes you really happy.  It also makes you strong.  Strong enough to handle whatever the world throws at you!  I love you all.  I love the Savior.  I love this beautiful work and the change that it makes in people.  I know it's real; more real than anything.  We can change, we can grow, and we can be healed by the Master's touch.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Best Week Ever!!!

This. Was. THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Many miracles occurred.  Let me tell you why.  Me and Sister Jackson decided to change the way we did planning to match more of Preach my Gospel and the counsel of an inspired district leader.  We didn't know exactly how, but we did our best to follow.  Even though we are not perfect planners and our success hasn't come directly because of our plans, I honestly believe that that planning has qualified us to have the windows of heaven open and blessings are pouring out on our heads.

Members this week have given us a ton of referrals.  These turn into the best investigators, so that is AWESOME!!!!!  What blessings.  Because of several things including this, we have 13 investigators.  So many we really don't know what to do with them!!  :)  I love them all and each have their own unique strengths and challenges.

One of these investigator's names is C.  C. is from Uruguay and living with a member and her 16 year old son, L.  I think I have told you about him.  He believes everything but needs to divorce his 'wife' in Uruguay, get married, and stop smoking before he gets baptized.  He has been through many sets of missionaries to prepare him, and now he is ready to act!!  They got the divorce papers and committed to have them finished by Saturday.  C.agreed to a date of January 12th.  We are so excited to help him and his family make it towards their goal of getting sealed in the temple.  We love him and them.  How exciting to be offering them peace of conscience and a new start!!

Saturday, a miracle happened.  We had made plans all week to contact in a specific area in the afternoon.  On Thursday, we received a media referral who lived in a part of our area that we aren't in much because it is so far.  We decided on Friday that we needed to change our plans and go visit this referral.  After we saw him and found another referral in the complex, we were about to leave.  Then we thought that we might as well visit some less-active members in the area while we were down there.  It was the first time we had tried to find them.  We knocked on the first 2 doors and no one was there.  We were tired from walking a lot in the hot sun (it has been  SO HOT lately!), but we trudged up to the third floor for the last door (we had been warned by elders in the area to not knock doors in the complex because they had threatened to call the cops several times).  A lady answered and we asked about the Mogollon family.  She said that she had lived there for several years and had no idea who they were.  We explained that we were missionaries, and she called someone from the other room.  Michael came to the door. He is 21 years old. After we explained who we were, he came outside, shut the door, and started to talk to us.  He said, "Look.  I was in a really bad car accident on Saturday.  I was speeding and drunk and it was 4:00 a.m. Someone hit me from behind, and I lost control of the car.  I hit over two power poles and totalled my car.  When I woke up, I was stuck in my car on the deserted road.  Both doors couldn't open.  I saw that the window was broken on the passenger's side, and tried to climb out.  An old man was on the side of the road and helped me out of the window.  When I got out I started crying because my phone was dead and I didn't know what to do.  The old man said, "are you OK, son?"  I said, "No!  I can't call 911 and I am stuck and scared!"  the old man said, "It is going to be OK; everything is going to be alright."  After that, a state trooper pulled up and asked, "Are you OK, son?"  I asked him if the man called him, and he said he had no idea what i was talking about- the street was deserted and he was just passing by.  I don't know what happened to the man.  I never was a religious person, but now I am starting to wonder about God.  I mean, what do I tell my friends?  That some old man helped me and then disappeared?  I just want to know about God."  Me and sister Jackson picked our jaws up from off the floor and explained to him our divine purpose, call, and message.  Sister Jackson randomly had an English Book of Mormon with her.  We told him to read it and that it would bring him closer to God than anything else.  We explained to him that the other missionaries could come and tell him more about God and our message.  He was almost crying the whole time.  The Spirit was so strong.  I have never met someone more prepared for the Gospel.  I hope the Hunter's Creek YSA Elders keep us posted!

Obviously, the best part of our week was YESTERDAY, E's baptism.  It was such a very special service.  I played the piano (no surprise there).  I loved to be there and see his face when he came out of the water.  He bore his testimony to everyone after his baptism. 

.

It is because of time like this that I love my mission.  During E's baptism, I thought over and over, "This is why I am here.  Everything is vale la pena (worth it)."  I have experienced moments this week of pure joy.  I love this gospel.  I love telling people about why I love it and about their Savior, Jesus Christ.  And I love you!!!!!!!!  I will talk to you so soon. :)

Love, your Sister Allred

So much to do and say!

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

I love you all!!!!!  I loved reading all your letters and laughing about stories of pre-season Christmas woes, soccer goals being completed, dumped milk on letters, and how work/interviews/crazy Allred life is going.  Keep it up! :)  (even if it is a result of bribery haha)

So I would like to start this letter with a segment entitled, "EFM"  (Especially for Mom)  Mom:

I LOVED the Christmas package.  First thing in the morning yesterday I opened it up and while Sister Jackson was in the shower I popped in a CD and set everything up.  Loved it.  I also received packages this week from the Eddingtons with some fun Christmas stuff and also the Olsens with a chocolate countdown chart!!  They remembered the one we gave to Silas and so they sent me one. :)  I thought you would be happy about that. :)

Also, I have been getting awesome letters from Rylee.  She seems to be doing so well, and her letters are very inspiring and spiritual for me to read.  Just thought I would tell you! 

Let me tell you about Thanksgiving, mom!   So first, we studied all morning like usual.  Personal, Companionship, Training, and Language.  Then, we had lunch.  I wore my brown dress with a brown cardigan (classic).  On our way out, we took the box of leaves and took pictures and threw them around and loved it.  Then, we took some little "Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias" cards we had made to less-active members close by.  Nothing like Thanksgiving on a bike!  We talked to a good amount of people outside, which was good.  One less-active member in particular was really glad to see us and we are visiting him again this week.  After, we went to visit a member and talk to her about gratitude and missionary work.  Her husband was there (that is the first time we have met him - he is less active).  Then, we tried to visit an investigator who we had an appointment with, but she bailed because she was cooking (figures!).  Then, we went to eat with the Ordinola family and the other two companionships in the ward.  It was so fun!  They also had family over.  We had tamales, turkey, yams, potatoes, caseroles, the usual, just a little more mexican-y. :)  Some Latinos don't care too much about Thanksgiving, but the thing that is really different is that they all eat SO LATE AT NIGHT!!!!  Like at home, we eat at 3 - the latest.  Here, some of our investigators had thanksgiving dinner at 10 AT NIGHT!!!!!!  Haha so interesting.  Then, I think we tried to go see some more less-actives.  It was fun!!!

Ok, that's it for EFM this week. :)

Wow we love our life here!!!!!!!!!  It is transfer week this week, but me and Sister Jackson are staying here in Windy Ridge for the holidays and another transfer!!  We are so excited for that, and are already making Christmas plans.  :)  Really, Preach my Gospel is awesome.  Planning is awesome.  It has increased our vision and our productivity so much.  Family, I love this great work.  I love the missionaries here.  I love having fun with Sister Jackson, speaking spanish (I understand people now!), bearing my testimony, and learning a ton.  I don't even know how to describe it all.

E. A. is getting baptized this Sunday at 6:30 Florida time.  We are so excited for him, and are going to his interview tonight.  He told our ward mission leader that he had been studying the book of mormon extra hard in case they ask him something he doesn't know. :)  It should be a beautiful service with a beautiful Spirit.  He is committed to this for his whole life.  He knows what kind of changes he will have to make.  This is so cool, because his wife is still hardened against Christianity as anything.  I am so proud of him and happy to be a little part of his conversion experience.  I love to think of his journey, and how it is just beginning.  He is so awesome.  :) I will proudly report on this next week!

We have so many people to teach right now.  We had four investigators at sacrament meeting this week, which was awesome!!  We got a phone call from President congratulating us for that and telling us to keep it up (he does that if you have three or more at sacrament).  It is fun to get into the process of continually finding, teaching, baptizing, and testifying!  :)  Life is awesome.  I am even adjusting to getting up early!  Haha who am I? :)  

I love you all so much.  Keep up the good work in American Fork (also known as Zion).  :)

Talk to you in a few weeks!

Love, Hermana Allred

Planning in Action!

It has been the very best week ever!!!!!  This is why - we had such an awesome District Meeting the last couple of weeks that was all about weekly planning (where you spend three hours on Friday morning making plans for the week and your investigators).  It was all about setting up specific things and making specific plans and doing specific things.  This week, our goals were huge, and they ended up working great!!  One day, we had six lessons planned - which is way more than we have ever had!  We were so busy and so happy all week, got 4 new investigators, and taught 18 lessons (which is a lot more than we have been having!).  We now have 9 awesome people we are teaching.  If you could please pray for Elaudio, Yari, Amalia, Linday, Nati, Hna. Antequera, Filomena, and Carlos, that would be awesome! They are great!

So let's talk about Ed (also known as Brother A).  HE IS TOTALLY GETTING BAPTIZED ON DECEMBER 8TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We took him to a baptism service this week for some other missionaries (I translated) and he was inviting all of these people to come!  haha he is so happy.  We love to see the difference in his face and demeanor now that he has made this decision to change.  He understands that he is doing this for the rest of his life.  This opens the door I think not only for him, but also for his wife and daughter.  They are becoming softer and easier to teach as they see their dad/husband making such a huge change.  I love to be a part of this.  Haha so during the baptism service, they asked if the person baptizing was a missionary.  I said that he was, and after that Meri  asked me if I was going to baptize Ed.  Haha I thought that was pretty funny.  Our ward mission leader is baptizing him, which is going to be so awesome.  Ed talks about the 2 missionaries he met on the street in DC all the time that gave him his first pass-along card.  I love thinking about these two english sisters who made a contact and passed him on to the spanish elders in the area.  Now he is getting baptized!  I hope that happens to one of the many contacts that me and my companions make and pass on.  So cool!!!

Another one of our investigators is named Carlos.  He works on cars for NBA players, like LeBron James.  Haha welcome to Florida.  But he is a .... "husband" (not married) of one of the less-active members in our ward.  The bishop told us about them, and we set up a time to meet with them.  Sister D was so nice and welcoming, and her son Luciano is 16.  Carlos believes everything about the gospel, but they just need to get married and he needs to quit smoking.  We had a very powerful and spiritual lesson with their family about healing and the power we can get to change.  We fasted with them yesterday so he could have extra strength to quit.  They are so cool.  I shared with him the story of Poppy having to quit.  I love having such a wealth of stories from our family to pull from.  It is very powerful to share things so close to me in lessons with investigators.

BEING A MISSIONARY IS SO GREAT!!  Thursday we have special permission to eat with the other 2 missionary sets in our ward at a member's house.  I am so excited.  I love teaching people and visiting with members and finding frogs and lizards and gasping with delight at the beautiful sunrises and sunsets and talking to people after jumping off our bikes and eating WAY spicy guacamole at hole-in-the-wall mexican restaurants and keeping records and seeing Universal fireworks on our way to appointments and learning spanish and my leaders and EVERYTHING!  :)  And I love packages from you!  (Great news- I got the October and November ones this week. :)  LOVED THEM.)   Life is great. You are all great. Thanks for everything. :)

Love, Sister Allred

*This is an email we received a couple of days ago from a Sister in Salt Lake City.  I wanted to put it on her blog along with some pictures of this amazing conference.

At 7:15 a.m. on the morning of November 8, 2013, 36 Elders and 24 Sisters from the Orlando, Florida mission of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came streaming into the lobby of the Disney Hotel hosting the Prader-Willi Syndrome National Conference. 

The spirit filled the hotel and conference officials couldn’t hold back their tears.  One leader held out her arm covered with goose bumps, and said, what is happening to me? 

I am Lisa Thornton  from Salt Lake City, Utah, serving on the Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) national board  and was tasked with securing enough volunteers to run the conference.  I told the missionaries and President and Sister Berry that PWSA (USA) could not hold the conference without the missionaries.  I commended them for their service on their missions and told them of the profound affect their service was having the lives of their families back home.  My daughter is serving a mission in Mozambique, Africa, and our family is profoundly different because of her service.  I ache for her to come home, but at the same time, I love the new spirit that is in our home and our increased desire to seek after righteousness.

The missionaries would donate 1,200 hours in the next two days as they helped with the children and adult programs for those with the syndrome, so the parents could attend the conference classes and learn how to better care for their children.   Sister Kathy Anderson, a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square donated 65 Tabernacle choir CDs for the missionaries and President and Sister Berry as thank you gifts for their service.  I had to smile as every missionary hurried to the bag of CDs, eager to have a new CD of approved music to add to their collection.

President and sister Berry came with the missionaries and then stayed for about an hour observing the conference.  The missionaries all went to their stations and you can just imagine how the children loved them!  One girl in a wheelchair was drawn to one particular missionary and wanted him by her side always. It was so touching.  The good humor and positive happy approach of all the missionaries won everyone’s hearts.  On a lighter side, the mission president’s wife sat down by an older boy with PWS.  He said, “My family hates Normans.”  She thought, “Elder Norman went home three weeks ago,” then realized he meant “Mormons.”  She asked, “Why do you hate Normans.”  And he replied, “Because they don’t believe in God.”  As you can imagine, she was happy to teach him a sweet lesson on her belief of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  The whole day was magic because of the missionaries. 

The missionaries were in several stations helping the older children, including  a dance room, huge obstacle course, art room, story room and music room.

Several sister missionaries served with the younger children ages 7 and younger.  They did art projects, decorated bags, enjoyed two magic shows, learned a dance, played games (minute to win it style), golfed, had story time, sang songs, and loved a visit from Minnie and Mickey Mouse. 

In the afternoon, the missionaries had been asked to entertain for 30 minutes, and they had just had transfers, didn’t have time to practice, and didn’t even know they were to entertain!  I brought our ukulele and copies of some primary songs.  I also had my husband draw a cute birthday cake with candles.  The theme of the conference was All-Stars so I suggested they say they were the all-stars of birthday songs, knowing more birthday songs than anyone.  They sang several primary birthday songs to the kids.  The kids came up who had birthdays and chose a candle for what song to sing. 

The missionaries then did a version of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” with rap sounds in the mike and one talented missionary playing the ukulele.  There were several chicken heads in the prop bins so the missionaries got creative and performed a chicken dance and song and the kids loved it!  Then one of the sister missionaries explained how Heavenly Father loved them all, how special they were, and that they could overcome anything.  Then all the missionaries sang “I am a Child of God.”  It was wonderful and spirit filled. 

Saturday was another early morning with the missionaries arriving at 8:00 and working with the children all day.  I presented a legal seminar to the families and also spoke to all 500 attendees at the formal luncheon. I started out thanking the missionaries from our church and letting the parents know that they had made the conference possible, donating over 1200 hours that week.  The parents clapped and clapped.  I said that the way to thank the missionaries would be that when they returned to their countries and states, they should invite the missionaries over to their homes, feed them dinner, and listen to their message.   I also made sure a write up about the church was included in the general written program. 

For the closing ceremonies, the children, led by the missionaries, all marched in to the Ballroom where their parents had assembled.  The children marched in to fun music, wearing costumes with the missionaries, behind the banners the children had made that designated their groups.  For example, the 10 years olds were the Dolphins, and they learned during the two days about how to:  “Go with the flow” (with an arm motion like how a dolphin swims and “Stay with the group.”  Each group had a banner and a cheer.  The children then did a dance to music they had learned with the missionaries and sang a fun song about being filled with hope and love, with the lights dimmed, waving their star flashlights.  It was very powerful.  The missionaries made the whole event!

Many hearts were touched by the wonderful service of the missionaries.  I’m sure they wrote home about the experience and maybe were able to include a few pictures. 

I was able to go to church the next morning across the street from the Orlando temple.  8 of the missionaries were there from the conference and it was a delight to see them again and meet some of their investigators. They had a confirmation from the baptism the night before with more baptisms scheduled for during the week. 

What a privilege it was to see your sons and daughters with their happy spirit-filled faces, as they loved and cared for our children.   Thank you for your sacrifice.

Hermana Allred leading the whole group in song and dance. 

And here it is.  

Actual proof that Mickey Mouse does in fact live in the Orlando Florida Mission!

Hermana Allred was serving right along side Mickey for 2 whole days at this great conference with those special children.

Truly, the happiest mission on earth!

Being a Missionary

I love being a missionary!!!  I am finding that finally I am adjusting more and realizing how to live as a missionary, which is fun.  I am used to missionary and not home life, which makes it easier to work and have fun!

I am learning so very much.  I have the best Sister Training Leaders and District Leader in the world, and we get to learn from them all the time.  Elder Romero (our district leader) really cares about us and is really invested in our success.  He even made a plan with us to call us during a few language studies so he could talk to us in Spanish (he is a Spanish speaking missionary).  I am very grateful for leaders who are willing to help us and lift us up.  It is such a blessing.

Me and Sister Jackson have been super into Preach my Gospel lately.  You can basically find anything you would ever need as a missionary in there.  Someday, I will be so good at all of it!  But until then, I will focus on one thing at a time. :)  I encourage you all to keep reading it as a family.  More people should be familiar with the things it teaches!  So cool.

My Spanish is getting so much better it is crazy.  Speaking doesn't really faze me.  Listening, however, definitely fazes me.  haha I am trying to get better at that, pero iVoy mejorando! (but I am gradually getting better)  It is fun to learn and practice.

We have been trying to get to know and love our members better this week.  Because of these efforts, in Sacrament meeting I really sat there and was so filled with satisfaction, love, and peace with where I am at.  I love Florida.  I love Orlando.  I love our Windermere chapel.  I love the Windy Ridge ward.  It is all so great.  A visiting family came to our ward this week and I was talking to them for a second (poor things, in the Spanish ward!  Good thing it was the primary program.  -side note: I did not actually end up playing the piano-).  They said, "Orlando - that would be a great place to serve!" And I agree.  :)  Especially Spanish Speaking!!!

So you know how we have been working with the A. family?  We were about to drop them because they weren't progressing, but Ed surprised us by agreeing to a date on December 10th!!  .... Haha we are trying to move that to December 8th, which is the actual Sunday, but we were so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We will keep you posted on that.

Our schedule for this next week is so full!!!  Haha we are getting so much better at planning.  We plan to have 20 lessons this week, which would be totally the best.  We are excited to be having so many appointments and trying to teach so many people - members, less-active members, and investigators alike!

So we had an awesome story this week!  Yesterday, we finally met with a potential we have been trying to see whose name is H.  He is from Honduras, probably in his 20's, and lives in the complex next to ours with his 'wife' from the Philippines.  We went to see him and taught him the first lesson, the restoration.  It was awesome!!! I get so excited every time I share that beautiful message!  Anyway, we were talking to him about the first vision and he was very excited.  He kept asking, "What else did Jesus say to him?"  We told him about the Book of Mormon.  He said, "Ok, I will read it all.  Probably today."  Hahahaha we about keeled over.  After we said it was 500 pages, he said that he would finish it by our next appointment on Sunday.  He needs to understand a bit more about authority and baptism, but we are so very excited about teaching him!! Please pray for him as he reads this week.

Family, I was thinking about telling you all the story of H, and how I always tell you these super exciting stories and how about 5% of them actually turn into solid investigators or people who get baptized.  But I decided that I will keep telling them to you.  You know why? Because that is missionary life!  Exciting things happen all the time!  Unfortunately, a lot of our miracle experiences end up not working out the way we would like.  But we shake the dust off our feet and look for the next person who needs a miracle!  So even if all the people I talk about don't progress or get baptized, the miracles are still there.  Missionary life isn't all golden investigators, seeing angels, and miraculous conversions.  It is a lot of searching, a lot of hoping, and a lot of not giving up.  But isn't life kind of like that?  It has a lot of miraculous moments that keep us going, but most of it is keeping on keeping on.  One of the things we need to learn is to find more of the moments that keep us going, but moments in the every day things.  Same thing with missionary life here.  And I love it, just like I loved life at home!  :)  Keep finding those things that keep you going. :)

Thanks for writing me and praying for me.  I love you all so much and I laugh so much every time I read a letter from home.  I hope you all have the best week ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk to you soon.

Love, Hermana Allred

Crazy Happenings

So if you were to ask me if I listened to Lady Gaga, MC-ed a variety show of sorts, and danced onstage in front of hundreds of people this week, the answer would be yes!

Now you might be thinking, "Well, Sister Allred, those don't really sound like missionary things to be doing!" To this thought, I would reply, "Yes, I think you are right!"  Let me explain.

Last week, we got a text from our Zone Leaders asking us to block out Friday and Saturday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm for a service project.  We almost had a conniption because that is two whole days!!  But we went through the week with that big ole' service project waiting.  As it got closer, we learned that we would be helping with a convention in a Disney hotel for people with Prader Willie Syndrome and their families.  People with this disorder don't have a trigger for when they are full, so they are constantly hungry.  They will go to great lengths to get any food they can because their bodies tell them they are starving.  Most of them also have other mental and physical handicaps.  So we all show up Friday morning, get our t-shirts, and assemble to find out what we are doing.  The first volunteers they asked for were dancers.  Me and Sister Jackson knew that was our calling, and so we ran up to do it and met Miss/Sister Sally, the dance teacher.  We then realized with horror that dancing is against the mission rules, so we excused ourselves to run and ask President Berry if it was ok (we got approval, don't worry!).  We then commenced to learn a dance and teach it to every group of people who came through from 9:00-4:00!!!!  Me and Sister Jackson, as you might imagine, were perfect for the job.  We were busting with energy.......... until day 2.  Haha we have never been so tired in our whole lives!  Plus, part of our rotation was playing a name game with everyone, so we knew just about everyone's name in the convention.  In the morning of the first day, Sister Thornton (one of the ladies in charge) asked us all to do an hour-long entertainment session for the kids.  We nodded and thought that Elder Patten (one of our zone leaders) was in charge, so we went on our merry way.  Halfway through the day, Sister Thornton stopped me and Sister Jackson to ask how the show was coming.  It was then that we were given the script and shown the props.  When our time came, we happily lead all the missionaries in singing, dancing, story-telling, you name it.  I am sure you can picture it.  Haha me and Sister Jackson laughed all night that these two newbie sisters just got put in charge of everything.  And that wasn't all!!!  The dance we taught to all the people was to be performed for all the families in a big show at the end, with the members of the board on the stage.  Last minute, someone decided it would be a great idea to have me and Sister Jackson be up there too, because we had taught the dance to everyone with Sister Sally.  So there we were, hopping around to Phillip Phillips and Jason Mraz in front of a huge ballroom of people.  Bless our hearts.  Sister Allred and Sister Jackson to the rescue, with their [almost] bottomless fountain of energy!  Haha what a time.  It was, however, really hard to come back to missionary work after listening to such worldly music and stuff.  We didn't like it at all, and we hope that coming home isn't like that!  We decided that even though it was a good time, normal missionary work is so much better. :)

So now lets talk about how awesome this week was!!!  Following some advice from our District Leader, me and Sister Jackson planned out some times a week in advance to tract in specific areas.  One of these was a park in my old area, Olympia (which is in our boundaries).  It was amazing to see how almost every single person we talked to was prepared in that time in some way or another.  Because we made our plans in advance, the Lord could put the prepared where we would be.  That was awesome, and we got some really good referrals for English missionaries there.  

Wednesday night, me and Sister Jackson had the opportunity to do a service project at Chick-Fil-A.  We supervised this booth thing that the church sponsored for the "week of the family" for a few hours.  We got to meet the mayor of Ocoee and some Florida Senator, which was pretty cool I guess.  It was fun to be there and talk to people.  

Thursday, we had this awesome experience!!!  I was very stressed all day, because our meeting got out an hour late and we were consequently late to all of our appointments.  Our last one of the night was with a part-member family, the A's.  We had figured that they all had been taught all the lessons and the daughters who were not baptized were only missing the permission of their father to be baptized (Brother A is their step-father).  We hadn't had time to plan in the morning because of meetings and appointments, so we didn't know what to teach them and were 20 minutes late without our cell phone (we had forgotten it at the house).  We decided last minute and after a prayer to teach the Restoration again.  We pulled up to their complex and couldn't get in.  No one was coming in, and I was frustrated and tired from a stressful day.  Something snapped and I was so angry and upset.  I felt not a bit of the Spirit, and I didn't care because I was so upset.  We finally got in and I was not ok and not wanting to teach a lesson feeling that way.  We went up and started to teach.  Well, I tried to but couldn't.  I knew I couldn't because I didn't have the Spirit with me.  Sister Jackson started talking about Joseph Smith and the first vision.  It came out that Yari and Amalia (the non-member daughters) hadn't thought about baptism before, and Yari was confused because she didn't know whether to join her mom's church or her dad's.  Sister Jackson told her about Joseph Smith who had the same problems.  During this I was praying for forgiveness and hoping that I could still do my part in the lesson.  It was a great lesson and the Spirit was so, so, so very strong.  They committed to pray (they did and felt the spirit - we asked them yesterday!).  This was the painful lesson I learned, however:  If I don't act like a missionary 100% of the time, then I do not deserve and cannot expect the Spirit when I need it.  The lesson was good, but I was not able to feel the joy that Sister Jackson did because I knew I wasn't qualified at that time.  It was a costly lesson, but a good one to learn!  I want to do that my whole life too.  To live always ready for the Spirit.

I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Love, Sister Allred