A Great Birthday Week!

 What a great week!!!!  Having my birthday at the beginning of the week was for sure a test… but I was determined to not get distracted.  Last monday (pday) I got the family birthday packages!!!  I was SO excited when I opened them to find so much princess stuff!!!  The sisters there were so amused and found it to be so fun!  I really am representing the south and southern royalty here!  We all put on the pink sparkly tiaras and a plastic necklace.  I put on the new aqua PJ’s while the other sisters prepared for a little birthday party! We made the cupcakes and reeses bars and used my princess plates!  We didn’t have too much time to celebrate, but we had a blast looking through all the princess stuff and putting up the princess banner and the awesome banner Rachel made!!! I loved it all, and I LOVED the presents!  Ya’ll spoil me….  All the sisters were asking… is Sister Younce turning 21 or is she turning 5?  Love it!!!  I also got to the VC Monday night and found a surprise there from the Moss family!  It was a huge basket of fun and useful things! (a true care package!) I loved it all!

Dad asked me jokingly last week if there was any way that he could get Sister Brown to make me breakfast in bed on Tuesday.  I mentioned it to her but told her not to worry about it! She said she would never do that or wake up early just to make me food!  I found to my surprise on Tuesday morning 2 goofy-expressioned sisters as they asked me to come downstairs for something.  They made me crawl back in bed (I had been blowdrying my hair and it was a poof!!!) and they sang to me and presented me with Strawberry waffles and eggs and fruit salad! It was SO sweet and I felt so spoiled! They all laugh at me constantly, but I know they enjoy it.  EVERY GIRL IS A PRINCESS! NEVER FORGET IT!!!

We had zone conference on my birthday which was awesome!  Sister Brown made it her day goal to tell EVERY SINGLE person we talked to that day that it was my birthday.  My day goal was to pretend it wasn’t my birthday and to not get distracted on my full work day.  Sister Brown won.

At lunch there were 2 zones eating after conference.  The food was DIVINE until both zones started singing happy birthday unexpectedly while my mouth was full.  Of course… in the normal Becca fashion, I screamed from surprise and nearly choked on my food.  It was fun!  The rest of the day was just a work day out in our area, but it was a good day overall.  I felt utterly loved and spoiled.  THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

Speaking of food – I AM GAINING WEIGHT!!! Seriously, people need to stop making us desserts.  I had cake 6 times this past week.  The family that fed me on my birthday also somehow caught wind that it was my birthday and they made homemade (from scratch) pasta, bruschetta, and chocolate cake!  I mean… I even got sung to last night… nearly a week after my birthday and had to eat a triple sized piece of cake!  All I know is that next year… I am NOT telling anyone that it is my birthday.  It will be kept top secret!

We got to go to the temple on Thursday morning!  We had to wake up at 5 three days in a row this past week… and it was a struggle to stay awake inside.  Overall though… it was awesome!  The Mesa temple has GORGEOUS details on the top floor!  The pastels and beautiful light purple walls and the woodwork is simply adorable! I cant wait to go back!  The top floor is covered in the original murals and walking up the steps going to the top floor is so cool.  

Missionary work this week was so great! It is awesome to see some of the fruit of our labors from this past month!  We set 2 more baptisms this week for June 8^th! Those two set for June 8th are super secure in that date, but my other investigator set for June 22 is still not quite set in stone.  Either way… I am so excited for the baptisms!  We also got to go and teach some referrals that we were about to drop, but that finally opened the door and let us in!  We taught quite a bit this week, and we found some really open minded people.  I am so excited to see what June will bring! 

I am finally really settled into my work here.  Next Saturday we find out transfer news.  Who knows if I will be staying with Sister Brown, or if I will be training someone new!!! Any guesses?

I love you all!!!! Happy anniversary mommy and daddy!  Write me!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!!

Sister Younce

Week 4 in Mesa

My Lovelies,

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!  Can you feel the big hug and juicy smooch I just gave ya’ll?! 

This week has had a few downs, but overall it has been GREAT! The sisters here all just make up this awesome sisterhood! Usually you have to be wary when you put so many women together day after day, but because all of us are expressly working each and every day to become more like Christ and the spirit abides with us in the VC, we just love each other. Period.  I am learning that as long as we all are open and working to develop all of the Christ-like attributes, then there is nothing internal to worry about in any organization. Usually …. Almost always….that is easier said than done, but here a midst missionaries – I believe it is quite possible.  I love these sisters, and the senior couples we serve with each day are such a blessing!  Elder Beckstrand is our VC president and he makes me laugh so hard!  He always approaches us with a quizzical brow and you feel so special when you finally do earn one of his goofy smiles.  What a funny, funny man.

At the VC this week, I concentrated hard on trying to live and fulfill my purpose as a missionary.  The common misconception is that VC sisters are tour guides.  Some people come in and treat us as such, including some missionaries, but we have the authority to take command in our “area”, and I have been enjoying doing just that this week.  We are ALWAYS friendly, but we especially have to steer all small-talk conversations people have with us to something doctrine-based.  I thought it would be impossible, but I am figuring out how to do just that, and I am already finding it quite rewarding.  Time and time again I have witnessed people coming into the VC for no real reason other than to just be uplifted.  I have seen how that is possible through the VC sisters truly fulfilling their purpose and never being afraid to testify, teach, and guide. 

Don’t get me wrong – I still have SO much I need to work on in the VC.  I struggle each and every day particularly with starting and ending movies to where each person has a testimony-building experience, but it is coming! 

Alert **** It reached 108 this week.  Kill me now!!!  We biked a few miles in skirts on one of the 102 degree days.  Super FUN!!!

Sadder news:

The sister that had been sick that lived with us just went home this morning. She had some procedures this week and there is too much internal swelling for her to stay here any longer.  I will be so happy to welcome her back in a few months when she has healed though!  That was a struggle to see her go through that this past month, but she is a strong woman and she will be back here asap! 

The one investigator I have had since I got out here and had high hopes for just dropped out of lessons yesterday.  We were expecting her at church finally and then about an hour before it started we got a voicemail from her. 

Happier News: 

Sister Brown and I struggled to overcome our disappointment most of the day yesterday, but the blow was softened as our new investigators came to church! (I had never had an investigator actually make it to church!)   Ryan is 11½ and his mom, Lori, started meeting with us this week.  We met twice and then we were able to see them at church, where they had a great time! Lori has expressed her desire to go to the temple someday and we have such high hopes for the family!  Ryan is adopted, and I don’t believe Lori has ever been married.  She suffers from some major vision issues and they both live with Lori’s Mom, Billy.  Billy is a little slower to accept this message, but she is shockingly open to the church and its teachings!  We were amazed when we first met with them – both of us feared we would be told to go away and have the door slammed in our faces, despite having made an appointment with Ryan a few days before.  Instead, we were welcomed in along with their LDS neighbors.  We heard from multiple families in the ward of previous attempts for the past 15 years to reach out to this family.  They had rather rudely and forcefully rejected church members and missionaries in the past.   – Basically the ward was abuzz and we got call after call from people who had heard and wanted to confirm the family was in fact meeting with us and would be at church. 

People really do change, and Lori has let on that she has gotten over some major depression she has had and she wants to make a positive life change for her and her son now. 

Really, we never even expected to get inside that home, but we did.  Now we are preparing to ask them to be baptized.  Never give up on anyone – the Lord has his own timing, but we must ALWAYS stay true to our callings as member or full-time missionaries.   I know this will be a marvelous June!

We celebrated the birthdays for the week.  There were three delicious cakes for the three birthdays this week! (I will send a picture next week)  So no worries mommy – I got a cake!  I love the VC J

Has the family gotten a copy of “The everyday member missionary” yet?  If not, GET ONE AND READ IT!! I will also be sending my favorite talk home today in the family letter. Please, everyone read that talk (at least the 3^rd and 4^th missionary sections).  Although it is about missionaries, it is applied to all of us.  It has cried repentance unto me.   Speaking of repentance – I have really come to understand repentance more fully out here in the field.  We are constantly supposed to be working towards perfection and that is only possible through the atonement.  Each and every day we MUST repent – it can just be as simple as recognizing a shortcoming or a little Christlike attribute you are lacking in.  Give up your bad habits, and work towards the good each and every day.  I promise that you will be able to feel a world of difference as you do this, and “the fourth missionary” can help guide you.  You don’t have to be on a full-time mission to be able to be shaped in a Christlike manner.  Work towards it each day, and I know you will feel at least a portion of the fulfillment I have been able to feel out here. 

Sometimes I have thought of my bed at home, and how I would love to be in it.  Then I realize that I want to be here, working 16-17 hour days and sleeping on a twin sized bed in a dark basement, because here I have a real purpose for these 18 months.  What a difference it makes to know your purpose and to work towards fulfilling it each and every day! Some days it is hard to see why I am doing this, but I do know I am where God wants me to be.  Although I miss the family like crazy, every single sacrifice I know is and will be worth it.  This is God’s time – not mine.  If we try to make our own selves we can only make dusty old junk, but if we give ourselves and our will to the Lords and we make our desires and his desires one and the same, then he can make out of us a God.  Just promise me this, Family – Read that talk and apply it.  Report back to me next week!  I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

How is everyone doing?! Fill me in on anything new!!!! Dearelders are fine for any of you that don’t have much time! 

I love you all so muchhhhhh,

Sister younce

ps.  next week I may not be able to send too much -- we are having zone activity on pday

pps. Zone conference on my birthday! Then temple trip on Thursday! (I finally get to go inside!!!)

ppps.  I love you!

Mesa- Week 3

*This email was from last week.  Sorry we are behind in posting it.  This weeks email will follow shortly.

Family!!!!

Hey how are all of you doing?!  Ahhh what a day yesterday!!  I have to admit, I was sort of dreading Mother’s Day this year.  Anytime I thought about it my stomach would drop and I felt sick.  I guess everything is still a little too fresh.  Its funny how I cry or tear up EVERY single time I get to testify on families! (every day) and so everyone around me can feel the love I do have for my families even just after meeting me.  I say funny…. But I actually mean ANNOYING!  Why do y'all have to make me love you so much?! Stop being amazing!!!  

So that skype conversation was interesting! Next time I hope we don’t have that huge delay between the audio and video!  I have skyped hundreds of times and that has NEVER happened to me before!!  I can't believe I started crying at the very beginning either and continued all the way through! (Daddy, why did you have to give me these genes?!)  The blessing of my amazing family is why I am doing all of this…. But its also what makes this painful at times.  You were all asking me if I was always this homesick and emotional and the answer is: HECK NO!!! I seriously just tear up every now and then.  I hadn’t legit cried since the day before I left for the MTC!  I really have been blessed with the ability to concentrate on the work most of the time here, and I know the Lord has strengthened me significantly over the past few months.  Sometimes I feel like I’m not even the same Becca!  I came right in with people being amazed at my confidence and everyone I meet thinks I am near the end of my mission, rather than a greenie.  (sorry Jacob! Guess that only happens in English missionary work!! J)  Whats odd about this is… at first I wasn’t confident even in the slightest!  But I really have felt myself becoming more and more confident as I have become more attune to the spirit.  Its amazing what surety you can experience as you learn to rely on the spirit’s guidance rather than on the thoughts of your head alone. 

I know I say this about every week… but this past week was a crazy busy one!!  Sister Brown and I had an awesome Zone training meeting where we met with the other 30 or so people in our zone and did quite a few training activities.  Our main focus of the meeting was on how to build strong relationships with the members in the area.  This was such an inspired and important thing to focus on, especially in this Mesa mission!  I might have mentioned this before in emails, but the Mesa mission is a tracting-free mission.  We rely wholly on referrals and the only way to really fulfill our purpose as missionaries here is to start with gaining the trust of the members around here so that they know that they can trust their friends and neighbors in our hands.  A few days before the meeting we had done our weekly planning where we make goals for the next week.  Our goal or focus for the next week was to be on FINDING PEOPLE TO TEACH!  The meeting went hand in hand perfectly!  I also was working on having “faith to find” this past week as my main focus individually.  I often times would just start turning away as soon as I saw that a person we were talking to was about to reject us and squirmed a bit as sister Brown kept talking to them.  I realized though that by being like that, I was not fulfilling my purpose as a missionary and allowing them accept or deny what I had to say.  This week I think I for sure gained confidence as I knocked on doors.  I knew oftentimes by their faces or by the fact that they wouldn’t open their storm door (why does everyone in mesa have one of these huge metal doors?! So annoying!  They talk to you through it and wont open it.  They can see you, but you can't see them!  We end up talking to a door and looking all sorts of directions hoping we will get close to their eyes at some point in the conversation!) I felt such [power within me as I testified of things I know to be true each time.  Almost every time, they already had their answer ready and the words on their lips, but I testified anyways and as I did so I felt the spirit testify to me of the truth of what I was saying and as a result my testimony grew each and every time.   I know that this won't be the highest baptizing mission by any means.  Every house on the streets that are not LDS have already had their answer ready for years now and have gotten to practice it a time or two, or fifty.  But we WILL find [people that the Lord has prepared, and in the meantime I can stand guiltless as I fulfill my purpose as we struggle to “find”. 

I am so pleased to tell you that we have an investigator that has set a baptismal date!  Her name is Faye Felts.  She is originally from Arkansas and she has the CUTEST accent… and honestly she is just the cutest lady I have ever met!   She has been married to a man that has been inactive most of his life.  Missionaries have come by in the past over and over, and for years at a time at some points.  She has never been willing to commit and never willing to admit what she does know to be true.  She admitted in our last lesson that she KNOWS the book of Mormon is true and is the word of God.  As her husband tried to make excuses for them and why she hasn’t been baptized then, she ended up stopping him as he came up with his tenth excuse and she said “Well Ed, truth be told, none of that is actually why.  To be honest I just haven’t prayed enough about it.”  This came from a small quiet  woman who is honestly quite submissive to her talkative husband.    That got things on a really honest and “excuse-free” note right there.  During the next visit after that one, she had some concerns. While I wanted to just talk my way around those concerns and convince her what I know…. Something made me stop. 

Instead I testified of how I know that as she gets her answer, then everything will make sense to her.  Her testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon through the Holy Ghost will allow to her know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.  Then since J.S. was a prophet of God, then he had the authority to receive revelation from God.  That revelation, which in this case is the Word of Wisdom, is then in conclusion FROM GOD.

I let her know that she shouldn’t stress about that right now.  She needs to concentrate on praying to God and that the rest will come as her faith grows. 

This was certainly not all I said, but that was the general idea.  During that I felt the spirit so strong within me.  I kept having the word “baptism” pop into my head over and over again.  I lightly nudged Sister Brown and we looked at each other in agreement and realized we had both felt the same prompting. 

Keep in mind, asking Faye to be baptized was a bit of a far step.  She had been asked that question perhaps 20 times before by her previous missionaries and every other time it had been a flat out no (as our area book records say), and we did not want to pressure Faye for fear that she would back off and not let us come back.  Thankfully though we were both so prompted by the spirit and felt a powerful confidence within us to just ask the question.  SHE SAID YES!!!!!!!!!!  Of course she is still going to be praying about this to make sure this is what God wants her to do, but for some reason Sister Brown and I were so blessed to be able to be used as instruments in the Lord’s hands!  I don’t know why we were the companions lucky enough to see this finally happen, but I know we didn’t do a thing – it was the spirit.  I’m just glad that we have been following the rules with exact obedience and being faithful enough to keep the spirit with us as our third companion.  While Ed Felts has not been active since he was 16 years old, through the past two visits he has come to realize his testimony and now they both want to get to the Temple to be sealed!  When we talked about them going through to get sealed together for all time and eternity I just lost it!  My eye makeup was smearing, but I was just too happy and in such a state of Euphoria that I just didn’t care! While there is still a long road ahead for Faye, I know with a surety that she will be baptized – if not on the set date in late june, then at some later date for sure.   

Last night we had the grand idea to bring pink roses and cards by all of our “potential investigators” houses where a woman was present.  We had so much fun going from house to house and wishing each mother a happy day.  We have set up two appointments so far from those 8 or so houses we went to, and each woman seemed really pleased to get the rose.  Although that doesn’t seem like a good statistic… that is far better than usual when we go “potential investigators” houses!!! It not only gave us a good feeling as we went to each woman, but it also served as a good distraction from having seen the family a few hours before on skype. 

I want you all to know that I did love seeing you!!  I SO appreciate the love I get from all of you, and I feel like the luckiest girl to have so many amazing people standing behind me. Brooklyn and Lily were even cuter than ever!!!!  Lily – have one of the Belle’s be Becca!!!! Thanks for recognizing me and showing so much excitement, cutie!!! Brooklyn – Way to go with those full sentences!  You amaze me as usual!  Glad you know now that I’m not in Utah anymore!  Thank you both for the I love you’s!!! I LOVE YOU MOSTEST!!!!!!!!

Ahh I love you so much!!!!  I can’t believe it is going to be a full 7.5 months till I can talk to you again!  Ahhh before I know it though, I will be heading home!  For now, thankfully I know that I am where I am supposed to be.  God really is there – he is not just a figment of our overactive imaginations.  I feel his power daily, and every single day as I repent and improve myself, I feel the immense power and Love from Christ.  Christ lives, and what an amazing reminder I have of that each day as I stand in front of the beautiful Christus!  This church is true.  We are SO lucky that we can come to know that for ourselves straight from God.  I have felt that confirmation from him time and time again, and it makes me so happy to get to witness others coming to feel that for themselves as well. 

I love you all so much!  BE MISSIONARIES EVERYDAY!!! (remember that you promised to do so in your baptismal covenant! )  We can all do more. 

Mwah!

Sister Younce

Mesa Week 2

Wow everything here is so busy!  I am enjoying the warmth here so far, but I know that in just a week or two I will be dying!  Funny enough we had a bit of rain yesterday and we checked the report during media, and the humidity was going to be a wopping 6%.  WOW. 

I forgot last week to tell you about the house that I am in, though I included it in my letter home.  We are housed by a really sweet LDS woman and I am so grateful for her!  Sister Brown and I live down in the basement where it is quite dark, but its comfortable enough.  The decor is pretty darn interesting.  We have this 4 foot laughing man lamp, and our couches are lime green old pleather with zebra pads on top.  There is only one tiny itsy bitsy window as well so we are use to it being dark down there no matter the time of day.  This has resulted in some great fun!  This has happened a few times this week, but in fact this happened twice last night alone: We keep finding ourselves awake and making our beds and putting on our exercize clothes thinking it is 6 am.  One of us looks at our clocks and realizes it is only 12:30 or 3:15 am (both of the times from last night) then has to spend 5 minutes convincing the other companion that it really is not time to wake up and that its okay to go back to sleep.  Repeat.  Haha so I guess I haven't been sleeping very deeply lately!
 

Also, our "70's Fabulous" bathroom is all the way across the basement, up the stairs, through the kitchen/ across the house and down a long narrow hallway.  I'll just say that it is a very poor design for such a small-bladdered person.  I do the potty dance every single night as I feel my way through the pitch darkness and up the stairs and across the house till I am praying to just make it to the bathroom when I get to the hallway!  One night during my first week I even ran smack into the wall and hit my head hard.  This woke up Sister Brown and it took a few minutes to convince her it wasn't a gunshot, but really just my head, before she would go back to bed.  Nighttimes are strange down there in that basement!!! So disorienting, but pretty hilarious :) Thankfully it has been a few days since I have found myself walking into a closet instead of through our doorway when I get up at night.  That one is always a surprise :)

This week I really got to experience the stress of a VC sister here in Mesa.  As I have said before, we have 3 wards as well as a 6 hour VC shift every single day.  It is SO tough and stressful during the time that we DO have in our areas!  The elders are always inviting us to Zone sports or telling us how great it is to go to ward functions and how fun TTI-ing (teach, testify, invite -- when we just walk or bike the streets and teach anyone out there) ... but we can never do any of those things!  Our small amount of time is all we get, and we have it booked up.  In fact, I have already witnessed some contention as ward members are asking us to teach investigators in their home (which is great! The whole stake was challenged to have someone in their home with the missionaries by July 1st and they are REALLY jumping on this!) and we have VC shift that night -- they get pretty darn angry. 

Its not fun to have to apoligize for just doing our duty -- for doing what we are called here to do.  I feel the stress of our two areas (VC and Stake area) when they collide, and I want to just be able to do everything that people need of us.  Also, sometimes Sister Brown and I find ourselves having to "prove" ourselves as the new young sister missionaries.  Some Adult men in particular have trouble wrapping their heads around our adequacy, but that is neither here nor there.  I am here serving the LORD! The only person we need to prove ourselves to is the Lord, though we desire the trust of members.  Since we are a tracting-free mission as a whole, our members are so vital!  Thankfully we have been blessed with some great families that are so willing to share the gospel with everyone and are very active in missionary work.  Coming from the most densely LDS population in mesa ( our stake is just 2.5 by 2.5 miles and our area is probably less than a mile wide, even though we have 3 wards in there alone!) finding people that are open to hearing the Gospel is tough.  Many have built up their defenses long ago, and so there are just a few people hidden in there that don't already have the Gospel that would even think about allowing the missionaries in their home.  But WE WILL FIND THEM!!!  This gospel is EVERYTHING to me and I know that it fills wholes in peoples lives that they don't even realize they have sometimes!  My job is to be here representing Christ and to be unafraid to teach and testify from the first second.  We allow others to exercise their agency by doing this, and if I am flat-out rejected, then so be it! My conscience will be clear. 

The Visitors Center is awesome.  I know I haven't talked about it too much, but really I do love it.  It allows me to have a family and a "home" to go to each and every day!  I love every single one of the sisters that I get to work with.  Sister Brown and I work hard in the VC as well.  Our purpose as missionaries is to "invite others to come unto Christ".  This means Mormons and Nonmormons alike.  EVERYONE can come even closer to Christ than they already are! It poses a challenge to follow the spirit as we talk to each person that walks through the door and as we listen for guidance on how they individually can have a converting experience.  Conversion is a constant thing, and I always want to become more and more converted! Everyone that walks through the door is the same in that need for conversion, but the spirit is the ONLY guide for us to depend on so that we can know what their needs are from us.  I find that I constantly have to have a prayer in my heart as I talk to people -- though honestly I have a LONG way to go till I get close to perfecting this! 

Naturally, as missionaries we pray a lot.  I mean a LOT!!!! Before we leave the house in the morning we have said at LEAST 5 prayers!!! Then we pray before we go into any house or lesson or meeting.  We must say at least 20-25 prayers a day!! I have come to really love that aspect of this work though.  Praying is a necessity for us if we want to have the Lord Guiding us everyday.  We invite the spirit when we pray, and the Lord generally guides us through the spirit.  I have already seen how different lessons go when we prepare with prayer and study for the individual, and then when we just are in a hurry and spit out a topic on the way that we want to touch on without getting to put it to prayer!!!

Unfortunately, they one of the sisters in the companionship that shares the house with us has been sick all week!  She has been extremely ill throughout the whole 8 weeks she has been here, but this past week has been the worst!  We have been praying and fasting for her as a mission and I hope they figure out what is wrong!  Nice enough for Sister Brown and I, however, is the fact that her companion is a busy body and never wastes a second of the day.  Their investigators are Mexican and so sweet so they keep bringing by mounds of food (for a girl that can't stomach anything more than pedialite and a smoothie) so she has been experimenting and each night we come home to a new snack to try :)  (usually made from apples, because they have brought more than 50!!!)That has been nice, but I know that they both want to get out to the mission field again.  Sister Schwartz is the one that was making us the food and actually she is from Atlanta!  We both share a love for the south -- its food, beauty, and people!  I will probably write more about her in later letters, but sadly I am out of time!!

I love you all sooooo much!!!!!!!

I can't wait to see you on skype next Sunday!

Sister Younce

Family,

I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!!! Its been more than a week since my last p-day and so so much has happened!  It turns out that at least for now we only get an hour and a half to email on p-day (mondays) and part of that time is taken up by writing my weekly mission president email.  An hour and a half may seem like a lot but its NOT! In fact, p-days are so bad!  We look forward to them for being able to grocery shop (we have been living on basically nothing) but its a day of homesickness and stress.  Today my schedule is:  6:30 am-- wake up. 6:30-7 am -- work out.  7-8 am Shower and get ready and eat breakfast.  8-9 -- personal study (30 minutes BOM, 15 PMG and 15 min other.  The real challenge for me is staying awake and keep my eyes from crossing!) 9-10 am companionship study (most important time of the day in my opinion).  10-10:30-- 12 weeks program training.  10:30- 12pm email.  12-6 -- eat lunch, get car washed and vaccumed out, grocery shopping, any errands, go home and clean clean clean and UNPACK!!!! do all laundry, organize yourself, write letters, and make and eat dinner.  6-9-- time out in area (we will be biking tonight)  where we are constantly going from house to house doing referrals and having lessons. 9-10 pm (supposed to be just till 9:30) -- planning and goal setting for next day.  10-10:30 change, get ready for bed, write in journal... or like often happens talk on the phone with district or zone leaders so that you dont get to do any of those things!  10:30 pm -- bed time.  And that is our "relaxation" day!!!! hahahaha NOT!

Sooooo last monday night, I got about an hour of sleep.  We got out of bed at 4:30 and we were late getting all of our huge bags down the elevator and outside.  We then had the time of our lives attempting to drag 3 sisters bags across the campus.  THIS WAS HILARIOUS AND HORRIBLE!!! They really need to have elders help us out..... my arm was purple for about 2 hours after and despite it being 30 degrees outside and we were underdressed, we were ALL sweating like pigs.  

It was a crazy time as about 200-300 of us waited in the travel line and loaded buses to the airport.  Finally at the airport after security I got to call mommy!  That was so nice!  I only cried a bit, but I'm pretty sure that if everyone had been there I would have been bawling the entire time! (skyping should be fun..... btw I don't know the time yet but I will let you know asap..... but pretty positive it is on MOTHERS DAY!)  While others slept on the plane, I was stupid and talked the entire time!  In hindsight, I really should have taken advantage of that sleep opportunity.  The rest of the day was a blur! There were about 12 of us in our travel group headed to the Mesa mission and once we got off the plane, we met our mission president and wife, along with the mission president's assistants and a sister from Pakistan that was leaving to go home the next day (she was a convert a few years ago in pakistan.... her story is crazy.... and its amazing.... her WHOLE family was baptized while she was gone on her mission! I bet that reunion was amazing!) We went to the V.C. (visitor's center -- I will refer to it as VC) and met some people and had a few meetings, including a testimony meeting.  I even got to see sister Valladores and when we hugged it amazed me how small she is!  She is sooooo tiny!!!!!!

We ended up at the mission office and we ate lunch (amazinnnggggg) and had orientation and meetings for about 4 hours.  The a.c. wasnt working unfotunately, so I felt like I was going to vomit the entire time and I sweated through my clothes -- Welcome to the Desert, Becca!!!  I had to pick out just a tiny bag of clothes for overnight ( this was tough -- I wish they had warned us that this was going to be happening so I would have packed it before-- opening my luggage that was stuffed to the brim was pretty dangerous and beyond crazy but I was glad to see all the other sisters in the same boat as me!  One even cried!) I was then put with two sisters and they were to be my companions for the night.  We went out into the 99 degrees and this companionship didn't have a car at the time so a member was bringing them around in an unairconditioned car.  I sat in the back and willed myself not to be sick.... we went and dropped my stuff off at their place and immediately went out to see investigators.  We went to the sketchiest place I have ever been in! Every single apartment we went by had a different sickening smell coming out of it, and I guess this was my first time smelling drugs before...yelling could be heard and just about everyone that was outside in the complex had a glass bottle in their hands.  Despite the area, we did have a touching experience with a lady they visit that had just lost her husband.  She felt the spirit and somehow I felt different about her.  All I wanted to do was run away when I first saw her, but as we stayed and talked about the gospel and her troubles, I began to feel such love for her.  This was a lady that I probably would have taken a detour in the grocery store just to try to avoid, but I ended up crying right along with her, and even gave this toothless woman a hug. 

During that time I was a little unsure... and I was shocked as to the state of the area we were visiting.  It was unexpected, but I began to wonder if that would be what I am in the entire time!  I found out soonafter however that this was the only sketchy place in the mission and that particular apartment complex was the only one like it that we were to visit.  We went to a members home then for dinner.  It became immediately apparent to me just how missionary minded the members of Mesa are!!!  The members here are so amazing!!! I will tell you more about the members later in the email. 

We walked the rest of the evening to some referrals and then to some ward members that the sisters needed to visit.  I was growing tired and the heat was pretty strong, but I made it through and we eventually got to the house where they stay.  Amazingly so many of the members in Mesa have missionaries live with them.  It's a huge sacrifice, but they are all so supportive of the missionaries!!  This family in particular has 7 children all under the age of 12.  The mother is an angel and set up the whole basement just for missionaries.  The next morning they even made french toast and homemade whipped cream and strawberry puree and had us sit with them and all of the kids for breakfast before they left for school.  I can't believe a mom with 7 kids that young would ever take on the task of having 2 missionaries live there as well.... and guess what?  They are getting 3 more next week to live there with them!  They are housing 5 missionaries! wow. wow. wow. 

The next day I went to our huge transfer meeting.  It was a big day for everyone in the mission, since almost everyone was uprooted or recieved new companions.  We had a meeting where we all met our trainers.... I got sister Brown!!!  We are quite a pair indeed.  She has only been out 6 weeks and so she was technically supposed to still have a trainer of her own to complete the second 6 weeks of training.  Instead my "greenie" trainer who is only 19 and I are together :) The Lord is putting SO much trust in us!!! I will probably be training in 6 weeks as well.... what a scary thought!

Our area is Mesa Central stake and the whole stake is 2.5 miles x 2.5 miles.  So tiny!  We are the missionaries for 3 wards -- Harris 1st, Harris 2nd, and Grandview 1st.  We also have 6 hour shifts in the VC every single day except for every other p-day.  (p-day and Sunday we have 3 hour shifts).  What I find confusing is that most of the Elders only have 2 wards they are in charge of.  I haven't quite figured out why the Elders who are full-field and have all day everyday in their areas have less wards than us VC sisters who have 3 wards to cover and less than half the time they have.  About 1-2 days each week we dont even get to spend a minute in our area because of VC and planning and meetings.  The days are definitely longer when that happens but I do love the VC as well!  Actually the VC is also another "area" we have!  Every single day we plan and make goals for that time and we have 1-2 hours of media time.  During media time, we are contacting referrals and teaching people and being "member fellowshippers" to people we originally had but handed over to the local missionaries.  This time was pretty stressful to me at first because I hate phone calls... especially when half the people reject you right off the bat. 

Rejection is for sure something that I have already gotten familiar with, but usually we can find a way to stay positive depsite it.  Our job is to invite and allow others to practice their agency.  Sister Brown has been an amazing example of this for me... because when I can tell they aren't interested right away I begin to try to walk away and I cringe as she talks to them and invites them and tells them about our message.  I realized just yesterday though that anyone who I don't at least invite I could be held accountable for on judgement day! Ahhh my job here is to be Christ's representative, and Christ, I know for sure, would offer this gospel truth to anyone and everyone.  

Overall family.... this week has been tough and confusing but there have been some bright parts.  We have to plan out every single minute since our time in our areas is so short as VC sisters.  Mornings are tough for me and I do dabble with some homesickness.  Sometimes I lose track of why I am even here and why I have to keep such time consuming records and have to constantly be busy.  My companion helps though, and I trust that the Lord will help me through this.  Ultimately I really can't complain.... 1 sister I know has only been out for six weeks, but has been throwing up for 3 of the 6 weeks for no apparent reason.  Even when sick here though, everyone gets out of bed and works the whole day through!  

One particular thing about this mission that I should mention before I run out of time is that we do ZERO tracting in this mission. We only use referrals.  We all stay so busy though because the LDS population here is so active and is always trying to share the gospel with their friends and neighbors!  My stereotypes of Mesa have diminished in less than a week actually.  There are a lot of mormons here but in reality its only 12% of Mesa that is LDS.  They really just are all so active and so prominant in the comminity that it seems like more!  Missionaries are kind of like celebrities here.  The kids all come and talk to you along with their parents and everyone knows who you are.  There are also some disadvantages to this however.  The people that are not LDS are always suspiscious of the members friendship intentions and they put up walls against us.  They basically have set rejections I am sure they have practiced at least a few times each to use on the missionaries!  We will get in there though.  The LDS population here is so active and they are great examples of character to the comminity at large.  I am looking forward to this transfer and all of the many challenges it brings!  I'm ready for a MIRACLE MAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!

I love you all so much!  Stay busy but ALWAYS work on your relationship with God.  Nothing is more important. 

MWAH MWAH MWAH!!!! 

Sister Younce