I Love To See The Temple!

Hola a todos!!

It has been a good week full of lessons and Facebook meetings! Our area is doing really well and we have been finding lots of people to teach! We even put our friend Ryan on date for baptism which is super exciting!! 

On Friday we had 6 hours of meetings over zoom. The first meeting was for everyone in the mission to talk about unity because we have been getting so many reassigned missionaries here. Sister Smith and I were asked to share our testimonies about faith in front of the whole mission. We also had a meeting for all the new missionaries that was just like an orientation thing. It was kinda weird because I've been here for almost 2 weeks and I feel like that meeting would have been way more helpful on the first day but oh well. Oh also we got called on to answer some questions in that meeting. Then another meeting was all about Facebook and since we are Facebook Specialists, we had to do a training for the whole mission. So all the missionaries are probably tired of hearing from us because Sister Smith and I talked in every meeting. I guess it's kinda fun though because now everyone knows me.

Yesterday we got permission to teach a lesson at the temple which was so amazing! I LOVE THE TEMPLE SO MUCH!! I really miss being able to go inside but I think it was really good to just be close to it and feel of the spirit and peace of the temple. We had a member there with us for fellowship and it was such a powerful lesson as we all shared our testimonies and feelings about the temple. 

This week I have been thinking a lot about the temple and have had some amazing experiences with being led by the spirit. This church is so true! Families are such an amazing gift and through the blessings of the temple, we can be with them forever. 

Love, Hermana Young

Here is my address if you ever need it:

10555 W Jewell Ave, Apt 25-306

Lakewood, CO 80232-4847

Pictures (sorry I'm not sure if these will come in the right order but I think you can figure it out)

1. Slurpees!

2. A pretty sunset

3-7. Denver, Colorado Temple!

I Made It To Colorado!!

(City: Lakewood, Zone: Front Range, Area: Red Rocks, Comp: Sister Allison Smith)

Hey everyone! 

It has been such a crazy week and so much has happened! Since last P-day, I packed up all my stuff and made sure my bags were under 50 pounds and then headed to the airport on Wednesday. There were 17 missionaries on the same flight coming to the Denver South Mission! WOW! I think by the end of this week we will have over 100 new missionaries in the mission because of everyone getting reassigned. It was fun to walk through the airport in Denver with all of them and we had to keep counting ourselves to make sure we weren't leaving anyone behind. We found the AP's and our bags and I got straight into a car with my Sister Training leaders (who speak Spanish!) and they drove me to meet up with my companion! My trainer is Sister Smith and I love her so much!! It's just us two in our apartment. Our area is called Red Rocks and we live in Lakewood, Colorado. We think our names are kinda cool because it's like Joseph Smith and Brigham Young so that's pretty fun. We're in an English area and my comp doesn't speak Spanish so, unfortunately, I haven't used my Spanish very much yet. My STLs are in a Spanish ward though and we have talked in Spanish on the phone a few times so that's been helpful. 

Sister Smith is a Facebook Specialist and since I'm her new companion, I'm one too! This is a pretty big calling because most of the missionary work that goes on right now is through Facebook. Our job is to approve posts from missionaries before they can post on their area page and we also have to train missionaries who are having trouble finding people on Facebook and give them advice. 

We've been super busy which is awesome!!! We are teaching a lot of people and we get to work with a bunch of other missionaries for Facebook stuff. Pretty much everyone in the mission knows Sister Smith so I've loved getting to know everyone in the mission but I still wish I could meet them in person. Most stuff is over zoom or the phone. We have been able to have some member dinners in person but they have to be outside and socially distanced.

My area is SO BEAUTIFUL! It is called Red Rocks because of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre where they have concerts. We went to go check it out for P-day and it was so cool!

My address is:10555 W Jewell Ave, Apt 25-306, Lakewood, CO 80232

The first little bit of being away from my family was hard but I'm already doing so much better and I'm really starting to love being a missionary and my area so much!!

Love you all so much! 

Love, Sister Megan Young

Pictures!

1. Some missionaries on the plane

2. Welcome mirror in my apartment

3. Sister Smith and Sister Young 

4. Red Rocks Amphitheatre

5. Holding a leopard gecko at a member's house

6. Me outside of our church building

7. Holding a hedgehog at a member's house

8-10. Red Rocks Amphitheater

Off To Denver!

Leaving the home MTC and flying to the Colorado Denver South Mission.

MTC Week 6 - Colorado, Here I Come!

Hola!!

This is my last P-day before I head out into the mission field which is super exciting! I can't wait! I'm leaving on Wednesday and I know of a few other Hermanas who will be going on the same flight to the same mission so I'm happy that I have some travel buddies. I've been doing a lot of packing today :)

While I am super excited to leave, it's also kind of sad that my MTC experience is coming to an end because I have loved it so much! It's incredible how much I've learned, how much my testimony has grown, and how much I've been able to feel the spirit. I think what I'm going to miss most of all though is the people. After spending hours and hours a day with my teachers and my district, I have become good friends with all of them and it's sad to part ways, especially with my amazing companion, Hermana Molina. I can't wait to see her again in Ecuador when/if we are able to go there. 

Spanish has been good this week and it's awesome to realize how much I've improved since I started the MTC! I'm still very far from fluent but at least I can communicate basic stuff and teach gospel lessons :) Here is my testimony in Español:

Yo sé que nuestro Padre Celestial nos ama mucho y que somos sus hijos. Sé que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador, Redentor, y el Maestro Sanador. Estoy muy agradecida por la Expiación de Jesucristo y testifico que por eso, podemos ser limpios de nuestros pecados y mejorar cada día. Creo que el Evangelio de Jesucristo es verdadero y si tenemos fe y guardamos los mandamientos, Dios nos bendecirá. Testifico que el bautismo es la puerta para regresar a nuestro Padre Celestial y tener la vida eterna. Yo he sentido el Espíritu Santo mucho y sé que podemos recibir revelación personal y respuestas a nuestras oraciones a través del Espíritu Santo. Yo sé que José Smith fue un profeta de Dios y que Dios El Padre y Su Hijo, Jesucritso se aparecieron a José Smith en la arboleda. Testifico que El Libro de Mormón es verdadero y que es un guía para nuestras vidas. Testifico del poder de los templos y estoy emocionada de ir cuando estén abiertos otra vez. Creo que las familias son eternas y estoy muy agradecida por eso. Sé que Dios es todopoderoso, omnipotente, y que Él me conoce. Él sabe mis circunstancias y Él quiere que yo sirvo en la misión Colorado Denver South ahora. Estoy muy emocionada por servir a Dios, Jesucristo, y mis hermanos y hermanas. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo, amén.

Love, Hermana Megan Young

Pictures (sorry if zoom pictures are getting boring haha)

1. Our district with masks from Elder Gardner! They are reversible and this side has little temples.

2. Our district with the other side of our masks which have little missionaries :)

Happy 4th Of July!

Hola!!

Another great week in the online MTC! I hope everyone is enjoying the 4th of July today! I really lucked out getting my P-day today. I went on a fun hike today on the Wasatch Crest Trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon with my family which was super fun!

Even though I'm pretty much doing the same things every day and nothing too exciting is happening, I feel like I'm just growing, learning, and improving so much!  I feel like my Spanish is getting so much better and that my testimony is being strengthened every day as I practice teaching.  Hermana Molina and I taught 2 TRCs (practice lessons) this week in Spanish and they both went super well! I remember thinking at the beginning of the MTC that it would be crazy if I could feel comfortable teaching in Spanish by the end and it's so amazing to see that we totally can teach in Spanish! Even when the investigator asks us questions that we weren't planning on, we are able to understand everything she's asking and explain things well in Spanish! All my prayers for the gift of tongues are being answered :)  Next week, we have 2 more Spanish TRCs and I'm super excited because teaching (especially in Spanish) makes me so happy.  Also, this coming week is my last full week in the MTC and so we've been given the challenge to speak only in Spanish for the whole week so that's pretty exciting! I think it will be hard but that I will learn a lot.

Some fun things of the week:

-We wrote songs about repentance in Spanish and tried to sing them together over zoom which was pretty hilarious with all the lag haha

-I got an email from the Colorado Denver South Mission with some information and I guess I will now be using a phone, bike, and a car (all of which I wouldn't have used in Ecuador)

-I ran into the Nelson Hermanas this week because we were all out exercising early in the morning (they are my friends who are twins and are also in online MTC right now)

That's all for now! Thanks for all your love and support!

Love, Hermana Megan Young

Pictures:

1. I forgot to add this cute picture from last week! Hermana Molina and I when we met up with some people from our district

2. Hermanas at the YSA ward

3. Ran into Hermana Nelson and Hermana Nelson and had fun running with them

4-6. Pictures from our hike on the Wasatch Crest Trail this morning