Dear Family,
I am so grateful to be sitting here reading your emails- mostly
because I haven't really sat all week. Or at least that is what it
seems like. It's actually a blessing, and an answer to our prayers.
Since moving to our new apartment which is a little out there I have
been super stressed about miles. Not to mention that this month we have
had to drive to vista a bunch! All the other missionaries car pooled
but since we are the furthest out- we drove our own car. We have an
allotment of miles each month but we are going to go over that so
badly. Anyway I have been praying to help us wit our miles and he has.
We have been getting ideas of what we can do to stay in certain areas
and take the shortest ways. But Heavenly Father also blessed us with a
lot of time to walk and walk, and walk. I'm not complaining it was a
blessing. Sisters in the mission are completely spoiled but that is
what we did this week. We walked.
Good things happened this week and I really saw Heavenly Father
blessing us. On Thursday we had dinner scheduled with the sweetest
couple in the ward. They are great but they are a little afraid to do
missionary work. That morning we spent a large part of our comp study
practicing how we can help the couple find comfortable and specific ways
to invite their friends and family. We were determined to help them
set a plan of action. When we got to dinner we were stunned to see
their neighbor sitting at the table. They had invited him to dinner and
through out the entire dinner the husband kept telling the friend, "You
should be Mormon!" I was shocked. The friend was really nice and we
will be meeting with him this week. I hope he is receptive.
Friday we went to sister's conference and then rushed back the Del
Mar because our investigator Maria was getting married! (That makes the
law of chastity lesson a whole lot less awkward) It was really simple
and small but it was beautiful. She looked absolutely gorgeous. We had
it at the church and bishop performed the marriage. I could tell that
the groom was really touched because the ward pulled together and ran
the wedding. The elders quorum set up and took down. A sister donated
all of the flowers from her garden, ward members were the videographer
and the photographer, and the relief society were servers during the
wedding. I think the family members were a little surprised too. Every
time I came up to clear their plates they looked at me like "holy cow
what are you doing?" Maybe they were still eating and they were
actually wondering why I was taking their food from them.
Anyway the wedding was really simple but gorgeous. And Alex the
groom joined us in our lesson with Maria yesterday. He is really
interested in figuring out how to believe in God. I'm really excited
because I honestly think that if Alex makes progress then that will
resolve a lot of Maria's concerns.
Saturday and Sunday were incredibly busy days. We have a new ward
mission leader. He is probably one of the best member missionaries I
have ever met, and I'm not entirely sure if I can keep up with him.
Anyway the mission has this goal of teaching 21 total lessons a week;
that includes everything from investigator to dinner messages. I don't
know about other missions but it's actually a high goal to reach every
week. We usually can just do it but this week we were so incredibly
behind. (That is why we had a ton of walking time- we had no teaching
appointments) Well at the end of Friday we had I 12 lessons to got with
only a few scheduled for the weekend. When we told our ward mission
leader I was a little afraid that he was going to have a heart attack
from the panic that struck him. We promised him that we would be able
to get a few more lessons and then he made calls to ward members and
long story short Sister Campbell and I taught 12 lessons in 2 days. It
might not look like a lot but it was. Anyway I'm grateful for our ward
mission leader. It inspires me to not settle for anything less then our
goals.
Dad, I loved President Uchtdorf's message this month and I really
needed it. I was walking to the car on Sunday and had a small panic
attack when I realized that I was closer to my year mark then my 9 month
mark. Sister Campbell couldn't really empathize, but she kept telling
me that I was in the middle. That calmed me down quite a bit. Oh and
mom, thank you for the Birthday Package. I loved the skirts and the
pictures. They were just what I needed. Thanks!
Well I got to go. I love you all so much.
Love sister Allred
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