Another awesome week in the field

Hello everybody!

Life here in Connell WA has been fun! We went tracting and got the door slammed in our faces a few times. It was a really good experience but we didnt have much success from it although we did get a few try backs.

A miracle that happened this week was that one of our investigators this week asked to move his baptismal date up by a week. He is an awesome guy that has been prepared to be taught. He takes his Book of Mormon to work so that he can read during his breaks. 

My spanish is getting along. I could actually understand sacrament meeting this week. My companion helps me practice in lessons by turning the time over me to teach. I'm getting more comfortable with it but it still takes a bit for  me to try to say something.

Its amazing to see the difference between people that actually want to learn about the gospel and the people that dont really have that desire. Those that have the desire actually read and apply what they read to themselves but when they dont have that desire, it is really apparent when we ask about it.

Thanks everyone for reading and have a great week.

Elder Young

PS they just changed a rule. We can now email friends as well as family. If you would like my address, please ask my parents. I don't want to put out for the world to see.

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First Area and Trainer

Hello Everybody!

So my P-day is now on Monday instead of Thursday.

It's great to be here in the mission field. My first area is Basin City/ Connell and my trainer is Elder Webb. He is an awesome guy and he has helped so much here. We cover 2 english wards and a spanish branch. We also live with some awesome members of the ward that are super nice to us. I'm super excited to be in this area and it has been a ton of fun getting to know the area.

 It has been pretty interesting trying to understand all the lesson in spanish because they all speak way faster than I can really understand. Sacrament meeting and Sunday School was really hard to understand because they all spoke super fast and my spanish right now is horrible. All the people are awesome though and are super patient with me as I try to talk. With time I will be able to understand and speak better. Practice Practice Practice.

The members out here are awesome and super missionary oriented. Its amazing to be able to get to know them. We had a baptism this past saturday because someone had invited his cousin to come to church. They are amazing people.

Hope you all have a great week!

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Another week in the MTC

Hello everybody!

Glad to hear everything is good at home.

Sorry to say not much has really been going on here but a few things have happened in the last 7 days. Sunday I got made the District leader. For the MTC that entails getting the mail twice a day choosing prayers, songs, and extra meetings during the week. I like what I have learned so far about being a good leader.

The language is still coming along. The spanish seems to be better in lessons but in class I feel like my spanish is horrible. The other day we had the chance to talk with some native speakers other  than our teacher Hermano Zuzunaga. They were missionaries from Mexico going to Nevada and they were in our building because they had a lesson in the classroom next to ours. For about an hour we taught them some english words and they taught us the spanish equivalant. Mostly it was just body parts and stuff in everyday life but it was still really fun to experience. Here is what our board looked like when we were done.

These next pictures are a bit old but every sunday we get to walk to the temple and here are a few pictures I have taken.

So there was an elder that washed his 100% wool sweater and this is ME trying it on. We had fun messing with it.

Hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Last week we got our travel plans and I leave on the 26th of February. Luckily we don't have to be the travel office until 8

Sorry I was unable to post last week. When I tried to send this email, it completely kicked me out and I wasn't able to get back on until this week.

 

On Sunday I had the opportuntity to say the opening prayer for the Devotional. After we got down off of the stand, an Elder came up to me and asked if I would find his family while I was in Washington. It really touched me that he was prompted to ask me to help reactivate his sister. I told him I would try my best.

 

Yesterday was a very interesting day for my campanion and I. The first night that new missionaries are here, they have this event called a Missionary Experience. A pair of elders come in and start a discussion with an "investigator" to get it going and then the group takes over and we leave. We had the opportunity of doing that last night. It was awesome to be able to see just how far we have come in the 6 weeks we have been here. I remember our discussions going very similar to how theirs went. It was a testimony builder of the amazing power of the spirit in teaching not only our investigators but ourselves also. I will tell you a little funny story with this. Since we have been practicing spanish for the last 6 weeks, it was actually really hard to do a door aproach in English. When I went to greet the lady I said "Hola Barbara! Uhh I mean Hello Barbara!" It happened a few more times throughout the lesson. I guess I am just supposed to be speaking spanish for my mission.

 

For the people in Prove Me Now efy 2011, I ran into Hermana Richins while I was eating dinner last night. She has only been here a week and is going to Chile. I tried talking to her in spanish a little but she couldn't really understand me but the Mexican elders around me could. Its truely amazing how much the spirit will teach you in such little time.

 

I'm super excited to go to the field but I'm still nervous. I won't say too much about that, I don't want to get too trunky to leave.

 

Thanks for the support everyone and I hope you all have a great week.

P.S. I guess dearelder.com is only for the field. Ask my mom for the address if you want it. Thanks!

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Hello everybody!

 

I don't really know how to start this post off but I will try my best.

 

This week has been a pretty good week I believe. Time still feels completely messed up. GR was right, days feel like weeks and weeks feel like days. Its hard to believe I have only been in the MTC for 3 weeks. It feels about like 3 months but I still love the things that I am learning.

 

Almost everyday, we spend at least 6 hours in the class room just studying or listening and interracting with our teachers. Its amazing how much you can learn in a single day of both the doctrines and the language.

 

Yesterday our teacher showed us a clip from general conference that was translated in spanish just to see how much we can really understand. It was definitely a humbling experience. I could only catch a few words here and there. It definitely showed me that I really need to work on the language more.

 

Yesterday we got another new district and then next week we get another district. Its crazy just how many missionaries are here. The spirit here is simply amazing. This past tuesday we got to hear a talk from Elder Don R Clarke about how to teach effectively and then to keep them coming to church. It really helped me understand more of what I need to do as a missionary.

 

Thanks to those that have written me. I love hearing from you guys!

 

Elder Young

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What a week!

Hello everybody!

 

I hope all of you are having a great week!

 

Life here in the MTC continues to be busy busy busy but still loving it. We have been getting snow almost everyday this week but still pretty nice temperature(at least I think so).

 

The language is still coming along fairly well. The progress is slow but sure. It takes a little while to get in the groove of learning a new language but its kinda fun. There are times that I will spell write something in spanish because its shorter than the english version or it was just a really long day.

 

A couple of days ago I ate something that didn't set well and I got sick and ended up throwing up a few times. Luckily it was just something I ate because it would be awful just to lay in bed all day. Everything is all good now and I am very grateful for that.

 

I just want to say that I love the gospel. It just makes sense and I don't know where I would be without it. The spirit here in the MTC is so strong all the time. I know that without the spirit, I couldn't learn as much as I have about the gospel and the language in 10x as much time.

 

Yesterday we got a new district of Elders and Hermanas in our Zone. It was fun trying to get to know them in the few minutes before we had to go to bed. Hopefully we didn't scare them too bad. We just told them to make it to Sunday and then they will make it through.

 

Thank you to those that have sent me letters on dearelder.com. I love getting mail and seeing how life is outside of the little bubble of the MTC. Hope you all enjoy and have a great week.

 

PS Hopefully I will have some better stories once I get to the Mission Field. Everyday is almost the same so its hard to come up with good stories.

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First Week

Hello World.

 

I know its been a while since I have written anything but thats only because I have been busy getting ready for a mission and finally entering the MTC. Today is my first preparation day so I can finally email and do laundry and whatever else I need to do for the next week.

 

My companion is Elder Brown from Hawaii. He is an awesome guy and has an awesome spirit about him. We have to spend every moment of the day together so we had to get used to each other really quick. My dad always says if you can survive having a companion for 2 years, then marriage should be a piece of cake, at least you get to pick your wife. .

 

I will be here in the MTC for 6 weeks instead of 9 weeks. My district is one of the first to be on the new 6 week program. The language is coming along rather well for just being here for a week. I can bear my testimony(rough) and say a prayer(really rough) in spanish. I love my teacher Hermano Zuzunaga. For a few days none of us could tell if he could speak english or not because all of our lessons would be in spanish. Surprisingly we could understand him. Eventually we had a lesson in english so we could understand the doctrines and apply them to ourselves. I was surprised to find that we only have a 3 hour block on most days of acutal class time where the teacher is in front of the class teaching. The rest is personal and companion study of the doctrine and then the language. I feel like I know way more from the last week here than I did in 2 years in high school spanish.

 

The second day we got here we had to teach a lesson to an investigador, IN SPANISH. Lets just say that it was rather rough but the spirit was there and we knew that Heavenly Father was helping us. We taught the same person 5 lessons and yesterday was our last time. Although we weren't able to cover a lot of things, it still helped us realize just how much we really have to rely on the Lord for the things that we fall short on. On sunday we watched at talk from Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ." It was about forgetting about ourselves and focusing on others. He also so that if we lose ourselves in the work then we will be blessed. I know that is something that I need to do and I'm working hard on it.

 

My zone is all spanish speakers going to a bunch of different places. 5 of the 6 guys in my district are going to Kennewick Washington also. 5 of the 6 girls are going to Nashville Tennessee. The other 2 in the disrict are going to Denver CO. Its always awesome when we get to share our thoughts in class because the spirit is so strong in there.

 

For those that want to write me you can send messages through dearelder.com and I will usually get them the same day. I won't be able to reply until Thursdays because thats my preparation day.

 

I just want to take a moment to bear my testimony.

 

I know that this church is true and that Joesph Smith really did restore the Lord's church on the earth again. I also know that through Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, anything is possible. When we keep His commandments because we love Him, then we will be blessed beyond what we can imagine and our very nature begins to change as we become closer to our Savior. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and I know the things contained in it are true. If you want to come closer to Christ then the best way to do that is follow his example and to read about his life in the Scriptures. I know president Monson is a prophet called of God and I know he speaks the word of God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

 

PS Feel free to send messages on dearelder.com. I would love to hear from you all.

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Kennewick Washington!

I've got some exciting news to share for this post. I got my mission call to serve in the Washington Kennewick Mission Spanish speaking! I report to the Provo MTC on January 16th. When I saw that I was going so soon, I was pretty shocked. Luckily my parents were able to catch all of my reactions on video while I was opening my call. They had fun playing it over and over. The next few weeks will be pretty busy trying to get everything gathered together. I am way excited to be able to serve a mission soon and in such a beautiful area. I know Kennewick is where I am supposed to serve and I'm anxious to get started.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to keep you updated.