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 🐙

Week 74 Sennan: フォースと共にあれ (group)

Hey you guys,

This last week was a really great one. We worked hard and saw more and more miracles. One of the biggest this week was a friend and new investigator who we met this week named Tomo. We found him doing a Family History survey at a busy train station. He was standing in the smoking room with a bunch of other guys smoking, I felt like I should run over and talk to all the guys in there so I went and asked if they would take a survey about families. One of them was Tomo who was the only one in there who took the survey, and though he was not interested in coming to our weekly Family History class, as he was walking away I stopped him to talk about the other things we do and teach as missionaries. It turns out he was interested in coming to church. He ended up coming to Stake Conference, and though he told us that he hardly understood a single thing that was said, left saying that he had never thought about God up to that point in his life, but now after that meeting he feels like God is definitely there. What a blessing it is to play a part in the Eternal Salvation of God's children. Though it is evident that this is not our work and that all things are happening by divine design, it is such a Joy to be an instrument in the Hands of the Lord. I feel so often like Ammon who said, "12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things...for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." (Alma 26:12,35)

Well I am so grateful for your Love and Support. Have a wonderful week!

フォースと共にあれ

Elder Allred

 

This is me with a needle in my neck because our Zone Leader is a

professional acupuncturist. (Notice how there is not yet a bald spot

on the back of my head 😅)

 

Week 73 Sennan: Character of Christ

皆さま、

This was an incredible week! We saw so many miracles and I got to stay in this amazing area for another transfer with my Australian mate, Elder Cotterall. We can tell that this is going to be a great transfer. The members are getting so pumped about missionary work and prepared people are being found left and right. This Sunday was an especially great day. We came to church and there were 3 investigators there including a referral brought by a less active that has recently come back to church. It was so awesome to be able to teach them after Sacrament meeting and help them recognize that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them. They were all able to recognize times in there lives when they have felt God's and the Spirit. The referral also is really wanting to follow God and set up a time for us to meet this week. After church we went to a busy train station and just started talking to everyone. Including this guy, who we are pretty sure was drunk, who stopped for us and started to ask where we were from and what we were doing in Japan. Once he read our badge he screamed, "Oh no, Jesus Christ?" And started running away, then stopped and turned back and shouted this time in English, "I am Buddha" and then continued to run away. I love streeting. We then had to run through the back streets of Japan searching for a guy's apartment in the dark who we set up a lesson with over the phone. It was dark but we eventually found it. It was a great lesson and he said that he wants to continue meeting. We then ran through the back roads to another train station and felt like we should stop and a dropped investigator's house. We were able to meet that investigator and found out that he has been trying to read the Book of Mormon and wants to

meet up to talk about it. We exchanged contact info and ran the rest of the way to the station where we met several more people who were really interested in our English Class. We finally got back to the apartment and ended the day. It was an awesome Sunday full of meeting prepared people. I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father and for His work that I have the blessing to be apart of. I'm excited for another week of 伝道. Have a great week!

愛しています！

Elder Allred

Volunteering at the 餅つき

English Class Senseis

The Allred Family Code of Arms (Found on Family Search)

Me and Hashibou

Week 72 Sennan: ごめんね 😬

This week I unfortuately have no time to send a nice well thought out email, so I will describe my week using pictures...

We cleaned the apartment!

We did a family history survey at the train station.

We organized a kid's English class!

I got my hair cut:)

Last District Meeting of the transfer!

I became a man this P-Day at the Japanese Coming of Age ceremony

Week 71 Sennan: あけましておめでとうございます！

あけましておめでとうございます！

Wow, I cannot believe that another year has passed by and that it is already 2018. My mind is blown at how quickly the number of transfers I have been out is rising. I read in my journal the other day about what I was doing this time of year last year and it was crazy to see how the difference in how much I knew language wise and Gospel wise. I was humbled to see how even though I was very scared and nervous at that time, the Lord was shaping me into the missionary I am here today one year later, and I know that he is yet shaping me to grow and progress and repent so that I can come to rely on him more each day. I love my mission so much and I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the places I have served, the companions I have had, the friends I have made, the language mess-ups I have performed, the trials I have faced, the prayers that have been answered, the miracles that have been seen, and most of all the Love that has been felt, from the Lord, towards the Lord, and towards others. I have realized that the more I learn the more I realized that I can't do this on my own. It is not me who performs this work. My responsibility is but to allow our Heavenly Father to work through me by being obedient and seeking His will. I have been blessed to work among so many incredible examples of love, leadership and diligence and I hope that this next year I can continue to rid myself of pride and humble myself ever further before my Savior and King.

It was a great week and we were able to meet with one our investigators several times and have some great lessons. He is progressing so fast and I really hope that he receives an answer to his prayers soon and decides to be baptized and follow Christ. We also met a couple cool new potential investigators. One of which was a high school kid who's name is 海風 which literally means Ocean wind. He is pretty cool. He is a High School kid who lives alone as a 16 year old. When we saw him he was dressed from head to toe in red, including his hair. You can imagine how I approached him. I called out to him and said, "Whoa, you are all red! I am also Allred." He then looked at my red and black jacket and said, "No, you are half red." We laughed and started a conversation. He told me how his favorite color is red and laughed when I told him mine was green. We talked about questions of the soul and finding direction in life through Christ and he gave us his contact information and said that he would be interested in meeting again. It was a fun contact, and I look forward to meeting him again. We met many more cool people this last week too. It is so fun being able to meet so many different people who have never thought or cared about Christ, and then getting the opportunity to be the first person to tell them how important He is in their life, and how He is their Savior. Being a missionary is the best. I can't wait to continue to be one going into 2018. I love you all and hope that you have the greatest year of your life this year. Make it the best.

 

良いお年を！

Elder Allred

New Years Dinner with Hasegawa Kyoudai

Christmas KFC

More Pictures from the Christmas Party