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--