So:
here we go
Previso:
the emails that will come today and in the following weeks will probably be vauge, bland, and sweepingly general.
All i got to say:
Deal with it. You can take it up with me in person in 8 weeks :)
So, first off.
No I am not trunky (wanting to come home and being a useless piece of garbage as a missionary).
I was slightly concerned last week when coming home became real. Having to think about where i want to go with my life,
where i'm gonna live, stuff like that.
So i made the mistake of trying to start figuring out my life. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
i got super stressed and then realized that it was because i was trying to control things that I myself cannot control.
So i stopped trying.
The end.
Life lesson #1: don't try to control/do things that you can't!
So, to go rather quickly.
Conference was awesome.....i might have talked about that last week.
We set someone for baptism, she's so awesome!
Had interviews where we oversaw 3 district meetings, 3 interview sessions, inspected 8 cars, ate lunch, and did tons of other junk in the space of 5 hours.
it was intense.
learned time management.
got stuck on a road out to fort morgan in the middle of nowhere with low fuel, high speed winds, being late, and a screw in my tire.
o life lessons!
Got lots of prayers answered, we're starting to find a ton.
The zone is doing awesome.
Our district had a baptism set up every weekend for a month, we had to move one, but it's still going awesome.
The mission is changing the way we do things with reporting numbers, I'm not sure that i told you this, largely based off some things I addressed in ZLC.
I feel like dad, take a step back, look at it, then make a plan.
It's pretty cool.
Life is awesome.
Super happy.
Can't wait to see you all, but don't ever want to leave.
It's part of God's plan though.
That's about it!
Read your patriarchal blessing!
Much love
Elder Allred
Monday, October 10, 2011
General Conference
All are welcome to read, watch, or listen to conference talks by the Apostles and Prophet of these days! The Apostles are just like those during the time of Jesus, they are special witnesses of Jesus Christ, to testify of Him. Listen to their messages and feel of the spirit, peace and comfort it can bring to your soul. Please click here if you would like to view all of General Conference.
Please take some time to enjoy this highlight video of General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Our Savior lives, and loves us. WE are HIS children!
~Nettina, sister, and blog updater of Elder Allred
Please take some time to enjoy this highlight video of General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Our Savior lives, and loves us. WE are HIS children!
~Nettina, sister, and blog updater of Elder Allred
October 3, 2011
so this is going to be short.
i loved conference.
Please, everyone, just think about your relationship with God....who is He?
HE IS YOUR LOVING FATHER IN HEAVEN. Think about your prayers.
If you haven't prayed think about why. If you don't believe in God, then, the way to find out is prayer.
take time to talk to Him.
You WILL feel better, because it is absolute TRUTH that He is there.
He exists.
No debate, no vote, and no intelligent argument can change the FACT that God is real, and that He loves you.
He has standards for us to keep, to help us be happy and remember Him.
When we forget, He will pick us back up as WE DO ALL WE CAN.
He has blessed each of us with so much, we must utilize all of these blessings.
Never Forget WHO YOU ARE.
Sin is beneath your divine potential as a son or daughter of God.
DO NOT TRADE THIS FOR ANYTHING.
I Know that Christ is our Savior.
HE can help us change.
HE IS THE ONLY WAY, THE ONLY WAY, To find LASTING-ETERNAL HAPPINESS.
His message is not one of contention, or hate, or cohersion, but IT IS one of love, peace, happiness, choice, and hope.
Find out the truth for yourself.
Don't let anyone tell you but God.
Don't let yourself be convinced by your own desires either.
"Some consider good and evil adjustable according to their own situation and interest. They wrongly believe that there is no divine law and, therefore, no sin" _President Uchtdorf.
DO NOT FALL INTO THE LIE THAT WHATEVER YOU DO IS COOL WITH GOD.
HE LOVES YOU.
BUT, This does not mean He loves your sins.
Get rid of them. Change, and FIND HAPPINESS.
This is where it is, and forever will remain.
To FIND OUT THE TRUTH,
READ THE BOOK OF MORMON EVERY DAY!
Do this.
Do it for a week.
write how you feel in your journal, and pay attention to upward trends.
God WILL bless you as you do these things.
I know it, because it happened to me.
more love
Love you all
Elder Jonathan Allred
To get a free copy of The Book of Mormon to read, click here, and a missionary like Elder Jonathan Allred can deliver it to you!
To find a church building and a description of a church service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints click here, ALL are welcome!!!
i loved conference.
Please, everyone, just think about your relationship with God....who is He?
HE IS YOUR LOVING FATHER IN HEAVEN. Think about your prayers.
If you haven't prayed think about why. If you don't believe in God, then, the way to find out is prayer.
take time to talk to Him.
You WILL feel better, because it is absolute TRUTH that He is there.
He exists.
No debate, no vote, and no intelligent argument can change the FACT that God is real, and that He loves you.
He has standards for us to keep, to help us be happy and remember Him.
When we forget, He will pick us back up as WE DO ALL WE CAN.
He has blessed each of us with so much, we must utilize all of these blessings.
Never Forget WHO YOU ARE.
Sin is beneath your divine potential as a son or daughter of God.
DO NOT TRADE THIS FOR ANYTHING.
I Know that Christ is our Savior.
HE can help us change.
HE IS THE ONLY WAY, THE ONLY WAY, To find LASTING-ETERNAL HAPPINESS.
His message is not one of contention, or hate, or cohersion, but IT IS one of love, peace, happiness, choice, and hope.
Find out the truth for yourself.
Don't let anyone tell you but God.
Don't let yourself be convinced by your own desires either.
"Some consider good and evil adjustable according to their own situation and interest. They wrongly believe that there is no divine law and, therefore, no sin" _President Uchtdorf.
DO NOT FALL INTO THE LIE THAT WHATEVER YOU DO IS COOL WITH GOD.
HE LOVES YOU.
BUT, This does not mean He loves your sins.
Get rid of them. Change, and FIND HAPPINESS.
This is where it is, and forever will remain.
To FIND OUT THE TRUTH,
READ THE BOOK OF MORMON EVERY DAY!
Do this.
Do it for a week.
write how you feel in your journal, and pay attention to upward trends.
God WILL bless you as you do these things.
I know it, because it happened to me.
more love
Love you all
Elder Jonathan Allred
To get a free copy of The Book of Mormon to read, click here, and a missionary like Elder Jonathan Allred can deliver it to you!
To find a church building and a description of a church service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints click here, ALL are welcome!!!
September 26, 2011
Dear Family,
So life as a missionary is awesome.
I've been seeing, recently, how protected we are from so many temptations. Even if they're not bad things, just the simple temptation to waste time. I talked to a kid the other day who plays several hours of video games a day and i was just blown away by the time spent essentially doing nothing. Reminds me a lot of my life before the mission!
Priorities have been a huge theme on my mind lately, the whole Good, Better, Best.
There are good things in life, not bad, just living below our potential when that's what we settle for.
Then there are better thing.
Then the best things.
The questions that I've started asking myself to judge if i'm doing the best things, or even important things are:
1- Is this important for my future
2- Does this matter in the eternal perspective
3- Would God want me to spend time, money, or effort on this?
4- Why does this matter to me?
Most problems in my life come from not keeping an Eternal Perspective.
Last week I talked a lot about obedience and how when we understand who God is we choose correctly.
I don't think I mentioned, however, that it's never too late to stop being imperfect and to move past things.
God doesn't stop loving us, even when we make poor choices. He wants us to come back (and often extends that invitation)
and experience happiness again.
No matter where we are, the pathway back is still there.
So, a little about me.
I don't know where to start.
Life is good.
I'm happy, learning more and more every day about how to be a better missionary.
The more you know, the more you realize you don't know.
We're working with a girl who has just taken off like crazy.
We really have been focusing with people on how they've seen God's influence, and direction in their lives before, so that they can see how God will talk to them as he gives them an answer about the Book of Mormon. Most people are surprised to hear that we don't want them to believe that the Book of Mormon is truly God's word because we say it is. We invite all men to read and pray sincerely asking God if it is true. It's a good thing He told me it was :).
We're working a ton with the local church members to invite people to activities and just to learn more in general.
We're all pretty stoked for the media initiative that's coming to denver...beggining Saturday. see if they mention it in General Conference eh?
anyways
long story short
love you all
HOW IS THE BOOK OF MORMON READING GOING?
i want a report from everyone.
i need to ask you what blessings you've seen in your life from reading the Book of Mormon.
I expect an answer from everyone, THANK YOU!
much love
Jonathan Elder Allred
So life as a missionary is awesome.
I've been seeing, recently, how protected we are from so many temptations. Even if they're not bad things, just the simple temptation to waste time. I talked to a kid the other day who plays several hours of video games a day and i was just blown away by the time spent essentially doing nothing. Reminds me a lot of my life before the mission!
Priorities have been a huge theme on my mind lately, the whole Good, Better, Best.
There are good things in life, not bad, just living below our potential when that's what we settle for.
Then there are better thing.
Then the best things.
The questions that I've started asking myself to judge if i'm doing the best things, or even important things are:
1- Is this important for my future
2- Does this matter in the eternal perspective
3- Would God want me to spend time, money, or effort on this?
4- Why does this matter to me?
Most problems in my life come from not keeping an Eternal Perspective.
Last week I talked a lot about obedience and how when we understand who God is we choose correctly.
I don't think I mentioned, however, that it's never too late to stop being imperfect and to move past things.
God doesn't stop loving us, even when we make poor choices. He wants us to come back (and often extends that invitation)
and experience happiness again.
No matter where we are, the pathway back is still there.
So, a little about me.
I don't know where to start.
Life is good.
I'm happy, learning more and more every day about how to be a better missionary.
The more you know, the more you realize you don't know.
We're working with a girl who has just taken off like crazy.
We really have been focusing with people on how they've seen God's influence, and direction in their lives before, so that they can see how God will talk to them as he gives them an answer about the Book of Mormon. Most people are surprised to hear that we don't want them to believe that the Book of Mormon is truly God's word because we say it is. We invite all men to read and pray sincerely asking God if it is true. It's a good thing He told me it was :).
We're working a ton with the local church members to invite people to activities and just to learn more in general.
We're all pretty stoked for the media initiative that's coming to denver...beggining Saturday. see if they mention it in General Conference eh?
anyways
long story short
love you all
HOW IS THE BOOK OF MORMON READING GOING?
i want a report from everyone.
i need to ask you what blessings you've seen in your life from reading the Book of Mormon.
I expect an answer from everyone, THANK YOU!
much love
Jonathan Elder Allred
September 19, 2011
my letters have been pretty horrible as of late
I'm sorry to tell you, but this one will be no exception.
The life of leadership really isn't that easy and I had to spend like 30+mins just going through numbers and reports and writing President about all the issues in the zone.
I got to read all of your letters and it sounds like everyone is doing well! horray!!!!
i'm so happy for all of you.
so quick highlights.
then i'll get to the meat.
Monday was good.....ya
tuesday we had a companionship that was about to explode so we did a long term emergency exchange where (we were already on exchanges) i had to grab one and e. montague went with the other, so i had a district leader and a greenie with me for tuesday (we drove like 2 hours of craziness) and managed to get some stuff done.
wednesday the exchange ridicusloulyness continued.
R's BAPTISM! it was awesome, the spirit was so strong. "I feel like I'm surrounded by a warm marshmallow" was how someone described it.
Thursday we found a new investigator named J!!!
did lots of things, horray.
friday same, a missionary in the district won free bbq for a year.
saturday i took a nap (3 hours) on our pday awesome.
then ward activity, J came :)
Sunday was awesome. Good times.
Then today.
Dealing with lots of Elders, found a couple of kinks in the way the work is going in the stake but we're working on ironing them out.
Mostly,
The Themes that have stuck out to me this week have been service and an eternal perspective.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: you all have to write me about a future (10 years plus) goal you have.
it can be anything.
If people thought about the long term perspective all the time, sin would drop dramatically.
I've been surrounded for the last year by college kids who think that drinking, and smoking, and immorality will lead them to a full life as they just "do their thing" "live life" whatever.
It's an absolute lie.
I won't be apologetic for the truth.
Drinking, smoking, drugs, immorality, a lack of self-control and self-mastery, combined with the absence of the spirit and a vision of who you are leads no where but to failure.
ARE WE NOT ALL CHILDREN OF GOD? (the answer is yes, we are)
If so, why in the world would we stop ourselves from achieving this eternal potential.
We know what the end game is, we know the score and what happened, no surprises, no fumbles on our side.
God wins.
With every choice we make, we chose the side that we will stand on.
Moral of the story is, The majority of sin disappears when people remember their relationship to God and other's relationships with Him also.
"I AM A CHILD OF GOD, AND SO IS MY NEIGHBOR"- Elder L. Tom Perry
Remember that.
I love you all tons.
Don't do anything that would dam your progression as a Child of God.
take care.
Elder Allred
PS. my thought got cut off by me...
if there is stuff in the way, we need to say what is it and why is it there.
then what do we need to remove it.
then we do what it takes, asking for God's help.
there is no road block that he can't turn into a stepping stone.
There is a way!
Then when that bad is gone there is room for more good!
much love everyone
Elder Allred
PS: GET READY FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE! It's GONNA BE AWESOME!
I'm sorry to tell you, but this one will be no exception.
The life of leadership really isn't that easy and I had to spend like 30+mins just going through numbers and reports and writing President about all the issues in the zone.
I got to read all of your letters and it sounds like everyone is doing well! horray!!!!
i'm so happy for all of you.
so quick highlights.
then i'll get to the meat.
Monday was good.....ya
tuesday we had a companionship that was about to explode so we did a long term emergency exchange where (we were already on exchanges) i had to grab one and e. montague went with the other, so i had a district leader and a greenie with me for tuesday (we drove like 2 hours of craziness) and managed to get some stuff done.
wednesday the exchange ridicusloulyness continued.
R's BAPTISM! it was awesome, the spirit was so strong. "I feel like I'm surrounded by a warm marshmallow" was how someone described it.
Thursday we found a new investigator named J!!!
did lots of things, horray.
friday same, a missionary in the district won free bbq for a year.
saturday i took a nap (3 hours) on our pday awesome.
then ward activity, J came :)
Sunday was awesome. Good times.
Then today.
Dealing with lots of Elders, found a couple of kinks in the way the work is going in the stake but we're working on ironing them out.
Mostly,
The Themes that have stuck out to me this week have been service and an eternal perspective.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: you all have to write me about a future (10 years plus) goal you have.
it can be anything.
If people thought about the long term perspective all the time, sin would drop dramatically.
I've been surrounded for the last year by college kids who think that drinking, and smoking, and immorality will lead them to a full life as they just "do their thing" "live life" whatever.
It's an absolute lie.
I won't be apologetic for the truth.
Drinking, smoking, drugs, immorality, a lack of self-control and self-mastery, combined with the absence of the spirit and a vision of who you are leads no where but to failure.
ARE WE NOT ALL CHILDREN OF GOD? (the answer is yes, we are)
If so, why in the world would we stop ourselves from achieving this eternal potential.
We know what the end game is, we know the score and what happened, no surprises, no fumbles on our side.
God wins.
With every choice we make, we chose the side that we will stand on.
Moral of the story is, The majority of sin disappears when people remember their relationship to God and other's relationships with Him also.
"I AM A CHILD OF GOD, AND SO IS MY NEIGHBOR"- Elder L. Tom Perry
Remember that.
I love you all tons.
Don't do anything that would dam your progression as a Child of God.
take care.
Elder Allred
PS. my thought got cut off by me...
if there is stuff in the way, we need to say what is it and why is it there.
then what do we need to remove it.
then we do what it takes, asking for God's help.
there is no road block that he can't turn into a stepping stone.
There is a way!
Then when that bad is gone there is room for more good!
much love everyone
Elder Allred
PS: GET READY FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE! It's GONNA BE AWESOME!
September 12, 2011
aight, still not a lot of time, let's do this
THANK YOU to the following people who sent letters and things in the
past little while:
Stiefvater family
Elder Mena
The Rice Family
The Hamblin Family
Courtney Chew!
Mike Gore (the boosss)
Gma-Lois
G-ma Allred+G-Pa Allred
Lydia Crystal
Mom+Dad+Olivia
Ben Bowman
Dibe+Alex Hall
+Everyone else who i forgot!!!!
Love you all tons!
Other notes: all my clothes are falling apart! good thing i know how
to use a needle and thread, i think i'll make it another 3 months.
I'm still in greeley if you didn't know! horray!
I think that's it...
so
Miracles are happening
We're having a baptism this week for RS, been a long time coming. He's in a family ward that we cover b/c it's closed right now. he's awesome.
my bday was awesome......i don't know if i told you about it...didn't i?
no i guess not.
i don't have my old planner on me.
Long story short, there were some giant rainbows, i did really good in ultimate frisbee, lots of good things happened.
mostly missionary work.
i took a video that night, so u'll all see it at sometime.
this week is what i have in front of me....so.......
transfers were crazy.
tuesday we spent 9 hours getting trainers and their greenies
everywhere......the rest of the day was like blah b/c we were so
tired.
wednesday was a ton of district meetings.
some interesting lessons.
i love sharing what i know is true...that's all you really can do.
Thursday we had to go out to fort morgan for a district meeting.
came back
elder montague had a dentist apointment.
went on exchanges with the assistants, so i went back to boulder.
friday morning talked to this crazzzzy guy. good times.
got back
did work son!
saturday....got a hair cut. got a new journal.
did more work!
crazy thing of the day.
a family of 4 ran out of gas and money and wandered into the institute
so i made them dinner!
it was pretty cool.
sunday was awesome.
the bishop combined everyone and introduced the "I'm a Mormon" campaign.
it's a great way to introduce people to who we are and what we really believe.
good day.
that's about it.
life is good.
My thoughts have been turned recently to theme's that I've learned and
been taught on my mission:
#1 Truth:
There is truth out there.
True is the fact that the sky is blue, that cars run on gas, it's fact.
There is truth if God is there or not. Lots of people view that as a
subject thing....however, it's not!
#2 Goals/Vision:
Where there is no vision, the people perish. If we don't have a
vision of what we want to do, we can't really accomplish anything.
Without a goal there can be no real success!
We need to set goals and create a vision and then work to get there,
one step at a time!
#3 Progression:
Life is not for sitting down or staying still in one spot.
We're never "good with where we're at", life is a mountain that we
have to keep climbing or we slip back.
work is key
#4 Self Mastery:
In order to progress and learn and accomplish goals, we have to be
able to control ourselves.
There are many things that we like to do, good things even.
However, if we let our priorities be determined by "good" things or
unimportant things, then we lose the power of accomplishing the "best" things.
#5 Balance:
There is a need for balance in life, without it we get lost.
Times for fun, times for seriousness, times for jokes, and times for work.
There's many more.
But, just remember that God is there, HE has a plan for us. It's not a secret.
If we're not sure about a part of it....ASK HIM!
It's really that easy.
A loving Father in Heaven, ALWAYS ANSWERS!
we just need to remember that He often answers through our thoughts
and feelings.
Remember to look for the way that He answers, not what we expect.
So
That's about it
Until next week.
I love you all.
Make good choices.
Elder Allred
THANK YOU to the following people who sent letters and things in the
past little while:
Stiefvater family
Elder Mena
The Rice Family
The Hamblin Family
Courtney Chew!
Mike Gore (the boosss)
Gma-Lois
G-ma Allred+G-Pa Allred
Lydia Crystal
Mom+Dad+Olivia
Ben Bowman
Dibe+Alex Hall
+Everyone else who i forgot!!!!
Love you all tons!
Other notes: all my clothes are falling apart! good thing i know how
to use a needle and thread, i think i'll make it another 3 months.
I'm still in greeley if you didn't know! horray!
I think that's it...
so
Miracles are happening
We're having a baptism this week for RS, been a long time coming. He's in a family ward that we cover b/c it's closed right now. he's awesome.
my bday was awesome......i don't know if i told you about it...didn't i?
no i guess not.
i don't have my old planner on me.
Long story short, there were some giant rainbows, i did really good in ultimate frisbee, lots of good things happened.
mostly missionary work.
i took a video that night, so u'll all see it at sometime.
this week is what i have in front of me....so.......
transfers were crazy.
tuesday we spent 9 hours getting trainers and their greenies
everywhere......the rest of the day was like blah b/c we were so
tired.
wednesday was a ton of district meetings.
some interesting lessons.
i love sharing what i know is true...that's all you really can do.
Thursday we had to go out to fort morgan for a district meeting.
came back
elder montague had a dentist apointment.
went on exchanges with the assistants, so i went back to boulder.
friday morning talked to this crazzzzy guy. good times.
got back
did work son!
saturday....got a hair cut. got a new journal.
did more work!
crazy thing of the day.
a family of 4 ran out of gas and money and wandered into the institute
so i made them dinner!
it was pretty cool.
sunday was awesome.
the bishop combined everyone and introduced the "I'm a Mormon" campaign.
it's a great way to introduce people to who we are and what we really believe.
good day.
that's about it.
life is good.
My thoughts have been turned recently to theme's that I've learned and
been taught on my mission:
#1 Truth:
There is truth out there.
True is the fact that the sky is blue, that cars run on gas, it's fact.
There is truth if God is there or not. Lots of people view that as a
subject thing....however, it's not!
#2 Goals/Vision:
Where there is no vision, the people perish. If we don't have a
vision of what we want to do, we can't really accomplish anything.
Without a goal there can be no real success!
We need to set goals and create a vision and then work to get there,
one step at a time!
#3 Progression:
Life is not for sitting down or staying still in one spot.
We're never "good with where we're at", life is a mountain that we
have to keep climbing or we slip back.
work is key
#4 Self Mastery:
In order to progress and learn and accomplish goals, we have to be
able to control ourselves.
There are many things that we like to do, good things even.
However, if we let our priorities be determined by "good" things or
unimportant things, then we lose the power of accomplishing the "best" things.
#5 Balance:
There is a need for balance in life, without it we get lost.
Times for fun, times for seriousness, times for jokes, and times for work.
There's many more.
But, just remember that God is there, HE has a plan for us. It's not a secret.
If we're not sure about a part of it....ASK HIM!
It's really that easy.
A loving Father in Heaven, ALWAYS ANSWERS!
we just need to remember that He often answers through our thoughts
and feelings.
Remember to look for the way that He answers, not what we expect.
So
That's about it
Until next week.
I love you all.
Make good choices.
Elder Allred
September 6, 2011
so problematic
i left my planner in the car and i'm like straight out of time.
long story short
i'm staying in greeley
big shout out to people and my list of them and the thank yous are in
the car....sad day
pretty much
love you all
i'm alive and good
i wish isaac and olivia would write me.
that's about it
i'll catch you all up next week
J
i left my planner in the car and i'm like straight out of time.
long story short
i'm staying in greeley
big shout out to people and my list of them and the thank yous are in
the car....sad day
pretty much
love you all
i'm alive and good
i wish isaac and olivia would write me.
that's about it
i'll catch you all up next week
J
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)