"As Sisters in Colorado" : Power to be Pure

August 18, 2014

What a week in Rawlins, Wyoming. It's been a good one. I still am getting along really well with Sister Johnson. We have a lot of fun together and we set high goals and we are able to work hard to accomplish them. It's nice to have a companion that wants to try her best to be obedient too. We just love Rawlins! We were talking the other day about how this transfer of our missions has been the first time that we have felt the good times outweighing the bad/hard times. They haven't gone away, but we are just really enjoying the work right now. The week is a bit of a blur right now but I will try to recall some of our highlights to share this week:)

First off, we were able to set the Gonzales girl with a baptismal date!!! September 6th! Except...she didn't make it to church this week, so we have to move it to the next Saturday. We just really need to help her see the importance of church attendance.

Also, there is another lady this week who a member works with and they invited her over for dinner when we went. The lady is so ready!! She has been searching for a church where God still speaks to us today and to a prophet. We are going to set her with a date this week. She came to church on Sunday and loved it!! She was taking notes and everything!

Another neat thing that happened this week, we had a Fireside yesterday. It was kind of short notice. The bishop planned it in the other ward and then we tried to get the word out fast. That is when I wished I could use my publicity skills. All the time I wish that on my mission....but such is life:) So, anyway, we invited everyone we could think of. It was a fireside centered on Families. Remember the family that we helped move in a couple weeks ago? They aren't members but they are super neat people. The night before, they popped into my head to invite. So we stopped by and invited them and then called the member that is friends with them and asked them to invite them too. It was great!! And guess what? They came! It was so exciting to see them walk into the church building with their 3 kids. The fireside consisted of the 4 of us missionaries each taking a section. We talked about basing your family foundation on Jesus Christ, and 3 main ways to do that are by family prayer, scripture study, and service. I talked on Family Scripture Study and used a lot of examples from my family. It was neat. We were so happy to see the family there! It will be so neat when they are ready to learn more about the gospel. The time is coming soon!

Another neat experience this week was with some member present lessons we were able to have. I sent a picture of Elvis a few weeks ago I think. Well, this week we took a member with us who we thought might click with him. This member is awesome! He has had to overcome all sorts of struggles and he is not your typical LDS man, and he will be the first to tell you that. He has tattoos all over his arms, he is a rough, tough, loud man, but his testimony is powerful! He was exactly who we needed to come with us to this lesson with Elvis. He bore his testimony and shared a lot about his experience in coming to the church and how it has changed his life. Elvis and his girlfriend were both very touched by it and they want to move forward in learning. It might be a bit of a process but it is neat to see how their hearts changed by the end of the lesson that night. We invited them over to the members house the next day to have a lesson, and they accepted but then didn't show up. But we are going to keep with them:)

I am reading a great book right now called, The Power of Everyday Missionaries, the mission President approved for us to read. It really is motivating and helps members get involved with missionary work more. Take a look at it is you want. One quote that I loved this week is,"Sharing the gospel doesn't just require that we have the power of God unto the convincing of men, it GIVES us this power." Also, it promises that missionary work will help you overcome addictions, sorrows, guilt, and give us the strength to keep God's laws. "It doesn't just demand our purity, it will help us be pure."

I've just continued to be amazed at the miracles that Heavenly Father is letting us be a part of. There have been days when I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude to see the work here progressing. I'm so tired though. I have officially been out for 7 months this coming week. Crazy right? I have less than a year left. Time flies. But stands still too. Haha. There are so many other things that happened this week, but I just can't remember them right now. I will fill you in on more next week ok? Just know that great things are happening here in Rawlins. I will miss it when I leave but I feel myself slowly being prepared for the time when I do need to leave. It will be hard, but it will be time. Life is full of changes and moving on.

I love you all!!!!

Love,

Sister Young

P.S.-Edna Sunburg, the sweet older lady we used to visit every week, just passed away this week end. I feel very blessed to have known her in the last few months of her life. She taught me a lot.