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.
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| 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
