Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Who died and gave me a name tag?

Dear Family,
 
This week I have had the overwhelming desire to get under my covers and hide.  If I stay still enough then I maybe everyone will solve their own problems and I could get a nice nap in the mean time. Just bacause I have a name tag does not mean I know anything.  Okay- I little background.  We have had a great week.  Lots of fun and lots of lessons.  Its just more lessons means more people.  People stress me out.  But its been a great week.
 
So starting from the beginning- Wednesday we had a lesson with an investigator named Mr Yu.  He is a 77 year old Chinese man. I may have said this before but for a man who doesn't speak English he talks a lot.  Or last lesson with him Sister Campbell prayed that we would see opportunities to speak and I thought that was very appropriate.  Anyway we brought a poster with the steps of the gospel and scripture references.  He really liked it excepts he thought repentance should be before faith.  On Saturday when we called to ask him to church he asked if we had any colored pictures.  I had no idea what he was talking about so we said we would talk to him a bit more about it on Sunday, which of course we forgot to do.  Well we had a lesson with him again yesterday and he had made his own poster with steps of the gospel (I did notice that he had conveniently listed repentance before faith on his poster.)  Anyway he had found pictures representing each step and pasted them on.  He said that because he had pictures his was " rather more beautiful" then ours.   Thanks Mr Yu.  Thanks.  Anyway he was so excited because that day before his lesson he had been at the senior center and taught 5 seniors about faith in Jesus Christ using his poster.  It was pretty adorable.  I'm not sure about his commitment level but at least he used book of Mormon scriptures on his poster.  I'm happy with that. 
 
Thursday we had a lesson with Alex and Maria.  I love them to pieces but they stress me out.  Mostly because I love them to pieces.  On the plus side- they made us a pancake breakfast!
 
We also had another lesson with Eduardo and that went really well.  I told him how excited I was that he had come to church on Sunday but sad because I didn't have a chance to say hi to him.  He said that I am always talking to people-  okay that's true.  Anyway I asked if next Sunday we would stay long enough for us to say hello to him.  He said he would but then on Sunday I'm pretty sure he left before the closing song because there is no way someone can move that fast!  At least he came to church.  Our ward mission leader is catching on because he was walking out side with his baby at the end of sacrament meeting and tried to walk around Eduardo's car.  Brother Zachirson just isn't as fast as a  Dodge Durango. 
 
We had another great lesson with another of our investigators, we just recently picked up.  He is really ready and just feels like he wants to learn a bit more before making any commitments and change his life.  The thing is- he is planning on getting baptized!  I'm so excited about that.  He is really wanting some clear direction in his life, and I know that the gospel can give it to him.  (On a side note- I would like to mention that this man is gorgeous enough to be a model and I think it is very funny of Heavenly Father that we started teaching him exactly when I started to embrace the sister missionary frump.  Very funny Heavenly Father.  Very Funny.) 
 
Sunday was very stressful.  None of our really progressing investigators came to church!  Why?  I don't know why- or at least I didn't know why when I was sitting in sacrament meeting.  The only investigator who came was Mr. Yu, and I'm pretty sure he was afraid we were going to take him hostage because church just never seemed to end.  Anyway I was sitting in Sacrament felling stressed and concerned and remembering how on my mission, church used to be a place of revelation for me.  I missed that time.  Then I remembered that those were the times that we didn't have any investigators.  I did have the thought "Maybe I don't want any investigators anymore."  Then I realized what I thought and almost slapped myself.  I am so grateful for the people that we have to teach and worry about.  I am grateful that the lord is blessing us with people and that those people are opening up to us about their concerns.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  The fact that I am meeting all of these people is just making me grow so much and I never knew I could love strangers so completely. 
 
On Saturday I got to opportunity to go to the temple because someone from my last area was going through the temple. I never taught this guy before but he wanted to have people around him and so he invited some of the missionaries he knew.  I don;t know how he got permission to let me go but he did and I was so grateful.  It was wonderful seeing him progress in the gospel, and in his faith.  While I was in the temple I just had this calm feeling that everything would be alright with those I was thinking of.  I just can't forget that the Lord has been taking care of these people a lot longer then I have and he knows what they need. 
 
Anyway I'm glad to hear about all of the adventures of going to Utah.  Take lots of pictures so that I can see them later.  Tell everyone that I love them. 
 
Love Sister Allred

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

My one year mark

Dear Family,
 
It's official.  I have been a missionary for more then 1 year now.  I entered the MTC one year ago last Friday.  I'm not really admitting that to many people yet but it has been a big shock to me.  One comfort is that I still have more then 6 months left.  My release date isn't until March 6th so I still have a few more weeks before I hit that downward spiral.  Anyway in commemoration of my one year mark I have embraced the the sister missionary frump.  Meaning I haven't worn any make-up for about a week now. I held out for a long time- but I just don't want to put on make up anymore.  Especially because we are in the hottest time for our mission right now and the make up just sweats right off.  Pretty soon I will have the desire to stop brushing my hair in the morning.  The sister Missionary frump is happening.
 
This week was kind of long.  We had a bit of a hard time getting our lessons, (But we got them!) and I pretty sure that because of the heat people are staying inside- hiding.  It has been hard to find any one to talk to.  On the plus side we have been outside a lot and my sister missionary tan lines are really looking good. 
 
I think my favorite lesson this week was with a less active that we have been working with named Eduardo.  We are trying to help him prepare to receive the priesthood, but first regular church attendance might be good.  Anyway, I just love Eduardo.  He is this really quiet middle aged guy who is just so sweet.  He just feels stuck must of the time.  Anyway, he likes us as well- or at least we told him that he does- but sometimes he is hard to catch.  We had dinner with his mom this week and he was there and the lesson about faith in Jesus Christ was really good.  We scheduled something for the next day, to talk specifically about preparing for the priesthood.  I don't know why but the spirit was there pretty strongly.  I know that Eduardo was feeling something to.  Well anyway, Church on Sunday I look back on the overflow and Eduardo and his mom come walking in!  I was so excited that he came.  The only down side was that he only stayed for sacrament.  Eduardo is a slow mover generally- but I have never seen him more so quickly when he bolted for the door as soon as sacrament meeting was over.  His mom told us after the meeting that next time he comes we need to stand guard at the door when we start singing the closing song.  Oh well.  Its a work in progress.
 
We also had a couple lessons with another less active family.  When I first came into the area I wasn't quite sure how I felt about them- but now I am really growing to love them.  I think that by the time I leave they will absolutely be in my top 5 favorite Del Mar families list.  This family is very VERY health conscious.  I mean- after having dinner with them I'm pretty convinced that the world, especially the food industry, is bent on making me personally die a horrible cancerous and toxic death.  Here I was thinking the world is a happy place.  WRONG! 
 
Another super exciting thing is that Alex and Maria, the ones with a baptismal date, came to church on Sunday.  Alex usually works on Sunday but he took today off special. I think he enjoyed it.  Anyway after he said he didn't want to get baptized we pretty much dropped the subject.  Sister Campbell and I always mean to recommit them but something else comes up and we never teach about baptism.  Well at our missionary correlation meeting one of the ward missionaries came up and said "So I here Alex has a baptismal date."  I looked at him suspiciously and said, "Who told you?"  The poor ward missionary looked a little confused and said, "Alex told the elder's quorum that he was getting baptized next month when he introduced himself." 
 
This is how all of our invitations go.  We asks him to read the book of Mormon- he says no- then the next day he has read 3 chapters.  We ask him to pray- he says no and the next day he is volunteering to say the dinner prayer.  I'm considering not talking to him about baptism at all and just holding the baptismal service with out telling him.  I'm pretty sure he will just show up on his own.  How can we do the baptismal interview without him realizing it?
 
Well, it has been a really good week.  It's been long but I have really seen the Lord's hand all day.  He gives us so many small blessings and quite a few big blessings. I'm grateful for all of you.  I love you!
 
Sister Allred

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Work Work Work

Dear Family,
 
This week has been so fast that I'm more then a little shocked that I am sitting at the computer writing again.  Sorry for writing late today.  We just got back from the  temple.  We have been looking forward to going to the temple for about 2 weeks now and it wasn't a disappointment.  I'm really grateful for the temple and the sweet spirit that is there.  Sister Campbell and I were talking about it this week when we left a lesson with a less active.  She was way to concerned with how everything was created and whether or not we came from cavemen.  I have no answers to those questions but I just kept wanting to say "Just go to the temple.  You'll understand."  When I said that out loud I realized that in actuality I understand very little about the temple.  It hasn't dramatically increased my understanding of the universe all that much.  The difference is that when we were talking to her about her theories there were so many fuzzy lines and unanswerable questions-  almost this feeling of  mist.  In the temple I still have a lot of questions but I also have a quiet assurance that, "Yes this is right." 
 
Anyway a ton has happened this week. On Tuesday we picked up a new investigator, and I'm really excited about her because I really think that she will do so well in the gospel.  She needs what the Savior has to offer.  Well, I guess we all do.  Then, we had a lesson with our couple with a baptismal date.  The husband said he wasn't sure if he wanted to get baptized or not.  I could tell that this really hurt his family, and the house has been tense since then.  Anyway, Sister Campbell walked out of the lesson not to worried.  We really do know that he will be getting baptized.  I'm just sad because it seems like everyone else is worried more then they need to be.  As a result we feel like we have been running around the ward doing damage control, giving diplomatic answers about their progress and trying to politely ask people not to randomly call and give spiritual advice.  This is a very loving ward.  Anyway, we have  had a few lessons with the couple since then and they are still really interested in learning more.  They are progressing, and we are excited about them. 
 
Okay so embarrassing moment if the week!  We had a  lesson with a girl in the ward that we meet with every week.  I love this girl and she is like one of my best friends but I think we have reached a whole new level of familiarity that is now inappropriate.  So Thursday we had a lesson with her and then we left.  We walked down the street to talk to a family and about 10  minutes later we got to the car and I realized that we had left the keys in her house.  We stood at her open window for a little bit calling her name. Then we started knocking.  Then we called and texted her.  We had to go and so finally I thought, "Well she did say whenever we need something and she isn't there- just come on in."  The door was unlocked.  So, like the creepers that we are we walked into her house to  quickly grab our keys at the precise moment she came running out to yell at her dogs for barking in not much more then her birthday suit.  We didn't see anything but still I think we probably should have walked to our next appt.  I'm just really glad we weren't elders!
 
Sunday was very weird day.  Our Sundays are turning into these really intense marathons where we sprint around greeting and directing and who knows what else.  It's actually a pretty good thing because that means that there is work to be done in the area. Anyway we started out stopping by a few of our investigators to make sure that they were coming to church, only to find out that none of them were coming for various reasons ranging from- "My dad just died" to "I don't want to go today and I'm going to be stubborn about this."  So we got to church already exhausted and feeling kind of low because none of our investigators we at church.  Then as I sat down I was absolutely amazed to see a part member family sitting on one corner, a former investigator sitting in the back, a nonmember son of a dear sister in the ward and then a man who had just walked into church last week wanting to know more!  Holy Cow!  we were just so busy all day.  
 
We had zone conference yesterday that it was great because it was all about faith.  Usually we talk about techniques or skills but yesterday was, "What is faith and how do we help it grow."  I loved it.  Then we had a family home evening with some investigators.  Geesh.  It has been a while since I've done a family home evening and it was exhausting!  Our investigator said he wanted to do it right, even having a song in the beginning and so we sang a very bad rendition of battle hymn of the republic.  Then our lesson and game was utter chaos.  I really do think that he experienced a real family home evening. 
 
Well I love you all.  Thank you for the emails and the prayers.
 
 
Sister Allred

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Miracle Week

Dear Family,
 
This has been a great week.  I have really been seeeing the Lord's hand in our work. 
 
Thursday we had a new meeting.  Zone Meeting.  So up until now President has held these special training meetings called Leadership training.  All the leaders in the mission we trained on specific topics and then our assignment was to go out and teach the other missionaries through our exchanges.  Well the problem is by the time it got down to the very last missionary it had gone through so many filters or interpretations.  Kind of like the apostasy.  Well leadership meetings are done away with.  Now every month after zone leader council the zone leaders hold a meeting and teach us the skills or doctrine that  president wants the mission to know.
 
Anyway,  Thursday was our first zone meeting and it was amazing.  on Wednesday the zone leaders asked if I could share my testimony on what it was like to have an investigator baptized.  I said yes but I did not want to AT ALL.  Mostly because i don't get super overjoyed when an investigator gets baptized.  I get doubly worried.  I worry that they will be taken care of when I leave, or that something will go wrong.  Anyway I sat down at Zone meeting dreading the day, especially when the zone leaders wrote the schedule on the board and all the elders were going to give their testimonies to the beginning.  I was going to be the closing remarks of the whole meeting.  The meeting was nice and the training was good, but I kept dreading bearing my testimony.  Mostly because I knew that what I had to say was not what they wanted me to say. 
 
Right at the end the zone leaders were talking about setting our vision higher and that we can't settle for anything less then our best.  Our best can only come when we rely whole hearted on the Lord.  I honestly don't have any idea what they said that really touched my but I really felt the spirit strongly.  When I got up to bear my testimony I had no idea what I was going to say.  When I started talking I pretty much immediately started sobbing and expressing how much I knew Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves us all.  I knew that our goal was not to get our investigators baptized, but to get them to the temple-- to get them to the celestial kingdom.  But that goal is to heavy for us.  We can't do it, and we are not expected to.  The Savior's is the one who is going to take care of our investigators and we can't pretend to hold onto that control.  I felt so grateful for the savior and frankly I felt a weight lifted.  We left the meeting and I knew that we were going to invite our investigators to be baptized that day.  Before our lessons I knelt down and asked heavenly Father for help to know how to invite them to be baptized. I thought a little about the temple, but I also just had this feeling that miracles were going to happen that day.  
 
When we left I grabbed the temple magazine just in case.  Our first lesson was with Maria.  Up until now she has felt like she can't really convert because she would be betraying her past.  This lesson she started asking why she was only baptized by sprinkling of water, when the savior was baptized by immersion. She said if we used to amount of water to clean her car, that they used to clean her soul then it really wouldn't work well at all.  We completely agreed.  We invited her to be baptized and she said she didn't want to until her husband Alex was baptized.  Alex was sitting right there- but he said no.  I really didn't feel like we needed to push it and so instead we started to talk about the temple.  What we do in there and why it is so important. Maria liked the idea of being together forever.  
 
We left the lesson feeling super good, and had a bunch of other appts that we were running to. Then at the end of the day we came back to Alex and Maria, because it was Alex and sister Campbell's birthday and we told Alex if we came back and had a lesson with him we could also have a small birthday party.  Anyway we sat down and were teaching the beginning restoration and then our ward mission leader randomly showed up.  He knew we were having a lesson then but he wasn't planning on coming.  I know that he was sent by Heavenly Father. 
 
Brother Zachirson is one of the best ward mission leaders I've had.  He is new in to calling but he is great.  He is almost rudely pushy but he does it in the nicest way possible.  I feel like I have a lot to learn from him.  Any way he started talking about baptism and I invited Alex to be baptized.  he said he still had a ton of concerns.  It was just so cool teaching with Brother Zachirson because the spirit was guiding our words and we were all teaching in unity.  Finally Alex interrupted and said, "Okay, I've made up my mind.  Yes."  It was so cool.  Maria, who I think was a little more concerned about having time to eat cake then baptism also said she would be baptized.  It was just amazing to see how the Lord has helped us out so much.  I thought it would be much longer before they got baptized.  Wow that was a long story, but I haven't written it in my journal yet so I think this was more of a journal entry then anything. 
 
This week we also picked up 2 new investigators.  One of them was so open to learning it kind of freaked us out.  We almost weren't prepared.  He also came to church on Sunday.  I just kept thinking, "What are you doing here...Oh yeah we want you to be here."  We had a lesson with another man named Mr. Yu.  He is an old Chinese man who frankly is a little more interested in keeping up his English.  Which meant half his lesson we discussed the "proper" way to say things.  It is use or usage.  Then the other half of the lesson was him telling about his family remaining true to their christian faith in communist china.  It was fascinating.  Absolutely amazing.  We are going to wait to pick him up as a new  investigator until our next lesson when we actually teach something.  we know what to expect now. 
 
Anyway it has been a great week.  I am so grateful for all of the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us. I love yo all so much. 
 
Sister Allred

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Holy Cow! Has it been a week already?

Dear Family,
 
I think this may be a quick email.  Sorry about that.  This week was really good.  We had a lot of teaching appointments and small miracles that carried us through our days.  One frustrating thing is that we had so many different appts scheduled with nonmembers to start teaching them.  They all bailed. That was honestly not supre surprising.  But the lessons that we have been having with those we are teaching have been great. With one lesson we were talking about the plan of salvation.  The guy that we are teaching is super hesitant with even his relationship with God and has so many questions.  While we were teaching he had to write down all of his questions so he didn't forget, and we would stop frequently to answer all of them or deffer them to a different lesson.  Anyway we talked a lot about the Holy ghost and what it feels like.  We talked about feeling good and at peace, or feeling enlightened.  At the end of the lesson we asked him how he felt and he said, "Well I understand, and it makes sense.  I feel really enlightened."  There was a moment of silence while we let him listen the the words he said.  He thought for a minute and he said, "Hey!  That's kind of cool!"  we invited him to read the book of Mormon and he said he wasn't ready yet.  but then the next day his family members told us they found him in his room reading the book of Mormon- hyperventilating slightly but still reading.  I think he is so ready, but he just isn't willing to admit that he is ready. 
 
Saturday we decided to go tracking.  It was probably the first time I have gone tracting in forever.  It was actually pretty enjoyable.  We didn't find anyone but we had a lot of really great conversations.  We met one man who was a musician.  As we went up to the house the garage door was open his truck door was wide open, I think the keys were in the ignition and all the lights were on.  we rang the door bell and he came down.  He was the most spacey man I have ever met.  He told us immediately that he was busy and didn't have time to talk.  Then he started asking us questions, and talking about everything to ancient African drums to the cheesy picture on our pass along card.  I honestly didn't know how to handle him, but sister Campbell spent a lot of time with spacey musicians.  They connected.  That is why we need companions. 
 
I feel like we skipped church on Sunday.  We spent almost the entire time to damage control with some less actives and investigators that were struggling.  They just needed to talk and so we listened. That would have been fine except they were not wanting to talk about anything spiritual at all and not super interested in a gospel discussion.  Didn't find out till later that our investigator who came to church was participating in Sunday school and we missed it!  I was so sad about that.  She was so happy and excited.  The only hurdle is she thinks that she has the gift of the holy ghost right now.  We're working on that. 
 
Well I've got to go.  It's a quick email but I seem to have a lot to do in this emailing hour. 
 
I love you all so much. 
 
Sister Allred

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

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

First Week Of Training

Dear Family,
 
I'm sorry if this week is a little foggy.  I'm really tired in my head.  Not so much from training although that is a part of it- but we moved today.  We are so sad to be leaving the Lessies, but we are excited to move into our new above the garage apartment at the Johnsons.  Above the garage yes- but it is in Rancho Santa Fe and the family lives in a mansion, so this is probably the nicest place I've ever lived.  No joke it is small but it is gorgeous.  and its really great because it has a ton of character and personality.  The Johnsons are also a really great family although I feel like I probably won't see them much because it's summer and they will probably be traveling a ton.  Anyway, as we were looking through the apartment I kept remembering Eldon and Liz's descriptions of their mission apartments.  Didn't someone have mold dripping from the ceiling.  I don't have that.  No.  No, I dont. I actually feel a little bad that this is the first place my greenie is really going to live.  She is very likely going to have unreal expectations of the mission. Luckily she is very down to earth.
 
Oh!  I should talk about my greenie.  Her name is Sister Campbell.  She is from Provo Utah and goes to school at BYU-Idaho.  She is really sweet and very capable.  I'm excited to get to train her because I think that she is going to be a really good missionary.  We have had a long first week, but it had been good.  I felt so bad for sister Campbell the first night because she was just so tired, but our mission pres told us to have them keep going so that is what we did.  The next day was also an adventure.  we met some of the people that we are teaching and She did really well.  (Okay so I had to laugh to myself at this one because I had told sister Campbell that we are in a pretty affluent area.  Part of our area had really big houses.  Well we left dinner on Wednesday and she started talking about how much she enjoyed herself.  she said that even though it was nicer then normal place it still felt really homey.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that we had dinner in the government housing complex that is in our area, and it only got bigger from there.) 
 
Being a trainer is a whole different experience.  Just explaining the basics and things that I forget are basic is different for me.  Also I am realizing all of the bad habits that I have fallen into on my mission.  Honestly before Sister Campbell I thought I was at least a decent missionary.  Shame on me.  I prayed that I would have humility and a week later I was called to be a trainer. God answers prayers.  Well lucky thing is- Sister Campbell doesn't know the difference.
 
We had some really great lessons this week.  We are working with our investigator named maria and she is just so sweet.  I know that eventually she will get baptized.  The only question is when.  She really just needs a spiritual confirmation, but she actually has a surprisingly mature understanding of gospel topics and ideas.  I'm so excited about it.  Sister Campbell invited her to be baptized and I was just so proud of her.  We had talked about it before hand and we had prepped but it is still kind of a scary thing to do at the beginning.  Anyway, Maria said she wasn't ready to get baptized but it was still really good and the spirit was strong there. 
 
So- I have a question.  How much German to I have in my blood?   We have a family from Germany in our ward.  I've had dinner with them twice now and I just really like them.  I think out of every family in Del Mar, or actually my mission, that I don't actively teach , I click with this family the most.  They are really funny and blunt.  I like them.  Anyway I was just wondering. 
 
We got a new ward mission leader this week.  I was devastated in sacrament meeting when I heard brother darton was released, but then they announced brother zachirson was the new ward mission leader.  Then I knew everything would be fine.  I think Brother Zachirson is more excited about missionary work then I am!  He might just wear me out.
 
Well I'm sad to hear that we don't have a new baby in the family yet.  I was hoping.   I'll be praying for  you Liz.  I just wish that I could be there.  You know I do have a greenie.  Maybe sister Campbell doesn't know that you aren't supposed to leave your area, or your mission.  Maybe I will come for the baby! 
 
Anyway I love you all so much.  I loved the emails. 
 
Love Sister Allred tranning