Sunday, July 29, 2012

And the missioanaries walked and walked and walked...

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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