"You know, I don't know that much Spanish. I don't have a perfect testimony of everything. I am only 19. I get proud. I get discouraged. I get impatient. I have problems. But the God of heaven and His glorious Son appeared to a fourteen-year-old boy with problems in the woods in New York. The creator of the entire universe answered a humble prayer of a boy with miracles that resulted in the restoration of His gospel. I am young, and I am not perfect, but that doesn't mean that God doesn't want me or that He can't use me. There is a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that goes something like this: 'And by the weak things of the earth shall I thrash the nations by the power of my Spirit.' I love that verse. We are weak, but He is able. Even though the missionary force is very young and not perfect, the Lord will continue to thrash the nations. To bring them to repentance. To help them receive the blessings of His gospel.
I am so thankful to be a part of this miracle."

Monday, February 10, 2014

Sunrise, Sunset


I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!  

So it has been a very interesting week!  A lot of highs, a lot of lows (classic mission life).  The best day by far was our exchange day, when Sister Thomson from New Zealand came to Windy Ridge with me.  It was a day so full of the Spirit.  Here is my favorite story:

We were planning to teach a less-active member in our ward, whose name is Sister S.  You have heard about her before.  Well, we haven't been able to see her for the last couple of months because she has been very busy.  We finally set up a time, and the night before, me and Sister Thomson knew exactly what we needed to teach her.  That morning, I asked if Sister Thomson studied anything to help for our lesson, and she said that she just felt all this love for Sister S. in her studies, which I thought was really cool.  Sister Thomson does not speak Spanish, but we went in for the lesson and it started out great.  I asked a lot about how she was doing and things like that, and Sister Thomson started with the prayer.  In her New-Zealand English, she thanked the Lord for everything she had already learned from Sister S, and for the example she was and the blessing she was for her kids.  It was a beautiful prayer, and I remember thinking, "I hope she understands this!" (Sister S. is learning English).  After the prayer, I started with our lesson and talking to Sister S.  She said to me that she didn't understand hardly anything in the prayer, but during it, she felt the Spirit so strong, like it was giving her a hug.  I was amazed at the power of the Spirit in that room and in those moments.  I have always known that people feel the Spirit even when we don't speak Spanish very well, but I figured that a lot of those emotions were from the love they saw from us trying to speak their language.  But just knowing that Sister Thomson was sincerely expressing her love, in pure English, not even trying, and that Sister S. knew exactly the love that she felt through the Holy Spirit.  It was such an amazing experience, especially for me being in the middle of it, understanding both sides.  I loved it so much.

I am finally being able to use the skills that I had developed before my mission in Spanish!  It has been a long time coming, but I finally feel like I can do what I am good at, even in Spanish.  I love being able to grow so much. When you are a missionary, you are so much closer to the Spirit, and that helps you see your life more clearly.  The things you did wrong and the things you did well.  It is cool, because you can work on them all while you are out here!  It is awesome.  Please keep praying for C., K, and E.  C. will get baptized as soon as we can!! Keep praying! :)  I love you all so much.  Don't forget about me here!!

Love, Sister Allred
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