Week 82 Senri: Check Mate

Hey you guys,

This week was fantastic. First off we had our Zone Conference and it was a great experience full of revelation and a refreshed desire and commitment to work harder and to have more faith and to show more Love towards our Savior Jesus Christ by opening our mouth and being more obedient and diligent. This week we have been working a lot more to implement the counsel of Yamashita Choro (our area presidency) more in full. We have been seeing so many blessings it is amazing! We have been focusing more on the expressing the blessings of the gospel rather than the explanations and two people have accepted the invitation to be baptized and we are working towards a date with them. Then we had a less active member show up to church yesterday telling us that he wants to start coming back. And there is another investigator who we have been meeting with say that he will try to make the effort to be baptized as well and we are hoping that the next time that we meet with him we can set a date with him too. We have just been seeing so many miracles I can't express the amount of Gratitude that I feel towards our Father in Heaven. I look forward to seeing more miracles this next week and to more fully follow His Spirit in sharing the light of Christ and helping others feel the Joy of the Gospel. Sorry for the short email this week, but I love you guys and hope that you have an incredible week full of awesomeness!

頑張りましょう！

Elder Allred

I beat Kurita Choro on an Exchange in Chess. Thank you Chess Investigator.

Week 81 Senri: いいね

Hey Everyone,
This week was another great week! We went on a Koukan with the Assistants and I learned so much working with Huber Choro. He really is such a great example of a Christ-like missionary. We focused a lot on ministering one by one and loving members. We visited one member and shared a powerful message about following the will of God. Afterwards we heart attacked their door and it was so fun. We also tried different ways to make our dendo more effective by having a very purposeful activity planned. We did an English Challenge and met lots of people who were interested in learning English and a couple wanted to do the 30 30 English/Gospel program. It was great. Then we had a Koukan with the Okamachi Elders and I was with Komiya Choro. He is doing great. I was so impressed with how fearless he was in contacts and in committing people to meet again no matter what. I learned a lot from him and was very grateful for the Koukan. 

We are still working with our Chess friend and he is doing awesome. We lost contact with him the second half of the week and he didn't come to the activity that he said that he would come to so we were getting pretty worried. We tried to call him Sunday morning to see if he wanted a member to take him to church again this week and he didn't answer. We assumed that he wouldn't be able to come because of how he can barely walk and it would take him a couple hours to come, but lo and behold, our little faithful chess buddy came hobbling into the building just in time for Sacrament. He woke up early and came all the way by himself I was so amazed. I love that guy. Miracles happen everyday and it is amazing! I love missionary work! I love you guys! Have a great week! 

Elder Allred

The missionaries and some of the awesome members of Senri Ward

Week 80 Senri: Turn none away

This week was fantastic!

And I learned a great lesson. We have been seeing so many amazing miracles here lately and we have a few investigators who are looking like they will be able to receive baptism soon. One of whom is a man named Ishikawa san. We met him because he came to Sports night with a chess kit and had us play with him. He is 76 and apparently met with missionaries a long time ago but he is Buddhist so he did not believe the things that the missionaries had been teaching him. But he came to Sports night and I played him in Chess. It was way crazy to play Chess again because it has been a very long time since I had played but this man was very good. We went back and forth and taught him a Gospel lesson as we did it because he had lots of questions. It kind of felt like I was in the movie Sherlock Holmes or something because he would ask a question and I would answer with the teachings of Christ and then finish by making my move and saying, "Check" In the end he invited us over Saturday to play more Chess and talk. And I unfortunately felt inside of me that it wasn't going to be effective

use of our time seeming that this man can hardly walk or talk and all it seemed like he wanted was to hang out with us. I am sad to say that there was a lot of pride in my heart and when Saturday came I made the trek over to his house with somewhat of bitterness in my heart. But when we got there and started talking he told us that he didn't want to play Chess he just wanted to ask some questions about the Gospel. We answered his questions and he then he told us that he has been feeling lately that what the missionaries have taught him is true and that his Buddhist traditions have been incorrect, and at the end of the Lesson he told us that he wanted to be baptized. I immediately felt so humbled by this experience and was reminded of what the Savior taught about turning none away. I thought about this Scripture in the

Book of Mormon:

48 I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say

unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and I say unto

you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only

Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And

behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea,

the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.

49 And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am

called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one

that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and

young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the

middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that

they must repent and be born again. (Alma 5:48-49)

Ishikawa san then came to church the next day and really enjoyed it and wants to continue coming and receiving lessons so that he can be baptized soon. I love the teachings of Christ and I want so deeply to

love like Him. The Church is True!

I love you all! Have a great week.

Elder Allred

Me and Elder Mecham

Coming down Rokko Mountain on a tram with the Wakayama Elders

Week 79 Senri: See you Sennan (Transfers)

Hello my beloved brothers and sisters,

It has been another wild week. It was transfers so it was just full of all sorts of madness. saying goodbye to Sennan was one of the saddest things I have done on my mission. I have grown to love these members so much! The bishop even called me his son! I have seen so many miracles here it has completely changed my life forever. I am so grateful for the blessing it was to serve there. 

The area that I have transferred to is called Senri. It is so great! I met my new Companion, Elder Mecham who is actually a missionary who was in my MTC District. We have been making lots of plans to work really hard this transfer because the members here are way fired up to share the Gospel. We are going to see just as many miracles here as we did in sennan and find the Lord's elect. I found a scripture that I really like,

2 I have much treasure in this city for you, for the benefit of Zion, and many people in this city, whom I will gather out in due time for the benefit of Zion, through your instrumentality. (D&C 111:2)

We are the Lord's treasure hunters, and we need to go out and find those golden people. And he will lead us to those people who will come to Zion if we allow ourselves to be instruments in His hands. Love you all, have a stupendous week!

Elder Allred

Me and Bishop Sato

Suehiro Kyoudai

Week 78 Sennan: 3人 Zone Leader Dendo Squad

おーい！

This week was fantastic! Since we combined companionships with the  Zone Leaders we have had to go back and forth from their area to ours and so it has been pretty busy. I don't think that we have had time to eat dinner that wasn't a meal appointment once in the last two weeks, but man it has been the greatest couple weeks of my mission.

We had a mission conference with a member of the Area Presidency and learned so much about being better teachers and how to more effectively lead our investigators unto Christ. We have been having some amazing lessons ever since that conference as we have done our best to implement the things that we have learned. And we have been having just tons of lessons in both areas which means that we have been having to split with members all of the time. I am so grateful for the members and their willingness to help us and to go out and teach and share the Gospel and their testimonies with us as we have been kind of all of the place these last couple weeks.

We are seeing many miracles as we do our best to be the voice of the Good Shepherd calling His sheep to come unto Him. I know that as we continue to trust the Lord and to teach from the scriptures and by the Spirit, we will find those who recognize His voice and follow him. Another thing that I have been loving lately is the amount of member help we have seen and received as we have sought people to help us do splits to cover both Wakayama and Sennan. Just the other day I was on a split with Kanata Kyoudai in Sennan as Elder Cotterall and Elder Dahl went to Wakayama together for a lesson. Kanata Kyoudai and I went and visited a family that hadn't been to church in 20 years and were inactive. We got there and they were way excited to see the member and let us right in. We later found out that the Sister missionaries had just visited them earlier that day but they weren't let in, and the only reason we were let in was because there was a member there with us. We had a great talk with them about their conversion and at one point the conversation got quiet for a moment and the Father was looking down at the ground and then says that he has actually been thinking about coming back to church recently. Immediately the Spirit flooded the room and Kanata Kyoudai encourages to come back because everyone will immediately welcome them back. I then shared 3 Nephi 9:14-15 and we testified to them and ended with a prayer. It was an awesome experience. And as we were leaving the Father was telling us how grateful he is for our visit and asked us to please come again. I love seeing what great miracles are brought to pass when members assist in the work. I know for sure that we would have never been able to get in and have such a great lesson with them if it hadn't' have been for Kanata Kyoudai. I love the members here in Japan and I know that with us working together with them we will see miracles in the work. I love you all and am so grateful for your support and love as well. Have a great week!

伝道は最高ですよ！

Elder Allred

We had a very traditional Japanese meal with some members the other day. おいしかった

This is an awesome family in our ward who we taught the other day.
Their children are adorable!

Week 77 Sennan: Group email

Wow,

This week was crazy... We became a three man companionship, my companion caught the flu, I lost my voice, we cleaned the apartment, and then we turned it into a disco rollerskating skate rink. I am sorry but I am almost out of time for emails so that about sums up our week since it was almost all spent in our apartment. I love you all and hope that you all have a very healthy and happy week.

愛しています!

Elder Allred

Elder Dahl is the second one from the left and his companion is back

at home now.

When you find a bunch of things in the apartment
as you clean because you are home and bored all day

Week 76 Sennan: インフルエンザ

Hey, Everyone!

It's been another week of adventure as a missionary here in Sennan with Elder Cotterall. We have been working really hard to meet with our investigators more often but they are all getting sick. I swear pretty much every lesson we schedule ends with them texting us the day of and saying that they caught the flu. It is terrifying how much the flu is spreading this year. Me and Elder Cotterally have been way scared one of us is going to catch it, but it's a good thing that as missionaries our immune systems are extra strong.

We also were visited by Sister Bonnie Oscarson and Sister Ubank this week as a mission. We went to their conference and learned a ton of really powerful things. I really liked what she taught us about how God works through ordinary people to do extraordinary things. She shared the scripture Alma 37:6-7,

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. 7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

There are so many times when I feel very small, and like I can't do the things that missionaries are supposed to be able to do. But the thing that brings me peace is that God is doing exactly what He intends to and that my job is to just be as obedient and diligent and willing to follow His will as I can. I know that though what I can do on my own is small, with Christ by my side I can do all things, and in order to walk with Christ we but have to Follow His Gospel which is a Gospel of Complete Joy. Well I hope that you all are surviving the winter and enjoying life. Have a great week!

愛してますよ！

Elder Allred

We talked to a man on the train who had Krispy Kreme! (apparently

there is one in Osaka) and after talking and telling him who we are

and what we do he gave us some! #blessings

Week 75 Sennan: グループ Eメール

Hello everyone!

It was another great week here in Sennan with Elder Cotterall. We learned about a really cool miracle that happened with one of the young men in the ward this last week at Stake Conference. They made a Facebook post about it and this is it.

"We saw a pretty cool miracle the other day that we wanted to share real quick. It happened a couple days before Zone Conference when we were doing a Family History survey as a finding event at a nearby eki. We felt inspired to go talk to a bunch of guys in the smoking section about the Family History class we recently started in the ward. There we found 木村さん who is a young 社会人 who did our survey and was interested in learning about Christian churches. One thing lead to another and he was committed to come to Stake Conference. At stake conference yet another miracle happened when at the end 大谷慈 兄弟 (who is preparing to go on a mission) approached 木村さん and testified to him and finished by giving him a Book of Mormon. 慈 兄弟 later told us that he had been praying for missionary opportunities and had felt impressed to bring that Book of Mormon to Stake Conference with the thought that he might give it to someone that morning. After everything was said and done and we were on the drive home with 木村さん, we asked him what he felt during the meeting. His response was that he had never before up to that point in his life thought about neither God nor religion, but after having attended that Stake Conference he walked away feeling that there is definitely a God and that he is definitely watching over us. What a blessing and miracle it is that we had the priviledge to meet 木村さん and witness God's Divine Design in bringing him to a knowlege of a Father in Heaven who knows him by name and Loves him with a perfect love. I know that God feels the same about each and every one of His children. What a Joy it is to be a missionary!

皆さん愛しています！頑張りましょう！"

Also we met with an investigator named Takayama san who is interested in going to BYU for college. We had a fantastic lesson with him this last week about the Plan of Salvation where we extended the commitment to be baptized. He told us that he feels like he should be baptized, and that he will think and pray about it before our next lesson. I am way excited to meet with him again and I hope that he did pray and read and has felt the confirming witness of the Spirit of the truthfulness of the Gospel. It is so amazing to be able to teach people who are ready to change their lives and come unto Christ. You guys all rock! Have a great week on this awesome Earth created for us by a all powerful Father in Heaven who loves us.

愛していますよ！

Elder Allred

Sakura Tofu Rice

The funniest little kid in Japan

Takoyaki 🐙