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"17 Months!!"
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Area: Shingle
Creek Minnesota
Companion:
Sister Natasha Neville
Hometown: Bakersfield
California
Snail Mail:
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission
5931 West
96th Street
Bloomington,
MN 55438-1715
Email:
ashlee.young@myldsmail.net
Dear Family & Friends,
We have heard from Sister Young the last two weeks, but have
not received her letters. We want to update you with what is happening in the
MMM.
March 7, 2016: Sister
Young just passed her 17 month mark in the mission field. She was sad to leave her tri-companionship
with Sisters Steadman and Dumas in Bloomington, but she is excited to embark
into her new ‘last' area Shingle Creek.
Her new companion Sister Natasha Neville is from Bakersfield
California. Due to a change at the MTC
effective March 1, 2016, the native speaking missionaries are now staying 3
weeks instead of 2 weeks. As a result, Ashlee's last transfer will be 7 weeks
long.
March 14, 2016: April 1 will mark Sister Young's 18 months
in the mission field, (no fooling.......lol!) but due to the last transfer
being extra-long they have asked her to extend an extra 3 weeks. We finally
received it officially in writing this week! Sister Young will be coming home
April 20 @ 1:15!! She will be
speaking/sharing her testimony in church on Sunday, May 1 at 11:00. We are so excited for her to be completing
her mission soon! Here is her (long awaited for us!) update.
Dee
& Tami
Hey!
Here is my email for this week and last week. Sorry it has
taken me so long to get it to you...
Hey everyone! Here is the update on life here in Minnesota
from the past 2 weeks, lo siento for it being so late.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016: Transfer Day
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"Sister Nevville"
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Goodbye Bloomington, Hello Shingle Creek! So, Sisters
Steadman, Dumas and I went to the church for transfer meeting. I saw a lot of
my old comps, which was really fun! It was weird because I saw a bunch of
missionaries that I am not going to see until they come home! Turns out, that
was kind of sad. My new companion is
named Sister Neville. She is from Bakersfield, California and has been out one
transfer less than me. I got to see my "little bro" Elder Johnston,
which was really fun. I have really missed that kid! Before we left transfer meeting, I asked Elder
Johnston if he would give me a blessing to kick start my last transfer. I am so
grateful for the priesthood and for worthy men who hold that authority from
God. Wednesday night, we had dinner with the Larson family. They made classic
Minnesotan Chicken & Wild Rice Soup! Afterwards, we went and met an African
family. Some of them just got baptized
in February! Their names are John & Martha Kingsley-Ainoo! They are so
nice! They have a little 2 month old baby named Tremayne, who is so tiny! Their
niece and nephew Jamilla and Jayson are two of our investigators. Jamilla is 9
going on 16 and Jayson is 11. They are a really sweet family. I am so excited to get to know them better! When
we walked in John sat down (before I forget, John was a preacher back in
Africa) John told me what a wonderful service I was doing and how the Lord
blesses those who serve him. He then said “you are going home this next month?” I said yes. He said; “the Lord is going to
bless you my dear Sister, with a husband and family through Jesus Christ.” Ha,ha…..
got to love Africans! They have so much
faith, and love to promise blessings, which is awesome! Afterwards, we went to
Nikki & Christie's home for a lesson. They are really great! They call us
their "scheduled friends that share a message” lol! The first thing they
offered when we came in was a “pop” and guess what? It was a Diet Coke! From
that moment, I knew we would get along
great! We had a great lesson with them. We truly followed the Spirit even word
for word. I absolutely love when I have no idea what I said when we come out of
lessons because I know for a fact that the lesson was solely taught by the Spirit!
After that lesson we went to our apartment where we live with the North
Minneapolis Hermanas; Hermana Brittner y Hermana Moore! They are so awesome! I
am super excited to get to know them better.
Thursday, March 3, 2015:
This morning we went and worked out in the garage because it
was too cold to go to the other building and use the gym. We then had our first
day of rotating between 4 sisters taking showers. Let me tell you, I haven't
showered that fast in a long time, lol! While waiting for our turns Hermana Moore
and I bonded over breakfast. She is such a sweetheart! I really have enjoyed
spending time with her and the other Sisters! We had service at CEAP which is
kind of like ACBC & VEAP, but different. I think I like the other 2 better, but that is
okay. I am glad to serve in the
community. It was also nice to have some "tender mercy music" as we
were volunteering! So Sister Neville really enjoys cooking, and she is a great
cook! I am super stoked because I won't have to cook very much this transfer
lol! When we came home she made crab ravioli which was actually really good!
Afterwards, we visited DAN, then made some calls and tried to stop by to visit some
people. We had what is called "Cottage Meeting." It is basically a
study group. It was good. We had it at the Passal's home. I was able to meet quite a few members so that
was nice. We then "heart attacked" a bunch of members that we haven't
been able to get in contact with over the past few weeks. I seriously love when
we do that it is so fun! We came home and did the usual... We all decided to do
"family prayers" together, before we go to bed each night to
strengthen our relationships with one another and of course with Heavenly
Father. Hermana Moore then went to the kitchen to drink a little bit of apple
juice because an old wives tale says that if you drink apple juice before you
go to bed it will make you have dreams!
So, we drank some apple juice, brushed our teeth, called it a night, and
rolled into bed to give the apple juice dream machine a try!
Friday, March 4, 2016:
This morning when I woke up I didn't feel so great. The good
news was that I did have a dream because of the juice! Sister Neville woke me
up by serving me breakfast burritos in bed! They were super good! I seriously
felt so spoiled! We had weekly planning.
It went okay. The first weekly planning session of a transfer into a new
area is always a little bit harder because you don't really know who people
are, so your companion is flying solo somewhat. During planning meeting, it was
pounding snow! That was kind of a
bummer. ( of course this winter honestly hasn't been that bad, so I can deal
with a few snow storms) Also, during planning Sister Neville made homemade
bread. That was really fun to have the house smell of fresh bread! We saw John
& Martha and crew. We shared a great lesson, so that was fun! We then went
and saw Nikki & Christie again. Nikki has 2 big dogs that think they are
super small and they love attention. They are great, but it's just too bad that
I get itchy afterwards. OH MY GOSH!! I ALMOST FORGOT! We were driving to our
appointment and when we were stopped at the light there was an ambulance on the
side of the road with a few people gathered around a body with a sheet over it!
THERE WAS A DEAD PERSON IN THE STREET! It was so weird! Especially because it
was a dreary day! So sad.
Saturday, March 5, 2016:
We had coordination meeting to start off the day. We stopped
by quite a few people, with not a ton of luck. We then stopped by a less active
woman named Sister Dossen. When we
walked in her home she was wearing this cloth thing and let's just say I saw
way too much of that woman during our lesson! #gottolovethatafricanlife! Haha!
We also stopped by another less active lady named Ifeoma and had a pretty good
lesson with her as well. We had a conference call with the Zone and then we
called it a night.
Sunday, March 6, 2016:
So today I met a lot of people at church. This ward is
pretty small though, compared to my last couple of areas. Jamilla sat by us at
church. The whole time she kept on smelling my hair because it smelled good.
haha It was kind of awkward but was a nice compliment at the same time, lol!
When we went outside it was 60 degrees and Sister Neville was wearing her
winter coat! Hahaha! We then went to the Taylor's for a lesson before dinner.
They are a really nice family. Hermana Taylor is from Mexico. She and her
husband both served missions! She is really cool though! Time and time again, I
kick myself for not continuing to take Spanish. I think I want to take a
Spanish class when I get home. I don't know really, it is just a thought....
Anyways, we then went to dinner at the Edgington's. The food was really good. She made a Mexican
fried taco wrap thing (she is from Mexico so it was really authentic) We then
went and stopped by some people’s houses with little luck. When we got back to our apartment, we called
it a night with a glass of apple juice:) (Dream on……..!)
Love you to the moonisota and back!
Sister Young
We had dinner at
the Helgeson's home today which was really fun and crazy. They have seven kids under 13 years old! It
was fun and really crazy!! haha! We
had a member ask us to stop by to visit a family after dinner that hasn't come
to church in over a month. It was too
late at night to knock and also have a
lesson because they have little kids. We decided we should still “heart attack”
them. We parked and cut out the hearts,
wrote on them and went back. When we pulled up to the house I had a feeling
Sister Neville should go put them on the door by herself. I told her to leave
her car door open. I would stay in the car and be ready to go. When she was putting the hearts on the door,
their dog started barking like crazy!
She hurried, ran to the car and we escaped just in time for them to not
see us! It was really fun! It felt like
we were spies or something, lol! We then drove over 
Sister Young
