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