It's great to hear from you all again.  It sounds like you all had great week.

I'd like to thank you all for your prayers.  It's honestly quite a testimony of the power of prayer because I honestly feel a ton better this week and we had an amazing week with a few very powerful miracles.

So last Sunday we had the baptismal interview for Rebecca, and everything turned out really well with her and her family.  But Daniel had a much harder time.

He was supposed to have his interview on Tuesday in the morning, but thanks to a certain secretary in the offices of the mission nobody had told anybody that President was going to come Tuesday for zone conference.  President Ramirez personally informed the zone leaders on Tuesday at 8:30 he was going to get here at 10:00.  I suppose it was the spirit that told him to warn us because the secretary called at about 9:50 to tell the zone leaders.  President Ramirez would have been there all alone.  So we moved the baptismal interview for in the evening of Tuesday.

We did splits and my companion stayed here with Elder Baldwin to do the interview.  They called us that evening to tell us that Daniel was not able to go the baptismal interview. He has family that lives in Mexico City and he was worried about them.  He also had some very strong family opposition to his baptism.  The didn't want to let him get baptized.  So we thought it was all over.

Wednesday we went to visit him with a brother (was the high priest group leader, but after yesterday he's now 1st counselor in the bishopric) called Moises.  He and Daniel are kinda friends.  So we got there and started to talk a bit.  We asked a few questions and then Moises started telling him that if he really wants to get baptized than he should do it.  He started to talk a bit about sacrifice and love and a whole bunch of stuff. Daniel started crying, we asked him if  he wanted to get baptized he said yes. We asked when and he said Saturday. So we planned an interview for Saturday morning. He passed and was also baptized on Saturday.  It was a great experience and he feels super great.  He and Rebecca were confirmed in church yesterday and then the bishop interviewed him and they ordained him as a priest. It was super crazy and we are super happy for him.

We also had a great activity on Friday. We did just about everything to get everything ready because none of the members got there remotely on time.  But it all turned out great.  Everybody loved it and it taught a great lesson.  Hopefully next time a few non-members can come.  We did call it a Missionary activity, but I guess the members didn't get the hint that this means that they should bring a friend or 2 or 10.  

Alberto is struggling a lot, but hopefully this week we can help him to change and to really understand and apply the doctrine.  He didn't make it to church yesterday, but at least he made it to the baptism.

We have a few other investigators that we are working with but nobody that really stands out a ton.  Hopefully one or two of them can progress next week.  Some of the names with the most potential are Soraida, Rosaura, Valentin, and maybe we keep trying to find Luciana again. but she´s impossible to find in her house.

Thank you all for your help and your prayers.  We were super busy again this week but I felt a ton better.  I had an extra energy and I hope that we can maintain that energy this week.

I love you all

Elder Brady Allred

So this week was pretty crazy.  I went to Carrera yesterday in splits so that a missionary from there could come to our ward so that an investigator could come to church without being too scared.  It was really weird to go back to my old area.  A lot of memories came back.  It made me a lot more grateful for the great area that I have and all of the awesome members that help us so much with the work.

Alberto is doing pretty well.  He is working on stopping drinking and smoking still.  He didn't want to go to church yesterday because he didn't feel too good.  We visited him last night and today his goal is to make it the whole day without drinking anything, and he's only going to smoke 2 cigarettes.  It's a long and difficult process.

Rebeca and Daniel are still going to get baptized on Saturday.  Daniel wasn't here this weekend but tomorrow we are going to have his interview and then on Saturday the baptism with the other ward in the building.  I think it will all go over well.

Tambien estamos enseñando a una hermana que se llama Luciana.  Esperamos que ella pueda progreasar

We have been living a super crazy life and it is starting to wear me down.  I need your prayers a lot right now.  I'm sorry that time already ran out.  I didn't really write all that much, but that is how my life has been right now.  We do a lot and it's hard to get everything done.

I love you a lot and love to hear from you, hopefully I can tell you more next week.

I love you all a ton.

Elder Brady Allred

This week was pretty good.  And considering what other places are experiencing it was a really good week. 1. We did not feel the earthquake.  2.  It rained for about 10 minutes and then stopped.  It was one little cloud, it did rain hard but 10 minutes and it was more than over.  And in future events in which you hear about hurricanes don't worry about me while i'm in Victoria.  We have a few mountains around us and we'll only ever get water, and we live in the second story so you don't have to worry about that.  They tell us a few hours before at what time we have to guard ourselves in our houses (only for the "tropical storms" not whatever rain) so don't even worry about us.

It's also been hot here.  But we're getting used to it.

Our stake is now the Garden Park Stake?  Sounds like you had some great messages in the stake conference.  Don't forget what you learned, and keep applying it to your lives.

We have been working a lot with Rebecca and she is now  progressing better.  She and her family are changing a bit, and right now we are hoping that she can pray to know that The Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  Hopefully she can do that one of these days and if she does then we will have her interview Saturday and her baptism next week end.

Daniel came to church yesterday and if he can make it to church next Sunday then we will also baptize him the 23rd.  We are excited for a double baptism with the other ward in our ward building.

Alberto is struggling a bit because last week one of his friends died a very sad death.  He really struggled last week, but yesterday he came to church and hopefully God can show his hand in his life to help him come out of these struggles.  We are trying to be there as much as we can for him, and trying to help him remember Christ in all of these struggles.

We are looking for more people to teach.  I have started looking for the spirit more these days and i'm really seeing the changes in what I do and what I say and how I feel.

Thank you for all that you do.  I love you so much.  Thank you so much.  I can't wait to hear from you next week.

I love you 

Elder Brady Allred

Today it finally rained.  It has been cloudy for about 3 weeks straight, but it never wants to rain.  Today it finally let a little water go for about an hour.  It was great and everyone says that now it is going to start to cool down for Winter.  "Cool down" means about 75 degrees, but it's better than 100.

Alberto is doing great in stopping drinking.  He now is only drinking about 1 beer a day, sometimes less.  That's a lot better than the 15 that he drank before.  He started at 10 am before and now he just drinks one sometimes with dinner when it is really hot.  So we are getting there and we are really happy to see the changes that he is making.  I think the cigarette is going to be harder for him, but he's working on it.  We moved his baptism for October 14th, it's far away but that was the day that Alberto wanted because he beleives that he can be done overcoming his problems by that day.  Maria (his mom) is a great support and is helping him a ton.

We are also starting to teach Rebecca.  She is supposedly a member, but according to the church records she never got baptized.  Nobody has a picture, nor written in their journal, nor anything written about what day was the baptism or who was their.  So the good news for us is that we get to teach her again and baptize her.  She is 13 years old and so we are going to try to reactivate her whole family so that this time she can be sure to stay member.  We are planning to teach her everything because honestly she doesn't remember a thing, but we do have a date for the 23rd of September.

Today was super great because we got to play volleyball as a zone.  It's the first time that I've gotten to play since president Ramirez gave us permission.  It was super fun and I really hope that we get to do it again.

This week we are going to have some family nights with some different members, and we hope that they can turn out well so that we can get to know the family members and friends of some of the members of our ward.  Hopefully we can find some new people to teach that way.

We are working really well with the ward and we are also realizing that a lot of times the activities are very under-planned and that really the church meetings need a lot more direction.  But hopefully we can figure out how to do that.

It's great to hear that you are all getting back to school again.  Work hard and don't procrastinate.

I love you all,

Elder Allred

This week was really great.  It's rough getting to the year mark, but now that I'm almost here it's getting easier to get back into the rhythm again.  I bought myself a new pair of shoes and a tie and socks for my "birthday".

 

We are loving this area and Barrio Flores (Flowers Ward).  The members here are super great and they are really willing to help us with the missionary work and to organize and plan great ward activities.  We decided to plan one for in September and we are hoping to have a lot of members and investigators come.  We are going to preset Lehi's vision, but we are going to do it in a very original way.  We presented the plan yesterday to a committee that we organized and we improved the plan a ton.  Really church committees can get a ton done when they are well organized and have a good direction.

I am really starting to get a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon.  The more problems and stress that I have the more the Book of Mormon helps me to find direction and peace.  As there are more responsibilities in the mission experience more and more I want to read the Book of Mormon and feel the spirit that we can always feel when we read it.

The other day we were talking to a brother named Jaime and he was telling us about all of the problems that he is facing and that everybody wants to give him good advice but that nobody really knows what he is feeling.  I told him that Christ knows how he feels and the way that he can receive Christ's help is by reading his counsels that he gave to the Nephites just after suffering everything that would help him understand us.  In other words Christ suffered and died for us and then after being resurrected he taught to the Nephites the ways to receive his help and his secret for how he passed through our problems.  It was really cool and Jaime committed to start reading the Book of Mormon again.

This week we also worked quite  a bit with Alberto and his mom, Maria.  They are very willing to change their lives and are starting that process.  They have a very rough and personal backstory, but they were very willing to tell us because they really see us as Angels, and believe that we can help them.  It is incredible to believe that two 19 year old young adults who have never had a problem with drinking, smoking, or real life family problems, can help people with all sorts of problems and 3 or 4 times our life experience.  It really strengthens my testimony of the importance of the gospel because it is the Gospel that changes their lives, not us.  We are just the messengers.

Now that school started here too, Steve has disappeared.  We are trying to look for him but it is really hard to find him, except after 10pm, and even at that we may not find him.  And Daniel is also having a hard time in his family and business problems and it is really hard to help him too, because he is moving away from our help in his attempt to fix his problems.  We keep telling him to read the Book of Mormon and he is, but he is really struggling.  but we are there still to help him.

We hope to keep working with Maria and Alberto and hopefully this week we can find a few more people to teach.  We are looking at teaching a sister that got baptized a few years ago but there is not paper or registers or pictures of anything.  And it is not in the computer.  So we are going to have to teach her again.  her name is Rebecca and we are going to try to reactivate her family again and baptize her again.  She is 13 years old and she and her little brother are really fun to work with.  Hopefully she can start to remember what she already knows.

It`s a really great experience to be on a mission.  It is really hard but very worth every effort.  Really I know that this is the true church and that through the ordinances available with the restored priesthood we can find more peace and happiness in our lives.  Really God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son for us.  I know that the Book of Mormon is a true testament of him and that a man can come nearer to God by obeying his precepts than by any other way or book.  I know that all of this is true because I've lived it.  Don't ever forget that God loves you and that he wants to help you get rid of every mistake.  It's not easy, but He will help you.

Thank you for all of your love and support.

Love,

Elder Allred