The Hills Have Eyes

i dont know what my subject has to do with my week but i thought itd be clever and that movie was weird. what the heck is up with the world?! gas is 1.60?! old man tom brady is still winning super bowls?! did america take a step back a few years or what? also if steph wins MVP im throwing my own little party, and im inviting everybody in valpo.

the flea war continues. we seem to be at a steelmate. steelmate right? i dont know sorry hank i failed you... nothing we do works. its become something that we just have to live with. the battles go on but theyre like the orcs on the 2nd lord of the rings... there are just too many. we need gandolf. we know we need a cleaner apt, but its tough stuff. many moons have we spent asking ourselves how mothers always keep houses clean...

last monday night elder passey and i got back and we were so tired because we were running around all day for p day because a bunch of stuff happened!! but we got back and i hit the bed as fast as i could and started having some weird dreams... at one point i sat up in the middle of the night and saw just a huge spider on the wall in front of my bed and it climbed down the wall super fast and went under my bed. so i was like ELDER WAKE UP and i was like how big are the spider here in chile? he told me were not too big but i was still so scared so i jumped out of bed and turned on the lights to look! there was no spider in the room, but i was tripping so hard... we didnt even remember it had happened until the next night.

we met a lot of gay people this week. we seriously taught like 3 different gay guys and it was super interesting to see their opinions on god. one of them is a member inactive, but he believes very strongly in the gospel. as we questioned him to figure out how strong his testimony was he finally admitted to us that he liked sinning too much to give it up. it was powerful. were gonna keep visiting him and he says hes going to come to church.

this week was a little bit disappointing but super good and super fun. lately if weve been getting down we dont stay there for too long. we had a couple of baptismal dates fall, but we had our crazy family come to church! not the alcoholic, he doesnt want to talk with us... but this crazy lady that was baptized when she was 8 and hardly remembers anthing has been making her kids go to church and talk with us ever since we found them, but this was awesome! they have been opening up way more to us, and they want to be baptized now! we think it will be this sunday. one of them is 12, her name is danitza, adn she is nocturnal. no im serious this family is like off the deep end weird. but i love them. yeah shes nocturnal and doesnt ever want to do anything but jplay games on her computer or phone, her brother is alexander, hes 14, super flaite (ghetto chilean), and has a lot of problems with the law of chastity. weve been talking with them  a lot and its amazing how much theyve changed. they want to keep all of the commandments and theyve really opened up. i really do love them. 

i love something elder passey told me this week, he said the lord always looks on the heart. you can run all around and contact a lot of doors but really if all youre doing on the inside is thinking about the bad soda and butter sandwich youre going to have when you get back to the pension, youre not really being diligent. i feel 100 percent diligent in the time that i have been with elder passey and that is why i think that we are seeing miracles here. lots of time we dont see miracles because were not willing to go where miracles happen! weve consecrated ourselves 100 percent to this work and i know the lord will bless us if we keep it up. 

if im being honest life back home is starting to feel like a dream but i know it will be the opposite in a short few months, im trying my very best to live in the present and enjoy every second i have in this great city with these people that i love, sharing the truest thing that has ever existed.

love you all. 

-elder allred - chilean street raptor

pics: bus ride mirror selfie and a pic with alexander in church wehn the lesson started getting boring

The Flea Market

i have a new nickname around these parts of town. they call me the flea market. elder passey and i passed through a series of unfortunate events this week concerning our jumping insect friends. theyre the worst. we have been visiting and sitting down in a lot of rural places just filled with fleas and we suffered the consequences. its an all out war at this point. our apartment is filled with tanex and weve started rubbing lemons on our legs every morning to try to throw our scent off! right now were losing but ill have an update on the battle scene next week

despite our loss in troops we had a spectacular week! we confirmed benjamin this sunday and baptized giovanni and i had the honor to perform both of the ordinances! it was awesome. it took 4 times to have a valid baptism but finally i pretty much just dunked him because he did not want to bend his knees haha. i forgot my towel so after i dried of with some toilet paper in time to get back and hear giovanni bear his testimony about the church in front of the whole ward! it was super powerful and im so happy that we found giovanni because hes changed our lives along with his!

on saturday night we were in this place super far away in our zone (all of our investigators live on opposite edges of the map) and we were calling every member we could think of to come to this lesson with us becuase we couldnt enter the house without somebody else! we had called everyone and nobody was answering, when suddenly this one convert that has been pretty inactive called us asking for the number of the sister missionaries. we were like guillermo, we need your help with this lesson. so him and his wife came and we seriously just sat back and watched them the whole lesson. it was the most amazing lesson and the mom and her three daughters were just crying. we havent been able to really reach this family but this was exactly what they needed! we have a family home evening with them later this week it should be awesome.

we had like 11 baptism dates going in to sunday, including the wife and 3 kids of an alcoholic less active that beats his family. its a super super sad situation. we were lost one day in the middle of the rainforest jungle that ill send a picture of, when we found this family. they are practically all starving, but theyre receptive and they all came to church on sunday. weve been working with the dad and he wants to change really bad. its been a super humbling experience and i know that we were lost that day for a reason, and that the brother that called us that one night was for a reason too. god works in misterious ways. :)

9 investigators came to church. it was like record of all time. 5 of them have baptism dates and were working with three different families. the lord has blessed us with so much work and we are 100 percent dead when we get back to the apartment every night. but were happier than ever and i love my comp, my area, and the people. jacob 1:19 if we dont magnify our duties and callings, then we bring the condemnation and sins of others on ourselves :) just a super friendly reminder to be diligents in your assignments! love you all keep going hard in the paint.

-elder allred - the flea market

The Things that Behooveth Me

ya wanna know what behooveth me? baptisms. I GOT MY FIRST CONVERT THIS WEEK! benjamins baptism was yesterday and it was super awesome! elder passey baptized him and im going to confer the holy ghost on sunday and then after church next sunday we have giovanni¨s baptism and he asked me to do it! im so pumped. its been such a good week and we have a lot more people that have potential to be baptized too!

a little more about giovanni. hes 18 and pretty fat and likes video games a lot. we met him 10 days ago on saturday and he was wearing a st george t shirt so elder passey and i went nuts! he let us in and then went to church with us on sunday. weve become really good friends these past 10 days and helped him sort out a lot of problems in his life. last night after he passed his interview we met his mom for the first time. she pretty much told us he has no friends right in front of him and that he never wants to do anything. the poor kid doesnt have to much support in his life but hes gained to gringos as friends and were hoping the whole ward takes him in after his baptism this sunday. hes such a good kid and all he wants is to feel gods love more in his life. every time were with him hes happy and i know this baptism is going to change his life. he left with us to go to an appt with a family where there wasnt a man on thursday and bore a super powerful testimony of prayer! thats how big of a baller Big G is. he pretty much rebuked his mom about the importance of baptism in our church. i love him.

the fact that an investigator came with us to a lesson this week pretty much sums up our ward right now. elder passey and i have been super super disappointed with our ward this week and the support that weve gotten. hardly anybody showed up to our ward activity or the baptism of benjamin. its been really frustrating. were really going to work to motivate the ward this week especially at a time when were having a lot of success! we need their help really bad.

the pic that i sent in my other email pretty much explains how tired i always am. ive never felt so exhausted. ever. today were buying stuff and then going back to sleep for like an hour or so, so that should be a nice relief. i cant really remember anything else that happened this week...! after benjamins baptism we went to his house and ate tres leches torta. it was amazing. elder passey makes me laugh pretty much all day, except when im not jogging to keep up with him as we climb mt timpanogas every day. but its all worth it. the biggest sacrifice today is always the biggest blessing tomorrow.

next week ill have pics of giovannis baptism and today ill send some of benjamins. its all starting to pay off. love all you guys have a good week. this is where i am supposed to be i know it more than anything. make sure to include the lockhart family in all your prayers.

-elder allred - chilean street raptor

 

Lean Like a Cholo

so i tried to send this last week but it wouldnt send. this is my email from the last week :)

the mission is rad. i love this place and i love the people and me and my comp are doing really well together. we saw some miracles this week, and worked our butts off. im starting to pick up what it really takes to have success on the mission. the price is heavy but it is so worth it.

first off P money fell through. she didnt pass her baptismal interview and long story short were not going to visit her anymore. she let 4$ a month panic her to the point that she gave up everything she had come to know as truth. we didnt let it slow us down though. that same day we decided to say a prayer because we didnt have any appts and we didnt know where to go. we started walking towards a complex that we had never contacted and went in the first door we saw open, climbed to the top of the apartments and knocked a door. an 18 year old chubby stud muffin named giovanni answered the door wearing a jiu-jiutsu t shirt that said ¨st george utah¨and elder passey and i just lost it. he was super confused but let the weird gringos into his house and after like an hour talking about the restoration he had commited to baptism on the 25th and came to church with us yesterday. he loved church and after church we taught him the word of wisdom and law of chastity and hes agreed to live them both even though hes got some issues with both of them. hes so cool.

we have another investigator named carlos de cuña that was born in south africa, his parents are portugese, he lived in NY for like a year, and now hes been in chile for like 5. we have really been praying for the gift of tongues cause this guyspeaks likes 50 percent spanish 50 percent portugese. its pretty tough but he came to church and loved it too. we had 5 investigators at church this week it was so cool.

benjamin is set to be baptized this sunday. im pumped he is such a good kid. he passed his interview yesterday and on saturday when we were practicing his interview my comp asked him if he has ever committed a serious crime... and he started balling. we didnt know what was going on but he ran to his room and wouldnt come out. his mom who we are reactivating right now and one day will be a relief society president told us that like a year ago he stole a pencil with some friends and doesnt feel worthy for baptism! hes got such a good heart i love him.

dad i know youre probably wondering why i titled my email lean like a cholo but calm down its got a good story. this week we found this guy named gilbert who comes straight from the hood of LA. he was deported back to chile like 5 years ago. but anyway we really wanted to teach him in english so we went one morning and he let us in. little did we know that him and his girlfriend were drunk out of their minds. he started preaching too us about who knows what and cussing us out and right when we got scared that he might do something crazy he was like wait... i have a song you guys need to hear... and he put on lean like a cholo and just sat in his chair and closed his eyes! hahaha we got out of there fast but it was so funny.

other random things- my comp fell off like a 15 foot cliff while we were doing service on a mtn of a psychotic convert who was not satisfied that we could not clean up the safari behind her house, he was then bit by a dog on the same leg he hurt in service, and we found a plant outside our apartment that we have humbly taken in as our own to nurture and care for. its a great responsibility. his name is bert.

this place is so cool, and we have the potential for a lot of success. we are working so hard everyday pretty much running up and down our GIANT zone on our hill named rodelillo. its tough, but i feel so satisfied everyday when we get home and we are seeing the blessing from diligence. 2nd nephi 1:21- and it came to pass that elder passey and elder allred rose from the dust and shook off the chains of the devil that held them bound! im pumped for the work were doing and i know we are going to see the fruits soon. love you all, love the church, theres nothing truer in the world than the book of mormon and if you dont believe me, read it.

-Elder Allred - chilean street raptor

Val-PARAISO (that's paradise)

guys... im in the coolest city in the world. i got changed on wednesday, which i really didnt expect, and i was super super sad.. but after 5 days here in valparaiso i love the ward and this city already. its a completely different world here. the culture is different, everybody is so flaite(chilean thug/swag), and i feel like im going to have a heart attack every single day. im seriously dying here because every second that we are walking we are either climbing up the huge hill that is our zone, or walking down it. or going up or walking down the sides of it. theres seriously never a break from the hills, and its not like their wimpy inclines. sometimes i wonder how the buses make it up. thats how steep they are. but other than the physical part i love everything about this place so far.

my new comp is elder passey from midway utah. hes a skier, and did debate team at wasatch high. hes a cool guy and we have been getting along really well. when i arrived in our area we had one baptism date for the 18th of january with this ten year old named benjamin. ill talk about him in a little.. but on saturday we visited an eternal investigator that has like 10 times going to the church. we had a super powerful lesson and we ended up putting a date with her for this wednesday. however, shes struggled to understand the law of tithing. she should be good to go but were hoping she passes the interview tonight. her name is patricia but we call her P money. youll see why we call her that when we send pics of her next week. shes the queen of swag.

benjamin is 10 years old and is my best friend. hes such a stud and he loves the church. his mom has been inactive for a long time and they came to church for the first time yesterday and they really liked it. benjamin has the assignment for the opening prayer next week in primary and is already been talking about being a future missionary. this week he lost his pet hamster so he asked his mom if she would pray with him. his mom says they said 3 prayers a day for 2 days and yesterday when we visited him he had found his hamster and was so pumped about the power of prayer! hes reading, praying, and this friday hes going to start playing soccer with the ward. we have like 3 other investigators that are great and hopefully will have baptism dates soon.

on friday we had interchanges with our zone leaders. i went to another ward with elder sanchez. hes from west valley but his family is mexican. hes 23, a former assistant to president kahnlein, and convert to the church when he was 19. his family was super angry when he joined the church, and this christmas by skype was the first time his dad has talked to him since he joined the church. now his sister is sealed in the temple and he recieved news that he¨ll have a scholarship to play rugby for byu after the mish. hes such a solid missionary and i really learned how to show love for everyone by his example. 

i was super sad to leave my old ward. i was kind of mad i got changed. but i love it here and im stoked about all of our investigators. right before i left belloto my favorite investigator danny finally committed to a baptism date. im hoping to see a picture of it soon. 

i got bit by a dog. it didnt really get my leg too well. just ripped my suit pants is all. it was the worst. i hate dogs. ill send a pic of that and hopefully a good pic of valpo even though i havent taken pics of the best views yet, and the last lunch with la familia tamayo in belloto right before i left. but pretty much our zone is on the top of the hill rodelillo. theres 42 hills in valparaiso and they all have their own names. and below the hills is downtown and then the ocean. its the coolest place ever. someday ill take a plane to valparaiso with a hammer and some nails, collect some wood, and build my house on the side of a giant hill like every one else. its gonna be a sweet life.

ash happy birthday, i love you and that crazy family of yours. you have always been such a good role model for me and i love just talking and having conversations with you at any time. thanks for always cheering me up and teaching me the things that i need to know.

im so happy to be here, i love these people, my spanish is becoming more flaite every day, and i see the lord blessing me every step of the way. this is exactly where i need to be in my life right now. the church is true, christ lives, god loves us. read your scriptures. they contain the answers to life. love every single one of you so much. hope you have a stellar week!

-elder allred

Hey Guys it's Me

hey guys its me elder allred. this week was super good, and super disappointing. funny how that seems to be the case a lot of the days on the mission. our baptism with matias fell through. we knew he didnt feel ready. hes now set to be baptized on the 11th of january. im praying it all works out, id be lying if i said im not a little bit discouraged that i dont have a single baptism.

on monday my comp got the bullet taken out of his back. it was cool.. but kind of sucky. we went to viña at 9 am to change his visa and we pretty much ran around viña figuring that out until 4 when he had his surgery, but it didnt start till five and then he had to do a bunch of paperwork after. i was pretty exhausted. we didnt leave viña until 830 at night.

on christmas eve we woke up with 0 appointments to eat dinner. this is the only day of the year that we can schedule something with members to eat. by the afternoon we had 3 different dinners scheduled. we ate one dinner with a less active, one with a member family, and one with our investigator angelica! my stomach did not agree with our decision. i thought i was going to explode when we went back to the pension. it was awesome though. however christmas day angelica called us and said she cant meet with us anymore because its causing problems in her family... its sad because she was progressing really well and reading the book of mormon.

on tuesday i started reading the book of mormon in english and el libro de mormon at the same time. im marking all of the things that are translated differently and after three chapters in 1 nephi my brain hurts. its pretty fun though. im gonna complete it by the end of march and write down in a little notepad all of the corrections and someday theyll make the new translation and ill be telling my kids that im the reason they changed something. nah im kidding.. but really its interesting how many errors in translation there are.

i love my mission. my comp may be hard to get along with, the rules may be super strict, and maybe im a little sick of flea infested dogs licking my fingers everywhere i walk, but i love the gospel and i love serving. ive been preparing my whole life for this, ill reflect and remember it for eternity, but ive only got 2 years to live it. as this new change rolls around im going to strive to enjoy the mission more and have a little more fun. but im also going ot work even harder. these people need what we have to share. everybody does.

i know the church is true and i know that this is the plan we need to follow to be eternally happy.

-elder allred

dont be alarmed by our beer mugs or anything. just a typical christmas gift from members here in chile. he was dead serious when he gave us them. i made pancakes on christmas day. usually my comp just drinks water for breakfast, so for him it was a christmas miracle.

also a pic of the pellet from his back

and our district

and my present from angelica our non existant investigator

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMALS

i seriously cant think of anything that happened this week  it went by so fast. bueno i guess ill just start off by saying that im going to be having my first baptism this sunday! im pumped, this kid named matias is the son of a recent convert and hes been to church a couple times but never wanted to listen to the missionaries or nothing. but this week we were talking with his mom and we just asked him if we could share a scripture with him. well we ended up talking for like 40 min and by the end he had committed to be baptized! it was sweet. now we just gotta wake the dang kid up every sunday for church. he sleeps in till like 2 every day... but this sunday we pretty much just banged on his door until he woke up. ill break into his house if i have to next week.

danny didnt come to church, y eliana tampoco. and like 6 other investigators we had hoped for. we had mission conference for christmas this wednesday though, and they are changing a bunch of stuff. pretty much the only stat we are going to be keeping is how many people come to church. number of lessons and what not doesnt matter anymore.. just this. so there is giong to be a lot more enfasis on purely getting people to go to church. im excited for it though, its a good change. other than that the conference was super good, fun, and really spiritually uplifting. 

today we are in viña because in 2 hours my comp goes in to surgery to get the pellet removed from his back! im hoping that we can go this one restaurant called el guaton! theres a famous chilean burger in the restaurant thats apparently gonna blow my mind. im stoked. and starving.

i had my last interchange with elder armistead on friday. it was sad, but solid. president told him hes leaving the area for the last change. elder armitstead and alonzo were super good role models for me and im really happy i had the chance to learn all that i did from them! this is the last week of the change, and of my training woohoo! id be lying if i said i wasnt dying to end my training. its been good, but im getting a little tired of being the kid. we¨ll see what happens.. but i think im goi9ng to stay in my area. just an impression. 

in interchanges i really came to the realization of the lack of humility that ive displayed with elder ramirez. ive been so focused on being patient with him that i havent tried to genuinely see the good in him, all ive done is bear throught the afflictions and hope that its all going to be okay. elder armitstead helped me to think of some things that i can do to help us have more unity in our companionship regardless of our differences in our thinking. we are complete opposites, but that doesnt mean he doesnt do things well that i suck at. im praying for the ability to end this change well with my trainer and that i can learn more from him than i have recently. 

the mission is weird and time is weird. in some way i cant believe im coming up on four months, but then i think about how long its been since ive seen my family and it seems like forever. the only thing ive learned that i can do is stay busy. when im busy and working the day and the week flies by and thats really the key to it all. before i know it im going to want time to slow down. 

on sunday we werent planning on going to the christmas devotional in the stake center but at the last minute we decided to invite this one investigator the we found in interchanges with elder armitstead. she came and she loved it! it was a  super fun devotional with lots of christmas music. 

thats about all i can remember for now... i know that so much more happened... but cant think and its like 349323 degress in this gameroom. have a good week. feliz navidad. and choose the right. love you all. thanks for the letter, emails, packets, and prayers!

-Elder Allred - chilean street raptor