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