What a mission has done to me...

Transfer Calls Verdict: I am taking over Gouda and my new companion will be Zr. Romney. (: I am really excited and nervous but I know this is what the Lord wants to happen. It's funny because I first met Zr. Romney on Pinterest before we came out... wonders of social media. Anywho I am super excited and know it will be a great transfer. We did Transfer Prophecies and mine was Isaiah 41:9-11 Well this week has gone by so darn fast I don't even know what to share about this week.... 1-Aurora is our 17 year old investigator and we got her on a Baptismal Date!! She is an incredible young woman and I am so excited to be able to keep working with her. Also the ward just loves her so that has been incredible to see the ward really involved in the missionary work. 2- Well I have been working and working and working... and sometimes a mission can be hard. It is stressful. Well Friday morning I wanted to do something crazy... I have been just going full speed ahead and I did something crazy. I called Zr. de Jonge and asked her to cut my hair. So its not a huge change but if you know me, cutting my hair is a life or death matter. So I got a hair cut. I just want to thank you all for the love and support that you give and show. Missions are not easy and every day is a battle to defend the truth and simply to keep going. I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the strength to do more than we thought we could ever possibly do. When I feel in over my head, I just pray. Pray to the Lord, he is listening. I found my farewell talk and reread it this morning. The Lord has done all that he did for us, yet he doesn't have everything... He doesn't have YOU. Not until you are willing to align your life with his will. He loves each of us and knows how to help us move forward. I love you all dearly and pray you are safe and comforted. Have a great week! -- Zuster Young

Supported Through and Through

This week has gone by really fast! I feel like a ton has happened, yet I do not even know where to begin. So I will share some highlights from this week: Mandag: District P-day- we went and climbed the tallest Bell Tower in Nederland. From the very top you can see all of the major cities...Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Almere, and Den Haag. It was beautiful! Put into perspective how small this country really is but I love it here. I love seeing these buildings that have been up for centuries and carries so much history in them. Woensdag: An investigator from Den Haag (Zr. Fredrickson's last city) came to Gouda and visited. We taught her a lesson and it was about the temples. With the inspiration from Zr. Robinson, we have decided to help our investigators "Stand in the Waters of Baptism facing the Temple." We want them to realize that when they are baptized they are willing to take on the name of Christ. (2 Nephi 31:13) This shows our commitment, our willingness to go and do. However it is when we go to the temple that we make sacred covenants and literally take on the name of Christ. As we look to the temple, and all its glory, beauty and power...think of what we can accomplish and gain from going to the temple; the step of baptism isn't so daunting. It is simply taking a step through the gate on your way to something greater. We have done that with another investigator and it is simply powerful. The spirit is so strong as he helps us know what to say and how to explain. I am thankful for the temple and even now, in all that I do, I face the temple. Later that night we went and played soccer with the Young Men. Gouda Wijk Young Men, the Elders, and then us the sisters... story of my life. haha But it was an absolute blast! Just playing futbol in Nederland. (: Donderdag: ZONE CONFERENCE! This conference was just marvelous. So in our mission President has started a project- "The Singing Elders". and it s 4 Elders who obviously sing... they go around the whole mission putting on performances in ward/branch buildings, members homes, and this has been a huge help in finding investigators and getting members to bring their friends who turn into investigators. They are incredible. The performance was just breathtaking and I was in tears. Dad, look up the song Ïn My Daughters Eyes. I just thought of you and loved it. This week has had its ups and downs... but hey I'm on a mission. It's not supposed to be easy. I love being out here. This week when it got hard, or I was about to fall over I was so tired I just prayed to Heavenly Father and asked him to help me. I need him to help me keep going. But once you're done praying you gotta do something about it... so we just kept working. And it is amazing to see that the energy and motivation just come and you just want to go knock a whole street! The Lord answers prayers. He is helping each of us. I love the wijk Gouda, they are outstanding members who just want to help us. Our Ward Mission Leader was a mad man and got us dinner appointments for the rest of the month! It was funny to watch. But It is is wonderful to be getting so much support from the wijk. Thank you all for your support and love! I pray you all are doing great and are happy. Tot zo, -- Zuster Young

"Four generations of Cute Zusters: Harris, Huber, Fredrickson and Young"

The Lord's Hand

Goed Morgen! Ik hoop dat alles goed met jullie is. This week was a huge testimony obstacle course for us here in Gouda. It was so far the biggest growing weeks for me. We had a long hard working week. So I am just going to bullet point it: We got caught in a huge rainstorm...We went out go lang de deur and it felt like North Carolina. Smelt like rain, clouds rolling in, wind picking up. Oh it was beautiful. Went to get on our bikes and then like a light switch down comes the rain... a bonus there was Thunder. Never hear thunder here. But we were just soaked to the core. Rode a little farther to see if a less active was home but she wasn't so continued to bike for a bit back home. It was typical Nederland, maar it was a little tender mercy from the Lord because I needed something to laugh at. Zr. Juchau one of my MTC teachers was here visiting and she was able to come as a Joint-teach for a lesson and that was incredible. So Shout-out to you Zr. Juchau for being the bees knees and making such a big difference in my life and continuing to influence the mission. The biggest thing this week was seeing the Lord's hand in our work. We have been working very hard, doing everything that we can. Yet, missionary work is hard. But you keep going. This week was full of embarrassments, ridicule, and rejection. Our weaknesses plastered on posters. Pushed to the limits. But it is at the limits that we are closer to our Heavenly Father. It is there at the limit when you get down on your knees and pray to Heavenly Father and just plead with him for help and comfort. Friday we had weekly planning and then ended with companionship inventory. It was incredible... we both just let out all our frustrations with the work and personal struggles. It was amazing to see and feel the spirit with us. Helping us strengthen each other. And remember why we came out here. There is no such thing as a typical day as a missionary. Nothing usually goes according to plan. We may plan out our day, but often enough it never follows. So we have to truly turn to the Lord and depend on the spirit to know what to do. Friday was one of those days. Nothing, absolutely nothing was going according to plan. Started getting frustrated with even the little things. But then we finished with companionship inventory and I am so thankful for the spirit. Heavenly Father helped us feel comforted and we set out to work. Within 5 minutes of being outside we knocked a door, bore testimony and gave out a Boek van Mormon. He continually does that, as we show we are willing to keep going, to do his work He will help us do the rest. The blessings and miracles come when we show the Lord that we will not give up, no matter how hard it gets. Last door miracle- Wednesday night, had been knocking doors for 2 hours straight, had a little a few more houses to go but it was already 9pm. Do we stop or finish the street. Finish the street. We hadn't seen any success thus far, so why keep going. No, finish the street. Kept knocking, and still no success. We get to the last house, not kidding, the last house and a younger guy maybe in his mid20's answers the door. We say who we are and he hasn't closed the door yet. We say what we are doing and still he stands there listening. We bear testimony of the Book of Mormon, the role is has in our life and its significance with the Bible. We ask if we can give him one... He agrees. He takes it and we set up another appointment to go back. Again, the Lord knows his children. He sees our efforts, and if we show we will don't quit because it is hard or it is time to go home, that is when we see the miracles and blessings. I know life has it's challenges and obstacles... but they are given to us to make us stronger. Heavenly Father has a plan. We just need to trust him, and do our best. The Atonement enables us to keep going. It will all be worth it in the end and we can say that we never gave up. I know He lives and is watching over us. I pray we can see his hand in our life everyday. I love you all and miss you dearly. -- Zuster Young

This email also arrived today. "Dear Young Family, I just wanted to let you know that my daughter Sarah and I had the pleasure of seeing Sister Young in Gouda last week. Sarah served in the Belgium/Netherlands mission and we were visiting one of her favorite cities. She also had the privilege of teaching your daughter in the MTC so it was especially fun for us to see her. Sarah went on a joint-teach with Sister Young and Sister Fredrickson and she said they were wonderful teachers and powerful missionaries. After we dropped them off and were in the car inputting our next stop in the GPS they rode by on their bikes off to find someone new to teach. They've got energy and spirit! I'm sure you had a wonderful talk with your daughter today but I thought I'd add my witness that she's doing great! Best wishes, Beck Juchau"

Walking Zombie

I don't even know where to begin! It has been a long week... KONINGSDAG- So in the Netherlands Koningsdag is a national holiday on the King's Birthday. It is absolutely Chaos. Our District went to Utrecht and set up a table with copies of the Book of Mormon (in every language we had), pamphlets, cards, and DVD's. We stopped people and talked to them, and even better was people came to us. You could really see those who were interested and curious. We gave out every copy of the Book of Mormon in Dutch we had brought as a District, all the Spanish BvM, and other languages as well. It was a cool experience. But this day is crazy... Everyone is drinking and smoking... and smoking weed b/c yes it is legal here. Our area actually was getting smoked out but the stoners behind us. Ah... it was just a one of a kind experience to say the least. Dinsdag- Went on exchanges in Utrecht and we had a dinner appointment with a woman from Oregon. She married a Dutchman. She made the most american meal I've had since being on my mission. It was a little tender mercy. So mom, Susan Jongedijk from Amerongen, Nederland wants to tell you "I fed your daughter, she is wonderful and looking great." Ring Conferentie (Stake Conference)- Ring Rotterdam got a new stake presidency so we had 2 Area Seventies (Elder Boom and Elder Texiria) here. The Stake Conference was absolutely beautiful. Zr. Fredrickson and I were asked to be in the Stake Choir. That was awesome. We sat up on the stand with the choir. As the closing song we sang "Abide With Me 'Tis Eventide" the first 2 verses were in English and then the last verse in Dutch. I wish you could have heard it, it was beautiful and it made me cry. I felt like I was back at Girls Camp and when we would sing the theme song all together. Just powerful. This week has been full of little miracles and sweet experiences. But I do not have the time to share everything. I just want to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I started it from the beginning my first Transfer in the land and finished it yesterday. And reading it this time through my testimony of Joseph Smith grew tremendously. Never before have I noticed how much it talks about the Restoration and our Latter-day. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that the accounts written there in actually happened, they were writing and experiencing all that they were for us. They set the example, Joseph Smith translated the book for us so we could follow their example. Learn from them and come Closer to God and his son Jesus Christ. I know this is the restored gospel of Jesus the Christ. He is at the helm of the church with Thomas S. Monson leading the way. No matter where you go in the world, it is the same. The priesthood is the same and blessing all within its reach. The tender sweet spirit as it's companion. I know God lives and he is mindful of us. He hears our prayers and watches our efforts. He has a plan and wants us to be happy. We can find that happiness and know the plan if we just open the Book of Mormon and read. Dat is mij getuigenis in de naam van Jezus Christus, Amen. Zuster Young

It was never easy for Him

Well good morning... I know it has only been 5 days but its P-day for us again! Holland has a holiday on Monday- Koningsdag. And we are to do as much proselyting as possible. So today we have P-day and wont have it till the following Monday. But anywho these last couple of days have been great. I am exhausted! You go to bed on time but you wake up the next morning still tired. You know you're a missionary when the kneeling position for praying becomes comfortable enough to fall asleep. I remember when I first got out here and Zr. Jones would tell me that and other missionaries would talk about falling asleep during personal prayers...I've reached that point! But I guess that is a good things and we are out working. We are pulling good proselyting numbers (President Robinson created a project "Wrinkle in Time"to increase numbers and productivity) so we keep track of our proselyting hours everyday. On Tuesday we got six and half hours alone! It's been hard, I'll be honest... lately appointments fall through so we have to come up with a new plan. Most of the time we are knocking doors. Again it has been hard and discouraging... People open the door and once we say who we are they either laugh, stop us, shew us away, slam the door or all the above. We put what we hold dear and special to us out on the line and people throw it back in your face. We looked up a less active and she was surprised to see us at her door. After a few awkward minutes she let us in. She explained to us that she wants nothing to do with the church. She even served a mission in England! As she talked and explained why, she proceeded to tell us that she is getting a divorce, she has no work, and because she went on a mission did not finish school. Which she made very clear that she felt her mission was a waste of her time and wished she stayed here to study. We bore a short testimony and asked her if we could say a prayer before we left. She laughed in our face and said in English "I don't do cheesy". What does that even mean? I don't know. But that was a testimony builder to me that your life falls apart once your choose to walk away from the gospel. You literally lose a light once you remove the foundation. Which foundation should be Jesus Christ. Later that night we had a dinner appointment, and by this point it was a long day full of walking, slammed doors, etc. I was exhausted and having a hard time understanding the conversation, feeling beat and then a little tender mercy. There was music playing in the background and BAGPIPES started playing. I felt the spirit tell me that everything will be okay, Heavenly Father loves me and sees my efforts. That my family loves me and supports me. So shoutout to the Clan! Yesterday was very interesting. We had a lesson with an investigator from Portugal... well she pretty much just taught us. She is a christian woman, who doesn't really like her current church but her husband is the head hancho man so that is where it gets pretty tricky. But anywho we talked about the word of wisdom, the godhead, the symbolism of hair, and then the devil. We were there fro 2 hours and by the end she went right into a prayer and we think she healed us and blessed us. It was kinda funny because we really didn't know what was going on. She is a super sweet woman and really sincere. Just wants to know the truth, just need to figure out to teach her. Lastly, last night we had an appointment with another investigator, Celia. She loves to study and has been studying the scriptures, the pamphlets we gave her and on her own has been watching General Conference! My jaw dropped... Just blows my mind that there are people who are ready for the gospel in their lives, how close they are and how much Heavenly Father is working with his children, individually, who are seeking him. It is moments like these, and these lessons that make all the slammed doors worth it. The people are why we are here. I love being a missionary. It was never easy for Christ, so why would it be easy for me? I love you all and you are in my prayers. Leifs, Zuster Young

 P.S. 1 Corinthians 11:15 the reason I love my long hair and will never cut it! -- Zuster Young

** 1 Corinthians 11:15 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/11?lang=eng

The Start of Something New

Goed Morgen! Well I just don't know where to even begin with this e-mail! Last week I said "See you Later's" to Antwerpen. I really am going to miss that place and more specifically the people. Getting to work with and know so many people, they just take your heart. And Antwerpen definitely has my heart. But I know that is is time to move on, the Lord has a plan and now I am in Gouda. Last few days in Antwerpen: The last few days were crazy, going from appointments and all over the place. Went and saw Lynn, oh man that chick is amazing! Heavenly Father is truly working with her in her life. We also had a dinner appointment with Steffanny, from the ward. It was the best! WE sang a ton and ate FuFu! I hope she posted the videos. District Meeting on Tuesday was the most spiritual DM I've had so far. We just did a mini testimony meeting and then focused on spiritual gifts. Then sat around and told each other other peoples spiritual gifts. It truly was powerful, something that I definitely needed to hear before moving on. Then that night was a lesson with Ann. Again, she made us Thai food and made it all fancy because it was my last night. She is a sweetheart. The lesson was powerful and the spirit was so strong. I am thankful for the chance I had to be in Antwerpen, make the friends and relationships that I have now. I have learned so much from them, I hope I was able to help them in a way on their journey towards Christ. GOUDA- This town is absolutely gorgeous. As soon as we got back (which Transfer Day is nuts! Train stations are swarming with missionaries!) we dropped my luggage off, and went out to work. I am now in Nederland so guess what... BIKES! I am back on my bike, just cruising all over the place. We have been working hard, unfortunately about 90% of our appointments have fallen through so we have done a ton of door knocking. Yesterday we sat down and made a "Gouda Game Plan". So this project and game plan goes into effect this week. I am pumped. My new companion is Zr. Fredrickson, she is hilarious and a wonderful missionary. We get along great... its going to be a fun transfer. At church yesterday, there is a new family in the ward, went up and talked with them. The wife is from Germany.... and LOVES soccer. So we talked about that for 30 minutes and her husband had to come stop us. It was hilarious, he was joking saying this is going to be trouble with how fast we clicked. haha But this ward is wonderful. Small and friendly. I am really excited to just have a new start. I love you all, miss you dearly. Take care and know you are in my prayers. Liefs, Zuster Young P.S. We will have P-day again on Saturday b/c next Monday is Kings Day. Big holiday!

Transfer Dinner with Sister Renner

Had an awesome surprise today. A sweet Sister Renner hosted a dinner for the missionaries in Antwerpen for transfers. Traditional food from Ghana. Got to see a fun few pictures and watch a couple short videos of Zuster Young sing. LOVED this! Tender mercies to get a small glimpse of her this week.