New Area- Socorro (2 NEW PHOTOS ADDED)

Dear Mom and Dad, 

I'm e-mailing you today from a far away place, close to where I started my mission! I'm in my new area, Socorro, on the island of Mindoro. The bordering area is Pola (Alex’s first mission area)! When I was assigned in Pola we would always drive through Socorro, but never did I expect I'd be assigned there!

On Thursday morning before the transfer meeting, President pulled me aside and told me I'd be opening up Socorro. This place hasn't had missionaries for over 20 years when there was a branch here.  President told me that I would have to be the church there, and pretty much get things going. There are a few members on the records, but most have since moved away or died. He gave me both Handbook 2 and Handbook 1(these handbooks provide direction on how congregations should operate) and told me to study up!  We're also supposed to find a meeting house, and make sure the group here has everything it needs, including supplies. We have lots to do! At the transfer meeting I got my new companion, Elder Aoina, a New Zealander of Samoan descent. He's 19 years old, and is from South Auckland (Hillary Ward, does that ring a bell Dad?). ( Chip served his mission in Auckland, New Zealand  and this ward is in an area he served in) He's awesome!

After transfer meeting we began our long trek to Mindoro. We took some buses and of course the ferry, and by the time we pulled into the port in Mindoro, it was 10:15 PM. We had to sleep at the Zone Leaders apartment there and wait till the morning to get to our area which is about another hour away. When we finally got to our area, the Zone Leaders pointed out where the group met last week for their first service, wished us luck, and left. So with that, we went to work. 

We went and visited the home of the member where the Sacrament was held. She's a widow, and lives at home with her 15 year old daughter. She showed us the houses of a few other members. All in all there are two Priesthood brethren and two Relief Society sisters. It's been so long that most of them have forgotten how to pray, let alone remember the teachings of the church. We were able to teach their families, and teach some of their children who have been born within the last 20 years. After that, we just had to go find people to teach. So we starting knocking on doors! On Friday night we were tracting at around 8:30 PM and I told Elder Aoina to pick a house to knock on their door.  He picked one, and they welcomed us in to teach their family. We taught them lesson 1, and they were eager to be taught again. In that one house we found 6 new investigators. 

We did a lot more tracting (knocking on doors)over the next few days, and over the course of three days, we've found 23 new investigators. Not bad huh?

For church on Sunday we met as a  group  under a tarp in front of the house of a member. There were about 18 of us, but only about 8 were from Socorro, the others were us and members of the mother branch that came. We did have 3 investigators there! They were some of the family members of the members.

We're really starting from square one here. It's pretty challenging! I think these next six weeks will be the most challenging, and the most spiritual and miraculous 6 weeks of my mission. I know that this is where I need to be at this time. The field is sure white here, and the people here are thirsty for the Gospel. I know this is the Lord's work, and he always provides a way, no matter how big or daunting a task may seem.

Finishers Wanted

Love,

Elder Yost

Doing Great!

Dear Mom and Dad

-I got the package last Tuesday! Thank you so much!!

This is my last time e-mailing you here in Alaminos! Sorry this is a bit late, the last 24 hours have been super super busy. This morning we put the going home missionaries on the bus, and tomorrow morning the new missionaries come, and we'll see them on the side of the road as they get off the bus! All 19 of them...I'm pretty excited!!! Last Thursday they brought Elder H. in, who will be replacing me. I think he'll do a really good job. I have about 36 hours left to train Elder H., not only on things in the office, but our proselyting area as well. 

I'm so excited to train in my new area! There have been a ton of hints this week from the AP's and President about where I could be going. I obviously don't know, but there have been a lot of subtle things said. This morning President called me into his office and read me a letter from  a new missionary assigned in Pola (Alex’s first area in the Philippines) right now. He said that they have a baptismal date for the father of the Mirhan family for June 8th, the family which I baptized the mother and her children in my first area! Such a blessing! And President said to me, "You may get to go to that." Well, we'll see!!

I'm sorry this is really short, things are really hectic right now. But I'm really happy!! More next week, from my new area!

Love,

Elder Yost 

Happy Mothers Day! (See 4 new Photos)

Dear Mom and Dad,

It was so great to talk to you!!! It really does seem like yesterday that we talked at Christmas time, and yet that was almost 5 months ago!!! Time truly is flying by so fast! Please give my best to Elder Connor Yost as he goes into the MTC this week! I'm so proud of him, and I know that he'll be a great missionary.

Happy Mother's day to all the Mothers! Especially to you Mom! This week brought some good challenges and experiences. I feel like I'm really being stretched to my limit right now. It seems like one of the big themes I've seen this week is the need for us to pray to know, to really come to know the truth.

This week I was on exchanges and worked in another area. We taught a sister who has been taught by many missionaries and has yet to really commit to act. She says she believes the Book of Mormon is true and that she wants to be baptized, but her husband is against it and there's nothing she can do. We taught her about the Restoration, Book of Mormon and everything else in lesson one. We got towards the end of the lesson and I asked if she believed what we had taught her. She said,  "Of course! How could it not be true! It's the word of God." I then asked, "Sister, have you knelt down, prayed, and asked God if this is his church?" There was a pause and she said, "Well I don't need to get baptized because God understands, and he loves me right? He knows I can't get baptized." Well, no matter what she says, it all comes down to the fact that she doesn't know because she has never asked. She will never progress until she kneels down, and asks God in prayer. This is God's set way! Every person needs to ask and really come to know and feel the truth. 

God is a God of love. God is love! He is also a God of laws. For some people this is hard to understand, because they almost seem to clash, when in reality the both need each other. Many people like this sister say, "God loves me! I'm his child! He's sent Christ to atone for me, and he did that. He knows me and understands me and my problems. He understands that I'm not quite able to go to church, or that I'm busy and I don't have time to read the Book of Mormon. He knows my heart, and he'll save me. This is something I've struggled with a lot of my mission, how do you answer this and help them understand, and yet not offend them. Some of their argument is true, however, they're missing some key ingredients. There are two laws, justice and mercy. Justice requires that for every sin a punishment must be paid. Justice must always be kept, and if it isn't, as Alma said, "God would cease to be God". On the other hand there's mercy. Surely we believe in mercy! Of course we're not perfect, and there must be a way! 

Christ is the Great Mediator, and has paid the debt in full. Justice has been justly dealt with. He as the new creditor, so to speak, sets the conditions for us to pay off the debt we owe, through obedience.

Watch this to better understand: http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/youth-curriculum-2013/03-march?lang=eng#2007-01-0005-the-mediator

I know that Christ is our advocate with our Heavenly Father. We all want him to advocate for us at the day when all the accounts will be settled. He has given us his Gospel and commandments to help us be worthy to receive his mercy. As we pray to God and know the truth of the Restoration, the Book of Mormon, and the Bible we will come to better understand how to receive that divine mercy we all want and need.

Love,

Elder Yost

All in a Week - Elder Yost

Durian (a fruit), stinky smelling but  actually tastes good!

Hi Mom and Dad!

-No package yet

-Thanks for the picture of Connor.(Alex's cousin's mission photo) He looks so great! Tell him I love him!

-That's ok that the Tagalog class is full. I think I could still just take the test and test out of it

Time is just flying by so fast. I only have about 2 and a half weeks left here in Alaminos. I'm just training Elder R. up on everything I do, so he can train the Elder who replaces me, so most of the stuff I was doing, he's now doing! We worked hard this week in our area, and had some real blessings come. However, the Less-Active that got his leg cut off passed away this week. I can honestly say that we gave it our all with him. I'm really sad that he passed away, because I really did grow to love him. 

We continued our shopping spree for fans this week! We literally are cleaning the malls out of fans. If they have 7 fans, we take them all. There are only two malls in the mission we haven't gotten to, and all the ones we have are all out! Right now we're sitting at 167 missionaries, and by July we'll be up to 191, with more coming. As for Marinel, they didn't have the money for transportation for the surgery. I want to ask President if I'd be allowed to use personal money (the mission rules don’t allow missionaries to use their personal monies for giving to families)to pay their fare. For the mother and daughter it would be like less than $10. 

We went with the Hansen's (a senior missionary couple) this past Saturday night to teach Sister L.  and her family. We had a really great visit with them. After the lesson we were walking outside and the nextdoor neighbor started screaming for help. Sister L. sprints into the kitchen and grabs a butchers knife and yells to her husband to "Get the Samurai!" We thought he would get what's called an itak, or a knife thing about a foot long. Instead he runs back in and comes out with a legitimate 3 foot Japanese Samurai sword! Poor Sister Hansen looked like a deer in the headlights and said in her sweet voice, "What's going on?!" Someone was trying to break into the neighbors, but they got away. We went home safe and sound, and are happy there were no casualties. 

We've been teaching a Less-Active brother named brother R.. He's in his late 20's, and has been Less-Active for many years. He was baptized as a teenager along with his siblings, but eventually stopped going to church, and eventually got a girlfriend and they started living together. We were previously teaching his brother, but we started teaching him on a regular basis. Like so many Less-Actives, there is still a spark there. Many of them have forgotten what at one time they knew and felt in their heart. As we've been teaching him, he's really started to search his soul, and ask himself by he is really here, and what his purpose is in life. When we don't do the simple things like reading, praying, going to church, our faith weakens. R. told us that he doesn't feel as strong as he used to. He recognizes that something is missing, something that he once had, that he wants back.

As Dad tells me every week, fill up your lamp. Never let that burning flame of your testimony grow dim. As a favorite song says, "but to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore." We are the "lower lights", but he has also given to us the keeping of our own testimony. We must keep our testimony bright not only for ourselves, but for others so we can in turn help the lost and weary to come back to light. I know that Christ is the great lighthouse. His light is constant and unchanging. May we feed our flames, keep them burning bright!

Light the Fire Within

Love,

Elder Yost