Happy Birthday Blake from Elder Young!

I thought that after doing the same kind of work each day for almost a year it would be easier to remember everything I did during the week to tell you all on Monday. Great things happen everyday, and hard things happen everyday.

As it has now become custom for me just to write a good explanation of a few things instead of a bunch of little things, I'll first share a quote I found this week in one of Neal Maxwell's talks. 

"The cavity that suffering carves into our soul will one day be the receptical of joy...How infinite Christ's capacity for joy is"

All that we suffer is for our own good. However and somehow, many times even after experiencing much suffering and realizing how true the above quote is, we forget this. It is helpful to hear this reminder every once in a while.

Also, this week I noticed, upon looking back, teaching techniques that Dad and Mom used that I am learning to use as I teach investigators. I can tell that Dad learned valuable things on his mission that he used to bless our family as a parent. To give a few examples, I remember that after my baseball games in particular, that Dad would often ask me 3 things I did well and 2 things that I could improve on. I remember some days that I really wasn't in the mood to answer, and after much thinking I came up with all 5 things. Then Dad would help me discover how I could improve those 2 things. This is similar to techniques used in an efficient companion inventory (when you sit with your companion and discuss what is going well and what could be better). Also, when we read the scriptures as a family at night, Mom and Dad would ask questions that made us think and helped us pay attention and get valuable learning out of the scriptures. There is a section in Preach My Gospel that is dedicated to this kind of questioning and upon applying it, I've learned well its efficiency. I remember that Mom and Dad do weekly planning with . I always thought it was funny when I asked Mom or Dad for something and they said they would help me after they finished planning with each other. It is a good thing they planned out the week because there were so many sports and music activities that had to be remembered and attended. As missionaries we have to plan out every week in detail for it to go smoothly and to have success. It has been really neat to reflect on how I have been blessed in our family because of the things that Mom and Dad do that are so directly related to what Dad probably learned on his mission. My perspective has been improved on many things within the last year or so. 

Thanks for the emails! Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Young