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