Changes afoot!

I suppose you are all at Park City right now! I would be lying if I said I am not missing that!!  Haha who knew that family reunions would be the hardest thing to miss? Good news is, there will be plenty of Park City's for me to attend for my whole life! Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the giant chess, movie marathons, dominoes, and swimming. :)  I love and miss you!

So I have just been obsessed with being a missionary lately.  And I think I finally figured out why!  I tried to explain it to President in my email this week, so I will just paste it here:


"It has been another happy and successful week here in Lake Nona.  I have made major strides lately in my progression as a missionary, and I thought you of all people would appreciate the change that has happened.  Especially at the beginning of my mission, it was very very stressful.  I knew a lot of examples of good missionaries, and I felt very accountable to the Lord and my family and had a deep desire to serve Him fully and perfectly.  I was on a quest to be exactly, 100% obedient, baptize all of Orlando, and be full of the Spirit.  All of these things were good, but in this quest I got very caught up in the letter of the law.  Even thought I was still a happy missionary, my life was a constant stress of completing every task and complying with every rule.  I lost the Spirit of the law in fear of letting things slide and not living up to my own expectations.  These last two transfers, I have learned to be deeply happy in the work.  In the last couple of weeks, I have learned to embrace the Spirit of the law.  That doesn't mean that I let things slide, but that does mean that I understand the purpose behind what I do.  Missionary life is not an endless list of do's and don'ts, but rather is a full life of working to save people.  I am so much happier.  I follow the Spirit so much more.  I love better.   I am changing.  I am so grateful for that.  I think that I am finally becoming the missionary the Lord wants me to be. "

And that about sums it up!  I have changed.  I continue to change.  And it is really making a difference in the work.  Missions are awesome.

Random, but Tyler, are you going to college next week or what?!!!!! I almost had a hernia this morning on our jog when that thought occurred to me.  Crazy!!!

So last Monday was one of the craziest days of my whole mission.  We started off the night with a lesson with a less-active friend named Pedro (don't worry, we actually call him Brother _____, but for the sake of privacy we will just call him Pedro). The sisters have been working with him for months.  He is an older man who lost his wife a few years back. About a month ago, we had decided to stop teaching him because he wasn't progressing.  That very week, he told us he wanted to change his life around and was starting to do things to make it happen. We couldn't have been more proud of him. The next week, he told us that he wanted his name removed from church records and he was done with trying to change.  During the lesson, we cried and prayed a lot.  Our mouths were filled, especially Sister Hansen's as she testified of the Book of Mormon, the truthfulness of the Gospel, and how it was his decision.  We left that lesson saddened, but feeling the Spirit.  We didn't know if he was going to let us come back.  We prayed so hard that week for Pedro.  Pedro has one home teacher and friend in the ward, who's name is Brother L.  We prayed very specifically that night for Brother L's heart to be moved by the Spirit so he would visit or call Pedro.  And then we waited.  And prayed.  We knew that it was Pedro's decision for the eternities, and we hoped he would choose the right way.  After a week and a half, we managed to meet with Pedro again.  He told us that he was coming back.  Once and for all.  That he was going to fast to strengthen his relationship with God.  That he was going to come to church for him and him alone.  And that Brother L came to see him the week before.  We left so amazed.  So happy for Pedro.  So in awe that the Lord does His own work.  That we do what we can, and then He works His miracles.  And that he answers prayers.  It was awesome.  Yesterday, we got a call from the Elders in our ward saying that Pedro shared a great testimony in Elders' Quorum about change and coming back.  It was the best.


So we went straight from that lesson to a lesson with J. The first thing he said to us was that he couldn't get baptized.  That he prayed and heard a very distinct "No."  He seemed very shaken up and afraid.  It wasn't the J we were used to meeting with.  It was another very intense lesson with a lot of prayers and a lot of following the Spirit.  We testified of the Atonement, of the Spirit, and of new beginnings.  We all felt the Spirit very strong.  By the end, J said that he wanted to get baptized again.  Much to our sorrow, he has kind of dropped off since then.  He stopped answering our phone calls and texts, and his grandma sent a text to the Young Men's president asking us to not come back.  We have been sad about this obviously.  We care about J and want him to feel the wonderful effects of baptism.  But that morning before the lesson, me and Sister Hansen had a powerful experience.  We were talking about/worrying about J, and said a very heartfelt and specific prayer about when he should be baptized.  I felt such an immense love for J from Heavenly Father.  I also felt a deep peace inside telling me that it didn't matter when he got baptized, it was all going to be ok.  That experience has helped us to understand that things will be ok with J, even if he doesn't get baptized soon.  We are trying one last time to see him tonight, we will see how that goes!

So transfers are tomorrow, and Sister Hansen is leaving.  I am going to miss her.  Haha just like the letter you sent, dad!  We have had a great run here.  A LOT of crazy things have happened, but as we have embraced the big picture of missionary work and the Spirit of the law, we have been so happy.  I am happier than I have ever been out here.  I love being a missionary.  Going on a mission was the best decision that I ever made.  I am glad that I never, ever have to stop being a missionary.  Or serving the Lord.  Life is good.  It always has been, and it always will be.  I love you all.  I miss you, but I am so happy to be here where I should be, doing the things I should do.

Until next week!

Love, Sister Allred