A lot of changes!

So, I hope you had fun in California without me!!!!!!! The pin-trading lanyards..... haha I do find a small amount of solace in the two Disneyworld pins I received from a member on Thursday. It's a sign. :)

So I have two new companions! Their names are Sister Fisi (who came out with Sister Jackson and Sister Brooks) and Sister Sokolowski (straight from the CCM).  Shockingly, 'Allred' is harder for the Latinos to say than 'Sokolowski.' Who would have known?  :)  Sister Fisi's family is Tongan.  She is from California/Oregon, is 22, and is SO AWESOME.  I love her so much.  She is a very good teacher, is very patient, and really adds dignity and maturity to our companionship.  That is so great.  Sister Sokolowski is also the best! She is from California also and loves to do all the new things that we do as missionaries.  She is super excited to speak Spanish and help investigators and work with the ward and all of that good stuff.  We are excited to help her too!  It is different to have 3 in a companionship, but not bad.  We are having so much fun and a lot of success.

Success story #1:  J. is an investigator we have been teaching who had been formerly taught by other missionaries.  He has a testimony, but we were struggling to help him accept a baptismal date.  The first lesson after transfers was with him, and we prayed to know exactly what we should teach him.  We came up with a very detailed lesson plan that we felt good about.  The lesson went well, and at the end we invited him to be baptized on April 27th and he accepted!  He is a Mexican single father with 2 young sons.  They all showed up to church yesterday in their Sunday best, and we are so excited for his baptism!  Please keep praying for him!

M. is doing very well, and A. and M. are reading the Book of Mormon every day.  We had a good member-present lesson with E. this week, and A. should be out of the hospital (he broke his hip).  Things are going so well.  We are trying now to cycle through our other investigators and balance time between them and the other people we are working with who are progressing (like less-active members).  We have one, Sister G, who is really trying to get a new job so she can come to church every Sunday.  I love working with so many people who are willing to change what they do and who they are to come closer to Jesus Christ.  Things are just popping in Valencia! :)

The ward is doing great too.  They are helping us out, inviting investigators to their homes, bringing people to church, and calling people they have visited with us.  I love that.  I love to see the ward helping with this work of salvation so much.  It is a wonderful thing!

We had a sisters'-retreat kind of thing this week that was the BEST.  It was so fun.  All of the sisters in the mission got together and we had workshops about hair, skin, laundry, mending, cooking in a pinch, you name it! We also had a missionary mall, which is where I got that cute plum cardigan that I am wearing in the picture that I imagine sister Clare sent you.  It was the funnest day ever and a great little refresher on being domestic.  I will get there some day!  (I will let you know how me and Sister Fisi's cooking experiment goes)

In relief society this week, I sat next to a lady who was visiting from Puerto Rico.  She isn't a member and went to the Ft. Lauderdale temple openhouse with her member cousins in our ward.  I was asking her about the experience, and she ended up sharing with me how different she felt inside - something that was peaceful and good.  We shared a very spiritual moment talking about what she experienced in the temple, and then the lesson started.  The whole time I was thinking about her and what I could say.  By the end, I said a prayer to guide me in what I needed to say.  I turned to her after the lesson and told her to listen to the missionaries in Puerto Rico.  That they could help her feel what she felt in the temple all the time, and help her to know how she could be with her family forever.  She agreed, and I told her that her member friends would be happy to help.  I can't wait to follow up with them this week.  I think she will get baptized in Puerto Rico. :)

I love Preach My Gospel.  What did you learn this week?  I learned that the Book of Mormon can answer whatever questions we have - whether it is something like "Who is Jesus Christ?" or "How can I find a job?".  We were able to use this part of PMG to help our investigator Aldo yesterday.  The things in that inspired manual help me every day to prepare better to teach more powerfully.  I love this "rich resource of learning."

I am learning so much lately, and the Lord is helping me be purged of my imperfections so I can be more effective - a more effective teacher, a more effective missionary, a more effective student, a more effective daughter, a more effective wife, a more effective mother, a more effective Relief Society sister, a more effective church-member, a more effective person, a more effective disciple of Jesus Christ.  That is what a mission does to you.  It takes crazy teenagers who love the gospel and turns them into grounded adults who are equipped to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I still am and always will be Kara, but being Hermana Allred helps all the good things about Kara go so much deeper, and all the not-so-good things about Kara get scraped out in the adversity.  I like still being me, but I am a better version of me.  I never knew that I would need a mission to help me do that, so it's a good thing the Lord does.  I am excited to keep learning to embrace all of the life that happens out here. 

..... and I guess that is better than Disneyland (for now). :)

I love you!

Love, Hermana Allred