Tr, trans-fer? What's a transfer? Is that gonna hurt?
You heard right, folks, Elder Young is finally getting transferred out of Weslaco! I'm leaving the nest, coming of age, jumping the coop, heading off to find myself, passing Go, and collecting 200 dollars. It's been a fantastic almost-7 months, and I'm really going to miss everyone I've met down here, in the church and all over the town. I've made a ton of wonderful friends and I definitely plan to make it back to visit some time (I ain't quittin' you!). But now it's time to move on, see more of the world. I'll be going to La Joya with Elder Pope, and I'm pretty sure I'll be senior companion. But that's what they told me last time, which didn't turn out to be true; while Elder Flores had just arrived here in Texas, he already had more time as a missionary in Peru waiting for his Visa. Funny how that happens on both sides of the fence?
Also, I'll be driving a car now, so my tortilla tummy will be growing exponentially.
There isn't a ton to report this week. We found an awesome family this week (my last week, naturally) who had just moved here from a town over in the other elders' area (ha ha!) They're full of awesome questions, they've been reading a ton of the Book of Mormon already, and they even gave us fish sticks the first time we stopped by.
Our crazy friends are still just as crazy. They're Elder Flores's job now. Godspeed, little Peruano.
Here on the mission, a lot of things go wrong that you don't want to go wrong. Things that you can't control at all. The key is to always remember that this is the Lord's work, and we are the Lord's servants. Nothing can hold us back if He doesn't want it too. When He, in his infinite wisdom, knows we need some miracles, we're going to see some miracles (as long as we have the faith and do all we can.) But when things go wrong, we can't get discouraged. We just have something to learn is all; it's not the end of the world until, you know, the world actually ends.
I love you all! Peace out Boy and Girl Scouts!
(Mmmmm... Thin Mints......)
~Agent Elder Young, over and out
Hola familia!
It's sad to hear about Belle. She was getting pretty old, for a hamster. Just think how many Catty Ratty's will be waiting for us when we all go to heaven?
I don't know about dogs. We get chased by plenty of super annoying dogs (and some kind of scary ones) on the bikes, but then again there are some super cute playful ones that come up when we're walking and follow us around. We'll see what happens I guess?
That's awesome Cassidy is a Spokane Scholar nominee! I remember all the ceremonies and awards and stuff senior year, but I can't remember which was which. I'm sure she's keeping busy and working super hard. I hope she gets it!
I'm getting transferred! La Joya isn't too far away though, it's just the other side of McAllen in the Mission Zone. I think I'm going to be in the same district as Elder Shumway, who was here in the ward when I started, so that'll be cool. He's the one from the Tortilla Tummy picture, and he's the one who taught me to play Magic the Gathering.
Does Rees know you cancelled the Stake dances once a quarter? He would feel so accomplished. It's great to see more people involved with the quarterly activities, that's super cool.
Joy is definitely the key to everything. "Men are that they might have joy." We can find joy in the good times as well as the bad, if we just keep an eternal perspective and remember that we have a loving Heavenly Father who will never let us fall as long as we rely on Him.
One more thing: I don't think I mentioned it when I got here. Here in the Weslaco area is where Elder Strong and Elder Walker were hit by a car two years ago and killed. We have "Walk Strong" in big letters up on our wall, and there's a white bike with flowers chained up where the accident happened. In November, for the anniversary of the accident, all of us missionaries plus the members who they had found and taught went and visited the bike. We sang some hymns and bore our testimonies. It was super powerful knowing that here we have another companionship working along with us on the other side of the veil.
(Here's a link to an article: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700196192/One-of-two-missionaries-killed-in-Texas-died-after-extending-his-mission.html?pg=all)
I love you all so much!!! I keep you in my prayers all the time! Talk to you later!
~Elder Young
