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This week was a lot better:) Also, I hit my year mark this week! Mission Birthday! Time flies.

We were finally able to teach A this week, which was great. We were worried. But it seems like he is on the uphill slope now, which should be good. He still is not making the gospel a priority in his life, which is so sad to see, because I know for myself that as we put the gospel and our Savior first, that all else will fall into place. But he doesn't quite see that yet. We focused a lot upon asking specific questions when he prays to know that this is true. One has to experience it for themselves. They have to gain an ownership over their answers from Heavenly Father. But he still is struggling. 

During training this week we have been focusing on the fundamental of Teaching People, Not Lessons. We have really been striving to implement this in our teaching. We had a really powerful experience this week with this. We went into a lesson with our investigator, R, and we had a plan that we needed to address of few things in order to teach to his needs. We didn't have a complete set plan but we had an outline and what he needed and then we strove to teach by the spirit 100%. I have such a testimony that the Lord really does fill our mouths as we open them and trust in Him. When we have done our preparation, the spirit can do the rest. We focused a lot on asking inspired questions and those questions lead us exactly to where the lesson needed to go. We ended up teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, without intending to, but we fit it exactly to what he needed. The spirit was powerful and we helped him through some of his concerns. We got out and talked about it and both just were amazing at how smoothly the spirit guided the whole lesson and it covered exactly what we felt he needed. It was an incredible experience. I absolutely love teaching with Sister Jensen. 

We both just get along really well. We have a lot of fun every week. I just love it. We both just want to do our best, we are open to change and correction, and we strive to be better every day. Love her! 

A new program that the Fort Collins Stake is implementing. It is a new way to do referrals that I am super excited about and it seems so much more effective. What happens is, the members let us know about friends that they feel like are ready for the gospel, but we don't go an contact them right away. We take their names to the Ward Mission Leader and then he calls the member to set up a council with them. The member can then invite anyone they want to these councils. Then in the councils they make a plan on how to best help these individuals be prepared to hear the gospel. Whether it be fellow shipping  dinners, missionary visits, etc. The members are in charge of the process because they know their friends best. It is amazing to see. The members are so excited about this and since Friday we have already received 6 referrals from members who are excited to try this out. We have seem miracles come from this already. I love how this process is so guided by the spirit as well. It is going to take a bit more time, but that is just fine because these individuals will be more prepared and members we have more opportunities to fulfill their responsibility to share the gospel. We are testing it out but I know miracles will happen! 

We are teaching this couple and they haven't really been progressing. They wouldn't read their scriptures and we couldn't figure out why, and then last time they told us that they just aren't very good readers. So we gave them the Book of Mormon on CD. We went over the other day to teach them and they told us that they had listened to the whole first CD of the Book of Mormon and they really liked it a lot! It was amazing to see how the spirit has been working on them for sure. They are going to take a bit more time to gain testimonies but they are slowly moving forward. It is so neat to see. Good things are happening. 

Just a lot of random things this week.

The work is moving forward and I am grateful to be here in this area with my companion. There are always new struggles every week but the Lord really is in control and guides His work. We are building trust with the members back. It is just coming really far. There have been some rough experiences with missionaries in the past, it seems like, because the ward has been hesitant to trust us. But we are gaining their trust and it will continue. Thank you for your prayers!!  I love you all! Have a great week!! Make a 1% improvement everyday and after 100 days your will be 100% better. The Lord is pleased with every step we take closer to Him. 

Love,

Sister Young

Just a reminder. Here is my new address for the rest of my mission: 

Sister Karissa Young

Colorado Fort Collins Mission

500 Hillspire Drive

Windsor, CO 80550

One year mark!