Hermana Megan Young: December 2021

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