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.