No Espanol!?‏

August 4, 2014

Let me tell you about my week here in Rawlins! I just love Rawlins, and I better stop saying that because that means I will probably get transferred soon since I love it so much. I just can't imagine going any other place now that I have been here. It's just the best place for missionary work. I've seen so many changes since the sisters were put in this area. The ward is now getting so excited to be involved in the work. They are getting better at home and visiting teaching, we are involving members in all of the lessons possible. We had 5 member present lessons this week, which is a record for me on my mission. The members are doing it on their own more now too. They are meeting the investigators on their own, that we bring to church, they are inviting them over for dinners, they are really involving themselves now. IT is amazing!!! 

Remember the lady who came to church last Sunday who asked if we could teach her basically? Well, we taught her twice this week, and we were able to invite Sister Clyde to come with us. Which was a perfect choice. She is amazing! I've talked about Sister Clyde before as being the best member missionary that I have ever met. She is such a great example to me. But both of our lessons went really well, we invited her to be baptized on the first lesson and she said yes and we invited her to pray about a date. She is wanting to wait until her husband is more open about the idea until she gets baptized. But she believes it all and is so intune to the spirit. It is amazing to see how the Lord had prepared her. It really is a testimony to me that WE are not the teachers but the spirit is. 

Also, this week, we got the chance to ride to Laramie with the Clyde's and Erin, the cute lady from Taiwan, to go and see the BYU-I Dance concert. We were able to go as long as we went with Less-active members or investigators. It was such a fun night. It was great to be able to see dance again and remember the power that it can have to bring the spirit if it is done the right way. I miss that. But it was a neat night to spend with Erin there. 

Another random experience this week,(that is one thing about Rawlins, the work is a bit random at times, which I love.) we received a referral from bishop last week for a family but the address and phone number were wrong. Then this week we remembered that phone books exist. haha. So we looked them up and found a number that we thought might be them. Then someone spanish speaking ended up answering the phone and well...I don't speak very good spanish. So I ran to the other room to get Sister Hoer, who can translate a bit better, and she was able to get an address and set up a time to come over that night. So that night we took a lady in the ward who has a Spanish background, over with us to teach a lesson. It was an interesting experience. The sister with us usually is super shy and I haven't heard her speak very much since I have been here but she was able to do most of the teaching that night and bear a strong testimony. We would tell her a few things to say and she would add on and translate. We watched the restoration in spanish with the lady that night. I am so grateful that we have the resources to teach anyone about the gospel. It may need to be done differently with people who you can't fully communicate with but the key is knowing that the universal language is the spirit. The spirit can speak to anyone! We set up another time to come back and left her an El Libro De Mormon and a pamphlet in Spanish. We also have been able to get another lady involved. She just moved to town and hasn't felt very needed. But we invited her to come out with us to translate one day when we went to visit spanish speaking potential investigators and it was super neat. She was so grateful to feel needed. So who would have thought that even though I wasn't called spanish speaking, I would need to know spanish!!! Ah!

One thing that Sister Johnson and I want to do is hand out as many copies of the Book of Mormon as possible this transfer. We call it operation BOM Rawlins. Which sounds kind of scary....but BOM is just Book of Mormons:) One day this week we handed out 6 in one day. Which was super good for us. Sister Johnson and I get along really well. We have fun but we both work really hard and strive to follow the spirit with the work. It is really great! We are seeing neat things happen. 

One night when we were having dinner with a member, they told us about a friend that was moving into town and we offered to help out. They said they would call and let us know. The next day we went over and helped their friends move in. They are such a neat family! None of them are members but he has asked lots of questions to the member family that they are friends with. We moved them in and then gave them our number in case they needed more help. Usually people don't call back if they need help but the next day they called us back to help. So of course we went and helped again. They are awesome! We got to talking and found out more about her religious background and invited her to church. She said she really wanted to next week. There was just a really neat feeling about their family, I am so grateful for service! 

Lots of good things happening here in Rawlins. The work is moving forward! Remember the small and simple things. Reading your scriptures, praying, and going to church. They are key!! Also, don't forget to love. It changes people. I love each of you and I am so grateful for your wonderful examples!!! KEep it up. Stay strong! 

Love,

Sister Karissa Young

P.S. This picture is a a thing called Cow Plop...we did service there. People pay money to get a number of a square and them they let cows onto a grid and wherever they plop, that person wins!!