When it comes to living our lives, Christ doesn't make up the difference. He IS the difference.

A few months before Dave passed away, he came across a talk that read as follows: "In Doctrine and Covenants 136:31, the Lord says, 'My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.'" "I now wonder how the Lord is pruning me. Am I learning the lessons he wants me to learn? Am I bearing fruit worthy of Him? Do I see and appreciate the guidance of the Master's hand in my life? Do I let go of what is unnecessary or sinful in my life and keep only that which is good?" I believe that we would all answer that Dave did. He went about doing good and was a positive influence in the lives of many, many people. I know that he continues to influence my life for the better. If you are reading this, please take a minute to add a comment. Share with us a memory that you have of Dave, a story of how he's affected yo...

You know that I would much rather have you here, but every time I walk past your picture and see your smiling face, I am assured that you really aren't very far away. I'll love you forever! Georgia

In June of 2006, David Johnson Allred was diagnosed with Stage IIIC Metastatic Melanoma. At that point he was given 3-5 years to live. Immediately he underwent surgery to remove the infected lymph nodes, did a water fast for 10 days, and began interferon treatments. 5 days a week for one month and every third day for 1 year thereafter. In October of 2006, he was hospitalized due to an infection in his blood that nearly took his life. By March of 2007, he stopped inteferon therapy, and in August of 2007 we moved back to Utah so that Dave could complete his degree. We assumed that he was in remission and life was wonderful. In August of 2008, Dave was told that the cancer was back and that it had metastisized. At that point, because he was young and healthy, he was given just less than a year to live. Unfortunately, the cancer grew faster than anticipated and in December the doctor informed us that Dave would soon experience "significant debilitating problems" that would...

From the journal of David Allred December 18, 2008: "You just have to know that the deeper the pain, the deeper the trial, the harder things seem, will allow your spirit and allow your soul to be able to feel deeper and more complete joy and happiness down the road. That's why those trials are given to you. So that you can feel deeper and more complete joy than you would have ever been able to feel without having to go through those trials. You'll appreciate it more. You'll understand it more. You'll just be able to feel it . . . deeper than if you never would have gone through those things. Let yourself be happy! Let yourself feel joy. Don't feel like you're being prideful or lacking humility if you're being too happy because there is no such thing as feeling too happy or feeling too much joy. Just like there's no such thing as feeling too much pain and too much sorrow. They're just opposites and the farther you go on each scale helps you ...

Today I'm not exactly certain what I am going to share. Only that I know Dave was a wonderful person, and I know that we can all become amazing as well. I saw the transformation over the years. It was much more concentrated during his last few weeks, but he became prepared to return to God. In 2006, when we initially found out about the cancer I wanted to keep it between Dave and I. I didn't want to let others know. I didn't want them to worry. And in so doing, I was denying them their agency: the choice to help or become involved. Dave, in his wisdom, urged and pursuaded me to let everyone know. "I need their prayers and support" he recognized. (If only I hadn't been so foolish as to think that we could do it on our own.) It was soon after he found out that we let our families know. Since then I have gained a firm testimony of the power of prayer. Elder Holland has mentioned that we can, through prayer, summon angels to minister and provide relief ...

Laugh until you cry . . . or snort . . . or . . . well, we won't go into that. Thanks to Faline and Lisa for putting this party together. I laughed more than I've laughed in months. It felt great!

We are just shy of the date when Dave passed away just one year ago. Naturally, things were so bad at that point that I have no journal entries, just memories. I believe that it was about 2 weeks before Dave passed away that he went onto hospice. That day was a day of resignation for some of us. His death then seemed emminant and his physical withdrawl seemed a foreshadowing of what the future had to hold. But in spite of the present and upcoming difficulties, we all clung to our faith. When you're in life's trenches you have two options: press on, or give up. Yes. They are choices and one often seems easy and the other elusive. In the past few weeks I have recognized the significance of pressing on. Faith, Repentance, Baptism/Sacrament, endure, repeat. Dave wrote this for his funeral talk. "I want everyone to know that from the very beginning of the trial, we knew that it was part of Heavenly Father’s plan. It was the plan for us. This was shown to me in a pra...

It is natural to have down days when you're battling death. Every morning is a blessing and with every night comes the fear that it may be your last. Throughout the course of our trial with cancer, we came to trust and to ultimately know that with every breath we take, every emotion we feel, every pain that courses through us, God is there. He decides whether we live or die, but it is up to us to decide what we will do with the life we are living. Fortunately, for members of the church who have partaken of the ordinances of the temple, we know that death is not the end. It is just a passing from one side of the veil to the other. Dave feels that with that understanding is the obligation to share what you know. President Brigham Young said,"There is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live . . . " And then I ask? How long is life? Is it measured by the life of the mortal body or that of the Spirit? Dave's ...

We have all heard the phrase,"every member a missionary" but how many of us actually strive to fulfill that promise? Dave and I were married for 11 years. During that time, he served in many areas of the church but his favorite callings were as a ward missionary and as a high councilor. Why? Because he was able to get out among the people and regularly share his testimony of the gospel. Toward the end of his life, he lived with the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. During one of his last Sundays at church, he came out of class to see a young man sitting outside the bishop's office. He was dressed in jeans, with a hoodie pulled over his face. The Spirit prompted Dave to stop and talk to this young man that he didn't know. Through the course of their conversation he found out that the boy was uncomfortable going to class because he didn't have any nice clothes. Immediately, Dave told him to stay put and he'd be back with some clothes. So, after...

We all know that we come to love those that we serve. Dave served his two-year mission in the Philippines. He learned to love and adore those people. He relished opportunities after his mission to speak Cebuano to anyone that he could. Dave's most significant conversion to missionary work came in the MTC when Elder Holland came and spoke. "He spoke with such power" David writes,"that it went to the core of my soul. He expressed his very personal feelings about missionary work. He pounded the pulpit many times to stress the importance that we work with all our might, that we walk the path from Gethsemane to Calvary. We must walk the hard road that God walked. The plan of salvation is not easy. It is based on obedience. . . man's extremity truly is God's opportunity. We must put ourselves out on the edge in order for God to bless us with miracles and faith. We cannot receive a witness of the truth until after the trial of our faith. . . the day I decided to go ...

Here are some of the goals that Dave set, with the words "God Honors Committment" above it. *Study scriptures 30 minutes each & also with Georgia *memorize one scripture a day from the chapter I'm in *write in journal at least 3X week *read one good book each day 15-20 pgs. *Give away 1 Book of Mormon each month *prayer- with real intent *feel the Spirit ever day and listen to it *write a book- being LDS in the business world *100% home teaching - Jerry baptized, Worden's active-temple, Cruz & Myrna baptized, Reuben & Lupita baptized. I remember this time in our lives. Because Dave was making committments and keeping them, the Lord blessed us. Dave writes, "I have felt the Spirit comfort, guide and teach me so much as I have made goals to devote more of my time to the Lord. Before I would read my scriptures and say my prayers because I felt like I owed it to the Lord and that I was required to do so by the leaders of the church. . . it fin...

This entire month has been difficult (and we're only on day 6.) It seems that every day is dragging by. My accomplishments are limited and I just feel sad and lonely. At times like this I find it difficult to believe that I agreed to this before I came down here, but I must have known that the end result would be positive. It's not about who can sprint the fastest, but who finishes the race, right? I don't know if the kids have been feeling Dave's absence more lately, but I certainly have. Life wasn't meant to be lived alone. I gained that testimony as soon as I had to start doing it on my own. I'm so grateful for family and friends that keep me going. I love you all! Georgia

Although Dave was never healed of his cancer, we witnessed many small miracles throughout the course of our lives. One of Dave's greatest concerns was that everyone would overlook the small miracles: being able to keep his food down or eat every so often, having a sunny day in October that Dave could mountain bike, the miracle of friends, the miracle of helping to administer and bless the sacrament, 4-wheeling in December, skiing in January, living to see Jacob baptized. His hope was that no one would overlook what great things the Lord had done in search for something greater such as healing. "The greatest miracle," he testified,"is that we see the miracles, regardless of their size." Another blessing we received was the ability to recognize that trials are not meant to be passed through alone. And, as a result of our own trials, others can witness miracles in their lives.

In August of 2008 when Dave was given only a few months to live, he was questioning his contributions to this earth. "I have always felt like the Lord has had a great work for me to do and I was wondering when or where or if that was ever going to happen." Then the Spirit came over Dave as he crossed the back yard and joined Jacob on the swings. It was then that it was witnessed to him that his children and his family were the greatest contributions he could have made to the earth. Dave also recognized that he would be blessed to continue helping his children from up above.

If you can believe it, Jacob is now nine! I remember June of 2006 when Dave was diagnosed with cancer. Jacob was just 5 years old then and he was blessed to spend three extra years with his dad. Jacob is our smiley guy. It seems that there is always a smile across his face. (Unless Caden just hurt him and then he's crying, but he'll smile as soon as you hug him.) Life is great for Jacob. It's full of fun and all of the adventure that you can create in your mind. He always has a new way of looking at thingsWe love you Jacob! And we are so very grateful that you were sent to be a part of our family! We hope you have a wonderful birthday! Love, Dad, Mom, Caden and Alli

Because I have been doing these daily posts, I have taken the time and opportunity to start reading Dave's journal. I have been so impressed with the outstanding person that he was. And I have begun to recognize that the Lord qualifies us for the tests and trials that we will go through. Back in January of 2003 Dave said,"We have been blessed so much to this point in our marriage. I often wonder why, but always come back to the feeling that there is something greater that He has in store for us. So we try to live worthy of each new calling and to be ready to serve however He needs us." In looking back, I have to say that we have done many great things, and it has been because we allowed the Lord to guide our path. In Dave's patriarchal blessing it states that he would be blessed with life "suffiecient in length [to] be able to accomplish all that our Father in Heaven expect[ed of him]." We were far from recognizing in 2003 that one of the "greater...

Even after Dave was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and went into "full-time retirement" as he liked to call it, he took on challenges on a constant basis. One was this castle that he lovingly built for the boys. It is constructed primarily of chicken wire and paper mache. But he also added some foam (to fill in the voids) as well as some expensive duct work that he transformed into secret chutes and tunnels. All in all, it cost well over $100 to build it, but he loved it as much as the boys did once it was done. Dave was never too busy to have fun.

I was pondering a few things the other morning when I came up with this saying: "The difference between being good and being great is simply a matter of priority." I don't know if I pulled it out of the deep recesses of my brain or if I actually authored it myself. Either way, it's a great quote! This month, in 2009, was the last month of David's life. Because of that, I would like to take the opportunity to share with you some of my feelings and hopefully some audio clips of Dave with regard to his journey from being good to becoming great. I hope that you all enjoy the journey along with me!

Well, Dave's youngest brother, Clay turns 21 years old today. Is he really THAT old? I can't believe it. I typically perceive someone that age as mature. We have one more month before he gets back from his mission and we can really find out. Love ya Clay!