4 Sisters in the flat

Coconuts growing on the ground?

Poor Sister Yee.  At least she knows she's loved.

Sisters with Jordan, an investigator

Sister Alldredge with her Aboriginal Grandparents

This week has been craazy but so good! I know its hard to believe but i did have a little struggle at the beginning of the week because I was thinking more about home when I heard about Sophie but thanks to prayers and a priesthood blessing from Elder Boyce (the senior couple here in cairns), we were able to have such a great week! Missions are funny, you will never have a day that will go exactly as planned and you will always be rejected over and over again BUT miracles happen every day every day every day. Heavenly Father is so so merciful. 

But this past week we started teaching a girl named jean, she is 19 and her mom is a less active that hasn't been to church since before jean was born so she didn't know anything about it, but as we briefly taught her, the spirit was so strong and i felt prompted to invite her to be baptized, and she accepted! So that was a miracle! 

Also i finished memorized the Living Christ, it took awhile because I was a little slack but I finally finished it! So that has been a huge blessing and I have grown closer to my Savior as i have memorized it. So i encourage you all to memorize it! or just read it, either way :) 

Another miracle we had this week was when we went to the Benioni families house. They are a less active family who has recently started coming back to church! But the dad, Danny, is aussie and has tatoos everywhere, long hair, and gages in his ears, and looks super rough but is the funniest and nicest guy ever! The mom, Naomi, is from new zealand and is always so welcoming to us. But that night our appointment feel through so sis yee suggested we go see this family. so as we got there, we were talking to them and Naomi said that her oldest daughter had attempted to commit suicide the night before and they were in the hospital all night. We felt prompted to and watched the mormon message "mountains to climb." Both of them started crying during the video and after talking to them about it, they said that we always seemed to bring the message that they needed to hear at that very moment. I am so grateful for the spirit for always leading us to know who to see and what to teach them. We could not do it without the spirit. But this experience, and many others, have strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father is so aware of us and our feelings and thoughts and struggles. I am also reminded every single day how important it is that we are worthy of and listening to the spirit so that we can help our brothers and sisters  as we are instruments in helping answer their prayers. 

Well i love you all sooo much. and I invite you all to pray for an opportunity to help answer someones prayer this week! 

love , Sister Alldredge 

Best buds - Souvenir shopping 

Jordan & Sister Morrison, We LOVE this family!

Christmas Nativity at Branch Christmas party!

Baby duck from the Nativity

Well, I've decided that I'm never leaving cairns and that I am going to stay here for my whole mission. Man, i sure do love this area!!!! This past week has been really fun! And we saw lots of miracles! Also i had to speak in church last minute so that was fun too :) haha But it went alright! Also sorry I didn't email you sooner today... We went to Kuranda as a district. It has all of these awesome authentic Australia stuff, like boomerangs and didgeridoos and kangaroos skins and sarongs and stuff. So that was real fun :)

One HUGE miracle that we saw this week was from a part member family, I think i told you about them last week... Carmen (the member) and her partner Amosa (nonmember) and how they said they want to be sealed. well we challenged him to pray because he said he still wanted to find out if it was true, and as we came back this week we followed up and asked him how it went. And he says, "Well actually, I can now say that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is the only true church on earth." And my jaw must have dropped or I must have looked like I was in shock, because he kind of laughed and then told us that he had prayed the night we had came last week and after he prayed he was just laying in bed, and he felt this feeling in his heart that was something he had never felt before. He said he felt like he was getting really hot but he knew it was the spirit and that Heavenly Father was answering his prayers. WOW. I can't even describe the joy that completely filled my heart as I heard those words. I don't think I have ever felt that happy before. It is amazing to see someone change and to see them really and truly gain a testimony for themselves. He has a ways to go before he will be baptized but it was such an amazing miracle! 

Also this past week, we had an early Branch Christmas Party! Dude, it was awwesome! And there were 18 nonmembers there! They have the primary do a nativity and they had live goats and chicks and ducks and guinea pigs which was so cute! And then we went to different rooms to see how different cultures celebrated Christmas! We had a papa new guinea room, a phillipino room, and a cook island room. It was so cool and we got to try unique foods for each one! It was soo fun. I send you pics of it :)

So a thought that i had as I was reading my scriptures this week came from 2 Nephi 28:24. It says, "Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" And me and sister yee were talking about how profound and true that is. We should never be comfortable in the gospel, we should always be growing and stretching and becoming better! So I want you all to think about that this week, how or what you can do to grow and stretch and become better, because that truly is enduring to the end! 

Well I LOVE YOU! make it the best week ever! :D

love, Sister Alldredge

 Tree full of bats - not the biggest she has seen but 3' wingspans

 Dinner with a couple of families

 Breanna hasn't changed too much thankfully.  Poor Sister Yee!

 Sushi

Sister Yee and Bre Selfie!

Ni Hao. So I can't really remember what happened this past week.. its all been a blurr, but i remember that it was good! :) but i forgot my planner at the flat so i will do my best to remember.... haha 

But i learned some sad news this past week.. apparently they closed my first area and so instead of having the sisters and elders cover the ward, its just the elders and the boundaries are huge.. so thats kind of a bummer.. but its all good! :) i just want to stay in cairns foreverr. Even though our air con is broken right now and i feel sticky all the time, life here is soooo good! Man, i wish everyone was as humble as the people in Cairns! 

But this past week i have really been thinking about something dad sent me last week... he said, "There will be no other time in your life when you don’t have to worry about anything else but serving so make the very best of it.  Everything you are doing is about serving others and the Lord, and that is what will bless your life and your family’s lives forever.  There is no greater joy than that!" I have been doing my best to focus on what matters most, and that is doing the Father's will. There is no greater joy then when we are becoming more like the savior and aligning our will with the Fathers. Even though i have sooo many weaknesses, As long as we are worthy of and listening to and following the spirit then we will be able to do everything Heavenly Father wants us to do. 

So we had so many amazing miracles this week, but one miracle we had was that we set a baptism date with Thomas!!!! well technically the elders did... but you know Patty and Thomas? Well apparently the elders are teaching Thomas's mom and they went to see her this week and Thomas was there and they taught them both and set a date with both of them! It was a miracle because we haven't been able to see Thomas lately but we will need to get him and Patty married asap so he can get baptized in december. 

We also had a part member family finally open up to us and the non member father told us that he would never forgive himself if his family wasn't sealed in the temple, so that was also a huge miracle! Now we just have to help these people progress!

Well, sorry this is kind of a short and lame email... but just know that i love you all and i am soooo happy. the joy that comes from forgetting about ourselves and our wants and needs and just focusing on others is the greatest joy ever! And then when you see people changing and becoming better, ahh. I could do this forever! But i would love to invite all of yall to pray and to ask Heavenly Father who is someone that may need help or may need a friend or something and i promise you that if you pray with real intent (which in PMG, real intent means that when we pray, we will be willing to act on the answer we receive) that the spirit will tell you a name of someone. Do it. And experience the joy that comes from following the spirit and helping that beloved child of God that He loves sooo much! And if you have any cool experiences, let me know :)

Well, i love you! so much. And have a great week! I am so excited for this coming week! Sister Yee has really taught me to love being a missionary and to just love and look forward to each new day. And i do, i love it! 

love, Sister Alldredge 

The mission team over looking Yarrabah.. (My favorite couple the Staffords, the ones who can't see and the other who can't remember) LOVE THEM!!!! 

FAMILY! happy halloween! and happy november! wow, i can't believe its already november..... It feels like its still june to me because of this crazy weather! And Christmas is next month.. what the?.. But anyways, this past week has been great!

So i didn't get transferred! woooh and neither did sister Yee! Oh happy day!!! And this will be sister yee's 4th transfer up here in Cairns so she will probably got back down after this one for her last 2 transfers. But Sister Taulagia, the samoan sister got sent back down to brisbane and now a tongan sister named Sister Atu'ake came up to be with Sister McMichael. She is hilarious, so it will continue to be a party in our flat. :) 

But this week we had a halloween party with our 2 branches here in cairns which was super fun! Aussies don't really celebrate halloween that much but they went all out with this trunk or treat party! People would sign up to have their cars in the parking lot handing out candy and It was awesome! our branch president and his family set up this big carpet and some tables and they would act like zombies and walk toward you and you would have to shoot 6 of them with a nerf gun before they reached the table to get candy.. it was intense! hahah But it was really fun! and our investigator came with his daughter and some of the members brought their nonmember friends so it was really good! 

Also... funny story... so you know Pastor John? the one that has been coming to church? well one day we were walking home at like 7:30 at night so it was pretty dark, and as we were walking we saw someone that was staggering walking toward us. So we were like, oh no, another drunk guy. So we start to walk to the side of the sidewalk and then i realized it was Pastor John! So we were like, what the? why is he drunk?! and then all of a sudden, he looks up at us and starts laughing his head off! He told us he had seen us coming so he pretended to be drunk to scare us.. hahaha oh man, we were laughing so hard! Crazy old John. :) 

But anyways, this past week we were able to teach a lot and also were able to go to Yarrabah again. Being in Yarrabah is just the best! I know we can start a branch there! Anything is possible with the Lord! 

Also, Kristen Hopkins just sent me a letter with the best talk ever!!!! its called "the miracle of a mission." by jeffrey r holland. yall have to read it!!!!! its so good! and also "becoming a consecrated missionary" by tad r callister, and it doesn't just apply to full time missionaries, you can live it in your everyday life because every member is a missionary! :) 

But I love you all soooo much! And i sure have been missing you lately more than usual with all of these fun holidays and the family parties but its all good! :) 

​yours truely..... and dont mind my double chin the in the one on the left... i accidentally cut my chin off in my picture... but we have enjoyed handing out the one on the left to our branch members :)
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​me and my twin on halloween