Many many things to write!

I have so many things to write!!!  Let's start.

Dad-  I am so so happy that you found a job that works.  I don't even have words to describe it.  I have been praying and pleading especially hard lately for you to be able to find one, and when I read that you did, I cried.  I am so happy that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.  I love you!

Tyler- Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!! I hope you got my letter.

Brandon- I hope soccer tryouts went well!!  I enjoyed your missionary story too.

Bryson- Some of my favorite people to teach here have been deacon-aged boys that remind me of you.  There was one named C. in my last area and here there is one named S.  They are both around 13 and kind of quiet, and I think you would be friends with them.  They both like to learn and are good boys.  Just thought I would tell you I guess.

Mom- I am sorry that you had a bone to pick!! Haha I received/loved the package! I like the shirt a lot, though I tuck in the bow tie thing. :)  I also loved the card from the ward!!! I don't recognize some people, which is weird!!! Haha I was showing it to my Sister Trainer Leader and telling her that my brother was the one with a lot of blonde hair in the back, and she was surprised because she thought I was Latino.  Hahahaha I got a kick out of that.  I love you!  And I will write a letter today!  Also, we just got back from Plato's Closet.  Yep, you read that right!  I bought this awesome shirt for the 4th of July (you know me), and also a cute shirt/skirt.  Thought you would enjoy that. :)

So I am here in my new area, Valencia East!!  It is in a new zone.  I am now closer to downtown Orlando and UCF campus.  We still live in the city Orlando, in a funny little duplex that is kind of gross but I also kind of like because it reminds me of the places dad lived in on his mission.  But it is nice to have a yard and a mailbox!  My companion is Sister Brooks.  She is the best!!!!! She came out at the same time as Sister Jackson.  She is from Las Vegas and is so great! We are good friends and we like to work together.  It is going to be a great transfer!!  The ward is awesome, though it is weird to not be in my old ward with my old friends.  But I am starting to make new ones!! They already have given us referrals, and we are contacting a ton of awesome people and learning more how to teach on the spot.  My district is awesome, and I am just so excited and ready to go here!

I have discovered that I am a clean freak.  Like, not a tidy freak, but a clean freak.  I don't mind if things are cluttered, but I do mind if things are dirty.  I spent maybe 45 minutes sweeping/mopping our retro linoleum floor this morning, and I am not done yet! ..... it was so gross.  And I loved doing it.  Dad, you would be so proud. :)

Here is a funny story from this week:  We had just finished teaching a family in the ward, and we decided to talk to their neighbor who was outside.  We start a conversation with him (D. from Greece), and all was fine except our member's tiny dog came up and wanted to play.  Now, "play" used in this context is meant to say, "scratch and bite Sister Allred's feet and never leave."  Hahaha it was so funny because we were all trying to talk about Greece and the Restoration and I was like dancing around because this dog kept biting me with it's tiny teeth and scratching me with it's tiny claws.  And it wouldn't leave!!  Haha it was a classic mission moment, though I was not amused at the time. :)

Here is my cool story from this week.  Yesterday morning, I was stressed and a little anxious about the new ward.  I prayed to feel better and to overcome my anxiety, and then I read 1 Nephi 7.  I also had the thought come into my head to read Dad's letter, which was sitting dutifully on my dresser waiting for Monday.  I opened it up and read about him finding a job, which made me so relieved.  Then as I was getting ready, I was thinking about a song that Sister Brooks has on CD, which talks about the story of Moses and other scripture prophets and how we can apply them to our lives.  After that, I thought about the story I read in Nephi that morning, in particular the verses where it says he prayed to burst the bands, and then they were loosed.  I think that Nephi probably worked hard to loose those bands, and it probably hurt his wrists and took some time.  But Nephi didn't lack faith - he never did.  His prayer was just answered differently.  I thought about my anxiety.  When it comes (in whatever degree), I pray and try to have faith and expect to be delivered.  I expect the bands of panic and fear to burst so I can feel happy and normal again.  When that doesn't happen, I question my faith and think that if I had more, it might have worked.  But what that scripture did for me was teach me that my faith was enough - the answer was just different than I thought.  The Lord loosens the bands enough so I can calm down bit by bit and work through it.  But in the end I am delivered, just the same.  I thought too about Dad.  His bands of unemployment were definitely not burst, but loosened over time.  Not by a lack of faith, just by a different answer.  The bishop asked me to give the spiritual thought at PEC, and I shared those verses and how sometimes as leaders we expect the bands of our problems to burst, but we need to have the patience to grow as the Lord wants us too.  It is so applicable in many ways, and I was grateful for that experience this week.  

I love being a missionary.  In the end, all the bad things fade.  All the tired mornings, all the unfriendly people, all the stress-filled moments and homesick times and failed commitments will fade and all that will remain will be the moments of joy where I was able to help someone smile, help someone feel the Spirit, help someone feel loved, helped someone into the waters of baptism.  I have already seen it happening with my memories.  What a cool thing.  I love it.  And I love you too!

Love, Hermana Allred