The One Where My Immune System Gave Up On Me

Hello from the freezing side! 

Daaaang winter, back at it again with the white snow!.. (refer to Daniel with the white Van's quote) 

What a WEEK! We had quite a great week with all the getting used to each other and the ward and the area and everything! It's been fun to get to know people and learn the ropes of the new area. You wouldn't think that the areas would be so different but they are! Driving through Bella Vista, Arkansas is a lot like driving through the Oregon Coast. It's BEAUTIFUL and so lush and... I hate to use this word but it is what it is... moist. It's really such a beautiful place here. And the people are so kind. I think I'm gonna like it here! 

We are meeting with two women, Amber and Nikki, who come from strong Baptist beliefs and we get together to talk about the similarities and differences in our beliefs and I have found out that I am a very passionate person when it comes to religion! Oh man, I gotta cool it down sometimes. I can just feel the spirit testify truths to me as I speak and I know with assurance that they are true and I try so hard to bring that knowledge to them. I seem to always forget that people have their agency. Oops. Haha. But they still love me and are very willing to hear me out in all my passionate monologues. It's been good practice. :) Sister Pierce and her old comp had been going to their church every Sunday night so we attended not this last Sunday but the Sunday before that and it was different! I didn't not like it, but it definitely lacked the spirit I'm used to feeling. We both decided that we wanted to cut down on attending because we wanted to spend time with our ward members and getting to know them and so we broke the bad news but she took it well. Amber is very loving and understanding so all is well! 

District council was a good time, getting to know everyone was so fun! It's very different than my last district but in all the good ways. There are some wonderful people with wonderful testimonies and outlooks. I'm very excited to get to know everyone and have a wonderful transfer! After district council, two elders came up to me and told me they heard I was a pretty dope sister missionary. I so humbly replied. "You heard right!" 😂 It feels good that I've got a good feeling attached to my name! I'm spiritually dope, y'all! After district council, we did our first exchanges! I went with our Sister Training Leader to her area in Bentonville and we walked around and tracted! It was pretty fun to talk to her and get to know her a little more. We bonded over our love for The Office and Parks and Recreation. WE had a great time! But by that night, she was starting to feel sick, like a cold kinda sick. So we went to bed early and the next morning, she was full-blown sick. So we met up with the other sisters and her comp was sick too! So we went back to our place and cleaned and disinfected everything! Or so we thought.... I forgot to change my pillowcase, where the other sister slept, and I'M SO SICK! Chest colds are HORRIBLE! I hate them so much! I came down with a cough, stuffy nose, pressure in my chest, headache, the whole nine yards. It's a great time. Haha

So, with me being sick, we were pretty much out for the last two days. I slept more than I have my whole life and I've been trying to get my body back to 100% ASAP. It's been good, though. We listened to wonderful conference talks and became more dedicated to the work and set companionship goals for ourselves. It's been great to have this downtime to really get to know each other and reconsecrate ourselves to the work and to the Lord. 

A couple of people to pray for would be Amber and Nikki, our Baptist friends. We keep meeting with them and we love their spirits! Yoshi and Sister Coy are slowly coming back to church and are just wonderful in their progress. Also, if you'd like, you can add myself and Sister Pierce to your prayers and to help us find where to go. We want so badly to do the work and with a little extra prayers on our side, we know we can do it. 

I want you all to know how much I truly love you and this gospel. Because of the knowledge of the restored gospel, I know I have a deeper sense to love those around me and in my life. Thank you for all that you do for me and that you continue to do for me. I love you all! Until next time! 

- Sister Young 

I didn't take many pics this week but here's one of us after dinner! We love Chinese food! 

The One Where PYT (Pierce-Young Thing) Take Over Bella Vista

God is in the details! 

So much happened this week, it's hard to recall everything that happened. But first and foremost, I love the gospel and I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't it just wonderful?! 

Well, we spent our last P-day getting things ready to leave and tried to get everything packed up (there is a LOT of stuff to pack as a missionary). We also had to clean out our apartment completely so that was another task we had to take on. We worked a lot Tuesday and Wednesday deep cleaning during the day and then going out to do visits at night. It was so difficult to say goodbye to all my ward members. I grew to love them so much; it truly became a second home to my heart. I will love and miss the people of the Highlandville and Nixa wards so much! 

Transfers came on Thursday afternoon. I had so much stuff, its embarrassing. Haha! But the Ozark Elders helped take our things to the church for us because both of us had so much stuff which was awesome because we got to say goodbye to them up at transfers too. We stayed up at the church getting things taken care of and getting our car and sim cards and everything ready for the new Elders taking over our area. We took district pictures and said our goodbyes and my heart was just busting into pieces!! I don't know missionaries do this so often! My heart just broke leaving that wonderful place! I will definitely make a trip back. DEFINITELY. 

Sister Taylor and I made the long haul to Bentonville. About a 3-4 hour drive, depending on if the driver makes a wrong turn or not. #elderwillie #morelikeeldersilly just kidding! He's great! But Sister Taylor and I just held on to each other. We were so scared to leave each other and move on. We really grew to love each other! But we got there and we unloaded all of the stuff and all the Elders were teasing me because they kept pulling things out the trailer saying "who's is this? It's probably Sister Young's!" And they were never wrong. Haha! Then this tiny human yelled my name across the sea of nametags and she came barreling through and clung into me! I already love Sister Pierce SO MUCH! She is such a hugger and just loves everyone! We are essentially the same person, but shes just a mini version. 

Sister Emery Pierce is 5'1 and has been out for just one transfer more than me. She is from South Jordan Utah and has been in Bella Vista for her whole mission. So this will be her 4th transfer here. She's such a hard worker and loves people with her whole heart and nothing less! We have been out working hard in the community since I got here and it's been so wonderful! 

We are teaching and meeting with two women who are best friends and are interested in finding truth wherever they can find it. Amber attends a Baptist church and Nicki goes to a Christian church. They were so excited to meet me and made me feel right at home immediately! Then, on Sunday, we met with Amber and started going through the Come, Follow Me curriculum. She had so many questions and just was okay that our beliefs differed. It was good experience for me! I wanted to just unload all my "gospel vomit" but I had to hold back. Haha 

We then got the opportunity to attend her church with her! It was such a great experience. I felt nothing but love and kindness from the people and they accepted us and loved us just as we were. It was so cool to go out and see how much Christ is loved in other communities. 

If there is nothing else that binds us together, let it be our love for Christ and His gospel. He is a binding force between all of us and even if our outlooks are different, the love is still there, and He asked us to love. So let's just love! 

My new address is 

2551 Forest Hills Blvd

Bella Vista, AR 

72715

I'm so excited for the adventures ahead. I'm excited for what this transfer holds and for the companionship that I already have with Sister Pierce. She's remarkable and I couldn't be more blessed! 

I hope you all know how much I love and appreciate you all! I'm so grateful for your kindness and thoughtfulness. You truly are amazing and are being blessed in so many ways! I love you all! 

- Sister Young 💕

we got snow!

 weekly planning kills us.

One last Elder Hahn selfie on my phone! Feat. Elder Sullivan in the background. 

Sister Pierce and I did service with a member for her neighbor and her daughter kept telling Sister P to "fall asleep". 😂

 The morning of transfers. We didn't want to go. Also, Sister T is stronger than she looks.

The One Where It's Transfers Week

"... he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks."

-1 Nephi 14:1

Don't you just love 1 Nephi?! There are so many wonderful and joyful truths! I felt like my heart was just burning the entire time reading! What are some of your favorite verses? I invite you to share them! Either with a family member, a friend, on Facebook, a co-worker, whatever the case is! Share the scriptures! There is power in their pages. We had dinner with a family Sunday night and we got to sit in on their family discussion from the Come, Follow Me curriculum and I felt the power of the spirit so strong. We are truly blessed to have a loving prophet to guide us and lead us n how we can become better centered on Christ and rely on Him who will help us in more rewarding ways than we know. There is serious power in study time. Make time in your life to study the words of the scriptures and modern-day prophets. It WILL bless your life. I promise! 

This week has been one filled to the brim of good experiences. Lots of service and times of lifting and helping. I never feel closer to the Savior than when I am helping others. We cleaned blinds, floors, bathrooms, picked up toys, we made lunch for our friend who is recovering from an illness, I made her a birthday cake, I gave a member who was dealing with debilitating back and neck pain a massage, and many more! We had a wonderful week filled with the spirit overflowing in our hearts. 

And then transfer calls came. 

So, we were pretty sure Sister Taylor was leaving so she said her goodbyes and I reassured everyone that I was staying BUT I'M NOT! They are shotgunning us out (which means both of us are leaving and two brand new missionaries are coming in) and they are replacing us with Elders! They haven't had Elders in the wards we covered for 4 years so they are very sad to lose sisters. But, they will live! Everything will work out. The elders are moving into a new apartment so we have the task of cleaning out the apartment we're in and moving things over into the new apartment. So we've got our work cut out for us this week. :)

I am going to................. Bella Vista, Arkansas with Sister Pierce! I'll be in the Bentonville Stake and I'm SO EXCITED! It'll be so great! She's a hard worker so I've got my work cut out for me. BUT. Guess what? I can do hard things! Not only can I do them, but I can also do them well! I can do all things with the Savior on my side. I'm excited for new adventures! 

So, one last thing that happened this week. My lovely mission president, President Strong, has been inviting us to have a "mission island" which essentially means to have a goal in mind for our mission. Since day 1, I've been trying to decide and come up with my mission island. I had some but then they just didn't feel right and I was getting discouraged. I kept my eye out for sayings and things that felt would push me to be and become better throughout my mission. And then it came one morning, in personal study. 

1 Nephi 13:37. "... and whoso shall publish peace, yea tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be." 

My island: Publish peace and joy. I want others to feel peace and joy from the words I speak, the actions I make, and from the spirit I give. I want to plant seeds of hope, help, and happiness that comes from the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement. I'm so excited to take this Island and change my heart and perspective to help and serve others the way HE helps and serves me. 

I love you all. I love this gospel. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the reason for my joy and my peace. 

Be faithful and fearless! ❤

- Sister Young

Elder Findlay and Elder Barr. Gonna miss these hooligans

Gonna miss this girl. Lots of tears shed.

the best stake ever

Jenga with some members! So fun! 

The One Where I Went to Nauvoo!

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand 

 - A song called "Oceans" by Hillsong United.

Happy 2019! What a great way to welcome in the New Year! I got to visit Nauvoo with special permission from the mission president. It was such a great experience to be able to go being set apart as a missionary. I felt a sense of closeness to the saints because they sacrificed so much to prosper in the gospel that they knew and testified to be true. It was pretty amazing! We got to attend the temple for a session on January 1st. I'm so thankful I was blessed enough to start out my year so close to my Father in Heaven. I'm so grateful for the blessing and power of His holy temples. GO TO THE TEMPLE, EVERYONE!  

Nauvoo was wonderful. The temple was much needed. We got to visit homes of people who helped with the movement and hear the incredible stories, testimonies, and experiences. We visited Brigham Young's home and a lot of the buildings he was a part of helping. I'm related to him through my dad's mom's side, 5 generations back and I had never felt so close to him until I was in his home, hearing about his hard work and dedication and loyalty to his family, the church, and the Prophet Joseph. I was proud to have his name and to be from a line who knew without a doubt that this is the restored gospel. 

There's plenty of places to stop and learn about how they lived back in those days so we stopped and would learn some things, but we would sometimes ask for the quick version because we had so much to do in such a short amount of time and the people loved it! They would quickly run through their shpeel and then each one would bare a strong testimony. The spirit was so strong everywhere we went! It was just wonderful. They are building a new Visitors Center and I can only imagine how beautiful it's going to be. The one there has such a beautiful spirit inside it.

The statue of Joseph and Hyrum on their horses drives the spirit into my heart deeper than I have ever felt. From either way you look at it, you can see the temple in front of them and then the Mississippi River and the old City of Nauvoo behind them. They worked harder than I will ever have to to bring the truth to this earth today. I was overflowing with gratitude and wonderment when I stood there. Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God and I'm beyond grateful for him and his willingness to seek for truth. 

We finished up the last day before our drive home at Carthage. It has a very unique spirit. It's so sad to hear the story and the turn of events and all the hatred and murder. But I stood in the place where Joseph took his last breath here on earth and awoke to see the face of his Savior. It was a beautiful moment that I will never forget. 

After we got home, we were able to meet up with some of our potentials and with some less active members and members and have wonderful visits with them. We got right back into the roll of things feeling refreshed and more motivated to spread the power of the restored gospel. We had great conversations about the power of the Book of Mormon and how it can be a driving force behind the peace we seek for in this life. I have found that I want to turn to worldly things often (more often than I like to admit) and every time I do, it's momentary and then the peace soon is gone. But when I turn to the Savior and His love and His teachings, I am filled with the nourishment my soul needed. I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows each of us personally and individually, better than we will ever know ourselves. He gives more than we realize; He listens more than we comprehend. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and His love enough for each of us to be the ultimate sacrifice so that we can choose to live with Him again. 

I love you all so much. I'm very grateful for your selflessness and your constant effort to reach out and be Christ-like. Thank you for making the world a better place. 

Until next week! ❤

The One Where Christmas Came and Went

It's beginning to look a lot less like Christmas!

Is it crazy to anyone else how fast Christmas comes and goes? We had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas. Monday, we spent the entire day together as a district and played games at the church, had a white elephant gift exchange, and that night we got to watch a movie! WE all collectively chose Star Wars, The Last Jedi. I personally wanted to watch Solo but all the Elders wanted the last Jedi and Sister Taylor didn't care so we went with that. It was fun! We set up a projector in the church and sat in our Christmas PJs. It was a fun break from missionary work for a little bit. :) Then the next day, we had service at the hospital. We went with a group called Holidays in Hospitals and they had some tables set up with stuff for the patients to go around and pick out things they liked and/or wanted to give to the people coming to visit them that day. And then after they go through, they can come listen to carolers! Well, the missionaries were the carolers first and they all put me in charge so we sang Christmas songs for a while. As a rule, we couldn't sing any songs that had to do with religion so we sang lots of Santa and Rudolph and frosty songs. But something really neat happened afterward!

We were cleaning up to leave and a gentleman who was in the hospital came over with bandages all down his legs and a neck brace on. He had his wife with him and they asked us missionaries to sing because he missed it so we started to sing Silent Night. (which we couldn't sing just a couple minutes before because we were still doing the charity thing.) We got about 4 words in and he started to cry! The spirit was so strong and we all felt it. I turned around because I could feel such a powerful force and there was the entire group of people who set up the place singing with us. They joined in with us and it really made all of our Christmas mornings so much meaningful. After the song, he sat there and said "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, thank you." through his tears. It was so incredible!

Later that day I got to talk with family and I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! I love my family; all of them! They make me so happy and I'm grateful we have the opportunity to talk to them and involve them on Christmas.

We went to a Christmas dinner that night with a family who has 3 little kids and we told all of our favorite jokes at the dinner table and the kids were being just these silly goofballs! It made me feel right at home with all the laughter and joy. I loved my Christmas and all the gifts and wonderful kindness that was shown to me was marvelous. I love you all and thank you so so so much for all your kindness to me!

The next day, we did service all day as a district. Raked leaves, tied blankets, packaged goodies, dug out a tree, AND I BEAT ALL THE ELDERS IN THE DISTRICT IN A STICK PULL. That's right. Ya girls a beast. ;) They were sooo surprised but I did it with no struggle. I'm stronger than I lead people to believe! :) We had a great week finishing up our appointments with people and feeling the spirit.

I love you all and I want you to know that Heavenly Father loves you too. He knows each and every one of you individually and is constantly blessing you with things you need and want. I'm grateful to have Jesus Christ as an example of how to live a life filled with happiness and joy. The gospel is restored! I know it, I live it, I love it!

❤ Sister Young

Elder Hahn and Elder Murdock with me sneaking in

Elder Findlay raked too hard with his man strength. Lol

All us missionaries in our Christmas PJs!