Happy 2

Furniture Time

2009-11-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

We are all fixed up in our new apartment with all the necessities of life. :)

Mexico Mission

2009-11-11T08:04:00.001-08:00

We left our Colorado home and flew to Mexico to serve our second mission. We stayed with the Johnson's until we found our own apartment just across the way from them. They live in this beautiful complex and we wanted to leave quick before we got spoiled.

Our yellow high rise among all the other high rises.

We have a beautiful view from our windows.

Allred's All Together

2009-07-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

40 Years of Marriage

2009-07-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

Alaskan Cruise

For our anniversary we went on cruise to Alaska. The scenery was magnificent!

Stair Remodel

2009-05-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

We went to our cabin in the mountains to do spring cleaning. What a job! We are so excited for Spring to finally be here. Then we ripped up dirty carpet on the stairs and replaced it with slate and wood. I am not sure how we get ourselves into all of these repair jobs. We hope our handy man projects are finally finished because we are ready to play again in the sunshine of Colorado!

Grandkids weekend

2009-05-28T05:35:00.001-07:00

We had Darin and Lori's kids for the weekend while they celebrated their anniversary. We had a so much fun with the grandkids. Sunday we were asked to speak in a small branch in Limon and Paris and Savanna sang the special number. We were so proud of their first time to sing in church! Thanks Darin and Lori for letting us have a great time playing with your kids. It is always fun to entertain the grandkids.

Spring!!!

2009-05-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

We finally are getting green here. We have even enjoyed some days out side.

More Snow!

2009-05-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

What do you do when it snows again in April? Work on your life history. I have been sorting years of letters, journals and creating a start on my life history. I have had this goal for a lifetime and the snow is helping me accomplish this. :)

Clear skies

2009-04-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

The same view from our house the day after our crazy snow storm. Now we have beautiful clear skies.

Easter

2009-04-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday we were so snowed in we could not get to church. All the snow plows took the day off and the roads were snow packed plus we had white out conditions. I was so sad because I love the Easter celebration and programs. I am so grateful for our Savior and his Atonement for us all.

We had Darin and Lori and the kids over for Easter Saturday. We had so much fun coloring eggs even if it was so cold we moved to the garage with a space heater to keep us warm. We loved having the kids come and play for the day.

2009-04-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Utah. I say wonderful because we were able to celebrate the life of our nephew, David Allred. His young life and fight with cancer has been an example to all of us. We are so grateful for his testimony and we pray for his family in his absence for a season. We are so thankful for the gospel and the eternal nature of families. We were able to see so much family. Trevor came with his two children and Darin and Lori with their family.

After the funeral we headed for Salt Lake City to wait for general conference. I have never attended live conference in the convention center and Clyde wanted to visit the Family History Library. So we spent the week in Salt Lake and loved every minute of it. We soaked up the history of the church by visiting the museum, watching the Joseph Smith film, attending the temple, and temple visitors center, seeing the Mormon art show and listening to the organ recital. We practiced our skills of research on family lines. I say practice because we are novices at really how to do research. We had a blast with so much information and help in one place. We saw friends from our mission and old friends from Texas.

The most wonderful thing about the trip to Salt Lake was conference. We were able to attend all but one session in person. We sat at the feet (literally on the middle 13th row from the front) of our apostles and prophet and drank of the Spirit. It was literally a life changing experience to see the gospel in action. We have lived in the mission field so many years and there is nothing like seeing the world wide church to make you grateful for our leaders and their sacrifices in our behalf. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Blessing and BD

2009-04-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Texas welcoming Brynlee to this earth. Jared gave her a sweet blessing. She is such a precious little one.

Just before we left we got to celebrate Tanner's third birthday.

Grandbaby #15!

2009-03-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

A couple of happy BIG brothers

We are all excited to have the pink little bundle of joy home.

We are so blessed to have 15 precious ones in our family. Brynlee Jane Allred is the latest and she sure is a cutie! Lucky us, we got to share the day of the excitement with Jared and Janene.

Retirement to rehirement

2009-03-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

One job jobbed! :)

New chair

Old dirty chair

What do you do when you get bored with retirement? You work at the cabin, reupholster, babysit the grandkids, remodel the kid's house. You name and we have been up to it. Who says retirement is boring?

For Hire

2009-02-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

What amazes me is all the talent in the Allred family. :)

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Kitchen done and now on to the bathroom.

but the results were well worth it all.

Poor Janene was in for a surprise with all the demolition,

We are your home improvement make overs. Jared and Janene decided they needed a new kitchen look just weeks before the new baby comes.

New Year 2009

2009-01-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

GOOD JOB!!

New tile

Off with the old ugly wildflower wallpaper.

We celebrated the New Year with a road trip to California. A little work and a little play. The work was a new remodeled bathroom. The play was downtown LA. All in all it was great to see the grandkids and Trevor and Gretchen. Great memory and fun with family again.

2009-01-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

We had a great holiday with Darin and Lori and the grandkids at the cabin in the snow. It was great to spend the holidays with family. The snow was gorgeous and we even got a little skiing in.

Amazing!

2008-12-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

Now tell me, how many times do you wake up to a herd of elk in your front yard?

This morning at sunrise we woke up to an amazing sight of about 70 visitors on our lawn. Would you believe elk? When we first saw them some were sitting down just lounging around. Our only question is how long had they been there? Oh the beauties of living in the country!

Mission Return

2008-11-19T07:01:00.000-08:00

Post mission is lots of fun with grandkids! We have so far been able to have almost each family to ourselves while Mom and Dad get some alone time. We have only Trevor and Gretchen to visit after Christmas and we will have made the rounds. It has been more than wonderful to connect with family again. What could be better?

We drove to Arizona and visited family. Then we drove to Texas for Thanksgiving. We even made it over to our old stomping grounds Port Neches. It was fun to stroll down memory lane and see more family and friends.

I'm not sure whether they all like us or the four wheelers?????????

What do you do when you get home from your mission?

You play with your grandkids while their parents are away.

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-30T05:58:00.001-07:00

We ALL had an unforgettable time. How wonderful to be home again!

The girls worked and played

The boys played

The grandkids worked

The boys worked

WOW!!!! All of our sweet grandchildren greeted us at the airport! All of our children dressed them in true "all red style". We were overcome with joy!

Mission farewell

2008-10-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

Area advisers for the Caribbean now - the Castros will continue with family history

Before we left our mission we shed a few tears. We will miss the saints and those we have grown to love. A few had a surprise party for us and told us how much they appreciated our dedication.

Homeward bound

2008-10-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

Is it True?!?!?!?!? We are about to finish our mission. The other senior missionaries have already had a little going away get together for us and then the leaders and directors that we work with in family history had a surprise party for us too. It finally hit us and we cried to have to say goodbye to friends we have made that we may never see again. This is a bitter sweet time. Many of the compliments we received was that there has definitely been an increase in family history, we have patiently taught them how to do family history and they were grateful for our example of dedication and our love for family history. We also had our interview with President Johnson and he thanked us for all we have accomplished. We have loved our mission and it is a bitter sweet time with lots of mixed emotions. We hate to see it come to an end but the best is yet to come and that is to reunite with our dear family and friends. We long to hug those grandkids once again.

We have spent the last week training a new couple missionary to take our place. When we explained all of our job description and what they had to do it sounded a bit overwhelming even to us. But the Lord has called them and knows they are capable for the task and will bless them as he did us. They are wonderful people and we are so excited to have someone carry on the work with the members. The garden of family history is fragile and needs lots of care to continue to grow and bring forth fruit. Many ancestors are waiting patiently to be a part of an eternal family with God. Our prayer and a piece of our heart will always be with the members in the Caribbean that we love so. They have been an example of faithfulness. The gospel is only about 30 years old and they are the pioneers of this area. They carry large loads with their callings because they are few in number. Many of their ancestors have been ripped away from family and homeland. They have a history of slavery and abuse. They have not had the wonderful blessing of family and many do not know their fathers. My heart aches for what they have suffered in this wicked, selfish world. But the members embrace the gospel message of truth and the plan of happiness. They are grateful for the restoration of the gospel and the scriptures. They know God and Jesus Christ love them. They are wonderful people that will always be an example to us. We love them so.

Serving a mission in the beautiful Caribbean Islands has been beyond description. We have been blessed to serve right near the shadows of the temple. We have many examples of faithful senior missionaries that we have made friends with. It has been a privilege to serve under the direction of the area president Elder Johnson who is also a cousin. He and Clyde have a loving bond of family and friendship. We will always hold a special place in our mind of the beautiful waters of the many islands. We have indeed experienced the best.

We have learned to love each other and appreciate our eternal union. We have learned to appreciate more the promptings of the Spirit. We have gained a greater appreciation of the Savior's great atoning sacrifice. We marvel at the power of sealing blessings to families that the Lord has offered His children. We love the examples of the great prophets in the scriptures and our modern day prophets and leaders. They devote their whole lives to the cause of the Lord and His members. May we ever be mindful of the Lord's out pouring of blessings upon our head. He loves us and answers our prayers of supplication to Him. We testify that our Father in Heaven and His Son live. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and the gospel was restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith. We love the time that we have been privileged to be about our Father's business. We honor Him and will continue to serve Him.

Beautiful Barbados

2008-09-21T14:22:00.001-07:00

Wow! Barbados was a gorgeous place to end our island tours. As I looked over the beautiful waters I got so sentimental to think that all of this is coming to a close. Our mission has been such a blessing and we will really miss it. Each place we visit we fall in love with the people and their culture. These wonderful people had everything ready for us. They had a new built in table for the computer. And YES the computer was there!!!! We did have a little trouble with the internet but after Elder Allred gave his magic touch (he has become the computer pro now) it worked. It always amazes me how much time it takes to solve computer problems. This one was an all day one. Another wonderful thing was they had all their consultants and director called and we had a great training. I could help with the teaching because they all speak English. Hurray! We finished in record time and had a day extra to see the beautiful sites. What a wonderful time we had. Another place in my heart was touched by the faithful few saints. I admire the island members. They are few in numbers but have strong convictions of the truth. They are the true pioneers of the Caribbean. We have truly grown to love them all. We pray the Lord will continue to bless them in our absence and their love for family history will grow and flourish. We pray that their families will be united forever.

Suriname

2008-09-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Suriname is a small country in South America. They speak Dutch but thank goodness a few understand English. We went to set up their first family history center. Unfortunately the computer was on back order and arrived the day of our departure. We used our laptops instead and purchased a desk and chairs for when the computer arrived. There was also another disappointment that the Internet was not installed yet. We still carried on with our training in the hotel where we had Internet. President Johnson called a new West Indies family history adviser and we were able to meet with him and his wife to teach them. The best part of the whole trip was the food his wife fixed for the missionary zone conference that was going on the same time we were there. It was a delicious buffet of Oriental and Indian food. Many of the members there are from Oriental background but they speak Dutch. I kept expecting them to speak Chinese or Japanese. Their ancestors came to work as servants for rich landlords. It is sad to see how families were ripped apart and sold from their homeland just for the comfort and ease of the wealthy. Also they have different cultures and religions such as Buddhist, Muslim and Christianity. The church is very new there and they were so anxious to hear about family history. It was wonderful to feel their spirit because we could not understand Dutch. We enjoyed our stay and their open arms for our visit.

Good bye Puerto Rico

2008-09-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

We took our last trip to Puerto Rico. We checked all the equipment, upgraded the computer memory and trained directors. We visited all of our family history centers which had us sleeping in a different bed each night. It was back to work and plenty of it! Each day was full and we would drop into bed late at night. We did get a chance to kiss Susan and Stan good bye. It is always so fun to see them and we talk non stop about all our common work. They are wonderful mission presidents and a fine example of dedication. They begged us to come back to their mission. Now we have lots of offers to come back as President Johnson wants us to come back to the Caribbean. Our family history trainers want us to come to South America. We are grateful we have had the privilege of serving. When we got back to our temple home, we found out one of the couples had to go home. The wife had an emergency and they had to rush her to the states. The husband just cried because he loves the work here and hated to leave the people. It will be a bitter sweet time when we have to leave too. We have learned so much and are so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Savior's love for all of us.

St. Kitts

2008-09-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Just about when we could stand it no longer, we got to go to St. Kitts to set up a new family history center there. We were so homesick for those grandkids hugs. We had a great time with Adrian and Beth and the kids! Who would have ever thought that our mission and their home would all be wrapped up in one. St. Kitts is the favorite place of our mission because our family is there plus it is the most beautiful island. We set up a new center there, but the computer never came ( it is on the slow boat to China ). We taught the members the importance of family history using 12 lap tops to help 25 members to sign up on new family search. Adrian is the family history priesthood leader in his branch so that was fun working side by side with him. We taught and sang about family history. We love sharing the plan of happiness with the members. They get so excited to know they can be sealed as eternal families. Adrian helped a sister send her father's name to the temple. She was so grateful. We love serving and it always brings such blessings. Beth and I had a fun day furniture shopping even if it was only computer table and chairs for the new family history center.

Of course we spent a couple of extra days enjoying the beach and the beautiful island! Brennan and Payton still think they are the luckiest kids in the world to have their own private pool and ocean to swim in every minute of the day.

Thanks Adrian and Beth. We love you.

The Little Ones

2008-08-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

We love the children here. They are so cute with their braids and smiles. We love our grandchildren and are so anxious to be with them again. Hopefully they have quite a collection of pennies as we near the end of our mission. Family is so important and the Lord has blessed us to be an eternal family. We love each child that brightens our day!

Temple

2008-08-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

I love serving in the temple. When we have a little slack time I go to the laundry and fold clothes. There is such order in the house of the Lord. Even the clothing is folded neatly and stacked ready for the next person. Last week I was assigned to the Celestial room and spent about 20 minutes all alone in there before any one came in. What a privilege to have the blessing of feeling that peace for the moment. Then this week I helped in the nursery while the children waited for their turn to be sealed as an eternal family. The children got so excited when we dressed them in their white clothes. It is a great day for these families because it may be only a once in a lifetime experience. It is very expensive to fly here with your whole family. It is so wonderful to be able to walk across the parking lot and have the blessing of the temple so close. What a wonderful time of life for us. We are so blessed to be on a mission.

Rain or Shine

2008-08-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

They came rain or shine. The weekend of the tropical storm we had four meetings scheduled to register members for new family search. The very first members to sign up for new family search really touched my heart. When I signed up this sweet couple and the man saw his family that he had done the temple work for displayed in an orderly family tree he just cried tears of joy. To those who do not understand what new family search is all about it is an internet program created by the church to simplify the process of taking a name of your ancestor to the temple, reduce duplication of the same person and share family history. All members of the church should register, so we planned a huge sign up party for many of the stakes. We ended up having over 400 come out! We were so excited for the enthusiasm of the members. At one church building we had 9 computers in different rooms with all of us at work helping. Everyone was so excited about the new program. Our temple used the new system this week and one of our French speaking members from Guadeloupe submitted the first name. All worked wonderful with the help of the two Salt Lake employees that came from Peru and Columbia. They are the area authorities of family history over all of Latin America here to help things run smoothly and we are enjoying their spirits. We love meeting with others that love family history as much as us. This is the icing on the cake of our mission and we are soaring high. We are so excited to be a part of this huge weekend. The church has such vision and plans. The Lord has plans to unite his eternal family with the computers and temples as His tools with our help. We feel so blessed to be here now and are humbled to be a part of all of this. It is like we are the team of the first man to set foot on the moon. Great things are happening and many are excited about the new system.

We Get Next!

2008-08-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

This is for the grandkids. Pepa saw this goat waiting for his turn to be the next "hanging dinner" and it reminded him of the women's basketball slogan - We Get Next. Notice the hanging goats and then the goat tied up to be next in line. Make sure that your goals you "get next" are good ones. Be grateful for your family and be kind to your brother and sisters. We love you and are proud of each of you. We love our mission and know Heavenly Father watches over all of us.

Seed takes Root

2008-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

What a great week. We took some equipment to one of our centers and my what a change! First let me explain that we have to upgrade all of our computers with more memory and large flat screens to get ready for the new program of the church - new.familysearch.org. As we visited one of our centers to make the change we were shocked at the difference. This is the same center that we had to drag out the ping pong table and basket balls and you name it Junk! Our family history center looked like a storage closet with the computer buried beneath the pile. Now everything is nice and clean. The director said they are so full on Sunday with people coming that the stake president said he will probably have to move the center to two larger rooms just to accommodate the members. Now people are lining up to visit the center. This little center has gone from a junk closet to an overflowing work space for family history. The seed was planted and it took root. We get so excited to see that the work of the Lord goes forward.

To top off our great week the saints from the French speaking islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique came to the temple for two weeks. Thirty four of their members came and they are only small districts. They bring their whole family for two weeks and they love family history. We taught them about family history and I always share my Lora and Perry book. After the training, some wanted to look through the pages of the book. One sister in particular wanted to see more of the book so she knocked on my door, sat on my couch and turned the pages carefully one by one as if they were sacred. She looked at the pictures of Dad and Mom in love and she said her parents are divorced and it makes her sad. Her mother gave her away. Then she said she does not have anything like this book because she has no pictures of family. She has never met her grandfather and she found out he has 40 children with different women. She turned each page with love and respect. We are so blessed to have histories of all our family and their stories can strengthen us. By the way all these members speak French so it is difficult to talk to them but this group are some of my favorite people. They love family history and come every year to spend two weeks doing family names at the temple. They have no idea that our family history center has hours so they knock on our door til 9 pm at night because they want to inch out every hour while they are here. I guess that is why I love them so much because they love family history and we don't have to convince them of it's blessing or importance.

What a blessing to be on a mission. The church is true and it is an honor to serve in the kingdom.

Winner Gets Dinner

2008-07-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Leave it to my sweet companion to make things fun! We have a huge job to get all of our directors and consultants registered and trained on new family search. So Elder Allred got the bright idea to make it a game and the winners he would treat to a dinner. He gave them about 2 weeks to complete their assignment. The goal was for the Priesthood leader to get 70% of his stake consultants and director registered and certified by completing the online training. The Saturday of the promised dinner we had our family history center full of Priesthood leaders rushing to finish their assignment. We even had a few at our apartment using our lap tops because we needed more computers. There was excitement all day long and we ended it with a fun party at night. We fed about 20 people. I had to laugh because I remember my boys rushing to the store the last minute for Christmas shopping. I guess it is just a male thing to wait till the last minute. ha But give them a challenge and they all want to WIN!! Who says a mission isn't fun?

New equipment day

2008-07-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Out with the old and in with the new. This is a delivery day where we take new equipment to our center. After a few hours work, throw away boxes and then we can sit back and relax!

The One

2008-07-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

I love helping he one. The other day I helped a young man only 18 years old and a member for 6 months. In that short time he had 5 generations collected on his mother's family. He had no idea who his father was a consequence of years of immorality that plagues the Caribbean islands. But he was anxiously engaged in gathering data for his mother. He had the spirit of Elijah and was so excited with the information he had already found. I was really proud of him because I have seen many that are long time members with only a couple of generations. What an example he is and just a brand new member besides.

The next day I was helping another young man and he found his grandfather after much searching. He said he had dreams about him and he wanted to do his work for him. This is the same story I have heard from many members all having dreams. When he found him he started jumping up and down with his arms in the air and yelled YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!! Another example of the spirit of Elijah.

Please forgive me if I am passionate about family history now. I have seen it bless so many lives and I know it is a true work. The Lord blesses those that seek to become acquainted with the family of God. I feel somewhat like the young man that yelled YEAH three times. I am the same way and I want to shout with joy each time we help a few more with family history.

I also enjoy when we can teach a large group. The other evening we had another record breaking evening with over 150 people to a fireside. My companion spoke and I played my violin. More and more members are realizing the importance of family history. They want to know how and what they can do. Each time we teach a big group I feel the weight of the responsibility we have for the dead lifted. I know that many on the other side have placed their faith in our efforts. It makes me want to climb to the roof top and teach to all the importance of this wonderful work. I just want to cry when I see how little they have done and how much there is to do. I see some who have only done the work for a mother or grandmother and that is it. They don't understand that there are hundreds of others in their family just waiting for them to get the picture.

In the meantime we just keep setting up family history centers for the day when they do get the picture and fill the centers standing in line to put the information in the computers so they can do the work. This is the spirit of Elijah and I LOVE this great work! I love the people that we are helping and the dead that wait too.

Haitian Border

2008-07-14T18:14:00.002-07:00

We ended up on the border for market day when we visited our furthest small district. The members are always so glad to see us because they seldom get many visitors. We love going there. The night we were there they had a ward activity where they are reading the Book of Mormon 10 pages each week. They divided the branch into two teams and then they ask questions and keep score. They had the questions in balloons that they would pop. When they answer the questions right their team gets a point. They were having a blast so we had to sneak over after our meeting and join them. Grandkids maybe you can play this game for family home evening. The scriptures have such good stories about how Jesus loves all of His children.

The Haitian border on market day is always so interesting. Each time we go we come away so grateful for things like grocery stores where everything is clean and organized. Look at the peoples faces, clothes, hair and what they are selling. It is so humbling to see such poverty. This is their life and they do not complain. Count your blessings.

2008-07-14T18:14:00.001-07:00

Home

2008-07-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

With all this touring of other islands it is always good to come back home and see how beautiful it is right here. We had so much to catch up on here so we took a trip north. We visited every stake in the north part of the island and signed them up on new family search. I feel so sorry for all of the members here because they have no computer skills and we are asking them to join the technical age to do their family history. We spent 4 days training 8 different stakes how to get ready for the new system the temple will use in August. It took us 1 1/2 hours to register one man and you can normally register in 10 minutes flat. Everywhere we went there was internet problems. About the time you get someone registered the internet would go off and you had to do it all over again. After we got all our work done we took a trip to the famous Samana peninsula where they claim the most beautiful beaches. It was a gorgeous drive.

Trinidad

2008-07-03T07:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! Trinidad is beautiful and clean. After the poverty in all the Caribbean islands Trinidad is a breath of fresh air. We had a wonderful visit with the saints. 150 came to our fireside because they are so anxious to learn all they can. I sang a solo about family history. I am not a soloist when it comes to singing, but I did not have my violin and music is so powerful to invite the Spirit I just got brave. Many of the saints there are from India when they came as indentured servants after slavery was outlawed.
One of the miracles, at the airport on our return flight, was we met a sister that was from St. Croix. She got lost in the terminal trying to find her connecting flight and found us instead. She was going to see her first grandchild in New York and wanted to go to the temple there while she visited. She has never done the temple work for her mother and father, but as we talked she recognized why she had stumbled on to us in the airport. We gave her a family group sheet to fill out and told her how to do the work for her parents. After she got a short lesson from a couple of old missionaries - us - she was on her way to find her connecting flight clear on the other side of the terminal. Dad and I just looked at each other in amazement as she walked away. I think her ancestors wanted her to "get lost in the airport". It is kind of humbling to think that we are known on the other side. :)

Guyana, South America

2008-07-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is the beach in Guyana! No beautiful blue water here. A huge river empties into the ocean so it reminded me of our brown Texas beaches. Guyana is the land of rivers and is real green. It looks like broccoli from the airplane because it has very little towns, just tons of rain forest.

We were supposed to set up a new family history center but someone from DHL wanted our computer so bad they never delivered it. We still taught family history with the use of our laptop. We had a great time with the saints there and are anxious to get their new computer so they can get started. No one has computers there because it is really poor.

Service

2008-06-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for one 13 year old boy! I tried to help fix a broken microfilm reader, got it all torn apart then was in a real pickle! My sweet companion was in a priesthood training so I wanted to feel useful. Just about that time a little boy walked by the family history center and asked if I needed help. Of course I said yes! One hour later and he had rescued me totally. He was so smart that he figured out how it fit back together and how it worked. I was AMAZED and very grateful. Then we checked the other reader and it did not work either so we hit knuckles together determined to fix it too. We were an expert team by then and fixed it in record time - 30 minutes. We were great friends after that. He was so cute and I was so grateful to him. Here is a picture of me and another occasion looking at the broken microfilm readers. You can appreciate that these machines are no small task to tear all apart, let alone put back together and have them work properly again.

Saturday we had a wonderful day working in the family history center. One of our consultants was assigned for the day, but asked to be excused because he was going back to the temple after several years of repentance and was going to do family names all day too. We were in town so we told him we would cover for him. We were happy to help him. We had a great day serving others. We call our work in the family history center the first session of the temple because the names have to be prepared before we can take them to the temple. There is always a spirit of gratitude in the family history center. We love it there. We got our regular hugs and kisses of thanks and even a few tears of joy. To top our wonderful day off we saw our consultant friend after he came out of the temple and he was floating! He said he had been grinning from ear to ear all day and had a wonderful experience for himself and for his loved ones gone before him. We have watched him work on the names and dates of his ancestors for some time and now he was bearing the fruits of his labor. What a wonderful experience we are privileged to share with others. Another day in the mission field on this beautiful island with these beautiful saints.

Freedom

2008-06-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

This is for the grand kids! If you lived here close to us you could be free to run around with bare buns. But that only includes the boys. We always wondered why we seldom see the kids playing in the ocean here. We found out that they are afraid of the water because they do not know how to swim. They cannot afford a swimming pool to take swimming lessons in and the ocean waves are so strong it knocks them down. Even many of the adults never learned to swim so they never get to enjoy the cool water. All this beautiful water everywhere and they cannot enjoy it.

We can apply this to the scriptures. We have wonderful stories in the scriptures to teach us but if we do not read them we cannot learn from them and enjoy them. We love reading the scriptures while we are on our mission. So many of the stories are about missionaries long ago and we try to learn what they did so we can be better missionaries. We love these beautiful islands and the beautiful people.

Missionary Pass Time

2008-06-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

My poor companion has been falling apart at the seams for the past week. First his hip hurt, then his knee, then his neck, his back and everyday it was a different joint. He had a horrible tooth ache and it may have been the cause of it all. After he received a wonderful blessing from his general authority cousin, then got a root canal, he started to mend.

While my "companion" was sick I spent a lot of my time indexing. The internet site familysearchindexing.org was a great missionary pass time where I could do a 30 minute service project each day. I started indexing death records in Louisiana and came across my own birthday 20 September 1946. As I typed the names of the people that died on my birthday I was sad for their family. While my mother was happy I was born, so many years ago, another mother in the world was sad. I have reflected on that thought as I have typed hundreds of death dates. I note each one of how they died and how old they were. The cause of death has been everything from drowning to tuberculosis and the age from 1 day old to 96 years old. I feel a part of each person and their family as I index their names. It has been an humbling reminder of our short existence on this earth and why we should make the best of living the commandments while we are blessed with life. Now I tease my companion that I have to visit the morgue again because I want to see who died next, why and how old. It has truly turned my heart to those who have gone before me.

Haiti

2008-06-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Clyde could not go to Haiti to do training because it is too dangerous again. They have had several kidnappings and killings. It is really sad to see so many suffer at the hand of a few. So we invited our Priesthood leader from Haiti to come to us for the weekend and we taught him and his wife in family history. They were shocked at how much more we have here as far as comforts and peace than Haiti. The sister told me that she fears for her children everyday and everyone is under so much stress. They went to the temple while they were here and said it was wonderful to feel the peace and the Spirit. We are so blessed to have a stable government. This is the letter they shared with us. Such a sweet thanks makes our work here worthwhile.

Dear Elder and Sister Allred,

I want to let you know that I really appreciate your dedication, your kindness, your help, and everything you have done so far to help me with this calling. At least, the Lord knows that you are not responsible if I don't give good results and I will do my best. I know I must succeed because the Lord, who has chosen me for this calling, is waiting for concrete results and you have done your best to help me, to train me. I hope you will continue to help me and that the Lord will help me reach the goals he has set for me in this calling.

2008-06-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

This is a small creature interested in what we are up to.

2008-06-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

Jamaica Tour

We could not fly direct to Jamaica, Bahamas and Caymans so after nine stop overs to Miami, Florida we were some tired old missionaries. One good thing is because of a cancelled flight we had time to buy a new camera to replace our stolen one. We were excited to go shopping. Another advantage of all this flying over the islands is the beautiful blue ocean below. We just cannot believe that we get the great blessing of visiting all of these gorgeous islands. But even better than the places we visit is the people we meet. These island saints are so excited about family history that they crowded into the tiny little center to get a peak at how they can research their ancestors. At every place we visited at least one member told me personally that they had a dream about an ancestor that wanted their work done for them so they came to us to learn what they needed to do. What humble faith! Each island is unique and what a blessing to meet so many different people. All of the Jamaica tour is English speaking with a British accent so that was fun talking to them.

2008-06-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

Jamaica here we come! This trip was a bit different from all the rest. We had other senior missionaries to take care of our every need. The mission president said he did not want us to drive because all the driving is on the other side of the road and the roads are terrible. They have over 400 deaths a year in car accidents and he was just worried about getting us back home alive. Now, I was REALLY excited about going after that good news! But we have been asked to visit all of the islands so we go with a smile. To our great surprise we had a wonderful time and were cared for by some great couples. They drove us to our meetings, fed us and we stayed at their apartment for the night. We started our trip out with our camera being stolen out of our suitcase so all of our pictures the other couples took for us. One of the couples we stayed with lived up in the mountains in a beautiful place that looks like the Garden of Eden. The sister had the use of only one arm because as a young girl she and her whole family were hit by a drunk driver. Her mother, grandmother and sister were all killed. She, her father and other sister were in the hospital and were not even aware of the funerals. We shared the pain of learning to pick up the pieces of life and forgive those that trespass against us. She is a beautiful kindred spirit.

2008-06-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Strange things happened at the temple. We woke one morning to a parking lot full of chairs and a shaded cover. We had a visit from the president of this island. He wanted to visit the temple and asked if he could take a private tour. Instead the area president invited him to the temple grounds. We had a huge turn out of members and missionaries that were called to lend their support. It was quite an exciting day with all the security, ambulances and motorcade. It turned out to be a spiritual feast as the area seventy testified of the importance of the family and presented Leonel Fernandez with a framed copy of The Family Proclamation. There was a special peace with the music of the tabernacle choir as we gathered and dismissed. His personnel told the area presidency that they felt the peace and spirit and were grateful to us. Our contribution to all of this was that we burned some midnight oil to find his first four generations to present to him. Several of our genealogist helped us and we tried to find as much information as possible with such a short notice. Then we printed him a nice copy in fancy font and he was so pleased he wants us to search for more generations. It was an interesting process of events.

2008-05-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! what fun! We were too close to St. Kitts to not stop and say hi to Adrian and Beth. We got to hug that new grand baby that was already nine months old. It was so fun to see grandkids again. We sure do miss our family. Adrian lives on one of the most beautiful islands we have seen. It is like going to the country with small towns and a volcano. We played at the beach and went snorkeling. Brennan got to see sea turtles, star fish and all kinds of fish with his daddy and grandpa. Then of course, Adrian and Beth just got to St. Kitts and we followed them clear to the island in the sea to GET to help them unpack. We laughed about the fact that we have helped them with every move since they were married. We loved being able to visit and play and then it was back to work.

French Islands

2008-05-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

This mission experience continues to be an amazement! We have to pinch ourselves to realize that we actually are flying all over the Caribbean and sharing family history. We flew first to Martinique and taught a wonderful small group of members. The french island saints love family history and so they love us to visit them. One sister even fixed lobster for Clyde's birthday and gave me her necklace that I admired. Such sweet saints! They pray each day at 7 am and 7 pm to become a stake. Martinique is a beautiful green island with rolling hills. Next we visited Guadeloupe and helped them fix up their family history center. They are great genealogists and do lots of research so they were thrilled when we changed a micro fiche reader that they cannot use anymore to a micro film reader which they use all the time. Just a small act of service turned into a huge gratitude. In the evening we had a great turn out of Priesthood leaders and members anxious to learn new family search. It is so wonderful to go do the Lord's work where members love what you are teaching. There was such enthusiasm! Last we flew to St. Marteen which only has a handful of members but they welcomed us just the same.

2008-04-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

This creature greeted us in Aruba! They wandered all around the outside of the hotel and even around the swimming pool. They may be harmless but you could not convince me.

2008-04-22T15:21:00.001-07:00

We went to the island of Aruba to help with family history there. We found a microfilm reader sent a year ago still in the packing box . It was like Christmas! We could not believe they never even opened it. The minute we got there we ripped it open and had it in use in seconds. They were amazed at the contents and so excited to see what it was and how they could use it.

Miracles

2008-04-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Miracles bless our lives with wonder and awe. One of the miracles that blesses our life is our family. Just when we were getting pretty homesick we were blessed to have Jared and Janene bring their little ones to brighten our mission. Then before we could turn around Darin and Lori and their big family came. It was so fun sharing our mission with them all and hugging our grandchildren again. We just loved watching them play and experience another part of the world. We will forever hold the memories.

Another miracle was the solemn assembly to sustain our new prophet. Here we were on a little island in the Caribbean with a room full of missionaries standing when it was our turn to participate in this solemn and sacred experience. We witnessed the prophetic mantle settle over the living prophet. Conference was a wonderful miracle that blessed our life.

Yet another miracle is how we see the work of the Lord grow. When we first came on our mission we had to beg leaders and members to listen to us. Now they are begging us to help them, teach them, set a computer up for them, hold a conference with them or anything to unite their eternal families. They feel the Spirit of the work and are anxious.

Yes, families are a miracle.