Farewell Wyoming

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm grateful for each of you in my life and hope you have wonderful Thanksgivings! I have NO idea where I will be for Thanksgiving. This is a hard time to transfer, right before the holidays so we know NO one. It would have been fun to spend the holidays with my Rawlins family...but oh well. I am happy and super excited for a new adventure! Oh...I forgot I didn't tell you what happened with transfer, because you already know! Sheesh, so many spies all over. haha. Ok here are the details. I am getting Transferred to Fort Collins, CO into the Terry Lake Ward. My companion will be Sister Snow, who I think this is her last transfer on her mission. So I will be killing another companion. I think that is my calling in life, to be missionaries last companions or something. haha. The weird thing is, Hermana Mondragon is going to be in the same ward as me but her companion and her will be spanish speaking. So 2 sets of sisters. There is a new rule for all the missions that the First Presidency just came out with that says that Elders and Sisters can't share a ward anymore. So from now on I will be sharing wards with Sisters. It's been sad to say goodbye and hard because I want to say goodbye to the other ward too but there is not enough time, But I've been able to say my goodbyes to the people I love and we are still finding time inbetween to pack. It's hard because I have lived here for 7 months! Crazy right? That is almost half my mission. Oh yeah, and Elders are being brought into Rawlins again. Kind of crazy that I was here the whole time that Sisters were here. That makes me feel a strong sense of ownership over Rawlins. It will always have a piece of my heart. 

This week really good actually. I don't have much time to tell you all about it though. :( 

-Taught Pat and Barb and Pat is praying to know if she should be baptized. We taught the Plan of Salvation and they both really liked it and it clicked with them. I hope and pray they continue to Progress with Elders here. 

-Sherry recognized an answer to her prayer and has felt the spirit very strongly in her life. We will make sure the Elders keep teaching her and the members stick with her.

-We found a new investigator this week who is will be perfect for the Elders to teach. We weren't even "searching" for him. We went to a dinner at the Rivers, alligator people, and they invited a bunch of their co-workers and one of them has been wanting to meet missionaries for a long time. It is super crazy. He sat in on the lesson that night and said he wanted to start learning. 

Lots of other things happened this week but my brain is a bit in a frazzle today with all I have to do before I leave tomorrow at 9:00am. Pray for good weather for our travels to Fort Collins. I'm excited that I get to serve in the place that the mission is named after. We'll get to be close to the temple site so I will get to see it continue to be built up. 

Sorry, I really did want to write more, but time has gotten away from me. I just have come to realize that even if we can't see the reasons why the Lord places you in certain places at certain times, He has a plan. I still am not 100% sure why I was placed into this ward for one transfer but I am beginning to see. Gosh, I wish this e-mail was a bit more uplifting but I just can't think...I'm sorry. haha. Keep smiling and shining your light to all those around you. Have a wonderful week. I love each of you!:)

Love,

Sister Young

All of the people we do service with at the Old Pen.  Love them!!

Hot Cocoa season:)

Things are Looking Up

Monday - Nov. 17, 2014

Hello Everyone!

This week we had some amazing things happen. First off, there is a Part Member family who the husband is really nice but really likes his alcohol. So most times we go over there, he is not in the best state of mind and the house feel really chaotic. But the other night we went to their house and walked it and it was completely different! It was nice and clean, the spirit was there, the husband was sober, the family was happy, there wasn't any contention the whole night, it was just a really good feeling. We taught them the Restoration, and while he has trouble agreeing with living prophets, when we talked about the Priesthood, he told us how they had had some amazing experiences with the priesthood and that he believed in it. We then told him that he had the chance to be able to hold that priesthood power and bless his family. The spirit was really strong as we talked about the priesthood and his countenance changed. He said he wanted that priesthood. It will still be a process but we hope and pray in time that he will be able to stop his addictions and be able to be baptized and have their family sealed in the temple and hold that priesthood.

This week we also were able to have dinner with a member, who invited their 17 year old friend over to meet us and take the lessons. We taught her about the Restoration and the spirit was strong as we talked about the Atonement of our Savior and how He has felt everything she has felt. She is really interested in learning more and I know it will help her. She has had some hard things happen in life so far and it will bring her the peace that she is searching for. 

One thing that Hermana and I realized this week is that we have been focusing a lot on some of the people that previous missionaries have been and things were not working out. So this week we really strove to know what the Lord wanted us to do and who the Lord wanted us to see. We were able to meet a couple members who haven't seen missionaries in years and who let us in for us to share a message with them. We are really trying to let go of what WE think we should do and focus on what the Lord wants us to do. 

All the work we have been doing this week has been in negative degree weather. That always makes things a lot harder but we feel the Lord's approval as we do our best while shivering all the while. I thought I was done with Wyoming winters when I moved to St. George, but...that didn't work out. We were able to go to Martin's Cove again today. I have never been there in the middle of winter and it was quite a different experience. It really put things into perspective for me. We didn't have time to hike to the cove, but the missionaries drove us in their little rovers to the mouth of the cove after we went through the museum. The spirit was really strong there today as we were able to empathize for just a little bit with those pioneers. I was freezing in the harsh Wyoming wind even after a few minutes, and I can't understand how they had the will power to keep going. Going to Martin's Cove as a missionary always motivates me to keep trying and doing my very best as a missionary, following the wonderful examples of the pioneers. 

We find out this week about transfers. I'm not holding my breath anymore. I don't know if I will ever leave Rawlins, so I've just claimed it as home. haha. I'll let you know next week what happens. 

We had a mission tour this week and Elder Baxter of the Quorum of the 70 came to speak to us. It was probably the best missionary meeting that I have had my entire mission. He was so loving and the spirit was there so strongly for the whole day. We had to drive to Cheyenne and I was really worried about it because my companion is from California and doesn't drive much in snow and the night before we left there was a huge blizzard. But we just prayed a whole bunch and miraculously the roads were pretty clear and we made it safely and then President gave me permission to be the driver in snow. So I got to drive home, and that night after we got home there was another huge storm. so the Lord is looking out for us for sure. 

Elder Baxter talked a lot about how the Lord uses us to do His work, even in our imperfections and with our inadequacies. He told us that we are better than we think we are and that our Heavenly Father loves us so much. He also answered a ton of my questions that I have been pondering my whole mission. He talked a lot about how Satan's tactics nowadays don't come with a lot of temptations for the faithful, they come in the form of depression, discouragement, self-doubt, and poor self-worth. He talked about ways to combat these difficult struggles. He said to always remember that WE ARE BETTER THAN WE THINK WE ARE. He also said to make sure we focus on our strengths and our successes more than we focus on our weaknesses and our failures. It was just a wonderful meeting and it was great to see a lot of other missionaries.

I love you all!! Thanks for your support and encouragement through it all. Remember how much your Heavenly Father loves you and how much you are worth in His eyes.

Love,

Sister Young

Mission tour with Elder Baxter

Blurry Snow Picture! Filling up gas in negative weather...

Martin's Cove

Gratitude

November 10, 2014

The highlight of the week for me was our lesson and associations with our investigator, Sherry. She is just so sweet and is retaining everything a lot better now. There are some members who are involved in her process that really answer her questions in a way that she understands for sure. She is so sweet and has changed so much since the first time I met her 5 months ago. She LOVES learning and is always so excited to get the next "reading assignment". She just talks about it all the time how this gospel has just changed her. She is so much happier now and has made some big changes in her life. She just serves anyone that she can and is just such a sweet lady. She still doesn't like being pushed towards baptism but as she is serving and learning, the Holy Ghost is the one doing the pushing. :)

In other news, it is snowing a lot here. We have contacted some less-actives this week that are really working with now and we have appointments set up with them. We had a great Super Saturday craft making event on Saturday and it was both wards. It was so great to see everyone. Also, in good news, Adrianne, who got baptized last transfer, just got her Patriarchal blessing and is planning a temple trip with Bonnie, also recent convert, to go to the temple! They are just so great. I love them. 

This week we have been sharing this mormon message about The Spirit of Thanksgiving. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful blessing from our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much and wants us to be happy. Watch this video and then start a list of things you are grateful for. You can even share a few on social media with the hashtag #sharegoodness. I met a lady this week who hasn't been to church in years and has had a pretty rough life, but she still keeps a gratitude journal DAILY for everyday of the year. It was a great example to me or having an attitude of gratitude.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-11-39-in-the-spirit-of-thanksgiving?lang=eng

I am grateful for each of you in my life and the influence you continue to have on me. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Young

Gratitude

Winter Has Officially Begun

Hey Everyone!

This week was probably the best week of this transfer.We had Trunk or Treat this week and our truck won 2nd place for best decorated:) We had a bunch of less-actives and an investigator that came that night with his son. It was combined with the other ward and it was great being able to see everyone from Ferris Mt. too. 

This week, my companion and I have been trying to use Hymns more in our teaching. It is great to use hymns. They truly bring the spirit so strongly. There is a less-active lady who had us over this week. She has depression and a lot of other struggles in life. She just has a lot of struggles and just needs some love. We went over and spent some time with her and then the next day we did some service by helping her clean her house. It was quite a chore but it was really great to see her humming along to the hymns we had playing and working with us to get it all clean. Afterword we sat down with her and asked what her favorite hymn was. She told us that it was How Firm a Foundation, but we had to sing ALL the verses. Haha. So the 3 of us sang it together. I have never noticed the other verses to "How Firm a Foundation", but they are beautiful. https://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns/how-firm-a-foundation?lang=eng

1. 4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
   The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,
   For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
   And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
   And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
2. 5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
   My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
   The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
   Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
   Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
3. 6. E'en down to old age, all my people shall prove
   My sov'reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
   And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
   Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still,
   Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.
4. 7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
   I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
   That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
   I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never,
   I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

 It was powerful and she felt the spirit so strongly and started to weep. She thanked us for our service and our love and the spirit that we brought into her life. It was a neat experience to be able to bring her a glimmer of hope in her times of distress.

Our Halloween night was great! We had to be in by 6 and we were told to do our Weekly Planning at that time. So we got our costumes on, I was Minnie Mouse, and we had a ton of goodies and we did our planning. Then when 9:00pm hit, the 4 of us sisters had our own Halloween party! We did bobbing for apples, eating donuts on a string, and eating goodies. It was a blast:) So much fun! 

The work is moving forward. We have a lesson set up with Pat this week to teach her the next lesson. She believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and is really interested to learn more. 

I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and love:) Keep pushing forward!

Love,

Sister Young

Minnie Mouse :-)

Halloween Night

Snow Day!

Walmart in Rawlins...Finally:)

Well, The big excitement in Rawlins this week is that we FINALLY got a Walmart!!! They have been waiting to get a Walmart for years and years because their nearest Walmarts are Rock springs, Laramie, or Casper which are all at least an hour and a half away. I have watched this Walmart be built from the ground up. They had just barely started it when I got here. We went to the Grand Opening event so that we could see the members of the community and support those we serve with. It was an exciting event! Lots of free stuff and getting to be the first few in Walmart:) 

Alright, so a few experiences that we had this week. First off, we have been visiting everyone that we possibly can, trying to figure out who is still living here, who is interested, etc. It makes for some long days when you don't have set appointments. That is one thing we are trying to change. Getting set appointments. We actually have a lot of set appointments now for the upcoming week, which makes things so nice. The ward is actually really good at getting involved with the work. We have great leadership in this ward that is VERY focused on missionary work. Our bishop this week even set up 2 dinner appointments for us. One with a nonmember family, and one with a less active lady who was supposedly a Do Not Contact. So that just shows how involved and great the leadership is. Now we just need to use that leadership more. They are all super willing, they just say they need assignments directly. So that just means we need to be more direct in involving the Ward Council. 

We had a dinner this week with the two sweet black ladies we met last week. We went over and Hermana made mexican food for them. It was super great and then we taught them the Restoration. We found out that they have had missionaries in their lives before many years ago. But that night when we taught the restoration, some things clicked that hadn't ever before. Both said they would start reading the Book of Mormon.

Another lesson this week was with a referral that we set up a lesson with. It was a bit tricky for me because they only spoke Spanish, but I understood more than I thought I would and actually understood most of what was going on. It was a little rocky when we first got in there because one of the ladies did not want us there and didn't want Hermana to pray. She got really mad and went into her room, and hermana actually started to cry. That is when I knew it couldn't have been good whatever she had just said. But I couldn't do much to help, because I DON'T speak Spanish! ha. So, then she went on to teach the other two siblings the first part of the Restoration and focused on The Book of Mormon. About halfway through the lesson, I figured something out. They were Jehovah Witness. I didn't know for sure, but I guessed somehow. They were super nice though and even though I didn't speak the language, I said a few things to them in broken Spanish and they said that they felt my love and spirit even though I couldn't speak the language. It just proves that the Spirit is a universal language. But that made me want to work on my Spanish more so I have been practicing more every day. We have another lesson with them later this week and dinner. It is so exhausting not understanding what is going on. You feel a bit left out. But that's ok. 

One thing I didn't mention, I have been out for 9 months officially! Crazy how time flies. I am halfway through my mission. I've learned a lot thus far and have a lot more to learn. I know that I am supposed to be on my mission at this time. Sometimes I don't know why, but I know I received the confirmation that I needed to come on my mission. The Lord has plans for each one of us. Stay strong, make changes you need to to feel the Spirit more in your life. It is SO important.

1 Nephi 21:15. Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

 The Lord never forgets us.I love each of you! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Love,

Sister Young 

P.S.-Send pictures of your Halloween costumes or other fun stuff. I haven't gotten many pictures lately. I love pictures!!

Grand Opening of Walmart in Rawlins!

Sisters at Old Penn

Decorated at the Old Pen for the Haunted House.  We are being Zombies...

Alligator in Wyoming?

Well, you might be wondering why my title is about an alligator...well, let's just say, crazy things happen, even in the middle of Wyoming. My very first dinner appointment in my new area of Rawlins, was quite different. We got there and they said, "We have a real treat for you tonight! We are frying up an alligator for you all tonight! Fresh." I looked over and they had an alligator tail just chillin on the counter, still floppin around. It was crazy. They had a friend who brought it to them that very day or something and after playing with it all day, they killed it and were going to fry it up for us. It was quite an interesting dinner...for a lot of reasons. But it was pretty good. So, now I guess I can say the craziest food I ate on my mission was alligator, in the middle of Wyoming! Who would have thought that would ever happen. 

We have 2 main progressing investigators. One, Sherry, Sister Z and I actually found originally while we were shopping on a P-day. We gave her a pamphlet and got her name and number and then realized she was in the other ward. The sisters have been teaching her for a couple months and she is almost ready to be baptized but wants to make the decision on her own and not be pushed. She is a sweet older lady and has been through a lot. She has changed so much since when we first met her in the thrift store. She comes to church every week and now we just need to help her see the importance of baptism with out her feeling pressured. She hates that! ha. 

Our second investigator is from a Part Member family. I have not been able to officially meet him yet but he is planning on being baptized in the next few weeks. I hear he is just great and really ready to be baptized. 

We also found 4 new investigators this week. Two of them are sweet, black ladies, actually the mother of Elvis, the cowboy, the picture I sent over email one week. But they are so sweet and we have dinner with them this week and we will teach them the restoration. We also have a lesson with a lady, a referral from a lady in my last ward, her friend that she works with. We stopped by last night and she said that she had started reading the Book of Mormon already and she listened to General Conference on Saturday afternoon. Awesome right?! So we are excited to teach her this week. 

The leadership in this ward is really great. They really have their ward council going, a great bishop and ward mission leader, and missionary coordination. Super excited to work with the ward even more. 

It was a super weird Sunday this week because it was Stake Conference, so both wards came together for the broadcast. Everyone from the Ferris Mountain ward got really confused to see me still here but they were so happy too. But it was hard for me. I loved seeing everyone and talking to everyone, but I wanted to focus on my new ward, which was hard to do when everyone was talking to me and I wanted to talk to them! haha. I just realized even more how much the other ward is just a family to me. But another neat thing I realized is how easy it has been to just love the people I have met so far in this ward too. It is for sure a different dynamic than the other ward but there are still amazing people that I am excited to get to know more. 

Had an interesting lesson last night. There is a family here that the Sisters have been teaching who are Born Again Baptists. I hear that usually they go over and they can never get very far because they just have so many questions and it takes up the whole time. So this time, we went in with a new plan and approach. We went in, they got to know me, asking me about my testimony and how I gained it, and then we said, "Tonight we are going to do something different." We handed them each a piece of paper and asked them to write down any questions they had while we taught and we would get to their questions but we wanted to teach them the whole restoration, so they could have the whole picture. They agreed. We were able to teach the whole first lesson, powerfully, and the spirit was there. They only interjected with a few questions through out. Even though she was frantically writing through a lot of it:) But the spirit was there and afterward he said, "Wow, that was really a great lesson!" Giving us the credit, but we know it was the spirit that he felt. It is tricky because we don't know how interested they really are, or how open, I should say. They disagree with a LOT of what we taught and aren't willing to find out for themselves. But it made me realize that, with the spirit, we can become powerful teachers and even if they don't acknowledge the spirit, it was there, and they felt it. But they are really sweet people and a neat family.

 

OH-Also, I forgot, my companion speaks Spanish and we are teaching like 3 Spanish investigators right now. We had a couple lessons and I had no idea what was going on....that was tough. But I just try to help them feel my love and I am trying to learn Spanish even more. I will be able to pray soon in Spanish:) That will be good. But it is for sure going to be interesting.

I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Young

Alligator in Wyoming?

Alligator - a real treat for dinner!

6 More Weeks of Winter

This is going to be a bit short today.

What a crazy, roller coaster the mission is. It really is just a huge barrel of mixed, heightened emotions all the time. Just so you all know, I found out about transfers and it is not what I expected at all. I will be staying in Rawlins but ward hopping. I will be leaving the ward I have been in for 6 months, and going to the other ward in Rawlins. I was literally in shock for a long time after I found out. The Lord REALLY wants me here in Rawlins. I will be companions with Hermana Mondragon, who I have lived in the same house with for the past transfer, and my old companion Sister Johnson is staying in my ward with a New Missionary that she will be training. Pretty crazy right? I am praying for peace and confirmation for myself to know why the Lord needs me here still. I don't understand logically at all. It is a bit of a test of my faith, but the Lord hasn't failed me yet and I know I will come to understand why. Just a bit surprising. 

This week there were just a bunch of random occurrences that happened. We are having trouble finding new investigators, but we are still trying. 

A neat thing that happened this week was that we got to teach the daughter of a less-active. She has had a complete turn around. She shared with us some really neat spiritual experiences that have happened over the past few weeks and the need she feels to use the atonement and come back to church. I felt the spirit strongly as we talked with her and she shared her experience. We then were able to go back to her house and start teaching her the lessons just to help her faith grow even more. She is just super neat and making some really good decisions right now and truly feeling the power of the Atonement. 

The four of us Sisters also got to teach seminary this past week one morning. It was such a neat experience. I LOVE working with the youth. They have such great spirits and they are strong. 

Prayers work. This week we prayed with a couple of our investigators because her boyfriend just has a really bad problem with alcohol and needs some help but doesn't want to admit it. We prayed for him and I prayed that he would be able to get the help that he needs, in what ever way the Lord saw fit. This week he ended up in jail and is now going to get some much needed help. His girlfriend and sister are very happy about this turn of events and thanked us for our prayer when we stopped by last, and recognized that the Lord had answered our prayers. The Lord answers, not always in ways that we expect, but He answers. 

Well, I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Adrianne, recent convert, is getting her temple recommend soon and has already started her family history work. She is just on fire! She is so excited to have the blessings of the temple in her life. She is also going to get her patriarchal blessing. Just so neat to see these wonderful new members. 

Winter is coming in Wyoming, and it looks like I'm not done yet experiencing Wyoming Winters. Good thing I know what to expect. I've got my fleece lined tights and hand/toe warmers all ready to go though. I love you all. Thanks for your prayers and support.

 

Love,

Sister Young

Helping at the Old Pen for service, getting it all ready for Halloween

Went bowling on P-day with Brother Green!