(Phew!) Hold on, I got to catch my breath for a second..... ok :)
This week has been INSANE! I know have somewhat of a feeling what corporate life feels like and I don't know if that life is for me. We have been soooo busy this week that we haven't been able to take our lunch and dinner breaks over half the time (we would just run in, make a peanut butter sandwich and run out in 5 minutes). We are up and moving at 5:25 am until 10:30 pm! The Lord has A LOT of work to do here in the Crossroads ward and Elder Garrett and I are just honored to tag along for the ride.
This week another family we are teaching (the Sharton's) are on baptismal dates for April 11th! They are so wonderful. We taught them the Plan of Salvation using the cutouts and the kids had a ball with them. The 11 year old boy (Cory Jr.) asked us if they get to get baptized and we said "You betcha!" Sadly, they didn't get to make it to church this week because the parents had to go out of town but we know they will make it next week.
We also found a new family (a mother and 3 daughters over the age of 10), the Harold's. We found the mom, Amanda, through her mom, Sherri (one of our investigators). Amanda goes to a catholic church where her daughters also go to school there. They love the school and the mom went there when she was younger. It was amazing to see that as we taught her about Joseph Smith and the restored church, her concerns just oozed out of her about her current religious state and she went from supporting her church 100% to wanting to come to our church and know personally if this was the true church. We were pretty amazed by the faith that she had and how with it she was spiritually. Her three daughters are absolutely adorable; Sierra, the 11 year old, has autism and is the sweetest gal you could ever meet. We are excited for them to go to primary and have a blast :).
Something else that we cool, was that Amanda has anxiety pretty bad and so we were able to establish a connection and because we think similarly I was able to teach and testify in a way that she could understand perfectly! It was such a miracle. I told her how I came to know the Book of Mormon was true and after I relayed my experience to her she said that that is the way she get revelation from God and is expecting her answer to come. She is so cool :)
The Lucas family is doing wonderful! They are still marching toward their baptism on the 28th of March with great ferocity. Sister Lucas's daughter, Carissa, is getting married this week and thanks to our amazing stake mission leader (Brother Tim Fishburn who is secretly Alma the Younger) they will be holding the reception in the Cumberland ward building. That pretty much saved Sister Lucas, she gets teary eyed almost every time she talks about it, she is such a sweet lady :) Her and her two daughters who are getting baptized with her (Ashton and Aiva) came to church yesterday and had a great time and are fitting into the ward nicely.
Since I mentioned my experience about coming to know the Book of Mormon was true, I figure I better tell you all so you know that I truly do have a testimony. So here it is:
In high school I had lots of doubts whether or not this church was true. I was full of questions about everything the church taught and I especially had a hard time with Joseph Smith. Senior year came around and I was getting really close to getting ready to go on my mission and so I thought to myself "I need to know if this is true or I can't go on a mission." So I began to study the Book of Mormon more and really prayed a lot and very sincerely to know if the Book of Mormon was true. I don't remember all the details but I know that one day while I was praying, I asked Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true and I had a very strong and piercing thought hit my mind. The thought said "Jake, you know this is true. Why are you asking me again?" This was the perfect answer for me at this time. I do have anxiety so my mind will tend to over analyze and second guess a lot. Heavenly Father knows me perfectly and so He answered perfectly. I have not doubted the validity of the Book of Mormon since then.
I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do for me!
Sincerely,
Elder Young
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