Hey I hope everyone has had a fabulous week!! I hope you all had the chance to pick a Christlike Attribute and work on it! I chose Charity and I have been loving it! Charity is truly the pure love of Christ and it really requires Patience! Sometimes it is hard to love complete strangers especially when they are not so nice to you BUT I am getting there and I am able to see where they are coming from and I can feel God's love for them and I LOVE that feeling!!! I feel whole!! 

There is this path that goes behind my apartment. A Lot of people walk down this path! It is pretty and it is along side a river. I enjoy walking don it but I walk down it to get to my apartment! Haha we have to climb a slight hill to get there! I am all about short cuts! It makes me feel like I am hiking too which is great!

 As we were walking home one day I said to Sister Roberts, "It amazes me how many people walk on this path that takes them no where!" Haha and because we are missionaries we immediately applied that to life and the gospel right?  

A lot of people are taking this path that leads them to no where simply because they don't know where to go. They don't know what God wants of them or what there purpose is. Just like in Alma 18 Ammon is teaching King Lamoni and in verse 15 he says "What desirest thou of me?" This is where the missionaries come in! (That's me) We help people get on a path that is leading somewhere and help them to understand what our purpose is here on this earth! We also help them to develop a realationship with God so that they will be able to see what they personally need to do because we all are unique and have different gifts and talents that God uses differently! 

Some people may walk on this path because it is easy...BORING!! When things are easy we get bored and get into trouble right? I have learned that God does not like easy because we do not grow from easy!!! We need trials and tribulation so that we can become strong and prepare for what is to come next! So... pray for trials!!! Haha no i am jsut kidding they will come without you praying for them. Because this is life and that is what happens! (: If you do feel strong and like life is to easy feel free to pray for trials...then buckle up and get a prayer pillow so your knees don't get worn out!! 

Others may take this path simpy because it is the path they have always taken. Haha it reminds me of one of my favorite movies "Everything you want" And Cal is playing a video game and Quin come in and it like "Hey why don't you get a new game?" And Cal freezes and drops the controller and says, "They make new game?" Haha so great! As we live our lives we need to be an example and show people that there are other paths to take and that we will personally show them and help them along the way!! 

There may be other reasons but no matter what the reason is there is this amazing thing called the Atonement that will help us transition to this new path that may be scary or intimidating! The atonement helps us to change and gives us the strength that we need to change and we should be accessing the atonement each and everyday! 

On another note... I HIT MY ONE MONTH MARK!! Crazy right? Time is flying by!! I am beginning to understand God's time! People have told me that my mission is going to fly by! Some days I am like Yeah right! Haha but others day I am like HOLY I HAVE BEEN GONE FOR A MONTH!! Haha It is interesting!! Here is a good description, days seem like weeks and weeks seem like days! I never knew you could get so much done in one day! It is fantastic! I also counted up how many times I pray in a day and the minimum is 15 times a day! Haha crazy right?? I love it though! Heavenly Fathers knows everything about me! I love it because when I am constantly asking Him to strengthen me he literally just carries me through the day! You know that poem where the guy is like well why did you leave me? When he saw only 1 set of footprints and he was like that is where I carried you! Yup that is me! There are only one set of footprints throughout my mission! Not because I am walking along but because I am being carries through it! I know that because I have been able to do things that Heaven knows I can't do on my own! 

I got to go to KALAMAZOO this week for trade offs and serve on the WMU campus with Sister Chatman! She is a Sister Training Leader and so awesome! I love her so much! I had a blast spending the day with her! And in one day I converted her to may ways of essential oils! Haha she is hilarious! I met a guy on campus he has been a convert for 2ish weeks and he is such a great example! It snowed the other day and he saw a kid walking without a coat and it was cold! So he ran up to the guy and was like Dude where is your coat and he told him he didn't have one! HE GAVE HIM HIS COAT!! Talk about a Christlike Person! Incredible right?? So now Wyatt walks around without a coat! He is a true example of Charity!

So like I said it has snowed and it has been really rainy outside and I have been outside a lot! Yup I got sick! I have a lovely cold! I didn't have to pray for that trial ...it just came! Haha I was so upset because I was asked to sing in Stake Conference and well...I sounded like a man! Good thing I chose a low song! Haha I woke up Sunday morning and It had gotten worse! I was like no no no!!! I was praying so hard that i would be able to sing! We got to the church early to practice and Sister Roberts was like are you sure you are going to be able to sing? I was like I WILL SING! Haha I am stubborn like that! So right before I am suppose to go up I hurry and suck on a cough drop and I was like Heavenly Father please help me that I will be able to sing to the best of my ability right now and that everyone will be able to feel the spirit! I don't know who sang but it was not me! Haha I was at a members house later that day and I asked for a tissue and he looked at me and was like are you sick? And I was like yup! You know what he said? He said, "I couldn't even tell when you were singing!" MIRACLES ARE ALL AROUND US!! haha but for real! 

Some funny things from this week

1-I convinced Sister Roberts that a cop car was a taxi! Haha when she believed me I was like a Taxi that only takes people to one destination! Haha I think I am pretty funny!!

2-I fed Sister Roberts LDM and Oregano...Yup that was for my own entertainment and I had a pleasing result!

3-Indra is a lady we go see and I havent seen her in a while and when we walked in she was like there are my little Bunnies! Haha made my whole day! I just love her!! 

I love Michigan! It is exactly what I need in my life right now and it is preparing me for the rest of my life! This world is CRAZY!! And we need a firm foundation to be able to stand its stroms!! If we don't have that foundation a slight rainfall will break us! Satan is strong but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are stronger so let them help you!!

My challenge for you this week is to do something that will strengthen your relationship with your Father and Savior! Pray about what you think your should do and then act immediately!(: I promise  you it will change your life!! 

I appreciate all your prayers and support! You are all amazing and I love you but better yet your Heavenly Father loves you!!

Have a very fabulous week!!

God Knows ME Personally

Hey,

I hope everyone has had a fabulous week and has taken the opportunity to grow closer to our Father in Heaven! It will truly bless your life. I have seen it a lot over the past like month! I can't believe I have been out for almost a month! That is including being in the MTC! I feel like I have changed so much!

Some miracles have happened over the last week!

First off... I didn't die!

Once upon a time I had just finished making breakfast and I was doing the dishes and I looked over to my right and saw that the eggs were still sitting out and I had a thought that I should put them away real quick and I was like nah I will do it after I finish the dishes then I had a thought of just do it right now! I took ONE step towards the eggs and the light fixture above me crashed to the ground right were I had been standing! Yeah it scared the living day lights out of me! Sister Roberts rushed into the Kitchen and I was frozen in my spot! I said a little prayer thanking Heavenly Father that I was not laying on the ground bleeding from my head!!! 

The spirit does not talk through a megaphone. Sometimes it is stronger than others but sometimes it is just a gentle thought. LISTEN!! If it seems like a good idea DO IT!! When people say that missionaries are protected they mean it! Haha I always thought that they meant like I would be safe from people and dogs. I now know that also includes light fixtures in my kitchen! Watch out they are deadly!!

Miracle numero dose (Look I am learning Spanish too)

I GOT TO GO TO THE CHICAGO ILLINOIS TEMPLE!! You bet your bottom dollar I was so pumped! It was my third time going through the Endowment Session! The Kalamazoo stake went and since Three Rivers is apart of that we got permission to go!!! It was a 3 hour drive and worth every minute!!! There were 140 women from the stake that went! It made the endowment session very unique! there were only 2 men in the room! It was awesome! The spirit was SO strong! There were some woman who hadn't been able to go back for 9 plus years!! It was truly incredible and I am so blessed to be able to be apart of that!! The temple has kinda been my place of refuge and it has always helped me to get back on my feet and endure to the end. I was reading 1 Nephi 12 while I was waiting to go through and it was talking about seed and how if we do what is right our posterity will be blessed. Ok I had just walked past a sealing room right before reading this and I had this flash back of when I went through the Rexburg Open House and I got to go in a sealing room and look in the mirrors and see how far you can see in them! IT WAS AMAZING!! So i am thinking back to this as I am reading andit was cool to think about where I am at and how my decisions are going to bless my posterity and how it is so awesome that Skyler and I get this incredible opportunity to serve together and experience similar things. It was just so so so good! Haha I can't think of a powerful enough word right now to explain my feelings!! 

Miracle 3!

Before Church Sister Roberts and I were discussing who we think might be coming to church. I told her that Jessica (A less active) would be because when we told her we would save her a seat she said she would love that. Sister Roberts informed me that she never answered us but I was so determined that she did. (Note: My dreams have been crazily real lately like it is so weird) So we are sitting in sacrament and during the opening hymn in walks Jessica and her fiance Chad (Non-member)! Ok I compare a lot of things to Christmas and this was like Christmas!! My heart did this little happy dance and I could not stop smiling! She has not been to church in over 10 years!!! After Sacrament they were bombarded with members greeting them! It was the best sight to see! I just watched and smiled! The Sturgis ward is very small and we are trying are hardest to help it grow!! 

Miracle #4

Sister Roberts and I planned to find people after church at this park by where we live...then it rained...so there were no people! We didn't make any back up plans which was a big mistake on our part and we have repented and will not be doing that again. Heavenly Father had our backs! We decided to go sing to Sally Deams who is in a nursing home! She was so excited to see us and I loved singing to her! Singing is my way of sharing my testimony and I could have sang to her for hours.

 After that we went to see the Drumms. The Drumm family dynamics are different. We sang to sister Drumm then asked if we could get her granddaughters number. Adrienne ended up living there! She is 17 or 18 and is about to graduate high school. She is married to Chris who has a 2 year old daughter. He has been attending seminary and the seminary teacher said we should teach him but we have had the hardest time getting in contact with him. BUT guess what... HE LIVES THERE TOO!! It was perfect! we go to talk to the two of them and they are so easy to talk to! We found out that they have been praying together at night and we just had a really good talk and got to know them a lot better. We are going to be meeting with them again tomorrow! It was incredible!! I love how the Lord works.

Miracle FIVE

We got 4 new investigators!!! We were walking around the park and ran into one of them. His name is Shawn and he was so funny! We were talking to him and then all the sudden he stops talking and starts examining our name tags. Then he jumps back and goes "I KNOW THAT GUY, JESUS IS MY HOMEBOY!" It was so funny! Shouldn't Jesus be everyones homeboy? I am really excited to start teaching him he is ready to learn I can feel it. The only thing I am worried about is he goes to church in the Great and Spacious Building (Riverside Church-Biggest church in Three Rivers)

Something I am personally working on is Developing Christ-Like Attributes! If you have a Preach my Gospel i encourage you to read it but I would like to invite you to join me in this study! Here is a list to choose from:

-Faith

-Hope

-Charity

-Virtue

-Knowledge

-Patience

-Humility

-Dilligence

-Obedience

Pick one and then study it and identify ways that you can change! I am excited to see how I can grow! I would love to hear how this goes for everyone!!(:

You are all so incredible! I feel so blessed to have such amazing individuals in my life!! I love my mission and I am loving Michigan it is so pretty! It has been raining quite a bit! Rain=Green! Man it is so green here!! 

I hope you all have a fabulous week. Remember to trust in the Lord and let him help you!! He is there for you and he loves you very much!! 

I love you all!!! 

Michigan

Everyone I am officially in Michigan!!! The MTC FLEW by!!! They call us 12 day miracles and that is no joke!! When I first got to Michigan they put all the new missionaries in a van and drove us to the college campus in Lansing...then they kicked us out and told us to go personal contact people and try to get new investigators! I felt like a baby bird that they had just kicked out of a nest. Baby birds are suppose to fly when that happens... I didn't fly! Haha Sad right? But that is okay because once I got to my area i was able to spread my wings!! 

On my way to Michigan there was this super sweet lady! She is not a member but she loves Sister Sumsion and I! she talked to us for a while and she told us that she could never let her babies go but she said she was proud of us! Before we parted ways she was like let me give you a mom hug before you go! you need a mom hug! I just loved her! She is an incredible lady! She took the book of mormon that I had written my tesitmony in! 1 seed planted! 

I stayed at the Mission Home for a night. I just have to say that my Mission President and his wife are the best in the whole world! They are super cute and nice! Except when I was in my interview with President Jacobson... I was running on 2 hours of sleep I was feeling homesick after talking to my amazing family on the phone that day and then in my interview he was like are you sure you cna do this? People around here don't really want the gospel. Haha I feel like he was trying to weed out the weak links! Haha for a slight moment I was liike alright send me home... then I was like WAIT NO! I CAN DO HARD THINGS!!! Haha so here I am still in Michigan ready to serve the Lord with all my strength, might, and mind! Then that night President Jacobson sprayed Whipped Cream out of a can into my mouth! Haha it was funny!! He is a great guy!

I Met my trainer or my "mom" is what they call her. Her name is Sister Roberts. She is part Hawaiian and like 6 feet tall. So when I first met her she ran over to me and PICKED ME UP!! Hahaha I was like oh alrighty then this is happening! haha she is so amazing and  so excited about the work! I was praying for a trainer that was fun, NOT a robot, willing to work hard, patient, easy to talk to, would let me talk about home, was okay with me having a boyfriend, and just accepted me. GOD ANSWERS MY PRAYERS!!! I have noticed that more and more every single day! He knows who I am and that is such an incredible feeling. Little things keep happening and I am like oh my heck this is insane! I know I am suppose to be here without a doubt in my mind!

OH YEAH so I am serving in Three Rivers! It is in the bottom part of Michigan like almost into Indiana. My Address is 

SISTER KLURISA YOUNG

615 THOMAS ST. APT. 12

THREE RIVERS, MI 49093 

I LOVE letters so send all that your heart desires!!(: Packages can be sent here as well for those of you who have asked me about that! You are all so generous and I owe you! The best I can do right now is pray for you... so I hope you can feel the prayers coming your way!! I truly am so blessed to have so many incredible people in my life!! 

A little about Three Rivers, it is a poor town filled with humble people who are so generous and kind. I am so blessed to be put in this area! I hope I get to stay here for ever! It feels like home! The very first person Sister Roberts took me to visit was Sister Supulvida! (Don't worry I have a hard time saying it too) She is in her 70's. When I walked into her house I like seriously couldn't breath from all the CAT LITER in the air! hahaha she has 24 INSIDE cats. Yes mom and dad I know what your thinking I had 42 cats at one time but hers are inside so that makes a difference! She is a hoot! Her and her husband Jose do not live together because she says he is a little wierd but they still love each other! haha man she is a character. 

There is this fun thing that happens to my hair when I go outside... it grows!!! The humidity LOVES me! So we have a car but it has been so beautiful outside that we have been walking. I put my hair up so I do not scare our investigators! I attached a voice reccording of how one day went during our car fast!(: Man if a mission brings this much happiness everyday I might just stay here... JK Home brings happiness to! A mission is amazing because when I was set apart I received a larger portion of the spirit! Haha people here are like we just like to be around you! haha and it has nothing to do with me... it is the spirit that I am blessed with that I want! When we take members out with us they usually teach better than we do so we joke that they bring the lesson and we will bring the spirit! Haha talking about teaching things come out of my mouth that I do not expect! There is a scripture that talks about  if we open our mouth the spirit will fill it! That is so true! The spirit will work through me as long as I give it opportunities to do so! so... here it is I CHALLENGE YOU to give the spirit opportunities to work through you! I promise you that it will strengthen your testimony and you will grow closer to your Father in Heaven! Act on promtings, In the MTC they told us STOP WORRYING about whether it is the spirit or not! Just be a good little girl and a good little boy and the spirit will work through you and you will end up doing things that are amazing! 

Some cool things have happened

1- We went to visit this Less Active and her Husband who is taking lessons and I just have a little bit in common with her. Lets see she graduated as a vocal performance major, she loves to do plays, she loves essential oils, she is a huge Wicked fan, she likes to talk in accents, she likes to play singing games, she teaches voice lessons, and we have the same favorite movie! We actually sang some songs together and she is going to sing with me in church soon! Coincidence? I THINK NOT! She is so great! She is actually making a dinner tonight before we teach a lesson! Oh and her parents are serving in Guatemala. Her dad is a doctor and gives shots to the missionaries in the MTC so he prolly stabbed Skyler! How delightful right? There last name is Cragun! 

2- Karl Ritchie for all you Hamer people does that sound familiar? Well it should because he knows most of you! Haha he is the 1st counselor in the bishopric in the Sturgis ward that I go to! He knows Sarah and Jordan Thomas really well and I was like I used to babysit for them! They are still in contact. Right before dinner guess who calls... Jordan Thomas! Haha so we sent him a picture and Bro Ritchie was like does this sister look familiar! haha it is a small world!

I just can't tell you enough that I know this is where I am suppose to be! I keep having Deja Vu and like it was so weird the other day something happened and I had a dream about it when I was in high school! Yeah explain that one! I HAD A VISION! No i am totally kidding but it is pretty interesting! I like it I think it is cool! 

The Sturgis ward that I am in is so missionary oriented!! The ward is small and most of them are converts. As I said it is a pretty poor area and so a lot of people do not own skirts or dresses! Their sunday best is jeans and a t-shirt! To me that is all we ask! Everyone is so accepting and it just tickles them pink that they show up! One girl came in basketball shorts and super colorful mis matched socks with sadals. She was welcomed the same! I took a step back and thought about how I would have reacted to a young woman coming into my young womens class like that. Would I have been as accepting? I don't know I would hope so! We are no here to judge! Everyone has their own story and we are just to be accepting and loving! Everyone needs love! God  loves all his children the same and I love being able to love complete strangers just by looking at them. 

That brings me to another story, 

We were out door knocking and there were these 3 guys in a garage playing ping pong. We started to walk over to them and as we got closer we could see beer bottles all over!! We were already to close to turn around so we started talking to them and when we told them that we were Mormons this one guy just busted up laughing and could not stop. I could tell he was trying to get a reaction out of us! Out of the 3 there was only 1 who listened. I don't know if it was out of respect or what but he listened. I would have been like that little imature blah blah blah! I didn't feel like that! I felt bad for him! I was like why does the spirit make him that uncomfortable. It was a very interesting experience! 

As a new missionary I think people think I need extra blessings haha because they ask me to pray A LOT! I have been asked to pray in our big missionary meeting and in every single one of our lessons and in sacrament! haha I am getting better at praying in public that is for sure! Prayer is incredible! I love to pray! I am so greatful for a loving Father in Heaven who lets me be on my knees for as long as I need! I could not be more thankful for that! A mission is hard! I struggle with change and it has been constant change for 3 weeks now! Heavenly Father has strengthened me so much! I would not be able to do this without him! Because of Him I can do hard things! I love being a missionary!! It is the best thing ever! I am super happy and I am growing so much closer to my Father in Heaven! It is exaclty what I needed! I am so incredibly blessed!

I love you all and I hope you know how much your Father in Heaven loves you! He knows who you are and he is aware of your needs! The church is true!! I hope to hear from you all soon!! Please write a missionary! There are lots out and every time we check the mail it is like Christmas!! Keep that in mind!;) 

Thank you for all your love and support! You are amazing! 

Have a fabulous week!! 

Hey everyone, I just had deja vu! That was weird. I never thought I would see myself sitting here with the Lords name on my shoulder. Oh but how grateful I am that it is there! It is a such a blessing to be on a mission! I am so happy to be here! My testimony has grown so much in such a short period and I am so excited for it to continue to grow!! I have been blasted with a spiritual fire hose and in the process somehow my name KLURISA got washed away! Haha it is so weird not hearing my name! I am now Sister Young and I started to feel like I was turning into a robot! BUT I got the best compliment ever. Sister Munger told me that I have a very distinct personality!!!! Best compliment EVER!!  I am still me. The Lord called me because of the individual gifts and talents he has given me. We all have so much to bring to the table. Don't hide your talents. SHARE THEM!!! 

So... I finally received the rest of my oils in the mail that I left home and I was so pumped!! I am like a the oil doctor here!! When the district gets a headache I am the one who provides! Hahaha I get "Sister Young, can I use some more peppermint?" it is great! I love my district so much! We have all cried together, shared our testimonies MANY times and have been supporting each other through this time of adjustment! There are 6 of us in the district, zone, and branch until yesterday when we got new meat! Hhaha I mean new missionaries! There are 3 Elders and 3 Sisters! 2 Trio's. I love it! WE all get along so good! They think Dad looks like Tom Selleck and they love the mustache! Hahaha On my first day Here I saw Josie and Braiden! It was so nice to see familiar faces! It was a blessing! They are going to be amazing missionaries! 

IT IS SNOWING!! It has been so hot lately bu the day I actually get to go outside it is cold and I want to stay inside! Messed up right? On Sunday we were allowed to go outside of the gates! It was wonderful. We made a joke that we were free and to make a break for it and Sister Nelson (Branch Presisdency Wife) was like we will just leave a cinnimon roll and and you will come back! Haha It was fast Sunday! I really don't want to leave! The Spirit is so strong. I thought I would miss things like my cell phone or things like that and I don't! We actually got a cell phone (That has no point in my opinion) And it rang and we all looked at it and we were like it's ringing what do we do? Our teachers just laughed at it and they were like you should answer it! Hahaha Yup we have turned missionary weird. We don't even know how to answer a cell phone anymore!

Since Skyler is learning spanish I also decided to learn. I can now say "My pants are on fire" in spanish! Very useful! I will learn more I am sure! 

In an lesson with an investigator I was explaining how Joseph Smith was used to help us on our path back to God and it came out like "Joseph Smith is a tool" The investigator just started laughing. Note to self... Don't call Joseph Smith a tool! I love teaching. If I could share just a tiny bit of how that feels I would! It is incredible! God loves us all so much and I have the urge to scream that on top of the roof tops! It is true! I am able to feel how much God loves complete strangers! It is so amazing and I want you to know that he loves you and he is aware of you! If you will pray and ask Him to help you with whatever you are going through he will! He is not going to leave you alone! He knows how to help you! LET HIM! One of the reasons I feel the spirit is so strong is because we pray so much!! Literally like 30 tines a day! We are always inviting Him to help us and guess what he is there! things come out of my mouth that are not me! I promise you that he is helping me beyond measure! It hasn't come easy I have had to exercise my faith and just keep going. As a missionary the spirit isn't like BAM here I am ! i still have to try and recognize it and build my relationship with God! It is an incredible thing! I challenge you all to find something that will help you grow closer to God. It may be taking away a worldly object or something i can't decide for you because you have a different relationship with Him than I do! 

I am now with someone 24/7! Yup bathroom and everything! When I have to use the restroom it is no longer I have to use the restroom it is WE have to use the restroom haha and it is worse because i am in a trio! Haha I love my Sisters but man peronal time is sacred! they haev helped me so much though! they are like encouraging me and helping me every step of the way! I would NEVER want to teach without them by my side!! 

This weekend is EASTER! Thanks for all the candy! I LOVE it! if I get out of the MTC without diabetes I will call it a victory! Haha but I love it! Thanks for all the letters and everything! Missionaries thrive on letters so make sure you write lots of missionaries! they love it! Mail time is sacred time!! Hearing from home is so wonderful! Emails are great but I have more time to personalize letters so keep that in mind!;) 

I invite you to watch general conference and return and report! Let me know what you get out of it! It is going to be so AWESOME!!! I am pumped to learn from our prophet and gain some personal revelation!! I hope you all feel the same!! 

I love you all so much!! You are amazing and I hope you know how much I appreciate you! I will be entering the Mission Field on April 8th! I am so blessed to be serving there! I couldn't be more excited! It is going to set me up for the rest of my life! 

I hope you have a fabulous week! 

 

GOD LOVES YOU!!