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I made it home!

The last week of my mission was pretty crazy! I was able to teach the Restoration for the last time and quote Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision to Fernando and make plans for Brianna's baptism coming up on the 11th. I said goodbye to a lot of members and packed everything up!

On Thursday I got on the transfer bus and drove from Rifle to Denver and then the AP's drove all the departing missionaries to the mission home for dinner and a testimony meeting. The whole time, we all felt like we would just finish up and then go back to our areas and get to work. That night we slept in a hotel and I got to share a room with one of my past companions, Sister Ray! Another one of my past companions, Sister Hult, was also going home with me so it was good to talk with her too. There were 7 Sisters and 7 Elders going home in our group. All of us sisters gathered in one hotel room before we went to bed to talk and share memories. 

We woke up really early on Friday morning to go to the temple together as a group! That was so amazing because we were all feeling really nervous and stressed and the temple helped us to feel at peace. On our way out, we saw Sister Mack who is a member from the Saddle Ranch ward where Sister Ray and I served together so it was awesome to see her! Then we were driven back to the mission home in BackCountry to eat breakfast and then we headed off to the airport!

We got all checked in and took some final pictures as a group with President and Sister Rees and the Assistants.  Then we said goodbye to them and went through security and found our gates. It was sad to say goodbye to the other departing missionaries! The missionaries in my flight to Salt Lake were Sister Hult, Sister Jarrett, Hermana Platt, and Elder Ashby. 

We arrived and then went to see our families! I was surprised by how tall everyone was and by how much they had changed. They took me home to see our remodeled house and then I was released a few hours later by President Ence. It was really hard to leave Colorado and especially to be released as a missionary. I loved my mission so much and I'm so grateful for all the experiences I had and the people I was blessed to meet.

Love, Sister Young

Pictures:

1.  With Sister DeMordaunt and Sister Mills

2. With Sister Timmons

3-4. Silt

5. Hay

6. Colorado River

7. Brianna

8. Horse at the Simon’s house

9. Signs we found on my last night!

10. Saying goodbye to Sister Mills

11. Saying goodbye to Sister DeMordaunt

12-14. Hotel with the sisters

15-16. Temple

17-19. Leaving Denver

20-24. Reunited with the family!

Let Us All Press On

Well, it's my last week! I'll be home on Friday, December 3rd. It still doesn't seem real and there are definitely a lot of mixed emotions. I have absolutely loved my mission and Colorado will always have a piece of my heart. 

This week was Thanksgiving and we spent it with our ward mission leader and his family. The food was delicious and they are just super fun people to hang out with! It has been fun to talk about gratitude so much these past few weeks and recognize how much there is to be grateful for.

We also had a Light the World kick off and I'm sad I won't be here for most of it. We're all excited for Christmas over here! There was a Christmas tree lighting in downtown Silt (which is just one street haha) and it was so fun to start off the season with that! 

We went bowling as a district today and I'm going to miss all of them so much!! I've met such good people throughout my mission and it's sad to say goodbye. 

On Saturday, Seth from my last area was baptized!! I'm so proud of him! The people we are teaching here are also doing great! Brianna came to church and is getting ready for her baptism on December 11th.

My mission President's favorite song is "Let Us All Press On" and it has become our mission song. We sing it at the end of every meeting so I thought it would be appropriate to use it for the title of my last email. 

I've learned a lot on my mission in every aspect of my life but most importantly, I have come to know my Savior, Jesus Christ better. I know that this is His work and that if we have faith in Him, we will see miracles. I know that He lived, that He died for us, and that He lives again. I know that He loves every one of us. He has been my light, my support, and my friend throughout hard times on my mission. I know that His church was restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Reading the Book of Mormon has helped me to come closer to the Savior and to feel the peace that only He gives. I know that God hears and answers our prayers, even if it's not in the way we expect. I love this gospel so much and I have loved being a missionary these past 18 months!

I'll see you all soon! 

I will speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday, December 12 at 9:00 am.

Craig Drive Chapel - 3103 Craig Drive, SLC, UT - Please wear a mask.

Webcast: http://mywebcast.churchofjesuschrist.org/Events/saltlakeeastmillcreekstake

You're welcome to come visit at our home following the sacrament meeting.

Young home - 2729 E 3600 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84109

Love, Sister Young

Pictures:

1. Rifle district

2. Silt Christmas tree lighting with Elders Nelson and McLelland (we split a ward)

3-4. Pretty sunsets

5. Thanksgiving district service project

6. Thanksgiving with the Aldridges 

7. Christmas pajamas from Sister DeMordaunt's mom

8. Bowling with the district 

Yaks, Alpacas, And Ranches

Hello hello!

This week I went to my last zone conference :'( It was all about working with members and Sister DeMordaunt and I got to do a training. All of the missionaries that are going home from the Craig and Rifle zones got to give their departing testimonies and I was so nervous to do mine but when I got up there, the words just came to me and it went well!

There's a member who owns a lot of land and they have a pet yak. We were driving past their property one day and we saw the yak outside so we decided to stop and take a picture by it. As we were getting out I said something like, "That would be scary if it charged at us" and Sister Mills said, "we would probably die". We started taking pictures and then the yak started charging at us haha. We all screamed and ran back to the car and drove away as fast as possible. Sister Mills got the whole thing on video haha. 

We also had exchanges with the sisters in Glenwood Springs. Sister Meek came here to Rifle with me and Sister Mills and it was a fun exchange. At the end, we met back up with the other sisters in downtown Glenwood which is so cute at night and we got dinner and ice cream together. Then we all split up and went street contacting which was really fun! It was so cold though!

This week we have been meeting with Brianna a lot! We put her on date for baptism on November 27th but then we found out that her uncle who is going to baptize her has covid so the date had to be pushed back to December 11th. So unfortunately I will miss it, but I'm still happy that she's getting baptized. 

My companions and I sang in church yesterday and the ward loved it!! We've been getting so many compliments from everyone. We've also been sharing a lot of messages with people about gratitude since Thanksgiving is coming up this week. 

Today we went out to one of our member's ranches and she cut my companion's hair. Their house is so cute and they have so many animals! They told us all about their cows and all the work that goes into running a ranch. It was so beautiful! We also went to a cute little Alpaca farm in Silt and got to feed some alpacas. :)

Love, Sister Young

Pictures:

1-2. Raking leaves 

3. The yak

4. The social media sisters stayed with us the night before zone conference

5. Us with Brianna

6. The Rifle zone

7-8. Alpaca farm

Departing Interview

Hello everyone!

Another great week here in Silt, CO! The people that we are teaching are doing awesome and the work is moving forward here! A lot of our members have been sick though so we haven't been able to be with as many of them or have them join in our lessons.

We did 2 exchanges this week and I got to go to 2 Spanish areas! First, I went to the Carbondale branch with Hermana Bopp. It covers the Spanish speakers in a pretty large area (Glenwood, Aspen, Rifle). I also went to Vail with Hermana Holden and Sister Mills came too. That area is so pretty! 

We also had interviews with our mission President and his wife and since this is my last transfer, I had my departing interview with President Rees. He gave me a temple reccomend interview and we talked about what I've learned on my mission and my goals for the future. Before that, I was really sad and nervous to go home but now I'm feeling a lot better about it. I love President and Sister Rees so much and I'm grateful I've been able to serve with them! 

Today we played chair soccer with our district and we had so much fun! I love my district!! 

Love, Sister Young

Pictures:

1. Goats

2. Sheep

3-5. Exchanges with Hermana Bopp

6-7. Exchanges with Hermana Holden and Sister Mills

8. Sister DeMordaunt, Sister Mills, and I

9. Us with Brianna and her daughter Joanna