March 16, 2015: Tick Tock

March 16, 2015: Tick Tock

That subject line is not a reference to how little tiempo me queda on the mission. It's because Elder Torres has been sick a lot this week, and I've spent quite a bit of time in the apartment trying to keep busy and not go insane as time ticks by. It's good though, because is means I'm no longer able to sit and do nothing for hours on end without getting fidgety (take that, Internet!). It's bad though since Elder Torres is still sick. :(  Keep him in your prayers.

The time we did have out on the streets, though, were great. We found a lady, half Puertoriqueno but born and raised in El Salvador, who was baptized as a kid with her brothers and sisters, but is currently and active Jew with her parents. Now all you people outside the Rio Grande Valley might be chuckling at me right now, but this was one of the most exciting things of my mission! Everyone down here is some kind of Christian. This is gonna be a great change of pace. They're a great family, too, with three adorable tex-mex kids. She fed us the first day we met, how cool is that? (Well, it happens more than you'd think, but still.)


We celebrated Ultimate Pie Day by eating cake at a member's birthday party. Blasphemous, I know. (Mom sent an Ultimate Pi Day package full of Krispy Kreme pies but it's stuck at the mission home.)  

Well, I'll have another chance 100 years from now, right?

Also, I forgot to mention Tiwi.

Tiwi is our new best friend who lives on our windshield. I have to log in every morning, and Tiwi uses a state of the art system of GPS, accelerometer, and gyroscope technology to keep track of when I'm speeding and driving too aggressively (sharp turns, hard bumps, screeching stops). He sends a report of my driving to the mission office at the end of every transfer so they can enforce disciplinary action if necessary. The Missionary department is rolling out Tiwis all over the US and Canada, so be ready, you.

I love you like Uncle Iro loves his tea.
~Elder Dylan Young

March 9, 2015: Wet and Wild

March 9, 2015: Wet and Wild

But maybe not so much on the "wild" part.

McAllen broke a record daily rainfall yesterday, so that was moist.

This week was a blast. We had zone conference! So I guess that was kinda wild, in a spiritual sense. We talked a ton about faith and using faith to make things happen. Fear is the opposite of faith, as we all know. I realized I've written down a lot of the same notes about what I could do better during every single zone conference. So I guess that means it's time to do something about it, right? Boo-ya.

There were two baptisms during the week as well, which obviously were wet, and they both went great. The power of God really is made manifest and felt the strongest as we participate in ordinances. So good.

We met this cool family with at least 13 kids in the house. The oldest is like 15, and the rest are no older than 11. It was hard to count for sure, they were running around haciendo travesuras pretty wildly. Except for when they all stopped what they were doing and recited Juan 3:16 in unision. It was adorable and somehow intimidating all at once.

Elder Torres has been up and down with some health issues all week, and Elder Cannell had explosive diarrhea yesterday. I puked my guts out last week, which means Elder Browning is next. Mwa ha ha haaa.

It's cheesy, but so true. God's love is bigger than anything we can imagine. It's "unfailing," or like constant and never missing. All we gotta do is go look for it.
Peace out, boy and girl scouts!
~Elder Young

March 2, 2015: Sunrise, Sunset

March 2, 2015: Sunrise, Sunset

The transfer calls didn't come in until like 10:45 Monday night, but they came. And I'm training! Kind of. My new comp, Elder Torres, is from Massachusetts. He served for about a month in Argentina before getting reassigned here. So still plenty green. He's also one of those Latinos that never really learned Spanish growing up, so even though he picked up a lot already, we get lots of funny looks when I speak Spanish.

Like these ones


Here he is asleep on the floor after praying the other night.
We're hilarious.


He's a boss, though. He was baptized just a year and a half ago, but look at him now, out preaching the gospel with the big boys.

​There's not a ton to report this week, other than the fact that I got some kind of stomach virus or something yesterday, which put a damper on the day. But today I already ate a full bowl of corn flakes, so everything's gotta be in order.

Spiritual Thought: Just keep the darn commandments, yeah?

More pictures coming anon. I love you all like curly fries. If I had a choice between curly fries and you, I would pick you.

~Elder Young

Me and my posterity at transfers

Eric getting baptized last week. He even got up and bore his testimony yesterday, that little spiritual goober.

February 23, 2015: What Just Happened?

February 23, 2015: What Just Happened?

I can't ever remember what happened over just one week, and now I have to tell you all about 2 whole weeks of action-packed missionary life? That's just asking too much.

2 Mondays ago, Elder Harmon, Elder Browning, Elder Cannell and I went golfing with a member at the Harlingen Country Club. Definitely classy. I even hit the ball well one time, so that was exciting.



Valentine's Day, us four got together again and decorated cupcakes and rice-krispie treats with some other members. We had a blast, some of the treats came out almost professional like.




The Monday following, I drove to McAllen back to Harlingen and then back to McAllen again. SO MUCH DRIVING. But it's okay 'cause the last trip was us going to THREE DAY TRAINING, where the mission president Presidente Maluenda basically blows our minds for three days so that after we recover we're all better missionaries. I got to see lots of old friends and reminisce on the good old days. When Hermana Sauceda from one of my old areas found out that a bunch of her old missionaries were in McAllen, she baked us an enormous chocolate cake to share.




There were a lot of great musical numbers. I am in love the the song "Consider the Lillie" and commit everybody to listen to it. And Elder Pope and I got to perform our rap song "Preach the Gospel" during the lunch break. I admit, I was a little rusty on the guitar. Those five notes are trickier than they look.

This Sunday was the busiest, craziest day of my life, it was all worth it since there were 4 people who got baptized! We've been teaching Eric, and Kevin, Carol, and Ray from La Feria all got to be baptized as well. Remind me later to talk about how it went.

Then after the baptism was the Harlingen Zone tex-mex musical fireside. Everybody was a fan of the ocarina.

We don't know anything about transfers yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm staying. This is the latest it has ever taken for them to come; who knows what they're plotting.

I love you all and sincerely apologize for the long email. Have a good'n!

~Elder Dylan Young

February 9, 2015

February 9, 2015

I love seeing the little things that the gospel does for us. We all talk about the big things and great changes it makes in our lives, but we don't see them as often because they take time. We notice them more looking back. But little bitty fruits of the Atonement spring up in our lives all the time, and they're easy to miss if we're not looking for them. I admit I haven't been keeping good track of them recently, and I journal writing has gone down the tank. But starting now I'm going to do better. I mean, sure, we're going to remember every little detail after we die, but I for one would rather not wait that long.

We're helping a great guy, Jesus, through some troubles right now, but he's super stoked to make it back to church.

Our buddy Eric may be the craziest 16-year-old on the planet, but we love him to death.

This weeks district meeting was based entirely around that primary song about how faith is like a little seed, which, if planted, will grow. Lots of pictures and cuteness.

We were fed more this week than probably the last 3 weeks combined.

We removed an old faucet and installed a new fancy one for some members.

I went on an exchange with Elder Harmon, during which an old blind lady told us about when her dog got baptized. Later, Elder Harmon saw a crazy, middle-aged, overweight guy standing naked inside his house. Thankfully his brain has already blocked out the memory pretty well.

We had a fun zone meeting, and I totally destroyed the move-a-cookie-from-your-forehead-to-your-mouth-without-using-your-hands game.

We're going golfing today, for my first time ever, so wish me luck or a broken leg or something along those lines.

LOL! (That stands for "Love ya lots!")

~Elder Dylan Young

February 2, 2015: Om nom nom

February 2, 2015: Om nom nom

I've eaten more than two quarter-pounders with cheese this last week. I regret nothing.
But one of the two original Iwo Jima memorial statues is here in Harlingen, for some reason. 



Elder Harmon studies by candlelight because our apartment has minimal light fixtures.
 We knocked on a door late the other night literally just in time to end an argument and stop someone from getting kicked out of the house, so that was exciting, too.

I went on an exchange with good ol' Elder Renshaw as well. Unfortunately, his guitar is currently broken, so I missed out on the best part of the exchange. However, we DID get to se a photo of a tortilla with Madre Maria burned into it, so that was exciting.

This week was super full and busy, but looking back I have no idea what happened. On Thursday we had a surprise zone-wide exchange. I went to the Aeropuerto area with Elder Malovich. We had a blast, even if my bottom is still sore from riding on Elder Serra's bike all day. 

Sorry if the email's a little scattered, because so am I, if that makes sense.

Today's spiritual thought is brought to you by Moroni:

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
It's fairly straight forward, isn't it?

If that's not enough spiritual thinking for ya, just watch this video again:
http://youtu.be/PrLoWt2tfqg  You shan't regret it.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH
~Elder Dylan Young​

January 26, 2015: You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry

January 26, 2015: You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry

You better not pout, I'm telling you why;
Elder Oaks is coming to tooooowwwwn.

He actually already came.

That's right folks, on Saturday every missionary in South Texas met together with an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was incredible and inspiring. I learned so much. I even learned that Elder Oaks is a goofball. He may seem serious and stern during general conference, but he told us that's because when you're talking to about 3 million people, and you have the first presidency sitting right behind you, you're not gonna crack a giggle.

Also, due to a series of unpredictable events, I ended up at the Maluenda's house for a while Friday afternoon, helping Sister Maluenda set the table and make tamales for Elder Oaks's first dinner in McAllen. That was intimidating. I've never put so much care into folding a napkin before.

Elder Oaks's main focus for his mind blowing meeting was revelation and inspiration. What I learned more than anything was that God is almost constantly giving us guidance and direction; that's what the gift of the Holy Ghost is for. What keeps us from realizing this and recognizing the promptings is just our lack of faith. We need to truly believe that God is trying to communicate, because 1) we can't hear the Spirit if our heads are full of doubts and worries, and 2) true faith will motivate us to act, be obedient, and truly seek out the inspiration we're looking for.

On Sunday I convinced Eric, our investigator, to come to church by making him PB&J's. That was a first.

Sorry no pictures this week. Here's an emoticon instead: ___/\__*\o/*__
That's right folks. A shark attacking a cheerleader.

For those in the Northeast, try not to get stuck in a block of ice, since if you leave the world in our hands you may not like the future you end up waking up to when you're discovered and thawed out 100 years from now.

That's all, folks! Love ya!

~Elder Dylan Young

January 20, 2015: Digging My Own Grave

January 20, 2015: Digging My Own Grave

First of all, sorry no email yesterday, it was MLK day. We celebrated by eating oreos and drinking both chocolate and regular milk.
Also, I got transferred! Ah! To Harlingen! AH!!! I still can't get out of the valley to save my life. And with 3 transfers left, chances are I'll stay here until I go home... hence the subject line.
I saw my old comp Elder Pope at transfers. It was good.
Harlingen's a nice place. It's a bit more American than the rest of the valley, and WAY more so than Las Milpas. Everywhere I look I see Texans, and I can't remember how to relate with English speakers. I've caught myself saying "nombre" and "ay" to white people all the time.
My new comp is Elder Harmon, he's chill. I live with Elder Browning and Cannell in this weird loft thing. I drive a Dodge Caravan now, and we have to go shepherd around another 4-man district (the wolf pack) because none of them have cars.
I am "Momma Wolf"
This Sunday was stake conference, and there were some members of the quorums of the 70 down to call a new stake president. They spoke really powerfully about hastening the work of salvation. I've never been so pumped about family history! 4 more months, though.
I'll report more as time goes on, I guess. Until then, peace out girl scouts. And save me some thin mints.

<3 br="">
Elder Dylan Young

January 12, 2015: Anticipation

January 12, 2015: Anticipation


It's tangible. We always know who's leaving and who's staying for transfers by Sunday morning, but it is now 11:00 a.m. on Monday and we haven't heard diddley squat, nor any other kind of squat for that matter. I'm sitting on nails, figuratively of course.
It's been a fun last week of the transfer, with lots of meetings and exchanges and bonding time. We had entrevistas con Presidente también, and those were fantastic. We're really just shooting for maximum excitement and ánimo for these last 3 transfers. As Elder Lindsay oft would say, "Let's GO."
Other highlights; Elder Hancock and I were basically the guests of honor at Cassandra's 12th birthday party. They put together and entire carnival out of random stuff in their back yard.
Being a missionary is the best!
Also, I've become a professional at climbing into a filthy brown, plugged up baptismal font using garbage bags to shield my legs from the bacteria-infested sewer backwash. Once again the plunger did nothing and we had to move the other Elders' baptism to another chapel. But lots of people came and it was fantastic.
Confirmed: Elder Oaks is coming the end of January, along with Elder Lynn G Robbins and maybe someone else. We'll be having a mission-wide meeting, the first since I've been here. Yipee!!!
Scripture: Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, andsaid: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictionsand will give unto you success.
The Lord will comfort us, always, if we just keep our chin up and press onward. There is literally nothing that can keep us down. How cool is that???


This is what a Bodega looks like. This is where we get all of our ties.
Love ya!

-Elder Dylan Young

P.S.
#combovertakeover

What'd y'all think???

January 5, 2015: FROZEN

January 5, 2015: FROZEN

FROZEN???
FROZEN!!!   AAAHHHH!!!

So yeah we got to watch Frozen on New Years Eve. My inner man-child was squealing with glee the entire time. And I've been dying to make a snowman ever since, which, unfortunately, is impossible, even with that pack of fake snow I got for Christmas (I just can't make it stick together no matter what I try).
It's been one of those weeks where we've been soaking wet and freezing cold the whole time, but hey! It could be a lot colder! (cough Canada cough).
Thanksfully, we got to sit down with a lot of people this week and warm up por un rato, and we've been meeting lots of cool people. That "He is the Gift" program the Church worked and a great little family wanted missionaries to come over, which surprised me since I didn't realize anyone here knows what the Internet is. (Kidding! We're super advanced down here. And totally ready to get iPads, (cough cough)
One night, one of my zone leaders and I somehow ended up on an exchange in neither of our areas. But we found the members' house okay and then getting back home was easy.
Also we contacted a house full of like 25 bros from Mexico who drive around in their giant bus and perform as 'La Banda Terrones." Look them up and see if they're any good.

My spiritual though this week is this video:
http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/articles/mormon-tabernacle-choir-record-breaking-nativity?lang=eng
I know Christmas is over, and you're probably all seen it already anyway, but like... we're a little behind the times down here, ya know? (cough) (iPads cough)
Love y'all, peeps. Keep it real, and feliz ano nuevo! Sean cuales sean your new years resolutions, just don't give up on them after 2 weeks, alright?
<3 br="">
Elder Young

December 28, 2014: Still Dreaming of a White Christmas

December 28, 2014: Still Dreaming of a White Christmas

Not that I had a lot of faith that we could have a white Christmas. It did snow Christmas day ten years ago, but before that it had been 100 years since it snowed in the Rio Grande Valley. If it did snow, everything would shut down. All it takes is a little rain and temperatures below 60 degrees for the entire population to go into lock down.

I almost shed tears of joy when I opened this present.
It's back and better than ever! Probably the third best Christmas present imaginable. Number 1: The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who conquered death and made it possible for all that's wrong in the world to be made right. And number 2: Skyping home with the fam. Good times.
We waved to some dudes while biking home one night, and one of them made a chicken noise at us. Like, "Bu-gawk!!!" really loud. I was speechless.
"Hey bro, bet you won't make a chicken noise at em." ... "Dude, did you see their faces?!?"

Which reminds me of a joke. ¿Qué dijo un pollo mexicano al otro? ... ¡Vente pa' acá!

I got my first flat tire since I started a year and a half ago yesterday. Look how excited I was.
We still haven't cleaned up all the discarded wrapping paper, we won't stop listening to Christmas music until January, We have enough leftover tamales in the fridge and candy in our cupboards to last until February, and the Christmas trees are probably staying up forever. But the thing is, we don't need all these things to keep the Christmas Spirit with us all year long (although candy does help). All we need is to pray for and strive to develop love and charity for all the people that surround us, and we'll be merry e'rry day.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year, vatos!!!
<3 br="">
Elder Dylan Young

December 22,2014: Waaaar Issss Ooooo-verrrr. . .

December 22,2014: Waaaar Issss Ooooo-verrrr. . . 

A very Merry Christmas. . .  and a Happy New Year!!!

Let's hope it's a good one. Without any fears.
So last night we sang a bunch of Christmas hymns with the stake youth choir down at the Hidalgo festival of lights. It's a fabulous veritable winter wonderland down there, in spite of the lack of snow.

In other news, everyone in the apartment is sick except for me. But they'll never catch me, no sir. I'm invincible. I wrote that in my notes when Elder Foster did a conference with us, so it must be true.

Speaking of general authorities, we have a confirmed Apostle visit at the end of January. And we're all pretty sure it's Elder Holland. So if anyone out there happens to see Elder Holland around the town, could you do us the favor of asking him? Thanks.

Highlight: Our awesome amazing investigator family bought us tacos.

Bummer: But then I accidentally left them at a crazy person's house.

Highlight: We had the Christmas zone conference, at which I saw Elder Lindsay, our slightly racist Christmas skit got some good laughs, and we saw a surprise slide show full of baby pictures of all the missionaries.

Bummer: I jammed my left thumb playing basketball and then smashed my right thumb locking up the bikes. For a couple days, I was thumb-less.

Clearly, life is full of ups and downs. But when you think about, the only things that matter are the ups. :) Everyone remember the reason for the season: "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

There is no better time to be happy. Neither is there any better time to help people who aren't happy to be happy. So go do it!

In closing, although it's been said, many times, many ways: Merry Christmas to you.

<3 font="">

Elder Dylan Young

December 15, 2014: Later On, We'll Conspire

December 15, 2014: Later On, We'll Conspire


This wasn't a very eventful week, since everybody we're trying to share the gospel with keeps getting horribly sick or having tons of family crisis. Everybody goes through challenges in life, and thankfully most everyone down here has a pretty decent believe that God will make everything okay in the end. But by accepting the restored gospel, they could have so much more... first and foremost, access to the redemptive power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Those are some big words, and the Atonement is a big thing to teach people about. It's a lot of work, but we do our best, right? A couple talks I've been studying recently are "The Doctrine is the Answer" by Elder Bednar and "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" by Gene R. Cook. Give 'em a read!

We have 4 different christmas trees in the apartment already, 2 with lights, and at least one more on the way. We love Christmas.
Rumor has it that an Apostle is coming to visit South Texas early next year. I guess we'll see what happens.

<3 br="">
Elder Dylan Young

December 8, 2014: Sorpresa!

December 8, 2014: Sorpresa!

 This week was full of surprises, some unfortunate, some joyous.

On Monday at 6:00, we got a call out of the blue saying that Elder Lindsay was actually getting transferred to Donna. Thankfully we had enough time for him to go say bye to the members. We were pretty bummed, but he'll love it over there (I started in the Weslaco and Mercedes wards, where he'll be going). Plus he gets a car, lucky duck. And we'll see each other at the valley-wide Christmas zone conference in a couple weeks.

My new companion is Elder Hancock from Oregon. He's a goober.

And Elder Christiansen's new comp is Elder Chacin from Venezuela.
The O-district may have fallen, but the South District shall rise to power.

On Saturday we had zone meeting (Elder Casteel is our ZL again! Yay!
(His health problems are all gone.) During zone meeting we made
graham cracker gingerbread temples. Ours won.

We also discovered that on New Year's Eve we will be watching Disney's Frozen. I almost peed my pants. I probably will when we watch it. Remind me to report on my pants-peeing status in a month.
Yesterday evening we got to see the Christmas devotional, it was brilliant as always. The moral of the story is to love with all our hearts. That means making sacrifices, not grudgingly, but because you know that to truly be happy you gotta make others happy.
I Love You!

~Elder Dylan Young

December 1, 2014: The Christmas Countdown Begins

December 1, 2014: The Christmas Countdown Begins 


We already have three different advent calenders hanging in the apartment.
But before I get ahead of myself, Thanksgiving was a blast. Mostly. Thankfully, we only ate three times, but regardless I still feel full to this day. The poor Hidalgo Elders had 5 meal appointments, bless their hearts. The only food in our fridge right now is leftover pies and cakes. The entire fridge.

It was great though, especially when we decorated hand-turkey gingerbread cookies (thanks, Mom!) Everyone loved it, especially Hermana Arrambide. She pulled out her professional frosting decorating tubes and went to work. But I think Elder Christiansen's takes the cake:
Not actually a turkey, but who cares.
Saturday was a blast as well, seeing as it was the day of the stake talent show, McAllen West Stake's Got Talent. I love that the acts switched back and forth between English and Spanish so smoothly; only in the valley. Highlights:
A jammin' live performance of "La Cobra" by the Mission II youth, probably my favorite Mexican song (look it up!*). The saxophonist just knew her stuff, ya know?
*if you're not a missionary
"Let It Go" from Frozen sing-a-long, with accompanying video clips (It looks so goooooood oh my goooooooosh).
Me playing on my Ocarina while the missionary choir sang Praise To the Man. Now that everyone knows I play a magic flute thing, they won't let me rest.

As far as transfers goes, Elder Lindsay and I are both staying! Yay! A bit of a surprise. Elder Thornton is leaving, as well as both Elders Wright and Browning, which means their area is probably closing again. The O-district will never be the same. ("O" is for "offense")

In other news, if I had been born with an extra X chromosome instead of a Y one, I'd be going home in two days. How crazy is that? Thankfully I get six more months to try and figure out what I'm doing. As Elder Roylance, our dying zone leader, shared with us:
"And exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that lie not, for ye shallsee me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did not declare my words unto you, which were writtenby this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?" (Moroni 10:27)
The clock is ticking! Gotta go fast!
Speaking of the clock ticking, here's a sneak preview of the Hidalgo festival of lights:



I'm literally squealing with excitement.
Love y'all dawgs.
<3 br="">
Elder Dylan Young

November 24, 2014: You Are Invincible

November 24, 2014: You Are Invincible

That was probably the number one thing I learned from the conference with Elder Bradley D. Foster from the 70 on Thursday. Of course, I learned a gazillion things, but I'm still trying to sort them all out in my head.
Another thing we learned about was Catching the Vision. God once said, "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Try to wrap your heads around that for a minute. God, the supreme ruler of all creation, loves us so much that he cares more about our eternal joy than anything else. And whatever it takes to get us there, he'll make it possible.

What else happened this week: we had the ward Thanksgiving party, it was a blast. I ate so much food... it was a good warm-up for Thursday. Thankfully, a lot of our members aren't really doing anything for Thanksgiving since here is quite a bit more Mexican than Weslaco, where I spent last holidays. But we've got some plans already.
Case in point: Spanish signs
Another fun adventure: we got kicked out of a gated community this week. We honestly were only trying to visit some members... this time... But I'm sure we'll win them over somehow.

Yesterday I was put on the spot to translate Sunday School for President Wong from the Stake Presidency (as you may be able to guess, he doesn't speak Spanish). Apparently I'm a ward celebrity now.
Whenever we drive, we're going to have our cameras ready at all times, just because we know that people load ridiculous amounts of crap into their pickup trucks:

This is only the beginning. We also saw a forklift dragging a pickup across the ground. That was a blast. One can't help but call out "Viva Mexico!" when you see stuff like that.

The Nickels are hilarious crazy old people. Brother Nickels is an old deaf Vietnam vet who has been a member for years, and his chiflada Mexican wife decided she wants to be baptized. They're great.
I just love everything and everyone so much. I invite you all to do the same.
<333 dylan="" elder="" font="" young="">

November 17, 2014: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

November 17, 2014: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

I walked into the library and there were no Christmas trees. I just looked behind me to see a 12-foot tall tree covered in ornaments, and they're still decoration it, 6 feet away. It's a Christmas miracle.

The sheer volume and complexity of the Christmas lights here in Hidalgo, TX is incredible. They've been setting up for weeks and it looks like they're just getting started. If I get transferred before Christmas my heart will be broken.

This week was a little bit frustrating. We've been having to deal with a lot of really annoying, hateful people who've been keeping their friends and family from enjoying the blessings of the gospel. To me, it doesn't seem like it would be a hard choice: If you want to be happy, you can do what the smiling, composed, helpful missionaries say to do, or you can listen to your angry, yelling, drunk boyfriend/relative/etc. Thankfully, a lot of people are working really hard to choose the right. Unfortunately, some are choosing to choose the wrong. But it's their loss.
And it's so true how much happier you can be with the gospel. Not are all of our plans falling apart around us, but a lot of members are going through some super tough times. But it's so obvious the difference in those with a strong testimony of God's plan. They're so much stronger. I just wish so bad that everyone had that.
This week was "3 Day Training" as well, though, so all the leaders from around the mission stayed here in the mid-valley for all day trainings and lectures. That was cool. We had Elder Astle from Corpus Cristi stay in our apartment, and Elder Thornton worked with us. Elder Pope delivered to me through Elder Christiansen a handmade tie, and it was literally everything I could have asked for.
I don't know why 40 degrees feels so unbelievably cold down here, I've definitely been colder. Part of it is biking in the rain all day with the wind and everything, but still. I feel like a pansy.
The good news is, I found this gem in Pharr:



The work carries on, ladies and gentlemen. 

Elder Dylan Young