Week 32 Marugame: Almost Miracle

another gReat week spent as a laborer in the lord's vinEyard!

this week has been quite a crAzy week, full of ups and Downs and all

sorts of things. but something really funnY that happened was when we

went and visited a couple recent cOnverts who have been falling away

and second guessing their commitment they made at baptism. it has

gotten to the point where they are wanting their names removed from

the chUrch. they have been feeling ashamed of some mistakes that they

have made Regarding the word of wiSdom so they just don't fEel worthy

to be members of the church. so lately we have been just trying so

hard to help them feel the love and support from the branch and we

have been hoping that we can heLp them realize that they are not

expected to be perFect, but just to try their best. so we were out at

their apartment trying to visit them but before we knocked we stopped

and prayed for a miracle. then we went and knocked but they Were not

answering the door so we felt like we should leave and come back in

about 10 minutes. we left and came back and tried again this time

someone answered the door, it was their roommate. he opened the door

and told us that they had not yet returned home. but then right at

that moment a van pulled into the driveway and their roommate looked

and said oh wait that's them. we were so Happy that we decided to waIt

and come back, it was the miracle that we were looking for, now we can

finalLy talk to all of them all together and welcome them back to the

church. this is what we wERe thinking as we hustled out to meet them

as they got out of their van, but as soon as we turned the corner out

into the parking arEA the van stopped. we waveD at them and suddenly

the van screeched out back onto the road and tore off down the street.

me and elder anderson stood there for a second in the now empty

parking lot and just trIed to process what happened. it turns out that

it wasN't quite the miracle that we thought, but that's just how it

Goes sometimes. we were actually able to meet them a little later in

the week with some members and have a good talk with them helping them

know that this gospel was not made for people who are perfect and

never make any mistakes in THEir live. this church is for people who

are imperfect and want to be better and can be better through the

atoning blood of jesuS Christ. he said that he will tRy to make it to

church next week and that he will do his best. i truly love the way

that this gospel works. it truly does work to heal broken hearts and

broken people through christ. i am so grateful for my savior and his

love and the fact that even though i have weaknesses and make mIstakes

daily i can come unto christ and be strengthened in his love. i am so

grateful for the blessing it is to share that love and be able to

witness the joy that it brings to others. this gosPel is the Truest

thing on earth and i love it! thank you all so much for supporting me

in spreading it. i love you all so mUch! i hope that you all have a

gReat wEek! See ya next week,

愛しています！

アルレッド長老

P-Day Hike

Representing the "Kobe" Japan Mission with my proselyting bag

Our District

Week 31 Marugame: Scripture Power

hey everyone, it is p-day again already!

this week we had to travel to matsuyama for zone training meeting

which was awesome, then we travelled from there to niihama so that we

could do a companion exchange with the district leader. i got to

koukan with Hill chōrō and it was so great! we were stopping everyone

left and rIght teaching lessons, and he was Such a powerful teacher.

he talked to me about the importance of teaching with the book of

mormon and how the book of mormon is our greateSt tool in teacHing the

restoration of the gospel. it was so amazing and then the next day

once we had gotten back to marugame i had a grEat experience teaching

with the book of mormon. we were tEaching one of our investigators

juner miller and he was sounding like he was trying to drop us. he was

telling us how he is catholic and we are mormon so he can't join our

church. we felt Prompted to use the book of mormon so we talked about

how he believes the bible to be the word of god and we asked him, as

he has been reading the book of mormon if he has felt that it is the

word of god too. after sharing 2 nephi 29:7-9 and talking about how

the book of mormon is a witness of god and his love for all of his

children both in jerusalem and in other parts of the world his

attitude completely changed. the next time we asked him if he believed

the book of mormon to be the word of god he answered confidently "yes"

we then went on to explain how then joseph smith was a prophet of god

and the church of jesus christ of latter day saints is the restored

gospel of jesus christ himself, and that the book of mormon is proof

of all of that. by the end of the lesson he was thanKing us for

helping him understand, and he was telling us that he believed what we

taught. he also told us that he was going to read the book of mormoN

and pray daily. it was an incredible lessOn that was completely

brought about by the book of mormon. i love the book of mormon so

much! like honestly i have never been so big a fan of reading than i

have on my mission and the only book i have to read is the book of

mormon. i could read it over and over again and never tire of the

spirit and poWer that i receive and feel so powerfully while reading

that inspired book. i say it all the time but i love this gospel so

much. christ and his gospel is the only way to true and lasting

eternal Happiness and i feel it everyday as i testIfy of it. i promise

that as we study the book of mormon daily and really try to ponder its

teachings and how they apply in our lives that we will find that our

lives have more direction and joy that we have ever felt before. you

all rock! i love you all so much and hope that you have a beautiful

book of Mormon power filled week!

モルモンがしんじつであることをしっています！

郅筏皮蓼梗

Elder Allred

I am a Samaria!

Our friendly hitchhiker that we picked up

Me and Jheff just happen to own the same tie

Us at the slide park we went to last p-day

Zone Training Meeting

Week 30 Marugame: Baptism!

みなさん！何してる？

this week was fulL of spiritual highs and gospel goodness, but the

highlight Of the week waS definitely kahori shimai's baptism. shE is

one of the Sister missionaries investigators who just got baptized

this saturdaY. it was amazing and the spirit was so strOng. the

baptismal service was such a testimony of what our pUrpose is as a

missionary. seeing how happy she was and how stRong her testimony had

become was so inspiring and made me so happy. that is really what it

is all about, helping other children of god find the joy and peace

that comes from following christ and Living his gospel. also two of

our investigators were there as well and they too had great

experiences. it was fujiwara shimai and jesus kyoudai. they are so

close to having theIr own baptismal service very soon.

this week was just so happy and Full of power and the spirit. i love

this gospEl and the lives that are changed because of it. i am

especially grateful for how it has changed my life. i am often so

amazed when me and my companion have had an awFul day of rejections

and rain and cold and disappointments, and it just seems like the

whole world is against us but somehow at the end of the day we are

still just the happiest people in the world. but that is how this

gospel works because of christ's atOnement and the covenant that we

have made with him, we can feel that holy spiRit and be filled with

joy and love even in the face of any trial. i love this gospel with

all my heart and i am so grateful for this opportunity i have to

declare it and testify of my savior every single day. i am filled with

joy as i teaCh tHis amazing message. being a missionaRy Is the

beStesT! like always i am so grateful for all of your love and

support. i love all of you guys so much! thank you so much!

あなたがたは世界中一番ですよ！

頑張りましょう

アルレッド長老

P-day at the park!

Week 29 Marugame: Painting Testimonies

konnichiwa my friends,

this week has been Another great week in marugame! our investigator

jesus [hey soos] is doing amazing! this last sunday we had an amazing

leSson with him. we were talKing about him and his efforts to receive

an answer to his prayers, And he basically taught himself, or actually

Now that i think about it, it was probably the spirit teaching him!

ah, i love it! he tolD us how he knows that he needs to just keep

praYing because Even though he doesn't feel like he has received an

answer yet, if he stopS now then there's no way that He will get an

answer. he was like the picture perfect investigator. we next went to

moroni 10:3-5 and broke down every element of the scripturAl promise

and he just ate that stuff up. he is such a smart guy and enjoys

discovering the very deeper meaning to things given that he is an

artist. and then actuaLly after we broke down the scripture he

compared his experiences in finding an answer to his prayers to

painting a picture. we then testified to him that the Lord knows

exactly what his potential is and as long as he continues to allow the

lord to guide his search in discovering the answer to his prayeRs then

someday he will step back and be able to seE that the lord had been

painting him into a masterpiece. it was awesome, it was like we were

all in a mormon message playing out the picture perfeCt lesson. he is

progressing so wEll and i would not be surprised at all if very soon

he calls us and tells us that he is ready to be baptized. i am so

excited! great things are happening here and i love it! i love this

work so much. seeing the gospel of christ change people's hearts and

attItudes is the greatest thing in the world. thank you so much for

all of your loVe and support! i love you all so much!

bEing a missionary rocks!

アルレッド長老

This is a beautiful picture that our friend Jheff drew for me and

Anderson Chorro. Those are our names in Tagalog. It is way cool!

Us with Jheff 

Week 28 Marugame: Marugame Magic

konnichiwa minasan,

sunday this last week was so awesome! we showed up to church and

randomly a mom and dad and son showed up that we had never seen

before! they came in and sat down and i sat next to them. they were

not members but had attended a sacrament meeting in anotHer city and

really liked it so they found ours which is nEar their house. the dad

speaks way good english and told me hoW he went to high school in a

buddhist school and didn't believe what was being taught so he was

looking for Another religion and he said he likes mormonS the best. it

was a whole family of kinjins! i can hardly Believe it. i spoke with

them for a while and gave the dad a book of moRmon and explained what

it was. he said that he was really excited tO read it and they said

that they would come next weeK. i still can't bElieve it.

unfortunately i can't remember their Names but wow, they are just

gold!

we had a broadcaSted devotional where elder holland came and spOke to

all of the members in japan. it was unbelievable! he was speaking with

so much passion about the atonement of jesus christ and how it can

heal us when we are broken. but then he talked about hoW the greatest

sacrifice that we can make for the savior is that of a broken heart

and a contrite spirit. he talked about how sometimes life brEaks us

and can make us feel like there is no hope and that we might never be

happy again. he said that during those times, that is when faith

really matters. he talked about how anyone Can hold the tiller of the

boAt when the seas are calm, but when life is pulling you dowN on all

sides that is when we need that faith. and we might feel broken, but

when we turn to god with that broken heart and Beg him for his help

admitting to him that we cannot do this on our own that is when the

power of the atonement will kick in and hEal us in a way that brings

us so much closer unto christ. as i was listening to him speak about

these things i was reminded of my mtc experience and how utterly

overwHelmed and broken i was. i realized now what that experience has

done for me. i was begging god every night to save me from my feElings

of inadequacy and i believe that because i was cut down and broken so

completely i was truly able to more fully sink my roots in the rock of

christ and then to grow from that stronger and happier and with more

understanding than i have ever been or hAd. i truly love my savior. i

love him for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring for me enough

to hurt me. and i know that i still will have many times to come when

my faith wilL be tried again and i will be broken down again, but i

look forward to the growth that will spring out of those trials and

the strength and increased closeness to christ that i will obtain be

relying more fully upon his atonement. i love this gospel with all of

my soul. i am so happy that i am here in japan declaring the love of

god and sharing my tEstimony every Day. it truly is wonderful and i

cannot be grateful enough. i love you all so much for loving and

supporting me in my privilege to be a missionary in the restoration of

the true church of christ. he lives, and how sweet the joy that

sentence gives. i hope that you all have an amazing week. i love you

all so much!

アルレッド長老

Me and Anderson Chōrō

Here is our beautiful Marugame church building