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...