I'm a momma!! 😜 January 11, 2016

Dear family and friends,

In the deep woods of mid Oregon, the mist shadowed the ground like a

blanket covering a sleeping child. All was silent, except for the

trees whispering their tales of olden days. The grey light of early

morning was barely upon the world when the rays of the morning sun

burst through mysterious mist. It was the morning of transfers.

For our mission, transfer calls are on the Friday  and Saturday

before. Friday calls are for if you are in leadership, Saturday of you

are a common missionary. Sis Sands is so amazing, and so we all joked

that she would be transferred down to the Eugene area as an STL. So I

figured we would get a call Friday night.

There we were, planning for the next day, on the floor of our

apartment. And then, a call. Guess who? You're right, it was

President! Sis Sands is an STL in Santa Clara. Then my turn. I am

asked to be a follow up trainer for a new missionary!!! So really, I'm

not a mom, but a step mom...hehe. Sis Broadhead is her name and she

came out last transfer, and so I will be finishing training with her.

I am so excited and nervous and happy!!!! There is so much I am going

to learn from her, and I can't wait to see what she can teach me.

That night, I prayed a lot to know how I can do this. I mean, we are

both so new to missionary work ( or maybe she is just stellar) that I

feel like this will be a huge learning curve for both of us. But as I

prayed, I felt like Heavenly Father knew my potential. I felt His love

for me and I knew that all would be alright. As long as I am doing my

best, then we cannot fail. I truly want to be able to have the spirit

with me always and be able to have the courage to follow His

promptings. I have prayed so long and hard to become better, and in

many ways, these are answers to prayers.

Sorry for the longer email! But to finish up, we had many lessons

this past week. I am so grateful for the Spirit and for the power that

He has. The Holy Ghost should be our best traveling companion in this

life, our best friend. He has shared so many hidden treasures of

knowledge; the scriptures make more sense to me because of His help.

He has testified of truth to others, my companion to me. His constant

help and guidance is what gives me the confidence to move forward.

Always strive to have Him there by you.

Love you all! My companion won't be here till after 5, so I won't have

a picture of us together till next week. We are going to conquer the

world! 😎

Love,

Sis Alldredge

"Let's get a can of corn for dinner!" Said no one ever. January 4, 2016

Dear family and friends,

This week, like last, we did lots of finding.

New Year's was super fun. It was a beautiful day, nice and warm and

many people were out. We had district meeting like usual and went to

Mo's for lunch. It was delish! They have the best fish around! 😄

We then went to a member's home and watched the Best Two Years! It was

so funny to watch, especially as missionaries. It is a great movie!!!!

I started driving! First day driving home from dinner, I hit a

raccoon!! Ahh! I didn't mean to! So now my nickname is Keilee the Coon

Killer....then, on Sunday, church was cancelled because all the roads

were iced over.  Of course we didn't know that until we got to church. So

we were sliding all over the road. But we are okay, protected by the

Lord.

We had a few lessons this week with less actives. But one of the most

spiritual lessons was with a recent convert. She wishes to start the

addiction recovery program to overcome some problems. But was we

started, the spirit was so strong, and Sis Sands and I both bore

powerful testimonies of the Atonement. It's amazing to feel the spirit

bear witness of what we say to be true, to ourselves and to those we

teach.

A member took us out to lunch and then to the lighthouse. It was a

wonderful time, I took many pictures. It was a cold day! As for the

subject heading, I told Sis Sands that I wanted to get healthy stuff

today, like a can of corn. Haha, then she said that. She is so

awesome. I'm going to miss her so much.

Sheena is still progressing, but we will have to move her date back.

But that is okay. She is trying so hard to change. Please pray for

her. Pray also for Carmella, she is going through some hard times as

well.

Sorry if this email doesn't make sense- we are at a zone activity

having a nerf gun war. It's super awesome! I love being on a mission!

Love you all! Transfers are coming up! I will have a new companion by

next week! It's super exciting!

Sis Alldredge

Is that the Sun? Oh no, its just a reflection from Arizona.... December 28, 2015

Dear friends and Family,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I can't believe that 2015 is almost over. Its been such an amazing year! I am so lucky to be here on a mission and to share the gospel. I couldn't ask for a better opportunity to grow. :) 

Today the sun came out. It was so blindingly bright that I wished it was raining again. I don't know what I'm going to do when I get back home....

Christmas was wonderful! The day was beautiful, we saw a double rainbow over the ocean. Talking with my family was great. Actually, I think they got more of a hoot out of it because they saw how me and my companion interact with each other. We had a great time spending the day with members, eating food, and talking. We went over to a members and watched Polar Express (we get to watch a movie for Christmas and New Year). It made me feel like I was home as we watched the movie, eating popcorn and hot chocolate and singing along to the songs. 

This week has been really slow. We have tried to contact many people, but most are out of town or don't live there anymore or aren't interested. Funny story, our GPS lead us into this back road near a forest that grows out in the middle of nowhere in Newport. It gets really dark here. As soon as it hits 4:30, lights out. As we drove on this road, out of the darkness loomed these two signs: Do not Enter. We ended up on the wrong side of the road! It ended up that the person we wanted  to contact that their house doesn't exist! That happens quite often...sigh. Oh the joys of missionary work! 

On Sunday, we had a lesson with Sheena. We taught her the Plan of Salvation. As we taught about our life here on earth we taught her about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. She accepted it really well. She will have to make slight changes in her life, but don't we all? I am so proud of Sheena and the progress she has made! She tries everyday to read from the Book of Mormon. She truly wants to become better, to feel peace in her life and to improve her children's lives as well. 

Carmella has been doing wonderful! The ward banded together this Christmas and gave her and her family a gift card. She was so grateful for the gift, as her family had been struggling this year. Truly an answer to prayers! 

These past few days had been a bit rough. Because of the calling I have as a missionary, the Holy Ghost speaks differently to me. Its been hard to recognize and follow the promptings of the Spirit. Much of the skills I had before my mission are gone. Much like making a cake, if the batter is wrong, you have to start from scratch to make a better cake. Heavenly Father is bringing me down, for its the only way I can grow upwards. I have so much to learn. I don't even know all that I will learn in the coming year. But this week, I will strive to be more diligent, to open my mouth, for it shall be filled. I will not worry, for I Trust in Heavenly Father. He will not lead me astray.

I invite all of you to be more diligent. Read the Scriptures. Pray. They are so simple, but we need them! God has something he wishes to tell you: Try to listen. Write down the goals you have for the coming year and the goals he has for you this coming year. I promise that as you do so prayerfully, humbly, He will direct you for good.

I love you all!

Sis. Alldredge

Newport is floating out to sea!! (Said in a Nemo voice) December 21, 2015

Dear friends and family,

Merry Christmas! Man, time flies fast! It's crazy how long I've been

out on my mission. It feels like yesterday that I came out and started

this grand adventure!

So some great things happened this week.

Exchanges happened on Tuesday! I was with Sis Allen. We went up to

Siletz, a small village out by Toledo. It has members, but it takes

about 30 mins to go to church, so there is only one active family out

there. We met with them and then visited Sis Curran, an older woman

who has many struggles lately. You could tell that our visit really

uplifted her. We showed her the video : Why We Need A Savior. I

testified to her of the Atonement of the Savior and how we can rely on

Him. It was great!

It rained so much on Thursday that roads started to slide off the

ground!! Basically like frosting off a cake! Ahh! We were stranded for

like 2 days.....

We had specialized training on Friday! I had my interview with

President Russell.  I talked about my investigators that we are

teaching and he chuckled a bit. He then explained: you know, your

whole countenance changes when you talk about them. It made me so

happy to talk about them and to feel such a deep love for the people

we are teaching. President also said that he can see me training.

Haha...yeah. We shall see. Oh dear..😉

We found a new investigator! Well, actually, she is a former who we

found again. Her name is Paula, she has many questions about the

priesthood and the Book of Mormon. She is reluctant to join a church

because of past experiences. But she loves talking with us and having

us over.

Please pray for Sheena. She has been having medical issues lately, and

we hadn't been able to meet with her lately. But she is still

wonderful and loves to learn more about the gospel.

I am finding more and more that God hears and answers prayers. There

have been so many people that we have met who have prayed to God for

help and we show up. It's amazing. I am so grateful for the Holy

Ghost. There are many people here who have suffered much. And the Holy

Ghost is so important because he leads and guides us to help us be

safe.

Today, I have found that as we focus more on others and less on

ourselves, we forget ourselves. I have such a deep love for the people

we meet. God truly is there. He knows us and knows what we need. Have

faith in Him. Believe that he is and that He knows you. Mosiah 4:9 "Believe in God; blieve that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers!

Sis Alldredge

"I just wanna chop 'em up and fry 'em!" December 14, 2015

             

Hello dear friends and family!!

This week on Saturday was our ward Christmas party!!! 🎉 🎁 🎄 The missionaries were in charge of it, and it was super-duper fun! The theme for the party was an Old Fashioned Country Christmas. We had a devotional where stories were read from the pioneers and we missionaries sang The First Noel. I have discovered that I can sing. Just as an alto. Haha, it's just easier to hit the lower notes for me. 

We then had chili! And baked potatoes ( where the quote comes from in the subject heading)!! And cornbread! It was super good! I had to be a bit careful with the more spicey stuff, but Elder Opper and Sister Sands judged all the chili. It ended up that the winners were the people who help us out the most in our missionary efforts. So there ya go. Serve the missionaries. (Haha, jk, but really though. Imagine the blessings!😉)

We had ZTM on Friday, we drove up to Corvallis Thursday night. Thursday was super crazy, we had so many lessons that day! We met Vivian, who was a referral from a ward member. She has had such a rough life, and she is so sweet and amazing. When we met with her, I felt such a deep love and respect for her, I started to cry. And all we did was listen. It was such a testimony builder for me of the love of God.

It happened to be that she is a member!! 😎 So we might visit with her more to get her back on track. 

Earlier this week we were going to see a woman by the name of Ruth. We figured that if she didn't open her door, we were going to drop her. But low and behold! She was home! So we taught a lesson with her. 

I finally realized that it's my job to invite others to be baptized. Not my companion. Me. So on Sunday, we had a lesson with Sheena. She wasn't able to come to church because of being sick. We had a great lesson, it flowed so well! The Spirit was so strong! Near the end, I invited her to be baptized, and she said yes! She decided to set the goal for January 16th! She is so amazing! I love her so much!

The weather has been crazy! One day the wind hit 35mph! 😦 Today, the sun was out, and the temp went up to about 60. You gotta love the weather on the coast!

This coming week on Friday we will have interviews with President Russell! 😄

I love you all and enjoy your letters! 

Sis Alldredge 

My First Baptism! December 7, 2015

Dear family and friends,

First off, people are super awesome. 😃 Remember the woman with the

castle for a house? Well, she got Sis. Sands and I fancy journals. They

are so cool! Mine is a drawing journal, It's the gold one, I inserted

pictures of it. Also, members have us help them decorate their trees

which is so wonderful to do. Since it doesn't snow, it doesn't feel

like Christmas, but it's nice to decorate and get into that spirit of

Christmas. :)

Now to the heart of my email (hahaha, President Russell always says that):

MY FIRST BAPTISM!!!! 😃

Oh it was awesome! Carmella was just glowing the whole time. And when

she was confirmed on Sunday, she just seemed so clean, so whole and

complete. I guess that is what the gospel does for people, it helps

renew and enlighten their lives for the better. Brother Hanna, a

member in the ward, baptised her and Elder Opper confirmed her. The

Spirit testified to me multiple times of the truthfulness of the

gospel and that this is the right step for Carmella.

Another awesome thing is that an investigator, Sheena, came to church!

She even brought her two kids, so we had three investigators at

church! Oh, it was a great day! Sheena loved it, and she loves

learning about the gospel! 😃 She's improved so much.

I played the piano at the baptism. So my talent is out....and a member

asked me to play the piano this Saturday for our  Christmas party. And

Bishop found out about me knowing how to play the violin, so I might

play it during caroling if it's not raining. Haha, and I thought I was

going to get away with not playing. Haha, jk. I have found that

playing  relieves stress and Heavenly Father has helped me remember

how to play....ha, I'm still not perfect though. ;)

I love all the letters I have been getting! I feel your prayers all

the time, and the spirit is so strong out here, leading us about to do

the work of the Lord!

Love you bunches! Stay warm!

Sis Alldredge