9-12-11

Madre,

I hope and pray that I am not a quitter as well! haha. I feel like we're doing a lot of good in the ward and helping our members a lot -- but as far as new converts go, there isn't much going on. What should I do? I know what I need to do but it gets harder and harder each day to want to find, know what I mean? I go outside and immediately think "Can't wait to go out and get yelled at." I know we're doing a lot of good, but unless we have appointments I feel like we're just passing time and not really doing much.

Nick didn't show up to church yesterday to receive the Holy Ghost; apparently he was at his cousin's birthday party. Kind of a bummer. Well, a big bummer really. But we had a really good turn-out as far as less-actives go. A lot of our less-active members are coming to church, getting callings, and we actually have two ladies getting their endowment for the first time this Saturday. We're excited for the ward because it seems to be on the upswing.

This week we helped Brother Flint again. His basement needs cement so we dug some holes for him, about 10x4 feet and 4 inches deep so that they could pour the cement. It's nice to do a little manual labor and watch the progress as you go, it's rewarding. We had our weekly visit with them this week and it went well as usual.

Last week we started a Spanish Sacrament meeting which has been really great for the Spanish Speakers in the ward. I really like what the idea is behind it as well. Brother Gonzalez is spear-heading the operation and he has asked that we have a Spanish Sac. Meeting two times a month to help the Spanish Speakers feel comfortable. It's great because the overall goal here isn't just to split off and make a branch, rather to help them feel more comfortable, be able to give talks etc. but at the same time keep them in the ward and have them feel more a part of the ward. So far it has been great, one of the Brothers that hasn't born his testimony in years got up last week and bore his testimony so that was a great experience not only for him but for his family and us as well.

September 11 came and went quickly! To be honest I didn't even realize it was 9/11/11 until we got into our third hour at church. Our Elder's Quorum President, Brother Goguen spoke about it and helped us realize that the world changed that day, but the beautiful thing is that the Gospel never does. The simple truths that we have do not change -- Faith, Repentance, Baptism...

I love you very much and I miss you!

-Elder Conner Allred