6/7/10

Brinlee, DRIVING?!?!?! AHH! I'm glad I sold my Bimmer. haha.

I got the great opportunity to translate for someone in line at the grocery store because the clerk didn't speak any Spanish. Kind of fun to be able to do that.

This week, the Lord hooked us up phat! We were sitting in the hall yesterday waiting to fill the font and a man came up to us and asked if we were skipping out on something or what we were doing. We told him we had a baptism so we were waiting for the rooms to get empty -- He said "Well, I'm supposed to visit the High Priests, but I feel like I should just talk with you 4 (the Spanish Elders)." So he sat down with us, he had a full head of white hair and a very inviting and friendly smile. He said "I'm Brother Hilbig, I've served as mission president and in the 70 and so on, but I feel like I should talk to you Elders." What he DIDN'T tell us, is that he is CURRENTLY serving in the first q. of the 70! So we got a 1-1 hour lesson basically about missionary work and revelation from Elder Hilbig of the 70! How crazy is that! It was such a neat experience. He asked me to offer the prayer at the end as well. He was such a kind and gentle man, his language was eloquent and easy to understand; hopefully I'll end up like him! It was really neat.

I bore my testimony in the branch yesterday and it went really well, strangely well in fact. I got up there and my mouth just started speaking all this crazy spanish I didn't even know. Subjunctives and correct pronoun placements. It was insane! I got done and after the meeting 3 people came up to me and said "Your spanish has gotten so much better, what did you do?!" haha. I think what helped me was when I was Senior comp in Hartford for the day last Tuesday. We taught a lesson to a Puerto Rican lady named Elva. She speaks and understands 0 English. So when Elder Winfield wanted to teach, I would translate for him, so I translated for a solid 30 minutes. Then, two weeks ago, I had the chance to speak to a members mother for an hour and a half. It's amazing how much just speaking it helps and having them correct me as we go. But my testimony was almost flawless. One member said "Wow, by the time you get home you'll be a pro!" So that was a big plus for me. I feel like I can understand and speak better when I'm NOT around Elder Urrutia because I think my brain turns off sometimes and lets me use him as a crutch more than a help.

Dunia Guadalupe Romero got baptized yesterday! After 4 years, she finally decided to get dunked! It was so great, we really got through to her this time and let her know she is ready. I even told her if she stops drinking coffee, I'll stop drinking Inca Kola. So far, I'm dry still! haha. And more importantly, she is baptized! I absolutely love Dunia and her 7 year old daughter Daniela. They hold a special place in my heart, she reminds me of myself. She didn't want to get baptized and end up being a hypocrite; so I told her how I fought that as well and how I overcame those feelings. She agreed and then... She decided to get baptized.

This week was the Puerto Rican Day parade on Park Street... We got to watch an insane group of Boricuans outside our balcony all night as they drove by on their scooters and cars holding flags and screaming and yelling all night long. It was really funny, until I was trying to sleep. But it was SUCH an interesting night. It's one of those things you look back on and go "oh man, here's a sweet mission story." It was really a blast. The people were insane! We almost saw a few car / scooter accidents. Good times.

The other Elders decided to pull a prank and put our bed in our study room. Really annoying at the time. Really funny now though.

Not much else, last week of transfers this week so we'll see what happens! I hope all is well at home, I love all of you -- I'm praying for you and hope the Lord is blessing you. Have you handed out that Book of Mormon yet?

I love you
-Elder Allred

6-1-10

This week has been pretty sweet! Not too much exciting news, but no bad news either -- so it's been great! Rosa Lozano dropped her baptismal date, I almost cried, I was pretty bummed out. Everything was going so well and then BOOM Satan got to her. But! She went to the english ward with a friend from school and her friend is a recent convert, her name is Katie. Katie asked her about it and Rosa said "I just don't feel ready, I feel nervous." Katie responded "I felt that same way... Rosa, You're ready, get baptized." WOO! Back on track! Members are so important for the conversion it's insane!!

Last Sunday the South Elders had a baptism of a lady named Shirley. She wanted an older man in the branch to do it (we're not sure why) and it was the most interesting baptism I've ever been to. It was his first time and of course, hers as well. He finished the prayer and she wouldn't really let him tip her back, she started chanting "Gracias Senor" as she was kneeling down into the water and she wouldn't hold her nose, so people start saying "Nariz Nariz Nariz!!!" (only in the spanish branch would people yell in a baptism). So President Pehrson said "Have them do it again." So he did the prayer and Elder Pacheco tried to talk them through it, as she is KNEELING once again She is saying to Elder Pacheco "Si, Hermanito, Si." And finally, after the 4th time, the older man just DUNKED her, face first! hahahaha. It was so great. Everything ended up fine, she was happy, he was happy -- and of course, everything went ok in the end.

Dunia Vazquez, an investigator of 4 years is GETTING BAPTIZED! We talked with her and then put it down! We said "Dunia, we feel you are ready to be baptized, June 6th we will be holding a baptism, will you prepare yourself for this date?" And she agreed! The whole branch is excited because she's basically a member anyway. We have been keeping in contact as much as possible and always repeat the words "Le Queremos!" We're really excited for that. She is from Mexico and we have noly taught her twice in the past. But I have always had a great interest in her because she seems so great. So I feel like Elder Urrutia and I just came in at the right time.

Today we are on exchanges and Elder Urrutia is up in Windsor with Elder Furness. So ELder Winfield and I are here holding down the spanish North of Hartford. Of course, Elder Winfield is an english speaking elder so I've gotten some great practice so far. Last night we went and did some contacts -- I'm amazed at how much spanish I actually know! It's been great practice for me and I'm excited to continue the day.

On Sunday I talked to Geannina's mom for about an Hour and a half. Jim is white and Geannina is from Peru, they're a younger couple in the branch. Geannina was baptized with her mom 3 years ago and Jim is an RM from the LV English mission. So communication for them at the beginning was interesting haha. Geannina, her mother, and I talked just about whatever came up. Why I'm out here, our families, her divorce, my parents divorce, the church, hobbies, etc. It was amazing practice! So I have been really grasping spanish a lot lately. It's going great!

Well that's about all the time I have for today, we have an apt at 11. Did you pay off my credit card yet? There is an outstanding balance on my card for $50 unless you and my dad paid it off (shoes). Everything is going well, I can't really think of anything I need -- just more prayers.

I love you all and I appreciate your love and prayers.

May 24, 2010

Not too much has happened this week to be honest. We set up a baptismal date with Rosa though for June 13th, so we're pretty excited about that! Last night we had a musical fireside which went really well, the missionaries did a great job and invited the spirit well.

5-3-10

Not too much happened this week, but we had a great lesson with Rosa! Rosa seems like she has some problems that make her want to be closer to God, which is good! She is coming along great. I think she could be our next baptism.

We had transfers this week and it looks like I'm staying in Hartford! I'm really excited about that. I really didn't want to leave, so I'm glad Elder Urrutia and I will be here for another transfer! I'll be hitting my 6 month mark in Hartford, boy time flies. My 5 month mark is on the 9th -- can you believe it?!?

Yesterday we had a cool experience. The 4 of us Elders in Hartford went to an apartment complex to meet with a potential investigator, who boached us. But as we were walking down the stairs a mexican lady, about 25 or so walked out of her apartment to grab something, we stopped her and asked if she had a few minutes. Her name, strangely, is Daysi! Her husband is Samuel and they have a 2 year old daughter named Angelica. They are both Mexican and we shared a great first lesson with them. They are both catholic and Samuel seems to be at least well versed enough in the bible to understand that it doesn't hurt to give things a try! We shared the message of the restoration and the spirit was really strong. They even gave us some pepsi as we walked out the door. Seems silly, but we have found that with the Hispanic families, if they want to give you something as you leave it's because they appreciate you and want to repay you somehow. They are so humble and usually really poor, but they always want to give us something! The families that give you something are the families that you want to keep teaching.

We had Stake conference this week and we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Condie. Elder Condie gave a great talk about Temples and how important they are to us and how important they are to our marriages. I'm hoping a lot of the spanish branch listened because a lot of them aren't temple married. It's odd to see so many solid, active members that aren't endowed! President Pehrson spoke about the Book of Mormon and how every member needs to share the gospel. It was great! He said "if anyone says you're not christian, go to Mosiah 3. And to share it, use the last two paragraphs from the introduction." It's our job to share the gospel, even not as missionaries. I firmly believe that whether you are sharing the gospel just as a regular old member, or have a calling to help you do so, sharing the gospel is the one thing that keeps people firm in the church. The missionaries that come home and fall away are the ones that think they are "done" with their work, they don't need to share anymore. That's when they get into trouble.
So, I challenge you and Scott to give away 1 Book of Mormon this month to a friend that isn't a member! You don't need to convince them of anything, just explain why and how it helps you -- and give them the book!

The package sounds great. I'm glad you insured it, I'll try to be home today to receive it, apparently Elder Burbidge didn't receive a package two weeks ago -- but our neighbors might have :/ So I'm going to stay home and wait for the mail the next few days.

Could you have Brinn send some pictures from my 'July Riding' album on facebook? Elder Meira wants to see them!
What's meggs new address again?
Not much else happened this week, Les amo!
Talk to you soon! :D

-Elder Connerdude

4/26/10

This week has been pretty slow! We're trying to find new investigators that actually want to hear the message now and transfers are coming up next sunday. So we'll see if I get moved or not. I doubt I will, but we'll see! Our most interested investigator right now is Stephanie. She is 21 Years old, has a 2 year old daughter and one on the way. We ran into her at the bus stop and gave her a BoM and then the next day, she was walking out of a nail salon and a car jumped the curb and hit her! Her 2 year old went flying about 5 feet in the air and she rolled over the car, broke her nose, and lost her two front teeth. She has them in now, cause they were able to find them, but her nose is a little swollen still. Amazingly, NOTHING happened to her baby or 2 year old! All is well!

We called her the other day and she said "Wow! it was a miracle you talked to me. The next day this and this happened and in the hospital all I had with me in my purse was your book. Can you guys come over sometime? Is that ok?" haha, we said "Of course that's ok!" so we went over the next day. She seems really interested and she's a total sweetheart. Her mom even invited us over for dinner sometime! Her sister, Nemesis (19) is also going to start sitting in on our lessons. It's going really great with them!

Rosa is our next closest I'd say. Flor is a recent convert from Peru and she lives with her sister Rosa, brother, mom Vilma, and dad. Vilma has been taking our lessons and likes it, but won't be baptized unless all her kids want to. She doesn't want to rip the family apart. Randomly, a girl in the english ward started talking to Rosa at school and Rosa said "if you go with me I'll talk to the missionaries." so Kayla told us about this, I talked to Flor (who is ecstatic) and we're having a lesson with Rosa, Kayla, Vilma, and Flor this Thursday! So that should be great! It was pretty funny because when we talked to Rosa about this, we were visiting with Flor at the time so we were there in person. Rosa started talking about how she is getting ready for senior prom etc and I said "I never went to my senior prom!" and Rosa looked at her friend, then me, then her friend, then looked at me again and said "Will you take me to prom!??!!" hahaha. I got asked to prom on my mission! haha. It was hilarious. We explained how we aren't allowed to even hug girls or anything. Needless to say, she was a little bummed out to find out she still has to go with the guy that asked her. haha. It was a pretty funny moment though, she was dead serious -- how funny.

Did I tell you a girl named Fiorella Munoz might call? She is a member here, she's 20 and she is going to school in Utah but she's on vacation here with her family for a little. She may call because she likes photography and needs to find a cheap SLR. So I gave her you and Scott's number. I figured you two could help her out.

April 19, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad

Sunday Morning: We walked outside and Elder Urrutia says "Hey, I opened the car." and Elder Barney says "No... you didn't. Someone else did." I walked down the steps to find our passenger side window blown open and all our stuff was rummaged through. Yet... Nothing was taken. Awesome. Sunglasses, CD's, cables, everything -- still there. They could have at LEAST stolen a few Books of Mormon and DVDs!!! I mean, Come On!! So that was a bummer to have to clean up. It's frustrating because they didn't take anything! So basically they just made a mess and left it for us so we could be late to church... awesome.

The Baptism: Everything went great! I was a little stressed out because we started filling the font about a half hour later than what we had hoped for, but it was finished before we started (we started 6:00pm, Mexico Time (6:45) So, that's one time the latin schedule has helped me! The water was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. It felt really cool to get in there and basically teach her how to be baptized. I feel that's probably how you felt when you were baptizing me. I changed at about 5:50 and everyone said "Allred! tu esta un angelito!" haha, I love being in my white clothes, makes me wish I could visit the temple. We had about 5 member families there, and all together there were 51 people there -- mostly investigators! Awesome!! Daisy invited a TON of people, so it was great. We started with an opening hymn, Soy un Hijo de Dios and then we had Elder Pacheco give the opening prayer. Elder Urrutia gave a talk, which was interesting -- I felt like he was a little harsh about how true our church is compared to others. I could feel a little tension, maybe that was just me though. Of course, not that ours isn't true -- but it's a pretty bold step to flat out tell 45 people that they are wrong haha. But it went well, we only had 5 people talk over him during his talk! hahahaha. Very different.

After his talk we entered the water! We had showed her how to hold and what to do but she was obviously a little excited so she was trying to hold my hand or something haha so I just grabbed her hand and placed my hand on her wrist. She then tried to go under right away! I whispered to her what to do though and just told her to relax, I'll do everything. It's interesting how if the person doing the baptizing is calm, it really helps the person that is being baptized. So I said the prayer "Daysi Roman, habiendo sido comisionado por Jesucristo, yo te bautizo en el nombre del Padre y del Hijo y del Espiritu Santo." and she yells out "AMEN!" and I say amen and we dunked her! haha. It was great! After we changed we had Elder Wesson sing "When I am Baptized" he's an english speaking elder, but he did it for them in spanish, then in english -- he's a fantastic singer so it really hit everyone to the soul.

We had an investigator there named Ruth-Sally. She's the south spanish elders investigator and she's 20 years old. Apparently last night her parents decided they hate each other and just left her house. She got pretty emotional and we were able to give her a blessing. She has had a rough past and it's amazing how much I see myself in her. I can really see the change, too. Her desire is so true, it's amazing. I talked to her last night about how it was for me when two split up and how it really does get better! I hope it helped her. I honestly think her parents splitting is a blessing. Her parents are VERY pentecostal and didn't want her to go to another church, they'd kick her out (like me buying a bullet bike) so I think now, it will be easier for her to get baptized. The Lord knows what he's doing! I also told her about BYU Utah and how it's pretty cheap for members etc. I think the best thing for her would be to get out of CT. It's really scary how much we take Utah for granted. It really is a safe haven. CT is very rough, but if she can just get to Utah, the sun shines there -- there is always someone around, the church is so organized and strong. I hope she takes that into serious consideration. I even said yesterday "I miss Utah." It is so safe there. I love Utah so much.I can't wait to build my own family there... speaking of which.

How interesting it is to baptize someone. I really think it's like having a child. You give this person a whole new life, and all you can really do is help them make right choices and pray that they continue to have the faith that they had at their baptism. I constantly worry about Daysi, not that I don't think she can do it, but it's like -- you know the blessings!! You don't want them to make mistakes again! Just stay strong in the church! PLEASE! It's hard because she's 48 years old, I am not related to her, I can't force her, she has her agency. But I pray each night that she will be able to have the faith in her life always to follow Christ.

Well, I'm really excited to see how my scrapbook is coming along! Julie can add a baptism sticker now! I am so thankful that she is doing that for me, it really means a lot. There is NO WAY I could do that myself out here, so it really is amazing that she finds the time to do that for me. Make sure you express my thanks to her for me.

There is a family here, the Munoz family. Their daughter is a temple square missionary and their other daughter is going to LDS Business College. They are from Peru and have a little less money than most. They really only speak spanish, but I hope it's ok I gave their daughter (can't remember her name right now) your phone # and address in case she needs anything. She is really nice, so she may call or visit sometime. She is going to be in CT for the next 4 months though for a vacation -- but other than that, she lives in Utah.

Well, not much else is going on here. Weather is good, Park Street is still ghetto, and The Church is still true.

I love you guys and miss you. If there's anything I have learned out here is that you can always be an example, but the desire to change is made in a persons own heart. I love this place! Oh! And I was told TWICE this week, that I DO NOT have a Gringo accent! Woooo! Pretty excited about that. haha. I guess the blessings that President Smith gave me are true! well, Love you

-Elder Condork Allred

Pix: Elder Meira, Elder Pacheco (in sunglasses) , "take that central elders", Daysi's baptism(3 shots), Chillin', roof by our apt.

4-12-10

So, this week we are starting to plan out Daysi's baptism! She wants me to dunk her, too! I'm pretty excited about that. So we have a lot to plan, but I'll be sending some pictures home of us in white! Woo!

Last night we had a fireside at President Pehrson's house and it went great. I was able to finally show off my spanish to President Pehrson, which seems to be coming along great (according to him) haha. I'm having a lot of fun, and Every day seems to fly. I don't really have Much else to say this week, it's been pretty plain. But I forgot my camera today so I'll send some other pictures next week. Love you! Cuidate!