Missionary Apartments - from "Outer Darkness - to Celestial Level"

I am the Housing Coordinator for the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission. I close apartments, open new ones, move missionaries and help Elders and Sisters move from "Outer Darkness" cleaning level to a "Celestial Clean".  It has been hard work, but I love it. We are making progress. I am proud of the areas of improvement - although there is always room for more. The missionaries have stepped up and I must say... to those of you have have sons and daughters... please teach them to clean and tidy up after themselves.  And if you already have... I say thank you thank you thank you!

Here are some of the best BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES!

These little critters love messes!

My son, Austin who served a mission to Chile, helped me suggest a good standard for the mission. He said, "Mom, have the missionaries clean for 60 minutes on their P-Day - nothing more, nothing less." So we implemented that idea and they have really taken to it. Work is not overwhelming if you know there is an "end" to it. Right? So we have them clean first thing on P-Day for 60 minutes and then be done! 

I have suggested a few things daily... one is making their bed which takes them less than 2 minutes to do. One new elder said something that made me laugh so hard. He said "Sister Young, do you remember the movie, Holes?" I said, "Yes, I loved that movie." He said, "Well, you remind me of the warden on that movie - but you are nice and I have to write home and tell my mom that I am finally making my bed in the morning!"

Yep, that is me! Okay so I am grateful, so grateful that my mother taught me homemaking skills! My sisters can vouch for me that the work never did end though. We would clean with the promise of a "trip out to get ice cream or a shopping spree at the mall" but those would never happen after cleaning. I can't blame my Mom because she probably ran out of energy and was too pooped to take us anywhere. I can see that now. Cleaning takes a lot out of you. But, nonetheless, I am grateful for MOM
and all that she taught me!

I decided about a year ago to write a book to honor her. This was a book to capture her "life's work" and everything she taught me. Mom was such an inspiration because she had Multiple Sclerosis and yet she managed her house so well. I finished the book right before I left on my mission.  Just this month, my publisher finished my order.
It is just a small little booklet, but it is full of all those good things MOM taught me.
Here is a little paragraph from the front of the book:

"Due to the fact that her energy level was cut in half

(on the good days), she had to find better solutions and

better shortcuts to run a busy household. It was through

prayer and pleading with her Heavenly Father that she

claims her inspirations came. As I attempt to share some

of her ideas and “gifts” of thought from divine revelation, I

hope you will put these truths to the test. She shared them

openly with others. In fact, she shared them with anyone

who would listen, who would willingly be her “captive”

audience. She believed that God not only gave them to her

as a rescue, but he also gave these ideas to the world."

Mom's book:

It was her birthday this month. I think it is a great gift to her to offer it to the world this year. No profit is necessary for me, I just want to get her ideas out there. So if you want one, it will be just for the shipping and to cover the cost of printing. ($3.00 + $6.99). You can email me if you are interested: youngsmission@gmail.com.

I do hope you don't have nightmares from these little "before" pictures. I know I have had a few from being in scary apartments. However, I can smile knowing things are getting better, much better.

Angels Are Out There And When We Mix, It's a Good Thing!

Have you ever sat back and thought of the orchestration that must go on in heaven ... in our behalf... as angels are assisting us everyday, of every hour? I, for one, would love to peek, even for a moment to see how it all goes on there. I know that angels are out there, because there are just too many miracles around to call them coincidences. For sure!

In one of my earlier postings, I talked about going out with the sister missionaries. Remember the story about how I wanted to visit Maria and Luis, but the sisters told me that their apartment was too hard to get into because of the gated security. Just to recap... I said I wanted to try anyway and as we pulled up to the gate on the visitors side - we came up empty when the security asked for the number of the apartment. But then... Luis pulled up - at that second on our right side - the residence side -and noticed us! He gave us the number to his apartment and we were able to go in and teach him a lesson. It was jaw dropping to me  - the perfect timing of it all.

Well - more to the story -  Elder Young and I were taking Luis and Maria cookies and they weren't home, so we left the cookies at their door step which was on the fourth floor. And I said out loud that I wouldn't mind living there (at the time we were looking for a different place to move into). But - I said - I would need it to be on the ground-level floor. This place does not have elevators and it is a killer to get to the fourth floor. Well, right as we reached the ground floor and were headed back to our car - there I saw it! An apartment for rent right on the ground-floor level! So... guess what?! Now we live there in that place too! Luis has progressed in the gospel and he wants to get baptized! I can't be more happy for them!

So today another story....
Elder Young and I decided to take the public train system to Plaza de Las Americas- to the biggest mall on the island for our day of preparation (P-Day). We were feeling adventuresome so we took the train as far as we could - then we got on a "gua gua" a public transportation van to get the rest of the way to the mall.

We were successful getting there and we had a great time! After finding lunch, getting a few things we needed, and enjoying the people we decided it was time to head home before it got dark.

So we headed out to the "gua gua" station where we had got off. No one seemed to know which side of the street we needed to be on, nor anything about it. So we waiting on one side for awhile, then we waited on the other side for awhile. Then we switched sides again only to wait for awhile. I was getting a little worried that it may never come. We weren't even sure about the information we had received. It was a bus stop... but not an official "gua gua" stop. I said a silent prayer and I told Elder Young to call a specific elder who is our "right hand" in the mission office. He is a "Moving Elder" and he and his companion assists us everyday in our physical labor, moving apartments, opening apartments, and closing apartments too. So after about 20 more minutes of waiting...
Elder Young finally decided to follow my advice and call him.

Well, to his surprise - the elders were there in the area and just leaving (they had drove), so we jumped in with them and were on our way - just as it was starting to get dark. Just like that! I told the elder, "Way to go Elder, following the promptings and being in the right place at the right time!" He laughed because they had not planned to go there earlier - but it just worked out that they needed to.

So another day, another miracle on the mission... and I feel so blessed!

How Cute is That?

"Grandma look at my new umbrella!"

My grand babies are the love of my life. I have four and one coming in January! Spending a week with them in Puerto Rico was a dream come true and I captured some of the best pics ever. I might be a little biased, but I think my babies are beautiful! These pics are for their mommies, Kjo and Eva NeKell to enjoy and for you to say, "How cute is that!"haha

Just chillin' at the resort.

"Awwe let me go Mom, I'm ready to walk."

"Riding on the Ferry with my brother is fun!"

"I need my sunglasses!"

"This is my cute face"

"Wheeee! I love riding the gondola!"

"Happy Birthday to Auntie Autumn and me!"

"Lollipops all for all."

"Cousin time - YAY!"

"Wish I could just catch the bus here at your house Grandma."

"This is for me too Grandma?!" That's what Grandmas are here for - to spoil babies - right?

"Bet you wish you had one of these!"

Love my babies! Just wish we could do this every P-day!

Mind Over Itch

This past week we enjoyed our family visiting here in Puerto Rico - all came but one son-in-law and our two missionary sons.

It was incredible! I can laugh now, but a few days ago I thought I would go bonkers with millions of little bites on my legs. My daughter, Eva NeKell, had the same problem. It was "mind over itch" as we tried to cope! This is how it went down:

In Autumn's words:
"I want to tell you about my first visit to the beach. Last night at one o'clock in the morning Mom, Dad and Eva picked Austin and I up at the airport. Dad asked me what I wanted to do and I insisted on going to the beach..at one in the morning. Dad drives crazy here. As we drove to the beach, he made a wrong turn which cost us like 20 minutes. The beach he was taking us to was closed, so he drove deeper into the more authentic part of Puerto Rico. We were driving on a very narrow road passing a lot of fun open shops cooking food with really loud music and lots of people..at 1:30 in the morning. Dad found a spot and we hopped out of the van. As we got to the sand, Dad asked Austin and I if we were getting bit by insects, as he slaps his neck, face and arms. We said no. He noticed the water was a ways out and he explained that we came to a bad spot because we were by a barrier holding standing water and the ocean was farther out.. then Eva and Mom joined us and all at once an army of bugs attacked us. Mom had the brilliant idea of taking a picture at that time and completely unposed -she got the best picture of Eva, Austin and I as we are getting eaten alive." 

So we visited some beaches including some of the most recommended in travel - I believe Culebra Island Flamenco Beach is rated 2nd! Breathe-taking indeed! And we were there!

My favorite part of the beach experience was watching the grandkids! We had Bryce and Josiah who loved eating sand and taking naps in the blow ups. Then we had Brooke and Bradly who loved digging holes, making sand castles, and swimming in the bathwater-warm waves.

Our beach resort with a kitty and live chickens included gave us that "home-y" feeling. It was a paradise!

As all good things must come to an end - it about killed me when we were leaving that heavenly place. However, we made some memories that will last us a lifetime! 
Shopping was great when we returned!

One of the most rewarding experiences was meeting with our adopted family and our old neighbors, from 24 years ago! Bithia Rebecca (our adopted daughter) carried Austin on her hip and babysat the girls almost every day. We visited with the Olmos, our family in San German, where we sat down to a traditional pizza meal, this time our treat. Although I must say, their homemade pizza wins hands down! We visited our old house and and neighborhood.

  

Life is a circle -  now my children are having children of their own. It's hard to believe sometimes how fast life goes. I'm so proud of my family and I feel so blessed!