Sis. Young is Called to Serve in the MMM

"Apple of our Eye!!"

October 11, 2014

Our goal at 4:20pm Saturday October 11, was to be able to get the greatest "Honey Crisp Apples" prior to closing from Allred's apple stand, a couple blocks from the MTC. Arrived a couple minutes after 5pm, so Dee sweet talked them into letting us buy a box if he helped push their cart in!

Feeling a bit melancholy and caught in the Stadium traffic, and being so close to the MTC, we circled around just to drive by and reminisce. There is no way we would ever see her, there are just too many missionaries and she would be at dinner at this time of day/night.

We are driving and seeing various groups of missionaries, and much to our surprise there is a group of tall Elders that looked familiar. They were walking from the activity field across the parking lot. There were Sister Missionaries with them. A"short sister" with dark hair in a pony tail occasionally seen between cars, then a taller Sister with curly hair, that looked like a picture we had seen of Ashlee's group. Really rubbernecked, and saw it was her, "Ashlee with her District!"

Dee quickly flipped a "U" turn and we thought don't say anything, act casual and watch, just then as Ashlee approached the crossing walk and we were pulling up to the left had turn lane, she looked at traffic to cross the street. DOUBLE TAKE, "DAD!!" (we were in the convertible) "What are you doing here!"

Proceeded with left turn and flipped another U turn! Then we were in the outside lane right next to the crosswalk! "We really are here, just buying apples, see!" (Holding apples up) Then an Elder came and introduced himself, shook hands and said "I'll have one of those." Sister Young, being barefoot, dropped her shoes, ran to the car, gave a big hug and kiss to mom and a big hand squeeze across the car to dad, took an apple and ran back to the cross walk. "I JUST BROKE A MISSION RULE!!", she yelled. Her district all waved, we proceeded with our left hand turn as they crossed the street, as other Elders had us throwing apples to them!

It truly was innocent, and the stars had to be aligned perfectly for that 30 second window! Felt bad (for just a minute) that we contributed to her breaking a rule, but that was quickly replaced with great excitement, comfort and smiles that we actually saw her. It was truly what we needed for what was ailing us! It happened so fast, like driving the opposite way of a parade, we didn't even get a picture!

The "light emanated" from her, it would literally be the last time we would see her....... proud parents.

Side note: Monday October 13, we received a short little note in the mail that Ashlee had wrote on October 9, and mailed October 10 that said "I could sure use a hug!" Sometimes prayers are answered literally!

Sister Young's "First Letter" on her "First P-Day"....

October 7, 2014

1st Month...... I mean Week at the MTC!!!!

Hello!!!!!

Ahh this week has been so crazy!! I can't believe how time changes when you are in the service of the Lord!!! After you guys dropped me off I was like alright, where's my name-tag? Let's get to work!!!!! After I got my keys and all the crap you need she took me to my residence (apartment) We dropped my bags off and went to my class!! That is where I met my wonderful district!!!

I can't even explain to you how much I love these Sisters and Elders!!! They are the best!!!! We are so connected and we love each other so much!!! I then met my companion Sister Turner!! She is the cutest thing ever!!! She is from Hyde Park Utah (Logan area) she played lax at USU!!! She is truly an amazing person and she has strengthened my testimony so much!! I know I get on her nerves; but she is working on patience and I am working on everything, lol!!!! The other 2 sisters in my district are Sister Woolley (blonder hair!)and Sister Sullivan (brown short curly hair)!! They are amazing! They are going to Illinois, Chicago West!! Sis. Woolley is from San Diego and she went to school at BYU! She is a blast!!!! We are extremely similar in our personalities and in our girly pink and sparkle style!!! Sister Sullivan is from Draper and she is so Sweet!!! She is more quiet and reserved but when she speaks she speaks with wisdom and knowledge of the spirit!!! Our elders are da bomb!!!!!!! I'm not joking either!!! Elder Esquivel is from Pleasant Grove and he played lax so Sis Turner and I get a kick out of talking to him, he's a people person, he LOVES TALKING! He is the one with darker skin and brown curly-ish hair. Elder King is from Herriman, he builds rockets, he is way smart, he's our Rocket Boy from October Sky!!! He is the one with glasses and is tall and skin and bones with brown hair. Elder Oliver is from Arizona! He was very quiet the first day but we cracked him out of his shell! He is still more reserved but hilarious at the same time! I have some good stories about all of them but you would die laughing if you saw some of the faces this Elder makes!!! He is tall and skinnyish with blonde hair. Then there is Elder Lowe.... he is the farm kid from Idaho Falls, he is HILARIOUS!!! He loves cheese and he loves potatoes, that is seriously what he talks about hahaha!! He is the short blonde one!!! He has the best Sister missionary voice impressions we die laughing at him!!!
Anyways, on your first day they stick an orange sticker dot. on your name tag and everyone says "Welcome to the MTC!!!" Apparently the stickers are known as dork dots...... Our Elders took their dork dots off and we left ours on for the day because we liked people being so nice...haha so funny! Then we put them on the back of our tag to remember we were all dorks one time. Seriously people are so nice here!!! The spirit is everywhere, it's like the plague!!! Speaking of the plague this place is germy. Everyone and their dog is freaking sick!!! It's nasty!! I have had a cold the whole time and now we are starting to all get a cough... joy. But we study through the blowing of noses and sneezing and we use hand sanitizer like no other!! We also eat my Disney mints like they are crack or something. That is how we all stayed awake after sitting in a hard chair for conference all weekend. Sitting is a literal pain in the butt. We just want to stand up!!!

Oh my gosh! The diet coke is caffeine free.... eeewwwww. I miss ice! There isn't ice anywhere except for the cafeteria. I want some ice but I have to wait for MN to get some of that! The food.... is sure special. I will leave it at that.

Another reason that my district is the best is that we have IPads!!! We are one of 2 districts, I am one of four sisters with an IPad in the MTC!! We are soo blessed!!!! So, we are the guinea pigs and if we mess up then we mess it up for all missionaries, ha,ha no pressure!!!! I love the IPad though, its so convenient and we take a lot of pics on there!! Missionaries are always ticked when they see us with them.

I can't believe how quickly people are learning languages here!! Its crazy!!! The lord works in mysterious ways. Another thing that is kind of humbling is that I have been called to serve as a "Sister Training Leader."

So Sister Turner and I have an investigator named Paul, he is divorced, has a 5 year old son and he just moved here from Nashville. Before our first meeting with Paul Sister Turner and I prayed to study what we should teach him. We both kind of thought the Book of Mormon, but as we studied I had a strong impression to read a "Family Proclamation to the World!" As soon as I read it I told Sis. Turner that I felt like we needed to teach him about families. We prayed about it and the prompting was confirmed to me and revealed to Sister Turner. We felt a real connection with our Savior then we decided to plan our lesson.

When we went in to meet Paul for the first time we knelt and prayed before hand to see our teacher as "Paul" and not as Brother Barton. When we knocked it was not Bro. Barton.... it was Paul. I don't know how to explain it, but a miracle happened. Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers our sincere desires..... even the smallest thing as long as we are sincere he will answer us. We got in there and Paul really opened up to us. We talked to him about prayer, the plan of happiness, and the Holy Ghost. We also talked about forever families. With him having a 5 year old son I felt prompted to share my testimony about Riley. He really connected with that and felt the spirit. Thank you Riley!! We didn't ask him to be baptized ( we should have) and we are ticked we didn't...... but he committed to read and pray and go to church!!! We met with him again and he had gone to General Conference and then we showed him the video "Because of Him". That is such a wonderful video! I don't' care who you are, that video inspires anyone who has a heart. We committed Paul to be baptized !!! We are so thrilled!!!!

We have another investigator named Devan. We struggled with her, but we committed her to pray about the Savior. We meet with her Wednesday.

My testimony has been strengthened so much with the power of prayer. I know that our Heavenly father hears and answers our prayers and that he loves us dearly!!! My district prays on our knees every day and we kneel to pray everywhere here. I love it. I love the gospel. I love my district and companion. I love letters, send more please. I get to read Dear Elder letters every day but I don't get to respond until P-day which is Tuesday!! I can't wait to write more, but there is not enough time in the day.

I love you all dearly!!

Lots of love,

Sister Young