Week 57 Sennan: Don't Ride Bikes During a Typhoon!

good evening y'all,

it was another fantastic week As a missionary in japan. man was it busy. i have successfuLly had more Meal appointments with members since i have been in this Area than i have everywhere else in my mission combined. the members here are amazing to the missionaries! it has been so great getting to know each of them and being able to create relationships of trust so that we can work together in sharing the gospel to the people of this area. we have already seen some great success in working with these members since one of them invited some FrIends to our english class and they came and had a great time, and after talking with them afterwards they decided that they would like to start taking the missionary lessons. we met with them once last week and had a Very great appointment. we are going to be meeting again this next week and we are Excited to see what happens.

also This Weekend we had another typhoon! all week people we talked to on the streets and members were warning us about it and how dangErous it was going to be, a bunch of people even used it as an excuse to cancel appointments and not come to church. wheN the weekend finally came around, it wasn't even that bad at all. it just lightly rained and was just a little more windy that usual. me and my companion joked abouT how it wasn't dangerous at all. and then as we were riding to an appointment mY companions bike slipped on a metal grate and he went down hard. after recovering from the fall we assessed damage and he was ok, coming away with just some soreness and a small road rash. we restarted our ride and then about 5 minutes later while we were Still talking about how careful we need to be riding our bikes, i suddenly hit a pole sending me off my bike and gIving me the worst stubbed toe of my life. it was super ironic and funny but man it hurt. we are going to make sure that we don't make jokes about the undangerousness of rain next time. we have learned our lesson. it has been a really fun week full of hard work and miracles. we can't wait to see what happens neXt week as we continue to work with members and find those ready to receive the gospel of christ. i love you all and hope that you have a great week!

バイバイ！

elder allred

I got to eat at the only Subway in our mission last week! It was fantastic!

Week 56 Sennan: That's My Son!

i found out last monday that i was leaving sumoto. it was super sad to say goodbye to all of the members and Investigators who we made such great relationships with over the last few transfers. sumoto has forever changeD me and has taught me things that i will remember for the rest of my life.

befOre going to my new area i went to the mission home and was able to pick up my new companioN who is fresh out of the mTc! his name is elder wieland and he is incredible! his missionary fire is unreal! he is so fearless and willing to use his japanese as we stop and talk to all the people that we can in our new area that we Know hardly anything about. our new area is called senNan and it is my first ward! we have quite a bit of work ahead of us it seems because we came into the area having pretty much 0 investigators that we are teaching. we made plans tO just get to work and find more people than i have ever found in my whole mission and i believe that we can do it because we have the lord on our side and we are ready to put in Work meet for miracles.

it also turns out that i am the district leader and had my first opportunity to conduct a baptismal intervieW for another one of the companionsHips in our district. it was A really great experience meeting and Talking with someone who was prepared to enter the waters of baptism and convenant with the lord to be faithful until the end. he was such a smart guy and talked about how much hIs life has changed since he started to coMe to know the savior. it was a way cool experience and i can't wait to meet more prepareD people like him as we all work tOgether this transfer.

thIs is definately a transfer of New things and it is going to take a lot of prayer and relying on the lord to be able to accomplish the things we have to accomplish and to fulfill the responsibilities that have been Given. i am excited to see what happens this transfer and what awesome miracles that we will see. 

love you all and hope you have an excellent week!

elder allred

My son...

My son's new bike

Week 55 Sumoto: Baptism!

兄弟姉妹皆さん、こんにちは！

i Learned so much this week from the Incredible blessing that we had to baptize and confirm shimizu masayuki a member of the church. we didn't know what to expect going into the baptism and we made a lot of little sloppy mistakes setting up the baptismal serVice, but in theEend it turned out to be such A spiritual experience. it was way awesome to see some of the members brought their Friends to the service. me and my companion sang a musical number during the service which was 'i know that my redeemer lives' we sorT of messed up several times but in the End it was really poweRful and a fun and terrifying experience (i'm not a huge fan of singing in front of people, especially in japanese). we went to THE beach to perform the baptisM because there is no font in our little church building. Aftwerwards as we were walking aloNg the beach to get to the bathrooms i was talking with shimizu kyoudai. as i started to explaiN the covenant that he just made and the blessings of the spirit that he will now havE in his life i suddenly felt a huge explosion of the spirit within me. i felt a portion of god's love foR shimizu kyoudai and almost like a message of gratitude from Our heavenly father for bringing one of his beloved lost sheep back to the Fold. it was overpowering and caused tears to flow down my cheeks. he must have had a similar message of love fill his Heart as well because Almost simultaneously he too was overcome with tears and started to exclaim how haPpy he was. i truly know that god loves each and every one of his children so infinitely much and it is my utmost desire to be the means by which he can oPperate through me to bless and rescue the lives of many of his lost sheep. I love being a missionary so very much, and I am so grateful for a loving father in heaveN who granted unto us the miracle of being able to servE as representatives of jesus christ in leading his precious children back to hiS love. love you all So much and hope you have a fantastic week!

elder allred

The newest member of the Sumoto Branch

Week 54 Sumoto: Forever a Missionary

why are weeks so short in sumoto?

it has been another super awesome weeK here on our little island. we have bEen so busy lately days have just been flying by! wE received a challenge from our mission President this week to find 100 new investigators as a mission, and we saw so many miracles in doing it. also we have been teaching our Investigator shimizu kyOudai a bunch lately in preparation for his baptism that, if all goes well, is this saturday. i am way excited for him and this branch experience it this weekeNd. this branch hasn't seen a baptism in about 3 years, so i Really hope that as they see the one this saturday that it boosts their spirits and gets them all excited about missionary work. it really is so amazing to be serving here and working with shimizu. he is so prepared. just last wEek we taught him About tithing for the first time and he was committing to do it before we even got to the promises associated with it. he is just ready to follow christ is what he keeps saying.

also this week we haD zone conference and man It was good. we talked about really seeking to get to know our investigators and Not seeing them as statistics but as people and the children of God they truly are with dreams and hopes And weaknesses aNd hard days anD stresses and things that bring them joy. i really feLt the spirit so strong as the president and zone leaders gave their training. i have been trying extra hard to discover who Our investigators truly are lately and i have had some incredible experiences with the spirit giVing discernment and the scriptures i need to share and the words and questions that i need to say. i have felt a noticeable Increase in love and joy towards them as they come to know how the gospel is really the thing they are missing in their lives. i can really tell that our father iN heaven has a profound love for these his precious children.

it has been inspirinG me to be a better missionary and not just for The time of my mission but forever. i had maybe the greatest personal study of my mission a couple mornings ago where i studied from the story of peter, the apostle of christ, at the time when his “mission" had ended and christ had been resurrected and he and the other apostles didn't know what to do. peter decided to do the tHings that he was comfortable with, the things he did beforE his mission. he went fishing. but the story goes on and is well known that the savior comes and tells them where to cast their nets and they catch many fish. peter then recognizeS that it is Christ and goes out to meet him. christ then asks him gesturing to the fish, "lovest thou me more than these?" peter is asked the question three times to which he responds that of course he loves him. and each time jesus Responds, "feed my sheep" (john 21) peter then realizes that his missIon is not over and he goes on to feed his sheeP, and performs more miracles and Teaches more people than ever. like peter i testify to each of you that i love my savior jesus christ, and i love him more than anything that i have

done or could ever do for myself. and i promise that when i go home i  will not go back to who i Used to be, i will not fall back into my old habits. i am going to change the way that i live and go forward so that i never stop feeding his sheep, never stop inviting people to church and never stop strengthening those who need our savior's love. i promise that i will be a missionary forever. and of course the way i shaRe the gospel may be completely different and there are going to be other things that i will need to focus on and work towards but i will never leave the truth, and i will put the lord first above all Else. there are not words to describe the love i have for this gospel, my heavenly father and my savior. let us all share this love and seek to strengthen it continually, for as people who know of this love we carry the hope that this world so desperately needs. we are the hope of this world, the hope of israel. let's bring the world his truth. Sorry for the long email this week, i got a little carried away. know that i love each of you and hope that you have an incredible week.

愛しています！

がんばりましょう！

elder allred

Zone Conference

There are always strange bugs in our apartment