November 7, 2017

This week has been great. I'm not too motivated to write a letter for some reason, I wish that I could just call you guys and tell you all of the things that have been happening up here. It would be so much easier. It's crazy though because next month I will be able to face time you guys again. I can't believe that it is almost there again. The work is going great. 

We have been teaching one of the priests, who is almost done with his papers, the missionary lessons and then he will teach us. It is pretty cool to see his desire in becoming a great missionary. Elder Crawley and I got referred to a guy named Masias, we contacted him yesterday. He is a body builder, we went to his gym. I found out that he is a personal trainer and he wasn't too jacked but he was in the best shape, it was nuts. After we contacted him we did a bit of tracting and came up to a house that was being built. There was a car parked outside so we decided to knock. A guy came to the door and we told him that we were missionaries and asked if he needed any help. He at first said no but after talking to him for a bit he said he wouldn't mind some help. We have continued teaching Byron, they are still on track with cutting one cigarette out a day. When I went over there the first time it was like walking into a wall of smoke and it was so hard to breathe. The second time that I went over there I could barely smell it. Since they have committed to stop smoking they have not only been cutting out a cigarette a day but they have also been smoking outside. They are so cool I didn't know how I was going to be able to go into their home again but it all worked out. 

In Ward Council we have been talking about the Ward Christmas Party and it has really bothered me that they haven't said one word about how they are going to make this a missionary experience. We had dinner with our ward mission leader and we will be talking about that in the next one. I feel like things in this area could really pick up there is a lot of potential. 

On Saturday I got permission for Elder Crawley and I to go to Aaron's baptism it was great. We took the C-train all the way up from downtown to the crowfoot station, that this by the church in silver springs, then Elder Darrow picked us up. Aaron had Elder Darrow and I as the official witnesses. He told me on the phone that night that he felt a feeling that he had never felt before in his life. He said that it was really as if he was being washed clean. 

I am sure that you have probably heard of missionaries getting smart phones. It's kind of weird, I was talking to the guy that Elder Darrow is training and he said that a ton of the missionaries in the MTC all had their own smart phones. We are going to be doing a course on it so we will see, we might be getting smart phones. I never thought that missionaries would have phones. 

Calgary Tower

Clock by Bow Tower

Bow Tower

Map of downtown Calgary

My Breakfast Smoothie

Well this is just some of the things that have been happening this week, the work really is going well. I sure do miss you all, have a great week! I will be on a little later today to send some pictures. 

Love, Elder Allred 

October 31, 2017

Dinner with Lori Lang at a nice Italian Restaurant

Hey fam, 

This week has been interesting. We have so many referrals from members to go and visit people. It was nice this week to have the car. We have to share it with another set of missionaries. So one week we have it and then the other week we don't. It is pretty rough to be honest. We have a pretty big area but it is nice to have the Calgary Transit even though it is super slow. Since we had the car we were able to contact quite a few people which was nice. 

Probably the highlight of the week was when we went to visit Byron and Rebecca. Byron is an eternagator, which means that he has been being taught for a long time. I think that he has actually been being taught for 3 years. Rebecca is his wife and she is a member who comes to church every so often. Rebecca, I had met a few days before, when we stopped by to set up an appointment with them. As soon as we walked in the home it was like walking into a brick wall of smoke. I really hate the smell of smoke. We helped her carry up some thinks from her basement to the big garbage bin outside. She was very grateful. As we were taking her garbage out to the dump there were a group of black people outside and one of the younger ladies, maybe in her 20's, asked me if we were J-dubs and I kinda laughed and said no we're not. And then she asked, "Are you mormons?" and I then said, "Yes we are" and she said, "Aw man I love you guys." I was able to talk to her a bit and found out that she was being taught a while back and isn't too interested in us teaching her right now but wants to sing in the choir over Christmas so I gave her a card and she said that she was going to call us, she hasn't yet but we will see. We got an appointment which happened to be yesterday. 

We went over and started talking to them. They are both heavy smokers, each smoking about 2 and a half packs a day. Elder Crawley and I started reviewing what he and his companion had taught him last time which was the Plan of Salvation. And I kept getting a feeling that I should talk about their smoking problem which is why Byron hasn't been baptized yet. I felt that it would be super disturbing to them to ask them about it after only seeing Rebecca once and never talking to Byron, but I decided to ask them about it. After talking a bit about the CK (Celestial Kingdom) and Byron telling us that he wants to go there and to be sealed with his wife in the temple. It somehow got on the topic of them smoking. I asked them, "I don't want to be rude or anything but how many packs of smoke do you smoke in a day?" They then told us that they each smoke 2 and a half packs a day. I asked them, "Do you think that you could ever stop smoking?" Right away Rebecca said, "no, no way I can stop smoking." Byron was kinda hesitant but said that he thinks that he probably could. I told them of a quote that I really like that if you believe that you can you are already 90 percent there, and with the Lords help anything is possible. Byron said, "You know we could stop smoking, it costs a little over 10 bucks to buy a pack if we stopped we would be able to go on a vacation in a couple of months." That gave Rebecca motivation to stop. We then started talking about goals with them and they decided that they would cut out one cigarette a day. They are going to be starting on November first. If all goes well their last cigarette will be on November 30. I told them that for me, I like to write my goals down and put it somewhere that I can see it so that it can be a reminder. I pulled out a piece of paper out of my bag and Rebecca wrote down their goal, I got them to both sign it which was pretty funny and then to put it as the background on their cell phones. Rebecca also put the paper on their fridge. I then encouraged them to tell God their goal and to ask for his help and that we would be praying for them as well. Byron said the closing prayer and asked for help. It was really cool to see their thoughts change over the course of the time we were with them. They went from thinking that they couldn't stop smoking to believing in themselves that they really could stop. 

Yesterday we also got a call from our Zone Leaders about this person who needed help unpacking from a move. They moved from down town which was in our area to the other side of our area. The people moving was Robby, and Swan. They had just recently been married. They are East Indian. Robby's Mom has actually been being taught by the zone leaders and is going to join after she gets through her divorce. She is going to tell us more about it but she said that it was a planned marriage and that she only stayed with her family because of her kids. We were able to help them a bit. Swan is really interested in us teaching her and Robby but by the sound of it Robby might not be too interested so we will have to see what happens there. Robby's mom gave us some curry soup stuff which is pretty good and also some indian dessert bar things. It was really good.  Sorry I wish that I could write more but I am running out of time. 

The work is going great we have been super busy. I am finally starting to get to know some people after only being here for a week and a half.

Well I hope that you all have great week I love you guys! 

Love, Elder Allred 

October 24, 2017 Downtown Calgary

Gordan and Samantha

Aaron Arcand

Aaron's dog (part wolf)

My Son & Grandson!

New Area-Downtown Calgary

I am actually somewhere I thought that I would never be. I got transferred to downtown Calgary. My area consists of like 90 percent of downtown. My new area I thought that I would not like really at all. I don't like being in cities too much, but since I have been here I have actually really enjoyed it. There is a ton of work here because of so many people. We get referrals like crazy here. There are some huge buildings downtown. 

This week was pretty busy. Last Tuesday we went to Banff which was pretty cool. There are a lot of people that go there. We also went to Lake Louise. It was raining almost the whole time that we were there but it was still pretty fun. Elder Darrow and I went with Elder Dolinar and his companion, Elder Rice, who he was training at the time. I have some pictures to send but they won't send on the computer that I am on, so I will have to send them a little later. Later that night we were in a lesson with Gordan and Samantha and a couple of her friends when the transfer calls came in. We found out that I would be going to the Wildwood and 5th Ward areas which covers all of downtown Calgary and to the west. 

That night I really tried to visit all of the families that I had gotten close to, one of which was the Spackmans. That night I found out why Aaron's baptism got cancelled. Sister Spackman, who was going to be unable to make it and who was going to be giving one of the talks, told Elder Darrow and I what had happened. They have a little bit of a rebellious son who just got married to his second wife who really dislikes Mormons. Their son called a couple of days before the baptism and told them that they were never going to see them or their grandchildren ever again unless they would fess up and tell them that the Mormon religion is a colt. Sister Spackman wasn't going to come down and see us that night but since I was leaving she came down and talked to us for a bit. I really love them I feel so bad. They are such solid members. 

After visiting the members, less actives, and non-members that we had been working with, one of which was Aaron, we headed back to the pad, and started packing. I never quite was done until just before we had to leave for the transfer station. Elder Darrow picked up the new elder that he would be training and then we got a posterity picture. Then I met up with my new companion.

My new companion is Elder Crawley, who is from Ireland. He has a little bit of an accent but most of it is gone from the time that he has been here in Canada. You can still tell that he is for sure from another part of the world when he calls a shopping cart a trolley and a pair a slacks trousers. So far I am really enjoying the new area and the new companion. There is a lot of work here. There are so many people.  

The night of transfers we did a little shopping, had dinner, and had a lesson with a 9 year old girl. 

On Friday we did some service at the local food bank which is pretty big. We then had everything cancel on us including our dinner, so we ended up doing some weekly planning and getting to know everyone. 

On Saturday we had a lesson with Eric, who is preparing to go on his mission very soon. We had a pancake lunch with them. They are a pretty cool family. We then had to fill up the font for a ward baptism. I don't know why they put us in charge of it but oh well it worked out. We then had a chili cook off. I got to meet a lot of the members and the Clark family who really loves basketball. A couple of their sons are going to play ball with us today so that will hopefully be fun.

On Sunday we had to get up at 5:30 to go to Ward Council which was so hard I was so tired the whole day. We went from 5:30 to around 4. We then had dinner and dropped off some B'sOM. 

I got put in as District Leader again so that night I finished up preparing for District Meeting which was Monday morning. It went well, there are only 6 of us in the district so a little on the small side. 

So far I am really liking this area, I am excited to see what great things there are to come. 

I hope you all have a great week! Love you guys!

Love, Elder Allred

Banff 

The Gondola

Lake Louise Hotel

Lake Louise 

Banff Hotel