I Will Go and Do

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. . .

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

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!

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

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 I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shallsee me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I 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

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. . .

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

November 10, 2014: The Guardian

There is a man... he wanders our apartment complex, protecting us from the forces of darkness, and repairing our appliances. We call him... the Guardian. He's basically the Hagrid of Jardines de la Fuente, he's a big hairy Mexican with a mysterious cloak.

This week has been exhausting. We had lots of miracles and blessings, and found lots of cool people, but we haven't had a lot of time to work with any of them because of the family that was supposed to be baptized yesterday. They were all doing great until the grandma's boyfriend got out of jail... his angry drunkenness and drunken anger is putting quite a few road blocks in this wonderful family's happiness and eternal salvation. But the trick is to not get discouraged, right? Obviously, God the Almighty wants them to be baptized, and if we do everything we can and help them to show their faith as well, God will take care of the rest.

We also took a trip into the Great White North this week, a chunk of really nice neighborhood just barely inside our stake boundaries. It was fun sneaking into the gated community, "The Plantation." We did a district stampede for 4 hours, and even though it was constantly raining, cold, and nobody got to go inside once, we had a blast. I especially wanna give a shout-out to Elder Wright and Elder "The Meat Wagon" Browning for being such troopers.

We're also teaching a member's husband who has a ton of super liberal free-thinking non-christian views on God and religion in general... And I feel completely unprepared. I mean, I know I've faced all these questions and doubts before, living in Washington and all... but after a solid year and a half of talking almost exclusively to Christians of various denominations, it's a bit of a shock. Is... is this what the real world is like???

We went to the pulga (flea market) today and I got some sick shades, so that's a plus. Elder Thornton got a leather jacket for $12.00. Also, I played the Ocarina of Time through my nose while wearing a jean jacket for a special musical number at zone meeting, which was a blast.

At the Pulga

Galatians 6:9 tells us, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." And DyC 64:33 says, "33 Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." Both great scriptures to pump us up when times get tough.

Lots of love, darlings.

Elder Dylan Young

"La Basilica de San Juan"
People come here from around the country.

November 3, 2014: Of Spooky Fiends & Sugary Things

November 3, 2014: Of Spooky Fiends & Sugary Things

Happy Halloween, everybody! Ooooooooh!

I went as the faceless bicyclist. It doesn't have the sang ring as the "headless horseman," but it's a much more relevant threat in modern society.

So yeah, on Wednesday we had the ward Halloween activity Trunk-or-Treat. Everyone and their dog was there, it was a blast. The best costume award would've gone to Edgar with his bacon suit, if the best costume award was a thing. The Elotes a la Mexicana (corn on the cob smothered in butter, mayonaise, chile sauce and parmesan cheese) were a huge hit as well.

I'm not a big fan of Mexican candies. Mostly because they're all chili pepper flavored. What's up with that? (studio laughter)

On Thursday we all worked in Bentson Lake for a few hours. We called it the Stampede. When discussing the state an area should be in after being stampeded, words such as "demolished," "wrecked," and "pooped on" came up, so our war cry was "Poop on Bentson Lake!" So, when a bird pooped on Elder Lindsay, it was the funniest thing that's happened all week. (studio laughter)

On actual Halloween night, we stayed in the apartment and did weekly planning. Definitely the hardest three and a half hours ever to stay focused. Especially after we put a chile de monte inside of a marshmallow ghost and fed it to Elder Christiansen. (studio laughter)

On Sunday, everyone got sick and nobody came to church, but it happens. The good news is that the awesome family that just moved into the ward has a cunada (sister in law) who knows the church is true and wants to get baptized. Plus, we get to poach her from Mexico since she's up here every weekend! Yay! It's a dream come true!

Have a zippidee-doo-da week!
<3 br="">

Elder Young

October 27, 2014: Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked

I prefer whistling.

We've still been on foot this week, hopefully Elder Lindsay's rash clears up pretty soon. I miss the wind in my face and sound of my screaming thighs.

We had a good family home evening with our Ward mission leader, and basically everyone and their dog was invited. It was a lot of fun, even though I don't think he's quite sure what family home evening is. Even Kenny, the blind guy who wanders the streets of Hidalgo all day, showed up.

You'd think we would be pros at finding rides, considering how often we do it to bring people to church, but we didn't have a ton of luck. It was great though, on foot, getting to talk to more people on the streets and enjoy the Halloween decorations. It's funny how "El Dia de los Muertos" hasn't transitioned at all to here; Halloween is a puro americano holiday.

I did a surprise exchange with Elder Christiansen on Thursday. It felt great biking for just a day. Also we ate at Subway.

We had surprise interviews with Presidente Maluenda on Friday! Whoa! We all need a good self-evaluation every once in a while. I already feel like a better person.

On Saturday we had the wedding/baptism extravaganza of the century with Ana Karen and Mauricio Ramos. They looked great, I'm trying to get a picture from the other Elders. Afterwards we all ate weird sweet chicken salad, a Mexican tradition I guess?

We've been teaching a great family, Irma with 2 12-year-old granddaughters, and her 9-year-old spazz grandson David, and they came to church yesterday! It was a fantastic day to come, too, because the long-awaited primary program had arrived. I love watching kids lose focus during their own solos and repeat unintelligibly what their parents are mouthing to them from the back rows of the chapel. Even David went up and sang along, without having a clue what was going on. It was great. Also the Ramos's kid dropped his pants. No shame.

Sorry this week was kinda long, so here's the world's largest killer bee covered in Christmas lights.

Con mucho amor,

Elder Young

October 20, 2014: Attention Boys and Girls

October 20, 2014: Attention Boys and Girls

Transfer calls have come in and... nobody's leaving in our district. Just a couple changes in the other district.

However, we did get some really sad news on Friday. One of our zone leaders, Elder Casteel, had to go home Saturday to get some medical exams done. If all goes well, he'll be back here in a couple weeks, but in the mean time we're all praying for him. It was definitely a wake up call for all of us, how every day here in the mission is so important and we can't afford to miss a single one.

This whole week we've been bike-less, since Elder Lindsay has a rash from biking. Also, for the past month and a half he's been putting on the exact opposite powder that would have helped. Hopefully we'll be back on bikes soon, bumming rides off of members when none of them even have cars is getting kind of old.

Speaking of cars, our super boss recent convert Kimberly's car died Friday night. The worse part was that the gears were stuck and we couldn't put it in neutral to push it off of the street. Her entire extended family came out to help and there was a ton of yelling and children running around everywhere. Thankfully, we're basically in Mexico, so an old mechanic guy down the street came out and crawled under the car and got it un-jammed.

Since Kimberly usually lugs somewhere around 10 people to church every Sunday, we had to make a lot of phone calls and organization. We called it "Operation: Mobilize Las Milpas." Everything turned out great.

On Sunday, a super cool young couple was about to be baptized, when we found out at the last possible second that they aren't technically married yet. The other Elders got the wrong documents from the courthouse. And you know, you can't make a covenant to keep the commandments if you're not technically living them yet. So they debated doing a marriage ceremony right then and there with Bishop, but they decided to wait to do it Saturday. Things were kinda awkward for a bit but I think it turned out okay.

Spiritual thought: I finally got caught up with conference. It's the best. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk. We all can accomplish anything; not just accomplish, but become. The trick is just letting the Savior take control.

That's about it for today. Lyl! (It means "love ya lots!")

In other news, check out this sweet shirt I found:

What is the space monkey dunking on?
Does he know know his space suit has holes in it?
There are so many levels in this t-shirt.

Goofing off

Quote of the week:

"Out of all the farts, in all the farts world, yours stand alone." - Elder Browning

October 13, 2014: "Man, this wind blows."

October 13, 2014: "Man, this wind blows."

-said Elder Lindsay while we were biking the other day.

On Tuesday we had a surprise 6 zones out of 10 meeting, the primary purpose being to watch Meet the Mormons. Definitely a must see. Plus when the Bishnu guy dances it reminded me of hitting the floor at stake dances. Good times...

While we were waiting for everyone to show up to the movie, President Maluenda talked about goals. Basically, there's never any excuse for not hitting a goal in life, no matter what it is. If we set a meaningful goal, we have to hit it, because otherwise we know that either our plans or our execution kinda sucked. Hitting goals is such an incredibly important life skill. Hopefully I figure it out pretty soon... cough cough...

I just looked up and saw that Taylor Swift appears in the movie, "The Giver", at least according to this poster in the library. Good to know.

We're teaching a cross dresser and he even came to church yesterday, so I can cross that off of my bucket list. He loved it, too.

Mostly this week has just been super busy like always, but we keep chugin' along, rain or shine, since those are the only two options. (Hah! Take that, snowy places).

There's a family in our area who were taught and converted by the McAllen sister missionaries a few months ago, who crossed like four areas, two wards and a stake boundary to poach them from us. They let us over and everything, but we've never been able to convince them to come to church with us. And now we just found out the Sisters are teaching another member of the family, which is great and all except for all of the people in their own area who they're not teaching. Oh sisters, when will you learn?

That's about all to report for today.

Con todo cariño,

Elder Young

October 6, 2014: Conference!

General Conference was fantastic. Isn't it great how the supreme creator of the entire universe loves us enough to talk to us directly twice a year through a bunch of inspired old people? Watch it if you haven't yet: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3820979006001

It's worth it. Once you try it you'll be hooked.

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened to us this week. Between four hours of studying and two hours of teaching practice (or "Lab Sessions" as we call them) every day, we find ourselves without much time to, you know, be missionaries. But the Lord helps us out.

On Saturday we went to IHOP as a zone, which made me happy. But then I got a horrible migraine and missed the afternoon and priesthood sessions, which made me really really sad. I'm craving Internet time the next few weeks so I can catch up on all of the life-changing advice I missed out on. I can't believe anyone in the world would willingly not go and listen to conference.

I what I did see of general conference, I caught a couple of themes throughout the sessions. One was love. God our Father loves us immensely. Therefore, we should seek to increase our love for them by studying the scriptures and speaking with Him in prayer. Entonces, we need to be filled of God's love so we can help the world see how much He loves them, too. <3 font="">

I really can't stress the importance of conference. If my emails are lacking the next few weeks it's because I'm catching up on conference.

Here's the link again: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2014/10?lang=eng&vid=3820979006001

In case you forgot.

Con todo cariño,

Elder Dylan Young

September 29, 2014: Of Dart Wars and Burgers

September 29, 2014: Of Dart Wars and Burgers

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back!

On Monday we had a nerf dart war vs. Mission Zone and PVC pipes for blow-darts. We decked out the gym with strategic tables and chair racks and just went nuts. At one point, my MTC comp, Elder Green, and I set up a turret station using lunch trays as shields. He'd shout, "Pull!", I'd pull the upper tray off, he'd take a shot, nail someone, and then I'd put the shield back in place just in time to block like three shots. It was perfect. And now our apartment has been screwing around with our blow darts all week.

We went to lunch as a district with the zone leaders to Whataburger before district meeting. Elder Browning ordered a 5-patty patty melt, just for the heck of it. But then we all started egging each other on, and before you know it, Elder Casteel, our zone leader, is trying to eat a 12-patty patty melt in under 20 minutes. If he can't, Elder Browning no longer owes him groceries.

Challenge accepted. The AP's showed up right as he was getting started to take him on an exchange, so they were goading him on even more. He made it to 11 1/2 patties before losing it all. Heart of a lion.

The biggest patty they've ever had ordered there at the Hidalgo Whataburger was 15 patties. If anyone can bust that record, it's a missionary.

Our role play sessions have been going great. We call it "The Lab" and Elder Christiansen runs an arbitrary point system on the chalk board to keep us entertained.

I went on exchanged with Elder Thornton this week and we talked to a crazy guy on the street. He introduced himself as "Loopy," as in "Lupe," as in "Guadalupe." He's half Irish and half Mexican, from California, and I can't say for sure, but it sounds like he worships a trinity consisting of Merlin, King Arthur and William Shakespeare.

Elder Thornton also got us all sick this week. It could have been us biking in the rain all the time, but it was probably Elder Thornton.

On a spiritual note, we taught a lesson to a lady on that same exchange and it went super well. I love seeing people really receive an answer to their prayers; that's what missionary work is all about. For all those out there looking for answers to their prayers, remember:
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

I love you all like a mosquito loves a missionary.

<3 div="" dylan="" elder="" young="">

September 22, 2014: Of Birthday, Baptisms and Bubbly Things

Imagine me biking around, in a white shirt and tie no less, with a machine attached to the back of the bike that blows bubbles like mad. That was one of the birthday present I got this week.

Speaking of birthdays, Ximena got baptized yesterday! Yay! Here we are looking snazzy.

She's a boss. She even brings to Book of Mormon to school and reads during class (we'll just let her keep doing it until she gets caught).

Hilariously, the font at this building didn't want to drain either. But at least the water was clean. We left the drain problem to the other Elders.

Oh hey did I mention I had a birthday? I completed my 21st year of mortal existence. How quaint. Unfortunately the church down here didn't put together a Dia de Independencia de Mexico party for the 16th like they should have, but we made our own parties.

Choco flan, baby. Plus Elders Lindsay, Thornton and Christiansen bought me a cheesecake. We've been eating cake for days.

We had zone conference on Wednesday and it was as inspired as ever. The two main focuses were on improving our teaching skills and working a lot with the members of the church who don't come. Teaching skills was kind of a new focus with President Maluenda, he normally focuses on love, obedience, hard work, great attitude and animo. Not that we suck at teaching or anything, but we did just find out that we're doing 2-hour district/zone wide role play/practice sessions 5 days a week for the foreseeable future. So I guess we do need some help...

Anyway, on Thursday we had a family history/indexing class for missionaries so we can know how to help the members get into it more. Then on Saturday and Sunday we had Stake Conference and the entire focus was on the temples and family history work. After all, the temples really are the house of the Lord. They let us make promises with God so that we can be happy forever. And when we focus on the temples, especially as a family, then we're really focusing on the Lord. Isn't that neat?

I wanna close just giving a shout out to Elder Renshaw and his amazing musical talents. Someday the entire world will hear his new hit single, "Greater Love." I'll style y'all a sample:

"Half our heart, and half our might,

Will not suffice.

Like our Savior, we must truly

Sacrifice."

Boooooooooom. You like?

I love y'all from the bottom of my belly. It's by far the biggest part of me.
<3 br="">

Elder Dylan Young

September 15, 2014: The Rains Came Down and the Sewage Came Up

Let me explain to you how this happened.

So we've been teaching this super awesome girl, Ximena, who first just came to church by herself when her neighbor Marili got baptized a few weeks ago. She's been reading the Book of Mormon during school and made us a pie one time, that's how legit she is.

Side note, we've been having some super insane rain storms all week. There was even a tornado warning for a while here in the Hidalgo area. We had to hunker down during that.

So we're all stoked for her baptism on Sunday. We get to church and start filling the baptismal font. We then go and greet people as classes start. After a while, Elder Christiansen and I go back to check the font and turn off the water, only to find it yello, oily and disgusting. The look of shock on his face was priceless. So Elder Lindsay and I get put in charge of solving the situation.

We decide trying to drain and refill the font, to see if it was just a fluke. So we formulate a plan. First, we confiscate the women's restroom because that's the side of the font the plug is on. I grab a couple of garbage bags and step into them so they're covering my legs. I awkwardly hop down the first few steps until I can reach the plug with a broomstick. Elder Lindsay is taking pictures of me the whole time. We're trying as hard as we can not to laugh or freak out because la Sociedad de Socorro (Relief Society) is having class right on the other side of the font doors.

I manage to get the plug open, I think, but nothing is happening. "Well, I guess I have to go deeper and mess with it with my feet," I figure. So I hop down the next step. It turns out the garbage bags are not quite tall enough. I start to panic as, with water slowly pouring down my legs, I waddle over and start stomping all over the drain. It's definitely open and definitely not doing anything.

This whole time women and girls keep going into the bathroom just to see Elder Lindsay standing at the other end saying "Lo siento, un minuto." Eventually the other Elders come through on the men's side to see me climbing out of the font with soaking pant legs, and we're all trying so hard not to fall apart laughing. They throw me a pair of baptismal pants to change into before we go home to change. On the way out, looking like I do in the picture, I can only imagine what's going through everyone's heads. Nobody in the church knows what's going on.

Also, this entire time, the new A/C system in the chapel isn't working whatsoever.

We later find out from Hermano Martinez that sewer water was seeping up through the drain because of all the rain. And there's no fixing it. We try to see if we can make it happen at another chapel, but it's too late. We just postpone until next week. But como quiera, it made some great stories to tell.

Later that afternoon, while running in the rain from the car to the church for stake choir practice, I slip right in front of the door and land quite comically on my butt.

So to recap: Rainstorms, sewage, trash bag, swimming, changing, cancelling, slipping.

On a Spiritual note: "The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."I love y'all, dawgs.

Elder Dylan Young

September 8, 2014: The Pipes, The Pipes are Calling

Life is good in Las Milpas. Even though I just realized I don't know what "milpas" means.

We have a good number of members in our area. One of them, Kimberly, is super sick. She's been a member for like not even a month and she has already brought her aunt to church, who just got confirmed on Sunday. We celebrated her birthday on Friday as well. Tres Leches cake is soooooo good.

Elder Lindsay's super cool. he's from Wyoming. He likes to say English phrases in Spanish, which either don't translate at all or translate really badly. Like "mi mal" for "my bad" or "mi hombre!" for " my man!" He's a goof.

It's been kinda rainy all week, but nothing has hit us too hard. Mostly it's been nice having cooler weather.

Crazy stuff:

We're visiting some members when this big, fat momma spider comes walkin' in like she owns the place. We know she was a momma spider because, a couple minutes after we kicked it back outside, we noticed the floor was covered with tiny baby spiders. We spent a good 4 minutes jumping around stomping them all.

I saw the husband of the first person I baptized here at the Las Milpas Walmart. Small world.

Most of our zone is not from Utah. Three of us are from Washington!

I broke the record for longest time taken to cross the pipe. I'll talk about it later.

We've been trying to use the word "hankerin" as much as humanly possible.

Waking up yesterday morning and trying to get down from the top bunk, I smashed my head against against the ceiling fan going top velocity. The bump on my head swelled up almost exactly like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. Whenever anyone asked about it, I said either my companion hit me or it was a 'possum attack.

Spiritual Thought:

We watched this video at zone meeting.
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1101417665001

And then we talked about what it means to do what Jesus would do.

And then I thought about John 10:11-15
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

So what would Jesus do?

Think about that one for next time. Love you dawgs.

Elder Dylan Young