Week 96 Senri: Takayama Kyoudai’s Baptism

Hello everyone!
It was another great week in Senri. We were able to have a lot of meaningful interactions with our investigators and also several members. We are spending a day a week with one of the Members who are preparing to serve a mission in Boston and it has been way fun and a great experience working with him and teaching people about the Gospel he will be preaching for the next 2 years. Another big highlight this week was Takayama Kyoudai’s Baptism in Sennan. I was so grateful that I was able to go and see it. It touched me when I met him again after so long and saw how truly converted he is. I teared up when I saw him sitting on the front row crying during the musical number and then Itsuku Kyoudai (A less active who was reactivated recently who I became good friends with while I was in Sennan) moved to the seat next to him and put his arm around him and cried himself. He is going to be such a great member, and also his mother came to his baptism and was very touched as well by his testimony and the beautiful musical number that was done before the ordinance. Weeks like these do so much to remind me what missionary work is all about. I love my Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart and I want to be a better representative of His infinite Love. 
頑張りましょう！
I love you all and am so grateful for all of your support!

Elder Allred

I only have this picture of my and Sato Bishop but I will get the Baptismal photos and send them next week! 😅

Week 95 Senri: Hot and Humid

It was a great week this last week. It has been getting really hot and

humid, but we have been finding good new potential investigators and

working a lot with one of the youth in Senri ward who has recently

received his mission call and so we have been taking him out to find

and teach and to do the Book of Mormon Challenge. We were able to give

out a bunch of Book of Mormons this last week and Dayley Chōrō and I

have now given out 53 copies of the Book of Mormon as a companionship.

It has been a couple pretty miraculous transfers working together with

him and they have been filled with growth both as an area and

individually. I am so grateful for the blessing that he has been in my

life and for the friendship that we have made.

We have been working with some pretty great investigators and are

excited to see them progress and a couple of them are almost for sure

going to be baptized next transfer and we have been so blessed to be a

part of their progression and to be able to make the friendships that

we have been able to. I am reading the Book of Mormon from the

beginning again looking for attributes of the Character of Christ and

have had some great Personal Studies and learned some things that I

really need to do better. I just want so badly to become a true

disciple of Christ and be filled with Charity and continually

strengthen and lift and minister to those around me. I fall subject to

the Natural man far too often and need to rely more fully on the

Atonement of Christ to give me the strength to put off the Natural man

and become a Saint (Mosiah 3:19). I love this Gospel so much and hope

with all my heart that those we are teaching will receive it and allow

it to fill their lives with Joy and Light. I’m so grateful for each of

you and pray that you are all doing well. Have a fantastic week!

Elder Allred

Elder Daley and me with one of our investigators and a visitor from the states

Skype Meeting in a digital Missionary Age

Week 94 Senri: 安全第一

Hey Everyone!
I am way sorry that I was not able to get an Email off last week, I unfortunately ran out of time and wasn’t able to write one. But I am going to repent and write one this week.

This last week was full of great steps of progress for some investigators and some disappointing setbacks for others. We had a couple of our investigators with a baptismal date that decided that they weren’t as willing to be baptized as they had thought and we have been deeply disappointed by their decisions, but we look forward with hope for those of our other Investigators whose commitment to follow the Savior is deepening as they take more steps towards making that covenant of Baptism. Besides that we are trying harder to work more with members and help them fulfill a new goal that they have as Senri ward, to get a church building in Mino that can be much closer to all of the Members and will be easier to invite friends and less active members to attend. They have said that in order to accomplish that goal we are going to need 30 more active members than we now have. So we are going to do everything that we can to progress towards that Goal. We are excited to talk with the Ward Mission Leader about what steps and actions we are going to take in order to achieve this goal that will bless this ward so much. 

I also got in a little crash this last week but was miraculously scratch free for the most part. Despite the high speeds at which we were biking all I had was a couple of bruises and a cut on my knee. #Miracles #NotInjuryProne 

Love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week!

Elder Allred

This was the immediate aftermath of my crash (notice that my backpack is lodged into my front tire and that my back tire was actually the one that ended up on top of me.) 

Note to self: no more adjusting my backpack while riding #安全第一

Week 93 Senri: Registration

Due to BYU registration Elder Allred didn't have time to send out a group letter.  He did send a couple of pictures:

Funny hats with bad English 😂 

One of the missionaries drew this rendition of the Plan of Salvation

Week 92 Senri: Book of Mormon Week

Hello!

It was a fantastic week here in Senri. As a Zone we did a Book of

Mormon week where we challenged all of the missionaries to see how

many copies of the Book of Mormon they could give out in a week. At

the end of the week we had given out 83 copies of the Book of Mormon

as a zone! It was so amazing all of the effort that all of the

missionaries put into finding a teaching people about the Book of

Mormon and answering their questions of the soul with the Word of God.

So many miracles were seen and it was truly a happy week. It is

incredible to see the scripture be fulfilled that says, “My sheep hear

my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” (John 10:27). We are

excited to hear what happens as each of the missionaries continue to

teach and invite those that have found and have followed the voice of

the Good Shepherd.

Our investigators are also looking really good. A lot of them are

coming to church each week and making great progress towards Baptism.

We are excited to continue to nourish them as we continue to find more

who are ready to come unto Christ. This last week we did a Flyer hand

out activity as a District and started doing the Book of Mormon

Challenge and were able to give out several Book of Mormons and also a

person came up to us and recognized us as missionaries and told us how

he had met with missionaries before he had moved to Japan and wants to

meet with us again. The miracles that we are seeing make it so clear

that God is at the head of this work and that we are but instruments

in His hands. I love being a missionary so much, it scares me to watch

time fly by. I hope you all have a great week!

愛しています！

Elder Allred

Last P-day Elder Dayley, Shingo Kyoudai (a member in Senri ward), and I went up to Minoo Waterfall.

Week 91 Senri: Missionary Menu

ハロー！
What a week of revelation and inspiring instruction. Elder Renlund came to our mission and did a Conference with our whole mission and brought us tons of encouragement and love. He also did a Nation wide broadcast for members and missionaries and told all of us how we could better work together to see tons of miracles and success. I am so excited to do as he invited and make our Ward a Missionary Menu with the Ward Mission Leader that they can peruse for ideas and make an order of the activities that are the most applicable to them in their specific circumstances and according to their taste. It is sure to cook up some mean miracle meals (...my jokes are going downhill...).

The Zone has also been looking really good this transfer. All of the District leaders are really working hard and have big visions and goals for how they are going to bless and strengthen their districts this transfer. We are seeing and are excited to continue to see many mighty miracles occur here in the Kita Osaka Zone.

We also had a great week here in Senri. Sunday was especially wonderful with 4 Investigators coming to church and all of them staying for the full 3 hour program. As we taught them at church it seemed very clear that all of them were definitely going to be Baptized and continue on down the path to Eternal life. It is such a blessing to be apart of their Gospel Journey and I am so excited to see them take that step of Faith and enter into the waters of Baptism. I am so grateful for the blessing that it is to be working here this transfer. I love the Work of God! I hope that you all have a fabulous week this week!

有難う御座います！

Elder Allred

I took lots of pictures from last weeks Preparation Day to Osaka Castle

Week 90 Senri: Mother Dear I Love You So

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Mother’s Day means Family Skype Calls!

I love my family so much and I am so grateful for the blessing it is to have such an amazing family! I have learned so much from them and feel so much love and support from them. The calls are just too short to be able to express just how much they all mean to me. Tell your families how much they mean to you. Show your families how much they mean to you. I am so grateful that families can be together forever! I hope that you and all your mothers and all your families have a wonderful week! Love you all!

Elder Allred