May 12, 2014: "Hello, My Name is Hope"

May 12, 2014

So whasup?

The highlight of this week was of course being able to Skype with my wonderful amazing family for Mother's Day. It was quite a marvelous few minutes. We laughed, we cried. We were all really moved. And I'm happy to report that they're all doing well, even if my hermanitos (that means little siblings) are growing up way too fast.

So last week after emailing, E kidnapped us and took us out to eat (he does that sometimes). We went to an Asian buffet, so naturally I tried a baby octopus. No matter how much I kept chewing, those little suckers kept grabbing my tongue. I think I'll stick with Mexican food, even if we have to eat cow intestine soup every once in a while.

After that we drove over to the Third (trimonthly?) Mission Olympics against the rest of the zone. We did silly things like push a truck around and sing a song about cricket (the weird British sport) in Spanish.

Friday night there was an awesome thunderstorm.

On Saturday there was a mother's day activity at the church. We (the missionaries) sang some of the children's songs about Madres with Elder P on the guitar. Nobody really paid attention. (Just kidding. Some people paid attention.)

AWESOME MIRACLE: We were pulling up to the gas station to take a potty break (yes, even missionaries have to potty). As we got out of the car, there was a guy on his way out who stopped us and said "you guys are Mormons, right?" He told us how he's been thinking for a few years about joining the church, and wanted to meet the missionaries before he just showed up out of the blue on Sunday. So we sent his information off to the Edinburgh missionaries. Isn't is super-special-awesome how God works everything out? Hopefully I meet him again someday.

Weekly message: Hope. One of the many greatest things about following Christ and His teachings is how much hope it can bring to us. No matter how much things can suck sometimes, those who have faith in Christ can always find "hope for a better world" and the strength to keep going with a smile on their face. Everyone should read this great talk by Elder Maxwell: 
He is an Apostle, after all. Also, there's this awesome song that's called something like "Hello, My Name is Hope." You'll know it when you find it.

In other news, Elder P has been going through a bag of spinach every week because he feels fat. Ha ha.

I love you all so dearly.

Elder Dylan Young


"I feel it in my soul!
Not even border patrol can
Keep me from going,
The organ's blowing,
Won't go inactive!
I'm staying active!"

Elder P. is a silly man.


"Cause every little thing is gonna be alright"

May 5, 2014

Here I am!

Another exciting week here in the Rio Grande valley. Whenever we go by Eloy's house, we help him with his various animals. Whether it be herding escaped goats or walking his horses over to fresh grazing ground. That last one was awesome because we got to explore this old dirt backcountry Texas road. It was exactly like a western movie: dirt, cacti, horses, and Mexicans.

We're kinda teaching a crazy lady. We texted her to remind her to say her prayers and she responded "In Jesus name amen." We had a laugh.

We had Gospel Doctrine class in English because we realized everyone who came preferred English.

We helped a family move which is fun. You know how we start talking all funny when we're talking to babies? Like using nonsense words and a high pitched silly voice? I learned it's even sillier in Spanish.

We were talking to this guy outside when we suddenly realized he had porn tattooed on his forearm. Just another day in the valley.

Transfers are in: Elder P and I are both staying! Whee!!! For kicks and giggles, we told the Zone Leaders that the AP's had told us we were both becoming AP's. To which they responded, "God bless America!" And now we've been saying "God bless America" all the time.

The moral of this week: Don't worry. About a thing. 'Cause every little thing, is gonna be all right.

Con muchísimo amor,

Elder Young

Hola familia!

I bet Cassidy and Tanner were the best dressed people at stake conference. 
They look so good! I can't quite make out who else was in the group. Was the dance tons and tons of fun? Where'd they go for dinner? Where was the dance? I need some details!

I wonder if I'll even like Baja Fresh when I get back. Probably, since I can still eat Taco Bell. I've just realized that it's not Mexican food, it's just American food with tortillas. 

I'll have to read the talk from the CES devotional, a bunch of people today said it was super good.

We just got a call from a member. I was trying to tell him we were in the "biblioteca" which means library but he said he couldn't hear me very well. So I tried saying "librería" which means bookstore and then he knew what I meant. Texas is silly.

Moses is awesome and I realized I really like D&C, but we just don't have enough time to study it as much since it's too much for like investigators. But district leaders and stuff use it all the time for trainings so if I ever get promoted I'll look into it. Have you been studying Preach My Gospel like they said to do in conference? I think it was in Elder Ballard's talk. If not, you should, because it's awesome.

I can text later in the afternoon if that would be better for everyone. Don't worry about getting up early or anything. We'll probably shoot for 7:00 our time, so 5:00 for you. If we change plans I can call you or send you a voicemail or something earlier so that you know. I'm so excited! We'll see if my face has gotten even chubbier since Christmas.

I love you all!!! Have a good week!
<3 Elder Dylan Young
Our super awesome watches

A rather silly warning



Fear Not, Little Flock; Do Good

4/28/14

Since we emailed Tuesday afternoon last week, not as much happened between now and then. I'm still wearing my Sonic the Hedgehog watch.

I forgot to mention that last Monday we celebrated Elder S's birthday at the M's House. We ate Mole ("moe-lay, it's chicken marinaded in chocolate. I think I like it...) and played a few rounds of that game where you put cards on your forehead and try to guess who you are. It was a Disney version. It was fun.

We got to have a five-man slumber party on Tuesday night with the missionaries from Rio since there was a big meeting all the way in McAllen the next morning. Good times.

We caught a little camel spider (I think that's what it is) outside our apartment and named him Spider Bro. We tried feeding him a dragonfly, an ant, and a beetle, but he wasn't hungry I guess. Then he starved to death.

Quote of the day:

33 Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward.
34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

Here's the link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/6?lang=eng#

The moral of the story: Just keep swimming.

High school's ending, and I heard that BYU finals just finished. Pretty soon I'll have been out for a year. AAH.

I can't believe you went to Video Games Live without me. Just living my dream, huh? Which Chrono Trigger song was it?


Will I even recognize Spencer when we Skype?

I bet the Peanut Streusel Pie will be the best. Prom's gonna be awesome! Make sure to get a ton of pictures!

This week was kind of tough. We've been sitting down with a lot of people and having good first lessons, with them, and then having them suddenly cancel the return appointments and we can never see them again. Basically there are many who will hear but few who will listen, and even less who will be doers of the word. But we know we can grow from the hard times to become more powerful witnesses of the truth, and even if some people wouldn't accept the gospel no matter what, they at least can prepare us for those who will.

But in the meeting with Stake President C that we had this week, he talked about the Plan of Salvation as well, specifically the Atonement. In order to enjoy the blessings of the Atonement, we need to participate in ordinances like the Sacrament as well as the ordinances of the temple. There was a random lady at Ross who told us about how she had gone up to the temple in San Antonio all day Saturday and is going back this next weekend and about how awesome it was. We're trying to help the members here get that kind of enthusiasm for the gospel, to bring less actives back and get everyone involved in missionary work. 

I loooooooooove you all!
~Elder Young



P.S: I held a kitten! Yay!

Yep, still a missionary

4/22/14

Yep, still a missionary.

The good news is, we were super busy this week! It kinda seems like it's been a super long week, partly because we're emailing today because the libraries were closed yesterday for Easter.

In our spare time before bed each night we worked on our La Joya district flag to bring to Zone Meeting for 2nd bimonthly Mission Olympics (which we won again.) 
We even made up a song for it this morning:

"Blue! The diamond on this flag!
Brown! The words on the flag!
Blue! The hashtag on the flag!
Brown! The lines on the flaaaag!"

Try to guess the tune!

And we wore matching blue and brown ties to show our district spirit.

Other District Flags
On Saturday I went over to the other apartment for exchanges. I had eaten a lot that day, and my tortilla tummy was feeling especially bloated. So we may or may not have drawn a basketball on it, and I may or may not be sending the pictures out...

My companion was deaf in one ear all week, so he had to get an earwax removal kit from Walmart. It foams up in his ear all funny.

We got matching Spider-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog watches at Walmart as well, which are each of our favorite superheroes. (I don't care what they say, Sonic's a superhero to me).


Easter was super-special-awesome, obviously, and not just because I got to eat a bunch of Easter candy. We missionaries went to the Bishop's home and had a real Easter dinner: honey baked ham and funeral potatoes. Mmm-mmm. We had a good time. We also smashed eggs full of confetti on each other, since that's what we do during Easter.


It was great being able to remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us. Well, as missionaries we kind of do it all the time, but it actually helped having a whole day dedicated to really thinking about what it all means. The Atonement of Jesus Christ made it possible that everything wrong, weak, broken, sad, or unfair in the world can be made right again. Because of Him, we have hope of a better future. We can all overcome the world and all the negativity it throws at us knowing that there's so much more waiting for us. We just need to keep our chins up and bear with patience the trials we have, knowing that it's all just going to make us stronger. I know that God really is our loving Heavenly Father, and that Jesus Christ willingly suffered more than we can imagine so we wouldn't have to.

I love you all!
"Now that we're men, we have facial hair…"




Life is good

4/14/14

The guy sitting next to me in the library is blasting music through his headphones really loud... and singing along.

Last P-day we barbecued a rooster. We barbecued a rooster because Elder E had cut its head off with an ax earlier in the week for the Bishop's wife. It was tough and weird but pretty good.

On Tuesday we had interviews with Presidente Maluenda! Those were super cool and inspired. I went last. Afterward one of the zone leaders, Elder M, came with us. We had a blast, played some 4-man pros-baseball. The member who works at Church's Chicken gave us the "LDS Discount" so we had fried chicken and honey-butter biscuits for days.

Wednesday nothing particularly exciting happened, though we did stop for malts at Whataburger.

On Thursday we helped someone dig a stump out of his yard and found a crazy underground spider trying to kill us. We showed it who's boss. Then we barbecued a little bit while listening to general conference since he was out of town that weekend. And then my companion decapitated me before we left.


On Friday I napped during lunch hour. It was nice.

On Saturday we stopped by a Welcome Back thing for a missionary who just returned from serving in California. When he talked about when the Stake President told him to take of his name tag, we the missionaries collectively shivered.

Sunday was great.

Favorite fun-time activity: watch Elder Zivic's talk on lds.org in American Sign Language. You won't be disappointed:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/lets-not-take-the-wrong-way?lang=eng

This morning right as P-day was starting, the one and only Eloy knocked on our door and took us for breakfast tacos. Then we helped him feed his goats. I forgot how funny goats are when they yell. Now I have all those YouTube videos with the Taylor Swift song and the yelling goats going through my head.

So basically you're all my favorites, I don't care if the dictionary says that's not how the word "favorite" works.

Con mucho cariño,

Elder Young

One of the advantages of having two mattresses!
¡Hola familia!

Tortilla Recipe!

Thanks for the Easter Box! I already ate all the candy. The 12 Eggs of Easter are awesome, we open one every night before we go to bed.

I forgot to bring my notes from conference, so I can't remember which talks these were, but I do remember that some of the Apostles gave 2 super specific commitments for everyone, and being a missionary, commitments really stick.

1) That every member should invite someone to talk with the missionaries at least 4 times a year, once a quarter.

2) Everyone should be reading and studying Preach My Gospel, especially the families with missionaries, so that they can be more familiar with how the work of the Lord is being done.

Other than that, I know that just about everyone talked a lot about love. What it means to love, what love can do, and how much more God loves us than we can understand.

Life's going good. Thank you all for working so hard to follow the Lord. You're all such a great example for me! Love you!!!

~Elder Young

GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! WOO-HOO!!!

04/07/2014

MISSION LOG: GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! WOO-HOO!!!

There is nothing else this week nearly as exciting as listening to the prophet and the Apostles share God's word with us. Zone meeting was kinda fun though. We had an Olympics competition (I'm still not sure why) but our district won. Then Elder Pope and I performed the missionary rap song we wrote earlier in the week. It was awesome, I'll try to send our professional recording to y'all.

While organizing all of the old church magazines we have laying around the apartment, we stumbled across a gem in the Extra Laugh: "My kids and their cousins were having a play marriage in the back yard. My son performed the ceremony something like this: 'Do you take this man to be your awful wedded husband, as far as he is translated correctly?'"

Heh heh. Mormon humor.

I don't even know what to say about general conference other than that everything they told us is absolutely true. Trusting on the Lord Jesus Christ and relying on His wisdom, always striving to live worthy of His blessings, is the only way to find true and lasting peace in life as well as find the strength to cheerfully overcome any kind of trial or hard time life throws at us. And the true and complete gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to us by Joseph Smith. Read the Book of Mormon; it honestly is the most powerful, life changing book in the world. If anyone reading this hasn't watched conference yet, do it! We just sit all day on our computers anyway, right? Here it is for your convenience: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/04?lang=eng&vid=3431596667001 
I promise you'll like it.

Basically I love you all.

Questions and comments from watching the Book of Mormon seminary videos:
"Is that Bobba Fett?"
"Were teenagers older in the 90's?"
"Is she eating a beet?"
"Why is she wearing mom-jeans?" "Well she IS a mom by now." "...aaah!"

Until next week,

~Elder Dylan Young

Hola familia!
Or should I say, Aloha ohana!

I can't believe you're all in Hawaii without me. It's okay though. It'd be super hard being a missionary in Hawaii since the ocean is always there. Even the little lake here in La Joya is super tempting. 

Speaking of getting married, I found out that one of my BYU friends is engaged. I guess it was going to happen eventually. As soon as I found out, I just assumed that everyone I know back home must be engaged or married. Have there been any other wedding announcements on Facebook that I missed?

I can't believe Spencer likes tacos!!! He better like them because if he gets sent down here that's all he'll eat. There's one taco stand that a member takes us to ALL THE TIME. It's called "El Jefe" and it's suuuuper good. Did he like the Roast Beef too?

I'm excited for Macadamia nuts!!! I saw some plain ones at Walmart in the baking aisle and my mouth starting watering.

I love you so much!!! Have fun in Hawaii for me!!!

"Nothing so exquisite and sweet"

3/31/2014

I'm here to preach the gospel and chew gum.
And I'm all out of gum.

Plus, you know, we're not supposed to chew gum in public.

So this was a CRAAAAZY week. Our nephew, Elder J, showed up on Tuesday! WHOOHOO. We sang and played him the "Hello, *hello,* Hello, *hello*" song, but in Spanish. (Hola, *hola*, Hola, *hola*). He's cool and from Utah. 
Elder J (So green!)
But then something terrible happened. First of all, they got rid of two elders in our district and split the area between the other two companionships besides us. They then suddenly called and moved Elders S and J to the other apartment. We now have the whole apartment all to ourselves. We each have our own bathroom. Separate study and bedrooms. I have two mattresses, and my companion has three. He's drawn faces on three different light bulbs and named them all "light bulb friend." We've started a nightly program called "The Hand Show." We're... we're kinda lonely, and maybe losing our minds a little bit. But it's okay because in general our focus is better and we're making better use of our companion and Spanish study times and everything.

IN OTHER NEWS, we found some super cool investigators this week, and they're sisters! After the first lesson as we were walking to the car my companion said one looks just like his Ex-Girlfriend. I had myself a hearty laugh at that.

Before Zone Meeting this week, the zone leaders asked for questions they could ask us to help everyone get to know us. We sent... a lot. Like 23. Such as:
How much wood would you chuck if you could chuck wood?
Who would win in a fight, Hopper from A Bug's Life or Captain Hook (assuming they're the same size)?
What do you think about global warming?
Boxers or briefs?
Who's your favorite Ninja Turtle?
If you were a large body of water, which would you be?
Why are there so many songs about rainbows?
How many of you does it take to screw in a light bulb?
How many teeth do you have? Why?
If ice cream were a vegetable, would you eat it with ranch dressing?
Just to name a few. They asked me what one quality my future wife would have, and when I realized I couldn't decide, I said aloud "Maaan." Yeah. Everyone else had themselves a hearty laugh at that.

Spiritual thought: Alma 36:21 says, 
"Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."
Then verse 24 says, 
"Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God."
We've all gone through dark times, where we know we wouldn't have made it through without the power of deliverance that the Lord so freely offers us. It'd be just plain selfish not to give everything to help others find the joy we've tasted and get to taste every day.

Sooooo ummmmm I love you all. Peace.

Elder Dylan Young

Cheeto Spoon Man

A Cute Puppy

Our friend Sully singing us a little ditty, "I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have you. . ."


Super Missionary Squad

March 24, 2014

Who's up for another round of... MISSION LOG??????
Here we go.

Last p-day was a blast. We went to a park and barbecued. We played capture the flag in a ravine. I scampered around on the park toys for a while.






And to celebrate having hit our zone goal, as well as the end of our zone leader's mission, a member made us a pinata of him. After the stick broke we just starting punching it, which eventually turned into a gang beating. It was quite a gruesome sight. But candy!



On Tuesday after district meeting we went to district lunch at some barbecue place. It was good in my tummy.

Wednesday we spent the whole day with a super cool member, going around finding people to share the gospel with and stuff. We ate so many times that day. I... I almost didn't make it.

Thursday we did an exchange. Elder W. and I tearing things up! After a while the member who always takes such good care of us picked us up to feed us again. We got in his truck and he told us he was on his way to help some other elders in the district with a lesson, but it's okay cuz we'll just invite them to eat with us. They were confused when we all showed up, but we just went and contacted referrals in their area during the lesson. It was like... an exchange within an exchange blitzing extravaganza. It went well. We found some new investigators for them and everything!

"He's just a friend like those I've got in dozens
A kind unselfish boy who understands my pain..."
That's right, Elder M.'s mom sent him the Saturday's Warrior soundtrack. It's really quite silly.
"Who will survive? Who will survive? Not one of us will be alive!!!!"

We thought about going to the carnival a lot. They're popping up all over the place; both missionary apartments in our district have one right next door. They look awesome but maybe a little riotous.

"Polar Dog" came home. Apparently he ran away before I got here. He lives outside the apartment and barks all night. He's huge, and loves to jump around in mud puddles with a giant goofy grin on his face. He and Derp Dog are best friends, I suppose.

The most exciting news this week: transfers. I'm staying! No surprise, I just got here. But Elder M. is out of here and Elder S is gonna be a dad! Yay! So my companion and I get to be the crazy uncles. It's like a dream come true.

We got more ties today. 77 whole pounds this time, and a member even got them for us. Yes, it was the same one. He's... well off.

Missionary scripture of the day: Alma 31:26-38. 
Kinda helps me get pumped up in the morning, thinking about the super missionary squad and stuff, ya know?

I love you all like a Mexican loves flour tortillas. Peace out!

~Elder Young

Hola familia!!!
Tanner's going to Bulgaria?!? That's crazy. Tell him congrats for me!!! That will be a ton of fun. 
Man... going to Hawaii. How come it seems like Dad always gets sick right before spring break? It sounds like he really got super sick. Get well soon, Dad! I miss you too!
I have a bunch of little things I'm going to send home for birthday presents. All I need to do is write the birthday cards and get everything packed up. And you know how I am about writing cards... I'm going to send everything all at once so I can just do it and go.
I remember band trips. Elder M. and I talked about our marching band uniforms today. His looked like the ones from Santa Clara Vanguards. I wish I could hear the band again, and especially your solos! How's Spencer's cornet coming along? Is Justin Toney teaching him a ton?
Sister Shepherd said she saw you guys out walking the other day. Do you take walks a lot now that the weather is getting better? Or is it still like a Sunday thing?
We'll definitely dress up derp dog, and maybe even polar dog, and send some pictures back.
I love you all so much!!! I miss you but the time is flying!!! Thanks for everything!!!

Happy PI Day & St. Patrick's Day

3/17/2014

Greetings, fellow humans.

Also, happy St. Patrick's day, laddies!
 For Saint Patrick's day, we sang "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" with Irish accents


These week's been really just another great week in the Rio Grande Valley. You know, taught a few super cool people, talked with a bunch of crazy, drunk, and/or high people. The norm.

We had stake conference this weekend! That was cool since I got to see a bunch of missionary pals from another zone that I haven't seen in a while. And Elder Roberts from the Quorum of the Seventy came down to speak, which was cool. I had also not seen so many white people in one place since zone conference. We went to the Saturday and Sunday meetings, and in both of them the stake youth choir sang the youth theme "Come Unto Christ" with a live string quartet. It was awesome. They even sang part in Spanish. During the whole meeting, almost half the congregation was wearing headphones which were broadcasting the live Spanish translation of the speakers. Bishop Weger's wife and their son Danny from our ward took turns translating. The first thing Danny said when they went live was "Welcome to Dairy Queen, may I take your order?" It was funny but I don't know how many people appreciated it since everyone listening spoke Spanish. At the end the missionaries sang "Onward Christian Soldiers," also partly in Spanish

The number one message I picked up from stake conference was "Use the missionaries!" Missionary work is really the responsibility of the members, from the stake president on down. The mission president and missionary side of things are in charge of teaching and interviewing, but really the finding, converting, and bringing into the fold is the member's job. So use us! Give us assignments! Let us eat at your house while your neighbors are over! Let's hasten this work!

Also someone used the phrase "love each other to our heart's content." I put it in my notes. It makes less sense the more you think about it.

I love you all so very very much. Ta-ta!

~Mister Doctor Professor Elder Young
Our zone after a zone meeting, doing after-zone-meeting things.

Flower tie Sunday

A weird barn full of old arcade games

Hola familia!!!

How's everything going? Sorry about last week, I'm not sure what happened, they just suddenly kicked us off the computers and none of us were brave enough to go ask for more time. 

PI Day was pretty fun. I had totally forgotten about it, but those pies were super good. And that Dinosaur Comic was great. It made me think though, just how many new ones there are since he updates five days a week. *Whew* But it's okay, there are plenty of scriptures to study and stuff.

I realized that I want my retainers, because Elder Shumway has been talking a lot about how much he takes care of his teeth. Can you send them the next holiday? What would it be, May Day or something?

I hope dad feels better soon! I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose the other day but it already feels better. I just took a few Dayquils and I was fine.

Man, I miss Bryan Regan. We quote him a lot in the apartment, when stuff reminds us of his jokes. Like whenever we can't spell something, we go "Cat, K-A-T, I'm outta here." It's funny.

How's Sister Shepherd doing? Have you had her over to eat yet? Don't forgot to sing her "It's All Coming Back to Me" by Celine Dion. Dad can do it if you or Cassidy don't want to.

I love you all so much!!! Stay awesome!!!!!!!


~Elder Dylan Young

Good Morning World!

3/10/14
Goooooooooood morning world!!!

Isn't it a good morning? It may not actually be morning time, but it's always a good morning here in the Rio Grande Valley.

There's not a ton of stuff to report this week. We had a zone conference all day long about how we are supposed to teach the new simplified way. We role played so much using the pamphlets and Books of Mormon. We didn't even get to the next three lessons, but we have to master crawling before we can try doing somersaults.

The ward here in La Joya is great. Even though daylight savings time took a toll on our attendance yesterday, the ward is really putting itself into a missionary-minded mood. All the leaders are coming together to strengthen the members already in the church who need to be brought back into God's fold, as well as reaching out to their friends and neighbors and relatives.

All's well. Our recent convert still thinks we're the "Normans" and the other knows me as "Mr. Lee" but they're just awesome. We knocked on the door of some lady who was just so happy to be alive. I... I don't think she was drunk or high, except for high on Jesus. She couldn't stop laughing. Then we went to her neighbor, some old single guy who let us right in and was super cool and talkative, but kicked us out as soon as he got the Restoration pamphlet. Not because he got mad at us or anything, it's just because all he wanted was the pamphlet.

Today... today we went to a Bodega. And we bought ties. My very first tie dig! Yay!!! 55 lbs of used ties for a dollar a pound. We bring them home in a big cloth bag that smells like pee, and then we sort them all out to find the good ones. Each of us walks away with ties worth much more than the 15-ish dollars we spent. Plus they're super pretty, and furthermore, I got one that lights up and sings Jingle Bells.

The derpy dog that lives outside our apartment, to whom I loving refer to as Derp Dog, loves that we have piles of ugly ties laying around. Her name is derp dog because she has a leg that broke and didn't heal right, and it swings around all funny when she runs to greet us.

On a spiritual note: God loves us so much. That's why he gave us the gospel, that's why we're all here in the first place, and that's even why we go through trials and hard times in life: All because he knows exactly what it'll take to make us as happy as we can be. So why be sad when we can be happy?

I love you all my dear ones. Hasta luego!


~Elder Dylan Young

This Truck Said "Reading" on it

Our New Neighbors Moving In

Derp Dog Sleeping on Some Ties

55 Pounds of Ties

Derp Dog's New Bed

But then everything changed. . .

Mission Log: Elder Young
3/3/14

"But then everything changed when the fire nation attacked."

That basically sums up this week. There was a surprise mission-wide meeting on Saturday with some leaders from the general missionary department of the church. A bunch of leaders and other random missionaries were invited. Naturally, I wasn't. So I just did what I always do when I don't get invited to parties, stay home and play Pokemon. I mean go out and teach the gospel. Definitely not Pokemon.

Basically, from what we've heard so far, we've all been teaching wrong. Super wrong. I can't even really describe the changes we're making in the mission because I'm still trying to understand them. Basically, we're getting down to the basics. We're teaching short, simple lessons. We're focusing a lot more on the Restoration and Book of Mormon. Using pamphlets more. And getting people on mormon.org Here are some highlights from what the conference, conveyed third-hand to y'all:

"Prayer is not a sandwich!"

"You see this?" *Holds up an iPad Mini* "Well you're not getting them."

"You completely misinterpreted 'Teach people, not lessons.'"

"You know who has the keys for confirmations?" *President Maluenda stands up and does jazz hands*

"Forget everything you know. All your gimmicks and teaching skills are like barnacles, slowing down the ship. You know how we get rid of barnacles? We sail into fresh water."

Whew. It was intense. I wish I could have gone so I could see people who know what they're doing show us how we're supposed to teach now. But even though we're all greenies once again, I know these changes have all come straight from a prophet of God. It's time to lengthen our strides and hasten the work. It's gonna take a ton of hard work and practice, but the gospel will be spread faster than it ever has before, I just know it. It's a great time to be a part of God's army, ladies and gentlemen!

And heads up, fellow missionaries, these changes are slowly gonna be coming world wide. Just so ya know.

Anyway, other than the fact that everything I know is wrong, missionary life carries on like usual. Elder Pope saved a baby's life from an electrical socket at church. Our recent convert made it through a whole fast with us, even with him being a bigger guy. I learned that the ribbon of a Hershey's kiss is called a niggly wiggly. And our comp study opening hymn band just keeps getting better. Love you all! 

"Los Misioneros: Poniendo el "Angel" en "Evangelio" desde 1830."

Elder Pope Without Limbs

The only hand-drawn ferry in the US, right here on the border!

Look! It's Mexico! Hi, Mexico!
Hola Familia!


Man, Big White looked fun. Even though it's nice getting out of the cold for a while, I'll be excited to go back to ski and stuff again some time. 

Congratulations, Cassadah!!! I'm super excited that you're going to BYU-Provo. That projector will be a lot of fun, plus New Heritage has a lot more room for activities and things. When do you sign up for classes?

That's cool how the new convert used Mormon.org so much. As part of that life-changing meeting they told us that at the end of every first lesson with someone, we have to go to mormon.org with them and show them the chat room thing. The plan for the future is that most missions will have iPads, and every missionary will spend a few hours a few days a week doing to chatroom teaching with people all around the world. We're stepping into the future!

I'm sure her friend could feel the spirit as Cassidy talked and testified, even if he was just going into it as a school assignment. Be sure she invites him to church! Or send Sister Shepherd to him. It's so crazy she's in the ward. I guess I can't do anything  to stop you from showing the baby pictures, even though it'll be kinda awkward.

Welcome to the family Oliver! Another baby cousin! Yay! Is Spencer super excited? He's super cute.
My newest cousin!

Don't worry about the Bible videos too soon. I'm still pretty overwhelmed with the new teaching system, I don't know how I would use them. But I know if I just lose my life in trying to understand how to help people, the Lord will bless us with understanding of "the mysteries of God." I lost my Nikon camera charger, though. I bet Walmart has some, I'll check today.

I love you all so much! Thanks for being the best!

~Elder Dylan Young

Life is Grand

2/24/14

Life is grand.

I can finally put up pictures and stuff. First you see some pictures from my last few days in Weslaco, but I guess the good thing about serving stateside is how easy it is to go back and visit later, so that's cool.

My not-goodbye cake from some recent converts back in Weslaco. They got baptized the week before I got there, and after 7 months the people kinda grow on you. I didn't cry though. At least, not in front of them. Tuesday morning eating the cake and waiting for our ride to get here,
I was kind of a pathetic sight. 

Bishop Guzman's Family

The Valdez Family

We're having a blast here in La Joya. My companion Elder Pope is the one in shorts. He's sitting on the bed with Elder Merril and Elder Shumway's in the other picture. We'll see if I ever get a nice picture of us together.



We went to the Pulga this week. It's just a massive Mexican flea market, full of bootlegged DVDs and used clothes. I even saw an original NES. I bought a few trinkets from some old American guy who told us "The Mormons have been trying to get me for years." Then Elder Pope bought a 15 dollar accordion to add to our missionary band. It's awesome.

I can never stress enough how bizarre south Texas can be. One of the members has a peahen. Like a girl peacock. She was just chillin' on the gazebo.

We have some awesome members here in La Joya. Like Adrian; he's a recent convert from a few months back. He has many struggles but his testimony is so incredibly strong about the Book of Mormon and about God's power and how everything will be alright if we trust in him. Even if he thinks my name is "Mr. Lee."

I can't believe you haven't been skiing yet. You don't even have Sports Outlet any more. But I guess it's good that everyone's staying busy. And Big White will be awesome, of course. Married with kids??? That's still ages away. :P

Biggest news: baptism!!! This is Sergio. He's great! Getting him baptized was a bit of a challenge, since his Catholic mom was kinda against it. But we shared the story of Shadrac, Meshac and Abed-nego to help him see the importance of doing the right no matter who says otherwise. This was Elder Pope's first time baptizing, and the font wasn't full enough so he had to do it going forward. It was silly.


Everything's good with the car. We barely scratched it, but we still have to take it in tomorrow and have a couple days on the bikes. That'll be fun.

A crazy thing: we have a member that loves to make sure we're fed. We're not supposed to take money, but he won't take no for an answer. 

I remember reading somewhere about how the Lord won't give the missionaries His prepared sons and daughters if He knows the ward isn't ready to bring them in to the fold. So that's something that's definitely true.

Another cool thing that our ward mission leader talked about in Gospel Principles is how some day we're going to be standing before God to be judged. We'll be looking into a mirror with a reflection of our whole lives and who we've become. The question will be: will our reflection match that of the Savior? It's cool to think about, and really gives "What Would Jesus Do?" a whole deeper meaning.

I actually didn't have as many letters today. I'll definitely try to write something to send over, if Elder Shumway doesn't just make me play Magic: The Gathering with him the whole P-day.

I can't believe Sister Shepherd's heading over to Colbert! Take good care of her. I know what you need to tell her. Look up Celine Dion's "All Coming Back to Me" and just start singing her the chorus one day. It'll be hilarious. Get a ton of work done with her! Just have Cassidy look up a bunch of addresses in those old Northwood directories and start sending the missionaries over to everyone she knows (even if most of Colbert ward didn't go to Northwood.) 

I love you all so much!!! Have a great week!!!


~Elder Dylan Young