2-26-08

Subject: This last week contained the fruits of several miracles.

Hello Everybody!

This last week was amazing. Saturday we had four baptisms! Wilton (age 20), Wilson (age 16), and Jailson (age 14) were all fellowshiped by the young men of the ward. All we had to do was teach them, interview them, and through much fasting and prayer, convince them that they needed to be baptized. Wilton´s brother, William (age 22), is still not feeling prepared enough to be baptized, but soon he´ll overcome all the obstacles that stand in the way of his baptism.
Shhhhhhh... Don´t go spreading this around because he doesn´t know yet, but he´ll probably be baptized this Saturday! Maybe it´ll be a surprise. wink wink ;)

The other person that was baptized was Ana Claudia (age 17). Her mother (Ivone) got baptized in December after being taught by the missionaries for over a year, and now she´s one of the biggest helps to the missionary work. Ana was always quite stubburn and didn´t want to change even though she has had a testimony of the Restoration. Ivone said that I was the first person ever to get her to change her mind about anything, but it wasn´t me. I remember two distinct occasions when I was prompted on exactly what I needed to teach her. One of the times, I was prompted during personal study, and wrote out exactly was I was supposed to say to her. Then I used my notes when we went to her house to teach her. Missionaries hardly ever use notes when they teach someone, but I didn´t want to forget what I was supposed to say. It reminds me of when Joseph Smith read the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple. The other instance, I was prompted in "the very hour" and all of us ended up in tears as she committed to be baptized. I had the honor of baptizing Ana on Saturday, while the 3 young men were all baptized by members of the ward.

We found out about transfers on Sunday. Neither of us will be transfered! Elder Tavares will be my first companion that I´ve had for more than one transfer. This is really good news, because we are teaching some really amazing people right now that have been prepared by the Lord, and I don´t want to miss out on the wonderful changes they will be making in their lives.

Well, goodbye for now!
-Élder Jason Morgan Allred

(Previous letters are posted at www.elderallred.blogspot.com)