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| "President's Fireside with Richard Paul Evans" |
Area: Anoka
Minnesota
Companion: Sister Kiersten
Mortensen
Hometown: Driggs,
Idaho
Snail
Mail:
Minnesota
Minneapolis Mission
5931 West
96th Street
Bloomington,
MN 55438-1715
Email:
ashlee.young@myldsmail.net
Howdy peeps!
So, I just fell asleep sitting here writing this. That means I don't have much time left to
write an extravagant letter this week. I
will give you a quick run-down of what happened :)
Monday:
After we went to the Sisters P-day activity,
we went and saw Peggy with the Elders. She asked for a priesthood blessing, so
we brought them. It was so funny because she thought they were sooo cute, ha-ha!
Peggy started fanning herself when Elders Johnston and Fabrizio took off their
hats! She told them they should be male models! Sister Mortensen and I just sat
there and died laughing! I am pretty sure the Elders were loving it though, ha-ha!
Tuesday:
Happy "39th" Birthday Mom!!!!
We had district meeting and we talked about having appropriate
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| "Bacon Wrapped Squirrel!" |
invitations for
individuals that we are teaching. For lunch, Elders Dygert and Oldroyd fed us
squirrel again! I am getting used to eating the little buggers. This one tasted
a lot better than the first one. It had
more meat, and seasoning, (which seemed to help) but, I will say squirrel is
just greasy chicken. I never thought I would see a squirrel running around
outside and think "I could eat that for lunch!" I guess a lot of
things have changed about me on my mission ;)
We also went to the doctor to see if they could get me some anti-biotics.
The Doctor we saw I must say I was not too impressed with. All he said was that I had asthma! I am thinking no kidding; I know I have
asthma! Oh, and by the way, I am so-o-o sick!
So I made an appointment with another Doctor that I have seen before for
Thursday. Hopefully we can get some answers there. Later, we had a lesson with Gladys and her
girls. While there we felt inspired to re-establish our purpose as
missionaries. We felt we needed to basically
refresh in their minds why they want the
missionaries in their home. It went really
well. We were able to promise them some
very inspired blessings. I know that it
will be hard for Gladys, but if she simply does what the Lord has asked of her,
He will bless her with so much! I have
never had the Spirit prompt me to promise more powerful blessings on my mission.
I pray that she will heed our council and do as the Lord has asked so that she
can receive the special blessings He has in store for them.
Wednesday:
We had our usual day of ACBC, which is
always entertaining. After the food
bank, we went to Bishop's for our meeting. It went well. He showed me a sneak
peek of Bette's funeral program. It has been nice to be able to talk about her
with so many people in the ward. We have heard such wonderful fond memories of
her. Afterwards Sister Petersen made a delicious dinner of chicken pot pie,
warm rolls, and Oreo cream pie for dessert. Seriously, her food is the
BEST! It is the definition of a
"home cooked meal."
Everyone around here just raves about
her cooking. To top it off, she is such
a sweet lady. We are so lucky because we get to eat there every Wednesday :) We
also had our “Preach my Gospel “class with the Elders. It went well. We talked
about the Plan of Salvation. We had invited some members to role play with us so
that we missionaries could practice teaching in a non-threatening situation. They did really well and it was fun besides!
Thursday:
Nothing too exciting today, except the
fact that it was dang COLD! We were doing service, raking outside with the Elders
and I thought I was going to freeze to death, no joke. The wind went straight
through me. I realized once again that I really am "up north" in
Minnesota! We also went and visited Tina tonight. We talked to her about the one and only
awesome President Dieter Uchtdorf! He is
has such a special ability when it comes to capturing people’s attention!
Friday:
Today,
we went to the Doctor again. I found out I needed some anti-biotics. She
doesn't think I have pneumonia or bronchitis, but she wanted to see me next
week just to make sure. The weird thing is the Elders also had a Dr.'s
appointment at the same place at the same time. So, we all walked in together
and when we were in the back I could occasionally hear their voices. It was really funny! We had weekly planning
which is always.......long, but it was really good. We were able to plan according to the direction
the Spirit. Sister Mortensen is able to help
more now that she has been here for a while and knows a lot more people! We
practiced singing "Choose the Right"
for Bette's funeral tomorrow. Hopefully my voice will be more healed by then.
We had dinner with the Anderson's. They
are the best! Sister Anderson is our "Mom" when we need something. We just call her and ask or if we just need to
talk we call her. It is so nice to be able to do that since we can't call our Moms.
It is so nice to have her to talk to for a listening ear. We then met up with
the Sisters to practice the song. When
we finished practicing the song, we decided we should clean up the church for
Bette's funeral in the morning. So, Sister
Mortensen and I stayed after and cleaned the church. I had a throwback moment.
It felt like I was back at Beehive Brick cleaning away!
Saturday:
Sweet Bette Rinke! What a joy it was to
go to a celebration of her life. I loved seeing the flawless
pictures of her in
her youth. It was amazing to see how many people loved this little woman. She
did so much for so many people. She will forever leave a mark here on the earth.
We sang “Choose The Right” and my
voice healed during the song so that I could sing! Thank goodness for prayers,
lemon and honey! We then went to Zone service, which was raking again. It was so
good. We raked with Sister Hunt. I just love
spending time with her! I can't believe she goes home in ONE transfer! The Sisters
asked us to do a “blitz” with them. We went over to their apartment and talked
for a while. Then after, we had dinner out. Sister Mortensen and I felt impressed to write
Christmas cards to injured soldiers that were put on a table for people to
write. It was really cool! A guy who
worked there gave me a free drink! That was nice to get a fresh Diet Coke! We
then went to Stake Conference! Elder Sitati of the Seventy was presiding. He had Elder Allen who is an area Seventy
with him.
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| "Sister Hunt" |
They asked all of the missionaries to stand
up then they invited us to join them on the stand. It was really cool because they kept turning around
and talking right to us. It was really cool! They talked a lot about the
importance of Ward Council. They also talked about feeding your personal sheep.
They had us make a list of our personal sheep. I want to let you all know if
there is anything you ever need or anything I can do for you, please let me
know. Elder Allen promised everyone there that if they invite the missionaries
into their home they will know who out of their friends who are ready to receive
the gospel. They will be able to help them come to Christ's church. It was so
cool! After the meeting we were able to shake their hands. Elder Allen showed Sister Mortensen and I some
cool things that will be coming up soon for missionaries. He told us we can't
tell anyone, so I can't tell you but can I just say, IT IS FLIPPIN COOL!!!!!!
Sunday:
We had Stake Conference where they
announced our new Stake President. I
have no idea who he is but, I know that he is called of God to serve over the
people here in the Anoka Minnesota Stake. Elder Sitati shared wonderful advice
to families about scripture study. He said; “Parents don't be frustrated with
children asleep on the couch during scripture study. Wake them up for their 5
minute turn and then let them sleep and feel the spirit. Those 5 minutes of
peace and the Spirit will affect them even if they are not functioning to their
fullest.” I thought that was pretty
cool! We went to President's Fireside with Sister Anderson. Richard Paul Evans spoke to us. It was a very
inspirational fireside. We were really able to feel the Spirit. It was fun to
see some people from Lake Nokomis, Stillwater, and of course my MTC peeps!
Anyways, it was a really good night! I will tell you about yesterday next week!
I need to go now. I love you all and
wish you the best this week!
Love you all to the Moonisota and Back!
Sister Ashlee Young
"God
cares a lot more about who we are, and who we are becoming than about who we
once were, he cares that we keep on trying." -Elder Dale G. Renlund
