Our Personal Testimony is the Most Powerful Thing We Have

Hola familia!

My Turkey Cookie. Our District made these on P-day last week. Thanks Mom!

Yeah, Christmas time always is super busy with all of the concerts and ward stuff and all the crazy things. Just don't forgot to make time to go see the lights in Coeur d'Alene sometime! Is it a little better without the store though? I bet uncle Ben is pretty busy. We've been keeping pretty busy like always.

So the word has come in from the mission leader conference. For Christmas music we can listen to anything that's not "Hip-Hop" or more intense. Which means all of the classic Christmas songs, not just hymns. Which means Michael Buble's Christmas CD is approved. :D The only other CD I'm missing right now that I can think of is that Josh Groban one. I'm excited for the pre-Christmas package for sure! 

Yeah, BYU Provo took forever to respond. I'm sure Cassidy will get in though. Canute (Dylan's RA from last year at BYU) is in some kind of computer science major too. He sent all the missionaries a whole bunch of pictures of Whitney Hall being torn down, little by little. It was super sad.

This week was super duper awesome. We had TWO people get baptized on Sunday!!! It's a Christmas miracle! First we have Santiago. He married a member months ago and has been living with her parents, coming to Church every week and even paying his tithing. Last week he finally gave in, gave us the word, and now he's baptized! 




And then there's Nick. He's nine. The Morenos have been less active for a long time, apart from their oldest son and daughter who come to Church every once in a while. We finally caught the parents at home a few weeks ago and they were all like, "yeah there were some missionaries coming over a long time ago but then we lost contact with them." So now they've been making time, putting sports aside and everything to come to Church. And Kevin even baptized Nick, which was awesome.


Also this week, Elder Tad R Callister is coming to the mission and giving a bunch of conferences for the missionaries and all the members. We have ours on Friday. It'll be super spiritual and I'm sure we're all going to learn so much and get all kinds of inspiration.

Definitely bearing testimony is super important in missionary work. I read a talk last week from like 50 years ago, but it said that the most important roles of missionaries is to testify and challenge. We bear testimony of the truth of the gospel so the Spirit can carry our words to their hearts, and then we challenge people to make changes in their lives to see the blessings and feel the Spirit more strongly themselves. Missionaries love to make commitments. Commitments are an act of faith, and when people keep them they help change their lives, which is repentance. As people repent and feel the spirit they prepare to make covenants and come unto Christ. The only reason we teach lessons is because sometimes people are stubborn and don't want to recognize the spirit or admit they need to change. Our personal testimony really is the most powerful thing we have, to strengthen us in our own lives as well as bringing others to the fold of Christ.

Well I love you all so much!!! I'll talk to you all pretty soon. I heard we get to Skype on Christmas Eve or Christmas for 45 minutes. Man the time flies!!!

Love,

Elder Dylan Young

We're dreaming of a White Christmas


Hola familia!!!
The new house looks great! That is, if it really is a new house and you didn't just paint the old one. :P
Man when I learned I would be going to Texas for two years I never expected I would end up feeling cold. Some of the other missionaries were making fun of me for having those gloves you sent me. We sure showed them. As long as I have the sweater and the rain jacket on I stay plenty warm. I could maybe use another sweater, but for the most part it's just going to sit in my suitcase all year. One is fine.
The District wearing our sweaters in Southeastern Texas!
I bet everyone missed your pies for Thanksgiving! Is Katniss super cute? Have you seen Catching Fire yet? Our Thanksgiving down here was super great. We had lunch with a family whose dad we baptized a few months ago. It was regular Thanksgiving food: turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, stuffing, sweet potatoes, plus some mexican style rice for good measure. No tortillas though, that would've completed the meal. Then for dinner we ate with the same family we went to for Halloween. We had standard Thanksgiving food there as well. It was all amazing. We still have an entire pie left in our fridge. We're planning on decorating those turkey cookies today. Oh, also, the day before Thanksgiving we ate with the Spanish ward mission leader, Edgar. Standard Thanksgiving plus some ham as well. Everything was super duper good and I stuffed myself. It was Elder Flores' first Thanksgiving and he ate a decent amount. Not as much as us fat americans but still good. Some of the other Elders had 6 dinners in a row on Thanksgiving, pobrecitos ("poor things"). One of them threw up afterward. Hopefully that doesn't happen to us on Christmas.

I'm pretty sure I've been sleeping better with Pupilodicus. I'm not sure what would be on my Christmas list, other than some Mormon Messages DVDs. They're super cool not only for introducing the Prophet and Apostles to people but to help when teaching members. Another thing that might help is a CD with some general conference talks or even the Book of Mormon in Spanish, just to practice listening and understanding. Or I could get some CDs and make those pretty easy, I think. I don't know what Elder Flores would want. He just said whatever. If you want to send something go for it. He's super cool. He's actually the only member in his family and was baptized when he was 15. His testimony and faith are super strong, it's great. :)

I have no idea how Skype will work yet. I'll let you know when we get there. I can't believe it's already December! Six months out. It doesn't even seem real.

We had a miracle yesterday as we were fasting. Not only did all of our investigators come to church (I think for the first time,) but the guy who married a member and has been paying his tithing for months finally decided to get baptized next week. Woo!!! It's a Christmas miracle (I'm dreaming of a white christmas... :P) Actually that's something we could make for a ward vision: let's all dream of a white Christmas as we fill the baptismal fonts with white.
Well, I love you all so much!!! Everyone be safe out in the snow!

~Elder Young


Our District - THE UNiT

Hola Familia!!!

Man your week was crazy!!! That's super cool that Dallin H Oaks came down. I'll have to ask Jacob to tell me all about the plane ride. I bet it was super cool. It seems like every single talk and conference now a days is about missionary work, which is super cool. The work is hastening onward for sure. Tell Abby congrats for me!

If you couldn't get someone out of your mind, it probably means something. One thing they teach the missionaries is that whenever you don't feel like doing something, as long as it's not something bad obviously, then that probably means you need to do it and do it soon. I know the opportunity and the right time will present itself in one way or another. 2 Timothy 1:7 is a scripture that my trainer shared with me one time that helped a lot with going out and talking with everyone.

You're actually moving. I don't believe it. A tennis court and everything? That's gonna be awesome. So is the new house going to be all one floor? Or are you just going to install an elevator from the get go?

I'm glad Belle turned out okay. She's still got a while left in her. Is she still super cute and everything?

Well this week was crazy here too. They did tell me I was training in the call but it turns out my companion Elder Flores already had about 6 months in Peru waiting for his Visa and 6 weeks in the Provo MTC. So he's older than me in missionary years but I'm still technically senior comp. Like some kind of adopted father. My Spanish is gonna skyrocket as I help him learn English, for sure.

It's funny because my trainers were both completely different. But they both managed to get work done and get people baptized, just by going about things a lot differently. I guess I just had a lot to learn on both sides of the spectrum.

Elder Flores is great. He's from Lima, Peru, and is the only member in his family. He was baptized when he was 15 and met the Elders by trying to annoy them. He's super great and knows the scriptures super well. He loves the missionary work and works hard.

For Thanksgiving we already have a couple plans, for lunch and dinner, with some different members of the ward. We're getting fed at least once every day this week, which is awesome.

Chocolate Pop-tart with rice. I don't know who I am anymore!

This week we had something crazy. It was cold!!! Even with our sweaters and gloves it was still freezing outside. Maybe I'm just used to the heat or something. Friday was crazy though, it was raining like crazy and we got super soaked. Thankfully a member gave us a ride home at the end of the day and even bought us pizza to warm us up.

We stopped by a less active family last night and finally caught everyone at home. Out of the blue the dad said "yeah we keep forgetting to get our son baptized. You can all come over like every night and teach him everything." Milagro!!! We definitely always need to remember that the Lord works in His own time. As long as we do everything we know we should do and keep up the faith, the blessings will come.

I love you all so much!!!! Keep on sharing the gospel everywhere you go!!!

~Elder Young

Happy Thanksgiving!

Diligence, Obedience and Love


Hola familia!

The Holidays are definitely around the corner. I think I have enough Christmas CD's, but if you have more cool ones I'd love to have them. I'm sure Spencer's piano recital will be super awesome! And I bet you and dad will have fun planning the Christmas party - I'm sure it will be great too. Is Dad going to be Santa Claus then?

Yeah, I remember the Riley's. I bet the Spirit was super strong as you sang. Our district has already sang at a few funerals, usually for people who aren't members but have a daughter or son who is. The Spirit has always been so strong as we sing and the members bear their testimonies of the plan of salvation.

I can just imagine how awesome The Spirit of God sounded live with the Spirit so strong and everything. Those youth conferences were a lot of fun. Was there a dance too? Did Cassidy like it?

Well, this transfer is coming to a close again. Our district all became super tight, and it kinda hurts to see us getting split apart now. We named ourselves "the UNiT," came up with like a hand signal and even made T-shirts. We'll get a picture of us all wearing them today to send next week. But yeah, we found out transfers yesterday. One of our Sisters is going to Corpus and one of our Elders is leaving for Hidalgo. My companion is leaving too, to be a zone leader in Edinburgh. 
Our District - "The UNiT"


So that means I'll be staying here another transfer, which is cool since I'll get to be here for Thanksgiving and Christmas where I already know the members. It's crazy though since I also found out I'm going to be training!!! AAAAH. I'm getting a greenie. A verdecito. I'm gonna be a dad. I've been kind of freaking out since I found out. I just need to remember that no matter what happens everything is going to be okay. This is the Lord's work and he will not allow us to mess it up. As long as we do all we can, try our best and have faith, He not only will make up our difference but shape us and build us into the missionaries and the people that he knows we can be. It all depends on the three basic principles of missionary work: diligence, obedience, and love. Meeting these things is really how we see miracles as missionaries. And everywhere else in life.

The work keeps rolling onward and it's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of it. I love the Lord and I love you all sooooo much!

~Elder Young

TIE HAMMOCK
We made it out of ugly old ties while I was staying with the other Elders last week.


Miracles Are Everywhere!

Dear family,

That's super awesome that Lexi got baptized! I bet the whole ward was just super excited and the Spirit was so strong.

It's good that your tooth is feeling all better mom. I'll try to remember to take care of things before they get too bad. I think that's something that missionaries just have trouble with in general. I know our Mission President's wife has talked about it a couple times, and one of the Assistants to the President had an ingrown toenail a while ago that he ignored for way too long.

I still don't believe you're actually moving. Something is bound to come up and stop it. I don't know what, but until I see the house with my own eyes I'm not going to believe it. It will be awesome for Spence to be right by Ronnie and Nathan and Olivia. It'll be a lot of fun for everyone.

That's cool that Sister Roderick (a friend from BYU) and Sister Webster (a friend from home) are companions in the Philippines. I did hear about the typhoon, but not until Sunday at Church. Man, it did a lot of damage. We'll definitely be praying for all of them, and it sounds like the Lord has a lot of work for the missionaries there to get done.

You asked if I used the sewing skills that you taught me to fix my companion's pants. 
They were beyond either of our abilities to fix. 

Thankfully, one of the Sister Missionaries volunteered to fix them. The Sisters are the boss. Which reminds me of a rap song some Sister Missionaries recorded called "The Sisters are the Boss." There was a member that wrote it and recorded them. It's awesome.

I think I remember dad's story about when his companion ripped his pants. I feel like he has a lot of stories about people getting hit by cars on his mission. Is that just a common thing in Brazil or what?

We got completely destroyed by mosquitoes the other day. We sat outside for almost an hour for a lesson, and afterward my arm looked like extra-large bubble wrap. I had mosquito bites on top of mosquito bites. We do have bug spray, we just didn't think we'd need it that day.

This week was crazy since there was a three day leadership conference in McAllen. I spent most of the week up in another area in our district. Thankfully they have a car, so it was a nice little break from biking. The biggest thing we're focusing on now from the training is talking to every single person we see. Even if we're in a rush and all we can do is leave a pass along card. When we make plans, we are telling God where we're going to be and when. He'll do His part to lead people to us who are ready to receive the gospel. All we have to do is open our mouths.

We saw this happen last night after church. We told God in prayer who we were going to visit, then set out in the dark. When we got to the house we remembered they were having a Quincenera that night, so we kept biking. We stopped to talk to some people who were heading out, and they randomly pointed us at a house across the street. We went and knocked and ended up finding some former investigators from about 15 years ago. They really loved their missionaries and even still had Books of Mormon, in English and Spanish. It was awesome!

Another thing: We decided to do a district fast yesterday, because that's another thing they taught at the Leadership training was to fast more often. (They tell us to still drink water when we're fasting, so don't worry. Between water and Excedrin I do just fine.) That Sunday, three people showed up to Church who had been a lot in the past either with family or friends. Miracles are everywhere!

Well, I'm all out of time. I did lose the original white deedee at Osh Kosh B'Gosh, but I had two extra ones that eventually filled the whole in my heart. I don't know where either might be, though.

I love you all so much!!! Just keep spreading the gospel every way you can!

~Elder Young

Another Great Week


Querida Familia!
Man, time just keeps flying by back home. Were you super excited to get that text? (Halloween night, we received an anonymous text with a photo of Dylan, his companion and their amazing Jack-O-Lantern.) We carved the pumpkin with the symbols of the four elements from Avatar, since we decided that best described our companionship. 




On Halloween the missionaries weren't allowed out past 6, so a couple from our ward invited all 12 of us over for a barbecue and to carve pumpkins. They had all kinds of cute Halloween treats. They do this every year since all their kids have grown up and left. They're super cool.

I'm excited for those scriptures! (We just sent Dylan the new 2013 mini-quad so he can fit a little more in his backpack.) I think I figured out what I want for the next package you send, too. My companion convinced me I should have Pupilodicus and my white deedee here because he's had his big Cowboys blanket since he was like 2.
Pupilodicus (Dylan's favorite stuffed animal since he was born.)

Yesterday we had some representatives from the stake come talk to us about family history. Using family history to find new people has been something that not a lot of missionaries really know how to do. It sounds like the stake is going to be ordering some genealogy pass along cards, and has some training videos we can watch to get the ball rolling there. It'll be great putting that pedigree chart to use!

Missionary work is definitely a lot of work, but that's really what it takes. Some of the Christlike attributes the Preach My Gospel talks about are diligence, patience, and hope. We just have to keep working through whatever comes our way, patiently believing that as long as we do all we can do, the blessings will come according to the Lord's time.

On Saturday we helped unload a truck full of clothing bundles for the distribution center here. We're all still sore. But while we were there a member told us a crazy story about his mission. He served in New Zealand and knocked on the door of an old man, like 90 years old. They started talking (in the native language) about genealogy and stuff. Somehow, Hagoth got mentioned and the guy said, "He's my ancestor." He went over to a back room he had with family history records stacked floor to ceiling. He could trace his family all the way back to Hagoth, then all the way to Lehi in Jerusalem. President Hinckley happened to be in New Zealand at the time, so the next day he went and visited the man while the missionary translated for him. They invited him to be baptized, taught all the discussions, and he was baptized and confirmed that weekend. The very next day, the man passed away. He had so many records, though, that Church headquarters is only 1/4 of the way through from when it started in the 60s. The story just blew my mind and made everything so real. The Book of Mormon isn't just an inspired book of scripture, it's all completely real, the stories and the people, and everything they wrote was for us in this day. It's so awesome.

Also, we had a baptism this Monday!!! They are two daughters of a less active member. Out of the blue they decided they wanted to start coming to church and be baptized. Their active uncle baptized them. The baptism was crazy. For some reason, our ward hardly has any baptismal suits and we couldn't find anything that fit one of them very well. After about an hour of thinking of solutions, they found a pair of pants in the stall. All she said when she put them on and came out was, "The Devil lost." The baptism was amazing, though. A lot of people were getting emotional, their mom and less active uncles and aunts were there, plus their dad made it just before they got baptized. Everything went perfectly.

I'm definitely out of time but I love you all so much!!!!!
Elder Young

Do Everything You Can To Love The Lord

Hola familia,

I'm going to start off with the answers to all those questions:

Where do you go to use the computer?
We use the computers at the South Texas College mid-vally campus, which is in my area.

Do you talk with both ward mission leaders all of the time?
Yeah, we have two coordination meetings each week, one for each ward, with all 12 missionaries in the ward, the ward mission leaders, and often a member of the bishopric and/or some auxiliary leaders.

Where do you go to do your laundry?
We have a washer and dryer in our apartment, which is super convenient.

How is your morning study time set up?
During personal study, we try to study according to our investigators' needs. I usually read a chapter from the Book of Mormon and then go into Preach My Gospel to really dig into specific topics, whether it's from the lessons or stuff to help us teach better. I'm also slowly but surely reading through Jesus the Christ, which is super cool. I've learned that the more you understand about Christ and His life, the more you can appreciate all He did for us and the more love you'll have for Him, which leads to becoming more like Him as well as having more love for the people all around us.

What is your typical schedule on any given day?
Every morning we get up at 6:30 am and work for a half hour. We eat breakfast and shower and everything and begin personal study at 8. At 9 the companionship study begins, where we go over lesson plans and stuff, and then it's spanish study at 10, lunch at 11, and then we head out to work until 9 or 9:30 pm. A lot of days have some kind of meeting or something to break it up, either in the morning or in the afternoon, like coordination or district meeting.

Also, each companionship does get the Ensign every month, but last month we only got the Liahona so maybe it would be good for you to send one.

Whew. Well, this Tuesday was crazy. We got a call right after studies started and we were told that the whole McAllen zone had to go down to the mission office because we were having interviews with President Maluenda. Yikes! We were all freaking out but also all super excited. President Maluenda is just super inspired. We got in and said a prayer, he asked como estaba yo, and then kind of looked up and behind me for a few seconds before shooting me with super deep, personal questions. My companion described his almost like there was an angel standing behind him with cue cards. It got me super pumped up though.

Someone's phone just went off and the ringtone was the jazzy version of "Still Alive" from Portal. I just thought I should say something about it before I forget.

It sounds like you've all been busy like always. How does Cassidy feel with marching band being over for good? Did they do hackfest, and did she remember how to conduct the Sparticus show?

What's Dad gonna do without the store to run? Just play with Spencer all day?

We had the Spanish ward Halloween party this past week. The Sisters made the Elders little cards that said "Hermana" ("Sister") on them for us to tape to our plaques. They also gave us bows. It was silly. But there were two members just in our area that brought friends that we met, so it was super cool.

Man it's super cool we're gonna have a baptism in good old Spokane!!! I'm super excited for her. What you have to do now is use this to get the fire going. The most important thing that determines how much missionary work gets done in a ward is how excited the members are about sharing the gospel. Everyone's gotta get involved, but definitely it starts with the leaders, which is why all the work you're doing in the stake, Mom, is so awesome. And it's awesome that Kenna wants to come to church!!!! I'll be praying for all of you and everyone in Spokane to find and seize missionary opportunities everywhere they go.

That's about it. I love you all so much!!!!!!! Just keep doing everything you can to love the Lord!

~Elder Young

Another Crazy Week in Texas

October 21, 2013

Querida Familia,

It's been another crazy week here in Texas! I can't believe marching season is almost done. There's a pretty big football stadium in our area for the Weslaco and Weslaco East high schools. Not near as awesome as Joe Albi, but you can't really have basements here plus there aren't any hills, so it couldn't be built into the ground like that. Also, the mascots are the panthers and wildcats, so that's kind of weird.

It is cooling down a little bit, so I don't mind as much when we ask people for a glass of water and they give us a Coke instead. We still make sure to drink plenty of water though. It's weird because tons and tons of birds have starting to come south for the winter, which means they're all coming here. The telephone poles are just covered in birds, all super loud and making weird Mexican-jungley noises. The butterflies are back too, so many you sometimes can't avoid smashing into some on the bikes.

Yeah, I got the Halloween package. The card was super funny, too. And the candy was only a little bit melted. I think our wards are gonna have a trunk-or-treat this week, which is cool. And it turns out the Zone leaders will be doing an exchange with us on Halloween, so I have no idea what that will be like. Whenever people ask if we get to dress up, we just say that a missionary is already the scariest thing you could see out on the street. I wonder how many people will know who Rosie Cotton is. Does the new Hobbit movie look super mega awesome? Also I saw a Sonic the Hedgehog costume at Walmart and realized what I had been missing my whole life. Too bad they didn't have one in my size.

I definitely wasn't expecting to see a .gif in the email. I made sure to send it to all my other missionary friends.

There was just a lot of food this week. I didn't throw up in my mouth again, even though I almost did when a member took all the missionaries in the ward to Golden Coral. I just didn't want to stop eating, you know? Also, we made a huge breakfast for district bonding. Here's a picture of one of the huge piles of waffles. We threw just about everything in the batter: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, even an entire banana. It was fun.



So yesterday was super crazy. The other missionaries were baptizing 5 people, 4 brothers and sisters plus their cousin, all kids of less active members. One of their moms was too sick to make it to Church, but she and the rest of her family wanted to make it to the baptism. We had a member drive over to pick them up, but she couldn't find them at home. They tried a bunch of their other relatives and friends and finally found them. Then, while they were speeding back down to the church, we got a call saying "Hay policia, oren por nosotros." They got pulled over and the policeman was threatening to deport them! Thankfully he calmed down, gave them a ticket and let them go. Everyone got baptized and it was awesome!

I'm out of time, but I love you all so much!

Elder Young

We have to be meek and humble in order to learn & improve

Monday, October 14, 2013

It's been another great week here in Texas! It still feels crazy hot outside every day, but it has probably cooled down some since I first got here. We had a bunch of transfers this week but my companion and I are still here. Now we have lots of new missionaries. They're all super cool. We already might have too much district unity for our own good, but we get work done for sure.

So my companion's pedal fell off on Thursday, and we still haven't gotten around to fixing it. He had to go one pedal for a while until we got back to the apartment. We've just managed to get rides everywhere we need to go between then and now. Hopefully we'll take care of that today or tomorrow. 

Last Monday the conference talks weren't available for print yet, but now I'll print some out to study for sure. I think my favorite talk though was President Uchtdorf's from the priesthood session. The Sister missionaries hid in the mother's lounge during the priesthood session and listened to the whole thing, so it's probably okay for Mom and Cass to listen to it too.

It sounds like you all had another awesome trip! With the zoo and the show and everything. I'm sure Cass had a great time too. I can't believe she's already sending in her BYU application! I'm sure she'll get right in to New Heritage. That'll be super cool, she's gonna have a blast.

We had a baptism on Sunday! Her mom and a bunch of her siblings were baptized months ago. She's been taught a bunch and been to Church a few times, then suddenly out of the blue decided to be baptized. Even though she felt pretty sick, she still came and it was super cool. 

Here's a picture of our last district meeting before transfers. 

And this one one is a picture that's been in our relief society room for a long time. It cracks me up every time. Here's a hint: one of those words is not like the others.
 

I've learned so much on my mission so far. Even though it is insanely hard a lot of the time, it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't. We have to be meek and humble in order to learn and improve. Just like that poem you sent me in my greenie package, through storms and wind and rain, in both trees and men, good timber grows. And to quote Batman's dad, "Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can get back up again." I know the Atonement is real and that it's only through faith in Christ and His power and sacrifice that we can become the people we are meant to be.

Another thing I learned is that you should always get Little Caesar's pizza with crazy crust. It's life changing. 

I guess to close, each of you really is as awesome as I said in those letters. Even better, actually. I can't thank you all enough for how much you've all helped me in life. I love you all sooooooooo much!!!!!


Elder Young

Subtle, Tender Mercies of the Lord


Hola familia!
I loooooooooooooooove you all!!! Man, general conference was super awesome. The spirit was so strong and I learned so much. I'm definitely going to be printing out a bunch of the talks and studying them like crazy the next, I don't know, 6 months. It was all so good and mind blowing I don't even know what to share. Next week I'll have picked some of it apart and be able to share more. One thing though that really hit me during Elder Bednar's talk (I'm not sure if he actually said it or not) is that we should pray to be able to recognize the subtle, tender mercies of the Lord, pray to be more grateful in life. As we do this, the worries and stresses of life will fall into the background as we have the Spirit reminding us of how good life is.

It's awesome that you've managed to have such a great missionary opportunity! For sure, after missionaries bring people to the Church, it's the responsibility of the members to make sure they're cared for and "nourished by the good word of God." That's why it's so important that we magnify our callings as home and visiting teachers, so we can bless people's lives and help them feel the Spirit, the love and priesthood power of God in their lives.

It's great Dad had fun in Maine. I was wondering what he'd be doing with all his time now. And I'm sure Cassidy had fun at Calvacade. I can't believe I'm gonna have new cousins when I get home! Spencer will definitely take good care of them. I learned this weekend that Elder Stirling in our district is actually like 2nd cousins with Lindsey Stirling, the violinist that dances around on YouTube. Also, my old roommate Andrew is in a ward at BYU with Hannah Ferris. It's a small world for sure!

Transfers are this week, but Elder Bellavance and I are both staying for at least one more. He's convinced that after this he's going to be leaving and I'll be district leader as well as training. Yikes! We'll see what happens.

I'm super jealous of Rees eating French Toast Crunch in Canada, though why he'd ruin it with sausage I have no idea. It's okay, because I've discovered the joy of Good Morenings Waffle Crunch.
So we're trying to teach a family where the mom works all the time, but never knows her schedule, and she doesn't have a phone. So, using a gift card some members gave to the missionaries, I got some walkie talkies that hopefully I'll be able to put into good use throughout the mission since so many seem to not have phones.

Here's a story. It's kinda gross, but worth sharing. The other day was the last district meeting of the transfer, so we all went out to Texas Roadhouse for lunch at like 3:00. Later that night we went to a member's to eat, and I was already stuffed. We had a whole bunch of fish (which I kind of actually liked) plus beans and rice and these super thick tortilla things. We were running late and I was devouring the fruit salad dessert before the closing prayer when suddenly... I threw up in my mouth. I guess my stomach had had enough. Nobody noticed but my companion, who just looked over and saw my cheeks full. I had no idea what to do, though. I panicked a little bit. During the closing prayer, I decided I couldn't go spit it out... so I started swallowing it back down. Elder Bellavance was watching me the whole prayer, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I got it all down right when the prayer ended. We left right away since neither of us could hold in our laughter: laughter from relief, disbelief, and shock. The next day we got fed three dinners, but it didn't even phase me; I could handle anything after that. Well, at least until Thanksgiving...

I think that's it. I love you all a ton! Keep on praying and relying on the Lord!
Elder Young

Crazy Week


This week was craaaaaazy!
Especially this weekend. On Saturday, we spent most of the day at the Church. We had both coordination meetings in the morning, my companion (district leader) was giving interviews all day, we had a wedding to set up for the Sister's investigators, and I went on a do-or-die lesson with another greenie to see if another investigator was going to get baptized on Sunday. Then on Sunday, between 6 hours of Church, 4 baptisms in the district, fast Sunday, and a missionary ward activity we had to help run, we were all completely drained by the end of the day. But it was awesome! We got to baptize the husband of a member who started coming back to Church a few months ago. They have 2 little kids and they want to go to the temple to be sealed as soon as possible. I forgot my camera, but I'll send the pictures next week. Thankfully we were fed well that night. We had basically as many tamales as we could eat.

The missionary activity was pretty cool. Every member in the Spanish ward was put in a companionship (usually husband and wife) and sent out to go meet with some less active members in the ward. While some weren't home, there were a lot who were. They all shared Henry B Eyring's "Este Dia," or "This Day," and invited the members to come watch general conference this next week. Bringing friends to general conference is a fantastic missionary opportunity. As great and spiritual the talks and lessons are most Sundays, it's hard to beat the powerful testimonies of the Prophet and Apostles.

I did get your package, as well as a package with a bunch of cookies from grandma plus a letter from Facer. The letter and the poem are super awesome. Voy a tratar de traducirlos a espanol, porque no pienso que su esposo hable ingles. We haven't been able to sit down with them yet, but now that things have calmed down a little bit we'll definitely start helping them. I know that faith in Christ and His gospel are the best things to help them right now, because I've seen just how much it has helped all of our family through trials like this. Tell LeAnn thanks so much for sharing! She's so awesome and such a great example for me and all of the family.

It's too bad Battle of the Bell wasn't too fun, but at least Cassidy won't have to deal with the bell going off for another year. The reception sounds like it was awesome and the magic show as well.

Here's a cool little story: A Sister missionary in the district is going home (dying) after this week. She started her mission (was born) in this same ward back in the day. Her very first convert is still here and active, and today they're going to be baptizing her husband, who will probably be her very last baptism of the mission. It's so beautiful how everything came together like that.
That's about it. I'm gonna take this day to recharge. I love you all so much!

~Elder Young

Do Todo Posible

Querida familia!!!!

This week we had a zone conference with two zones. President Maluenda and the AP's gave a whole bunch of trainings and we learned a whole lot. President talked a ton about loving the mission, just like he always does. You gotta love the mission and love every single person out there. Everyone has so much potential, and if we can see that potential in them and want it for them enough, then we'll have the drive and las ganas to do everything we can to help them, and as we rely on the Spirit and do todo posible, we'll see miracles. We also learned how important it is to love and earn the trust of the leaders of the ward, all the auxiliary and quorum leaders as well as the counselors. If they get excited about missionary work, everything will trickle down.

Earlier this week we went to the hospital to give a blessing to a woman who had a stillborn. We're going to start teaching her and her husband and helping them know about the plan of happiness and how to have an eternal family. I was just wondering if Leann had anything that really helped her with Tyson, like a certain talk or scripture. Thanks so much!

I can't believe you're growing up so fast, Cassidy! AAH! Remember when you were little and I would ask, "Hold her, huh?" Just love senior year and go crazy. BYU's gonna be so much fun!!! Thanks for sending some of your senior pictures to get my opinion. Also, I don't know if you realize this already, but something missionaries always try to do is write to the sisters of other missionaries. Just so you know.

Did you see those pictures Aunt Mindy sent of Dad? A couple of those really look like me. It's freaky.

Jeff with his Grandpa Young
Jeff with his Great Grandma Stevens & Grandma Simon
Jeff, Jason, Missy, Mindy, Anna and Grandpa Young

My birthday was super fun! We went to a member's house and watched some Church movies. It was Sister Sander's birthday this last Sunday, so we celebrated hers too. The Ward Mission Leader in the Spanish ward got us a huge tres leches cake. Also, I did a Mordida.

"A great Mexican Birthday tradition is not just the eating of the cake but the tradition of the first bite. As everyone stands around the one to have just completed another year of life, they all chant, 'Mordida, Mordida, Mordida!' Yes, Mordida is the same word used for a bribe but that is because it means to take a bite. The birthday person is expected to take their first bite of the cake without any utensils and with their hands behind their back. Then, of course, one of their friends or family is sure to push their face into the cake. This is all done in great fun."
"Mordida, Mordida, Mordida"
I knew what I was getting into, but I figured it had to be done.
One awesome thing that happened this week. Yesterday, a 19 year old girl just walked into the Church and sat by the sister missionaries. She later told them that God told her she needed to go to that Church. She loved it so much, she
wants to get baptized as soon as possible so that she can serve a mission and share how amazing the gospel is with other people. The Sisters are going to meet with her every day and she'll be baptized next Sunday. It seems like miracles always happen around the end of the month when you're a missionary.

That's about all the news this week. The weirdest thing I've eaten so far is probably the boiled pig skins, Chicharrones or something like that. Anyway, I love you all sooooooooooooooooo much!!!!


~Elder Young

Happy Birthday Dylan!

My birthday's going great so far! I got your birthday package and opened everything up. Every present was perfect. I got a bit of a cold this week so the cough drops and tissues were great, and even the headlight helped since we were doing some maintenance on our washing machine. My companion gave me one of his really, really nice ties for a birthday present. It's an Ike Behar, and he got it by trading some other nice ties he got basically for free from a Bodega, which is like a super thrift shop. The ties come in barrels by the hundred pounds, dirt cheap. There aren't any in Weslaco, but some day. Our district is planning on going over to a member's house and having ice cream and other goodies, and possibly even watching 17 Miracles, which would be awesome. I can't wait to watch Ephraim's rescue, too. Actually, the member is Sister Jenny Chamberlain, and she was in the October 2009 Ensign. (Here's the link to the article: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/10/the-member-missionary-effect?lang=eng&cid=email-shared.
You should totally look it up, and then picture her teaching gospel doctrine in the Spanish ward. The whole article is about missionary work in south Texas, and I know or have heard of a lot of the people it mentions.

Spencer and Cassidy sure sound like they're keeping busy! It's awesome that Spencer got to babysit, I bet it was super cute. And it's awesome that he and Cassidy are spending so much time out having fun with friends and stake dances and everything. 

I hadn't even heard of the day of service down here, but service is definitely one thing we need to find more opportunities to do. Do you have any ideas of ways the missionaries up North have done service?

It has been raining a lot lately but an umbrella isn't really going to help on a bike. The jacket works great for keeping me dry, plus we've started getting more rides with members.

The second counselor asked me to give a talk right before sacrament meeting started (in the English ward, thank goodness.) I really just talked about missionary work and how great their joy would be just by bringing one of their friends into the gospel. Apparently it went pretty well, the Spirit was strong and everything.

The biggest thing we've worked on this week is pushing forward. Every single day is a brand new day. We can't let ourselves be held back by regrets or mistakes we've made. Instead of looking back and thinking, "I should have done this" or "I could have said this," Look forward after everything and ask yourself, "what can I do better this time?" Like a toddler taking it's first few steps, we won't be scolded or merit disappointment from our Heavenly Father. All he asks is that we push ourselves, because that's the only way to grow. Even should the jaws of hell gape after us, all of these things are for our benefit and our experience.

I love you all muchisimo!!!! I hope everything is going great up in Spokane!


~Elder Young

Every Step You Take Makes A Difference

Ah man, school. I'm sure Spencer and Cassidy will both do great. How's the marching band coming along? Has Cassidy gotten pretty tan since practice started? I'm not sure if you don't tan as much in the humidity, because while I've got pretty good tan lines they're not THAT noticeable. We've had some thunderstorms down here too, and a ton of rain the past few days.

The new BW bishopric sounds awesome! We had stake conference this Sunday too, in English and Spanish. We sang the same songs and the topics were all the same, which was funny. The focus there was all about missionary work as well, how each member can play his or her part, whether they be youth or adults. The best thing is when new converts are eager and excited to keep learning more and getting involved as much as they can in the Church, especially because they usually make the best missionaries with so many friends who aren't members and such a strong, recent story of conversion.

We're trying really hard to get to teach one woman who got a Book of Mormon from a friend a while back. By the time we found her, she had read first and second Nephi in about a month. The problem is she works so much and she never knows when she gets back, so we're praying for her to get Sundays off because she knows that she and her family need to start coming to Church and then be baptized.

The other day we were biking past a house and we heard someone yell, "pray for me!" out her window. It was a woman we had given a pass-along card to before. She always gets anxiety, headaches, and seizures, but that day she had been reading James 5:14-15: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." We were like, "We're the elders!" So now we're teaching her and her boyfriend.

One thing my companion has talked a lot about is making sure we enjoy the mission, so that we don't have to force ourselves to work hard. If we love every minute, even when we're soaking wet in the rain and every appointment cancels on us, then we are really doing what The Fourth Missionary would do and giving our will to the Lord. In order for Him to make us into who we need to be, we can't be afraid to put ourselves out there. Just relax and be yourselves; the Gospel is part of who you are, and the reason we're so happy. It's not some awkward thing we're obligated to share, it's an amazing thing we should have a burning desire to share.

I love you all so much and hope you all keep working to bring people to the gospel. Remember that every step you take makes a difference, even if you can't see the fruit of your labors.

Love,

Elder Young

Love Really is the Driving Force

Hola familia!

We couldn't do emails yesterday because the college library was closed for labor day. Everything's fine. (aka: "Don't worry mom.")
I can't believe Spencer finally rode the tube! That's so awesome. 

I think it's supposed to start cooling down here pretty soon. Although, high 90s is cooler than it usually was last month, so that's something. It looks like Cassidy has a great school schedule, lots of awesome teachers. Senior year is weird, since really every day is the last one of those days. It's gonna go by super fast!

I really miss Dad, too, and all of you guys. It definitely helps that we're so busy all of the time, though. The more you guys keep yourself busy, whether it's studying, working, or serving, the faster time is gonna go by.

It's crazy how overloaded Brazil always is! Still, The reassignments are just as inspired as wherever else one gets called, and there are people everywhere waiting and prepared to hear the gospel.

I have been doing pretty well with migraines. I still get them every once in a while. On one hand, I've figured out how to take Excedrin dry. On the other hand, though, Elder Charles once told me I just needed to figure out what I had to learn from these headaches. I remembered back to Bednar's talk on Characters of Christ. Truly Christlike people reach out and help when others reach in. He suffered more than anyone can even imagine, humiliation, agony. He even had the power to save Himself completely. Instead, though, in the midst of His sufferings, He only used His power to help others, blessing them, healing them, forgiving them and even paying the price for their sins. Love really is the driving force behind everything good and righteous.


Here's my new companion. My old companion got sent up to Laredo to be a zone leader. My new companion is pretty awesome. In a year and a half, this is his first time in a bike area, his first time in an area without cheap ties, and his first time as district leader. It's like a whole new mission, basically. Every new companion has something to teach us, and every day is another chance to learn and grow together.


Also, I had my first baptism on Saturday! We had been teaching this great couple for a while, and now they're both coming to church every week. It was so awesome! We're gonna keep working hard and getting more and more people to start on the path to God.
Some scriptures I really like this week are in Doctrine & Covenants Section 1. After all, this section is the introduction the Lord gave to all of the inspiration of this last dispensation.

I kind of thought of some stuff I might want for my birthday. It would be nice to have a small English Bible and triple combination to carry around, since my scriptures are pretty beat up already. For pictures, laminated ones I could carry with me would be awesome. The only other thing is that my mp3 player only kind of works... some CDs would be easier. The stuff I can listen to are hymns and primary songs (in any arrangement), EFY music, Mormon Tabernacle Choir (which doesn't have to be hymns), and classical music. I especially miss all of the A cappella stuff we have, like that vocal point CD and the three InsideOut ones. If I could have some copies of those with a CD case, that would be perfect.
I love you all sooooooooooooooooo much! Keep working hard and sharing the gospel wherever you go!

Elder Young

Disfrutar la mision

Hola familia!

It sounds like you're all having tons of fun! Tell Max and Scout and everyone that I say hi. It sounds like everyone is super busy. I guess that's just what happens when school's about to start. How does Cassidy think the band is gonna do this year? I can't believe you're actually selling the store. I've grown up with either Sports Outlet or Pedersen's. But change is okay. That's one of the main points of being a missionary.

Elder Charles is already leaving! He's going to be a zone leader up in Laredo. The rest of the district is staying the same though. Elder Charles has only had one companion for more than one transfer, but I guess that's because he has a lot of people to bless and a lot of work to do.

So we finally got some good rain this week. It was a nice break from the endless sun we've been having, but I don't think it's going to last more than a week or two. The only thing is the little family picture I had in my wallet got dead. The next time you send a letter, it'd be awesome if it had some laminated family photos in it. It's awesome showing a picture of you guys when talking about how the gospel blesses families and that families can be together forever.

My birthday happens to fall on P-day this year, so we'll probably buy some pizza or something to eat as a district. Plus, it's Mexican Independence Day, So I'm sure we'll be getting fed well that night. I really don't need anything from home. They've got all I could want right here. HEB (the Texan grocery store) even has Oh's cereal, which is awesome.

It's awesome that you're all putting so much thought and hard work into helping the missionaries. There's nothing more exciting for a missionary than a member who's excited about missionary work, except for like baptizing people. Did I mention we don't knock doors in this mission? Unless we find someone sitting outside, which doesn't happen too often in Texas heat, everyone we teach comes from member friends. We teach members a lot out of Preach My Gospel, different principles that we study all the time to help them have more confidence in their ability to spread the gospel. Maybe you could start doing family home evenings out of Preach My Gospel, since there's a ton to learn in there. Remember, if we have the faith to open our mouths, as long as we're continually treasuring up the words of the gospel, God will help us know what we need to say. God has chosen the weak things to overcome the strong, and the foolish to confound the wise.

There's a talk that they give all the new missionaries called "The Fourth Missionary." I wrote down who gave it but lost the paper; I think it was some mission president somewhere. (The talk was given by Lawrence E. Corbridge - here's the link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34660140/The-Fourth-Missionary ). Hopefully you can find it. I've learned a ton from it, especially this week. It talks all about giving all of our heart, might, mind, and strength to God as we serve missions and what that really means. He says the only intelligent thing to do is to surrender our will, our every thought to God and only wanting to do what God wants us to do. Bringing our will in line with God's is the only way to "disfrutar la mision." Otherwise, we'll always be fighting within ourselves between what we want and what God asks, and even if we work hard in spite of that, we'll feel resentment and discomfort the whole time. He says this is the only way to grow and be changed during a mission. If we let Him, God will empower us, teach us, and shape us into someone so much better than we can become ourselves.

I love all of you guys sooooooo much and I pray for you each and every day. Always remember that we are children of God with more potential than we can imagine. Make every day an adventure!

~Elder Young

Ask, Seek and Knock

Hi family!

First of all, I'm really, really, realllllly sorry the letters aren't finished yet. There really is no time out in the mission field. They have progressed since last week, though. I'm going to stop guessing when they'll be done and just make them be a surprise. Don't be disappointed when they're not that long.

I finally got a hold of Rees over email, turns out he had been sending them to the wrong address. Thanks for all of the mission updates. It seems like everyone I know is headed out on missions!

Marching band sounds like it's gonna be crazy as ever. The show sounds sweet, and I'm so excited for Cassidy to be up front and center!

Man, the time flies. I can't believe school's almost starting back up again, or that Mitch and Eric are already heading out. It's awesome those old marching band palls were there for Mitch's talk! Did you tell them I miss them?

On one hand, it feels like I've been here forever, but on the other hand, it's almost been three months already. We always have to remember that every single day is a gift. We have to make sure to work hard and serve God every day, because time goes by so fast.

This week was kind of hard, but everything took off on Sunday. Our investigator Natzyelly and her less active husband finally made it to church; their goal is to be married in the temple, which is awesome. We got another investigator who has been coming to church with his member fiance, and he's super prepared to follow Christ. Miracles happen every day down here, and I know they happen up there as well. Always be on the lookout for those miracles and blessing you have in your lives. Write them down if you want so you can remember them when things get hard.

The importance of families is something we teach all the time down here. So many people have kids they are worried about or families they want to bring back together. Almost everyone recognizes that they could receive help if they had God in their lives, but the thing we need to get people to do is invite them to act. We have to put forth effort and make changes that might be hard if we want to receive more of God's blessings in our lives. Our missionary purpose isn't to teach people; it's to invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo, or invite others to come unto Christ. That's why we always leave people with a commitment or assignment, whether to read something, come to Church, or whatever they need to do.

One blessing that comes as we act is that we can receive more personal revelation. Preach My Gospel teaches that as we ask, seek, and knock, God will help us better recognize and understand the promptings of the Spirit. Asking means praying. We need to pray every day, even throughout the day, that God will help us to know what to do and say and guide us to people ready to hear. The best place to seek revelation is in the scriptures, by studying every day. Then we have to knock, or go and act on the promptings we do receive or even just think we receive, even if we don't know what's behind the door. I know as we do this, and as you do this, you will receive more and clearer revelation to help in any part of your lives.

I love you all soooo much! Keep on learning, keep on living, keep on laughing, and keep on loving!

-Elder Young

August 12, 2013


Dear Family,

Dang, I forgot you guys were going on an Alaskan cruise! I guess it's a good thing, though, since otherwise I would have been sad all week. It looks like it was super awesome! Was Spencer's "I hate fudge" as funny as "whales are dumb"? Did Spencer or Cassidy eat any of the fish they caught? I'm sure Spencer had fun with all of the cousins. The pictures are all super cute. There are a lot of families down here in the wards with super cute kids as well. Sorry I'm still so bad at taking pictures.
The good news is today we are not playing soccer. We might go bowling, or we might just hang out. Either way, I'm finally going to have time to write a letter home. I have one written already, but I want to have one for each of you four and send them all together. We're supposed to send a letter home every other week according to President Maluenda, so I guess form now on I'll just make really short ones if I have to.
This week has been another crazy one. There was a leadership conference Tuesday through Thursday that even trainers went to. Our district only had five of our twelve for most of every day. Three of us greenies took turns working one of our areas each day. Somehow, we avoided having to speak too much Spanish, and when we did, it was with members who talked really slowly for us.
There have been a couple big rainstorms, but we were inside during both of them. They do start really fast, pour for about an hour, and then stop. The canals probably fill up a lot during the storms. We actually bike along the side of them a lot when we need a shortcut. School does start pretty soon, I think. I did get the package, and we might make some waffles today. We hardly ever actually have to make our own food, though, since people feed us so much. The white shirts fit well, and my bike is covered with reflective tape. I'm definitely getting in better shape; Elder Charles bikes really fast.
During one of the rain storms we were in a zone conference. One of our zone leaders broke an egg on himself; it was hilarious. Both of them, Elder White and Elder Barrio Nuevo, are hilarious. One thing they talked about that I've been studying and thinking about a lot recently is love. Perfect love casteth out all fear. Even after a month out here, talking to random people on the street and even just contributing during lessons is pretty nerve wracking. But if I can figure out how to really love every single person that I see, then telling them about the gospel won't be hard at all. It's the same with talking to your friends about the Church. If you're telling them because you really, truly care about them, and they can see that, then the words will come easily and your invitations will be more likely to be accepted. I've begun digging into reading Jesus the Christ in order to better understand His life and the love he has for everyone. By strengthening your relationship with God, you'll be able to have stronger relationships with everyone.
One last thought is that God does not care where we are in life, or how steadfast or righteous we are. The only thing that matters is that we get a little bit better every day. Never stop learning. Always remember that every single trial, great or small, gives us experience and is for our benefit.
I wish I had some interesting stories, but it's just been another week as a missionary. I don't know if I mentioned we saw a house with a pet hawk. I'll bring my camera if we stop by again.
I love you all so much! Keep being awesome!!!
-Elder Young

Another Busy Week


Monday, August 5, 2013

I remembered pictures today! This one is from the last Sunday at the MTC:


And finally one of Elder Charles and me. I even cut my hair myself:


I've really tried to write some letters, but all of the Elders just want to play soccer all day on P-Days so I never get any time. I haven't gotten your letters or the shirts yet, but hopefully I will today. I'll still have a lot to talk about though, so don't worry.

The gear shifter on my bike snapped off the other day, but some members drove us down to Bike World and they replaced it for free since we bought it from them. So that was awesome. I'm doing well. The members are feeding us well, and I haven't gotten sick or had any injuries.

This week has been insanely busy because we got a couple mini missionaries. I don't know if they do that in Spokane, but the young men and women from 16 to 18 who live down here get to spend a week with the full time missionaries in other wards. We got Lico and Saul, and they were pretty awesome. It was stressful, though, because we divided our area in half and I took either Saul or Lico by myself every day. I had to plan and be in charge and not get lost and everything. It was only my third week and I had to be senior companion! It was really, really hard, but the only way to grow is to be stretched. I absolutely had to rely on the Spirit with everything we did.

The power of the priesthood is huge. God really has given His authority and the the responsibility to act in His name. I have given a couple blessings already (in Spanish), and I don't think I mentioned it, but my first Sunday here I confirmed a husband and wife that had been baptized just before I got here. They're awesome. We're hoping I'll get to do my first baptism sometime this month. I'm so grateful to have so many opportunities to bless others with the power of the priesthood, and I'm especially grateful to Dad for being a worthy priesthood holder all these years, leading our home and helping us grow up strong.

I think maybe a good missionary goal for back home would be just bringing people to Church. I say that because it's what we're struggling with right now with our investigators. We can invite them and remind them and make sure they'll have a ride, but it's so much more effective when friends and families bring people to Church. So I guess we can all work on getting people to Church this week.

A conference talk that has really helped me out this week is Elder Holland's "Lord, I Believe." Nobody in the Church has a perfect knowledge of everything, and everyone is going to go through difficulties, disappointments, and sorrows. But if we rely on and are true to the faith we do have, even if it's no more than a desire to believe, then we know that all things are possible, and if we endure, our knowledge will only increase. It comes step by step, little by little, but as long as we're progressing, that's what's important. We have to have patience with ourselves and with everyone, because we all have shortcomings. The Lord knew we would all have shortcomings, but he also knew we could overcome them, if we rely on Him.

I love all of you and I'm praying for you every day. Keep working hard and don't let you weaknesses or worries hold you back. The Church is true!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Young