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