It was an awesome week! First off, I will start with a little story from last Monday. We were riding our bikes (shocking), and contacted a nice older man in a jazzy (you know, those electric wheelchairs?). We introduced ourselves, and he said, "Allred, Allred. You know, waaay back in 1948, before you were born, I lived next door to some Allreds...." I smiled, because people always have crazy Allred connections to people who actually aren't my relatives. "....... and their boys' names were Darvel, Merlin, and Rex." My eyes about popped right out of my skull onto the street! There simply cannot be more than one Darvel, Merlin, or Rex Allred in the world. I excitedly told Leroy (that was his name) that Rex was my grandfather, and he told me all about growing up by them in California, going to church with them a couple times, and how their mom was really strict. I loved it. It was so exciting. Small, small world, eh?
So easily the highlight of this week was the baptism of our good friend D! The baptism was one of the most hectic things of my life - we had two prayers and a talk cancel the day of - but everything ended up pulling together and it was a nice service. Because of some, er, instances in the past with the baptismal font being filled on time, me and Sister Hansen were determined that that would not be a problem this time! We showed up like 2 and a half hours early to make sure everything would run smoothly. That was a great plan and all, but we ended up skurrying around like madwomen trying to pull together last minute talks and prayers and waiting for the brother who was supposed to perform the baptism to come. And then we looked at each other with horror halfway through the talk on baptism because we forgot to tell D to bring a towel! Haha we were frantic, especially because we were in charge of the music while she was changing, but we hastily signaled to the other sister missionaries there and they filled in for us as we scrambled around for a towel. Haha thankfully, one of D's cousins had an extra T-shirt in her purse (now that's a Mary Poppins bag!) and that worked. Despite all of the craziness (isn't that just typical missionary life?), it was awesome. All of D's family came and she was really happy.
The biggest miracle of all was seeing D
on Sunday! She was a new woman after she received the Holy Ghost. She had a fire in her eyes and a new dedication to the gospel. You know how she has been struggling to recognize the Spirit? She told us yesterday in Gospel Principles that she definitely felt it at her baptism. That was a miracle. She is bringing her 13-year-old, K, to young womens
on Tuesday. She told us she had her tithing in the car, and asked how she could pay it. We told her we might have to wait for them to process her membership record number first. :) I am so excited to keep working with her and her family. She is so dedicated to the gospel. I love being a missionary. :)
So speaking of the baptism, my good friends Sister and Elder Nielson came to see it. Before the service, Elder Nielson informed me that he had seen my father this week. I couldn't make it register in my mind. I said, "My father?! A really tall, happy guy with blue eyes?!" He said, "Yep, that's him!" Dad!!!! You were in Orlando this week?!!! Happy Father's Day!!!!! I was thinking about this, and I realized that you might have been in all of my old areas. I am guessing you stopped by the temple, which is in Olympia. Your convention was probably in the HUGE convention center close to International Drive, which was in Windy Ridge. Because you work with Universities, you might have stopped by to see the UCF football stadium (knowing you!), which was in Valencia. And surprise, the airport is in Lake Nona!!! Did you get to look around? Tell me all about it! The weather was horrible this week, I am so sorry you didn't get to see my beautiful Florida (though you did get to see some Florida storms!)! I saw a plane leaving the other day and I waved and said, "Hi, dad!" Haha that is so exciting. I love Florida. I am glad you got to be here and stopped in the mission office (which is in my zone!). I love you!!
Family, mission life sure is the best. I love having a really fun group of sister missionary friends. I love going to conferences and learning more. I love being around people who I can share my testimony with. I love just talking and loving and sharing and learning and the whole nine yards! :) I hope you all have the best week ever. :) I love you!!
Love, Sister Allred
(Making Smores! Happy Summer Everyone!)
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