The One With 50% Off Easter Candy

"God did not create our spirits to be independent of Him. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through the incalculable gift of His Atonement, not only saves us from death and offers us, through repentance, forgiveness for our sins, but He also stands ready to save us from the sorrows and pains of our wounded souls."

-Elder Neil A. Anderson 

This is from a talk that we discussed in Relief Society. Our lesson was just incredible in RS so last night, I listened to the talk and the talk is just as stellar. It's from the October 2018 conference and the talk is called "Wounded. READ IT! It will change your life.

Not really, but hopefully! That'd be cool. :) 

This week was a good one! Lot's of tender mercies and growing. On Tuesday, we got permission to travel outside our area to go see a new doctor. #roadtrip! It was only 45 minutes away but we felt like it was a little fun, scenic drive. Met with the doctor, he was nice. I gave my stamp of approval to the mission nurse. 

Side note, Sister Wright, the mission nurse, is an angel on Earth and we are very lucky to have her here with us. I'm so very very grateful for her! 

Wednesday, we had District Council! The first one since we added in new areas and it was huge! We have 22 missionaries in our district now! That's nuts. We had to sit in the High Council room so that we could all fit. But it was good! Some of my good friends from my last area are now in my district and it's been so fun to see them again! We had a great meeting and talked about how we can use our studies to come closer to our purpose as missionaries and then talked about different ways we can better our personal studies. I really needed to hear it because I've been lacking in mine so it was definitely a blessing.

I changed up some things and dropped off some guilt for not studying others and my studies have turned into a very treasured time to me. I found myself before kind of taking advantage of my study time and I'm sad that I did that because the words of the scriptures have a definite power in them. I feel my spirit lighten and become less anxious and more alive when I dive into the scriptures. I used to think that it should happen immediately, but I have now realized that it takes a good amount of time for the power to come. You have to really invest and apply for the power to set in. I love the Book of Mormon! I love that Heavenly Father gave us ways to directly feel His love for us through words of the prophets, old and latter-day. 

On Thursday, we woke up and attempted to weekly plan. We started it and the beginning is always great! But then we get distracted and find ourselves pulling our hair out trying to stay focused. So we decided to go to the Library to help us focus a little more. It helped! We were there for a bit and then Sister Kepler decided that 50% off Easter candy from Walmart needed to be had. We also needed quality conversations for the day so we headed that direction. 

So, for those of you who don't already know, I LOVE Walmart. I'm not sure why! But I do! And I have the place down to a science.. Or so I thought! I thought I knew where the seasonal candy was but both places we checked, it wasn't there! So we walked around for a little bit longer and Sister Kepler, being the sweetheart that she is, wanted to go so that I could rest from crutching around the store for 30 minutes. But I felt like we should keep going; just a little further, i kept thinking. So we kept walking and not even 3 minutes later, we found it! The glorious candy. So Sister Kepler stashed up and we were headed to the register and I saw a lady and complimented her on her necklace and ended up having a conversation about Jesus Christ and Family and found out that she was looking for a church. I was so excited! She took our number and we got hers and told her that we would love to stop by sometime. She seemed a little hesitant, but agreed. :) 

As I reflected on that experience, I love that Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to experience on a small scale, how blessings will come when we go just a little further. 

One of the best moments in movie history, in my opinion, is from the movie Rocky Balboa when he's talking to his son and telling him how he needs to own up to what he wants; stop blaming what he doesn't have on anyone else. I wish so badly I could quote it, but I've forgotten a lot about the outside world so just go look it up and watch it. :) 

BUT! Sometimes, we have got to push through pain; that's the only way to become what or who we want to become. Heavenly Father knows our worth and our potential and the only way to grow is through adversity. Trials a necessary and struggling is a consequence of that, but "Life ain't about how hard you get hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky (Nailed it!)

Friday was awesome. We had bingo with our ladies scheduled so we headed over but then we were informed that there was a biker group coming to show off their bikes and visit the people there! So they asked us to stay and help them walk around and visit. 

When the group showed up, there were like 12 of them and they were SO kind! They talked to us and were asking questions about missionary work and the church. 3 of them knew about temples and talked about how much they loved traveling and seeing the temples! It was SO COOL! We talked to a couple who seemed to know a lot about the church already and we told them about the temple open house for the Oklahoma City temple and told them that they should go! they seemed genuinely interested and said they would look into it. It was such a neat experience! 

Had a sick day on Saturday because the pollen here is legit AWFUL. It looks like an air-raid of green power. Allergies are going to be the death of everyone here in Bella Vista. 

Sunday was great! Sacrament meeting was wonderful and such a rockin' powerhouse. I love church. I feel so uplifted afterward. :)

Well, I love you all. So very much. Thank you for your prayers and love and support. It means so much to this missionaries heart. ❤

Read the Book Of Mormon.

Feel God's love. 

Push through, just a little farther. 

Be kind to one another. 

-Sister Young 

doctors office!

Barbara and I posing behind Maggie, the biker bear. :)

the coolest bikers this side of the Mississippi! 

our favorite 8 yr old, Jayce. We sure love this kid! 

The One With Crutches

After a hard day, I sat at the table trying to decide what I should do to lift my spirits. I opened up the Gospel Library on my phone and thumbed through conference talks. I came across a talk given by Elder Renlund back in April 2015 called "Latter-Day Saints Keep On Trying". One quote that I loved from the talk was..

"My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites. As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were."

That spoke to my heart and I knew that if I wanted to continue to travel on the Latter-Day Saint path, I needed to understand that Heavenly Father loves me and I can use that love to help change my heart to be more devoted and driven to follow Him and choose His ways. I'm grateful for a gospel that allows me to do so! 

This week has been filled with ups and downs. It was more slow on the missionary side because of my feet. I've got some gross Plantar warts that are causing me a whole slew of problems and I've been on CRUTCHES this week. 😭 Those puppies are the WORST! My whole body hurts to use them just so my foot won't hurt. 

This week was slow because we couldn't go out much so we did some phone pros and reached out to some people we've been thinking of reaching out to. We set up some appointments and got this next week set up. 

Friday, we did have Zone Conference all day and that was so fun! An amazing family friend from back home came to give a presentation to us about vehicles and it was such a blessing to see her! 

Nancy, I love you so much! Thank you for your hugs and loves. You know how much that meant to me! 😊❤

After Zone Conference, I talked to President Strong about the course of action for my feet. There is a procedure they can do out here to take care of them and the recovery won't take too long. So, I'll be getting some slight surgery in the next week or so. 😆 Missions throw the weirdest curveballs, I tell you what. 

Saturday was a good day! We spent it with members doing visits as much as my foot would allow. Then that night, we went to the adult session of Stake Conference and it was incredible! Amazing speakers and stories shared and the spirit was so strong. I thought surely the next day couldn't be better than that. 

I was wrong! Stake conference on Sunday was amazing, too! It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and it was spent feeling the spirit, talking and rejoicing in Christ! We then went to a members home for Easter dinner and 3 other families showed up and we had a great time getting to know them and gently nudging them and getting them excited about doing missionary work. It was a great day. 

I'm sorry that it's a little lame this week, but I will make sure to write more next week. 

Study Come, Follow Me this week!

Find some time to meditate and think about and connect to Christ. 

Be kind to one another!

- Sister Young

Selfie with Cows. There are so many here. 

service in which I was a supervisor because I have a gimpy foot. 

selfie with Nikki, a lady we taught!

carwash selfie (it was good lighting. Lol)

a picture with Sylvia, Joe, and Herman! Sylvia is a recent convert and is moving to Texas soon. We will miss her so much! Good thing Joe and Herman (her husband and brother-in-law) are staying! 

 Stake Conference selfie! Lol

 I made my favorite thing on this planet for Easter dinner; raspberry pretzel salad! :) #immarthastewartbaby

The One Where Jesus Got Called Sexy

Hey Y'all! 

This week was good! We have had some better weeks but this week, we did the best we could! I'm just going to share a couple highlights from the week, the length this week might be a little shorter so sorry about that! 

We met with some people that we're teaching this week and I have to be honest, it was the first really difficult lesson I've had on my mission. The hard part about it was that there were so many doubts and questions that we would answer but they didn't like the answer so they would keep digging. There was so much controversy discussed that I felt as though they were trying to disprove to Book of Mormon and say that Joseph Smith wasn't a prophet. I found my self getting more and more worked up and I had to consciously leave the conversation at times and pray in my heart to be calm and brave. And just like God answered the heartfelt prayers of Alma's people, he answered mine. I was able to be honest and open and I bore a very strong testimony of Joseph Smith that I didn't know I had. 

The hardest part about the situation was the fact that what they were questioning or having questions about were things that I myself doubted. I second guess and doubt pretty often and I scare myself with some ideas that pop into my head. But in hearing them out loud, I knew that I had a firm testimony in what I know to be true about the Book Of Mormon and of Joseph Smith because I've done the work to find out for myself. That's why it is so important for us to do the small and simple things every day; to read and pray, to choose the right, to serve others and go to church. It helps us to gain a stronger testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel; a testimony of Jesus Christ's Gospel. 

The meeting ended pretty abruptly because one of them had an appointment she had to go to. As we left, we both felt drained and emotionally wiped out so we decided to head home and take a second to pause and pray for guidance and peace. When we got home, I opened up my scriptures and began to read about Alma and Amulek. They went through WAY more than my puny problems and never had to stop to take a break! You know what they did? They prayed for strength. They prayed that they would be strengthened by their faith in Christ. And then they got back to work. 

I love that they turned to the source and they knew that they couldn't do it alone. I also knew that what we had gone through was going to strengthen us as missionaries and as disciples of Jesus Christ. That meeting has been pressed in my memory for life and I'm so grateful I went through it so that I will always have that to fall back on; that I know with 100% assurity that Joseph Smith was the chosen prophet to restore the true church on the Earth. 

After resetting and reenergizing, we decided to go contacting at Walmart and it helped. We saw friendly faces and had wonderful conversations! 

The rest of the week, we did some service for members and some people who are moving into our ward. We helped her paint her house but we had to prime first so we'll be going back this next week to help her again. They are both return missionaries and they are expecting their first baby in May. We're so excited for them and happy we get to help! 

We also got to teach Jayce the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Kepler had the great idea of using chalk to map it out outside so that he could pay attention and it worked so well! He loved it and he is SO excited to get baptized. At the end of the lesson, we found out that they're moving to Utah during the summer and Jayce will get baptized after they move so that his dad can be there. We were so sad to hear that! We love our Jayce and his family so much! But we're also happy for them and hope that they can feel our love from so far away! 

We went to bingo again this week and MAN those ladies are a HOOT! At the end of Bingo, we handed them each a pass along card that has a beautiful picture of Jesus on it. They loved them and one lady was like, "what a fine looking man! Oh my. He is sexy." LOL  we couldn't stop laughing. It was the funniest thing we had heard all week! It was so awesome. We love our bingo ladies. :) 

Saturday morning, the primary had an Easter egg hunt and they asked us to teach the kids about the resurrection. It was really fun and we had a great time with them! We had the little Easter eggs with the different things in them to tell the story of the resurrection and they loved it! We learned some things, too! That's how you know it's a good lesson; when you learn from it too! :) 

We have also had to take it easy this week. My plantar warts have been behaving very well up until the last week. I was starting to really feel some nerve pain and I called the nurse and she told me to go to the doctor. I had very little hope because it seems to me that I've tried everything in the darn book for these nasty things and everything just makes them worse. But he put me on a strict schedule of care and it's made them about 20 times more painful. 😅 but I have to keep doing it for about 4 weeks and then see what else we can do. That limits some things because of the pain but I'm a tough cookie. 😊 

That's what I've got for this week. I hope you all have had successful weeks on reaching out to those around you and sharing the gospel with others! I promise that you will be blessed with a brighter day and happier moments if you do. Sharing the gospel is so important and you never know who needs it the most. You could be blessing lives. :) 

I love you all so much. 

Keep reading and praying. 

Be kind to one another! 

❤ Sister Young 

selfies. Because we can! 

after priming Sister Alverados new home!

at the Easter egg hunt, being silly :) 

a sheep that Sister Petersen used in her relief society lesson. Had to snag a pic with it.

The One Where I'm An Arteest!

Holy General Conference! 

Okay, okay. But, I have to say that there was not a single talk I did not totally love. My goodness, my heart was on fire the entire time! Wowza! I'm so grateful for modern day revelation and guidance! What a time to celebrate being alive and part of this work. ❤🤘🏼

One of my favorite talks was Ronald A. Rasband talking about building fortresses and having watchmen on the towers to protect us. What powerful lessons and analogies! I have set a goal to work harder at becoming more involved with modern day prophets teachings and apply their teachings to my life. Not just listen, but to DO! 

Tuesday was a good day! We had district council on Tuesday because Elder Rhodes was leaving on Wednesday and we wanted him to be able to be there for it. They also gave me a couple of extra minutes at the end of DC to talk about my dear sweet Emily. April 5th marked her 1 year mark of being gone and I wanted to share her story and how remarkable she was to help inspire my people here. I had others tell me that they needed to hear it and I felt as though even though she's gone, the light if her testimony and her infectious spirit lives on. They even held a taco bar afterward and we ate tacos in honor of her. I love my district so much! It was a great day. ❤ After DC, we had exchanges and Sister Stallard came to Bella Vista with me. It was so fun to have her! BV was her very first area on her mission and she leaves in 3 months so she was so excited to be back. We spent the day contacting and getting to know members here. It was wonderful. 

Wednesday, we finished up exchanges and met back up with the other sisters at service. We helped people at the food pantry and held boxes for them while they put what they wanted in the boxes. We get to have conversations with the people and one gentleman I was helping was so kind. He noticed my tag and asked where I was from. We talked about the state of Idaho for a little bit and then I was able to bare my testimony to him about Jesus Christ and how my mission has changed my life. He told me he felt a warm feeling in his chest and that meant he was proud of me. 😊 I tried to follow it up with some missionary discussions but he told me he "wasn't looking to buy". 😂 it was still a tender moment and I'm thankful I had it! 

Thursday I had THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!! A giant thank you to all who sent me letters, cards, and packages! I got totally spoiled. I'm so thankful for the kindness that was shown to me and I wish I had more words to accurately express my gratitude. We started out the day with institute with a group of our wards elderly people and then went to lunch with the Rabys and an elderly sister from our ward. Then we stopped by some other people's homes to drop in for a visit and we felt spiritually uplifted with the discussions we were able to have. And, as we were walking out of one of the homes, we saw that the guy from last week who thought we were JWs, he was outside so we walked up and he was so happy to see us and told us that he did his research and found out that we do in fact support the military! Haha we had a good laugh about that. Then, his girlfriend came outside and was so happy to meet us! We talked to them for some time and then she told us that she is a little interested to know how the ancient civilizations, like the Mayan and Aztec, got there in the first place... I about exploded from excitement. I told her that there are actual ancient records that tell us exactly how. 😉 We gave her a Book of Mormon and she gave us her number in return. SO SO AMAZING!!! 

We finished up with a Relief Society meeting about the Addiction Recovery Program and then knocked on a really kind guys door that we felt we should and got his info to return! It was a great birthday. 

Friday, we met with our girl we're teaching and she brought her friend with her who was also interested and wanted a Book of Mormon! We talked and got to know her and her story a little bit and it was so wonderful. Later that night, Sylvia, an absolutely incredible sister in our ward, picked us up and took us to Chipotle for dinner and then to paint night! We had so much fun and got to know some people there. I even PAINTED A PICTURE. And it looks like what it's supposed to look like! It's a Christmas miracle! 

Saturday, we spent the day with Sylvia and her husband watching Conference. We were able to have the day off because President emailed everyone and told them that we wanted us to rest and rejuvenate and take time to get prepared for new transfers and to work hard. So we came home after conference and decided to go play some tennis. We had fun! It was good to just get out and be together and strengthen our companionship. 

Sunday was also a very relaxed day. We spent the morning session with a wonderful family, the Petersons, at their incredible home on the lake. It's seriously paradise. Then, we headed to the Rabys home to have lunch and finish up conference. 

It was such a wonderful week. I'm very grateful for the time that I was able to spend working hard and then getting to relax and enjoy the feast of the spirit for my soul. I know I keep saying it, but MAN I love General Conference. They are a little toasty toasty and can get serious, but that's my language. I like straight up and serious because then I know that there is very little room to justify or question. And they do it with love! That's the best part. 

I love you all so stinking much! 

Be good, be kind, be missionaries! 

Seek Him and I promise you will find Him and much more. 

Be kind to one another! 

-Sister Young 

The One Where We Don't Support The Military

"To express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

- Thomas S Monson

There's a lot about a mission that can be easy to get discouraged about. The list is long with reasons. Because of this, I have found the importance of gratitude and how vital it is if we want a happy life. Being grateful not only allows us to see God's hand in our every day lives, it allows us to step back and look at the progress we have made through this life. The talk that this quote comes from was one that popped up while I was trying to click on another one. While glitches on phones happen all the time, I believe that I needed to hear it! Gratitude comes in handy especially when we're going through a difficult time. Something that Sister Kepler and I have been doing every night is writing "grotes" which is our made up words for "gratitude sticky notes". We list the things we're grateful for and then put the sticky note on our closet door, the assigned area for them. Its been fun to actually write down what I'm grateful for every night but another heartwarming aspect that comes from this is being able to look at the notes as they accumulate and to see all of the things we're grateful for, each individually and all as a whole. It's a powerful tool, gratitude, and from the mouth of one of God's chosen prophets, if we live with gratitude in our hearts, we can touch Heaven. So, #begrateful! 

This week was so great. A couple highlights:

We tracted into a neighborhood I've been feeling particularly drawn to for quite a while and before we started, we noticed that one of our less active members lived there so we walked down to where she lived. We knocked and she let us in and we had a wonderful conversation about church and her family and how things were going. I felt prompted to share a message with her about Jesus Christ and that lead her to mention some things she was struggling with. My heart went out to her and I was filled with gratitude to my Heavenly Father to leading me to her because she was dealing with doubts and questions that I, too, had faced before I chose to serve a mission. I kept feeling like I needed to invite her to read the Book of Mormon but I kept asking other questions because I was too scared to be pushy! Lol 😅 I haven't really gotten this whole bold missionary thing down yet, but I'm getting there! The time came and I asked her if she had read the Book of Mormon recently and she paused for a moment and said: " you know, that's a book I haven't cracked open in a while." Sister Kepler and I then had the opportunity to testify of the importance and power of the book and how it would answer her questions like it did ours. She asked us if we would come read with her and spend time around her grandson and show him what it feels like to be around us. We happily accepted and gave her a hug and left feeling blessed and uplifted by our visit. 

While we were walking away from her home, we saw a gentleman getting out of his car and walking to his door. We waved and asked him how he was doing and he said: "I'm doing pretty good for an old guy, thanks for asking!" We continued to walk and then decided to stop by on our way back. We knocked on his door and he opened and came out and had a wonderful conversation with us. He isn't interested in organized religion but he loves God. We talked about how feeling God in our everyday lives is so important and how it can be a driving force for good. We then asked if he had come across the Book of Mormon and he said that he had heard of it but hadn't read it and then told us that the only thing he doesn't like about our church is that we don't support the military. I about laughed out loud! Actually, I think I did. Haha we told him that we absolutely do and made sure he had the right church. :) we gave him a book of Mormon and I told him that it even talks in the Book of Mormon that this is a promised land, a land to be proud of and respected! He said he would look into it. :) it was awesome! 

We had a great lesson with our people that we're teaching. They're awesome and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to teach them. They're passionate about Jesus Christ and are filled with the desire to do the right thing. It's inspiring to be "teaching" them; I feel like they are teaching me! 

On Thursday, we had interviews and it was a good day. It was filled with district unity and love for each other. We had a great time discussing goals and how we can love and support each other in our efforts. Then, our stake president, President Keogh, came and spoke to us and asked us what ways we would like to be involved in the wards and stake to get them fired up about missionary work. He gave us awesome pointers and left us with a powerful testimony. He's the next Jeffrey R. Holland. He's a powerhouse with the best Scottish accent. He's like the Gerard Butler of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I keep wanting him to go into a Sparta mode but he's just the coolest guy. He also came and spoke in our ward conference on Sunday. He talked about the power of God's Love and how much he loves us. It was awesome because we had some non-members in the congregation so I'm sure they felt the spirit! 

On Saturday, we volunteered to be race marshals for the Bentonville Half Marathon and 5K. We had to wake up pretty stinking early to get there on time but we were excited to help! We were assigned to help on the 5K course and then go help the Half Marathoners. We cheered people on and they loved it! We saw a lot of people we knew and a lot of people we didn't! It was really fun to have people say hi to us and to hear "Thanks, Sisters!" as we cheered them on. They knew who we were! It was a wonderful experience and I'm glad we did it! We got a lot of time out in the public and were able to serve. It was awesome! 

This week was so great. The work is going wonderfully. The gospel is restored and God is ushering in his final dispensation and is preparing us every moment for our eternal lives with Him. I'm blessed to be out here in the work of the kingdom and I'm thankful for the love and prayers I get from back home. You are all incredible. I love you dearly! Be grateful, be bold, and be loving! Be kind to one another! 

-Sister Young 

Service tracting

5:30 in the morning, ready for service!

Elder Rhodes, our ZL, is dying. (Going home) we did a clue theme

District photo

Uno during lunch to keep up the fun!

I love worms! I don't know why! 

I found a worm and I love worms. So I put the worm in an acorn top and set him sailing in a puddle!