There is beauty all around!

I am headed out of Lake Nona tomorrow!  It has been an awesome three transfers.  An awesome [and hot] summer.  Two awesome companions, three awesome people baptized, and a lot of awesome friends made!  A lot of awesome work done by the Lord, all in all!  I am not sure where/with whom I will be going, so I will let you know next week!

This week was great.  I have a few people in particular I want to talk about.

Sometimes, as a missionary, it is easy to lose faith in humanity in general.  It is a good thing the Lord gives us extra faith and patience to compensate!  But a lot of people reject us, a lot of people say no after they have felt the Spirit, and a lot of people are afraid to know the truth.  But then we meet those gems: those individuals that remind us that people are good and that there is hope for the world.  I want to talk about three of them today!


The first one is J.  J. is college-aged, and we met him outside playing soccer on Saturday.  J. believes so deeply and passionately in Jesus Christ and the Bible.  We could see it in the way he talked and the words he used.  We could see it in his face and felt the Spirit a lot when he talked.  We gave him a Book of Mormon and testified with all our hearts that it was just more of the truth that he loved.  He was skeptical about the Godhead being 3 different beings, but we trust that he will find his answer in the Book of Mormon.  It was an awesome contact.

The second one is T..  I might have told you about T. before.  She is one of the managers at the McDonald's we go to several times a week.  The very first time we talked to her and invited her to listen to the missionaries, she wrote down her number on a napkin for us to give to the Elders who were over her area.  Ever since, we have done diligent follow-up!  All summer long, we kept asking her how things were going.  As the weeks passed, she asked us some questions and expressed her desire to come to church with her family, but she never went or got to meet with the Elders.  A few weeks ago, when we came in she asked us with much concern what "Mormon" meant - were we Christians? Apparently she heard some things around! But we cleared up her concern and she was relieved.  So after that, we didn't really get to talk to her for a while- she would always be in the back or running around.  We were so afraid she was ignoring us!  We just really like T. and feel there is something special about her.  But no worries!  Saturday we talked to her again.  She opened up to us about how discouraged she was because she hasn't been able to get to the church yet.  She talked about how she was tired and missed church - that she really needed to bring her family.  We bore testimony and gave her a pamphlet.  We felt the Spirit, all of us.  We called the Elders over her area to remind them about her.  I am convinced she is getting baptized.  What I like about T. is she is our friend.  We have been talking to her for months.  She knows we care about her and that we are always happy and believe what we share.  I think that will stick.  I think she will remember that forever - those two Mormon girls who were always at McDonald's.  I love being a missionary. :)

The third is Sister Pastor J.  I might have also told you about her!  She invited us to dinner once, and we have been friends ever since that appointment! She calls us "her Mormon girls." We have tried to introduce her to the Book of Mormon, which she feels a little awkward reading because it isn't the Bible.  Haha she is a Pastor, so I guess that would make sense.  She is maybe the most truly Christian woman I have met on my mission.  She gives us food all the time.  She calls us to make sure we made it home safe.  She loves us and is a real disciple of Christ.  Even though she isn't interested in becoming a member of the Church anytime soon, she is a cherished friend of mine.  I love that.  I love meeting so many good people.  I mean..... I wish they would all get baptized.... but they will soon. :)

Anyway, good week.  Good stuff.  I hope I also told you about the A. family.  He was inactive when we came, but we have been working with them about every week, and they are now the two most regular attendants of the Gospel Principles class.  I love them so much.  I love having been able to see their lives change.  They are going to the temple next year, I know it.  That will be awesome. 

I feel so, so blessed.  To meet so many awesome people.  To be the Lord's hands.  We are finding many people to teach.  I don't think I have time to talk about them all, but keep C. and J. and M. and L. I guess in your prayers!  The Lord has been blessing us so much.

One last cool thought: we were teaching C., a new investigator, about the restoration. We were telling him about a modern-day prophet, and how there was only one on the earth.  He didn't completely agree- his argument was that ALL of the people on earth deserved to hear the words of the prophet, and some places of the world wouldn't have access to hear him.  We smiled and told him that is what we are for!  I, Sister Kara Allred, literally represent the Prophet Thomas S. Monson in Lake Nona North Spanish.  This being said, I literally represent the Lord Jesus Christ to all the people I talk to.  That is amazing.  He can't be everywhere physically - but we can.  Thomas S. Monson can't be in India and Oregon and Panama and Germany all at the same time, but we can!  I am so, so grateful to have such a privilege and an honor.  It really just stuck out to me for the first time.

BEING. A. MISSIONARY. IS. THE. BEST.

I love you all so much!  Hasta luego.

_Sister Kara Allred