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
