Thanksgiving Week!

Hello everyone!

Since we've been mostly quarantined, this week was pretty boring so this will probably be short!

On Thanksgiving, we had district council, a district service project (folding paper into dresses and shirts to make thank you notes), a zone devotional that the mission President and his wife showed up to, and a mission devotional over zoom. We picked up Thanksgiving dinner from a nice member in the ward and I got to talk to my family:)

Luckily we can still go to church in person and do things with missionaries but we just can't be with members or other people. So we've been doing LOTS of zoom calls.

On Friday, our mission President gave the mission a pep talk and encouraged everyone to find a new person to teach by Sunday. We worked so hard and we found someone on Facebook on Sunday night! It was definitely a miracle and all of our hard work paid off.

Love you all! 

Love, Sister Megan Young 

Pictures:

1. Thanksgiving selfie

2. Our district in paper form

3. Doing the hoorah shout we do with our mission at the end of mission zoom meetings

4. Our Thanksgiving dinner

Saddle Ranch!

Hello everyone!

This week I got transferred to a new area called Saddle Ranch and my new companion is Sister Larsen! She was actually companions with my trainer, Sister Smith when they were in the MTC. She is from Farmington, Utah and is super awesome! We are the Sister training leaders of the Highlands Ranch zone. Highlands Ranch is south of downtown Denver and is a super nice area. All the houses are huge and the members are willing to give us anything. They take great care of us! This ward also has a ton of families and youth which is awesome because Red Rocks was like only old people.

Saying goodbye to Red Rocks and my companions, Sister Goldsberry and Sister Rosa was very hard and I miss them a lot. The night that I left, they put 2 people on date for baptism that we were teaching so it was sad that I couldn't be a part of that. Also, Sister Goldsberry is training a new missionary so there will still be a trio in Red Rocks! 

I'm still getting used to the new area and being an STL and everything but I'm super excited to be here and I think this transfer is going to be good! This area has a lot of potential and the members are really good about being involved with missionary work!

Right after I got here, we got new covid restrictions. We can't be with people in person anymore so all of our lessons are now over zoom. Luckily we can still go to church and have meetings with our districts in person! I'm bummed because in person exchanges aren't allowed anymore and that is probably what I was most excited for about being an STL. The Sisters in the zone are awesome though and I already love them so much!!

Hopefully you were all able to watch President Nelson's video about gratitude this week! It was so awesome! I hope you all have a good Thanksgiving!

Love, Sister Young 

Here is my new address!

4605 Copeland Loop Unit 103 

Highlands Ranch, CO 80126 United States

Pictures:

1-2. I'm going to miss this view!

3. Us in front of some Christmas lights at a member's house

4-5. Pictures before we said goodbye :(

6-7. Cecil Paxton
8. Laurel Shelley
9. Shane Grosch

10. Michael and Michelle Perdue
11. Sister Andrus (my granddaughter)
12. The quad
13. Saying goodbye to Sister Goldsbury
14. Barb Matthews 
15. Relief Society activity at Jacquie Pearson’s house

16. Sister Larsen!

17. Sisters Hunter, Young & Larsen in a Zoom lesson with Delanee

"Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable"

Hello everyone!

The big news of the week is that I have been called to be an STL (Sister Training Leader)!!!! The mission President gave me a call about it yesterday but transfer news doesn't come out until tomorrow. So I know I will be leaving this area to be in an STL area but I don't know where I'm going yet. I guess you will hear from me in a different place next week!

I'm excited for this next calling but honestly pretty devastated because I don't want to leave this area or my companions. I've been here since I got to the mission field and have grown to love the members, the ward, and the people we are teaching so much. I was reminded of what my cousin Gemma told me that apparently my brother Jacob told her about missions: "get comfortable being uncomfortable". I feel like these past few weeks have been some of the happiest and most comfortable weeks of my mission. I have been the companion who knows the area and the people best. We finally got a safe apartment with a washer and dryer. We've had miracles finding people that are so elect! Right when everything seems to be going just right is when the Lord gives us a new challenge to overcome. I guess I was too comfortable so now it's time to be uncomfortable again. 

I was really hoping to stay here for 1 more transfer because this next transfer will be Thanksgiving and Christmas. I wanted to be with familiar people for the holidays but I guess I'll just have to meet people really quick in my next area. I'm going to miss so many things... being the ward organist, red rocks, my amazing district and zone, my companions, the members, and the people we're teaching. 

This is the area where I was trained and also where I trained another missionary. Red Rocks will forever have my heart.

As I look back at who I was when I got to the mission and this area, it is pretty crazy to recognize the difference between that new, nervous missionary I was and the more confident and experienced missionary I am now. I still have a long way to go and over a year left on my mission but it's amazing how missions and the Atonement of Christ change people and how much growth I have seen in myself so far. I have learned so much from all my companions (Sister Smith, Sister Rosa, and Sister Goldsberry). I have learned so much about myself, life in general, the gospel, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know He is my Savior and that through Him I can overcome my weaknesses. I love being able to share the gospel that I love so much with others!

I also will no longer be a Facebook specialist which is bittersweet. I learned a lot but I'm glad I won't have that responsibility anymore.

I know that the Lord qualifies those that He calls so I am excited for what the future will bring. If you have any advice or words of wisdom, send them my way:)

Other than that, it has been a pretty good week! Last night we had another lesson with the elect miracle people we started teaching last week and they all had read in the Book of Mormon like we asked them to! We taught the Plan of Salvation and they loved it, especially Kassandra. She's just so elect and I'm sad I won't get to teach her anymore.

We also had a funny experience teaching a man who we are pretty sure was drunk or on meds that made him loopy. Some funny things he said were, "Want a jalapeño?" and with tears in his eyes he grabbed his grandson's face and said, "Choose Jesus!" haha it was very interesting.

We keep hearing about how covid is getting super bad but we can still go out of our apartment and teach in homes with masks. We are hoping we don't have to go into full quarantine.

Have a good week!

Love, Sister Megan Young

Pictures:

1. District Council funeral pic for Hermana Calderon (she's going home this week)

2. Doorbell ditching brownies!

3. Allison street for my 2 moms (real mom and Sister Smith)

4. Chick-fil-a 

5-7. Last time at Red Rocks

"I'M BURSTING WITH JOY!"

What a week!!! Hello everyone!

Ok so yesterday we had the most AMAZING miracle!!! We decided we needed to drop 3 people that we have been teaching who aren't really progressing and don't seem super interested. We talked a lot about having the faith to drop them. Sometimes it's a really hard thing to do because you don't want to give up on them or lose people from your teaching pool. We felt like we needed to do it though and we had faith that if we dropped them, Heavenly Father would bless us with the elect. Within a few hours, we were able to find 3 new, super elect people to teach!!! It was seriously so incredible. A member in our ward called us because her husband passed away a few weeks ago and her son's girlfriend, Kassandra, had a lot of questions. We were super excited and set up a lesson for last night expecting to just teach that one person. BUT when we got there, we saw that Kassandra's 11-year-old son, Dakota, was there too AND Sister George's other son's girlfriend, Sarah. We taught Kassandra, Sarah, and Dakota the Restoration and they all loved it! We gave them all copies of the Book of Mormon and invited them to read and pray! So exciting! Also they all watched our zoom church! 

After we left the lesson, all of us were so giddy and just so happy. We all had the biggest smiles and were giving each other hugs. When we got into the car, Sister Rosa said, "I'M BURSTING WITH JOY!" which is the title of this email because it pretty much sums up what we were feeling. Being a missionary is the best:)

We also have some super good potential with another lady named Heather! We taught her the Restoration as well and were also able to see her again the next day. The only problem is she doesn't really answer her phone or respond to texts so it's hard to get in contact with her. We are really hoping that she is genuinely interested and not trying to avoid us.

We also had an amazing zone conference this week and we were given the challenge to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year! Each zone in the mission is starting in a different place and we get to start in 3 Nephi which is the best part! I love the Book of Mormon and I'm so excited for this challenge. At zone conference we did the musical number! I played the piano and my companions and I all sang, "I know that my Redeemer Lives".

We also had exchanges this week and Hermana Calderon came to Red Rocks with me! Sister Rosa and Sister Goldsberry went over to the Denver 1st Spanish ward with Hermana Torgesen. Neither of them speak Spanish though haha. I had such a great time with Hermana Calderon and was able to learn so much from her! She is at the end of her mission and is going home next week!!! She is so amazing and I will definitely miss having her as my sister training leader.

I also hit 5 months on my mission this week which is super crazy! 

As my good friend Brother Larson says every time we leave his house, "The book is blue!" And then we say, "The church is true!" 

Love, Sister Megan Young 

Pictures:

1. Getting ice cream last P-day

2. Us at a lake featuring our friend Paul's finger haha

3-4. Exchanges with Hermana Calderon 

New Apartment Part 2!

Hola!

This week we moved apartments again! I'm still in the same area (Red Rocks) but we switched apartments with the Elders in our ward since our apartment was kinda sketchy. We love our new apartment! It is a little smaller than the other one but it has an amazing view of the lake and is so much safer so we are happy! The Elders seem happy with it too because they have more space and they don't mind the sketchiness. The best part though is we have a washer and dryer in the apartment!!! We don't have to leave the apartment to do laundry anymore and we can do it for free! Woohoo! 

On the morning of Halloween we had a lesson with a member family in our ward and their dog peed on my leg haha. Other than that, Halloween was really fun! We made cupcakes and delivered them to people in the ward. We had to be inside by 6pm so we just did some studying. 

I absolutely love being in a trio and I love my companions! We've had lots of good laughs and fun times this week. The Elders in our ward are probably super annoyed with us because we keep remembering things we forgot to bring from our old apartment and so yesterday at church we did an exchange of a bunch of things we forgot. 

I love the members and this ward so much and I would love to stay here for another transfer or two. The work is going well too. A lot of the people we are teaching are just going to take time but they are making progress! 

This week has been MUCH warmer than last week. We went on a hike at Red Rocks today which was so fun! I love it there a lot.

Here is my new address!

10312 W. Florida Ave Apt. 202

Lakewood, CO 80232

Love, Hermana Megan Young

Pictures:

1.View from our balcony during the day

2-3. Halloween pictures

4. View from our balcony at night

5. Us with Sister Moore

6. Us with a cute member named Paul

7. Found a cute sign on the back of a church

8. Fun with facemasks

9. After combined district council this week

10. Hike at Red Rocks