When it rains, it pours!

Another report from a happy missionary on a happy week in a happy
place! Good times, good times.  :)


Now here is a life lesson from Orlando: when it rains, it pours!
Literally, we are drenched within 10 seconds of it starting to rain.
When it is hot and muggy, it is HOT and muggy. Also, when it rains it
pours in missionary work. When it is hard and slow, it is HARD and
SLOW - it really tries your faith and stamina and endurance. Also,
when it is fast and busy, it is FAST and BUSY. It boosts your faith,
increases your energy, and improves your mood. That is what is awesome
about a mission I guess. Always recharging. :)


Thankfully, it has been absolutely pouring this week. Let me tell you
about some of the abundance of blessings we are experiencing:


J. is getting baptized on August 9th. He is a great person and we
are excited to work on this goal with him. We have been meeting with
him basically every day and helping him learn about the gospel and
resolve his concerns. We have been working with some of the priests in
the ward with this also, which has been cool to help them prepare for
their own missions.


We have been working with a family returning to activity named the
A's. They are a cute young couple with a tiny daughter. They have
been progressing really, really well. We went on a temple tour with
them this week, and they are excited about, talking about, and
preparing for their temple sealing. It is so exciting to work with
people who are literally and willingly taking steps toward change and
progression. That's the beauty of missionary work and the Atonement.


F. continues to have a lot of good questions. Please pray for
us to have the guidance of the Spirit as we try to help him establish
a baptismal date. He is a really good man and we are enjoying working
with him.

We have met with several other families from the Elders' area this
week who are happy and nice and understand our role in their
progression. Good stuff.

There is a recent convert in our ward named Sister S. She has three
children - one is 8 and getting baptized next month. She also has a
teenage son named L and another son in his 20's who come to church
with her every week. They have never seriously investigated the
gospel, nor have they wanted to. Through a miracle this week, L
agreed at our dinner appointment to start taking the lessons and
investigating the church. This is so exciting!

We also have received a referral from a member who we are excited to
meet with on Thursday.

We have another member we have been working with Brother C, who
has been progressing wonderfully after a lot of prayers and work.


Another less active member invited us over yesterday and ended up
basically asking us to teach her from the beginning so she can gain a
testimony. This is also really exciting!


Blessings have been pouring out on us. We have been trying to improve
our teaching skills and follow the Spirit. We have seen a difference
in our work and a different level of preparedness from the people we
teach. We have noticed them responding differently and our
satisfaction with our work going deeper. It is such a blessing to be a
missionary. I love Preach My Gospel, because it gives us tools to be
better missionaries and to reach our goals.


Here is a PMG insight I think you will like! Mom, a few weeks ago you
talked about Dan Jones on page 1. I have started in the last couple
days reading PMG cover to cover, and I am in the very beginning. I,
like you still have no idea who Dan Jones is.  But I think that
picture was chosen for a special reason. Chapter one is all about our
purpose and calling and being truly successful. If the first picture
was Brigham Young or John Taylor or Gordon B. Hinckley, our vision of
"success" might be different than what they are trying to teach us in
the chapter. We would think that they were the best missionaries ever
who everyone knew and who got called to be a prophet. They were the
assistants to the president who had perfect numbers and baptized every
week. They were flawless in their work and remembered in fame and
glory for what they did. But they didn't choose those men- they chose
Dan Jones. One of the most successful missionaries ever. Who no one
knows. But his hard work and dedication were recorded by the angels in
heaven. He was a successful missionary in the eyes of The Lord, not
the world.  Even average, every day missionaries like us can be and
are being successful, just like Dan Jones. Good stuff.


I love you all and am super happy! Hope you have a fantastic week!


Love, Hermana Kara Allred