No Snow, But still the Christmas spirit!

Well we did not get snow for Christmas which to my was quite depressing, but I got over it and had a good Christmas. I am actually really grateful for the the chance to be one the mission cause I know that I would not be able to truly feel and understand what Christmas is all about with out being here. Things what when on this week;

We were able to find actually lots of new investigators this week, :) #christmasmiracles. One of which is named Emma. We had been going over to Emma's house for some time now to visit her father, and a sister that He takes care of. Neither of which are able to come to church but re figure that Christ would visit them, so we do. Before this time we have only said Hi, and By to Emma. But when we went over this time, her father and friend were asleep so we ask is we can share a message with her. :) well it was great. She is going through a divorce and looking for answers. She asked us for a copy of the Bible and we were able to also give her a Book of Mormon. i will Definitely keep y'all updated on her. i know she has been prepared!

Many of you ask about the weather, it has been great! Sunny and 50 to 60 degrees this past week :) currently it is raining but here, can't be perfect weather all the time. Still no snow though :(

I bought a sweet awesome sweater and wore it to mission conference. hahah I will get y'all a pic of it next week. #thriftshop

After going almost a whole week without chopping wood, I was able to get back on the AX and boi have i missed it. I was feeling great and even included a video for you :)

Selfie :)

Another Selfie, I love the sunsets here!

Elder Crowley and I doing our stretches during a meeting

Elder Jensen one me. Lover the kid

Elder Springer and I ready to ball before Zone Sports

HAHA me and my Groopies driving. You can kind of see my awesome sweater

These dogs barked for like 2 hours straight while I chopped wood.

HAHAh this one kind of embarrassed me but i got it nice!

Love -in it!

So we got a call Sunday morning at like 7:30 from the new Stake President. He asked us if we could fill in for the High Counselor who was suppose to speak in our branch that day. Well of course we say yes and and then we rush to get our talks ready. It is cool how the lord works cause normally we have Missionary correlation at eight but that day our branch mission leader was at a baby blessing for a family member. So we had that extra 40 minutes to prepare this talk. I thought that I would share it will you all because I was pleased with it :) sorry i didn't record it, I thought about doing that and i forgot.

Before I type the talk, wanted to mention one other thing that was cool. All 3 people that spoke, spoke on similar things, and none of us discussed what we were talking on before. #lordswork

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Good morning brothers and sister. I am grateful that God has blessed me with another chance to stand before yall. It feels like just last week I was standing before you talking. :) I guess I must have done something write, or something horribly wrong :) I guess we will see.

Well with the excitement of Christmas winding down, and the New year coming upon us this week. Many of us see this as a time to change. Maybe some of you are going to set weightless goals, Maybe some to gain weight, Spend less money, or shop the sales more. Some might see the need to make some major life changes in the coming year, and many of us see the fine turning that we can make in our life.

The idea behind the talk that i have prepared today comes from two recent General Conference Addresses. One given by President Utchdorf titled, OF REGRETS AND RESOLUTION, and the other is by Bishop Stevenson titled, "4 MINUTES."

First thing that we need to understand though is that we are all mortals and we all make mistakes. None of us will be on earth very long. We have a number of precious years which, in the eternal perspective, barely amount to the blink of an eye. In a sense, your four minutes have already begun. The clock is ticking. The words of the Apostle Paul seem so fitting: to run the race, that you may obtain the prize. When we are young, it seems that we will live forever. We think there is a limitless supply of sunrises waiting just beyond the horizon, and the future looks to us like an unbroken road stretching endlessly before us.But as many of us know, or are slowly finding out, our sunsets our limited. There are certain steps are essential in the very brief performance of an Olympic athlete—jumps or maneuvers for ice skaters and snowboarders, negotiating the turns of a bobsled run, or carving through the gates of a downhill slalom course—so it is in our lives, where certain things are absolutely essential—checkpoints which move us through our spiritual performance on earth. These spiritual markers are the essential God-given ordinances of the gospel: baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, priesthood ordinations, temple ordinances, and partaking of the sacrament each week.Now, flipping over to the talk Given by President Utchdorf. He echos the words of a nurse that works with terminally ill patients. And is able to talk with them in there final moments of this mortal life. (then i just read my favorite quotes from his talk about the 3 main responses). 
"

I Wish I Had Spent More Time with the People I Love

Perhaps the most universal regret dying patients expressed was that they wished they had spent more time with the people they love.
Men in particular sang this universal lament: they “deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the [daily] treadmill of … work.”³ Many had lost out on choice memories that come from spending time with family and friends. They missed developing a deep connection with those who meant the most to them.
Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.
Is it?
I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.
I can’t see it.
Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.
In our day it is easy to merely pretend to spend time with others. With the click of a mouse, we can “connect” with thousands of “friends” without ever having to face a single one of them. Technology can be a wonderful thing, and it is very useful when we cannot be near our loved ones. My wife and I live far away from precious family members; we know how that is. However, I believe that we are not headed in the right direction, individually and as a society, when we connect with family or friends mostly by reposting humorous pictures, forwarding trivial things, or linking our loved ones to sites on the Internet. I suppose there is a place for this kind of activity, but how much time are we willing to spend on it? If we fail to give our best personal self and undivided time to those who are truly important to us, one day we will regret it.
Let us resolve to cherish those we love by spending meaningful time with them, doing things together, and cultivating treasured memories.

I Wish I Had Lived Up to My Potential

Another regret people expressed was that they failed to become the person they felt they could and should have been. When they looked back on their lives, they realized that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained unsung.
I am not speaking here of climbing the ladder of success in our various professions. That ladder, no matter how lofty it may appear on this earth, barely amounts to a single step in the great eternal journey awaiting us.
Rather, I am speaking of becoming the person God, our Heavenly Father, intended us to be.
We arrive in this world, as the poet said, “trailing clouds of glory”⁴ from the premortal sphere.
Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence.
Why, then, do we devote so much of our time and energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial? Do we refuse to see the folly in the pursuit of the trivial and transient?
Would it not be wiser for us to “lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal”?⁵
How do we do this? By following the example of the Savior, by incorporating His teachings in our daily lives, by truly loving God and our fellowman.
We certainly cannot do this with a dragging-our-feet, staring-at-our-watch, complaining-as-we-go approach to discipleship.
When it comes to living the gospel, we should not be like the boy who dipped his toe in the water and then claimed he went swimming. As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we are capable of so much more. For that, good intentions are not enough. We must do. Even more important, we must become what Heavenly Father wants us to be.
Declaring our testimony of the gospel is good, but being a living example of the restored gospel is better. Wishing to be more faithful to our covenants is good; actually being faithful to sacred covenants—including living a virtuous life, paying our tithes and offerings, keeping the Word of Wisdom, and serving those in need—is much better. Announcing that we will dedicate more time for family prayer, scripture study, and wholesome family activities is good; but actually doing all these things steadily will bring heavenly blessings to our lives.
Discipleship is the pursuit of holiness and happiness. It is the path to our best and happiest self.
Let us resolve to follow the Savior and work with diligence to become the person we were designed to become. Let us listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents.
The more we devote ourselves to the pursuit of holiness and happiness, the less likely we will be on a path to regrets. The more we rely on the Savior’s grace, the more we will feel that we are on the track our Father in Heaven has intended for us.

I Wish I Had Let Myself Be Happier

Another regret of those who knew they were dying may be somewhat surprising. They wished they had let themselves be happier.
So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.
The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t really matter or determine our happiness.
 We do matter. We determine our happiness.
You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness.
My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don’t pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders.
However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife.
Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, “Dieter, it’s not a race; it’s a journey. Enjoy the moment.”
How right she is!
Sometimes in life we become so focused on the finish line that we fail to find joy in the journey. I don’t go cycling with my wife because I’m excited about finishing. I go because the experience of being with her is sweet and enjoyable.
Doesn’t it seem foolish to spoil sweet and joyful experiences because we are constantly anticipating the moment when they will end?
Do we listen to beautiful music waiting for the final note to fade before we allow ourselves to truly enjoy it? No. We listen and connect to the variations of melody, rhythm, and harmony throughout the composition.
Do we say our prayers with only the “amen” or the end in mind? Of course not. We pray to be close to our Heavenly Father, to receive His Spirit and feel His love.
We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.”⁶
Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it.
Perhaps we should be looking less with our eyes and more with our hearts. I love the quote: “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”⁷
We are commanded “to give thanks in all things.”⁸ So isn’t it better to see with our eyes and hearts even the small things we can be thankful for, rather than magnifying the negative in our current condition?
The Lord has promised, “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold.”⁹
Brothers and sisters, with the bountiful blessings of our Heavenly Father, His generous plan of salvation, the supernal truths of the restored gospel, and the many beauties of this mortal journey, “have we not reason to rejoice?”¹⁰
Let us resolve to be happy, regardless of our circumstances."

"Now, many of you may be thinking to yourself, “I already blew it. My four minutes are already a disaster. I may as well give up.” If so, stop thinking that, and never think it again. The miracle of the Atonement can make up for imperfections in our performance. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught:
“To those of you … who may still be hanging back, … I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. …
“… It is never too late so long as the Master … says there is time. … Don’t delay.”¹⁰
Remember, you are not alone. The Savior has promised that He will not leave you comfortless.¹¹ You also have family, friends, and leaders who are cheering you on."

"One day we will take that unavoidable step and cross from this mortal sphere into the next estate. One day we will look back at our lives and wonder if we could have been better, made better decisions, or used our time more wisely.

To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be wise to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us:

• Resolve to spend more time with those we love.

• Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be.

• Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances.

I know that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today. If we have sinned or made mistakes—if we have made choices that we now regret—there is the precious gift of Christ’s Atonement, through which we can be forgiven. We cannot go back in time and change the past, but we can repent. The Savior can wipe away our tears of regret¹¹ and remove the burden of our sins.¹² His Atonement allows us to leave the past behind and move forward with clean hands, a pure heart,¹³ and a determination to do better and especially to become better. "

It is my pray that we will all strive to make 2015 and even 2016 "the best two years". In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Love
- Elder Young

Merry Christmas

Well this is it. This is Christmas week! And boy does it not even feel like it :0 hahahah I guess it is just me but I really need snow for it to feel like Christmas and well, as of right now Buckingham VA has not received any snow yet :( But with that being said it does give me a chance to look more into the true meaning of Christmas. If any of you have not been able to look at the He is the Gift video check it out. I love approach that the church has taken with this initiative; Discover, Embrace, Share. Those are 3 simple words but they are a road map and guide line for us this Christmas season! I encourage all of you, if you are going to celebrate Christmas this year DO IT RIGHT. Nothing is more embarrassing for people when they don't even realize why we have Christmas in the first place!

As far as the missionary work goes it has been a slow week. lots of service, there is a lot of sickness going around, I think that might have even shut down the schools early! We did help out at the local Habitat House, so I can say that i helped build a house on the mission! I can say though that the best part of the week was just this past Saturday when we were able to teach our Methodist Preacher friend. Asked him what would change if he discover that the Book of Mormon was true, and he replied "I will join the church" #TRill 3yolo #lordswork #discovery. hahah It was cool though! I love seeing that this work really is not mine, or how i only play a small part in inviting, but God prepares these people for us to reap :)

Sorry this email is short. i am super excited to hopefully see many of your faces on Christmas. I will be using Hangouts and my chanfans email so hop on around 11 Utah time!

Love you all and i will leave you with this great quote for the Christmas Time!

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.

― Howard W. Hunter

Christmas and No Snow?? :(

Well, Christmas is drawing closer and sadly is doesn't really feel like that. it is probably just me because there is no snow here and lets be real, a white Christmas is the only way to go. Anyways i am sure this will be a great Christmas :) This has truly been a great testing work being a missionary. I has been one of those slow weeks, that in some ways is great but in others your just like come on, lets get Sunday here already :) Anyways here is some of the fun stuff that has gone on, and stuff i have learned this week 

• I was able to help give a giant pig a shot! And It was a large pig, we were the ones that trapped it and leaned on the fence while the shot was given. The best part about being out here in Buckingham is the ability to try new things :) I really have learned to enjoy just the new adventures that come with the country. 

•  Witnessed a car accident this week. Now many of you are probably like well that is not very fun but really. it was kind of funny. This truck just pulled out of no where at like 10 mph and backside T-boned this small car. Just watching it you could tell no one was hurt, We pulled over but nothing really ended up happening. But that makes my 3rd car accident i have witnessed in my like. 

• During my studies I learned something interesting from Jesus the Christ. the term Blaspheme can also mean when u "sell God short of him being perfect. Wow, so many times we come in contact with people that don't believe God can speak to us today or that God can't help us with some things. Well everyone, God can! 

• Well lately I was asked by the Family History member of the ward to help her getting set up again he family history center. So these past couple of weeks we have been working hard and with that i have made some Flyers of such to help 'Advertise" for it. I know there not perfect cause again, let be real, Did not have many tools to work with as a missionary but please email me with what ever improvements you think could be made. They will be printed on Thursday so email improvements by Wednesday :)   

•  Something that stuck out to me from our church meetings yesterday, A sister in the branch mention how she realized how much knowledge that she take for granted. "Not everyone knows what we know". Speaking of the knowledge we gain as members of the church, especially from the Plan of salvation.  She encouraged the rest of the members to keep that in mind and share what you know! 

• And during Fast and Testimony meeting we had one of the Less active members that we were working with, get up and just poor out his heart about how he fell away and now has realized his faults were more with the knowledge he had than with the church. He went on the mention "i am back and here to stay". Well I can say nothing makes you smile more as a missionary than hearing that! 

One Poster              Second Poster

Well thanks for reading, Sorry if it doesn't make since and have a great week! Good Luck! 

Love 

- Elder CJ Young

Oh and my brother sent my these cool balloon and I made these fun animals out of :0 hahah Enjoy 

parrot

Poodle

the Front on my elephant

The pink Giraffe 

Cold, BURRRRR :(

Well what a great week we have had in the heart of Virginia! I sure do love all of the nice scenery here and the great friend people we come in contact with. We have definitely had some fun experiences this week. Some of the fun stuff that has went on this week;

- Well i got a new companion! His name is Elder Charles and he is from Eugene Oregon. He is a nice guy, only been out 9 or so months but I am excited to serve with him!

-  So we were talking with this member that we are working to get re-baptized in the coming weeks and come to find out, She used to take care of a families dog that lived in my last area and wanted me to invite them to her re-baptism! Wow, what a small world, she hasn't been in contact with these people for a few years now, and I am now able to reconnect them :) what a fun way it is to see how the Lord oversees everything. i guess you could call that coincidence but really, i think the Lord has a hand in a lot more things than we realize!

- It is getting hecka cold here so that is no fun :( and dark early so that makes it pretty scary walking from house to house to house and night time :0 pray for me that I don't get shot in the middle of no where. :)

- We were able to help this nice brother in the ward with his family history. i think I told u all about him in some emails back. he is the one with the story about personal study. Anyways, when we got on to do his family history; all we had to input was his parents and LOTS and LOTS of stuff came up :) we even got one live back to the 1100's!

- This past weekend was cray cray to! The Richmond Midlothian Stake presidency was reorganized this past weekend so were were able to receive some training from, Elder Hallstrom and Elder Coon. What a great time it was being able to be in meetings with both of them, and many other great leaders in the local area! they talked a lot about the Work of Salvation in the in wards and branches and to close Elder Hallstrom talked about something very interesting. Reverence. What an interesting topic. he talked about how you can be reverent 100 percent of your life. It does not just mean that you have to be quite. You can be loud and reverent it that is an appropriate time to do so. That probably didn't make lots of since to you but hey, study it :)

I am so grateful for this Christmas time. We were able to attend a Methodist churches christmas program yesterday and what a joy it was. i hope all of you can make this the best Christmas yet by finding the true meaning of it and sharing the gift! Much love Elder Young

PS. I don't really need packages this year for Christmas, really i am trying to decluder. So just a nice letter would be great and we can all go shopping when i get home next year :) Love YaLL and BE SaFE

Thanks-Giving 2014 :0

This has been a week of changes haha and IDK even where to start! First off, HOLY COW, I can not even comprehend that it is already December 2014 and i will be 20 at the end of this month. This honestly completely blows my mind! I feel like i have not even been able to be a 19 year old yet :( but hey, who cares? Working for the Lord and that's the best part, even if it is weird sometimes :) 

So my Thanksgiving was awesome! We were invited over the sister Lynn Henshaw's home. Turns out she is actually the one that really started the branch and church was in her home for a while so she is great! Many of her family and grand kids came down so that was fun to meet even more people! One was a Chiropractor which was great to talk to about my back and such. I know Chiropractors have a bad rep but hey, That guy sold me and it even seems like a pretty cool profession! 

So two great lesson/experiences we had this week.

1st, so we have this brother in the ward. he is a former J-Dub and is a very interesting guy, Lives in the middle of no where but loves good and he read the Book of Mormon and Bible, and Doctrine Covenants many many times since he was baptized and joined about 2 or 3 years ago! So he is one that we have been working ever since i have been in the area. Before I guess he would not come to church much and when the missionaries saw him they would just argue with them about many of the concerns that he has with "da mormons".... but hey here comes the good part. So about 3 weeks ago I gave him the book titled, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith. So he has been studying for the past while and we go see him this past Friday and i guess everything changed! he was totally different, start off by apologizing and they just went OFF on how great this church is and how SOO many light bulbs have been going off in his head. It was a testimony builder to me to see what personal study can do. yeah we go teaching people the gospel but most people have to find the answers themselves so it actually means something to them! 

2nd we have found an awesome new Investigator this past week, we will call him Irving to be safe! There is a member from the church that is living at his place and I guess the missionaries have talked with him in the past but now he is ready to sit down and take it all in. We taught him twice this past week and both lesson went great! He does have a pretty bad smoking habit that we are trying to help him break because HE wants to!he set the goal to stop by Christmas, 2014. So Pray for him ;) and I know he will be able to be baptized by the end of the year! 

Thanks for all the love and support, Oh, elder Miller is getting transferred and I am staying in the great town area of Buckingham for the Christmas season! Love Yall and have a great week! #GodBless

Oh, PS. So the church is putting out some good stuff for Christmas. Check out mormon.christmas.org and i will tell you all more about it next week!

At the lovely Ranch

More Ranch time. #LOVEIT

Elder Spring-stings and I

Selfie in the Mirror

Elder Springer, Crowley and I

I, Elder Crowley, Elder Malone (on exchange with last week), and Elder Crowley

Me just chilling waiting for Laundry

PANDA!!!! OMG I love this place. and have missed it lots! To bad the one is not even close to as good as Utah! :)