From: Ryan Jay Allred
Sent: Monday, November 01, 2010 12:13 PM
To: Allred, Kevin
Subject: "I did not touch him or sit on his knee, yet Jesus is real to me."
Well hello there!
My subject line comes from a Primary song that has really been on my mind over the past few weeks and has been something I have felt we all should think about. I have never touched the Savior in this life, nor have I had the opportunity to physically sit on his knee, yet, in all sincerity, Jesus is real to me. I have heard His voice, and I know His word. It is more clearly spoken in the Book of Mormon than in any other book and I love it! It has been really exciting for me to hear of all of the great experiences the Lyman 3rd ward is having with reading their Book of Mormon challenge and I am happy to report that my experience has been equally as rewarding. Yesterday as I sat thumbing through it's pages I had a short conversation in my mind and i asked myself why I loved it so much. As I opened to random pages I realized that I recognized every story that it opened to and I have read it enough times I ought to be bored with it. But I told myself (don't think I'm weird for talking to myself, it was more of just thoughts to myself) that the real reason that I love it so much is because of the power it has to invite the Spirit and the power that spirit has to change lives. I then opened to Alma 14 and spent the next few minutes warming myself with the Spirit. It happens every time and it is real. I have been blessed to have Elder Solomon as my companion this transfer because of the love we share for the Book of Mormon, it has been awesome!
So guess what! Susan set a goal to be baptized Thanksgiving weekend. She still has a lot of dots to connect in her mind but she has taken the step of faith the set the goal and we are confident her testimony will be there in time. Things have gotten so busy for us over the past two wee this week is going to be twice as busy. On Saturday we had our car all set up to put it in the Trunk-or-treating party and we filled it full of candy given to us from the ward members. However at the last minute we got a call to help a family move in so we were stuck with a trunk load of candy! That's no good for me. So we spent our Halloween visiting people we are either teaching or trying to teach and doing some treat-or-tricking, you know, the opposite of trick-or-treating. And they loved it so a lot for them are letting us come back to teach them this week! Does anybody want some candy though, we still have way too much?
We had a really cool experience with the Sannar family this week. A few weeks ago we had felt impressed to stop by their house and ask if we could help them with their missionary work. Well it turns out they are a gold mine because sister Sannar has only been a member for three years and Brother Sannar just returned to activity. After visiting for fifteen minutes we had three of their friends to visit and a dinner appointment with them so they could have their friends over to meet us. Well, not only was the dinner excellent, but we met a really cool kid. We had a great talk with him, Elder Solomon did most of the work and and it worked out great. At the end Brother Sannar invited him to take the missionary lessons but he was uneasy. So we decided to share the scripture we had prepared and then let him choose. Well the scripture we had chosen was the same one that had gotten Brother Sannar back into the church and he shared a powerful testimony. The spirit was so strong it was impossible not to feel it. Then at the end Brother Sannar invited him again. This time he turned us down and immediately the spirit let him know that was not the right decision. It was interesting to watch his face as he knew he should have accepted but still turned us down. But now he knows what the spirit is and how it speaks to us so next time..... We had a lot of fun, and this week we are going again to teach another one of their friends. Members work miracles in missionary work.
Life is good. Thank you Kristie for the great emails, it is amazing to be in this life even when it is hard isn't it? Thanks for your positive example. And thanks Sarah for not talking about me coming home soon. Jennifer, that is bad news, but i don't know who you are talking about, and I am sure you are doing fine in AP! Keep it up. Sheresa, have you learned how to unicycle?
(Kevin wrote: This paragraph is responding to a question from me because the letter from his mission president shows him finishing his mission on November 8th, but he doesn’t fly out until the 9th). Dad, I think between the eighth and the ninth I am in a place called the spirit world. You can read about it in Alma 40 if you want. But basically it is a place between life and judgment where i hope to rest peacefully. Actually I will probably not sleep at all because I will be with all the missionaries that came out with me. I should email nest week too if i have time, plan on it.
I love you all and Hope life is well!
Elder Ryan J Allred
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Hurrah For Israel!!!
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