Christmas Party in Brewster

Hey everyone!

This week was really good for us! It went really fast but we had some good things happen. We went on exchanges a couple of times and we had the Christmas party for the Branch. It was a lot of fun and some really good things happened. We had probably about 10 non-members there in total with the people that we invited and the people that the Branch invited.

Teaching was also really good for us. We invited our branch president to come with us for a couple of visits and we were able to have some good lessons with a few of our investigators to help them feel more comfortable coming to church more regularly. We were able to have a couple of investigators at church without having to wake them up but the others slept through their alarms however, they should be coming this next Sunday.

The Lord has been blessing us a lot lately as investigators have been keeping their commitments and new investigators are showing genuine interest in the gospel. For a couple of weeks it was hard to see any real progress in the area but I know it was just a trial of our faith. This morning I was reading about patience in Preach My Gospel and it had a little activity to study and it was in Mosiah 28:1-9 and it talks about the desires that the sons of Mosiah had to go share the gospel with the Lamanites. Then it referred to Alma 17:10-11 and Alma 26:27 which talked about the promises the Lord had given them if they remained faithful and persevered in patience. It hit me that over the course of the last couple of weeks were just us serving in patience and then the Lord fulfilled his promise to give us success.

Crazy to think that this is my last full week in Washington. The Lord has blessed me a lot and in a lot of different ways. The mission was not what I thought it was going to be but it has been so much more than I could have ever hoped for. 

Hope you all have a great week and this will be the last email that I send home from my mission. Crazy how time just flies by!

--Elder Young--

Busy Week!

Hey everybody!

This week was pretty good for teaching. We had some miracles with people we didn't think we were going to be able to teach very much. A family that we have been trying to teach for a while came to church on Sunday and they enjoyed it. Hopefully next Sunday they will come again. Also we were able to find out more about some of our investigators pasts so we know how we can help them overcome the obstacles in their life that are keeping them from progressing. The Lord has been blessing us with work to do and people to visit and help come to Christ.

Last night we stopped by one of our investigators to confirm an appointment for today and we ended up teaching her about the atonement because she had been going through a hard time for pretty much her whole life and she is trying to become better. It made me really appreciate having the gospel in my life and having two parents that care for and love me. The gospel really does protect and help us to be the very best that we can be.

So we have been doing service for someone named Pedro trying to help him change a movie theater into a rental hall. I thought I would send you a picture of him because he is a pretty funny guy. He calls everyone guero which means white guy and he is almost always talking in spanglish. He also owns half of Brewster.

Hope you all have a great week!

--Elder Young--

Why do the weeks go by so fast?

Hey everyone!

Hope you all have had a great week!

This week was kind of slow but fast at the same time. The weeks just go by too fast and it always seems like its just going even faster. Before I know it I'll be headed to tri-cities to get on an airplane. I don't like thinking about that because that means that my mission is coming to an end and I don't like to think about that at all.

This week was kind of slow for teaching for us but we did have a few good lessons with our investigators. On Monday we had plans to teach this awesome couple about the plan of salvation but as we were talking we could feel something was wrong with the guy and we felt prompted to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we could see a difference in his countenance by the end of the lesson. He was angry about something because they had been arguing about something. The gospel really does solve so many problems, we just have to let it work in our lives to do it.

There is a really good Mormon Message that we watched recently that I think applies to many members who think they are overworked. The Lord uses all of us to bless and uplift the lives of others. When we pray, its really to get our wills inline with God's and then to accomplish His will. Heavenly Father knows so much better than we do the things that we need to get done to bless the lives of others as well the things that need to happen to make us more like Christ.

Have a great week!

--Elder Young--

Thanksgiving week

Hey everybody!

The weather has been kind of crazy here with snow and rain and slush and then it got super windy and cold. Its kind of fun to step on the puddles that froze because the water under the surface is absorbed by the ground and it sounds like glass breaking. It makes walking in the cold a little more enjoyable and fun.

So this week was pretty good. We taught a decent amount of people and some of our investigators kept their commitments to read. Unfortunately no one kept their commitment to come to church so this week we are going to be focusing on helping people come to church and feel of the spirit that is there. We had a funny lesson with a couple that we are teaching about the word of wisdom. Both of them have something that they need to give up and both of them are willing however there are always those two or three excuses for throwing them away. Its amazing to see what a blessing it is to have learned about the word of wisdom as a young person so that I could be free of addictions.

Thanksgiving was pretty fun. We helped someone out cleaning up some stuff during the early afternoon. We knew it would be a hard day to find people home but doing service for a few hours worked out well. We had dinner with a member and then one with an investigator. When I woke up the next morning, I still wasn't hungry because there was so much good food. Unfortunately the lesson with the investigator that day didn't go like we thought it was going to and we are deciding to stop visiting that family as much. They just don't listen very well and they think they don't have to pray to receive answers. So we are just going to go by once a week for now instead of twice a week.

A couple of days ago I started to feel a little under the weather so right now I don't have much of a desire of writing but there is something that I need to share with you. The church has produced another video about keeping Christ in Christmas. Its a wonderful video that brings the spirit very powerfully and quickly. If you just click on the link, it will take you there. Please share this video with everyone. We need to spread the message so we always remember why we are coming together as families to remember the birth of our Savior. I know he live and loves us and wants us to be the best we can be so we can return to live with God again. I know the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith was called to restore the church. Also I know by that same spirit that President Monson is a prophet of God and by following his council and the council of the twelve Apostles, we can reach exaltation!

Hope you all have a great week and that you see many miracles!

--Elder Young--

Zone Conference with Elder Arnold and Snow!

Hey everyone!

Hope you have had a great week!

This week was really long but really fast at the same time. We found a new investigator with a lot of potential. When we found him, he told us that he goes to church but he doesn't really get anything out of it and feels like it doesn't help him very much and he wants to go to a church that helps him get closer to Christ and where he learns more. We have planned to see him tonight and we are excited to see what kind of progress he will make in the coming weeks. Also we have been finding some really good potentials that want to learn more and want to read from the Book of Mormon. Its amazing to see the difference between the people that are prepared and those that are not. The Lord really is preparing people to receive the gospel at this time.

So on Friday we had a zone conference with Elder Arnold of the Seventy. I had a leadership session with him at 7:30 in the morning and then it went from there until 2:30 in the afternoon and I felt sad when it was over because I wanted more. He talked a lot about working with the ward councils and the members to do our finding. Also he talked a lot about being stronger with the commitments that we extend.

We were also supposed to go to Othello for a spanish conference with Elder Arnold as well but it started snowing and they decided not to let us go. I attached a picture of the snow the next day. It was inspired because it took us a long time just to get back to Brewster and it would have been even worse at 9:00 at night.

Something that I want to do better that Elder Arnold suggested is to FEAST from the scriptures. He turned his scriptures around to show us his marking and it was completely covered in notes. He said he spent 6 weeks on 3 Nephi 11 and 12 weeks on 3 Nephi 12. The scriptures contain so much knowledge and truth but our loving Heavenly Father allows us to grow our faith by searching pondering and praying.

Have a great one! and hope to hear from you soon! Happy thanksgiving!

--Elder Young--

Staying Brewster for my last one!

Hey everyone!

So we got transfer calls this week and all 4 of us in our apartment are staying so it looks like I'll be dying in Brewster. I love Brewster and we have been having some good success this past week.

Its been super cold but despite that we are still looking for more people to teach and teaching the people the Lord has given us. We were able to teach the family we found last Sunday because they were busy but the couple that we have been teaching came to church. Funny story. This whole we had struggled to meet with them because things just kept getting in the way so we decided we were just going to do everything we could to help them keep their commitments. We texted them Sunday morning to remind them about church and we didn't get a reply so we assumed that they were still asleep so we stopped by their house and knocked on their door a few times to wake them up. A few minutes before sacrament meeting we get a text from them saying that they are outside. When we saw them they asked if we knocked on their door and they said it woke them up so they could come. Then the sisters of the recent convert, Junior, came and also his niece. It was pretty neat to see so many non-members in church. The Lord is blessing us in so many ways.

Some funny stories from this week. One of the Elders found this huge pine cone and stuck it in my bed before I jumped in and pretty much we have been moving the pine cone around the apartment just trying to find place to surprise each other with it. It sounds kind of dumb in writing but its pretty funny to see.

Hope you all have a great week!

--Elder Young--

The Blessings of Talking with Everyone

Hey everyone!

This week was pretty good for us. We have been able to try back with some of the people that we have been finding and having some success with it. There was a family that we found last Sunday but they didn't have time to talk so we went back yesterday and we were able to teach them about the restoration and leave them with a Book of Mormon. They seemed like they will read it and we are going to go teach them next Sunday. 

We have also been working with couple that seems really interested and they have a desire to come to church but it seems like something always gets in their way just when they are about to come. We had a lesson with them this week that seemed really round about at first but then they actually got the importance of reading the Book of Mormon to find out if the Church has been restored. It was a pretty neat lesson and we hope to see more progress from them this week.

There have been days these past few weeks that we come back at the end of the night and we are just drained because we'll walk all over the place to try and talk with people and then we will also have spiritually draining lessons. It feels really nice to be tired like that.

Hope you all have a great week and that you see many miracles!

--Elder Young--

Why does the time go so fast?

Hey everybody!

This week was really fast but we had some really good lessons that show the love of our Heavenly Father. We spent some time in the rain looking and talking with people but I feel like the Lord blessed us with some more people to teach because we showed our faith to keep working despite the rain.

One of the lessons that was a pretty big miracle for us came from a referral we got a few weeks ago from a member. We have been having a hard time meeting with them on a regular basis but when we do have a lesson, the Spirit is there and they just eat it up. So they came to the english classes and that went well and then afterwards we discussed the chapter they read and they got out of it exactly what the chapter meant and then we had a church tour. When we were talking about the baptismal font, she asked if we put hot water in it because she doesn't like cold water. To me and my companion, that just meant that she was already thinking about it. We have high hopes for them this week as the apple harvest is coming to an end and they will have a little more time.

Funny story from a lesson we had last night. We taught this family that is a little crazy sometimes but like us coming over and when we talk about the gospel they like to learn. We read a chapter with them and then said a pray and were about the leave because it was getting late. Quickly I grabbed her Book of Mormon and marked Alma 32 for her to read before the next appointment and then told her its a chapter about faith. She just looked at me and said "Wow! Thats weird! Every time we open the book or read something it answers my questions." She went on to say that the chapter we read had answered a question for her and then she also had a question about faith. The funny thing was that she never asked us a question about either thing. We just followed the little thoughts and impressions that we got and its helped her. I know the Lord will lead and guide us when we humbly seek his help.

Sorry its a short one this week, it just rained a lot and we were walking in it a lot.

--Elder Young--

WOW What a week!

Hello,

This week was really good for us, we talked to more people than we did last week and we found a couple of really good investigators that have a lot of potential. We are super excited to work with them and help them come closer to Christ. Last night we were stopped by to see if we could talk with them for a few minutes and we ended up listening to stories of events that happened in their life that has prepared them to receive the gospel. We didn't have to say much but what was said was exactly what they needed and we could feel the trust that they have towards us now. The Lord is preparing people in a number of different ways, we just have to be sensitive to the spirit to know how to help.

This week we also did some service as part of Make a difference day. It was mostly helping people that had their homes burnt or their property burnt and helping them with the things that would take too long for them to do on their own. My companion and I helped dig out wooden fence posts that were left in the ground and then we put in new ones so they could rebuild their riding arena. It was pretty neat to see the community get together to help others. There were about 200 people there as part of the relief effort.

Thanks for all that you do and hope you have a great week!

--Elder Young--

Miracles come after lots of training

Hey everybody!

This week was pretty good for us. We had a couple of training meetings and then we also had interviews with our mission president. It really helped us to focus on the basics and talking with everyone. After all of our training meetings we were able to find 2 new investigators and they seem like they have really good potential because they actually do what they commit themselves to do. In the mission that is a rarity and a huge blessing. We hope to see great things come from them in these coming weeks as we continue to work with them towards the commitment of baptism. 

At our interviews president talked a lot about our desire and how that affects our work. It made me realize that we can't just say that we have a desire to do the work but we actually have to do it and do it with everything that we have. It made me think about how it would be the same for the celetial kingdom. We can't just say that we have been good but we actually have to do it and do it with full purpose of heart. I love the examples in the scriptures because of the missionaries in the scriptures do everything with such energy and zeal that its a great example for us to do our very best each and every day.

Sorry the letters are getting shorter. I'm kind of getting burnt out on writing letters. Its still hard to believe that I'm coming up on my last transfer. October is almost over already which is insane! Hope you have a great week!

--Elder Young--

New Greenie in Brewster with many adventures

Hey everyone!

This week was pretty hectic with transfers and all that but we are starting to get settled in. Elder Turley is the name of my new companion. He is from Mesa Arizona and is an only child but a super hard worker. He just wants to be a great missionary and that is an awesome attitude to have in the mission.

This week was pretty slow for teaching but we have been doing a lot more finding to try and find the people that are really looking for the gospel. We have started to see some progress in a couple of our investigators and we are hoping that over the next couple of weeks that we will be able to see them come closer to baptism. We were able to find a couple of good potentials the last couple of days and we are hoping that they become great investigators for us this week. On sunday we had the confirmation for Junior and it went really well. His cousin did a really good job following the spirit as he gave the blessing. Our branch president commented afterwards that it didn't sound like him speaking but you could really tell that the spirit was telling him what Junior needed to hear at that time.

Having a new missionary with me reminds me when I started my mission. I remember asking my trainer lots of questions all the time and thats the same thing that my greenie does. I don't mind the questions because I know he just wants to do well and not be too surprised by things. As we have been doing role-plays together I realized just how much I learned from doing them with my trainer. It really helped me to understand and to practice what needed to be said to help the investigators. It's even helping me now to remember to use simple and clear wording so the spirit can testify even better to the hearts of the people.

This last transfer brought a lot of changes to the zone and its crazy to see missionaries that I've served around in the past and then a whole bunch of missionaries that I have never met before. Change is a good thing because it brings opportunities to learn and grow. The other companionship in our area got a new person as well and he is definitely different than we are used to but he is a great missionary and the combination of the two elders is a pretty funny combination but they are good for each other.

Hope you all have a great week and that you see many miracles from the hand of the Lord.

--Elder Young--

A long but fast week.. how does that work?

Hey everyone!

This week was pretty good. The week was slow but at the same time it went really fast. I'm not sure how that is really possible but it happened.

 We got transfer calls sunday morning before the first session but we had gotten a call from President the night before. I will be training a new missionary and Elder Fraser is going to Kennewick to serve with one of my former companions that will be finishing his mission after this transfer. It's crazy how time just keeps flying by. The last 6 months have gone by so fast that I can hardly believe that general conference has already come and gone. 

Teaching for us was little slower this week but we were still able to have some good lessons with investigators that seem to have really good potential. Something that I'm really beginning to realize is how much is available at our fingertips both as members and missionaries, not only material wise but spiritually as well. It is such a blessing to have a prophet and apostles on the earth today that receive revelation for the church as a whole and the scriptures to help us receive personal revelation. I'm so grateful for a Father in heaven that loves us and wants us to be happy but is still willing to allow us to be tried and tested so that we can learn and grow for ourselves

Hope you all have a great week!

--Elder Young--

Super Crazy Week!

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a great week and that you have seen many miracles!

This week was super crazy for us with lots of driving. We went to the temple in tri-cities which was about a 7 hour drive round-trip but it was well worth it. Thursday we did our weekly planning because we found out that we were going to go see the new movie that the church came out with called "Meet the Mormons." We had to drive to Selah to go see it which is about a 3 hour drive from our house. It was super good to see that. It is a really good movie and you should go see it when it comes out in theaters. It should be coming out in quite a few theaters on the 10th of October. It is a really good inspirational video for members and a good clarifying movie for those that aren't members. It's well worth going to go see and to bring a friend along as well. Also those long drives all started early in the morning as well. Each of those days we had to wake up at about 4:30 in the morning in order to leave on time but its amazing how much the spirit helps us to overcome trials in our lives, even being tired.

Despite all the driving that we did, we still saw some pretty great miracles! One of our investigators that has been investigating the church for about 5 months got permission from his mom and he was baptized on Sunday. That was a miracle that we have been praying for for a while and we are very grateful to have been a part of his teaching. Also we didn't really notice much of a difference in getting a hold of our investigators so that we were still able to get some work done. Although the plans that we had set didn't always go through, we were able to find more people that the Lord needed us to visit at that time. The Lord is hastening his work and its a privilege that he asks all of us to be a part of it.

Sorry that I don't have much more to say this week. Hope that you have a great one and that you all enjoy conference! It's going to be great to receive revelation and instruction straight from the prophet and apostles.

Hope you all have a great week and that you check our general conference to see the prophet and apostles speak!

--Elder Young--

Temple pday this week

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all having a great week. I haven't heard from a lot of you in a little while. Hope to hear from you soon!

This week was pretty good. We got some really good training from our mission president and his assistants about how the Lord wants his culture to be among the missionaries and then afterwards about weekly planning. Instead of just doing some superficial planning like we have been doing, preach my gospel teaches about planning with more detail the whole week and then the daily planning is focused more on what you are going to teach the next day. It took about 7 hours to do it but it has really helped us to stay focused on the investigators throughout the whole day. I know it will help me throughout the rest of my life to be a better planner. It's kind of funny because a few months ago I had prayed to have better planning skills and then we got this training. I know the Lord answers prayers in his own timing and in his own way.

The Lord has also blessed us with someone pretty awesome to teach now. She is an older lady that was a single mom for most of her kids life. We found her while she was watering her flowers and we were walking by trying to talk with everyone that we saw. We asked her if we could come back another day and talk with her and about a week went by before we had another chance to talk with her again. Long story short we have taught a few times, she has been to the english classes 2 times and is coming again today. She has read a little bit from the Book of Mormon and when she prayed last night she asked about knowing if its true. It is a huge blessing to find someone that is willing to act and that listens very well. We hope to see many miracles to come from teaching her.

This morning during my study I decided to do an activity from preach my gospel about writing down the specific blessings promised in the scriptures for the commandments. It really helped me realize that a lot of blessings come just because of our obedience to the commandments and then even more blessings come when those actions become a part of us.

I hope you all have a great week and that you see many blessings from putting the commandments to the test in your life. 

--Elder Young--

Time just keeps flying by!

Hey everybody!

This week went by super fast! We didn't have a ton of lessons but Elder Fraser and I set out to go find some new people to teach so we would park the car at the church and walk for most of the day. It's helped us to talk with everyone and to get to know the area better as well. The Lord did bless us with a couple of new investigators, a high schooler and an elderly lady. We hope that we will have success with them as we teach them the gospel and invite them to act on the knowledge that they receive.

This past weekend was very full of surprises. The companionship of sisters that are in Chelan texted me and asked if I would be able to do a baptismal interview before Sunday (its Thursday at that time) for someone they were teaching. It turned out to be the investigator whose husband was being difficult in letting her be baptized. Long story short, he gave her permission so I did the interview on Saturday. I also needed to do an exchange with the elders that are there so started the exchange the night before. The exchange went well and we changed back Saturday night and when I see my companion again he tells me that our branch president asked if I would speak on Sunday because everyone had cancelled on him. Crazy thing was that he wanted us to speak on doing the small things to strengthen our families and in turn strengthen the branch. Sound familiar? After I finished he got up and said that 4 other wards in the stake are focusing on the same thing and it was something that came from the stake presidency either. The Lord is definitely revealing to all of us in this area that its important that we do the little thing so that we can progress and do His will.

Hope you all have a great week and that you see many many miracles!

--Elder Young--

Another week in the Mountains of Brewster WA

Hey everybody!

This week was pretty good. We set out to go finding for some new investigators so we ended up walking around Brewster a lot to find formers and potentials and anyone else we could talk to. We were able to talk with some really nice people but a lot of them are so busy right now they think they have no time so its hard for them to want to set an appointment for later on in the week. We hope that as we pass by them again that they will feel of the spirit and want to learn about the restored gospel.

This week in district meeting I felt like I needed to give a training about doing the small and simple things in missionary life so that the spirit can be with us. I think it was just as much for me as well as the district because there are times when the small things don't seem as important and we get lazy with them or we don't realize that they have fallen down by the wayside. Just like it says in the scriptures that by small and simple means are great things come to pass. We need to do the small things each and everyday in order to have success and to have the spirit. Our testimonies are so much more than just knowledge and words but rather our actions. The things we do because we know those things. We are different people because we know the gospel has been restored and we should be because we are striving to be more like our savior. I know the gospel is true and because I know its true, I try to be the very best that I can be and do the very best I can so that I will be able to look up at our Heavenly Father at the judgement day and feel at peace there.

Hope you all have a great week and hope to hear from you all!

--Elder Young--

First few days in Brewster WA

Hey everybody!

Transfers went well. I got to drive a brand new Jeep Compass up to yakima and from wenatchee to brewster and it ended up being our new car. It had 15 miles on it when I got in the car on Wednesday which was pretty cool. It was a very long drive to go from hermiston to tri-cities to yakima to quincy to wenatchee to brewster and each time I had to move my luggage to a different vehicle. 

So not too long ago there was a fire that went through this area and a bunch of homes were burned down and there has been a lot of help from the church to do clean up and repair so the last transfer the Elders had been doing service pretty much every day for several hours but things have calmed down a lot and we are able to start teaching again.

I really like my new area, it's beautiful to see the mountains everyday and to be right on the river. There are a lot of good people here and I'm excited to get to know them and help them receive the blessings of the gospel. The members are really friendly and willing to help out with missionary work. It will be good to get them involved with the people we are working with to get the work really moving here. I'm still trying to get to know the area so next week I'll probably have some good things to report about the area and the investigators.

So our companionship is really interesting. There are 4 of us in a double wide trailer which is a pretty good setup for us and my companion (Elder Fraser) and I are responsible for the stuff in Brewster and the other 2 elders (Elder Rosero and Elder Lee) are responsible for the stuff in Twisp and Pateros but we all just go where the work is so that we aren't wasting time and miles. Everything here is really spread out and the towns are pretty small so things kind of go at a slower pace which is pretty relaxing. I took a couple of pictures as we were driving from Quincy to Wenatchee. It was a long but beautiful drive. We didn't get home until 8:45PM so we were both very bum sore from riding in the car all day long.

Have a great week everyone! Hope to hear from you soon!

--Elder Young--

Transferred.. Again

Hey everybody!

This week we got transfer calls again and I'm going to Brewster to finish someone's training and to be a district leader. We got a phone call at 7:30 in the morning from President but we missed it because the phone didn't have a ringtone and we didn't hear it vibrating. He called a little later and extended the call for me to finish training someone and for Elder Gleed to train a new missionary. We are both excited for our new assignments as it is time for growth and learning.

I'm getting transferred to a little town called Brewster Washington. Transfers will probably be about an 8 hour ordeal all over again since I'm going from one of the most southern areas to one of the most northern in the Mission. I'll be finishing training someone and being a district leader. Just looking on the map it seems like it is going to be a very pretty area and especially since I will be there in the winter. I've been in the valley for my whole mission and now I'll be going to the mountains. I'm excited!

This week was pretty good for teaching as well. Unfortunately we were unable to get any of the members out with us this week but we talked with our ward mission leader to start making a schedule again for having people come with us on a regular basis. We had some good lesson with our investigators and we are really excited about the desire and progress that they are making. One of the people the sisters were teaching has made some leaps and bounds in progress. When we had stopped by a couple of weeks ago she was about to tell us that she wasn't really interested but this week she told us that when she was about to do that she felt like she shouldn't and should give it a try. As we met with her she started to feel the spirit and ask questions and then she felt the spirit when we taught and testified. The spirit really does work miracles when we listen by the spirit and teach by the spirit simply and clearly.

Hope you all have a great week!

--Elder Young--

The time just keeps getting faster!

Hello everybody!

The time is going so fast! It is already the end of transfers at the end of this week! We will get our transfer calls on saturday night. This transfer has to be one of the fastest transfers I've had on my mission because I feel like I still just got here.

This week was good for teaching. It always seems that when we bring a member with us, the people never want to answer the door but when we are by ourselves the same people always answer but that is ok because it gives the members a chance to find out where some of our investigators live and to experience a little bit of the mission life. It's been pretty hard to find new investigators the last couple of weeks but we do have a couple of potentials that we found this past week that we have high hopes for and hope to see some of them become new investigators this week.

Something that I have recently started is a questions journal. I bought a little notebook and on each page I write a different question, maybe something that an investigator has brought up or something that I want more knowledge on. I've noticed as I've searched the scriptures that more often than not I find the answers I'm looking for plus more which adds to the questions that I have. I find that the more we question the more we find and then the more questions we have. My advice, ask questions so you get answers because if you don't then the very miracle of personal revelation can't exist.

Hope you all have a great week and see lots of miracles!

--Elder Young--

Time keeps rolling on

Hey everybody!

This week was pretty fast but we struggled a little more to get members to lessons with us. It was fair week so whenever we would try by someone with a member, they would be gone but we were able to get to know some of the less-actives that the members felt like visiting. We are still working with our investigators to come to Christ through the waters of baptism, especially Jorge and Dominique (two different families).

On Sunday my companion and I were both asked to speak about being grateful in all circumstances. It was kind of interesting to think about how gratitude made a big difference for the people in the scriptures when they were going through trials. The people that didn't have gratitude during their trials often were hard-hearted and bitter while those that bore their afflictions with patience and gratitude were able to overcome whatever trial they had faced. I hope we can all be like Nephi and bear up our afflictions with patience and praise to God. 

Something interesting that happened this week was we were knocking on doors in this sketchy trailer park and dogs had been barking at us the whole time. Not small dogs either. BIG rottweilers with stumpy tails that looked like they wanted to kill us. When we knocked one door we heard a dog barking behind it and the door opened and my companion about pooped ourselves as the dog came out of the house but the guy told us not to worry. The guy ended up telling us we could come back and that he was trying to change his life around because he had been to prison 5 times but he seemed like a pretty nice guy. The Lord will put us exactly where he needs us to be at the right time.

--Elder Young--

Long but fast week. How does that work?

Hello everybody!

This week was kind of slow but really fast at the same time. I'm still not sure how that works but thats ok because we just keep going anyway. We weren't as busy as we were last week but we did still teach a few lessons and we talked with a lot of people. We were able to find some of the people the previous missionaries had been teaching to set up appointments to keep teaching them. Hopefully this week we are a little more busy and be able to see some progress.

Sunday was a fun day because we had to translate for sacrament meeting as well as teach the 2 gospel essentials classes and spanish priesthood. I'm always grateful to be able to use the skills that I've learned as a missionary in situations that I might have to do at home. I know what I learn here is going to benefit me for the rest of my life. I love being a missionary!

Something interesting that happened this week was we stopped by one of our investigators and his Pastor was sitting there on his couch. We started talking and it ended up being completely a waste of time because he didn't want to listen to anything we had to say because he thought he already knew what we believed instead of asking a listening to feel the spirit. Something else that came out of that conversation was that they said the heart was deceiving so we can't listen to it. How sad a world that would be if we couldn't listen to our hearts because that is how the Holy Ghost speaks with us. I took a little time to see what the scriptures said about the heart and I found way more references to individuals listening to their hearts because the Spirit had touched them. When it refers to the Heart often times it can be connected with our spirits as well. Our hearts are a good indication of the condition of our spirits. I love the scriptures because they teach truth rather than the doctrines of men.

Hope you have a great week and see lots of miracles.

--Elder Young--

BAPTISM!!!!

Hey everybody!

Hope you all had a great week like we did!

This week was really good. We stayed pretty busy even though we had a baptism on Saturday. The baptism went great. She was as giddy as a little kid and the members loved the baptism as well. We watched Because of Him as part of the time that we were waiting for them to get back and the members loved it. That video always brings the spirit really strongly and at a baptism it was even more so. After the baptism though the weekend seemed to be a very humbling time as we met a few members that had fallen away and met people whose lives were not going very well. There is plenty of work here in Umatilla and it makes me excited to be serving here.

So part of my studies I restarted the Book of Mormon with a fresh copy and I've been marking everything that stands out to me and something that I noticed as I was reading about Nephi being told to kill Laban was that the Spirit will slowly reveal the why behind the commandments as we continually ponder them. Each time the spirit spoke, Nephi was told a little more after he had pondered about the things the Spirit had told him. I love the Book of Mormon because it teaches truth so clearly and so simply.

Hope you all have a great one!

Elder Young

UMATILLA!!

So about the area, we got some good news and some greater news. We got doubled into 2 areas so we cover the english and the spanish work here in umatilla. There were 4 missionaries here before, 1 set of sisters that spoke spanish and a set of english elders and they took both of them out and replaced them with us. I didn't find this out until I was in the transfer van on the way to the tri-cities. The ward here is super welcoming and really missionary minded. It reminds me a lot of the ward at home, as well as the size and some of the people. The bishop reminds me of my dad and some of the counselors as other members of the bishopric. My companion is super good. He has only been out on the mission for a few months but already can speak spanish really well. He just has a hard time understanding everything because a lot of the people speak so fast. With time he will be able to hear and speak just fine.

The work here is amazing and the Lord is pouring out so many blessings upon us here. On saturday we met a referral from the ward and she has a baptismal date for saturday! She had been taught by missionaries in Nevada and just moved here a couple weeks ago to live with her sister (who the referral came from) and she said she wanted to be baptized. We are super excited for it and they are and the ward is as well. It's impressive to see someone that has been prepared for gospel but just didn't know where to find it. She said she had attended a lot of churches but never really felt comfortable but when she came found out about our church and attended she felt right at home and got the "little fuzzy feeling." Again we are super excited about it and we feel super blessed. That was just one of the many miracles that we have been seeing here in Umatilla and we are excited to keep working hard to find the elect and help them come to Christ!

Hope you all are seeing the miracles that the Lord has poured out for you!

Elder Young

Transfer calls already

Hey everybody!!

Saturday we got our transfer calls and guess what, I'm getting transferred again. However, this time I'm getting doubled into Umatilla Oregon. Sisters have been in that area for about a year and for some reason they decided to put Elders back in there. My new companion's name is Elder Gleed. He is from Federal Way Washington which is around Seattle area. I'm excited to serve with him and to go back to Oregon for a while. About this time last year I was in Hermiston which is in the same stake. We had interviews just before they did transfer planning and President asked if there was work enough for me to stay and I said yes but then in transfer calls I find out I'm leaving but thats ok. It'll be an adventure, or a lot of adventures as we try to figure out what to do.

This week was really good for teaching. As we followed up with our investigators about their reading the Book of Mormon we found out that a good number of our investigators have been reading and understanding what they read. It's always a miracle when we find out that someone has been reading understanding the restoration a little better on their own just by reading from the Book of Mormon. The Lord has been pouring out miracles on this area even though we didn't have a baptism this transfer. There has been real progress as we have been finding new investigators and really trying to help them to keep their commitments to read from the Book of Mormon and to come to Christ. We just have to be diligent in doing the things the Lord needs us to do.

So this week I've finished the Book of Mormon a couple of times (1 in english and 1 in spanish, i have been working on it for a couple of months) and I just love to imagine how the prophets felt as they were writing their last words and dealing with different challenges. We have also been listening to talks from John Bytheway and other speakers and it helps to shed light on things that I haven't really thought of before. I love the scriptures and I know that they are the road map to life and we are happiest when we are studying diligently because we are acting in faith that we will get answers and we have the spirit. I LOVE the gospel!

Have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Young

Super Fast Week

Hello everybody!

Hope you all had a great week! It's hard to believe that it is P-day again.

This week went super fast for us here in Sunnyside. The afternoons have been slow but the evenings are usually pretty busy. We have been really blessed to be finding people that have strong desires to read the book of mormon. Currently we have 3 investigators that have expressed strong desire to read from the Book of Mormon even though they have busy work and family schedules. The Lord is pouring out blessings on us as we work in humility and with diligence.

Something interesting that happened this week as we were introducing our investigator to the Book of Mormon we were about to leave and we told him that Christ had come to the Americas after His resurrection and he was really surprised and said he had never heard of that before but that he would start reading it. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that we have from the scriptures and the peace and comfort they bring by inviting the spirit into my life as well as the lives of the investigators.

Everyone have a great week and look for the miracles that God sends to all of us because of his love for each one of us!

Elder Young

Picture

P-day again

Hey everybody!!

So it's P-day again. Back to the normal schedule for now. Sounds like things are happening there in Kansas. Are the missionaries staying busy teaching and finding?

Since thursday we have been pretty busy as well. The Lord is keeping us pretty busy. It's still hard to find something for a couple hours a day but thats something that I have been dealing with my whole mission. We had a couple of miracles happen on Sunday. A part member family that is super busy came to church for all 3 hours and when we walked into the chapel for sacrament meeting one of our investigators that we just started teaching was on the back row with his member sister and his kids. They took up the whole back row which was a good sight to see. Also we had a few appointments for after church but they ended up all falling through so we decided to go visit some recent converts to see how they were doing and it ended up they had been going through a hard time with one of their kids. It was just a testimony to me that God will put us where he needs us to be at the right time.

This picture is a field of asparagus that has gone to seed. That stuff grows so fast that in the summer it grows so fast they can't keep up with it so they have to stop harvesting it.

Have a great week!

Elder Young

Temple and another week of Miracles

Hello everybody!

This week was pretty good for us. We had another week full of teaching and finding. The Lord is pouring out miracles on us each and everyday. There are days when it seems like it will go super slow for the afternoon but then after dinner we are blessed to have a few lessons each night. A funny little miracle happened last night working with a member. We made an appointment with an investigator the night before and then we called her member friend to come with us. We got there on time for the appointment and the member wasn't there and we thought she might have forgotten about it. We knocked and the investigator's kids said that she was busy right then so we left and tried some other people. After we had just had a short teaching visit with some potentials we get a call from the member saying that she was there waiting for us with the investigator so we jumped back in the car and ran over there. It ended up being a great lesson and the member was able to bear a great testimony as well.

Last week there was a pretty cool sunset so my companion and I took a pretty epic photo and I thought I would just share it with you.

Its crazy how fast the time is going still and it just seems to be going even faster. I love being a missionary and working with the people to help them come to Christ. I have more stories from last two weeks but I can't share them all because I would be typing forever. God is real and He loves us. The temple is amazing and I love to feel of the spirit there.

Have a great week!

Elder Young

Miracles happening here in sunnyside

Hello everybody!!

Hope you all are have a great week! We sure did!

This week was really good for teaching. We were finding people all over the place because the Lord was putting them in our paths. The Lord will definitely bless those that open their mouths and try their best to invite the spirit. Also we had some good experiences with Daily Dose this week. One of the students brought her husband to the classes and then she invited us to come teach her a little more about the gospel so tomorrow before the english classes we will have a gospel discussion. Its going to be awesome! We are super excited for it!

This week I learned a little more about following the little impressions that we get from the spirit. On saturday night we visited one of our investigators at 8:00Pm for about a half hour and when we got back to the car we looked at our plans and I felt like none of the plans we had were where we were supposed to be. Then when Elder Trotter suggested a name it just felt right. It turned out that the person we intended to talk with wasn't there but her son was and we had a good visit with him. When we finished up it felt like that was exactly where we needed to be at that time. I'm so grateful for the spirit and how it can guide us to the places we need to be.

Hope you all have a great one!

Elder Young

A good week with some miracles

Hey everybody!

My new companion is from Utah and he has been out a little longer than I have. Its nice not to be senior companion although it doesnt really mean anything. He has pretty good spanish and we already work together pretty good. He was actually companions with Elder Ribeiro before I went to Pasco and then he was in Matawa which was where Elder Chase came from before he was here in Sunnyside.

So this week was pretty good. When my new companion got here we went straight to work to contact some of the potentials that had told us to come back. They let us right in even though they had just gotten back from work. We had a pretty good talk with them and they asked some pretty good questions about things we would advise for youth to make good decisions. Growing up in the gospel has made me aware of how great a blessing it is to have clear direction. Also the next day we decided to go visit a potential investigator and they weren't home but their nephew who just came from mexico was. We had a really good lesson with him about prayer and how God wants to hear from everyone regardless of what we have done in life. He has a lot of potential and we are excited to start teaching him.

So to end the transfer last pday, we went to mcdonalds and we all got the 20 piece chicken nuggets. This is a picture of all the boxes that we had. Lets just say I don't want to get chicken nuggets for about another week.

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Young

Transfer calls again

Hello everybody!

So this week was pretty good. We got trained for the english classes and then we had someone come the next day that we just met a few days before knocking on doors. The class went pretty good. We have only had 1 person come to each class but we have also taught a couple of classes to people in their houses. It gets people to trust us pretty quickly and they are more willing to let us come talk with them. We are hoping as people see the posters that they will start coming and then inviting their friends to the church.

Yesterday I was able to finish the 80 day Book of Mormon challenge that we did as a mission. It was good to spend some time to refresh quickly what is in there and how it all ties together. I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon and how it helps us to come to Christ even more and then in turn bring others to Christ as well. I'm so grateful for the Restoration of the Gospel. Without it our lives would be very different and the world would not be the same either. Thomas S Monson is the prophet today and he is the Lord's authorized servant on the Earth today.

So transfer calls came again. Elder Chase is getting transferred and I will be staying here for another one.  I'm going to miss Elder Chase. He taught me a lot about planning and thinking about the future so that things can go smoothly. I hope to be able to practice that more and really apply it to myself. I'm grateful that we didn't get doubled out. That was probably the hardest thing about leaving Pasco. Half of our district got changed with this transfer as 2 of them had been here for 6 months and another is finishing his mission. 

Hope you all have a great one!

Elder Young

Long but fast week

Hey everybody!

So this week was pretty good. It was kind of long and at the same time it went pretty fast. It was probably just because there was a lot of stuff going on that took a lot of time. We had zone conference on Friday which went pretty good. It was a lot of reminders of things that we have been taught before.

Something we are starting this week are English classes. We are getting trained on Wednesday and we will be teaching them 2 times a week until the ward finds some people to replace us. Apparently they have been trying to get English classes going here for a couple of years but its just been a slow process but then my companion and I started bugging everyone about it and taking the initiative and started the ball rolling. We are hoping it will help keep us busy during the slow summer months. There are a lot of people that are interested in learning English. 

One of our investigators is a pastor a 4 square church here in Sunnyside and he has been meeting with the missionaries for the past few months and this week we had a really good lesson with him. We asked him if he has prayed about the book of Mormon and he said its really hard for him because he feels like he needs to read more of it to be able to do that. We felt like it was because sees that there is a possibility that it could be true and if he prays, he will get an answer and will lose his job as a pastor. He is still willing to visit with us and its pretty fun to talk with him because he actually understands the stuff he reads and he feels the spirit. Also one of the things he is having a hard time accepting is that there is more to the plan of salvation than he is used to and he claims its not in the bible so Elder Chase and I spent a companion study to find a bunch of scriptures support the plan of salvation in the bible. It was exciting to see our beliefs in the bible plain as day.

Have a great week!

Elder Young

Birthday week

Hey everybody!

This week we helped with a bunch of different things. We helped one of the members with a special needs track meet and then later a practice. It was fun to watch the people run around and stuff. We also helped a member get some flower beds ready. It was good to get some service in for the members and to help them out a little.

I just want to express my gratitude for the scriptures and modern revelation that we have. They give us such clear direction and knowledge that we can clearly and powerfully bare our testimonies that Jesus really is the Christ and that he is our savior and redeemer.

So this week we are wanting to start english classes as a finding tool. We would like to use the daily dose materials and the Bishop here has the digital form of it available but we were wanting to make sure that you are alright with us using the daily dose program until the ward gets someone called. They have been working on it for a while but Elder Chase and I feel that if we get it up and running for them then they will act faster in getting someone called to fill the position.

Hope you have a great week!

Elder Young

Week of Mothers day

Hello everybody!

Just a late shout out to all the moms out there. Happy Late Mothers day! Hope you all had a great one and thank you for all that you do as mothers.

This week was pretty good for teaching. We struggled a little get a hold of the same people but we were able to have some good lessons. We were able to find a few more investigators that have some pretty good potential. We had a couple of church tours this week and they both went pretty well. I think this coming Sunday they will all come. I have faith that they will. Something cool did happen as we were visiting one of our investigators. As we were talking on the door step a man was trying to visit his friend but he wasn't there and he started asking the member that was with us what church we were from and what our beliefs were. People are prepared out there. We just have to find them or the Lord will lead them to us.

The spanish is doing well. I really enjoy working with the spanish people here in sunnyside. They are pretty humble people and they feel the spirit pretty easily. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to get them to act. I really appreciate the trainings that we get from zone meeting because they help us focus on the commitments instead of just what to teach them.

Have a great week!

Elder Young

Long Week but Still a Good One

Hello Everybody!

Haven't heard from many of you in a long time. Hope you are all doing well!

So this week didn't really go as we had planned it but it was still a good week. We saw many miracles as well as a trial of our faith. We had some really good lessons towards the beginning of the week and we know the investigator felt the spirit and I think that kind of scared her and so she kind of avoided us yesterday. There is another family that has a lot of potential but kind of the same thing, they are scared to act but hopefully they will feel the spirit stronger soon and have the desire to move forward. We aren't giving up on any of them because we have felt the need of the gospel that they have and we will do everything we can to help them recognize the importance of acting in faith.

This week was a good learning opportunity for me as we went from appointment to appointment and finding to finding. I learned that as we ask for miracles we will get them but not always in the ways that we expect them. Also sometimes when we ask for big miracles (like 15 baptisms in a district) we get tested to see if the Lord can really trust us. That is how we felt last week but we know that this week will be awesome week as we continue to pray always and have Lord involved in everything that we do. When in doubt say a prayer, this is the Lord's work and he needs to be involved but we also have to do our part.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Young

First few days in sunnyside

Hello everybody!

I hope you all have had a great week!

So this week was pretty crazy! Lots of stuff going on. Leaving Pasco was pretty hard but it was good to be able to say goodbye to some of our investigators. I have faith that they will get baptized in the future. It was just kind of crazy that both of us got transferred out. I thought I was going to stay there for at least 1 more transfer but the last few days here in Sunnyside have shown me that I need to be here.

The work here in Sunnyside is going really well. We have a goal as a district to have 15 baptisms before the end of the transfer which will take a miracle but that is what we are expecting. Something that we are trying to do is instead of just thinking about what we need to do, we pray about it first. We end up saying a lot more prayers throughout the day but that is kind of the point. The first day that we tried it we had some really good things happen. We ended up being in the exact places that we needed to be at the right time. The next couple of days we got a little lax and we didn't have near as much success but then we recommitted ourselves to it and we had some really good miracles happen. We were able to find someone that had been taught by missionaries before and he still had his Book of Mormon from 3 years ago. Then to finish off the night we had an amazing lesson with a recent convert where she told us why she decided to start learning about the gospel. Lets just say that we all now know that the Lord works in mysterious ways but he knows what he is doing and He loves us very much.

Hope you all have a great week and see many miracles

Transfer Calls Again

Hello everybody!

So this past weekend we got transfer calls again. The time is going by so fast, its hard to believe that transfers are already here. Both my companion and I will be transferred out of Pasco. I'm going to Sunnyside and my companion is going to Othello and he will be learning an Indian dialect from mexico. It was a pretty big shock to everyone that we are both leaving but I guess the Lord needs us in different places.

This week was pretty tough for teaching but we ended off the week pretty good. For some reason we have been having trouble getting a hold of our investigators and potentials but the few lessons that we did get were really good and pretty productive. Interesting thing that happened as we were talking with Isaac's family to say good-bye. They really appreciated all the effort that we have put into teaching them. They kept saying that we may have planted the seed but others may come for the harvest. I have faith that they will get baptized one day.

Yesterday we had a pretty good Easter Sunday. We had lunch with an investigator family and they are from El Salvador and their neighbors came as well (they are members that we spend a lot of time with). It was super good to see member missionary work as it should be. We stayed pretty quiet because they were having their own good conversation and becoming better friends which will really help since we are getting doubled out. Also we had a couple of other really good lessons so it was a really good end to a long week.

I just want to share my appreciation for the Savior as well as my testimony. I know that He lives and that performed the Atonement for all of us so that we may return to live with our Father in Heaven. Without him there would be no way to return to the presence of God. I am so grateful for the strength the Atonement gives me to keep moving forward and I know that it can bless all of your lives as well, we just have to have faith in Jesus Christ and act on that faith. Follow the prophet, his words guide us to Christ.

Your Friend,

Elder Young

Quote from General Conference

Hey everybody!

I hope you all have been having a great week and have seen many miracles.

The weather here has been really nice, around 70 during the day and 40s at night. It makes it easier to go out and talk with people when the weather is cooperating with us instead of fighting against us.

This week was a little slower for teaching but it was still a pretty good week. The lessons that we did have were pretty good and we hope to see some people progressing pretty soon. One lesson that we had with a couple was pretty short but it was a powerful testimony to me of the power of the Book of Mormon. We read Enos with them and talked about how pray can help us find the answers we need in life. I love how simple yet powerfully the Book of Mormon teaches true doctrines.

One of my favorite quotes from General Conference was from Elder Hallstrom. He said

Several decades ago I was serving as a bishop. Over an extended period I met with a man in our ward who was many years my senior. This brother had a troubled relationship with his wife and was estranged from their children. He struggled to keep employment, had no close friends, and found interaction with ward members so difficult he finally was unwilling to serve in the Church. During one intense discussion about the challenges in his life, he leaned toward me—as his conclusion to our numerous talks—and said, “Bishop, I have a bad temper, and that’s just the way I am!”

That statement stunned me that night and has haunted me ever since. Once this man decided—once any of us conclude—“That’s just the way I am,” we give up our ability to change. We might as well raise the white flag, put down our weapons, concede the battle, and just surrender—any prospect of winning is lost. While some of us may think that does not describe us, perhaps every one of us demonstrates by at least one or two bad habits, “That’s just the way I am.”

This talk definitely taught me that there is always something that we can do and the atonement of Jesus Christ can help us overcome anything if we are just willing to have faith and to act.

So something the church just came out with is http://mormon.org/BecauseofHim in preparation for Easter. It would be a great opportunity to share with anyone you talk with about Christ and the church.

Have a great week and look for the lord in your life!

Elder Young

General Conference

Hey everyone!

General conference was a great experience. I loved all the talks and the spirit that was felt there. The general authorities definitely have put a lot of focus on remaining strong and keeping covenants and the commandments.

This week was pretty good for teaching as well. We did have some miracles before and after sessions of general conference. We tried the plans that we had set but they had fallen through so we decided to stop and think about who we needed to go see and who the Lord needed us to go see. After the priesthood session we were able to visit a family that has been going through some rough times and we were able to share things that we learned from the conference. We also had some success getting a hold of some investigators and referrals that have been difficult to find. Little miracles happen when we follow the spirit.

Something that I liked from Elder Hollands talk was that he talked how God and Jesus Christ are not smooth Gods and they demand hard things. It really shows that they expect hard things out of us because they love us. True friends stand between us and a bad decision and that is exactly what they do, as well as the prophets and apostles. They are true friends to the whole world.

Hope to hear from you all!

Elder Young

Short Letter

Hey everybody!

Hope you have had a great week!

The weather here has been fantastic. We haven't needed coats and its not too hot with a little breeze. It makes missionary work a lot easier when you aren't freezing or sweating to death, both of which exist here in Washington but its always nice to have a change in weather.

This week was pretty good for teaching. We definitely taught the restoration more than a couple of times but thats alright because it's one of my favorite lessons. It seems like every time that we contact a referral, we get another one to replace and then sometimes another to add on top of that. Hopefully we will be able to see some results from it as we continue to contact them.

Just an update with Isaac, he received the priesthood yesterday and in a couple of weeks he will pass the sacrament for the first time. Right after sacrament meeting, one of the deacons came up to him and congratulated him and said that he will be able to pass the sacrament now. Its awesome to see the progress people can make when the wards really embrace them.

Something pretty cool that our mission is doing right now is we are all trying to read the Book of Mormon in 80 days. It's really cool to see the whole story of it and at the same time find verses that really apply to missionary work. I love to feel the power of the testimonies the prophets have as I read.

May you all see many miracles!

Elder Young

Baptism!

Hello everyone!

So we had a miracle happen this week! One of our progressing investigators got baptized last saturday. He was supposed to get baptized this coming saturday but because of the womens broadcast we had to move it up. Everything went pretty good but it was a pretty stressful week. I'll send the pictures that we got. Since he had such a good fellowshipper was the only reason that was really made possible. And he really wanted it. The Lord is working miracles!

This week was a little slower for teaching because we needed some time to get ready for the baptism. Now that Isaac got baptized we should be able to start working on some of his siblings. His little brother told him that he wants to get baptized as well. We knew that Isaac would be a great example for his family but we didn't realize how much it would bring his family into the church as well.

I'm super excited for general conference! It will be an amazing time to hear the apostles and prophet speak. I know that as we prepare ourselves in these next couple of weeks that we will be able to receive revelation for the problems that we are facing in life everyday.

I hope you all are doing well and have been seeing many many miracles.

Elder Young

Fast week in Pasco

Hello everyone!

I hope you all have had a great week!

This week was pretty good. The time seemed to pass by super fast this week and I can't believe that I'm writing another letter already. We have someone on date for the 28th and we are super excited for him. He is 13 and hasn't missed a sunday pretty much the whole time that I have been in pasco. He is setting an amazing example for his family and hopefully the rest of his family will follow soon after. A referral that we got a while ago is starting to show some really good potential. He is progressing slowly but there is always some progress each week. It seems like he had a hard past and is wanting to change his life and become a better father. It is amazing to see the spirit work with people to help them change.

So this week I have felt really blessed by the setting apart blessing that my stake president gave me when he talked about my health. The stomach flu has been going around lately and there are a couple of elders that are staying with us right now and they both got it over the weekend but fortunately neither me or my companion got it. It is the worst thing to be sick on the mission.

Something that I have enjoyed as I have been reading the Book of Mormon lately is all the things I notice about missionary work. The prophets in the BoM were great missionaries and their success didn't come until after a great trial of their faith. It has just been a lesson for me to keep working hard and the Lord will give us success.

I hope you all have a great week and I hope to hear from you all soon!

Elder Young

Transfer calls and a busy week

Hello everybody!

Hope you all have had a great week and have seen many miracles in your lives!

This week was pretty good for teaching. We are progressing towards 20 lessons a week and working on having more member presents. We were able to contact a few more referrals and they seemed to have some pretty good interest. Hopefully in the coming visits they will progress and come to church. Unfortunately the golden investigator that we had moved out of our area but that's ok because she still has the desire to be baptized. We are having some really good success with a 13 year old whose neighbor is the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency. We were able to have 3 lessons last week with him and hopefully this week we will be able set a baptismal date for him. He has been a really good example for his family and hopefully they will follow him before too long. He hasn't missed a sunday the whole time I have been here.

So there have been some pretty good sunsets even when it is cloudy and I thought it would be nice to share one.

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Young

A better week and Many miracles

Hello everyone!

Still haven't heard from a lot of you! Hope you are all doing well.

This week was better for teaching and finding than last week. We have been getting a lot of referrals from other missionaries as well as the members working with the people around them to share the gospel. The big family that we are working with has kind of cooled off a little but one of their sons is still really interested in coming to church and we got permission from the parents to start teaching him at the members house that they are friends with. We also got a referrals for a lady that has been meeting with missionaries for the last year and as we talked with her, she expressed a strong desire to be baptized. After church on sunday she asked if we could schedule a day for her baptism. She put herself on date for the 15th of March. She is golden. She reads the Book of Mormon everyday and she says that it helps her get through the difficult times and gives her comfort. Miracles are happening here in Pasco!

Another miracle that happened this week was we just had an appointment fall through and we decided to go try someone that lived down the street. They hadn't been very solid about keeping appointments or being available but this time they were willing and able. Come to find out the husband had started reading from the Book of Mormon and asked us to share some passages that we liked. We have an appointment with them tonight and hopefully everything goes well for it.

Last miracle I'll share today was we were trying a referral that we got a few weeks ago (we have tried them a few times already) but no one was home. We decided to go visit someone that we have talked to a few times but only his son was there at that time. We started talking to him and it was about to be a great lesson and then his dad walked up from getting his daughter from school. We started talking with and started to tell us how he had been talking to his cousin (who is from a different religion) about us and about helping his kids (which is what we mostly talk about anyway with him) and then he said that he had wanted to talk to us that day. Lo and behold guess who shows up on his doorstep, Us. We have been working with him for a little while but we haven't had a chance to really share the message of the restoration yet but I know right now we just need to build trust with him but soon we will be able to share it with him.

Having tough weeks makes me really appreciate when we have good weeks and it makes it easier to see the miracles, especially when we don't let the hard times get us down. I know this year is going to be an amazing year for growth in the church. Miracles are happening everyday as we exercise our faith to act and help the people use their agency to act.

Hope you all have a great week and I would love to hear from you all!

Elder Young

Very Hard Week

Hey everyone,

Its been a while since I have hear from a lot of you. Hope things are going well for you!

So this week was pretty rough for us. We tried so many people and no one was answering their doors. We were only able to teach 6 lessons in total but we did have a few people at church and we just keep getting a bunch of referrals from other missionaries. Even though it was a hard week and we didn't teach very many lessons, the lessons that we did have were pretty good. A less-active family that we are working with came to church after years of inactivity. The mom of the family had been kind of cold to the church for a while but something touched her and we were able to talk with her and she expressed a desire to come to church. Unfortunately she works on sunday at the same time church is. Hopefully now that she has a desire to come to church, something can get worked out so she can come to church as well. We are hoping and praying that this week will be better and that more people will be available to talk this week.

So funny thing happened on Friday. We had zone conference with the Richland zone and when we walked into the chapel there was a cardboard cut out of President Ware with a thumbs up standing behind the pulpit. One of the missionaries had gotten as kind of a joke but it was pretty funny to all of us. It surprised President Ware pretty good when he walked in.

I just want to say how grateful I am to be a missionary and to be able to share the everlasting gospel with the people here in washington. I know that what we share is true because I know the book of mormon is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet and was called to restore the gospel in these latter days. I know that the mysteries of God are still being revealed and there is more to be revealed. Our Heavenly Father has not ceased talking to his children and especially to his prophets. The scriptures contain the revelations to the prophets of old and apply to our lives today. We have a prophet on the earth right now that receives revelation for us now and when he speaks as a prophet, he is speaking the words of the Lord. I am grateful for that and for the confirmation the spirit speaks to my heart that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today.

Have a great week and I hope to see some letters soon!

Elder Young

Miracles in Pasco

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a great week and that you have seen many miracles.

This week was pretty good. Wasn't quite as busy this week as last week but some miracles did happen. A family that we are teaching came to church and stayed for all 3 hours. Hopefully they continue to come and really start progressing. There are 7 people in that family but only 6 have really any interest but we have hope that the whole family will make the decision to be baptized. We have also been getting quite a few referrals which has been nice. We haven't had much time to tract because we are spending so much of our time contacting the referrals and the investigators we already have. We have also found a few new investigators that seem to have good potential. This next week is looking like it will be a good one.

So something that I have been doing as part of my studies in the morning is marking scriptures according to the missionary lessons. I'm beginning to realize just how extensive the footnotes really are. There are scriptures that I have found that I have read several times and never really thought about how they apply to the missionary lessons. I love seeing chains that take you from the old testament clear through doctrine and covenants and the pearl of great price and really expound the principles of the gospel.

Found this while we were trying a member. Thought it was a good one to share.

Hope you have a great day and hope to hear from you all!

Elder Young

Snow in Pasco

Hey everyone!

Hope everyone has had a good week!

We got a few inches of snow this week. It snowed at least a little bit the last 3 or 4 days and little by little it adds up.

So this week was really good despite all the snow. The first couple of days were a little slower but it then as the week went on the work started picking up. We found a couple new investigators and some potential families. The work is going really well and we are seeing some miracles.

One of the families that we are teaching used to attend the local baptist church here but something happened and they no longer attend there. 3 of the kids have come to church a bunch of times and the parents were planning to come yesterday but he ended up having to work all night and they weren't able to come. They have a lot of potential and desire to learn and understand.

Thank you for the support and hope you all have a great week.

Elder Young

First Few Days in Pasco West!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all have had a great week!

It snowed the morning of transfers in Moses Lake and then there was nothing here in Pasco. I have been wanting to see some snow for a long time and I did for a few hours but I guess I'm not allowed to enjoy the snow for very long.

So my new companions name is Elder Ribeiro. He is from Brazil and is learning english and spanish at the same time. He speaks both pretty good but there are times when we don't understand each other. I'm no longer the district leader. My former companion Elder Hall is now the district leader for the spanish missionaries in Pasco. So our area covers a part of east pasco, all of west pasco and then Richland. There isn't much spanish work in Richland so we just go there if we get referrals. We also share our area with a set of sister missionaries.

So teaching this week was pretty good. We found a couple new investigators and taught several lessons. Pasco is a good area but its big and going to take a little time to get to know the area. I know there are lots of people out there that have been prepared to receive the gospel. We just have to go out there and find them.

One of the lessons that we had with a potential investigator taught me about the importance of just listening to the people. When we first walked up to him (he was outside playing with his kid) he just told us that he was catholic and wasn't really interested but as we just talked with him, he opened up to us and was telling us about how he is trying to be a better father and spend more time with his kids and then as we were about to leave he told us that he would talk to his wife about learning more about the gospel and that he would read the pamphlets we left with him. We are hoping we will be able to teach him and his family later on this week.

Hope you all have a great week and I hope to hear from all of you!

Transferred to pasco

Hello everybody!

Hope you all had a great week and saw as many miracles as we did.

This week was really good for us. Even though the weather was pretty hard on our spirits, we found 3 new investigators and taught a bunch of lessons. One of the new investigators that we found asked if he could go with us to our next appointment. His family was out running errands and he didnt really like being alone. He had a lot of really good questions that showed that he wanted some answers in his life. When we walked to the next person we were going to try (didn't have a set appointment) he wasn't there but as we were leaving he pulled up and invited us in. We ended up watching the Restoration video with both of them. We could definitely see the Lord's hand work with the people on that day.

So I'm getting transferred to Pasco 5th spanish. I'm pretty sure my new companions name is Elder Reibero. He is from brazil and is called spanish speaking. It was a little hard to tell on the voice message. I had felt like I would be leaving for some reason and that feeling was right.

Thanks for the love and support. Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Young