June 27, 2018

Welcome Home Elder Allred!

June 21, 2018

Hey fam this week was great! 

Pretty normal nothing too crazy happened. We had zone conference on Friday and it was the shortest zone conference I have ever been to, it was only 3 hours long instead of 6-7. That was a lot easier to sit through haha. Not that I don't like zone conference it's just hard to sit for that long when you don't have too much cushion if ya know what I mean.

This week we also met with Bradley he is doing well, we taught him the stop smoking program and it actually went very well. It was hard to find the cinnamon mouthwash and the 100% grapefruit juice, but we ended up finding some. This past Tuesday Bradley actually took us out ammonite hunting. We got up at 5:30 and were out by 6. We found a few fossils and then Bradley, who was walking a bit ahead of us, said oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! So we went over there and Bradley had found a big chunk. So we started turning over stones and found a ton of big chunks, our back packs were full and super heavy and so we had to head back. But what we had found was actually quite rare. As we were headed back we missed the trail that we were to go back on and we were walking through some cottonwoods and bradley looked up from watching the ground for rattlsnakes and said what the he** just happened.. it was so funny, he didnt really laugh but I did. After we made it up out of the coolee we went back to Brad's and washed them off a bit and got a picture with it. He just texted a picture to us and it is almost a whole fossil. It's just missing a couple of spots but pretty much the whole thing. 

We had another lesson with Bradley yesterday, he had smoked a few times and drank coffee again and so we went through the stop smoking program again and recommitted him to follow the 15 steps for the next 7 days. He said that he would. He had one cigarette left and we got him to rip it up and put it in the trash, so I think he's pretty committed. We also put him on date for July 21. 

Neil and Heather are still doing the same they have been reading their scriptures which is really good. Heather told us that she wants to be baptized. It will be hard for her to stop smoking but I believe that she can do it. 

Yesterday we had a lesson with Connor at Brother Smigle's home and his friend Carissa came! We had planned to teach the plan of Salvation to Connor and so that's what we taught. Connor is a Born Again Christian and so he likes to try and argue about everything, it's funny but also irritating. Carissa on the other hand seems very interested and I feel really enjoyed the lesson. We have planned to meet with them again tomorrow so that will be fun, I'm excited. 

Last week we also got to go to Waterton last p-day and that was really fun. We attempted to climb to the top of a peak but when we got 3/4 of the way up the wind was blowing so hard that we couldn't go any further. It was blowing so hard that we could jump and the wind would carry us a bit, it was crazy, I have a video of it. We also got to see a bear and it's three cubs! I'll send you the pictures. 

Well this is my last email and I'm pretty excited to see you all on Wednesday! These two years have been great, it hasn't necessarily been easy but it has been great and I know that I have grown so much. I have truly come to know just how true this church is and that Jesus Christ is my Savior and your Savior. Sorry again for this being so late.. love you guys and I'll talk to you in a few! 

Love, Elder Allred 

June 19, 2018

We just got back from ammonite hunting with Brad, one of the guys we've been teaching. We started down the river at 6 this morning.

June 12, 2018

This week was great we've been pretty busy. To start off we had exchanges and I got to go with Elder Kretschmann, one of my previous companions from Medicine Hat. We had a great time together, we helped Rod lay half a mile of pipe for his new irrigation system that he's putting in. We also had a lesson with Bradley, he is doing very well, he told us yesterday that, "Today is the day that I stop smoking." We will also be introducing him to the stop smoking program, maybe that will help him out as he continues to work hard at stopping his addiction. We also had a lesson with Tristan who is a kid who struggles mentally. We are teaching him very slowly and not much information every time we go over so hopefully he will be able to remember the things we teach him. After that we went on splits with the Elder's Quorum and Ward Mission Leaders. There were 8 people who showed up and we were able to cover a lot of area it was great! It was even greater to see that the ward is excited to do missionary work and to help out as much as they can. 

Not too much happened on Thursday. We had our weekly planning session, had a lesson with Wendy who is a less active. And then we had dinner and a lot of stop-bys. On Friday we helped Wendy get a dresser and brought it into her house so that she would have some place to put her clothes instead of on her coffee table. She was very grateful. We also helped the Atwoods, you got a picture of us helping at their house. We moved a ton of gravel. I haven't done that for a while, it made me remember all the times the child labor law was broken and there was nothing I could do about it because I was a slave.. Haha JK looking back it was pretty fun and it kept me busy. 

Saturday was an interesting day we didn't have a whole lot to do and so we were riding our bikes around looking for ways to serve and to talk to people but it just seemed like nobody was out and about and so we were stopping by some of the people we worked with to see how they were doing and we ended up stopping by Brother Smigle's so that I could get my handle bars tightened so they would stop spinning. We talked to him for a while and as we were leaving we turned around and saw a couple of people changing the tires on their car. So we went over and started talking to them. When we first got there, there was a 24 year old lady who was changing the tires while her guy friend was standing there watching her. We offered to help but she said that she didn't need our help, but we had to have talked to them for at least half an hour. We found out that Connor had met with missionaries before and said that he would like to again. Kris has a pretty crazy schedule so we couldn't meet with her this week but we hope to pick her up as a gator. The meeting with Connor went well we don't know what his real intent is yet but it was nice to be able to talk to him and show him the chapel. He's a nice guy, I look forward to teaching him more. 

Sunday was very busy we had Ward Council at 9, Canyons Ward at 11, and Mountain Heights Ward from 1-4. Right after that we had dinner and then headed for the stake center to a fireside with President Nelson. President Nelson and his wife as well as Elder Rasband and his wife were there and spoke to us. They did a little trip through Alberta. They started in Edmonton, then went to Calgary, and then ended up speaking in Raymond. Everywhere they spoke they broadcast it to other stakes in the surrounding areas. I feel bad that I didn't get to see them or shake their hands but I am so grateful for the special opportunity to listen to their talks they sure were great! 

Today was one of the most fun p-days I've had. We got to go to the mountains of Waterton! We woke up at 5:40, were at bishop Rodger's by 6:30 and were off. Bishop's son Parker, was our tour guide. We hiked for 4 hours up a mountain and couldn't make it quite to the top because the wind was blowing so hard but we had a great time. After we got off the mountain we went to Wieners of Waterton and had a wiener and some fries and then hung out for a bit at Parker's pad since he is working up there. Later on we hiked to a waterfall and got some ice cream. We saw a lot of wildlife, probably the most exciting was the mama bear with her 3 cubs. Well this is getting pretty long and I'm getting tired but have a great week! I love you guys, I'll see ya soon! 

Love, Elder Allred 

Hello, Allred and Sorensen Families!!  

We wanted to say a quick thank you for sharing your sons with us here in Lethbridge, they are our favorites. They were complete lifesavers today with the work they did willingly to help us with our garden project. You have done a fantastic job raising wonderful men!!  Hope you are all doing well. 

With love, 

Melissa and Mike Atwood

Final Zone Conference

June 5, 2018

This week was pretty great! We met with Neil and Heather a couple times and they are doing well. Neil had to go to the hospital because he thought that he had sugar poisoning, but he ended up being okay. They still aren't reading their scriptures every day and we asked them what they thought was holding them back and if there was any way we could help remind them to do it and they said no we just need to remember. So we challenged them to make it their first priority when they get up in the morning so that they can remember to do it, but also so that they start their day out right. They said that they would so we will follow up with them when we meet them again. 

As of lately our wards have created a new ward mission plan and it has really gotten them excited about doing missionary work. This week we are going on splits with the Ward Missionaries as well as the Elder's Quorum President and one of his Counselors. A lot of the ward is wanting to help in any way it's awesome! So this week we will be contacting a lot of the people in the ward as we go on splits. 

We also met with Bradley this week, he is doing well. He is getting excited and can't wait for the river to go down so that he can go out hunting for ammonite. It was his birthday on Thursday and so Adam had the idea of getting donuts for him so we got in his truck and we headed for Timy's. While going through the drive through my companion Elder Sorensen said lets get 11 donuts and a bagel and so thats what we did we still haven't talked to Bradley about it to see if he has noticed by now even though I'm sure he has. That was just a funny moment from the week. 

On Saturday our stake had the family fun run, actually the same stake family fun run that Elder Shah and I ran in last year. It was pretty fun to run in it again this year. Elder Sorensen rode the bike while I ran the 5K. I won a shirt and when I was looking at the sizes I noticed I had
accidentally grabbed the Youth Large instead of the Adult Large and so its just a bit short on me and looks like a muscle shirt on me, which is too bad. Maybe it will fit Derick though. 

Well that's just the highlights of this week hope you all continue to do well! This is my last month and I plan to push hard to the end. I can't wait to see you all again! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Allred 

May 29, 2018 Elder Sorensen

Hey y'all! 

So early on in the week we figured Elder Wells was going to be getting transferred so we met with a lot of the families in the ward and met with our investigators for him to say goodbye. Tuesday night came around and we got the phone call that he would be leaving to go to Pincher Creek. We also found out that I would be getting a new companion, Elder Sorensen. It was sad seeing Elder Wells leave we had some good times. 

Thursday was transfers for the mission. My companion was coming from British Columbia and they for some reason got told that transfers were at 3 instead of at 12. So I got to hang out with Elder Clay for a while, he was from Virginia. After a while we finally met up with our companions and switched. So far I have really enjoyed being with Elder Sorensen, he has really kept me motivated to run in the morning. It was hard with Elder Wells because he hated running and also hated riding bikes. But Elder Sorensen jumps out of bed and says, "Let's go." He rides the bike while I'm running it's pretty great! Oh I forgot to tell you Elder Sorensen is from Spanish Fork Utah so that is pretty cool. What's even cooler is that he has a grandma who lives in Roosevelt! Her name is Peggy Sorensen. 

The week has flown by I feel like nothing much has happened. Yesterday it was weird, we had 5 member lessons and all of them canceled throughout the day I haven't had that happen before. We have met quite a few members in the ward, but nothing really too crazy. But I'm excited for this week I love you all have a great week! 

Love, Elder Allred

May 22, 2018

Hey Fam! 

This week was pretty great its weird though that this was the last week of the transfer. Transfer calls come out tonight and Elder Wells has been in the area for 4 transfers now and so he is probably leaving, and I'll be getting a new companion for the last little bit. But I don't know we'll see, we have had a good time together though. 

This past week started off with us going on exchanges with a couple of other missionaries in the district, it was pretty fun. Elder Ward and I had a fun time together in my area. His dad actually sang in the tabernacle coir this year so thats pretty cool. We spent the day going through the formers and tracting. We also had a lesson with Neil and Heather which went pretty good. Heather came to church, she missed last week and so this week we made sure and gave her some of the candy they gave out for Mother's Day. She really liked that. 

Yesterday we got to go out and help Rod with branding, it sure was fun. I got to help him last year when I was in Lethbridge and I got to help him out again this year. Rod is a non-member, and a real neat guy. He's been calling me roper ever since he first saw me because of how tall and skinny I am. Most of the time I was there I was giving them shots while Elder Wells was giving them an additional tag that tracks their food or something like that. It sure was fun though to chase the cows around and sort them and all. There were a few other non-members there that we talked to a bit. One of them that was from P

icture Butte said that he had to have broken over a thousand horses over the span of his life. 

This week I also started my plan which is a 6 week program to help you get ready for home. It just basically helps you set goals and stuff like that. Just another thing to get me to think about home.. haha. This week was great! and I'm excited for this coming week! I sure do love you all have a great week! 

Love, Elder Allred

May 8, 2018

Hey!! 

 

This week was another great week everyone has been reminding us of Mother's Day on Sunday and I'm getting pretty excited to see you all again and to hear your voices. It doesn't seem like it was that long since I last saw you all during Christmas, time really does fly. 

This week was pretty great we got 5 referrals to go and visit. Two of them the family said to knock into them as we were tracting but to not mention their names. I think that it's always best for the friend to invite them but we'll see maybe it will work out. The other 3 seem like they could be pretty solid so I'm excited for that. 

We were also able to meet with Heather who is in the Mountain Heights Ward she is doing great they hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon and so we read a chapter with them and challenged them to really try and read it everyday this week, and that it will help them find peace and direction in their lives. Heather and her husband Neil came to church on Sunday and Neil bore his testimony so that was really cool. He is really wanting to get back on track and Heather does too. It's too bad that smoking is such a bad habit. 

Bradley is still doing great he is smoking still as well, which is too bad. But he is reading the scriptures daily and coming to church every week and so I think that he will be able to get some strength from that and be able to kick smoking. He gave me a chunk of Ammonite. I was going to take a picture to send to you but I forgot so I will send one to you next week. 

We saw something pretty funny yesterday, we saw a guy riding what I would call an elliptical bike.. it was pretty interesting I will send a video to you it's pretty funny. 

Well I am super glad to hear that you are all doing well, I am really excited to be able to talk to you all on Sunday! Have a great week! 

Love, Elder Allred 

May 1, 2018

Zone Conference-Elders Allred, Ward, Snyder & Ellefson-celebrating birthdays!

Hey fam!

This week was pretty good. I had a great birthday, there was a member who had us over Sunday night and we had cake and berries. After that we talked for a bit and as we were leaving she gave us banana bread it is so good, we haven't eaten all of it yet. She also gave me some socks and a couple of booster juice coupons. It was great, I sure do love them.

So just a couple of highlights from the week. On Saturday we met with Bradley, he is doing well I'm hoping that he will kick smoking here soon so that he can get baptized. He is a great guy, we have a youth activity tonight with him and what we are going to be doing is looking for amonite in the old man river. Apparently this is the only spot in the world where it can be found. It is a sea creature fossil. So that will be fun I will send some pictures of it to you. 

On Monday we had a really good lesson with Neil and Heather. We taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are an older couple. Heather is the non-member and Neil is a member who is coming back to church. They are both heavy smokers but they have a great desire to quit and they are hoping to be able to get sealed in the temple. Later that night we got a call from one of the former investigators who were in the area book. I had given him a call earlier that day. He called back and asked who it was so I gave him the run down. He was being taught 3 years ago, we are hoping to meet with him on Sunday. He seems like a pretty cool guy and in the area book it says that he likes to play ball!!

Well I sure do love you guys, I'll talk to you next week! 

Love, Elder Allred 

April 24, 2018

Hey fam!

This week was pretty great, we have spent a lot of our time with the members as well as contacting people in the area book and cleaning it out the best we can. All of the area book stuff needs to be in the app by May 24. I really like the app but I don't think it's as good as the paper, because you can always write little side notes and stuff that is very useful that you can't on the app. But it was inspired and so I think that it will be great. 

Sorry we don't have a lot of time but I wanted to share with you one of the special experiences that I have had this week. A few days ago we had the opportunity of meeting with Brother Summerfeldt,  who's actually related to the Summerfieldts that I knew from Calgary and Strathmore. He's a really neat guy and we had a great time talking to him. He has MS and can't get out of bed or even move his arms, he can only move his head it's pretty sad. We talked to him for a bit and then I noticed a picture that he had on his wall of him in a wheel chair and underneath it it said happy birthday! I asked him when that was and he said it was 15 years ago. He said I have that on my wall to keep me humble. So every time I look at it I know that I am not all that, that I'm not perfect. As I have thought about this experience I have come to the conclusion that the first thing that we need do to receive the spirit as a comforter or a director in our daily lives is to be humble. When we are humble we have a sincere heart, and when we have a sincere heart we can pray with real intent and with faith in Christ which is the formula for receiving revelation or the spirit in our daily lives. I think that this is the reason that he is able to make it and keep a positive attitude even in his roughest of times. 

Well I sure do love you guys i can't wait to face time you next month and see all of you and hear your voices. Keep up all the good work! 

Love, Elder Allred 

April 17, 2018 Lethbridge, Elder Wells

Hey Fam! This week was pretty great, a lot of great things happened. I guess first off, last Tuesday we got our transfer calls that night and I found out that I was going to be getting transferred back to lethbridge! So I will be spending this transfer and my last one here. Last time I was here I was serving on the north side and this time I am serving on the west side. I'm pretty excited I really liked the last time I was here. My new companion is Elder Wells, he has been out now for 9 months and is from Payson Utah.

So on Wednesday I saw a few people to say bye and then got all packed up. Then on Thursday we headed for Lethbridge which is actually one of the two transfer stations in our mission. I met Elder Wells and got to our area, unpacked and did some weekly planning. Over the past few days we have met with a few of the members introducing them to me since I am new to the area. On Saturday the youth had an all day activity in which they would get an introduction to what missions are like. We helped out at it. We had to be there at 7 in the morning and it didn't end until 8:30 at night. They were introduced to how missionaries study and what their p-days are like. They also had a lot of classes that they had, to learn how to teach the first vision and at the end got the opportunity of teaching some non-members. It was a great turn out there were maybe 70 youth there and maybe 20 non-members came. The rest of the youth taught us missionaries and the adults that were helping out. After that they had a little fireside where one of the counselors to president Miles got to speak, after which the youth had the opportunity of bearing their testimonies it was pretty cool. 

On Sunday we had church. We cover two wards here, the mountain heights ward and the canyons ward. After that we had a dinner with one of the members. On Monday we had district meeting, made some contacts, met the bishop, and got to meet with one of our investigators. I am pretty sure she would be baptized by now if she could give up her smoking. She seems pretty solid. Well sorry for a shorter email we are kinda pushed for time but I hope you all have a good week. Love you all. 

Love, Elder Allred 

April 10, 2018

Hey fam!

This week has been great. This Thursday is transfers, I don't know if I will be staying here for another transfer or not I will find out later tonight. I am kinda hoping that I stay or that I go to Raymond but we'll see.

Last Tuesday we went to dinosaur provincial park that was really fun, I will have to send you some pictures. Later that night we played basketball with some of the church members. A member in our ward told us that there was a lot of less-actives and non-members that would show up so we thought we would go and meet them. It was pretty fun we couldn't stay long but we met and talked to everyone there. 

This week we have been spending quite a bit of time entering in all the information from our area books to our area book app on our phones. It will be really nice when all the information is all put in the area book app but for now it's a pain and it takes a lot of time. We had another lesson with Kyra and Shannon. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and focused mainly on the Holy Ghost and how we receive answers. Our stake also had an activity that involved several other churches in Medicine hat, it was centered on the family. It also took place in a Lutherine church so that was a little different but it was good. There was a lot of break out sessions and different classes that everyone could go to. We were there to help set up and help people know where to go. There was this one presentation that we went to that was talking about marriage and how to strengthen your relationship with your spouse. The man doing the presentation wasn't Mormon but it was really good. He really liked us missionaries, he had even written a book on what he was talking about. It's titled, Hiz and Herz I believe. After the presentation I went up to him and jokingly asked, "Do you by chance give missionaries a missionary discount?" He quickly responded and said, "Sure I'll give it to you for 10 bucks." I then said, "Oh I was just joking and laughed." He was serious though. I asked, "Do you mind if I have a look?" and as I was looking through the book he said, "You know what you could even do is take the book and just pay me later." I said, "Yeah I couldn't do that I would end up forgetting and that wouldn't be right." He then said, "Well you can just have the book on me." He took the book wrote a little message in there and signed it. It was pretty funny so now I have a book that talks all about marriage and how to strengthen your relationships haha. 

We also picked up a new investigator his name is Kieth he's not super solid at the moment, he told us on the phone that if this is to get him to come to church he's not interested. I told him Keith to be completely honest we really aren't trying to get you to come to church all we are doing is teaching you about Christ and helping you increase your faith in Him. He said okay as long as it's not getting me to come to church. He's a funny guy. 

Another highlight of the week was while we were in Bow Island we stopped by a lady named Mary. About 2 years ago Mary got introduced to the missionaries and went through the non-smoking program and it worked out for her. We stopped by to see how she was doing and she said I'm doing okay and then her eyes started to get watery and she said but my husband died a couple of weeks ago.. I said im sorry to hear that is there anything we can do to help? And she said no after that we talked a bit about the Plan of Salvation and asked her if we could maybe come over and teach her about it. She said no but we were able to give her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and to testify of the great plan of happiness. We also left her with our number so she could give us a call if she needed anything. After visiting her it made me think of just how much we sometimes take it for granted. Sometimes we don't always realize just how great the plan is until we have a moment in our lives that changes our perspective on it. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real and that this life is not the end, but there are greater things to come as we remain faithful. 

Well I am glad to hear that you are all doing well! I can't wait to see all of you again! 

Love, Elder Allred  

April 3, 2018

Hey fam! 

On Thursday I hit 21 months! 

On Friday we met with Dave and Marietta and showed them the Easter initiative and told them about General Conference. They said that they had watched it last year so I hope they watch it this year too! 

We also had a great time with the Lauries in the ward, we had dinner and then had an opportunity of showing them the Easter initiative. We then asked them who they felt, whether it was a friend or even a family member, could benefit from seeing this. Sister Laurie felt inspired to send it to her sister, which was super awesome. We also committed her to bear her testimony on the Savior as well in the message. At first she thought that it was a really good idea but then she started thinking of her sister's husband and how it might not be a good idea. I think just like sister Laurie, we can have those doubts but I know that as we act on the promptings that we first receive only good will come. 

On Saturday and Sunday we pretty much watched General Conference all day. I really loved this conference it was pretty exciting hearing of all the new changes in the church, and how it is better preparing us for the second coming of the Lord. President Nelson is a pretty neat prophet of the Lord, I loved hearing from him as well as all the other apostles and general authorities of the church. Every time I hear from them I feel better motivated to continually strive to do good. What a blessing it is to hear the word of the Lord from his servants.

On Monday we had District Meeting in Brooks, after that we helped move a guy. Later that day we met with Keith, a potential investigator who we tracked into. Before we went in to see him we said a prayer and asked that he would be humbled enough that we might be able to get in and share a message with him. We went up to the door, we had to knock a couple times but he came and answered the door and he said, "Sorry guys, today just isn't a good time." We talked to him for a bit and he just kept saying, "Yeah maybe we could meet up another time." He said, "Did we have a meeting scheduled today?" and we said, "No we didn't, we were just in the area and thought we would stop by and see how you were doing." He said, "Oh okay well come back another time as he was closing the door, and then he said actually why don't you guys come in, why not." I know that there's power behind prayer, all we need to do is have a little faith and then act. The story continues we got in he had just woken up from a nap and had to make his coffee, we got to talk to him and share the Easter initiative and testify of our Savior. It was a neat experience and the spirit was very strong, it was awesome. I also got a call from the mission office. I got my trunky call so that was super weird. 

Well I am loving the mission and all the little spiritual experiences it really has been great and will continue to be great! Well I sure do love you guys keep up all the good work! 

Love, Elder Allred

March 27, 2018

Hey Fam!

On Wednesday we had an appointment with Sharel, one of our potential investigators, who we tracked in to. She happened to be busy when we stopped by which was too bad. We are hoping to pick her up and start teaching her the discussions. We also met up with Shannon and Kyra for their baptismal interview. Elder Grider and Elder Wolfe did the interviews. They both passed which was great! They sure are neat, I sure have grown to love them.

On Thursday Sister Lehr had us help clean one of her non member's houses which was really fun. She came to a relief society event and was going to come to church but ended up not being able to make it. I am sure that she will next time. We also had a great dinner appointment with the Broadheads. They really are a neat couple. They love missionaries and they love doing missionary work, they had a couple of their non member friends come to dinner. They don't speak much English so Sister Broached, who is from Mexico, does the translating for us. The 2 ladies that they had over are from Mexico, they come up here every year to work for the Huber's on their farm.

Later that night we had a crazy experience. We were headed to the church to set up a couple of videos and pick a couple of songs for Kyra and Shannon's baptism. There was a stop light that we had to make a left hand turn to go past a high school to then get to the church. As we were headed to this stop light the light turned green and I told Elder Kretschmann, "Oh we got this." By the time we got up to the light it was yellow but I was determined to make it. I thought that I was good but the second car waiting at the light didn't think so. The lights came on. At that point I knew I was done. We were almost to the church when we had to pull over. The cop came up to the window and said, "Do you know what you did? And I said, yes I do I was cutting it close and I'm sorry I should have stopped." He said that when the light turned red I was at the cross walk just entering the intersection.. idk what I was thinking haha.  He then asked are you heading to the church? And when he said that I thought oh I hope he's a member. I told him that yes we were we were just headed there to get some things set up for a baptism that we were going to have on Saturday. And he said okay and took my drivers license and the registration back to his car. When he came back he said do you have any idea how much running a red light could cost? I said no I don't. He said in Utah how much is it? I said yeah I don't know. He said well up here it could easily cost 3-400 dollars. He then said I'm gonna let you off easy on this one. I said thank you so much, after that we talked a bit and found out he was a non-member but he had a few member friends. Man I tell ya there is nothing more stressful then getting pulled over by a cop.. 

On Friday we had service at the food bank which is always fun we had, for a couple hours district finding, which is where we as a district go out and try to find together. We had a fun time. One of the ladies that we talked to was spraying for bugs that were coming out from under her porch we asked her if we could help and she said no of course, but we were able to talk to her. We told her about how we were out here on missions for 2 years and how we were both getting pretty close to going home. We then started to talk about the book of Mormon and asked her if she would want one. She said no I'm good and just before she closed the door she opened it again and said ya know i think I will take a copy. It was a great experience, I hope that she will read it and feel of the comfort that it brings. You never know what will happen all you can really do is hope and pray. 

Saturday was Shannon and Kyra's baptism! There was a pretty good turn out, her mom, step dad, and sister came. It was a very spiritual experience one I will never forget. Shannon had to be dunked going frontwards because of her back which ended up working great. The water was a little higher than usual. Bishop baptized Shannon and I had the opportunity of baptizing Kyra.

On Sunday Kyra and Shannon were confirmed members of the church. Brother Stubbs confirmed Shannon and Elder Kretchmann got to confirm Kyra. Later that night we had dinner with the Lehrs and Williams family. Sister Lehr had Evonne, the lady we helped clean house for, came to dinner as well. We were able to share a little bit about Joseph Smith, the book of Mormon, and also how we can receive answers to our questions. It's pretty awesome when there are members that are excited and love doing missionary work. 

Monday we cut cucumbers and had our district meeting. We had a lesson with the Broadheads where we taught their non-member friends why we don't baptize infants. It was pretty great I really enjoyed it. Brother and sister Broadhead are so missionary minded. 

Well this is just some of what has happened this week. I hope you continue to do well. I sure do love you guys! 

Love, Elder Allred 

We have been collecting plants for our apartment.

Shannon and Kyra

March 20, 2018

Cookies the Sisters Made

Chocolate Loonies and Toonies!

Norm's Famous Cream Sodas

The baptismal font. It got backed up with sewer the other day good thing they got it cleaned up for Shannon and Kyra's baptism on Saturday. 

The Sidewalk We Cleared

On Wednesday we got up, I was super tired and so was Elder Kretschmann. But we got up and got ready for the day. It was Shauna Parker's birthday today and she wanted us to make her some cookies because the Elders last year had made her some. So we got Sister Fonda and Sister Miners to make us some cookies because of our lack of confidence in baking. We picked up the cookies from them in the morning and dropped them off at Shauna's later that night. When the sisters gave us the cookies they also gave us a card to write on, which was pretty cool because we were able to write her a nice note. We also got to meet her non-member boy friend he was a nice guy. Norm who actually isn't a member that we spend a bit of time with is going in for eye puncturing treatment on Thursday and he wanted a blessing, while we were over there he made us his famous cream sodas. We also helped him prune his Apple tree in the back. Other than that we had dinner with the lady who owns our place, she was pretty cool as well but other then that we just made a bunch of contacts. 

On Thursday we had to call for board updates, after that we had weekly planning. One of the great things that we got to plan for was Shannon and Kyra's baptism! We had dinner with Brother Stubbs that night and planned for it. After dinner we had a lesson with Shannon and Kyra on family history with Brother Halladay, who is the family history consultant. Shannon really enjoyed it and they are both excited to find names for when they go to the temple on the 14th of April. That night we asked them who they wanted to baptize them. Shannon is going to have the bishop baptize her and have Brother Stubbs do the confirmation. Kyra has asked me to baptize her and then have Elder Kretschmann do the confirmation for her. We are getting really excited for them, it's been neat to see them progress. 

We had zone conference on Friday and it took place in Taber so we had to drive 124 kilometers which was about and hour and a half to zone conference. It started at 9am and got done at 4pm. I really liked it, it's just rough having to sit there for soo long. But after that we drove home and had dinner. We then made some stop bys and tracked. That night we went on exchanges. I stayed in my area and Elder Wolfe came with me. 

Saturday was a pretty eventful day. We stopped by Pearl and Norm's house again, it had snowed and it was really warm so the snow was pretty wet and heavy. We shoveled their driveway and then went in and talked to them. Norm made us his famous cream sodas again. Pearl made us her fa famous onion soup. After that we had a very good and spiritual lesson with them. After visiting them we borrowed their snow shovels and helped their neighbor out with her sidewalk.

 After that we did some district finding and found 3 potentials who we have return appointments with that will actually be on Wednesday so that will be fun. We helped a guy move, we had a lesson with Shannon and Kyra, got some A1 pizza for dinner and then went to the father and son activity which was a nerf gun war. 

Sunday was pretty normal, we had church, our dinner appointment got changed to a lunch appointment. We had enchiladas! They were soo good I miss eating mexican food.. it is so scarce up here. After that we had our studies and had another lesson with Shannon and Kyra. We then did some stop bys. 

We did a lot of driving on Monday. At 9 we went and chopped cucumbers for the schools around town. After that we headed home and got changed and headed to Brooks for district meeting. By the time we got home it was 4. we did a little study, went to dinner, and then got into one of our potential investigator's house. His name is Jerry. He is an old guy that used to be a captain of a ship. He has diabetes and has only one leg but he is a cool guy. We talked a little about the Book of Mormon with him. We got his number and he said to call him back and we'll set something up. 

Well this is some of the highlights from this week. I hope that you all are doing well, keep up the good work! 

Love, Elder Allred 

March 13, 2018

Hey Fam!

This week was pretty great! Lots of fun things happened this week. 

On Wednesday we had a lesson with Shauna Parker, we did some contacting though our area book and tracked into Marcel, he was busy at the time so we set up an appointment for Thursday. We also had another lesson with Kyra and Shannon. We taught them the restoration of Christ's gospel. They are really doing well. 

On Thursday we officially got our smart phones!! They have been so nice to have. LDS tools is such a blessing as well as the maps on the phone as well. It makes missionary work so much easier. After we got our phones we had an appointment with Daniel, who we stopped by a few days ago, she is potential investigator. She said that we could stop by anytime during the afternoon while her kids were at school. We were both pretty pumped to see her. We also tracked into a guy on Wednesday, to our surprise he was excited for us to come back and teach him. To make a long story short they both ended up being busy and we were unable to meet with them. I am hoping that we will be able to meet soon that would be super sweet.

On Friday we did some service at the food bank and then came back and studied. After our studies we decided to go and contact people. The day started out really warm and then it just got super windy and cold. It was pretty funny because all the snow that had melted was freezing and it was sooo slippery outside, it was nuts. While walking around there was a guy that was walking back to his car who said, "hail satan" and then said, "just kidding." He then said as he was getting back in his car that he used to be Mormon. We didn't get to talk to him very long because he had to go. A few min later he drove by again. And yelled to us walk to the A 1 pizza place and I will get you a couple slices on me. We were pretty surprised but we headed over there and by the time we got there he was already gone for another pizza delivery so we got a couple pieces and ate them while we waited for him to come back. We had a nice visit with him and found out that he was a member but he said that he was no longer. He was a pretty sweet guy we are going to stop by to see him this week. He lives with his mom but he wasn't on the records.

On Saturday we headed out to Bow Island, we had a lesson fall through but we did get to do some service for Dave and Mariette. We helped them clean up a few bushes around their house. After we did that we had dinner with them. After dinner we taught them the plan of salvation. I think that it was accepted well, I just wish that they would come to church, we have been trying almost everything. I asked them if they would be able to make it for 9:30 and they said well that's right in the middle of us feeding our chickens. I told them that we would come extra early and help them feed them and then we could go to church. Dave sat there for a bit and said, "Ya know I think im gonna pass I don't really want to get up that early."  I guess  that all we can really do sometimes is invite. I have learned to make my success in the invitation and not to focus on what the outcome might be. 

On Sunday we had church, then had lunch with a member, drove home and had dinner with the Hubers. After that we had a lesson with Shannon and Kyra. In this lesson we taught them the Plan of Salvation. It was really nice to have the Plan of Salvation chips for a visual, Kyra and Shannon really liked them. They even took pictures of it on their phones. They had fun putting it all together and then teaching us what each step meant it was pretty cool. As we were leaving Shannon told us that the 24th is a solid date so it should be good as long as they can stop drinking coffee they're good!  

On Monday we chopped up some cucumbers did more stop bys and more contacting. We had dinner with the Sloans they are a pretty sweet family. We borrowed some tennis racquets from them so we could play some tennis today it should be super fun. It's still a little cold and there's still snow on the ground so we are going to do something with the volleyball net and make it work. 

Well this is a little run down of my week I sure do love you all keep working hard! I can't wait to see you all again! 

Love, Elder Allred

March 6, 2018

Hey fam!

This week has been one of the greatest weeks. To start off I finally got a new companion so I am no longer three leggin it with some other missionaries. My new companion is Elder Kretschmann, he is from Germany. Something that's pretty cool about him is that he is the 3rd or 4th oldest I can't remember but he has 9 siblings! And whats even crazier is that each one of them knows a different instrument. Its pretty funny thinking about it, the only thing that they are missing is a drummer but other then that they have it all haha. 

We have been meeting with Shannon a lot lately. We had one more commandment to teach Kyra and then they were both going to be good for Baptism. We prayed in our companion study for a date that we could maybe present to her and we came up with the date of March 24. Her original date was May 24. We went over to her house on Friday for dinner and so that she could meet the new elder. After dinner we had a lesson teaching them the last commandment. After teaching them we told them that was all of the lessons that we teach before baptism. We basically told them that we prayed about it and said that we felt that they could be more then ready for March 24 for baptism. Shannon to our surprise said sure that works for me, I just don't know if Kyra will be ready. Shannon really wants Kyra to know what she is promising before she jumps into anything. We told her that we will meet 2-3 times a week if we have to and we will review with Kyra the lessons. Shannon said okay sure that will be great we will shoot for that! So for the next couple of weeks we are going to review the lessons with Kyra. Shannon also has to stop her coffee and stop smoking her electric cigarette, but I believe that they will be ready for the 24th. We've also gotten a ton of referrals from members so that is going to be fun contacting them all. 

This week we also had stake conference which was pretty sweet. There was a member from the area 70 that was there as well as President and Sister Miles. The conference was great, definitely one of the best ones that I have been to. Shannon and Kyra came and had the opportunity of meeting both President and Sister Miles as well as the area 70. 

Well I hope that you are all doing well I sure do love you guys! Keep workin hard!

Love, Elder Allred