April 27, 2015 "Busy as a Bee...."

Chilly at the game!

Tripanion: Sister Hunt, Sister Zimmerman

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona – Northern California
Snail Mail:
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission
5931 West 96th Street
Bloomington, MN  55438-1715

Hey Ya'll!!!!

 Monday, April 20, 2015:

    Today we didn't do a whole lot of fun stuff. We are still trying to get our apartment in order, so to help Sister Hunt went through her clothes and tried EVERYTHING on! Sister Zimmerman and I laid on our beds and were the judges of the outfits.  Both of us fell asleep while she was modeling! That was funny! Oh my, we had dinner with the cutest couple today named the Murrays! They are having a baby girl on Cinco de Mayo! Seriously they are just so adorbs and so vintage. Their little house is decorated so cute! We love them! Her belly is so adorable too! We kinda have a little battle with the Elders to see who can get the cutest families; we beat them, big time. After, we went to someone’s house who was in a really bad mood. To make a long story short, the three of us left pretty upset. (possibly in tears)  It's hard when people are hurtful. So, we went to McDonalds after that appointment to get an ice-cream and a DC. #itwasaroughnight

Tuesday, April 21, 2015:

Faith's Softball game!

    Today we did some service for Sister Lucianne E. We then had the opportunity to go to Faith's softball game with her Mom, Charity. It was fun to see her play and to be able to support her! Except for the fact Minnesota decided to be bi-polar and start snowing super hard! On top of that the wind was blowing. We were all f r e e z i n g!!!!!  Faith's team won! (Of course) We then went to Desirae's and had a little lesson on the priesthood. She made us some dessert. nachos #delicious  After that we went to Annika's house to teach her about the ten commandments! It was a really fun lesson! I think this is one of my faves to teach besides chastity ;) Teaching about chastity is always such a crack up with the youth! While we were with Annika, we asked her if she had been praying about baptism. She told us she had, and that she felt good about May 9^th!!!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015:

Trying to keep warm!  

      Today I had a really bad headache. Let's just say I did not function my best during the day time! We had a lesson with Shania and Faith tonight. Faith wanted to do my eyebrows, so I told her she could if she listened really good during the lesson! It was great! We had a good lesson on the Plan of Happiness and then I got my eyebrows done! Win!!!! Win!!!! We taught Shania who is 11, “chastity” on the simplest level and she was soooo squirmy. It was HILARIOUS! She was hiding behind her sweatshirt and we just couldn't help but laugh! I love being a missionary haha!!!

Thursday, April 23, 2015:

"Chastity lessons!"

    This morning we had a lesson with Hope. We talked about the priesthood and the important role that it plays in our lives. I have come to realize the importance of the priesthood in a home as I have been on my mission. I am grateful for the worthy priesthood holders that I have grown up with like my Daddy and Bryan! I hope that when I get home and find an eternal companion that I may find one that honors his priesthood, who realizes he holds the authority to act in God's name. We had district meeting today which was really good. We talked a lot about the planning, charity, and goals. There is so much that we can improve on, but we need to remember that as long as we try our best Heavenly Father will take care of us. After that Sister Hunt and I went to Bishop's meeting with the Elders. It takes a long time to talk about what happens here in the Lake NoCHAOS  Ward!

Afterwards, we went to Bloomington to pick up Sister Zimmerman. We then drove over to Christina's house to have a lesson with her. She walked in, sat down, opened her Book of Mormon and was like "this is what I thought about what I read..." she loved it and dove right into the scriptures…… it was awesome! We had to stop her so we could say a prayer! The Spirit is so strong! When she asks questions you can tell she sincerely has a desire to know the truth!!!! I know it's not the best to say it; but she IS GOLDEN!!!!

Friday, April 24, 2015:

     Today when we went into the office Sister Graff handed me two packages!!!! Thanks Parentals!!!!! Also, big shout outs to my Munchkins!!!! And the Reese's for writing me all the time, President Hilton,  Aunt Sue for the emails and the cute Easter card, Ann Pettit for the continual cuteness in the mail, Kim Osborne for the adorable package, Bailee Seguin for the letters, Randi Hulet for the cute letters,  bracelet, Denice for the cards, and so many others! I really appreciate all the support I am receiving via prayer, email, letters, packages, and love!  I need to be better at writing ya'll back.... I will work on it this week...hopefully:)  Oh anyways, back to Friday... we went and visited Sister Page and had a great discussion on the temple! I love that place!!!! Then we got stuck in rush hour traffic in downtown Mpls.....  I hate traffic. We get stuck in it too often if you ask me. We went after we picked up Sis. Zimmerman from Bloomington to have a lesson with Summer!!! It went fabulous, as usual.  Then Hope came to the church with Charity to have her Baptismal Interview!!!!!! IT WAS AWESOME! She passed!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED #THECHURCHISTRUE!!!!!!! She set May 5 for her baptism! To top the night off, we had another lesson with Desirae and her kiddos tonight about the prophet. It was awesome!

Saturday, April 25, 2015:

    Today we did a ton of service. Saturday is definitely a great day to have people take us up on our invitation to help with any service they need. We went to “the girls” today to help Charity get ready to put their house on the market. She can't do all the stairs in their house, so they are looking for a one level instead of a three story. We helped put books in boxes, cleaned shelves, dusted, organized their movies and cd's, then we went through a bucket of socks to find any that matched. Next, we patched holes in the wall. That was really fun! We took a lunch break and went outside only to see hobos in the park. We called the cops because it is a private park and they should not have been there. It was fun to see them come get the guys!!!!! We finished the night by having a lesson with Mykea tonight using Jenga! It was great!

Sunday, April 26, 2015:

    Okay, where has the week gone?? Last night around 11:30, Charity called us saying Hope was in the hospital throwing up blood. She was really scared and asked us to pray with her on the phone. I couldn't sleep after that, so I stayed up and prayed for her. This morning we looked at our phone and saw that Hope was home and okay, she had pulled a muscle in her chest which caused her to have that weird reaction. The doctors said it was strange. Hope showed up at church with her sisters! Poor thing! She was so tired she fell asleep on me during sacrament. Apparently, she didn't get home till 4 am.  I told her to go home after sacrament meeting to rest. We had SEVEN investigators to church though, so that was really good.  We had an awesome Relief Society lesson by the Stake RS Pres. Sister Murphy. It was based on John 15:5; look it up!!!! Later in the day we went to Sarah's house to check up on her and the cutie had made us fondue!!!!! I love that kid. We went to Mykeas and had a lesson and lunch! We had dinner with the Krist family, it was fun, and it was nice enough
 

that we ate outside. Andrea Stark who is in my ward here asked if I knew people that danced.  Long story short figured out that she knows Madeleine and Chloe!!! So cool!!!! We went and visited the Kecks. They are fun to talk to. We shared a message and had a lovely time.

Happy Birthday to Ashley Schow!
Well I love you all. Thanks for all the support!!! I love you to the Moonisota and Back!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Ashlee Young

April 20, 2015 "The Power of 3!! "

Tripanion: Sister Hunt, Sister Zimmerman

"The Power of 3! Sister Young, Zimmerman & Hunt"

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona – Northern California

Snail Mail:

Minnesota Minneapolis Mission

5931 West 96th Street

Bloomington, MN  55438-1715

“The Power of 3 !!!”

Hey Ya'll!!!!!

Lots has been happening this week!!!! 

Monday April 13: 1 year and I will be home! How weird is that??? Today we got a call from President Forbes. He informed us that we would be receiving a new companion! Her name is Sister Emma Zimmerman. She has a hurt knee and is on crutches. She will be an office missionary during the day, but will be with us morning, night and on the weekend. We were both really nervous to have this change, but we prayed and knew that everything will be okay. 

Tuesday April 14: Today was a really busy day. We had to go to the apartment to help the office bring another bed into the apartment and to make room for our new comp! We went teaching with Elder Stacey to Annika's lesson. He is the bomb.com! We talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and also his new calling as an Area Seventy. Read Luke 10! At least I think that is where it was...anyways it went really well! 

Wednesday April 15: This morning we drove to Bloomington to pick up Sister Zimmerman. We got there early so we listened to a talk by Elder Holland called;  “How do I love Thee?” It was really good I suggest you listen to it! He just has the best voice so don't read it. Watch it or listen to it! It was at a BYU conference I think....

"Elder & Sister Stacey"

     So when Elder "Fuzz" (Just for “Perrywinkle” lol….) and Elder Marshall Henrie, (the AP's) showed up we talked to them and they told us about a shoot-out that they saw this morning when they were working out. The story was pretty funny, but scary. Then we met Sister Zimmerman! We then headed to Interviews with President, which took a really long time! It was a really stressful day, to say the least. We went to see Sister Hill and she fell asleep! We were singing hymns, primary songs, snapping, and even clapping. She was out like a light. We were dying laughing! It was sad, but yet so funny! So, we said a prayer and finally we woke her up to lock the door!  We went to Desirae's to have the Elder's give her a blessing. She hasn't been doing well.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

"Elder Stacey, he is the BOMB.COM !!!!

Thursday April 16: Happy Birthday to Olivia and Savannah!!!! We had a lesson with Hope this morning.  It went really well.  We talked to her mom a lot and talked about baptism for Hope! I am super excited! We then took Sister Zimmerman to the office. Next, we went to the Church for Bishop's meeting. We asked the Elders for a blessing because we have both been really stressed and overwhelmed. Elder Fuller gave me a great blessing. Brother Shaffer took us to Pepitos for lunch. It was delish, especially the Nachos Lupitas!!!! Later we went to McDonalds to get some ice cream and talked to a really cool lady! Hopefully we will see her again! We picked Sister Zimmerman up from the office. I feel like a chauffeur with how much driving there is now going to Bloomington twice a day. But it is fun because it's a little road trip. Like a really little road trip! We then stopped by and met with a “media referral” we received. Her name was Rachelle. Her dog was huge and was trying to jump over the front yard fence.  We were like; “Oh no!, How are we going to get in there?”

"The Garden - Service Project!"

Luckily, she came out and told the dog to be quiet. It actually was a cute dog. She runs a women’s group that learns about religion. She loves our Family History website. She is a huge family history buff! She wants us to come to her group to teach them about our church.  She wants the information to be from the correct source. We are so stoked!!!!! We went to Mom's and had dinner with Debbie and Luis. There was a huge siren that went off outside and we were like what the heck is that? IT WAS A TORNADO WARNING!!!!!!!! AHHH, WE WERE ALL FREAKING OUT!!! (We being my Comps and I) It was the loudest siren. Apparently, a guy on the 11th floor of their building died when he heard the siren. He had a heart attack. Kind of sad and weird. But we talked about the Word of Wisdom and we did exercises together.  It was fun! Man, it is hard to go to sleep with all these Sisters! We just want to talk!

"Silly Faces!"

Friday April 17: We did a service project for Minneapolis and cleaned out the gardens by Lake Harriet.  They are so pretty. I dared Sister Fastidio to eat a worm, also Elder Tillotson. They both ate it…….. hahahhahaha gross!!!!  The garden reminded me of LaCaille, but not really. We got ice cream at DQ after; it felt so nice outside!!!!

"The Power of 3, Sisters Hunt, Zimmerman & Young!"

Saturday April 18: We went to Snuffy's for lunch which was really fun. We also helped Sister Edgington clean her garage. We then went to an appointment with Elder Ford and Fuller to a girl named Christina who they met at the drive thru at Mickey D's.  She is 18 and wants to take the lessons. The spirit was so strong when we were teaching her! She is amazing!!!! We went to McDonalds to try to have a cool experience like the Elders.... didn't happen. Instead we got Sister Hunt her first McChicken ever.  It was really fun!  We are silly together!!!

Sunday April 19: We went to church and after Sarah made dinner for us. Then we went to President's fireside. 

Love ya to the Moonisota and Back!!!

Sister Ashlee Young

"Exotic Fruit!"

"Me & Sister Hunt"

"Tender mercy, watched part of Edina's boys LAX practice!"

"I miss my stick and team!!!" Edina's boys LAX.

"Sisters with Annika"

   

April 13,2015 "It feels like the Savior is hugging me!"

"Walking around Lake Harriett with Sister Stacey this morning!!!!!
 Her Husband President Rulon Stacey is in our mission
presidency and was just made an area 70!!!! so now Elder Stacey!
My fave peeps here!"

Companion: Sister Hunt

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Snail Mail:                                     
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission  

5931 West 96th Street

Bloomington, MN  55438-1715

“It feels like the Savior is hugging me!”

      Can I just say how grateful I am to be serving here in the most beautiful mission, in the most beautiful area, with the most beautiful people, the most beautiful mission President and Wife, and with the best companion ever! I am so humbled as I look around at Heavenly Father's beautiful creations! I love the springtime with the renewal of all the plants, and the sunshine! Oh, the beautiful sunshine that we have seen the past week reminds me of my Savior and Redeemer. The light and the warmth that the sun gives us aren’t even comparable to the light and the warmth that “The Son” gives to us. I have been able to see the miraculous change in not only myself, but in my investigators, recent converts, and members as we have all been coming closer to The Son this past week. I feel as though everyone has been spiritually nourished this past week.  Hearing from our beloved prophet and his apostles, there is a literal glow that you can see and feel when someone has been inspired and uplifted. This week there have been many tender mercies to me, the number one tender mercy being the spring sun. As I mentioned, the sun reminds me of “The Son.” When I feel discouraged and I am doubting my ability to fulfill this calling, I notice the warm sunshine and it feels like the Savior is hugging me and saying it's okay, and that I can do it. I know that I am called here to do the Savior's work.  As I strive to humble myself I know that I can help Him with the sacred work here in MMM.

"Blowing a kiss your way!"

 Wow, Madies letter was cool! It takes me back to the “good ole days” in the MTC, haha!!!!

I love you all sooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you to the Moonisota and back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxoxoxox@@@

Sister Young

Here is this week’s run down:

"Funny Faces"

Monday: We saw Desirae and her crew. They are doing really good. I have seen a change in them since I first got here. Desirae said she wants to work towards the temple, so we are going to help her prepare to go. We sang some fun songs with the kids and then played games with them.

"With Desirae's kiddos"

 Tuesday: We had an early appointment at 7:30 am with Hope. Her other sisters leave for school around this time so they aren't there to bug her. It is super early for a lesson but it seems to work out well for Hope. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom. Our District Leader wants to come to one of our lessons with her, so we actually set up another one for that day. So, Hope got two in one day! We also taught Shania and Faith. Faith actually listened during this lesson because we tried to make it more fun for her. We all drew the first vision and then had her explain what happened. It was fun to see all the pictures at the end.

"Service Project organizing the
 American Girl house dolls, & clothes  so fun!!!!

 Wednesday: We helped Sister Edgington with some service. We helped her organize her daughters' dollhouse. We organized all the “American Girl” doll clothes and accessories. We had a fun time in the little doll house. It is in the space under the stairs so it is a perfect little dollhouse. They had it set up really cute in there. They had miniature furniture and mini pictures on the wall. It brought us back to our childhood days, so we enjoyed ourselves. 

"American Girl Dolls!"

 Thursday: We had our first district meeting since the transfer. It was a good training that we received. We talked about our potential, our calling as a missionary and how we can use that to find people. We are representatives of Jesus Christ so we shouldn't be afraid to talk to people and to be bold with them; especially in finding.

We had a meeting with the bishop after our district meeting like we always do. That night we had a lesson with Annika. Summer and the Bloomington Elders (our district leader) came with us to this lesson. We usually sit on Annika's bed for the lessons because there isn't anywhere else to sit. The Elders didn't want to sit on her bed but we told them just to sit on it. They were acting a little awkward. Haha! Oh, and to make it even more awkward, we taught the law of chastity. The lesson went well. Annika was a little weirded out, but other than that it was good.

"Sister Hunt in Doll house!"

 That night we also saw a less-active couple, the Walkers. They are a cute old black couple. Summer also went with us to see them. Ed was having a hard time with his TV and thought it was broken. We tried to tell him he needed new batteries in his remote but he said he just put them in there. It was pretty funny to see my companion and him go back and forth about the remote. It was the remote that was the problem so we got it fixed.

 Friday: We had a pass off lesson with a lady named Maria with the Elders. She has been one of their investigators. This lesson was just to transition from them teaching her to us teaching her. The lesson went well. We talked about general conference and showed her the new Easter video. The Elders then came with us to Desirae's house to bless her home. They say they see evil spirits so the Elders helped with that. I guess they had their home blessed before and the kids were really crazy. They were much better this time and were quiet the whole time during the prayer. They really are improving in their behavior.

 Saturday: We stopped by a referral we received and set up a return appointment with him. His name is Win Udomlarp.  He is about 16 years old. We also helped Sister Edgington again with some cleaning in her house. That night we saw Summer and had a lesson with her.

We really have been crazy busy!!!!

"Sister Hunt is being weird!"

"writing Bryan a birthday card!!!!"

Saturday it was snowing, melted by the afternoon>

Sister Hunt, 9 months out!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"huge snowflakes, size of cotton balls!"

"Beautiful Lake Harriett"

"More snow!"

Saturday snow, melted fast!

 "dancing around the park with the girls"

April 6, 2015 "6 Months, General Conference & Easter!!!"

"6 Months.....WHAT!!!"

Companion: Sister Hunt

Hometown: Mesa, Arizona

Blog: http://sisterashleeyoung.blogspot.com/   

Snail Mail:

Minnesota Minneapolis Mission

5931 West 96th Street

Bloomington, MN  55438-1715

April 6, 2015

“6 Months, General Conference & Easter!!!”

Heyyy!!!!!! 

    This was a crazy week, as usual.....  All of our Gators were out of town for spring break, so we knocked on a lot of doors!!!!! My knuckles are bloody! Jk Not really but they did hurt!

Tuesday, March 31:

"Sister Hunt broke her foot
April Fooling the Elders!"

Today we officially handed over the keys from our old apartment. It was kind of sad to see our free washer and dryer go away. We had dinner with Summer tonight. The girls are in Florida this week for Spring Break so we have no life without them. I am so excited for them to come home!  We saw Desirae and the Rugrats. It was Manuel's 7th Birthday, so it was fun to celebrate with him!!!! He's a cute kid!!! 

Wednesday, April 1:

Today I hit my 6 month mark!!! What the heck?!? How did that even happen? I swear I just got here!!! Transfers were also today.  I am so grateful that I don't have to participate in that this time around:) We went to Desirae's and talked about the temple and patriarchal blessings today. Then Mykea had us over for dinner. That was fun.

We pulled an April Fool’s joke on Elder Ford and Elder Fuller. I called them and told them that Sister Hunt broke her foot and we were in an Urgent Care. They were really concerned and totally bought it. (I guess I got good at prank calls when I was younger in the LCG!!!) We called them back 20 minutes later and said the doctor came in and confirmed that it was an April Fools Fracture!! Hahaha! They didn't get it for a minute and we were dying laughing!!! They were like I can't believe we fell for that, we should've known we would get punked by you two!!!! It was soo funny!!!!!

"Thunder & Lighting Storm!"

 I thought of Madie going into the MTC today.  I reflected on my first couple of days....hahaha. She will have so much fun, but she is going to be so tired!!!! 

Thursday, April 2:

"Bald Eagle"

Today we went and did a service project with Minneapolis City Service People. We took the snow fences off of Lake Calhoun. It was so pretty all thawed out!!!! I saw cute ducks and we saw a Bald Eagle flying over us. It was Awesome!!! Afterwards we all went to Arby's for lunch!!!!  We had dinner with the Wortley's which was really fun. We went contacting around the Lake but it wasn't as effective as we would've hoped.  But that's okay, it was worth a shot! Today was Brittany's birthday so we took her a little gift and sang her the best Happy Birthday song ever!

"Poor Sister Hunt!"

Friday, April 3:

Today was kind of a low key day, as both of us felt really sick for some reason? We took it easy for the first half of the day. Later in the day we saw Desirae.  After seeing her, we went to meet up with the Elders for a pass-off appointment. They ended up cancelling, so we went and taught Summer.

Saturday, April 4, 2015:

GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!! I will send home a written letter with what I thought from each speaker... too much to type lol!!!!  We went to dinner with the Hermanas and Elder Ford and Fuller at T-bell, it was so fun! After that we went “knocking.”  We had some interesting experiences.  One was with a really creepy “high” and drunken guy......got to love the crazies!!!!

Service at Lake Calhoun

Sunday, April 5, 2015:

Had a blast at conference again!!! Had the opportunity to go to a baptism as well to show support for the Hermanas!!!! We saw some of the peeps yesterday! Finally everyone got home from spring break! We missed all of our girls so much!!!!!!

I love you all!!!!!

Love you to the Moonisota and Back!!!!

Seester Young

PS: Here are a couple of more details from Sister Young’s companion Sis. Hunt.  We wanted to share them as well.

"Lake Calhoun"

“Last Monday we spent the entire p-day with the sisters in our district and with President and Sister Forbes. We ate lunch at a place called The Nook. There was like 14 of us eating lunch. There were two young moms that liked us I guess. These two moms decided they wanted to pay for half our meal for everyone at our table. It was sweet of them. (Oh, and after we have a meal for zone conference we sing a hymn to say thank you to the people who made the food.) Sister Forbes decided that we should do that for those two ladies. So in this restaurant we sang “I am A Child of God” to say thank you. It was a little awkward at first but ended up being good. Some people thought we were weird but I think the two moms and their kids enjoyed it. The waiter also liked it.”

Photobomb by Elder Ford & Fuller!"

“President Rulon Stacey, of the mission presidency, got called to be an Area Seventy in conference. He is in our current ward so it was cool to hear a familiar name. It was pretty cool.”

Arby's after the service project!

"Sister Hunt, me & Elder Castillo"

"Beautiful sunset"

"Sunset"

"New Glasses!"

"Sister Hunt with the flying kitty!"

"Flying kitty, she liked it!!!"

Easter Outfit - "Ole'!"

"Brother Schaffer"

"Baby Claudia"

"Sister Hunt"

"Lake Calhoun"

"O l e'!"

"Cute Duckies"

"Oh, I broke my sunglasses so,

 I bought these polk a dot beauties!! ;) " 

"Viking Stadium"

"Service day at Lake Calhoun"

"Here we are doing what we do best,

 being goofballs!"

"City"