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

Week 27 Marugame: Transfers!

hello everyone!

i am no longer in my bean area (first area) of tottori! i got

transfered to the beautiful island of shikoku in the marugame area! i

was SO sad to leave the people of tottori that i have grown tO lOve sO

much, but it is so amazing here! the branch is just straight amazing!

i just got here and i've already seen so many miracles and met sO many

awesome peOple and i love the people sO much already! including my new

companion elder anderson who is part japanese and speaks pretty much

fluent japanese so hopefully together we can clean up my rough

japanese!

then this sunday i got to gO to church and meet the branch. the whole

branch is just unreal and they are so willing tO help the missionaries

out with their dendO! i can not wait to work with them more in helping

people be brought unto christ. alsO at church i had an opportunity tO

meet jesus (as in the spanish pronunciation. as cool as that would

have been I did not in fact meet the savior at church, even though

this is probably one of his favorite branches On earth). he is another

One of our prOgressing investigators. we taught him the gospel of

christ with a cOuple other members. he took it super well and by the

end of the lesson he seemed really Opened to the idea of baptism and

understOOd the doctrine of repentance really well. i cOuld definitely

see him being baptized very sOOn.

then another one of the really cool things that happened this weekend

was we actually had the OppOrtunity to give a blessing to One of the

sisters' investigators who was strugling with back pain and wanted a

blessing tO help him feel better. elder anderson and i gave him a

blessing and right after he had a look of complete wOnder on his face.

he tOld us that as soon as we started the blessing he felt a power

come from our hands and gO throughout his whole body. he looked like

he couldn't believe it as he told us how his back didn't hurt anymore.

it was so cOOl and such a testimony Of the true power of the

priesthood and how it is used tO bless the lives of all of god's

children who will excersise faith in Him. this week was so crAzy but

so amazing! i love this new branch so much and i have been nonstoP

smiling ever since i arrived in marugame. i love this gosPel so much

and i love being a missionarY! the church is true! love you all have a

great week!

アルレッド長老

Elder Anderson (far left), Jheff the coolest member ever (center), and

our investigators Angela and Jesus (Angela (left), Jesus (far right))

My new companion!

Week 26 Tottori: There is Sunshine in my Soul

じゅんびの日ですね、

this week was Lots of fun! we had another ztm and we got to start

following the new mission schedule. so far it actually isn't toO

different from the old one but now we go out a little earlier each day

so that is fun! this saturday actually we went out early and the

weather was so amazing. there wasn't a cloud in the sky (which is

almost unheard of here in tottori) and the temperature was so much

warmer. we were riding across the bridge over the river on our way to

the train station to go do some streeting and I looked over at the

japanese countryside. it was so beautiful that i thought to my self,

"man, this is quite the world that our heaVenly father has crEated for

his children." suddenly i felt a lOve like i haveN't fElt in a long

time. i felt a piece of that immeasurable love that our father in

heaven has for each of us, and why he had made such a beautiful earth

for us to live on. i then felt how much love he had for the people of

this city in japan. i felt A sudden urgency to help these people kNow

that they are children of a lOving god as well and THat they too can

feel of this immense love. i committed with all my heart to testify of

him and his son jesus christ as much as i can. i know that we have a

father in heaven that loves us. and because of that we are never

alone. he has given his son so that we can receive strength beyond

what we could even imagine. and although i am weak and i make mistakes

left and right, i can draw strength from the atonement of christ. i

love my savior and my father in heavEn, and it is such a privilege to

be able to work alongside them in their vineyard, furthering the work

of salvation. i love this gospel so much and i love each of you. thank

you for suppoRting me in my mission.

頑張りましょう！

アルレッド長老

Here are the awesome missionaries of our ZTM

Week 25 Tottori: Oh Snow!

konnichiwa minasan!

this week was crazy! it was filled with crazy snowstorms, exhausting

travel, getting chased by people witH katanas, and the changing of our

missionary schedulE! this week has got me all over the place but i am

also stoked out of my mind! at the beginning of this week we traveled

to the zone leader area to do interviews with the mission president,

but then A crazy snowstorm hit japan and all of the tRains and

highways got closed so we were stuck in The zone leaders' area. we

took advantage of the situation and did some companion exchanges, i

was with tanaka chōrō and it was a blast! he hardly knows any english

so i was full japanese for the whole exchange. we went around helping

people left and right get their cars pushed out of the snow and then

teaching lessons where we could. but my coMpanion was with the other

zone leader and apparently they housed into someone who wasn't really

friendly with our church. the guy ended whipping out his katana and

chasing them out of that neIghborhood! they called the police and took

care of things but it sounded like a crazy night for them! we were

finally able to Get back to tottori a couple days later after enough

of the snow melted. tHat was definitely some of the most exhausting

travel I have done yeT on the mission.

after that we were able to watch this year's worldwide Mission

broadcast where they announced that there is going to be changes for

every missionaries schedule throughout the world. the change is

effecting different missionaries differently depending on where they

are serving. some places missionaries are even waking up early or

later based on their specIfic circumstances! we learn what exactly our

new schedule will be sometime this week. i'm so excited to see what

changes for us! they also loosened up a lot of the iNdividual

companionships abilities to choose more freely how their schedule is

going to go. they mentioned in the broaDcast that it seems like the

lord is really giving more trust to his missionaries. this really made

me reflect on whether or not i am truly worthy of the lord's trust.

agency is one of the greatest gifts that god has given us and really

Shows how much he trusts us. heavenly father and jesus christ love us

so much and they want more than anyThing for us to be happy. they have

given us the path and the tools that are required to achieve that

never-ending happiness, but it is up to us to choose the path that

they have made. satan has done a really good job of making other

"foRbidden paths" appear to be the path to happinEss but ultimately

they will just end in heartbreak and emptiNess. true lasting happiness

can only be attained by following christ and his path for us. with

this new schedule i know that there will be more temptations to be

lazy and not work as hard, but i am committinG right now to give the

lord my all. i love my savior so much and this opportunity that i have

to serve with him is truly such a privilege. i know that by staying on

this paTh we will receive more joy than we can even imagine. christ

truly is the way (2 nephi 31:20-21). i love you all and Hope that your

week is awesome!

全てはよし

アルレッドL老

Week 24 Tottori: Lead Me Guide Me

こんにちは。

this week was great! we workEd hard and taught a ton of lessons and

had an awesome zone training meeting. at the zone training meeting i

learned a ton about receiving personal revelation. the spirit truly

can guide us in everything that we do if we just commit to the lord to

follow eVerything that he asks. sometimes that can be rEal difficult,

but that's the thing, it requires complete trust in our heavenly

father and jesus chRist. as soon as we put our trust in them the

spirit will teach us the things that the lord wants us to do. if we

follow those promptings then the Lord will reveal more to us, then if

we follow those we will receive more and more until we are entirelY

being lead by the spirit in all things. the scriptures teach this

perfectly, in 2 nephi 28:30, it says, "blessed are those who hearken

unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for THey shall

learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth i will give more; and from

them that shall say, we have enough, from them shall be taken away

even that which they have." this is how the lord works, by giving us

little by little so that we are always able to progress. so lately i

have been trying really hard to lIsten to the small promptings of the

spirit so that someday i can be led by the spirit iN all of my

missionary work. it really was such a great meetinG.

besides that we have just been working so hard to find new

investIgators. we keep finding people that seem really promiSing but

then the completely dissapear. if only they knew how incredibly

vAluable this message truly is. but i know that as we continue to Work

hard and follow that spirit that leads us to do good then wE will find

those who will receive us. i love this work so much and sharing it

makes me feel so amazing. my japaneSe is still very choppy but man i

can't tell you how many times the wOrds have just flown out of my

mouth when i need to be bold in testifying about soMething. it really

is so amazing. well i love you all and hope that you have a great

weEk!

elder allred

Our Zone Training Meeting Crew