Crazy week

Dear Family,

 

I am sorry that I did not send a letter on Tuesday.  Sister Gittins was getting transferred and I literally had no time to write anyone, but it's nice to hear that you actually look for my letters.  I'm not sure if you noticed but I was even feeling a little distracted as I wrote my email.  I'm still a little sad that Sister Gittins got transferred.  I feel like literally in the last few days we made huge breakthroughs and then she got transferred. 

 

Last Tuesday was so busy.  We were constantly moving trying to get everything finished.  (I do want to say I have learned a little bit of the mad Allred packing skill.  I packed both Sister Gittins and Hermana Ortiz-  all of their clothes in one bag each.  It was impressive!  Mostly because they had both been in the area for 6 months and you acquire a lot of stuff after a while.)  Anyway we got to transfer meeting just fine.  They made a mistake in the office and all of the missionaries found out their new areas by logging onto the program we write our letters to president cook on.  It was pretty funny.  Anyway I am now with Sister Christensen.  She is from Vienna Virginia- but her family now lives in Arizona.  I really like her.  I mean I really really like her.  She is so fun and absolutely loves working with they people in the ward.  She was in the same area in Orange county for the 6 months that she has been out (she has only been out 6 weeks longer then me.  What is president thinking?!)  Poor Sister Christensen is going through culture shock.  All of our appointments on her first  2  full days here were in the really ghetto parts of our area.  She said a couple times that her orange county tiara was knocked off.  But she is so friendly that everybody loves her.

 

We have had some really good lessons this week and we had two investigators in church this week!  Yeah!! I hope that keeps on going. Anyway- I'm trying to think of some really good highlights and I can't really think of anything.  It has been pretty stressful because I am the one who is navigating through the area and I don't even have a Thomas guide here.  It is stressful for sure.  Oh my favorite contact this week was an old man named Erwin.  We talked to him for a couple minutes he was so sweet and then when we were leaving he shook my hand pulled me in and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  He did the same thing for sister Christensen (Jeesh her name is really long to type).  We are trying to get an appointment with him later this week.  I hope we can start teaching him because with one kiss on the cheek I am completely smitten. 

 

Like I said before we have had some really great lessons.  It's always a little weird trying to teach with someone new but I think we are doing well.  I think a great thing about transfers is that the new person has a free pass that first week to ask anything they want in lessons.  You can't blame them because they are new.  I did it when I first got here and now Sister Christensen.  It has been great because we prep a little before our lesson and we have gotten some really great information and we can understand a couple of our less actives. 

 

(Okay so the man next to me is playing some "Secular songs."  I really miss those songs so I am now listening to the Mormon.org videos to distract me.  I hope the rest of my email is coherent.)  Yesterday we did some service with a less active we have been working with.  She has to get her home ready for the child protective services inspection that they are expecting because she is taking care of the cutest little 2 year old.  I am really happy that we were able to help a little bit even though there is a lot more to be done.  I am so grateful for the life that I have.  Going out and seeing all these different people I am learning so much.  I see so many different situations- different challenges that come from them and also the different strengths that you get from each situation.  I am so grateful for the blessings and challenges that I have in my life.  Sister Christensen and I were talking about this in companion study.  But I am learning that we all have our unique challenges, but we have to look and see the simple blessings that Heavenly Father puts in our life.  Those huge signs and miracles are actually pretty easy to dismiss.  But when we are in the habit of seeing those everyday miracles that is when we are able to truly solidify a true faith in Jesus Christ.  Okay that is my thought for today. I really hope that made sense. 

 

Anyway I love you and it was so good to hear from you.  I will write later today and possibly send pictures. 

 

Love Sister Allred

Transfer Week

So today is transfer day.  It has been an absolute crazy transfer.  This week especially was crazy but awesome.  Sister Gittins is getting transferred.  We won't know where she will be going until the transfer meeting this afternoon.  We are both really nervous.  Sister Gittins is nervous because she doesn't know where she is going and in just a couple hours she will be surrounded by people that she does not know- but such is the life of a missionary.  I'm nervous because in just a few hours I will have a new companion that I really don't know, (I've narrowed it down to about 2 or 3 possibilities but still i don't  really know them) and for some reason President thinks it's a good idea to have me be the companion with the most knowledge of the area.  I don't think it's a good idea- but such is the life of a missionary.  Oh gosh, I'm just nervous.  

 

This week has been great.  We had our blitz and it was amazing.  We had 85 contacts in one day which for us would actually be a really good number for the entire week.  I was with Sister Savalina and it was so much fun.  She is one of the most experienced sisters in the mission and it shows.  I hope that one day I will be as cool as sister Savalina.  We also picked up a new investigator for the YSA ward and for the family ward.  I'm really excited to start teaching these two.  I just know that the gospel could help them in their lives.  Of course the gospel can help everybody, but that's not the point. 

 

I have to tell you about one crazy day that I had.  I contacted one man that was really nice, but as we were talking he looked at my shoes, (I was wearing the dansko maryjane shoes) And then he said, "You must be from Utah."  I told him I wasn't but I knew they were not the most attractive shoes, Then he told me, "No but I guess they are comfortable."  Then for the rest of the contact he kept staring at my shoes.  That made me feel good.  Then later in the afternoon I contacted a man who told me I was the Devil trying to get into his head.  That was sweet of him.  But he did make it clear that Sister Gittins was not the devil.  Poor sister Gittins working with the devil for the passed 6 weeks. 

 

I've had other really cool experiences this week, where I feel like I am getting prompting from the holy ghost.  One morning I was reading in Jacob and I read a verse that I just could not figure out what it meant.  I was looking up foot notes and references and I just got nothing.  Then we went to a recent converts and were reading where she was in the book of mormon it was the same chapter I had been reading in.  As we read that chapter we reached that verse and all of a sudden it was like my eyes were opened and I felt like i understood the verse (I wish I could remember it off the top of my head)  any way I just got so excited I started talking about it and asking Sam questions about it.  I felt really bad because I thought I was int erupting the flow of the lesson and I was just rambling but then we were done talking about it, Sam said that it was exactly what she needed to hear because she had been praying to Heavenly Father about a problem in her life.  It was really cool because I felt like Heavenly Father really was using me to answer her prayers.  That is a really humbling experience.  Anyway- just little things like that have been happening all week and I'm so grateful.  I know that this church is true and my greatest desire is to be an instrument in the Lords hands to help others. 

 

Anyway I've got to go.  I love you!

 

Sister Allred

Miracles (Jan 3)

Dear Family,

 

So this past week has been a pretty crazy week, but there have been a ton of miracles.  I just don't even know where to start.  I started the week feeling pretty crummy.  I was feeling like a bad companion and especially like a bad missionary.  Now I feel like a good companion and a adequate missionary.  I'm happy with that.  I think mostly because I feel like the Lord is trusting Sister Gittins and I with some of his children. 

 

Okay-  So we picked up 2 new investigators this week. They are 2 sisters who are living together while their husbands are deployed.  They both have 5 month old babies and one sister has a 3 year old daughter.  Sister Gittins and her previous companion had done a ton of service for them but were never able to teach them a lesson.  Pretty much all of this transfer we were trying to go over and see them to start teaching them but we either were never able to share a lesson or they were never home.  (Where do you go with a toddler and 2 babies!)  Anyway were were at the point where we were going to not go anymore and Thursday were didn't have them on our schedule at all (Which we usually put them as a back up or something)  Anyway we were going to find a less active and Sister Gittins didn't know the street which is weird because she like knows the area perfectly.  Well we thought we would try the neighborhood where these two sisters lived and when we were there we that their car was their.  We thought that we would just try to see them, but honestly we didn't have much hope of getting in the door.  We knocked the door was answered immediately and they invited us in.  After talking for a while they asked us to share some scriptures with them and we have an appointment with them today to start teaching them.  I really hope everything goes through!  They really are great ladies- going through a lot but I know that the gospel will help them. 

 

Oh and we met and passed our contacting goal this week which was really exciting!  Yeah!  We have been struggling to reach our contact goal the past couple weeks because no body seemed to be out.  Which is frustrating.  Anyway this week there were just a ton of people outside.  Not only were we able to meet our contacting goal but we got the year high for the area.  It was a really simple thing but I'm really excited because at least I see some improvement in myself.  At the beginning of my mission I was absolutely terrified of contacting.  Now it's kind of second nature.  Now I just need to work on making them more meaningful.  (which I've even seen improvement in)

 

We gave talks this Sunday.  Brother Anderson called on Friday morning and said he completely forgot that this Sunday was not Fast Sunday and so he was wondering if we could give talks.  Sister Gittins talked on why we serve and I talked about what members can do to help us.  Sunday Morning as we were figuring out what we were going to say, Sister Gittins sent President Cook a text letting telling him we were speaking- because he likes to know when his missionaries are doing this like that.  I thought he wouldn't be able to make it because it was only a couple hours before church started, but sure enough there president and sister Cook were.  They said we did a good job, but it is so nerve wracking to try to speak when your mission president is listening. 

 

Anyway the coolest thing that happened this week was yesterday.  We had a lesson with a recent convert and then a whole afternoon of checking on people.  We were at the church getting ready to leave when this man named Tom came up to the door and asked for a pastor.  We asked if we could help and he said his car ran out of gas.  He is jobless- homeless and doesn't know what to do.  We left a message with our bishop who is the transient bishop and then sat down and talked with him until our bishop got their.  Honestly there were a whole bunch of little miracles that lead him to us.  I'm grateful that they Lord trusted us enough for us to be the ones to meet with him.  Tom has been struggling, and feeling pretty lost.  We sat and talked with him for a long time and I kept thinking, "What can I possible say that can help him."  I knew without a doubt that they Lord had directed him here and that the gospel would change his life but I felt so inadequate to help him.  While we were talking President Cook happened to pass by.  I wanted so badly to call out to him and say, "Help!  You would know how to help him so much more then I could."  but I know president would have said something like "you are a full fledged missionary.  Follow the spirit."  Both sister Gittins and I tried to follow the spirit.  I hope what we said helped.  When Bishop lewellan came and we needed to go to an appointment.  Tom told us he wanted to meet with us again.  We gave him our number.  That's the problem with teaching someone who has no phone or home address.  It's kind of hard to track him down.  Anyway, I don't know if we will ever see Tom again.  I hope we do-  but I think we helped a little bit, and again I'm grateful that they Lord trusted Sister Gittins and I to be the ones who sat and talked to him. 

 

Well I need to go.  The blitz is tomorrow.  I'm more at peace with it, I know that I will learn a lot. I love you all and thanks for your emails.  I loved them.

 

Sister Allred

I feel like I just had P-day. Oh Well. Who's complaining?

Dear Family,

 

It was great to talk to you.  I really loved seeing everyone and it was nice to remember that everyone is actually real.  I was talking to my zone leader later that night and it was funny because we both felt like it is a little surprising that life in the outside world keeps going on.  And also that I still know everyone.  I don't know if that makes sense- but it's kind of like my communication with everyone is so limited that family and friends suddenly become what is on this piece of paper and it was nice talking to you because it was a good reminder that hey you actually are real people.  Any way enough of that.  I do agree with pretty much everyone that I wished we could have talked more.  Oh well. Mother' day is only 5 months away.  We will try again then.

 

Christmas was actually a really great day.  After talking to you went to the YSA ward and then we went to a nonmember's house for Christmas dinner.  She is the mother of two missionaries out from the YSA ward and even though she doesn't live in our area she requested permission to have us over for dinner.  It was really fun and entertaining.  Sister Gittins and I spent about 45 minutes talking to their neighbor.  She was a really nice lady but very opinionated.  She talked about how as independent women we can do a lot to help the situation of other women to gain the rights that they deserve.  It actually was very inspiring and I started thinking about how grateful I was for the church and our emphasise on families centered on the teachings of Jesus Christ.  I know that learning through our families is how really change in this world can be made.  I shared a little of my thought with her.  She listened but I think she was thinking more about more fully breaking the glass ceiling in the business world.  My favorite part of the conversation was when she asked us what would happen if we met a nice young man on our mission, could we date them?  I said, "No and we aren't even supposed to flirt."  She looked at me and said, "Well if you ask me that just doesn't seem natural.  I don't think that is what Jesus would do!"  Ha!  I loved it!!

 

After that we went to a family in the family ward and they were just wonderful.  It really reminded me of Christmas dinners at home and it was so nice.  The only problem was during our spiritual message the dog started to lap up water so loudly the entire family started to laugh.  Then during the closing prayer the dog started snoring.  I feel like the worst missionary in the world but I started laughing during the prayer- which then made the rest of the family laugh.  WORST MISSIONARY EVER!

 

Oh and that is the second time I have started laughing during a prayer or spiritual message this week.  The other time I was at dinner with a family in our ward.  I mentioned the white house and we started talking about the secret service men.  I told them that my favorite was when I see an agent just sitting in a bush.  The mom looked at me and said, "Did you ever consider that they are in the bushes because the president neglected to provide an out house for them?"  I laughed and then when we started our message I just started thinking of some of the secret service people we know sitting in a bush and I kind of burst out laughing.  Sister Gittins has a lot of patience with me.  But in her words, "Oh heavens!"

 

Yesterday was a good day and I'm looking forward to this week.  I hope that we are able to get out of the holiday slump that is going on in our area.  Whoever said holidays were prime proselyting times were not thinking of Carlsbad California.  Everyone is way too busy and that just makes things difficult.  Of course, now everyone will be too busy because they are recovering from the holidays or starting school again.  I guess the work has to go on no matter what the calender says. 

 

I hope everyone has a great week.  It was great to talk to everyone on Sunday.  I love you and miss you a ton.

 

Love

Sister Allred

YEAH! Christmas is coming!

Dear Family,

 

Well I have super mixed feelings about this week.  It was long.  I mean SUPER loooong!  I think it was a good week but I'll be honest I don't really remember past Friday and I forgot my planner to help me remember.

 

Actually I'm not sure what happened this week.  Sunday night when we were counting up our numbers to call them in we were super shocked to see that we actually had pretty low numbers this week.  I have no idea how, but I'm excited for this week.  I think one thing i learned from this week is to keep and running total and refer back to our weekly goals regularly.  Anyway that is just missionary technical stuff, but it has been a big lesson for me this week. 

 

Friday and Saturday we went on exchanges.  I went with Sister Gilmore- she was in this area previously and was so happy to be back.  She kept talking about potentials and former that we should go and check on.  I was really pretty proud of myself because I could actually handle my own in the area.  I have decided though that I don't like my companion leaving the area.  I feel like there is always so much to catch up when she gets back.  We had a good exchange and I was happy to be back with Sister Gittins at the end. 

 

Oh gosh when I start thinking about the exciting things that happened this week they are all super nerdy missionary things that I don't know if anyone would be interested in.  Like we finally got a new ward mission leader in the YSA ward which is awesome.  We really haven't had one since I got here and I'm excited to get that ball rolling.  Or we had an awesome training yesterday at district meeting.  It was all about how our mission president has the keys to to work here in this mission and we need to make sure we are applying all of the training that the president is giving us.  It was really great.  Or I'm working more on my "teaching well" and its going awesome.  At teaching well is like the huge data base of all the resources I can pull from when planning my lesson for a specific person on a certain topic.  We are supposed to have a well to draw from for every principle in the missionary lessons.  It is super slow going but it's awesome.  Right now I am going through the scriptures and I am just learning so much.  I love spending that time in the morning reading and studying because I just know that this is the true church and the spirit confirms that every morning.  Anyway...that is my life right now.  Isn't it great! 

 

Hopefully when I talk to you on Sunday I will have more interesting stories.  I am going to be using skype at my ward mission leaders house in the 8th ward.  We have church at 9am and so I should be calling around 10:30am.  So what is that!  1:30 pm your time.  I am so excited to see everyone!  Oh also I finally got the music for the song I will be singing at the Christmas Conference on Saturday.  It's pretty but all I can say is I am so glad it is a choir and not a solo.   

 

Okay I think that's it for this week.  I love you and I'll talk to you on Sunday!!!!

 

Love Sister Allred

What a big week!

Dear Family,

 

Oh my gosh!  is sounds like it was an awesome week at home! That is awesome!  I mean really amazing.  Deborah, I'm tearing up right now because I'm so happy for you.  I really love you so much and I'm so happy for you. I wish I could have been there, but I am so happy for you.  Yeah!!

 

Rachel!!  Happy Birthday!!! I am so proud of you Rachel.  I thought about you a ton yesterday  I wished you happy birthday all the was over hear in Vista California.  Did you hear me?  I just think you are the coolest person ever.  I love you!  P.s. Mom, Rachel's birthday cake looked gorgeous!  Holy cow it was pretty.

 

Wow it just seemed like everyone in the family had a big week.  I had a pretty big week two.  We have been working hard although this week seemed to drag out FOREVER!!!  Yeah I can barely remember last Tuesday.  I met a lot of people in our ward and I think I'm beginning to remember who they are.  Which is super good.  I'm still getting lost in the area, but I think that is because I'm not looking at a map 10 times every day.  Also I just think the ward boundaries are funky.  I might have mentioned that before.  This Friday I'm going on exchanges with a sister from Carlsbad.  I'm staying here and was kind of nervous about it because I don't know the area super well, but tender mercy of the Lord- Sister Gilmore served in this area just a couple transfers ago. 

 

Our huge event this week was Nici's baptism.  It was awesome!  We spent most of the week trying to coordinate the program and pulling everything together.  That was a bit of a headache but amazingly enough it really did all pull together and the baptism was really nice.  Thank you Relief Society!  I really think it was another blessing of the Lord.  I know he wanted Nici to have a nice baptism that she would remember.  This was the first baptism I've seen as a missionary that I can say I helped with, (Even though I barely did anything).  I have to say watching someone get baptized is an amazing experience.  I could feel the spirit so strongly and I knew that this was something that the Lord was proud of Nici for doing.  I know the church is true if only because the actually ordinance of baptism is sort of weird and anti climatic.  I mean there is all this build up to the baptism and then a bunch of people gather around to watch to get pushed into water and then out which takes a total of 2 seconds.  It's weird.  But I know that it is true because the spirit was there so strongly.  I'm so happy for Nici! 

 

Sunday we had the usual church from 8:30 to 5pm.  This is what I get for covering 2 wards.  I'm pretty good at sitting through meetings, but really by the end of the last relief society I was rocking in my chair ready to bolt.  Of course then we had dinner with a family and then the missionaries in the YSA ward were asked to give a fireside on the atonement.  So Sister Gittins and I went back to church for a couple more hours.  Church.  Gesh I am never going to be done with meetings. 

 

Oh I forgot to mention that Saturday sister Gittins and I were asked to help in the family ward primary activity.  We spent 1 1/2 hours helping little primary kids write letters to the missionaries from their ward.  It was so cute and it just made me want to have my own classroom again.  I just loved it.  Although it was pretty funny because once when they were switching the groups of kids all of the adults left the room and Sister Gittins and I realized we were sanding in a room alone with a bunch of kids which is breaking a major rule.  We stood outside of the door awkwardly until the primary president realized what was happening and ran in so we could go back in the room.  It wasn't a big deal but it was pretty funny.  Anyway after all the groups cycled through the leaders asked us to come into the cultural hall and have a seat up front.  Then the primary kids gave us all wrapped presents.  It was so cute.  It was mostly food which was awesome!  One little boy was so proud that he had wrapped 3 individual oranges all by himself.  I loved it.  I have some pictures and I'll try  to send them to you. 

 

Yesterday we had interviews with the president.  I really like president and sister cook a lot.  I really loved the the end of my conversation with sister cook because she told me that they were happy I was in their mission.  She said that I was a missionary that she knew she didn't have to worry about.  I'm sure they say those things to all the missionaries but I was still glad to hear it.  Then Sister Gittins and I went out to do some work.  We spent 4 hours tracting and contacting in the pouring rain.  We still aren't completely dry but it was really fun.  At the end of last night even though it was super long I was just really happy.  I wish I could have been home for this week but I'm super happy to be out here.  I love what I'm doing. 

 

Anyway I love you all.  Oh send me the name of the skype account you want to use.  If we get a ward member to let us use their account then president said we can skype for Christmas. 

 

I'm excited to talk to you,

 

Sister Allred

New Companion-New Area-More people to love

Dear Family,

 

It feels like this week has been 2 weeks.  It has been really good but SO long!  I think mostly because I was so busy getting to know the new area and the people we are going to be teaching.  I really like Sister Gittins a lot.  She reminds me a ton of Ashley Crosby, just in the way she talks and expresses herself.  It's awesome, although I think she might be having a bit of a harder time with the new transition then I am. She was with her last companion for 3 transfers and she loved her a lot.  I'm actually surprised at how I'm feeling.  I thought I would feel really uncomfortable with coming into a new area and trying to get to know knew people but I don't I feel really good here.  Yeah I don't know what else to say about it except that I do feel really good here.  

 

I think I'm going to be staying here for a while because this will be Sister Gittins 4 transfer and it seems pretty unrealistic that she will stay here for another one.  But who knows?  Oh a little more about sister Gittins. She is from South Jordan Utah and she has been out 9 months.  This is her 2nd area and I'm her 4th companion.  It was really cool because on Wednesday we were talking and she brought up a time y first week in the mission when we were at a preach my gospel training and she and I were doing a practice.  I barely remembered it but that is probably because it was my first week.  Anyway, Sister Gittins remembers thinking about me, "She is going to be my companion one day."  The spirit of revelation is strong within this one.  Ha!  Anyway I really like her a lot.

 

I really like the family ward that I'm in.  All of the families that I've met are really nice and welcoming to the missionaries.  I love it.  We also have a baptism on Saturday which is awesome!  We are baptising a girl about my age named Nici.  She is married to a less active who is returning and they have a cute little girl.  I love going over to their house to teach them.  Also Nici and Greg met in Victorville, so we bonded over memories of victorville and silverado-  although it is true that i never actually went to silverado. 

 

The one thing that I really don't like about the family ward is that the ward boundaries are just funky.  That's it- they are just funky and I am having a hard time knowing where I am.  In La Costa is was easy because I would look for the ocean and know exactly where I was.  You just can't do that in Vista.  Also because we are over the Singles ward our singles ward boundaries cover the whole stake.  There have been a ton of times where I wasn't even in my family area and had no idea.  This will be my struggle this week. 

 

I've had to laugh a little this week because Vista and La Costa are very different.  When Sister Gittins and I were out contacting one day I mentioned how the palm trees in Vista were all over grown and the old palm frons were dead.  Sister Gittins said you would see a lot of that in Vista and my first thought was, "La Costa would never dream of having their palm trees like that."  I don't think I ever realized until that moment just how similar La Costa and Columbia were.  Maybe that is why I felt so at home there.  Maybe that is why Sister Bean would call me a spoiled rich girl.  (In a loving and gentle way of course!)

 

So, I got a call last night from a sister in the mission that I had never met but I had heard a lot about.  She asked if I wanted to be in a choir for the Christmas conference we are having on Christmas eve.  I was so shocked that this sister was calling me that I said, "Oh of course!"  Then she went on to tell me that there were only about 12 in the choir, she would sent me the sheet music in the mail, I needed to know my part because we would only have about an hour to practice before we sang in front of the whole mission.  What was I thinking!  Now instead of looking forward to the Christmas conference like I had been doing for about a month, I am dreading it.  Oh gosh what did I just do.

 

Anyway It was great to hear from everyone today.  I love you so much and I'll write you again today. 

 

Love Sister Allred

 

I forgot to ask,  Sister Gittins and I are trying to think of new creative ideas for the thank you notes we do for dinner.  My first thought was to google it but obviously I can't.  If you guys want to brainstorm some things I would really appreciate it.  Also In the YSA ward council I sat next to a guy named Patrick?  I think?  Anyway he asked if I knew the Henderson and I said I did.  He apparently is the Ashley Henderson's brother in law.  Small world!

 

Thanks,

 

Sister Allred