Zone Conference with Pres. Morin

Helllloooooooo!

Well this past week went by super fast.  So the week started out a little different.  I got to do a split in the other area in our apartment and that was pretty awesome.  We were able to set a baptismal date for a couple in the area which was awesome...they are so ready.  The rest of the week I was in my area and things were good. We had a really good lesson with our investigator Alex about the things Jesus Christ did when he was on the earth.  Thursday we had our first real zone conference with President Morin. They talked a lot about obedience and being able to work with ward members.  I think it will help us out a lot with our ward. The rest of the week was pretty normal.  All and all it was a good week.  All is well!  I love you and miss you!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

Working to Find Investigators

Hellooooooooooo!  Well this past week wasn't to exciting.  So the week started out pretty normal.  We had a major problem with seeing all of our progressing investigators.  Pretty much everyone who is progressing in our sector didn't have time this week to talk to us.

There are two girls that we are teaching who understand the message well. One of them is 12 and she has already started reading the Book of Mormon. Before we even taught her everything about Joseph Smith she knew everything because of her family.

We are always working to find new investigators but there hasn't been much success.  Thursday my companion was sick so we didn't really work much. Saturday was the Mormon Helping Hands project in Togo and it was pretty terrible.  I swept the streets and then they opened up the sewer and said clean it out! I didn't touch that.  But we did a lot of work and the street looked pretty good.

Honestly this was just one of those weeks.  I hope that you have a good week!  I love you and miss you!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

Ebola Update

Helllllooooooo!

Well this week had to have been one of the best weeks working wise ever on my mission!  We started out on fire Tuesday and it didn't cool down all week!

On Tuesday we went to an appointment with a new investigator named Alex.  He is pretty awesome!  He reads the Book of Mormon and is doing really well. He has to work on Sundays sometimes so we are hoping that he will come to church this next week.  We are also starting to teach the sibling of some members and that’s going well. We are still always searching for new investigators.  I’m thankful for the people that we have.

So Oscar has had his baptismal date fixed but he is still having a problem coming to church.  Hopefully he will start coming.  But all and all things are good.

SO the update on Ebola for us.  It is rumored to have arrived in Benin but we have no confirmation.  Here in Togo things are good.  We are safe here.  If anything happens we will be informed.  All is well!  Thank you for your love and support!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

I have been extremely worried about the Ebola outbreak, in fact the first thought that went through my mind when he got his call was that he was going to Africa where the Ebola virus is (I guess I should have never read The Hot Zone. Anyway this was his comment to me:

"So don't worry about Ebola haha we are well protected! It's pretty scary I'm not going to lie.  If it comes here one of two things will happen. 1. I could come home early, because I'm so close to being done. 2. Finish my mission somewhere else."

Peace Found in the Scriptures

Dear family,
Hello everyone!  I hope all is well!  So this week went by really really fast for me! I’m sad to say that this week wasn't extremely exciting.  It started out tough because my companion and I were having some problems.  On Wednesday I was really down because of the problems. So I decided to pray and read my scriptures.  After I had finished I felt an overwhelming peace.  After I decided to talk to my companion and it went great!  This was such a small experience but it really touched me.

After that the rest of the week went great.  The major problem from this week was people not respecting the appointments.  We had a lot of good lessons but a lot people were not home also.  So we have decided that this week we are going to make a huge focus on finding new people.

Anyway an update on the Ebola virus.  It’s not in Benin or Togo.  It seems to have skipped us but that’s not really a problem.  They haven’t found any cases here but we are being informed well.  I’ll let you know if anything changes.  All and all things are good.  I love you and miss you!

Avec beaucoup d'amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

Me with Pres. and Sis. Morin
New Mission President

A little surprise someone found in their food!
Guess what it is! (he never told me)

Hard Work Leads to Progression

Hellllllllllllllllllooooooooooo how is everyone doing?  This week was pretty good.  

So this week we worked really hard to get our investigators to continue to progress.  The first person we worked with was Jean....our new investigator. Jean is pretty awesome and he understands well but I think he just likes discussing with us but I guess we will see.  Oscar and his wife were progressing really well but then Oscar fell off a moto and broke his arm....sad day so I guess we will see with his baptism.  Other than that the other people are the same.  

The other good news from this week was one investigator who doesn't come to church much did!  And he loved it!  We are hoping things with him will continue to go well.  

Anyway thats all the excitment that happened this week!  All is well!  I love you and miss you!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II 

New Investigators

Well this week was pretty exciting!  We started out the week making a goal to find some new investigators, and things are going really well!  First we met Jean, he is a Baptist.  We have started teaching him and he is really awesome. He asks a lot of questions....but I like a lot of questions because that helps us know the needs of our investigators. Besides him we found a lot of people who could become investigators but we still need to work with them before we will know.

So big news with Oscar!  He has decided to be baptized!  On Saturday he attended the baptismal service. And he loved it!  The person who gave the talk really touched him.  So he wants to be baptized by the end of the month. Yesterday at church he came with his wife!  It was so awesome to see the two of them there together!  We also had 4 other people at church!

All and all it was a pretty good week!  So other than that there isn't really anything more to report!  All is going well!  I love you family!  Thank you for all your support!

Avec beaucoup d'amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

ça va aller

Hellllloooooo!

Well another week has come and gone and here we are again!  So this week wasn't extremely exciting!  So the major highlight from this week is I finally got to meet President Morin and Sœur Morin! The first thing that all the missionaries noticed is that it was really awkward to talk to him.  It’s really weird taking it all in that President Weed is gone and that President Morin is now here.  Anyway we did a little introduction thing to get to know him.  Then the next day we had a small conference with him.  And we heard their story a little bit.  It turns out that they are both converts to the church.  They talked a lot about how much the gospel has changed their lives from the time of their baptism until now!  I really enjoyed feeling of their spirit and their energy.  I feel a lot of good things coming from them for our mission.  So we were pretty busy for most of the week with them.

The rest of the week we went and taught whoever we could find.  We have quite a few investigators but not many of them are coming to church....not really sure why but as we say here ça va aller (I'll be fine).  This week we have a goal to find new investigators.  Anyway that’s about it for this week.  I hope that all is well. I love you and miss you!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II