Ryan's letter:
Subject: Again
I don't know why this was sent back to me last week but here it is again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ryan Allred
To: ALLREDK@byui.edu
Cc:
Date:
Subject: Better late than never Right?
Family!
Wow, I am so sorry I didn't bet this sent off yesterday. We were unfortunate enough to have a snow storm yesterday, all of about an eight of an inch maybe. But because of the "blizzard" all of the internet was out in Loomis. Then we have been really busy today with transfers. I was afraid I was going to have to leave Sister Moss right before Christmas but I was lucky and I wil be here for another six weeks. This morning while I was in the mission office I got to see Elder Joseph Hansen ans Elder Derek Sommer who I had been to high school with and started their missions today. I just found out that Elder Sommer has been assigned to serve in my zone. It will be great to be with him again.
I got a REALLY big rice-crispy treat from Kristie this week, but don't worry, with the help of Sister Moss and Elder Haines we took care of it.
Well I hope you have a great day, Much Love!
Elder Allred
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
December 14, 2009
Ryan's letter:
Subject: I hope by then I will be ready....for Christmas!!
Dear Family!
I can't remember if I told you already, but it looks as if it is going to be a white Christmas. I hope we won't have any snow, but Nicholas Rosen will be dressed in white as he is baptised on the 26 of this month. He is a great kid and we are especially excited to see the entire family coming to church and enjoying it. Dawn also came to church for the first time last week and that was one of the most exciting things that has happened in loomis. I wish I could of been there but I got stuck in the singles ward for the day.
Elder Haines and I went on a total of four exchanges with missionaries within the past week, so including being separated on Sunday we were together less than three days last week. It was great to work with so many different wonderful missionaries, but it was pretty hard working another area one day then our own the next with out being able to see each other in between to find out what had been done the day before. We had a lot of fun though. Over the past few weeks I have been finding so many great scriptures about the doctrine of Jesus Christ and each time I do it gives me another boost to keep working. The one that has impressed me most is one I have heard hundreds of times before but it really hit me this time. We always talk about how the sons of Mosiah were such great missionaries but the reason why they are is what I like. In Mosiah 28:3-5 is were it shows us the great love that they had for everyone (freinds, family, enemies, everyone!) and how they got to be that way. The reason they could not bear that any human soul should perish is because they understood the doctrine of Christ. They had felt the power of the atonement and desired all to feel it. I guess that is really my hope, that as I gain a better understanding and TESTIMONY of the doctrine (faith, repentance, baptism/sacrement, and the Holy Ghost) I will have a greater desire and capacity to do missionary work. I really find myself drawn to any scritpure that has anything to do with this pure doctrine of Christ.
We tracted into a lady who seemed semi-interested in hearing our message but was about to dismiss us untill we asked if she would let us do some yard work. She didn't complain after that in fact she was pretty happy to have a religious discussion with us now. We set a return appointment with a plan to do yard work in the morning, then she would feed us lunch and we would teach a lesson. We went to her house on the designated day and found a sack full of food on her porch with a little note letting us know she wasn't going to make it. However on Thursday we showed up again in our work clothes and just asked her where to begin. She took us into her back yard and we realized we had been very fortunate to bring one of the young men form the ward with us. Her plan was for us to pull her pool out of the ground so she could re-dig the hole. The pool was made of heavy plastic and was about 6ft by 12 feet anf about 5 ft deep. At first we couldn't even budge it, but after emptying about 100 gallons of water, one ice-cream container at a time, we made some progress. With Elder Haines and Clayton on one side, and me on the other (good thing I have been doing my perfect push-ups) we lifted it out. Ok so I had the lighter side, but it was still pretty cool, and now we can start teaching her.
Well it's raining plenty and I'm loving it. Luckily I am in a car this winter.
I challenged each of our missionaries to search for a special spiritual experience to strengthen their testimonies this week, mine came as Elder Haines was practicing his violin in Bishop Astle's home. I was in the other room preparing for a lesson and I picked up an old NEw Era and thumbed through the pages. I found a nice one page article and read a simple story of how a young man gained his testimony of the Book of Mormon. As I pondered the article and my own testimony, the spirit witnessed to me again that the Book of Mormon really was written by Heavenly Fathers prophets. I was given a great peace in knowing that it is true. We have been given a lot of blessings out here, I guess it is our chance to now extend them to others.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.
Elder Allred
Subject: I hope by then I will be ready....for Christmas!!
Dear Family!
I can't remember if I told you already, but it looks as if it is going to be a white Christmas. I hope we won't have any snow, but Nicholas Rosen will be dressed in white as he is baptised on the 26 of this month. He is a great kid and we are especially excited to see the entire family coming to church and enjoying it. Dawn also came to church for the first time last week and that was one of the most exciting things that has happened in loomis. I wish I could of been there but I got stuck in the singles ward for the day.
Elder Haines and I went on a total of four exchanges with missionaries within the past week, so including being separated on Sunday we were together less than three days last week. It was great to work with so many different wonderful missionaries, but it was pretty hard working another area one day then our own the next with out being able to see each other in between to find out what had been done the day before. We had a lot of fun though. Over the past few weeks I have been finding so many great scriptures about the doctrine of Jesus Christ and each time I do it gives me another boost to keep working. The one that has impressed me most is one I have heard hundreds of times before but it really hit me this time. We always talk about how the sons of Mosiah were such great missionaries but the reason why they are is what I like. In Mosiah 28:3-5 is were it shows us the great love that they had for everyone (freinds, family, enemies, everyone!) and how they got to be that way. The reason they could not bear that any human soul should perish is because they understood the doctrine of Christ. They had felt the power of the atonement and desired all to feel it. I guess that is really my hope, that as I gain a better understanding and TESTIMONY of the doctrine (faith, repentance, baptism/sacrement, and the Holy Ghost) I will have a greater desire and capacity to do missionary work. I really find myself drawn to any scritpure that has anything to do with this pure doctrine of Christ.
We tracted into a lady who seemed semi-interested in hearing our message but was about to dismiss us untill we asked if she would let us do some yard work. She didn't complain after that in fact she was pretty happy to have a religious discussion with us now. We set a return appointment with a plan to do yard work in the morning, then she would feed us lunch and we would teach a lesson. We went to her house on the designated day and found a sack full of food on her porch with a little note letting us know she wasn't going to make it. However on Thursday we showed up again in our work clothes and just asked her where to begin. She took us into her back yard and we realized we had been very fortunate to bring one of the young men form the ward with us. Her plan was for us to pull her pool out of the ground so she could re-dig the hole. The pool was made of heavy plastic and was about 6ft by 12 feet anf about 5 ft deep. At first we couldn't even budge it, but after emptying about 100 gallons of water, one ice-cream container at a time, we made some progress. With Elder Haines and Clayton on one side, and me on the other (good thing I have been doing my perfect push-ups) we lifted it out. Ok so I had the lighter side, but it was still pretty cool, and now we can start teaching her.
Well it's raining plenty and I'm loving it. Luckily I am in a car this winter.
I challenged each of our missionaries to search for a special spiritual experience to strengthen their testimonies this week, mine came as Elder Haines was practicing his violin in Bishop Astle's home. I was in the other room preparing for a lesson and I picked up an old NEw Era and thumbed through the pages. I found a nice one page article and read a simple story of how a young man gained his testimony of the Book of Mormon. As I pondered the article and my own testimony, the spirit witnessed to me again that the Book of Mormon really was written by Heavenly Fathers prophets. I was given a great peace in knowing that it is true. We have been given a lot of blessings out here, I guess it is our chance to now extend them to others.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.
Elder Allred
December 21, 2009
Ryan's letter:
Subject: 369 DAYS 'Till Christmas!
Dear Family,
This week has actually been pretty hard for me, this is my last Christmas as a Missionary. But I am soo excited to be able to be teaching the principles of the Gospel during this season. Elder Haines and I can just feel the potential here in this area, there are soo many good people here in Loomis. I am also very happy to be the proud brother of one of the winners for dressing up at school. Just so you know, Kristie and Jen, I have been faithful in wearing my Santa Hat this year, at least as much as I can. As a matter of fact when Elder Derek Sommer came into the Mission he asked me if I was wearing the same hat that I used to wear in High School.
Our work is really picking up now! I am most excited about a family that we tracted into right after Thanksgiving. Matt and Stacia have been so nice to us every time we visit with them and they finally agreed to let us come and watch a movie with them this Wednesday. I have such a good feeling about them and I know the gospel can really help them.
This past Tuesday while sister Moss was making cookies in the kitchen, she slipped off of her stool and broke her hip. She has been in the hospital since then but is now starting to get better. It has been hard to live there at her home without her and we hope to get her back before Christmas, so your prayers would be appreciated. They are hoping for a full recovery, but it is going to be very hard for her. She has done so much for us and really the only way we can help her is through prayer.
I had another great testimony builder this week while we were teaching Irene Deen. We were reviewing the Restoration with her and her home teacher turned and asked me to tell the story of Joseph Smith. Again as I quoted the first vision I felt the Holy Ghost bear witness to me that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really had visited their prophet here on this earth to re-establish their church. It is so wonderful to be able to feel that witness again and again. One of the best parts of being a missionary is being able to just focus on the basics every day. There is so much to learn.
"Preach the first principles of the Gospel- preach them over again: you will find that day after day new ideas and additional light concerning them will be revealed to you. You can enlarge upon them so as to comprehend them clearly. You will then be able to make them more plainly understood by those you teach."
Hyrum Smith
Well I love you all!! Merry Christmas!!
Elder Allred
Subject: 369 DAYS 'Till Christmas!
Dear Family,
This week has actually been pretty hard for me, this is my last Christmas as a Missionary. But I am soo excited to be able to be teaching the principles of the Gospel during this season. Elder Haines and I can just feel the potential here in this area, there are soo many good people here in Loomis. I am also very happy to be the proud brother of one of the winners for dressing up at school. Just so you know, Kristie and Jen, I have been faithful in wearing my Santa Hat this year, at least as much as I can. As a matter of fact when Elder Derek Sommer came into the Mission he asked me if I was wearing the same hat that I used to wear in High School.
Our work is really picking up now! I am most excited about a family that we tracted into right after Thanksgiving. Matt and Stacia have been so nice to us every time we visit with them and they finally agreed to let us come and watch a movie with them this Wednesday. I have such a good feeling about them and I know the gospel can really help them.
This past Tuesday while sister Moss was making cookies in the kitchen, she slipped off of her stool and broke her hip. She has been in the hospital since then but is now starting to get better. It has been hard to live there at her home without her and we hope to get her back before Christmas, so your prayers would be appreciated. They are hoping for a full recovery, but it is going to be very hard for her. She has done so much for us and really the only way we can help her is through prayer.
I had another great testimony builder this week while we were teaching Irene Deen. We were reviewing the Restoration with her and her home teacher turned and asked me to tell the story of Joseph Smith. Again as I quoted the first vision I felt the Holy Ghost bear witness to me that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ really had visited their prophet here on this earth to re-establish their church. It is so wonderful to be able to feel that witness again and again. One of the best parts of being a missionary is being able to just focus on the basics every day. There is so much to learn.
"Preach the first principles of the Gospel- preach them over again: you will find that day after day new ideas and additional light concerning them will be revealed to you. You can enlarge upon them so as to comprehend them clearly. You will then be able to make them more plainly understood by those you teach."
Hyrum Smith
Well I love you all!! Merry Christmas!!
Elder Allred
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
November 30, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: The final countdown! Merry Christmas!!
Dear Family & Friends
Another amazing week down for the records. I would say that we had an above average week with everything flowing pretty smoothly, except when Sister Humphreys, our mission nurse, weighed me and told me I was fat! Other than that everything was great. We have kicked off the Christmas season by listening to carols and we know that the world is preparing as well. Although I haven't seen any snow yet we do see quite a few animals out this time of year. Almost every night we have to dodge a deer or two on our way home. Then there was the possum, coyote, fox, and cougar I almost hit. Speaking of cougars, the family we had dinner with on saturday was watching the BYU-Utah game and I wonder how many of my relatives were watching that....
The Rosens are doing really great and we are looking forward to Nicholas's baptism towards Christmas. We are excited to be working with so many people preparing to return to church in both of our ward. Other than that though we really don't have very many people to teach since everyone is moving out of our high class area. But we are hopeful to find new people soon and we are asking everyone for referrals and we are definitely keeping busy.
The family that had signed up to feed us dinner last night had forgotten we were coming over until we showed up. Only the husband was home so he invited us in and told us he could come up with something. So we rolled up our sleeves and started cooking. We were about halfway through making the apple crisp when the wife walked through the front door. I wish you could have seen her face when she saw us cooking in her kitchen. Everything that could go wrong that night absolutely did go wrong while we were there. I wish I could tell you everything that happened but I have been sworn to secrecy and am only allowed to write them in my journal. She ended up making pancakes and waffles while I fried some ham and Elder Haines got the fruit and ice-cream ready. It was the BEST dinner I have ever had because it really made us feel like we were part of the family, and it was hilarious as we discovered one wrong thing after another.
Anyway, I hope you haad a good Thanksgiving and are ready for Christmas, the season is here!
Love Ya
Elder Allred
Subject: The final countdown! Merry Christmas!!
Dear Family & Friends
Another amazing week down for the records. I would say that we had an above average week with everything flowing pretty smoothly, except when Sister Humphreys, our mission nurse, weighed me and told me I was fat! Other than that everything was great. We have kicked off the Christmas season by listening to carols and we know that the world is preparing as well. Although I haven't seen any snow yet we do see quite a few animals out this time of year. Almost every night we have to dodge a deer or two on our way home. Then there was the possum, coyote, fox, and cougar I almost hit. Speaking of cougars, the family we had dinner with on saturday was watching the BYU-Utah game and I wonder how many of my relatives were watching that....
The Rosens are doing really great and we are looking forward to Nicholas's baptism towards Christmas. We are excited to be working with so many people preparing to return to church in both of our ward. Other than that though we really don't have very many people to teach since everyone is moving out of our high class area. But we are hopeful to find new people soon and we are asking everyone for referrals and we are definitely keeping busy.
The family that had signed up to feed us dinner last night had forgotten we were coming over until we showed up. Only the husband was home so he invited us in and told us he could come up with something. So we rolled up our sleeves and started cooking. We were about halfway through making the apple crisp when the wife walked through the front door. I wish you could have seen her face when she saw us cooking in her kitchen. Everything that could go wrong that night absolutely did go wrong while we were there. I wish I could tell you everything that happened but I have been sworn to secrecy and am only allowed to write them in my journal. She ended up making pancakes and waffles while I fried some ham and Elder Haines got the fruit and ice-cream ready. It was the BEST dinner I have ever had because it really made us feel like we were part of the family, and it was hilarious as we discovered one wrong thing after another.
Anyway, I hope you haad a good Thanksgiving and are ready for Christmas, the season is here!
Love Ya
Elder Allred
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
November 9, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: "Nobody loves you." -Sisiter Moss
I love Living with Sisiter Moss. It is so great to go home every evening after a long day of constant proselyting to a nice, warm, comfortably, roomy, perfect place, and a wonderful lady who reminds us every night that nobody loves me because I don't get any mail. This is Elder Allred by the way and if you read this and think that I am trying to get more letters out of this true story, you couldn't be more wrong. Quite simply I love Sister Moss because she is so practical and positive in everything, and she has only slapped me twice now. I would send you pictures of her but she won't let me take any. It's great to be alive.
We had a great week this week. Garret has been interviewed and is ready for his baptism this week. We had another person just drop into our teaching pool today who already has a baptism date, and we are confident that there are more who are ready in this area. We are working on building our faith of the doctrines and principles of the church, because the very first line of PMG ch 9 says that this is what will build our faith to find so God can lead us to those who are ready, or lead them to us. It seems it has been more of the later lately, but that works for me!
As father has pointed out to me in a very casual way, I have now passed my year mark as a missionary; sad day. But I had a really good day that day because I had the chance to be on exchages with Elder Talaipa who came out with me. He is a huge Samoan and great teacher. While tracting we came accross a house with a gate on it without on intercom system so we were standing there for a little while trying to figure out how to share the message of the restored gospel with them without breaking any laws. Actually we just stopped to stare at the huge house about half a mile up the hill that could only be reached through the gate. As we stood there, (remember this is a true story) the gate groaned and began to open. Not a soul was in sight! I felt like the hero in some great battle movie as I walked shoulder to shoulder with a Samoan through the gate. There was no possible way we could have opened the gate from the outside without a password, and as soon as we were inside it closed behind us so we know no one used a remote. It was a long hike up to the house but we were able to talk to the lady for a while. She was also very confused as to how we got in, but she accepted a pamphlet and said she would read it. I thought it was pretty cool.
We are still eagerly awaiting the conference addition of the Ensign. As a missionary, we look forward to that as much as people look forward to book releases in the real world. It reminds me of all my friend when Harry Potter came out, you know the ones that went and camped out at the store to get it. On Sunday in a meeting someone pulled a copy out and used it for a spiritual thought. I don't know how he got it, black market maybe, but just seeing it made both Elder Haines and me jump in our seats. We're not weird, we're just missionaries!
Love YA!
Elder Allred
Subject: "Nobody loves you." -Sisiter Moss
I love Living with Sisiter Moss. It is so great to go home every evening after a long day of constant proselyting to a nice, warm, comfortably, roomy, perfect place, and a wonderful lady who reminds us every night that nobody loves me because I don't get any mail. This is Elder Allred by the way and if you read this and think that I am trying to get more letters out of this true story, you couldn't be more wrong. Quite simply I love Sister Moss because she is so practical and positive in everything, and she has only slapped me twice now. I would send you pictures of her but she won't let me take any. It's great to be alive.
We had a great week this week. Garret has been interviewed and is ready for his baptism this week. We had another person just drop into our teaching pool today who already has a baptism date, and we are confident that there are more who are ready in this area. We are working on building our faith of the doctrines and principles of the church, because the very first line of PMG ch 9 says that this is what will build our faith to find so God can lead us to those who are ready, or lead them to us. It seems it has been more of the later lately, but that works for me!
As father has pointed out to me in a very casual way, I have now passed my year mark as a missionary; sad day. But I had a really good day that day because I had the chance to be on exchages with Elder Talaipa who came out with me. He is a huge Samoan and great teacher. While tracting we came accross a house with a gate on it without on intercom system so we were standing there for a little while trying to figure out how to share the message of the restored gospel with them without breaking any laws. Actually we just stopped to stare at the huge house about half a mile up the hill that could only be reached through the gate. As we stood there, (remember this is a true story) the gate groaned and began to open. Not a soul was in sight! I felt like the hero in some great battle movie as I walked shoulder to shoulder with a Samoan through the gate. There was no possible way we could have opened the gate from the outside without a password, and as soon as we were inside it closed behind us so we know no one used a remote. It was a long hike up to the house but we were able to talk to the lady for a while. She was also very confused as to how we got in, but she accepted a pamphlet and said she would read it. I thought it was pretty cool.
We are still eagerly awaiting the conference addition of the Ensign. As a missionary, we look forward to that as much as people look forward to book releases in the real world. It reminds me of all my friend when Harry Potter came out, you know the ones that went and camped out at the store to get it. On Sunday in a meeting someone pulled a copy out and used it for a spiritual thought. I don't know how he got it, black market maybe, but just seeing it made both Elder Haines and me jump in our seats. We're not weird, we're just missionaries!
Love YA!
Elder Allred
Monday, November 2, 2009
Nov 2, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Who do you know who could use the message of the restored gospel?
Happy Halloween!
We had a great week this week. It was one of those weeks where you wish a camera crew could just follow you around all week because you don't want to miss anything when you are writing in your journal. However, we also had quite a few high stress, very tense moments. But through it all Elder Haines and I rose victorious and even made brownies while we were locked up in Sister Moss's home on Halloween night.
The good news is that after a lot, seriously a lot, of work and counseling, Garrett is going to be baptised into our singles ward. Originally, our Stake President had told us that he wouldn't be able to be baptized here because he lives in a different stake, but his fellowshipping family that had introduced him to the church was not very happy. Elder Haines and I found ourselves in the middle of this mess and ended up being the people to blame from both sides. The family seemed to think that we were just looking for excuses not to teach him, and our leaders seemed to think that we were just trying to teach him so se could say we baptized him. After three days of knowing that everyone was mad at us, our mission president finally stepped in and worked it out. We are very happy to be teaching Garrett because of his amazing testimony and knowledge of the gosple. Hopefully, we will be able to get him on a mission because he has such a wonderful way of explaining principles of the church. We will be setting a baptismal date with him tomorrow.
I think I told you a little bit about Mary Hall who is one of the inactive members who we have just started to teach. We had our first lesson with her on Wednesday with Jared Perez and it went perfectly. She was very open and honest with us and seemed to long to have the spirit in her life more. The spirit was strong throughout the lesson and we could tell she was touched. Afterward, she showed us around her house that she has turned into a daycare. She seemed so happy just to be talking with us, I could see her as a strong member of the church very soon. All the members of our ward love her and she has a strong family to support her as well. It is amazing to me to see how many people are ready out there, they just need to be invited.
That same night while we were out in Lincoln, Jared wanted to stop by and see another person who we were told would be interested in taking the missionary lessons. She has been coming to church most of her life but she is struggling with her testimony. We pulled up into her driveway right as she got home and our first thought was that it was going to be really akward to ask her right then to take the lessons. But as we got out of the car and stood talking to her in her front yard, with almost no lights, the spirit suddenly gave all us the confidence we needed and we all felt very comfortable. This morning in my prayer, I felt a strong impression to ask the Lord to use us to answer someones prayer on that day. I don't know why because I have never prayed for that before, but I do believe that my prayer was answered; and in turn, I think her prayers were answered as well. She was very grateful that we had visited her that night, and I think that the simpleness of the gosple taught in the missionary lessons is exactly what she needs right now. As a matter of fact, we all need it. I was soo excited this week to find out how many members of our wards are studying Preach My Gospel either as families or individually. I know Scott challenged us to read it while he was on our mission, but I challenge you to do it again. I believe, aside from the Book of Mormon, that is should be one of our main study materials. It is amazing!
Now Halloween. Elder Haines and I decided that we wanted to find a Holloween investigator this year, but instead, we found two. While tracting earlier this week we met Deedee who at first was not interested. After talking for a while though, we convinced her to let us do service for her on saturday. It's funny how we have to practically beg people to let us do FREE srevice for them. But we came and ended up meeting her 25 year old sone Tim as well and helped them pick Pomegranates. Then we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with them. That is my favorite movie in the world, it makes me want to be perfect everytime I watch it. They both enjoyed it, Tim asked if he could maybe look through a Book of Mormom, we thought we would be nice and give him one for free, and we are going back next week to teach them the PLan of Salvation. Exciting huh?
Halloween night we spent with Sister Moss, we tried trick or treating her house but she found out it was us and wouldn't give us any candy so we made brownies instead. Then we got to watch President Hinckly's interview with Larry King and go to bed early and get an extra hour of sleep. Life just couldn't get any better.
I'm sorry to hear Kristie was sick and the cell phone and everything. I got some amazing pictures of my sisters this week, thanks mom! I love getting pictures. And I love you all too. Thanks for everything have a great week.
Elder Allred
Subject: Who do you know who could use the message of the restored gospel?
Happy Halloween!
We had a great week this week. It was one of those weeks where you wish a camera crew could just follow you around all week because you don't want to miss anything when you are writing in your journal. However, we also had quite a few high stress, very tense moments. But through it all Elder Haines and I rose victorious and even made brownies while we were locked up in Sister Moss's home on Halloween night.
The good news is that after a lot, seriously a lot, of work and counseling, Garrett is going to be baptised into our singles ward. Originally, our Stake President had told us that he wouldn't be able to be baptized here because he lives in a different stake, but his fellowshipping family that had introduced him to the church was not very happy. Elder Haines and I found ourselves in the middle of this mess and ended up being the people to blame from both sides. The family seemed to think that we were just looking for excuses not to teach him, and our leaders seemed to think that we were just trying to teach him so se could say we baptized him. After three days of knowing that everyone was mad at us, our mission president finally stepped in and worked it out. We are very happy to be teaching Garrett because of his amazing testimony and knowledge of the gosple. Hopefully, we will be able to get him on a mission because he has such a wonderful way of explaining principles of the church. We will be setting a baptismal date with him tomorrow.
I think I told you a little bit about Mary Hall who is one of the inactive members who we have just started to teach. We had our first lesson with her on Wednesday with Jared Perez and it went perfectly. She was very open and honest with us and seemed to long to have the spirit in her life more. The spirit was strong throughout the lesson and we could tell she was touched. Afterward, she showed us around her house that she has turned into a daycare. She seemed so happy just to be talking with us, I could see her as a strong member of the church very soon. All the members of our ward love her and she has a strong family to support her as well. It is amazing to me to see how many people are ready out there, they just need to be invited.
That same night while we were out in Lincoln, Jared wanted to stop by and see another person who we were told would be interested in taking the missionary lessons. She has been coming to church most of her life but she is struggling with her testimony. We pulled up into her driveway right as she got home and our first thought was that it was going to be really akward to ask her right then to take the lessons. But as we got out of the car and stood talking to her in her front yard, with almost no lights, the spirit suddenly gave all us the confidence we needed and we all felt very comfortable. This morning in my prayer, I felt a strong impression to ask the Lord to use us to answer someones prayer on that day. I don't know why because I have never prayed for that before, but I do believe that my prayer was answered; and in turn, I think her prayers were answered as well. She was very grateful that we had visited her that night, and I think that the simpleness of the gosple taught in the missionary lessons is exactly what she needs right now. As a matter of fact, we all need it. I was soo excited this week to find out how many members of our wards are studying Preach My Gospel either as families or individually. I know Scott challenged us to read it while he was on our mission, but I challenge you to do it again. I believe, aside from the Book of Mormon, that is should be one of our main study materials. It is amazing!
Now Halloween. Elder Haines and I decided that we wanted to find a Holloween investigator this year, but instead, we found two. While tracting earlier this week we met Deedee who at first was not interested. After talking for a while though, we convinced her to let us do service for her on saturday. It's funny how we have to practically beg people to let us do FREE srevice for them. But we came and ended up meeting her 25 year old sone Tim as well and helped them pick Pomegranates. Then we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with them. That is my favorite movie in the world, it makes me want to be perfect everytime I watch it. They both enjoyed it, Tim asked if he could maybe look through a Book of Mormom, we thought we would be nice and give him one for free, and we are going back next week to teach them the PLan of Salvation. Exciting huh?
Halloween night we spent with Sister Moss, we tried trick or treating her house but she found out it was us and wouldn't give us any candy so we made brownies instead. Then we got to watch President Hinckly's interview with Larry King and go to bed early and get an extra hour of sleep. Life just couldn't get any better.
I'm sorry to hear Kristie was sick and the cell phone and everything. I got some amazing pictures of my sisters this week, thanks mom! I love getting pictures. And I love you all too. Thanks for everything have a great week.
Elder Allred
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
October 26, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Happy Halloween! I want to be a Fairy!
Dear to my Family,
Transfers! They descided to email us the transfers today rather than just calling us, so all of our missionaries were bugging us all morning because we couldn't check our email. But we finally did and Elder Spear is leaving me. I really thought he would be the companion I would have for three transfers, but I am really excited to get Elder Haines as my new companion. I don't know If I have told you anything about him, but he was my zone leader while I was in Roseville. I love him, we are going to have a blast together.
Last Monday after I emailed, I got a call from Frank Parker and I am pretty sure he was trying to drop us. After talking to him for a while though I'm pretty sure he just chickened out so we are still teaching him, but it wil be a slow process. Valerie and her boys were sick this week so we haven't seen them in a while.
We got a call from a family in Lincoln this week who had one of their friends for us to teach. His name is Garret Tharp and unfortunately he lives out side of our Zone. But we will have the chance to teach him for a while at least. He is dating a member of the church and has been personally studying the Book of Mormon for about a month. Along with that he has already read Our Search For Happiness and most of the Gospel principles book. He grew up with one parent as a Catholic and the other a Protestant. So he was forced to go back and forth between the two churchs during the week; he really knows the Bible very well. As we met with him for the first time on Saturday, he described to us his study of our church. Every day he reads about our beliefs, then turns to our Heavenly Father in prayer and seeks revelation as to it's truthfullness. He knows the Book of Mormon is true through the power of prayer, and we haven't even taught him anything! He came to the singles ward yesterday and really enjoyed it. The best part is that he relly recognizes the big picture. He wants to go to the temple and continue to grow spiritualy. He is like a sponge and just wants to learn everything, and he does. But he knows the most important knowledge is that which comes from God. Cool huh?
We had a pretty big storm out here in Loomis and a lot of people lost their power. Sister Moss's power stayed on, but we lit a fire in the wood stove anyway. That felt soo good. One of our lessons with Kevin Duff and Matt Strock in the evening had no power in thier home. We had one of the coolest experiances that night as we taught them the lesson by candle light. So I guess you could say Im having fun out here!
Anyway, Love you all very very much. Keep Praying for M.E. (Missionary Experiances) and then go out and make them happen! I know it's hard in the LDS community, but there is so much potential in all the earth for the Kingdom of God. Good luck.
Love the one AND ONLY Elder Allred, Except the other ones.
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Subject: Happy Halloween! I want to be a Fairy!
Dear to my Family,
Transfers! They descided to email us the transfers today rather than just calling us, so all of our missionaries were bugging us all morning because we couldn't check our email. But we finally did and Elder Spear is leaving me. I really thought he would be the companion I would have for three transfers, but I am really excited to get Elder Haines as my new companion. I don't know If I have told you anything about him, but he was my zone leader while I was in Roseville. I love him, we are going to have a blast together.
Last Monday after I emailed, I got a call from Frank Parker and I am pretty sure he was trying to drop us. After talking to him for a while though I'm pretty sure he just chickened out so we are still teaching him, but it wil be a slow process. Valerie and her boys were sick this week so we haven't seen them in a while.
We got a call from a family in Lincoln this week who had one of their friends for us to teach. His name is Garret Tharp and unfortunately he lives out side of our Zone. But we will have the chance to teach him for a while at least. He is dating a member of the church and has been personally studying the Book of Mormon for about a month. Along with that he has already read Our Search For Happiness and most of the Gospel principles book. He grew up with one parent as a Catholic and the other a Protestant. So he was forced to go back and forth between the two churchs during the week; he really knows the Bible very well. As we met with him for the first time on Saturday, he described to us his study of our church. Every day he reads about our beliefs, then turns to our Heavenly Father in prayer and seeks revelation as to it's truthfullness. He knows the Book of Mormon is true through the power of prayer, and we haven't even taught him anything! He came to the singles ward yesterday and really enjoyed it. The best part is that he relly recognizes the big picture. He wants to go to the temple and continue to grow spiritualy. He is like a sponge and just wants to learn everything, and he does. But he knows the most important knowledge is that which comes from God. Cool huh?
We had a pretty big storm out here in Loomis and a lot of people lost their power. Sister Moss's power stayed on, but we lit a fire in the wood stove anyway. That felt soo good. One of our lessons with Kevin Duff and Matt Strock in the evening had no power in thier home. We had one of the coolest experiances that night as we taught them the lesson by candle light. So I guess you could say Im having fun out here!
Anyway, Love you all very very much. Keep Praying for M.E. (Missionary Experiances) and then go out and make them happen! I know it's hard in the LDS community, but there is so much potential in all the earth for the Kingdom of God. Good luck.
Love the one AND ONLY Elder Allred, Except the other ones.
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
October 5, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: "Really good quote form conference that I forgot!"
Dear Family!
I finally had the opportunity to serve with my MTC companion this past week! We only got to be together for a day but we had a blast. I really miss being in a bike area, it is so much easier to talk to people and find new people to teach. We were really shooting to get a new investigator that day so we talked to everyone. We ended up talking to as many people on that day as they normally do in a week in that area. As we rode we prayed Heavenly Father would lead us to those who were prepared and it was amazing to see where he took us. Finally, after hours of talking to people we rode past a man who was just about to walk into his front door. I called to him from a distance and he put everything down and walked out to meet us. After teaching him a short lesson we left him with a Book of Mormon and committed him to listen to our Prophets speak in general conference. He is excited to learn and will find a multitude of blessings as he embraces this gospel.
That was our only real day of proselyting this past week because of zone conferences and general conference. But we were still blessed to meet with all of our investigotors. Patty, our Taiwanese investigator, came to the church to watch the Saturday morning session of conference with us. I don't think she got very much out of it because her English is very limited, but it was a great opportunity for her to be inside the church and feel the spirit. She is planning on coming to family home evening with us in the singles ward on Monday where we will have Mandarin speaking members to talk to her. As of right now she is our only investigator in that ward. However, this week looks promising with quite a few college students who agreed to meet with us this week. We have found that when we use the Book of Mormon every time we talk to anyone at the college, it is interesting to see how people react. Since we have started walking around with a stack of books, there is no longer a middle ground with the people we talk to. They are either interested or not. We have had more rude comments and taunts then ever! But we have also have twice as much success! Like Elder Holland talked about, the Book of Mormon is true, and just so you all know, I stand right by his side in defending its truthfulness. Last week as we walked to the campus, the first two people I talked to took a copy and asked when we could meet again.
Valorie, Ryan, and Nicholas are doing great. We plan on setting a baptismal date with them soon. Frank and Jane continue to invite us over and are progressing slowly. We have high hope for them but it will take a lot of effort on our part and help from the members.
Any way, I love you all! Keep on keeping on and use conference as an extra boost to constant improvement. Peace out!
Elder Allred
Subject: "Really good quote form conference that I forgot!"
Dear Family!
I finally had the opportunity to serve with my MTC companion this past week! We only got to be together for a day but we had a blast. I really miss being in a bike area, it is so much easier to talk to people and find new people to teach. We were really shooting to get a new investigator that day so we talked to everyone. We ended up talking to as many people on that day as they normally do in a week in that area. As we rode we prayed Heavenly Father would lead us to those who were prepared and it was amazing to see where he took us. Finally, after hours of talking to people we rode past a man who was just about to walk into his front door. I called to him from a distance and he put everything down and walked out to meet us. After teaching him a short lesson we left him with a Book of Mormon and committed him to listen to our Prophets speak in general conference. He is excited to learn and will find a multitude of blessings as he embraces this gospel.
That was our only real day of proselyting this past week because of zone conferences and general conference. But we were still blessed to meet with all of our investigotors. Patty, our Taiwanese investigator, came to the church to watch the Saturday morning session of conference with us. I don't think she got very much out of it because her English is very limited, but it was a great opportunity for her to be inside the church and feel the spirit. She is planning on coming to family home evening with us in the singles ward on Monday where we will have Mandarin speaking members to talk to her. As of right now she is our only investigator in that ward. However, this week looks promising with quite a few college students who agreed to meet with us this week. We have found that when we use the Book of Mormon every time we talk to anyone at the college, it is interesting to see how people react. Since we have started walking around with a stack of books, there is no longer a middle ground with the people we talk to. They are either interested or not. We have had more rude comments and taunts then ever! But we have also have twice as much success! Like Elder Holland talked about, the Book of Mormon is true, and just so you all know, I stand right by his side in defending its truthfulness. Last week as we walked to the campus, the first two people I talked to took a copy and asked when we could meet again.
Valorie, Ryan, and Nicholas are doing great. We plan on setting a baptismal date with them soon. Frank and Jane continue to invite us over and are progressing slowly. We have high hope for them but it will take a lot of effort on our part and help from the members.
Any way, I love you all! Keep on keeping on and use conference as an extra boost to constant improvement. Peace out!
Elder Allred
Monday, September 28, 2009
September 28, 2009
Dear to my Family!
Well I guess it is a good thing that I am not in Idaho now that everyone is passing around the swine flu. (Note from Kevin: we've had three cases in the area, not quite everyone) But we all have to get flu shots this week at zone conference any way. I was pretty sick a few weeks ago so I'm not too worried, plus the prophet said these shots would help.
Our last week was full of meetings and reports so we don't have a lot to report to you. Frank and Jane Parker are doing great! We took them on a chapel tour a couple of weeks ago and although Frank has been investigating on and off for about three years, that was the first time Jane had participated in any way. We went over the entire plan of salvation and they both really liked it and had a lot of qeustions. We even got to talk about Baptism and priesthood. The biggest problem is that their only source of income comes from Jane working at their church. But the spirit works wonders and they have a lot of potential.
We are also working with Valorie Rosen who is an inactive member and her two boys who were never baptized. Ryan who is eleven and Nick who is nine both really like soccer so we get along great. They all came to church for the first time yesterday and I got to be with the two boys the whole time because Elder Spear was in Rocklin with the singles ward. The ward was amazing at making sure they felt welcome, but that she also felt comfortable. We had our primary program and the theme was eternal families which was hard for Valorie because she had left the church while going through a divorce. But the bishop gave a great talk and said everything she neeeded to hear. Especially about how everything that is unfair or hard in this life, will be made right through the atonement. I really think she enjoyed the spirit of the meeting.
So the attached picture is of Elder Gonzales and Myself. We found a better way to be more unified as missionaires. Do you like it?!
Well remember I love you and don't forget to get ready for conference. It's going to be exciting, so make sure you brush your teeth this week!
Love YA!
Elder Allred
Thursday, September 24, 2009
September 21, 2009
Ryan's letter:
Subject: Prayer and the Blue Horizon
Hello! (Or as Californians say it, Hello! (Sorry it's not as cool as German or Portuguese))
Alright another great week has passed and an even better one seems to be on its way. We talked to so many new people up at the college this week and we have a lot of good potentials we will get to visit this week. On Tuesday, I got to do Spanish work again and we picked up four new investigators within the two hours I worked with them. It is hard to pay attention and follow along during the lessons but they are always very spiritual. The spanish missionaries always give me a chance to either read a scripture in Spanish or to bear my testimony while they translate. Even with the physical language barrier, the spirit works the same and we saw how the gospel can really bless families.
On Friday, we got to go to the temple with a small group of missionaries and we had a great experience. I can't wait until I can go to the temple as often as I want in Idaho. One of the coolest parts of my mission is when I see someone getting baptized who recognizes that the real reason for baptism is to lead to the temple.
Last week, as Elder Spear and I got home one evening, we noticed that a small group of Sister Moss's (the lady we live with) cows had gotten out of their pasture and were walking out the front gate. It was already pretty late so we decided to just lock the gate at the main entrance and leave them locked up on the dirt road for the night. When we left in the morning all seven of them we bak in the pasture along with the bull. We didn't think too much of it and just figured the cowhand had come and put them back in during the night. However, that next evening, we got home and sister Moss told us she wanted to tell us a funny story. It turns out that those seven cows didn't even belong to Sister Moss. In fact, they had wondered down a couple of miles from a completely different street. They had gone in and eaten some of Sister Moss's garden and were just about to leave when we locked them in. I sure hope we dont get thrown in jail for stealing cattle.
I have had a lot of amazing experiences through the power of prayer this week. I know that Heavenly Father lives and Love us. I have found that when I have struggled finding answers to my prayers it is not because I have doubted the Lord's ability to answer, but because I have doubted my own capacity to recieve and recognize the answers. So this past week I really forcused on sincere, direct prayers and really having faith and looking for the answers. I have been amazed as my thoughts and feelings have been directed towards the Savior more and more each time I pray. It seems every answer to some degree comes back to the atonement either in its healing or enabling power. And this is how Heavenly Father has answered my prayers, by directing my thoughts and reminding me of things in the past. I read a great talk by Presidant Uchtdorf about prayer and the blue horizon. I can't remember which Ensign it was in but now would be a great time to review it. I know it was in the past couple of months.
So everything is going great for missionary work. There is a lot of potential in the wards I am working with and a lot of great things to look forward to. Thanks for everything!
Love Elder Allred
Subject: Prayer and the Blue Horizon
Hello! (Or as Californians say it, Hello! (Sorry it's not as cool as German or Portuguese))
Alright another great week has passed and an even better one seems to be on its way. We talked to so many new people up at the college this week and we have a lot of good potentials we will get to visit this week. On Tuesday, I got to do Spanish work again and we picked up four new investigators within the two hours I worked with them. It is hard to pay attention and follow along during the lessons but they are always very spiritual. The spanish missionaries always give me a chance to either read a scripture in Spanish or to bear my testimony while they translate. Even with the physical language barrier, the spirit works the same and we saw how the gospel can really bless families.
On Friday, we got to go to the temple with a small group of missionaries and we had a great experience. I can't wait until I can go to the temple as often as I want in Idaho. One of the coolest parts of my mission is when I see someone getting baptized who recognizes that the real reason for baptism is to lead to the temple.
Last week, as Elder Spear and I got home one evening, we noticed that a small group of Sister Moss's (the lady we live with) cows had gotten out of their pasture and were walking out the front gate. It was already pretty late so we decided to just lock the gate at the main entrance and leave them locked up on the dirt road for the night. When we left in the morning all seven of them we bak in the pasture along with the bull. We didn't think too much of it and just figured the cowhand had come and put them back in during the night. However, that next evening, we got home and sister Moss told us she wanted to tell us a funny story. It turns out that those seven cows didn't even belong to Sister Moss. In fact, they had wondered down a couple of miles from a completely different street. They had gone in and eaten some of Sister Moss's garden and were just about to leave when we locked them in. I sure hope we dont get thrown in jail for stealing cattle.
I have had a lot of amazing experiences through the power of prayer this week. I know that Heavenly Father lives and Love us. I have found that when I have struggled finding answers to my prayers it is not because I have doubted the Lord's ability to answer, but because I have doubted my own capacity to recieve and recognize the answers. So this past week I really forcused on sincere, direct prayers and really having faith and looking for the answers. I have been amazed as my thoughts and feelings have been directed towards the Savior more and more each time I pray. It seems every answer to some degree comes back to the atonement either in its healing or enabling power. And this is how Heavenly Father has answered my prayers, by directing my thoughts and reminding me of things in the past. I read a great talk by Presidant Uchtdorf about prayer and the blue horizon. I can't remember which Ensign it was in but now would be a great time to review it. I know it was in the past couple of months.
So everything is going great for missionary work. There is a lot of potential in the wards I am working with and a lot of great things to look forward to. Thanks for everything!
Love Elder Allred
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
September 7, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Better late than never! Right?
Alright, here we go. Sorry this is late, we have had so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it. There we go, that's more like it.
So some highlights of the week were the four amazing new investigators that we found this week. Two of them were some Chinese girls who are attending Sierra College (where we do quite a bit of proselyting, by the way) that we met early in the week. The next day we took our ward mission leader over to teach them and although they only had fifteen minutes and didn't speak much English, we had a great experience. They had both heard of God and the Savior but really had no religious backround. So we only taught the basics and at the end I asked it one of them would like to try and offer the prayer. After a little encouragement, we finally convinced the older of the two to pray. We had to teach her everything about a simple prayer, but when she prayed, it was so sincere and the spirit was very strong.
The other two investigators we actually found almost two weeks ago. While tracting we met Kayo (from Taiwan) who tried to turn us down at first. Luckily, we wree able to at least set up a return appointment for last Sunday so we could share a quick thought. However when Sunday came around she called and asked us to postpone it. Normally, that's a sad thing but she wanted us to wait for her husband to be able to make it. So we finally met with Kayo and Zac last night. I had forgotten that Irene had her interview last night as well so I had accidentally double scheduled us for that night. But we were able to grab another companionship to help us out with exchanges.
Our meeting with them began pretty casual but gradually got better and better. I was with a really young missionary who I hadn't been able to prep but the Spirit directed us and took us place we had never thought that lesson would go. We ended up teaching parts of all four of the missionary lessons, and they are very excited to learn. Plus Irene passed her interview and wil be baptized this Saturday!
Any way we are in charge of FHE for the singles ward tonight so I have to go finish preparing. I love you all so much and hope you are enjoying life.
Love ya!
Elder Ryan Allred
Subject: Better late than never! Right?
Alright, here we go. Sorry this is late, we have had so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it. There we go, that's more like it.
So some highlights of the week were the four amazing new investigators that we found this week. Two of them were some Chinese girls who are attending Sierra College (where we do quite a bit of proselyting, by the way) that we met early in the week. The next day we took our ward mission leader over to teach them and although they only had fifteen minutes and didn't speak much English, we had a great experience. They had both heard of God and the Savior but really had no religious backround. So we only taught the basics and at the end I asked it one of them would like to try and offer the prayer. After a little encouragement, we finally convinced the older of the two to pray. We had to teach her everything about a simple prayer, but when she prayed, it was so sincere and the spirit was very strong.
The other two investigators we actually found almost two weeks ago. While tracting we met Kayo (from Taiwan) who tried to turn us down at first. Luckily, we wree able to at least set up a return appointment for last Sunday so we could share a quick thought. However when Sunday came around she called and asked us to postpone it. Normally, that's a sad thing but she wanted us to wait for her husband to be able to make it. So we finally met with Kayo and Zac last night. I had forgotten that Irene had her interview last night as well so I had accidentally double scheduled us for that night. But we were able to grab another companionship to help us out with exchanges.
Our meeting with them began pretty casual but gradually got better and better. I was with a really young missionary who I hadn't been able to prep but the Spirit directed us and took us place we had never thought that lesson would go. We ended up teaching parts of all four of the missionary lessons, and they are very excited to learn. Plus Irene passed her interview and wil be baptized this Saturday!
Any way we are in charge of FHE for the singles ward tonight so I have to go finish preparing. I love you all so much and hope you are enjoying life.
Love ya!
Elder Ryan Allred
September 14, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: I would give up ice-cream, but I'm no quitter!
Last Saturday was one of the most amazing days of my life. We had a really hard week because I was sick, but Irene pulled through and we had a great baptismal service. She was given the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday, and bore her testimony during sacrament meeting. We could really tell she had the spirit with her as she spoke. That's the best part of missions, because that's why we're out here anyway.
Well today is transfers, and Elder Spear and I are lucky enough to stay together. Finally, I have a companion staying with me for more than one transfer! This is going to be a great six weeks. We have found a couple great new investigators and there is a lot of good things happening.
I guess I don't have a lot to tell you guys, we didn't get to do very much this last week, but I have some good stories for you next week.. I hope. Any way thanks for everything.
Love YA!
Elder Ryan Allred
Subject: I would give up ice-cream, but I'm no quitter!
Last Saturday was one of the most amazing days of my life. We had a really hard week because I was sick, but Irene pulled through and we had a great baptismal service. She was given the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday, and bore her testimony during sacrament meeting. We could really tell she had the spirit with her as she spoke. That's the best part of missions, because that's why we're out here anyway.
Well today is transfers, and Elder Spear and I are lucky enough to stay together. Finally, I have a companion staying with me for more than one transfer! This is going to be a great six weeks. We have found a couple great new investigators and there is a lot of good things happening.
I guess I don't have a lot to tell you guys, we didn't get to do very much this last week, but I have some good stories for you next week.. I hope. Any way thanks for everything.
Love YA!
Elder Ryan Allred
Monday, August 24, 2009
August 24, 2009
Ryan's Letter
Subject: "Another day, another dollar." -Brother Fish
Good Morning
Congratzs to Jason for an excellent home coming talk. We enjoyed it very much and can tell that you had a wonderfull mission. I have had the oppurtunity to participate in many meetings with Elder Trythall from the Quorum of the Seventy. He reminded us this past week that after our missions we should never return back to "normal," or the way we were before. If we continue to live by the mission standards for the rest of our lives, there is no way we will miss out on salvation. Plus it is funner that way anyway.
This last week while drinving in the car listening to some sort of Celtic music, I had a wonderfull experience. I had such a wonderful feeling of peace and joy that it felt like my heart would burst. I realized that this is exactly where I need to be at this time of my life. And more than that this is right where I want to be. I love every minute of every day out here (that doesn't mean it's all easy by the way). It is so hard to see missionaries who do not enjoy themselves and it is really because they just won't allow these wonderful experiances to uplift them. This is such a great time to be living on this world. "The future is as bright as our Faith."
Yesterday was great day even though we had to wake up at five in the morning for our meetings. Sister Moss made us some trail mix because she knew we wouldn't be eating until dinner that night. I am working with a lot of the same people that I worked with when I served in Lincoln. Elder Spear went to the singles ward yesterday so I was all by my lonesome in the family ward yesterday. Our two high council speakers were actually from the Lincoln First ward. Brother DiGiordano is a little Italian man who I had dinner with quite a bit. He's a great man and I had the opputtunity to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting so I got to talk to both of them. That was great to see friend I thought I would never see again.
Our zone conference focused was on the best book in the world. That of course being the Book of Mormon. We were challenged by the Mission president to take 15 minutes out of our lunch and read the Book of Mormon out loud as companions everyday. This is something Elder Spear and I have already been doing so we definitely know of the spirit it brings. For example, I was on exchanges this last week and drove the car for the first time. We cover the entire stake so I had plenty of room to get lost and was pretty stressed out trying to help the missionary I was with as well. Our morning was very frustrating and my companion for the day was not helping out at all to say the least. By lunch my mind was swimming and all I wanted to do was sleep for the remainder of the day. Instead, we read to Book of Mormon. I couldn't concentrate at all for the first couple of pages but by the end my mind had completely relaxed and the spirit had entered into our day. Everything worked out perfectly after that.
I love the Book of Mormon and only wish I had more time to read it. Even if we get nothing out of what we read, it brings such a great spirit into all aspects of our lives. It will strengthen our families, help strengthen our faith, and drive contention out of our homes. It is such an amazing gift.
Anyway, much love to my family and everyone!
Love ya! Elder Allred
Subject: "Another day, another dollar." -Brother Fish
Good Morning
Congratzs to Jason for an excellent home coming talk. We enjoyed it very much and can tell that you had a wonderfull mission. I have had the oppurtunity to participate in many meetings with Elder Trythall from the Quorum of the Seventy. He reminded us this past week that after our missions we should never return back to "normal," or the way we were before. If we continue to live by the mission standards for the rest of our lives, there is no way we will miss out on salvation. Plus it is funner that way anyway.
This last week while drinving in the car listening to some sort of Celtic music, I had a wonderfull experience. I had such a wonderful feeling of peace and joy that it felt like my heart would burst. I realized that this is exactly where I need to be at this time of my life. And more than that this is right where I want to be. I love every minute of every day out here (that doesn't mean it's all easy by the way). It is so hard to see missionaries who do not enjoy themselves and it is really because they just won't allow these wonderful experiances to uplift them. This is such a great time to be living on this world. "The future is as bright as our Faith."
Yesterday was great day even though we had to wake up at five in the morning for our meetings. Sister Moss made us some trail mix because she knew we wouldn't be eating until dinner that night. I am working with a lot of the same people that I worked with when I served in Lincoln. Elder Spear went to the singles ward yesterday so I was all by my lonesome in the family ward yesterday. Our two high council speakers were actually from the Lincoln First ward. Brother DiGiordano is a little Italian man who I had dinner with quite a bit. He's a great man and I had the opputtunity to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting so I got to talk to both of them. That was great to see friend I thought I would never see again.
Our zone conference focused was on the best book in the world. That of course being the Book of Mormon. We were challenged by the Mission president to take 15 minutes out of our lunch and read the Book of Mormon out loud as companions everyday. This is something Elder Spear and I have already been doing so we definitely know of the spirit it brings. For example, I was on exchanges this last week and drove the car for the first time. We cover the entire stake so I had plenty of room to get lost and was pretty stressed out trying to help the missionary I was with as well. Our morning was very frustrating and my companion for the day was not helping out at all to say the least. By lunch my mind was swimming and all I wanted to do was sleep for the remainder of the day. Instead, we read to Book of Mormon. I couldn't concentrate at all for the first couple of pages but by the end my mind had completely relaxed and the spirit had entered into our day. Everything worked out perfectly after that.
I love the Book of Mormon and only wish I had more time to read it. Even if we get nothing out of what we read, it brings such a great spirit into all aspects of our lives. It will strengthen our families, help strengthen our faith, and drive contention out of our homes. It is such an amazing gift.
Anyway, much love to my family and everyone!
Love ya! Elder Allred
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
August 3, 1009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Is the gas pedal the one on the left, or was it the right pedal?
Good Morning Everyone!
I am pretty much really excited right now. I found out this week that I am being transfered back to Rocklin! Rocklin was the zone that I served the first 6 months of my mission. My new companion is Elder Spear from who knows where, but I am pumped to serve with him. The only downside is that I am in a car area now; I haven't driven in forever!
Plus it is soo hard to talk to people when you drive because you're going to fast. And I have noticed that since I have spent soo much time on a bike, that I get carsick very easily now. But it will all work out.
We had interviews with President Pendleton this past week and I loved it like I always do. He always knows what help we need even before we tell him. I have been reassured many times that he really was called and is directed by our Heavenly Father. My favorite part was the chance I had to talk to Sister Pendleton while Elder Hansen was in his interview. It was his first time so he took longer than normal, giving me plenty of time to chat with Sister Pendleton. I took the oppurtunity to ask her about one of our investigators who I had been struggling with. I told her the story about Johnny that I believe I told you last week or the week before. She asked me two questions and then told me excactly what we needed to teach him. We have spent the past weeks praying and studying and then praying some more, but we really didn't know what to do. Just as she told me what to teach him, the spirit entered the room and I knew without a doubt that she was right. Unfortunately now I want have the chance to be there for the next lesson.
After that our conversation turned more to the casual side and we began talking about life in general. We talked about member missionary work, the comforts of being a missionary, and the struggles we face. Eventually our conversation turned towards the Atonement and examples in her life. She shared a story with my that is so simple but so true. Once, when they lived on a lot of property, they had about an acre of grass that needed to be mowed regularly. Gernerally President Pendleton did it but on this occasion she decided to surprise him. She pulled out the lawn mower and went to work going up and down the lawn until she had covered the entire field. Just as she finished, she realized that she had forgotten to lower the blade that actually cuts the grass! All of her efforts had been completely wasted! She had gone through all of the right motions and done everything she needed to do, but without the help of the blades, it was useless. It's the same with each of us. We can go through the motions of this life, and do a pretty good job, but with out the Atonement in every aspect of life, nothing is truly accomplished. Just as the story of the brother of Jared. The rocks were nothing but rocks, until they were touched by the savior. And we are nothing but men and women, until we allow the Savior to touch our lives.
You have to realize that Sister Pendleton is the sweetest person I have ever met. She wouldn't do anything to displease her Heavenly Father and wants nothing more than to help others come to Him. But after she told me that story she was so embarrassed that she nearly started to cry, but she was smiling the whole time. It is so great to be surrounded by such great people.
Anyway, I love you all. Have fun visiting Dan and Sorena. I'm pretty jealous that I can't go, but remember I'm still on a mission. Mwahaha!
Love ya!
Elder Allred
Subject: Is the gas pedal the one on the left, or was it the right pedal?
Good Morning Everyone!
I am pretty much really excited right now. I found out this week that I am being transfered back to Rocklin! Rocklin was the zone that I served the first 6 months of my mission. My new companion is Elder Spear from who knows where, but I am pumped to serve with him. The only downside is that I am in a car area now; I haven't driven in forever!
Plus it is soo hard to talk to people when you drive because you're going to fast. And I have noticed that since I have spent soo much time on a bike, that I get carsick very easily now. But it will all work out.
We had interviews with President Pendleton this past week and I loved it like I always do. He always knows what help we need even before we tell him. I have been reassured many times that he really was called and is directed by our Heavenly Father. My favorite part was the chance I had to talk to Sister Pendleton while Elder Hansen was in his interview. It was his first time so he took longer than normal, giving me plenty of time to chat with Sister Pendleton. I took the oppurtunity to ask her about one of our investigators who I had been struggling with. I told her the story about Johnny that I believe I told you last week or the week before. She asked me two questions and then told me excactly what we needed to teach him. We have spent the past weeks praying and studying and then praying some more, but we really didn't know what to do. Just as she told me what to teach him, the spirit entered the room and I knew without a doubt that she was right. Unfortunately now I want have the chance to be there for the next lesson.
After that our conversation turned more to the casual side and we began talking about life in general. We talked about member missionary work, the comforts of being a missionary, and the struggles we face. Eventually our conversation turned towards the Atonement and examples in her life. She shared a story with my that is so simple but so true. Once, when they lived on a lot of property, they had about an acre of grass that needed to be mowed regularly. Gernerally President Pendleton did it but on this occasion she decided to surprise him. She pulled out the lawn mower and went to work going up and down the lawn until she had covered the entire field. Just as she finished, she realized that she had forgotten to lower the blade that actually cuts the grass! All of her efforts had been completely wasted! She had gone through all of the right motions and done everything she needed to do, but without the help of the blades, it was useless. It's the same with each of us. We can go through the motions of this life, and do a pretty good job, but with out the Atonement in every aspect of life, nothing is truly accomplished. Just as the story of the brother of Jared. The rocks were nothing but rocks, until they were touched by the savior. And we are nothing but men and women, until we allow the Savior to touch our lives.
You have to realize that Sister Pendleton is the sweetest person I have ever met. She wouldn't do anything to displease her Heavenly Father and wants nothing more than to help others come to Him. But after she told me that story she was so embarrassed that she nearly started to cry, but she was smiling the whole time. It is so great to be surrounded by such great people.
Anyway, I love you all. Have fun visiting Dan and Sorena. I'm pretty jealous that I can't go, but remember I'm still on a mission. Mwahaha!
Love ya!
Elder Allred
Monday, July 27, 2009
July 27, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you decide to see beyond the imperfections.
Hello Everyone!
This week has been really crazy. We lost three of our main investigators. We decided that we needed to drop Marian because she really wasn't progressing. Unfortunately, I think she was glad we dropped her. Linda was doing pretty good but for whatever reason refused to come back to church. After a lot of prayers we decided that it would be best to drop her for a couple of weeks and then pick her up again. Just as we were heading over to her house to drop her, she called and dropped us! I guess some anti friend has been talking to her lately. The other one was Carlos who has said he wants to get baptized but has flaked out of every lesson for the past eight weeks. Hopefully, they will all recognize that they really need the gospel once they go for a while without it.
But Heavenly Father has also blessed us so much this week. Because we finally had time to tract and visit potential investigators, we focused all of our efforts and prayers on finding new people to teach. The first person we found was on Tuesday and she seems like she will be pretty solid. But Elder Hansen and I decided that this was not enough. On Thursday, we found another person who want to meet with us at least weekly. Then on Friday we found two more! The best was on Saturday when I was with one of our Zone leaders on exchanges. We met Mike late in the afternoon and he asked if we could go for a walk with him. We walked for about a mile, stopped at a park and taught the first lesson, then walked back. As we walked home, there was a silent time for about five minutes. Then Mike said that he would break the silence by asking a question, but he just really enjoyed being with us. The spirit was very strong. He was planning on coming to church with us but when i called him yesterday he said he had to work last minute. But he told me not to worry because he had a lot of good news to tell me about. Hopefully meaning he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon.
Probably my favorite part of this week was our lesson with Johnny who we have been working with for about 10 weeks now. We had a lesson on 2 Nephi 31 then we asked him if he would be baptised. He said he would but he just didn't feel that he had recieved an answer that the Book of Mormon was true. I asked him if he would be willing to pray with us so we all knelt together as he offered up a prayer. His prayer was very sincere and we all knelt silently for about 5 minutes after he finished. He said he still feel unsure but that he will keep working at it. I love how dedicated he is to really find out weather or not it's true. Out of all the people I have taught soo far, he is the only investigator who is really investigating for the right reasons. And he will find his answer soon enough.
Well I love you all. I hope Sarah had a great B-day and that Jen had Fun at EFY and that she writes me and tells me about it.
Love Elder Allred
Subject: Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you decide to see beyond the imperfections.
Hello Everyone!
This week has been really crazy. We lost three of our main investigators. We decided that we needed to drop Marian because she really wasn't progressing. Unfortunately, I think she was glad we dropped her. Linda was doing pretty good but for whatever reason refused to come back to church. After a lot of prayers we decided that it would be best to drop her for a couple of weeks and then pick her up again. Just as we were heading over to her house to drop her, she called and dropped us! I guess some anti friend has been talking to her lately. The other one was Carlos who has said he wants to get baptized but has flaked out of every lesson for the past eight weeks. Hopefully, they will all recognize that they really need the gospel once they go for a while without it.
But Heavenly Father has also blessed us so much this week. Because we finally had time to tract and visit potential investigators, we focused all of our efforts and prayers on finding new people to teach. The first person we found was on Tuesday and she seems like she will be pretty solid. But Elder Hansen and I decided that this was not enough. On Thursday, we found another person who want to meet with us at least weekly. Then on Friday we found two more! The best was on Saturday when I was with one of our Zone leaders on exchanges. We met Mike late in the afternoon and he asked if we could go for a walk with him. We walked for about a mile, stopped at a park and taught the first lesson, then walked back. As we walked home, there was a silent time for about five minutes. Then Mike said that he would break the silence by asking a question, but he just really enjoyed being with us. The spirit was very strong. He was planning on coming to church with us but when i called him yesterday he said he had to work last minute. But he told me not to worry because he had a lot of good news to tell me about. Hopefully meaning he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon.
Probably my favorite part of this week was our lesson with Johnny who we have been working with for about 10 weeks now. We had a lesson on 2 Nephi 31 then we asked him if he would be baptised. He said he would but he just didn't feel that he had recieved an answer that the Book of Mormon was true. I asked him if he would be willing to pray with us so we all knelt together as he offered up a prayer. His prayer was very sincere and we all knelt silently for about 5 minutes after he finished. He said he still feel unsure but that he will keep working at it. I love how dedicated he is to really find out weather or not it's true. Out of all the people I have taught soo far, he is the only investigator who is really investigating for the right reasons. And he will find his answer soon enough.
Well I love you all. I hope Sarah had a great B-day and that Jen had Fun at EFY and that she writes me and tells me about it.
Love Elder Allred
Monday, July 20, 2009
July 20, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: True gold is not afraid of the refiners Fire.
Hey, I forgot one more thing I am grateful for! I am grateful for having SIX flat tires on my bike last week! I am not even joking. It all started after district meeting when I blew the first tire (my back one) on a curb. The next day I was on exchanges with Elder Garcia from my MTC group and got two thorns in my front tire. As we walked to a member's house to patch it, we were telling each other how grateful we were that only one of our tires was flat. Within five minutes, my back tire had deflated as well and we found another thorn in it. So at the member's house, we patched two holes in the front and one in the back. After lunch, one of the patches was leaking so I borrowed another Elder's bike for the rest of the day.
The next morning, we found out that I had somehow managed to put a flat on his bike as well. Three days later, I was on exchanges with Elder Manuma (also from my MTC district) and I got another flat on my bike. The last one was last tuesday at about eight thirty in the evening. We were about three miles from the apartment and I had used up all of my patches. Luckily I had a piece of sandpaper that I ripped up and glued to the tube. It worked surprisingly well for about a mile then we had to stop and pump it up again. But it got us home! In total my front tube had three patches and a piece of sandpaper glued to it. I decided it was time to buy a new tube. :)
Anyway, this was a great week as far as lessons. In total we tracted for about an hour. We were just too busy going from lesson to lesson all day. Aj, one of the teenagers we are teaching in the appartments has really begun to progress. He reads all of his assignments and has put Moroni's challenge to the test. He is such an intelligent kid, and I could see him really getting involved in the church.
I finally had the chance to speak in church! It was a really last minute talk though because I was just a replacement for one of the real speakers. I got to talk about the Book of Mormon! Probably the hardest part was that I had to keep it under five minutes. That's basically only enough time for a testimony, but it was still really fun.
Guess what Jennifer! Last night whilee we were riding around we ran into two sister missionaries form the Sacremento Mission. Don't worry dad, we weren't outside of our area. They are American Sign Language Missionaries so they cover three different missions by themselves. They were looking for new people to teach but we didn't know any deaf people. That would be awesoome if Jennifer went to an ASL mission!
I got of a picture of my family this week of Scott's wedding. All of my sisters looked so good. I loved the matching red. I'll bet you guys didn't even realize it, but our name is "allred" and you "all" had "red" on. Haha It looked Great!
Well I love you All. Choose the right and stuff.
Love Elder Ryan Allred
Subject: True gold is not afraid of the refiners Fire.
Hey, I forgot one more thing I am grateful for! I am grateful for having SIX flat tires on my bike last week! I am not even joking. It all started after district meeting when I blew the first tire (my back one) on a curb. The next day I was on exchanges with Elder Garcia from my MTC group and got two thorns in my front tire. As we walked to a member's house to patch it, we were telling each other how grateful we were that only one of our tires was flat. Within five minutes, my back tire had deflated as well and we found another thorn in it. So at the member's house, we patched two holes in the front and one in the back. After lunch, one of the patches was leaking so I borrowed another Elder's bike for the rest of the day.
The next morning, we found out that I had somehow managed to put a flat on his bike as well. Three days later, I was on exchanges with Elder Manuma (also from my MTC district) and I got another flat on my bike. The last one was last tuesday at about eight thirty in the evening. We were about three miles from the apartment and I had used up all of my patches. Luckily I had a piece of sandpaper that I ripped up and glued to the tube. It worked surprisingly well for about a mile then we had to stop and pump it up again. But it got us home! In total my front tube had three patches and a piece of sandpaper glued to it. I decided it was time to buy a new tube. :)
Anyway, this was a great week as far as lessons. In total we tracted for about an hour. We were just too busy going from lesson to lesson all day. Aj, one of the teenagers we are teaching in the appartments has really begun to progress. He reads all of his assignments and has put Moroni's challenge to the test. He is such an intelligent kid, and I could see him really getting involved in the church.
I finally had the chance to speak in church! It was a really last minute talk though because I was just a replacement for one of the real speakers. I got to talk about the Book of Mormon! Probably the hardest part was that I had to keep it under five minutes. That's basically only enough time for a testimony, but it was still really fun.
Guess what Jennifer! Last night whilee we were riding around we ran into two sister missionaries form the Sacremento Mission. Don't worry dad, we weren't outside of our area. They are American Sign Language Missionaries so they cover three different missions by themselves. They were looking for new people to teach but we didn't know any deaf people. That would be awesoome if Jennifer went to an ASL mission!
I got of a picture of my family this week of Scott's wedding. All of my sisters looked so good. I loved the matching red. I'll bet you guys didn't even realize it, but our name is "allred" and you "all" had "red" on. Haha It looked Great!
Well I love you All. Choose the right and stuff.
Love Elder Ryan Allred
Monday, July 13, 2009
July 13, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, Its about learning to dance in the Rain!!
Well, we have had a lot of rain in the mission lately, but Elder Hansen and I are dancing right on through it. I am still so gratefull for the oppurtunity I have to be on a mission. Every day I wake up surprised that I'm actually out here! The tender-mercies of the Lord are so great!
We have had an amazing week and I am grateful to be a part of this amazing work. All week we had a mini-missionary with us from Rocklin. He is a priest in one of their wards who is prepping for his mission so he lived with us. On Tuesday, we went to our dinner appointment early and asked if they had anyone we could visit on their street. They didn't and we are grateful they didn't because we had the oppurtunity to go tracting. We have been struggling to get the suggested one hour of tracting a day because we have just been too busy. With that oppurtunity we ended up teaching a lesson to our dinners' neighbor and getting a return appointment for Friday. On Friday we had Zone conference and I had the chance to work with President Chapman to prepare a lesson plan for that evening's lesson with Marian who was the lady we tracted into on Tuesday. The spirit was soo strong even while we planned and we were soo excited to teach her.
So we went into the lesson with my three week old companion and a 17 pre-missionary and the spirit on our side. Presidant Pendleton had advised us to only teach the first principle of the lesson(God is our Heavenly Father, The Gospel Blesses Families, and God reveals His Gospel in every Dispensation), leave her hanging, and encourage her to come to the church the next day for the rest of the lesson. It worked like a charm and she agreed to meet us at the church the next day. That is actually quite a sacrifice because our building is in a completely different city. Before she agreed to come she said, "I hope you're not trying to convert me," but she came anyway. We taught her the remainder of the lesson on Saturday in the chapel and she loved it. When we invited her to church, she asked if it would be ok is she stayed all three hours! Sweet. She still has a long way to go but I am grateful the Lord led us to her.
I am also Grateful for Dimes! Seriously. I have begun to notice Heavenly Fathers hand in even the smallest things. Last week we were riding down a street when I just happened to notice a dime stuck in the side walk. Normally, I would have rolled on but for whatever reason I stooped to pick up a dime! As I picked it up, I noticed a quarter! Then another, and another! And what a miracle, I made 85 cents!
Actually that's not the real miracle. As my companion caught up to me he said, " Im grateful you stopped, I felt impressed to knock on that door down on the corner but thought maybe we didn't have time." Cool huh? So we knocked and they weren't interested, but we gave her a card and who knows what will happen. If nothing else maybe we brightened her day or the Lord prevented us from doing something else that could have been dangerous by guiding us to her door with a dime.
Linda is doing great. She wouldn't ever say prayers with us and Elder Hansen said that if she won't say them with us she won't say them alone, so we had a whole lesson on prayer. At the beginning I told her that we wanted her to say the closing prayer but she was too afraid. Our Relief society president was their and she told Linda that if she would say it, she would help her when she needed. Linda offered a beautiful prayer and the Spirit was very stong. With all her health issues she has said a lot of prayers lately, so we encouraged her to say an all gratitude prayer and she was excited for it. And she told us she feels that God is our Physical parent now so we can move on to the next step with the Book of Mormon.
Anyway, I am grateful for all the blessings of the Gospel! Life is amazing even during the storms. Thank you soo much for sending me Jordans email. Well i love you all. Choose the right!
Elder Ryan Jay Allred!
Subject: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, Its about learning to dance in the Rain!!
Well, we have had a lot of rain in the mission lately, but Elder Hansen and I are dancing right on through it. I am still so gratefull for the oppurtunity I have to be on a mission. Every day I wake up surprised that I'm actually out here! The tender-mercies of the Lord are so great!
We have had an amazing week and I am grateful to be a part of this amazing work. All week we had a mini-missionary with us from Rocklin. He is a priest in one of their wards who is prepping for his mission so he lived with us. On Tuesday, we went to our dinner appointment early and asked if they had anyone we could visit on their street. They didn't and we are grateful they didn't because we had the oppurtunity to go tracting. We have been struggling to get the suggested one hour of tracting a day because we have just been too busy. With that oppurtunity we ended up teaching a lesson to our dinners' neighbor and getting a return appointment for Friday. On Friday we had Zone conference and I had the chance to work with President Chapman to prepare a lesson plan for that evening's lesson with Marian who was the lady we tracted into on Tuesday. The spirit was soo strong even while we planned and we were soo excited to teach her.
So we went into the lesson with my three week old companion and a 17 pre-missionary and the spirit on our side. Presidant Pendleton had advised us to only teach the first principle of the lesson(God is our Heavenly Father, The Gospel Blesses Families, and God reveals His Gospel in every Dispensation), leave her hanging, and encourage her to come to the church the next day for the rest of the lesson. It worked like a charm and she agreed to meet us at the church the next day. That is actually quite a sacrifice because our building is in a completely different city. Before she agreed to come she said, "I hope you're not trying to convert me," but she came anyway. We taught her the remainder of the lesson on Saturday in the chapel and she loved it. When we invited her to church, she asked if it would be ok is she stayed all three hours! Sweet. She still has a long way to go but I am grateful the Lord led us to her.
I am also Grateful for Dimes! Seriously. I have begun to notice Heavenly Fathers hand in even the smallest things. Last week we were riding down a street when I just happened to notice a dime stuck in the side walk. Normally, I would have rolled on but for whatever reason I stooped to pick up a dime! As I picked it up, I noticed a quarter! Then another, and another! And what a miracle, I made 85 cents!
Actually that's not the real miracle. As my companion caught up to me he said, " Im grateful you stopped, I felt impressed to knock on that door down on the corner but thought maybe we didn't have time." Cool huh? So we knocked and they weren't interested, but we gave her a card and who knows what will happen. If nothing else maybe we brightened her day or the Lord prevented us from doing something else that could have been dangerous by guiding us to her door with a dime.
Linda is doing great. She wouldn't ever say prayers with us and Elder Hansen said that if she won't say them with us she won't say them alone, so we had a whole lesson on prayer. At the beginning I told her that we wanted her to say the closing prayer but she was too afraid. Our Relief society president was their and she told Linda that if she would say it, she would help her when she needed. Linda offered a beautiful prayer and the Spirit was very stong. With all her health issues she has said a lot of prayers lately, so we encouraged her to say an all gratitude prayer and she was excited for it. And she told us she feels that God is our Physical parent now so we can move on to the next step with the Book of Mormon.
Anyway, I am grateful for all the blessings of the Gospel! Life is amazing even during the storms. Thank you soo much for sending me Jordans email. Well i love you all. Choose the right!
Elder Ryan Jay Allred!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
July 6, 2009
Subject: Happy Fathers Day
Surprise surprise! I completely forgot about fathers day a couple of weeks ago so I decided that now would be a good time to wish my amazing father a happy-really-be-lated-fathers day!!! Yipeee!
This week was definitely full of miracles and it was awesome. Linda is just soo close to baptism. She is having a hard time accepting that Heavenly Father has a physical body still but she accepts the Book of Mormon. We had a great lesson yesterday on recieving a witness that the Book of Mormon is true rather than just accepting it. Elder Hansen did a great job teaching and after the lesson we both mentioned how we had been prompted to say certain things throughout the lesson. We meet with her every day so she is definitely willing to try.
Last Wednesday we had a lesson scheduled with an inactive family and a group of those teenagers that we had taught a couple weeks ago. In order to go into their home we have to have a priesthood holder with us so we called a member of the ward to come with us. When we got to their home however no one was there. Because we had a free hour now our exchange aked us if we would be willing to go with him to one of the families that he home teaches. When we got to his house we found out that he was having a bad day and he was really excited to see us. We started giving him a spiritual thought and our exchange recieved a phone call about half way through the lesson so he excused himself from the room. After he left the gentleman asked if we would be willing to give him a blessing before we left. Just then our exchange reentered the room and told us his wife had received a phone call earlier from this gentleman asking for a blessing. She was unable to tell him because he was at the vet just before he picked us up. Because our lesson had cancelled on us, Heavenly Father was able to lead us to one of His children in need. The story gets even better; because we gave the blessing, we were late for something else we had planned on that day so we found ourseeves contacting people in a store parking lot. While we were there we ran into the family who we had planned on teaching earlier with our exchange. We ended up teaching them later and we got everything we needed done. That's was definitely a tender mercy of our Heavenly Father.
I wish had time to tell you more of the Miracles that have occurred recently, but I am a slow typer and my time is short. I love you all and enjoy receiving your letters. I received a letter from Grandma Allred on the same day that we got to go to the Temple at 4:30 in the Morning. While we were there I say Brother and Sister Gwynn from my ward in Lincoln and we had a great conversation about Grandpa and Grandma. Its a small world isn't it?
I love you all. Merry Chritmas. I mean 4th of July. Which, by the way, we were at a ward party and all the teenagers decided it would be funny to get the missionaries wet. By the time every littlle kid had sprayed us with their water gun. We might as well have just jumped in the pool. I think my tie is dry now though so it's ok.
Elder Allred.
Monday, June 29, 2009
June 29, 2009
Ryan's letter
Subject: yes Yes YES!!
Sweet! Guess what!?! Ok I'll just tell you because it would take forever for you guys to guess. My new companion is from Idaho. They must want something to get done here in Roseville. Elder Hansen from Shelly Idaho is my new companion. He loves bikes so we are going to have a lot of fun.
We have had a great week and we are finally going to be able to increase our goals. Linda is doing great. I had the oppurtunity to give her a blessing and it was a great experiance. She has a lot of health issues and that is the only thing stopping her from coming to church every week. She still is having a hard time believing that God is an actual personage rather than just some organized force or power. She said she would pray about it but I don't know if she really cares yet. When we ask her about the Book of Mormon, she only says that she has no reason not to believe it. But she has agreed to meet with us daily so we can work with her and she is shooting for baptism.
All the families that were in the fire are relocated and doing great. We have a lot of work to do in this area, but I'm excited and Elder Hansen is excited so it will be great.
Anyway, I love you all, thanks for everything.
Elder Allred, the one that gets to stay on a mission longer than the other one. :)
Subject: yes Yes YES!!
Sweet! Guess what!?! Ok I'll just tell you because it would take forever for you guys to guess. My new companion is from Idaho. They must want something to get done here in Roseville. Elder Hansen from Shelly Idaho is my new companion. He loves bikes so we are going to have a lot of fun.
We have had a great week and we are finally going to be able to increase our goals. Linda is doing great. I had the oppurtunity to give her a blessing and it was a great experiance. She has a lot of health issues and that is the only thing stopping her from coming to church every week. She still is having a hard time believing that God is an actual personage rather than just some organized force or power. She said she would pray about it but I don't know if she really cares yet. When we ask her about the Book of Mormon, she only says that she has no reason not to believe it. But she has agreed to meet with us daily so we can work with her and she is shooting for baptism.
All the families that were in the fire are relocated and doing great. We have a lot of work to do in this area, but I'm excited and Elder Hansen is excited so it will be great.
Anyway, I love you all, thanks for everything.
Elder Allred, the one that gets to stay on a mission longer than the other one. :)
Friday, June 26, 2009
June 22, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Tranfers!
Hello Rexburg! And everywhere that's not California!
We had a pretty good week starting last Tuesday with president's interviews. I was actually pretty dissapointed because he ended up telling me what was happening with all the elders in my district for transfers. That sort of took all the surprise out of our phone calls this morning. Elder Miller is leaving but I'm still pretty excited for this next transfer. Unfortunately you guys won't find out until next week who my new companion is because I won't find out until tomorrow when we pick him up. It looks like I will end up spending most of the day tomorrow with Elder Petersen, who is from Grandma Allred's home ward, while we wait for our new companions.
Tuesday, I got a call from an inactive family from our ward whose house we had just visited about an hour earlier. She called to tell me her apartment was on fire and that everyone was safe but they would need some help. We rushed over and found over twenty emergency vehicles in her apartment complex and her building on fire. She lived on the bottom floor and another family from our ward live directly above them. Most of their stuff was saved but there was enough damage that they will have to demolish the entire building. We called the bishop and it didn't take long for the ward to make sure they had everything they needed, the church is soo great.
We spent most of the day on Wednesday in Sacramento (outside our mission) at the temple. Elder Miller ran into some friends from Utah so I ended up giving all the tours around the temple by myself. We had almost all the ward there including those without temple recommends. Our bishop has done a great job on focusing on the temple and trying to prepare everyone. Paula and Daphne Skordas got to go inside and participate in baptism for the dead, they loved it! It was an overall amazing experiance for everyone.
Right after we left the temple we went to an appointment with a lady named Linda. Before then I had only talked to her on the phone and she was really excited. She had gone online and requested a Book of Mormon because one of her docters had given her a priesthood blessing before a surgery. (Yeah for the docter who is missionary minded!!) So we taght her the first lesson and she said she had no reason not to believe what we taught. Her only concern was that she has always thought of God as more of an unexplainable power than someone with a body. So we encouraged her to pray (we do that a lot) and ponder what we taught. Before we even started we told her that she was going to have to make some big changes in her life but she was willing.
We met with Linda again on saturday and she had the same concern so we decided not to teach the lesson we had planned. Rather, I was reminded of the part in the Book of Mormon where Ammon explains to the King all about God right after he cuts all the arms off the bad guys. So we read that with her and I think she accepted it. Then we invited her to church but she said she couldn't come because of fathers day but she would try later.
Sunday morning Linda called and asked for directions to the church. Her father was sick and she was really excited to come even though her health only allowed her to stay for sacrament meeting. The ward was awesome at welcoming her and she loved it! Hopefully we will commmit her to baptism this week. She is amazing and she wants to go bike riding with us. Hopefully the ward will continue fellowshipping her.
Other than that we have a lot of people we are teaching and a lot of good potentials. There is a lot of work here even though I'm in one of the smallest areas.
Anyway, we had a very eventful week. Thanks for everything I love you!
Elder Ryan Allred
Subject: Tranfers!
Hello Rexburg! And everywhere that's not California!
We had a pretty good week starting last Tuesday with president's interviews. I was actually pretty dissapointed because he ended up telling me what was happening with all the elders in my district for transfers. That sort of took all the surprise out of our phone calls this morning. Elder Miller is leaving but I'm still pretty excited for this next transfer. Unfortunately you guys won't find out until next week who my new companion is because I won't find out until tomorrow when we pick him up. It looks like I will end up spending most of the day tomorrow with Elder Petersen, who is from Grandma Allred's home ward, while we wait for our new companions.
Tuesday, I got a call from an inactive family from our ward whose house we had just visited about an hour earlier. She called to tell me her apartment was on fire and that everyone was safe but they would need some help. We rushed over and found over twenty emergency vehicles in her apartment complex and her building on fire. She lived on the bottom floor and another family from our ward live directly above them. Most of their stuff was saved but there was enough damage that they will have to demolish the entire building. We called the bishop and it didn't take long for the ward to make sure they had everything they needed, the church is soo great.
We spent most of the day on Wednesday in Sacramento (outside our mission) at the temple. Elder Miller ran into some friends from Utah so I ended up giving all the tours around the temple by myself. We had almost all the ward there including those without temple recommends. Our bishop has done a great job on focusing on the temple and trying to prepare everyone. Paula and Daphne Skordas got to go inside and participate in baptism for the dead, they loved it! It was an overall amazing experiance for everyone.
Right after we left the temple we went to an appointment with a lady named Linda. Before then I had only talked to her on the phone and she was really excited. She had gone online and requested a Book of Mormon because one of her docters had given her a priesthood blessing before a surgery. (Yeah for the docter who is missionary minded!!) So we taght her the first lesson and she said she had no reason not to believe what we taught. Her only concern was that she has always thought of God as more of an unexplainable power than someone with a body. So we encouraged her to pray (we do that a lot) and ponder what we taught. Before we even started we told her that she was going to have to make some big changes in her life but she was willing.
We met with Linda again on saturday and she had the same concern so we decided not to teach the lesson we had planned. Rather, I was reminded of the part in the Book of Mormon where Ammon explains to the King all about God right after he cuts all the arms off the bad guys. So we read that with her and I think she accepted it. Then we invited her to church but she said she couldn't come because of fathers day but she would try later.
Sunday morning Linda called and asked for directions to the church. Her father was sick and she was really excited to come even though her health only allowed her to stay for sacrament meeting. The ward was awesome at welcoming her and she loved it! Hopefully we will commmit her to baptism this week. She is amazing and she wants to go bike riding with us. Hopefully the ward will continue fellowshipping her.
Other than that we have a lot of people we are teaching and a lot of good potentials. There is a lot of work here even though I'm in one of the smallest areas.
Anyway, we had a very eventful week. Thanks for everything I love you!
Elder Ryan Allred
Monday, June 15, 2009
June 15, 2009
Ryan's letter:
Subject: Try not to sound too excited!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Morning! Actually it was an amazing week!
The Skordas's are now members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! They had an awesome baptism on Saturday, great confirmations on Sunday, and Rob, Paula and Daphne should be participating in Baptisms for the dead on Wednesday. They had an interview with the Bishop yesterday and they recieved their temporary recommends. Elder Miller and I were soo excited when we found out that they were going inside the temple! We had dinner at the Bishop's house and I guess I sort of burst the bubble of joy when I asked how Rob was going to go inside the temple without the priesthood. Our Bishop was soo busy yesterday that he completely forgot about making sure Rob recieved the preisthood. But I think he'll work it out.
Ill send pictures when I can.
Wednesday is our ward temple day. They reserved the entire temple for our ward for the morning. Elder Miller and I will be giving tours around the outside of the Temple to the Primary kids and all the investigators who are planning on being there. It should be a wonderfull experience.
We are still working on finding our next family and we have a lot of great potentials. Make sure you all do your missionary work so the missionaries have people to teach. I love each of you and hope you are having an amazing week especially the Girls at Girls Camp.
Choose the Right!
Elder Ryan Jay Allred
Subject: Try not to sound too excited!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Morning! Actually it was an amazing week!
The Skordas's are now members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! They had an awesome baptism on Saturday, great confirmations on Sunday, and Rob, Paula and Daphne should be participating in Baptisms for the dead on Wednesday. They had an interview with the Bishop yesterday and they recieved their temporary recommends. Elder Miller and I were soo excited when we found out that they were going inside the temple! We had dinner at the Bishop's house and I guess I sort of burst the bubble of joy when I asked how Rob was going to go inside the temple without the priesthood. Our Bishop was soo busy yesterday that he completely forgot about making sure Rob recieved the preisthood. But I think he'll work it out.
Ill send pictures when I can.
Wednesday is our ward temple day. They reserved the entire temple for our ward for the morning. Elder Miller and I will be giving tours around the outside of the Temple to the Primary kids and all the investigators who are planning on being there. It should be a wonderfull experience.
We are still working on finding our next family and we have a lot of great potentials. Make sure you all do your missionary work so the missionaries have people to teach. I love each of you and hope you are having an amazing week especially the Girls at Girls Camp.
Choose the Right!
Elder Ryan Jay Allred
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
May 26, 2009
Subject: Some call it madness, we call it family.
Hello to all.
We had a great talk in sacrament meeting last week about making our homes more like temples. The speaker compared it to a musicians home. If he wants to be a good musician, he must create an environment where it is easy to focus on music. In the same way we need to create an environment where it is easy to live righteously.
Hmm, what could I tell my family and friends this week that would be interesting. Well my new companion is a great missionary from Utah. Elder Miller and I get along great and we have a great ward to work with. My new area is only about a quarter of the size of my last ward geographically, so I don't get a lot of miles in on my bike.
My address is 5 Marcia Way if you want to look it up, but they want all of our letters and packages to come through the Mission office. I'm in Roseville California by the way. :) Well other that that I don't have a lot to say this week. Our main investigating family is the Skordas family. Rob is coming from an atheist back round and that is the only thing that is holding them up. They are more active than a lot of members including in scouting and young women. Paula and the two kids (Daphne who is 12 and a lot like Sheresa, and Korbin who is 9) have said that they are ready for Baptism, they are just waiting on the dad. They love missionaries and they do everything for us. Yesterday they took us and our entire district to "In and Out Burger" for lunch. So feel free to pray for them and for us so we can know what to teach.
It is still hot and I'm still loving it. Thanks for everything.
Love- Elder Ryan Allred
Oh, I almost forgot, I got to go back to Lincoln for Justin's Baptism on Saturday. I think I attached the right picture.
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June 1, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Happy birthday to my Brother tomorrow!!!
Hey, you all probably know that I am horrible with computers so hopefully it is not surprising that I messed up again. I had my letter all typed up and I deleted everything again. Oh well. Basically the main thing is that the Skordas family decided to get baptized in two weeks and we are very excited. Other than that, the work continues to roll forward. Thanks for everything! I hope you all have a great day.
Love Elder Allred
Subject: Happy birthday to my Brother tomorrow!!!
Hey, you all probably know that I am horrible with computers so hopefully it is not surprising that I messed up again. I had my letter all typed up and I deleted everything again. Oh well. Basically the main thing is that the Skordas family decided to get baptized in two weeks and we are very excited. Other than that, the work continues to roll forward. Thanks for everything! I hope you all have a great day.
Love Elder Allred
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
May 18, 2009
Ryan's Letter
Subject: When I wish upon a star...
Yipee! I am now in Roseville! Last Tuesday I was transfered and I had to travel all of ten minutes to get to my new apartment. But the change and the fresh start has put me on a great sprirtual high. There is something really special about the missionaries in my district. I have felt the spirit more in the past week than any other week in my life. There is such a great spirit of love and unity, and we are all really young missionaries.
I don't really have a lot to say. We started working with an inactive member who hasn't been to church in years. We taught twice this week and cleaned his apartment twice as well and he came to church. The thing that really helped to chang3e his mind was the member we chose as his fellowshipper. Brother Faupula invited him to church, checked up on him daily, made sure he had a ride, then he put the icing on the cake by helping him out all through church. Members can do so much more then we can. It was great to see it in action.
Well I love you all and hope you are all doing well. Thanks for everything.
Oh and I got my first letter from Jennifer this week. Wahoooo!
Love ya
Elder Ryan Jay Allred (Still Green)
Subject: When I wish upon a star...
Yipee! I am now in Roseville! Last Tuesday I was transfered and I had to travel all of ten minutes to get to my new apartment. But the change and the fresh start has put me on a great sprirtual high. There is something really special about the missionaries in my district. I have felt the spirit more in the past week than any other week in my life. There is such a great spirit of love and unity, and we are all really young missionaries.
I don't really have a lot to say. We started working with an inactive member who hasn't been to church in years. We taught twice this week and cleaned his apartment twice as well and he came to church. The thing that really helped to chang3e his mind was the member we chose as his fellowshipper. Brother Faupula invited him to church, checked up on him daily, made sure he had a ride, then he put the icing on the cake by helping him out all through church. Members can do so much more then we can. It was great to see it in action.
Well I love you all and hope you are all doing well. Thanks for everything.
Oh and I got my first letter from Jennifer this week. Wahoooo!
Love ya
Elder Ryan Jay Allred (Still Green)
Monday, May 11, 2009
FW: Tranfers, Drum roll please.
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Tranfers, Drum roll please.
Hey!
It was great to talk to you my family yesterday even though I didn't have a lot of time. (sorry mom) Yesterday was really a crazy day for us.
One of the first things we did in the morning was walk over to a young mans house who was supposed to become a new investigator. Unfortunately he was asleep but his mom was really nice, :)
After that we went over to another investigators house to try to get them to come to church. She would have come but she was going to be with her daughter the entire day and her daughter told her that if she joined the church she would be disowned.
Then we met with Justin and set a baptismal date. Basically all he has left it his interview which he is really looking forward to. I have really enjoyed teaching him because he already has such a great foundation so we have been able to focus on the temple more. He realizes the power of the temples and he can not wait to be there. And so many of us take it forgranted. He also really looks forward to feeling completely clean as his is baptized. His date is now set for the 23 of this month.
Then we had church and shortly after recieved a call telling me that I would be transfered out of my favorite area of the mission so far. President is sending me down to the Roseville 5th ward. A whole 12 miles away! So we will still have our zone conferneces with Lincoln and I should be able to go to Justins Baptism. Sweet.
Well I still love you all, the Church is true, Hurrah for Israel.
Elder Ryan Jay Allred
Subject: Tranfers, Drum roll please.
Hey!
It was great to talk to you my family yesterday even though I didn't have a lot of time. (sorry mom) Yesterday was really a crazy day for us.
One of the first things we did in the morning was walk over to a young mans house who was supposed to become a new investigator. Unfortunately he was asleep but his mom was really nice, :)
After that we went over to another investigators house to try to get them to come to church. She would have come but she was going to be with her daughter the entire day and her daughter told her that if she joined the church she would be disowned.
Then we met with Justin and set a baptismal date. Basically all he has left it his interview which he is really looking forward to. I have really enjoyed teaching him because he already has such a great foundation so we have been able to focus on the temple more. He realizes the power of the temples and he can not wait to be there. And so many of us take it forgranted. He also really looks forward to feeling completely clean as his is baptized. His date is now set for the 23 of this month.
Then we had church and shortly after recieved a call telling me that I would be transfered out of my favorite area of the mission so far. President is sending me down to the Roseville 5th ward. A whole 12 miles away! So we will still have our zone conferneces with Lincoln and I should be able to go to Justins Baptism. Sweet.
Well I still love you all, the Church is true, Hurrah for Israel.
Elder Ryan Jay Allred
Monday, May 4, 2009
May 4, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Subject: Only 235 days untill Christmas!! Yahoo!!
Well we had two great lessons with Justin this past week and he came to church again on sunday. We sent the Elders quorum President over to visit him in the morning, and we set an interview with the bishop for him after church. The ward loves him and they are working on furnishing his apartment right now. We are hoping to set a date with him tomorrow.
It has rained a lot lately and that really affects those of us on bikes. We often have to return to the apartment two or three times a day to change clothes. We had an appointment with a new member on friday night but we didn't want to get their couches all wet. So at about seven we went home so we could put on dry clothes and hopefull not be as wet when we got there. Well our plan failed and we were drenched when we got there, so we decided to cancel. But when we knocked on the door to tell them they were too excited to see us to let us leave. So we stayed and taught them and luckily they had towels so I don't think we got anything else wet. But the ride home was crazy. She told us to make hot chocolate when we got home but we were too tired, so we made a cake instead.
I got the letters from the Smallcomb family and they were great. The news that really made me excited was that Aunt Teresa is a ward missionary! I think that is the best calling that you could have. I know we keep our ward missionaries busy with all they do and they really enjoy it. It seems that those who apply themselves more have the most fun. Congrats! Then of course Ty is going over and beyond with Rugby. I think I would get broken if I tried that.
Hey how is Jordan doing out on the mish? And David with the post-missin life?
I love you all!
Elder the Greener one Allred
Subject: Only 235 days untill Christmas!! Yahoo!!
Well we had two great lessons with Justin this past week and he came to church again on sunday. We sent the Elders quorum President over to visit him in the morning, and we set an interview with the bishop for him after church. The ward loves him and they are working on furnishing his apartment right now. We are hoping to set a date with him tomorrow.
It has rained a lot lately and that really affects those of us on bikes. We often have to return to the apartment two or three times a day to change clothes. We had an appointment with a new member on friday night but we didn't want to get their couches all wet. So at about seven we went home so we could put on dry clothes and hopefull not be as wet when we got there. Well our plan failed and we were drenched when we got there, so we decided to cancel. But when we knocked on the door to tell them they were too excited to see us to let us leave. So we stayed and taught them and luckily they had towels so I don't think we got anything else wet. But the ride home was crazy. She told us to make hot chocolate when we got home but we were too tired, so we made a cake instead.
I got the letters from the Smallcomb family and they were great. The news that really made me excited was that Aunt Teresa is a ward missionary! I think that is the best calling that you could have. I know we keep our ward missionaries busy with all they do and they really enjoy it. It seems that those who apply themselves more have the most fun. Congrats! Then of course Ty is going over and beyond with Rugby. I think I would get broken if I tried that.
Hey how is Jordan doing out on the mish? And David with the post-missin life?
I love you all!
Elder the Greener one Allred
Monday, April 27, 2009
April 27, 2009
Ryan's Letter:
Wow, yesterday was amazing! So we had a really hard morning with all of our meetings in the morning, plus we had people from the mission office there just to make sure we were doing everything right. We had a lot of people telling us what we need to do better, and I was pretty stressed out. During lunch I walked into our apartment and just fell on the floor completely exhausted. After being on the floor for about fifteen minutes, Elder Boody tossed me the phone and said there was a message for me. It was from Carol Fowler, the member, telling us that she wouldn't be able to come to church today. Unfortunatley, that also meant that Carol Lloyd, our investigator, would not be coming. I tried everything I could to get someone else to drive her, because we really wanted to see her there so we could commit her to baptism this week. By the time I got the ride, Carol had changed her mind about coming this week. Other than that, we only had three of our investigators cancel on us this week.
By the time we got to church we were not very happy, but I think the Lord, as always, was ready to pick up our slack. As we walked into Sacrament meeting I met Justin, who seemed a little nervous to be there, but he was already sitting with a member. I found out he had just walked in and asked if he could join the church. We sat with him during all three meetings and found out he lives in the same apartments as us. Throughout the day he went around saying, "Hi, I'm Justin, and I hope to be joining your church soon." The thing that really excites me is that he does have some backround with the church, so he sort of knows what he is getting involved in. That was our very needed tender mercy from the Lord this week.
I love you all
Elder Allred from California!
Wow, yesterday was amazing! So we had a really hard morning with all of our meetings in the morning, plus we had people from the mission office there just to make sure we were doing everything right. We had a lot of people telling us what we need to do better, and I was pretty stressed out. During lunch I walked into our apartment and just fell on the floor completely exhausted. After being on the floor for about fifteen minutes, Elder Boody tossed me the phone and said there was a message for me. It was from Carol Fowler, the member, telling us that she wouldn't be able to come to church today. Unfortunatley, that also meant that Carol Lloyd, our investigator, would not be coming. I tried everything I could to get someone else to drive her, because we really wanted to see her there so we could commit her to baptism this week. By the time I got the ride, Carol had changed her mind about coming this week. Other than that, we only had three of our investigators cancel on us this week.
By the time we got to church we were not very happy, but I think the Lord, as always, was ready to pick up our slack. As we walked into Sacrament meeting I met Justin, who seemed a little nervous to be there, but he was already sitting with a member. I found out he had just walked in and asked if he could join the church. We sat with him during all three meetings and found out he lives in the same apartments as us. Throughout the day he went around saying, "Hi, I'm Justin, and I hope to be joining your church soon." The thing that really excites me is that he does have some backround with the church, so he sort of knows what he is getting involved in. That was our very needed tender mercy from the Lord this week.
I love you all
Elder Allred from California!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April 20, 2009
Subject: All right. Who hid the ice-cream under the bed this time?
Another great week in the mission!
We had a wonder full zone conference this past week, and surprisingly (even with missing a full 24 hours of proselyting time) our numbers went way up. Elder Boody and I talked with twice as many people this past week than normal, and we had 100 % more investigators at church. Ok, so that only means that we had two there, but it was still pretty cool. One of our newer investigators came along with three of his friends. His name is Pierce and they all walked in about five minutes late with their tattoos and all, but it was pretty sweet.
We also got the Bazile family to finally come. They are a part member family who we have been working with for the past forever. Yesterday was their first time coming in over a year. They have two younger boys who are really good skateboarders, and one of them enters into tournaments. He gets a lot of free gear, so he is trying to hook me up with a skateboard. I don't know how that would look as a missionary though. :)
We went tracting yesterday and it was ninety + degrees outside. Counts your blessing! One of the houses we went to was pretty interesting. It was Elder Boody's door so he began with a normal door approach. The lady who came to the door finished his sentence then said something to the effect of..." The part I don't get is that you have Christ's name in your Church's name, but you don't even believe in him."
This took elder Boody by surprise so he turned to me. I immediately tried to bear testimony of the Savior and the power of the atonement. She was not moved at all, in fact she was so convinced that she knew more about what we believed than we did, that she raised her voice considerably. I must admit I was very tempted to engage in active "conversation" with her, but could see it would go no where. We tried to leave on a good note by complimenting her, but ended up just shrinking away. Why can't people just realize that we are Christian.
Other than rare occasions like that, I really enjoy tracting. Last week we came to our last house only to be told to leave the property immediatly because they did not tolerate Jehovahs Witnesses. When we told her who we really were, she calmed down and asked for literature. Then she asked for more! We ended up getting a return appointment but she told us to wear something else so she wouldn't confuse us next time. :)
Well thanks for everything.
I love and appreciate you all! Whoever it is that gets these letters.
Elder From Texas because it sounds cooler than Idaho to people out here Allred.
Another great week in the mission!
We had a wonder full zone conference this past week, and surprisingly (even with missing a full 24 hours of proselyting time) our numbers went way up. Elder Boody and I talked with twice as many people this past week than normal, and we had 100 % more investigators at church. Ok, so that only means that we had two there, but it was still pretty cool. One of our newer investigators came along with three of his friends. His name is Pierce and they all walked in about five minutes late with their tattoos and all, but it was pretty sweet.
We also got the Bazile family to finally come. They are a part member family who we have been working with for the past forever. Yesterday was their first time coming in over a year. They have two younger boys who are really good skateboarders, and one of them enters into tournaments. He gets a lot of free gear, so he is trying to hook me up with a skateboard. I don't know how that would look as a missionary though. :)
We went tracting yesterday and it was ninety + degrees outside. Counts your blessing! One of the houses we went to was pretty interesting. It was Elder Boody's door so he began with a normal door approach. The lady who came to the door finished his sentence then said something to the effect of..." The part I don't get is that you have Christ's name in your Church's name, but you don't even believe in him."
This took elder Boody by surprise so he turned to me. I immediately tried to bear testimony of the Savior and the power of the atonement. She was not moved at all, in fact she was so convinced that she knew more about what we believed than we did, that she raised her voice considerably. I must admit I was very tempted to engage in active "conversation" with her, but could see it would go no where. We tried to leave on a good note by complimenting her, but ended up just shrinking away. Why can't people just realize that we are Christian.
Other than rare occasions like that, I really enjoy tracting. Last week we came to our last house only to be told to leave the property immediatly because they did not tolerate Jehovahs Witnesses. When we told her who we really were, she calmed down and asked for literature. Then she asked for more! We ended up getting a return appointment but she told us to wear something else so she wouldn't confuse us next time. :)
Well thanks for everything.
I love and appreciate you all! Whoever it is that gets these letters.
Elder From Texas because it sounds cooler than Idaho to people out here Allred.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
April 6, 2009
Subject: I am doing a great work and cannot come down.
Wow, everyone who enjoyed conference, raise your hand. I thought it was pretty good, except for the priesthood session. That one just made me jealous because I saw all my friends in the choir. But then I realized that they are probably all jealous that I am on a mission. I think I only saw four of my friends, but a lot of those people looked very familiar. I know I saw Alex North and Josh Brown. Then I saw the top of Mac Cloward's head, just the forehead and up. Later I was able to see him more fully. And I'm pretty sure I saw Allen Anderson, although I could be wrong, I've only seen him once in the past two and a half years.
We got one of our less actives to watch conference with us by telling him that we needed a ride to the stake center in Rocklin. He came in shorts and flip-flops to the priesthood session, but I think he still enjoyed it because he came again on sunday.
Three of our investigators were able to watch at least part of conference including our most recent investigator who we just picked up this last week. That was a great night for me; not only did we get to start teaching one of our member's nephews, but I also had the privilege of watching as Elder Boody flew head first over his handle bars and into a row of bushes. Luckily, nothing was hurt but his pride, especially when we later found out that one of our potential investigators was watching the whole thing. We both laughed all the way to the next appointment.
We are doing well and enjoying ourselves here in California. I hope everything is the same for you. Choose the Right and remember I love you.
Elder Ryan Jay Allred
Wow, everyone who enjoyed conference, raise your hand. I thought it was pretty good, except for the priesthood session. That one just made me jealous because I saw all my friends in the choir. But then I realized that they are probably all jealous that I am on a mission. I think I only saw four of my friends, but a lot of those people looked very familiar. I know I saw Alex North and Josh Brown. Then I saw the top of Mac Cloward's head, just the forehead and up. Later I was able to see him more fully. And I'm pretty sure I saw Allen Anderson, although I could be wrong, I've only seen him once in the past two and a half years.
We got one of our less actives to watch conference with us by telling him that we needed a ride to the stake center in Rocklin. He came in shorts and flip-flops to the priesthood session, but I think he still enjoyed it because he came again on sunday.
Three of our investigators were able to watch at least part of conference including our most recent investigator who we just picked up this last week. That was a great night for me; not only did we get to start teaching one of our member's nephews, but I also had the privilege of watching as Elder Boody flew head first over his handle bars and into a row of bushes. Luckily, nothing was hurt but his pride, especially when we later found out that one of our potential investigators was watching the whole thing. We both laughed all the way to the next appointment.
We are doing well and enjoying ourselves here in California. I hope everything is the same for you. Choose the Right and remember I love you.
Elder Ryan Jay Allred
Monday, March 30, 2009
March 30, 2009
Hey, I finally got to stay with my companion for more than one transfer! I love serving with Elder Boody. This is going to be a great 6 weeks.
Wow, we just really tore it up here in Lincoln this past week. We taught twenty three lessons and picked up four new investigators. This week we have scheduled to start teaching two more that have already told members that they want to be baptized. The church is really rolling forward like a stone cut out of a mountain.
We rode clear out to the furthest part of our area early Saturday morning to meet with a potential investigator. When we got there, he of course forgot we were coming so he was out in his yard pulling weeds. Before he had a chance to refuse, we were off our bikes and on the sidewalk pulling weeds with him. Well it turns out that he went through the Hawaii temple many years ago and we had a great conversation. He didn't know it, but we were teaching him the first lesson as we worked. Our member who lives accross the street even came out and talked with us and introduced herself to him. After about 30 minutes of working, his wife came out the front door. We thought maybe she was going to offer us some water, since it's was about 70 degrees outside. However, she didn't waste any time in letting us know she did not want us on her property. She threw us out before we could even say good bye. It was soo sad because I think he would have been Receptive.
Well, Predident said no as far as the golf carts go, but he would try to get us a car to use part time. Actually, he went with us to our appointments on Saturday evening. He called three zones in the mission, and out of those three, we were the only ones with a lesson that night. Ha, and our lesson canceled once he showed up. But we took advantage of having his truck and we traveled all over the area to visit people. We have a pretty amazing President.
I love you all, Thanks for the prayers. Hopefully, the attached pictures should be with Sam Head in the MTC and Me in Sun City. I'll be here for at least six months. YiPeee!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
March 23, 2009
Ryan’s letter:
In preparation for conference, I have been rereading the talks from the last session. This talk by President Monson, our Prophet, is one that really touched me and I have read it multiple times in the past couple weeks. If you have time, read it. And then make the time to live.
Remember the first great commandment is to Love God, and the second is to love one another.
Love you all
Todo Verde - Elder Allred, who is no longer a greenie.
Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family.
My dear brothers and sisters, I am humbled as I stand before you this morning. I ask for your faith and prayers in my behalf as I speak about those things which have been on my mind and which I have felt impressed to share with you.
I begin by mentioning one of the most inevitable aspects of our lives here upon the earth, and that is change. At one time or another we’ve all heard some form of the familiar adage: “Nothing is as constant as change.”
Throughout our lives, we must deal with change. Some changes are welcome; some are not. There are changes in our lives which are sudden, such as the unexpected passing of a loved one, an unforeseen illness, the loss of a possession we treasure. But most of the changes take place subtly and slowly.
This conference marks 45 years since I was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. As the junior member of the Twelve then, I looked up to 14 exceptional men, who were senior to me in the Twelve and the First Presidency. One by one, each of these men has returned home. When President Hinckley passed away eight months ago, I realized that I had become the senior Apostle. The changes over a period of 45 years that were incremental now seem monumental.
This coming week Sister Monson and I will celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary. As I look back to our beginnings, I realize just how much our lives have changed since then. Our beloved parents, who stood beside us as we commenced our journey together, have passed on. Our three children, who filled our lives so completely for many years, are grown and have families of their own. Most of our grandchildren are grown, and we now have four great-grandchildren.
Day by day, minute by minute, second by second we went from where we were to where we are now. The lives of all of us, of course, go through similar alterations and changes. The difference between the changes in my life and the changes in yours is only in the details. Time never stands still; it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes.
This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.
I am what my wife, Frances, calls a “show-a-holic.” I thoroughly enjoy many musicals, and one of my favorites was written by the American composer Meredith Willson and is entitled The Music Man. Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in the show, voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”1
My brothers and sisters, there is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today.
I’ve shared with you previously an example of this philosophy. I believe it bears repeating. Many years ago, Arthur Gordon wrote in a national magazine, and I quote:
“When I was around thirteen and my brother ten, Father had promised to take us to the circus. But at lunchtime there was a phone call; some urgent business required his attention downtown. We braced ourselves for disappointment. Then we heard him say [into the phone], ‘No, I won’t be down. It’ll have to wait.’
“When he came back to the table, Mother smiled. ‘The circus keeps coming back, you know,’ [she said.]
“‘I know,’ said Father. ‘But childhood doesn’t.’”2
If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.
If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”3 We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”4
In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”5
Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows.
In the book of John in the New Testament, chapter 13, verse 34, the Savior admonishes us, “As I have loved you, … love one another.”
Some of you may be familiar with Thornton Wilder’s classic drama Our Town. If you are, you will remember the town of Grover’s Corners, where the story takes place. In the play Emily Webb dies in childbirth, and we read of the lonely grief of her young husband, George, left with their four-year-old son. Emily does not wish to rest in peace; she wants to experience again the joys of her life. She is granted the privilege of returning to earth and reliving her 12th birthday. At first it is exciting to be young again, but the excitement wears off quickly. The day holds no joy now that Emily knows what is in store for the future. It is unbearably painful to realize how unaware she had been of the meaning and wonder of life while she was alive. Before returning to her resting place, Emily laments, “Do … human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?”
Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.
Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”6
In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, verse 33, we are told: “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.”
The ancient Roman philosopher Horace admonished, “Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily.”
Many years ago I was touched by the story of Borghild Dahl. She was born in Minnesota in 1890 of Norwegian parents and from her early years suffered severely impaired vision. She had a tremendous desire to participate in everyday life despite her handicap and, through sheer determination, succeeded in nearly everything she undertook. Against the advice of educators, who felt her handicap was too great, she attended college, receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota. She later studied at Columbia University and the University of Oslo. She eventually became the principal of eight schools in western Minnesota and North Dakota.
She wrote the following in one of the 17 books she authored: “I had only one eye, and it was so covered with dense scars that I had to do all my seeing through one small opening in the left of the eye. I could see a book only by holding it up close to my face and by straining my one eye as hard as I could to the left.”7
Miraculously, in 1943—when she was over 50 years old—a revolutionary procedure was developed which finally restored to her much of the sight she had been without for so long. A new and exciting world opened up before her. She took great pleasure in the small things most of us take for granted, such as watching a bird in flight, noticing the light reflected in the bubbles of her dishwater, or observing the phases of the moon each night. She closed one of her books with these words: “Dear … Father in heaven, I thank Thee. I thank Thee.”8
Borghild Dahl, both before and after her sight was restored, was filled with gratitude for her blessings.
In 1982, two years before she died, at the age of 92 her last book was published. Its title: Happy All My Life. Her attitude of thankfulness enabled her to appreciate her blessings and to live a full and rich life despite her challenges.
In 1 Thessalonians in the New Testament, chapter 5, verse 18, we are told by the Apostle Paul, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God.”
Recall with me the account of the 10 lepers:
“And as [Jesus] entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
“And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
“There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.”9
Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”10 May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed.
In closing, I pray that all of us will reflect gratitude for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His glorious gospel provides answers to life’s greatest questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where does my spirit go when I die?
He taught us how to pray. He taught us how to serve. He taught us how to live. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved.
The time came when He stood alone. Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed Him. The Roman soldiers pierced His side. The angry mob took His life. There yet rings from Golgotha’s hill His compassionate words, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”11
Earlier, perhaps perceiving the culmination of His earthly mission, He spoke the lament, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”12 “No room in the inn”13 was not a singular expression of rejection—just the first. Yet He invites you and me to receive Him. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”14
Who was this Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? Who is the King of glory, this Lord of hosts? He is our Master. He is our Savior. He is the Son of God. He is the Author of our Salvation. He beckons, “Follow me.”15 He instructs, “Go, and do thou likewise.”16 He pleads, “Keep my commandments.”17
Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude.
Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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