June 21, 2010

 

From: Ryan Jay Allred

Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 12:58 PM
To: Allred, Kevin
Subject: Life is all about people!

 

July 21, 2010

Hello everyone!!

            I’m glad to hear everything back at home is going well.    Every time I see Sister Pendleton (my mission president’s wife) she asked how you all are doing and when I tell her she assures me that all of your happiness comes as direct effect of me being on a mission.  So you’re welcome.  J   But seriously it is good to hear about spiritual experiences you are having.  Those are really what bring us happiness.  As I study the talks from this past general conference I am finding a theme where the speakers are encouraging us to strengthen our faith.  Whether it is through strengthening our families or personally coming closer to Christ, faith brings hope that will lead to lasting peace.  There is no need to wait for the next life for that.   As you look throughout all of history you see that when people are happy it is not because of wealth or circumstances, it is because of faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ.

            And that reminds me of something I wanted to check up on.  In Conference Elder Richard G. Scott challenged each of us to create a study plan specifically to increase our understanding of the atonement.  Do you remember that?   Well if you haven’t started yet that is alright because it is going to take a while to do anyway.  Elder Groberg and I feel very strongly that if all the members of the church will follow this counsel the church will be strengthened from the inside and we will be able to reach President Hinckley’s challenge to double convert baptisms.  Preach My Gospel tells us on pg 2 that “As your understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase.  You will feel, as Lehi did, the great importance to make these things known unto all the inhabitants of the earth.  President Ezra Taft Benson taught:  We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world.  That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction.  Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace.  Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family.”

            So give it a try, remember the worth of a soul and the joy that comes from bringing souls to Christ.   I started by getting a list of talks about the atonement by latter day prophets and by combining the gospels in the bible to get a better picture of the events in the Saviors atonement.  Already in the past months my testimony has grown a lot.  I know yours will too along with your desire and ability to share the blessings of the atonement with others.

            As far as cool events in the past week here are just a few:  I think I told you about the guy who printed off 50 questions to ask missionaries when we went to teach him a few weeks ago.  Well we took his list and wrote down our answers to every one of them that way we wouldn’t have to worry about him trying to argue with is, he would just be able to read our responses.  He loved our answers and we were able to teach him again this week and help him understand the importance of the Book of Mormon.  We were also looking through our records and found out that his mother had been baptized while she was living in the home where he now lives.  We are excited for him because now he is being completely sincere and Heavenly Father leads all sincere seekers to truth.

            We also had a sweet lesson with a less-active family we have been working with and felt that we kneel with them and have them pray about the Book of Mormon.    They are a hard family to teach because of the little kids running all over the place but as the mother offered a kneeling prayer complete peace entered the room.  They all were able to recognize their answers to prayer the quiet feelings of the Holy Ghost.  It is a wonderful blessing to be able to be with people as they receive guidance from their Father in Heaven.

            So we had a great week with a lot of lessons and some fun tracting going on.   Tommy is still planning on getting baptized sometime in the near future and Benjamin is still coming a lot closer.  I feel completely at home in this ward, it is going to be hard to leave when I do.

            I hope you all have a great summer!!

Love YA!

Elder Ryan Jay Allred

--
HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.