Our first week here!

Did I say in my last post that I was a little overwhelmed?  I take it back--I am a LOT overwhelmed!  There is so much to learn!  So much.  I am at the computer for several hours a day, answering the phone and directing calls a lot, responding to emails, forwarding the missionaries' mail that comes into the mission office, (which is a lot) preparing for the 28 missionaries that we will be receiving in 8 days, (which is a ton of preparation) sending letters to parents, organizing meetings for Pres. Black, and organizing luncheons for the zone conferences and leadership training.  And more.  What a learning curve!  Now our children are giving me the same pep talk that I used to give them for the last 30 years--"You can do this!  You can do hard things! You'll be fine in a few weeks!"  Okay then. . .

We only have two more days with the office couple who is training us, and then we are ON OUR OWN!!  Except for the help that we know we will receive from Heavenly Father.  Which we will need.  Me far more than Glen.

We have a lot of people who come in to the mission office--different kinds of visitors, former missionaries who have served there who are visiting and come in with their families, and of course, the missionaries themselves.  I love seeing all of them.  Each missionary brings in his/her unique spirit and I love to talk to them.

On Tuesday, after our work at the mission office, we had dinner with Carl and Margaret Truman, our good friends who have moved to Las Vegas.  It was really good to see them and their new home and fun to visit with them.  I was so distressed that I forgot to take a picture with them!

Wednesday afternoon, after I had another spell of overwhelmitis, the postman came with his usual large delivery.  There was a green 2-liter pop bottle filled with green treats with a cute missionary tie (made of paper) on it with the missionary's name and the mission office's address on the tie.  There were a few missionaries there, hoping it was for them, but. . . drum roll. . . it was for US!  Everyone was green with envy. . . (heh, heh)  So thank you very very much, Brandon and Lindsey!!!  It really helped to overcome my illness for the day.

The other office couple, the Conders, got a kick out of the package from Brandon and Lindsey.

It's so cute, huh?  

On Wednesday evening we also went to the Las Vegas temple.  It's a beautiful temple and we enjoyed the session so much.  But again, I was so distressed because I forgot to take a picture--a symptom of being brain dead at the end of a very busy day.

On Friday, we went to dinner with the office couple, the Zobells, and they showed us the condo that we will be moving into this week (after they move out on Wednesday) and the area that surrounds it.  For those of you who know Las Vegas, it is in the Summerlin area, which is really a beautiful area.  We will be in the Buffalo ward in the Red Rock Stake.  We're excited to move into a more permanent place because we have been living out of only our suitcases since July 9, but we have mixed feelings about leaving the ward that we have attended only twice--we've become quite attached to them!  Here's another reason why---

We were invited to go with the youth to their boating activity at Lake Mead.  I was pretty sure I didn't want to go because. . . well, we're missionaries. . .yes, we had been given permission to go to Lake Mead. . . but it was a YOUTH activity and I didn't want to crash their party. . . but . . .  Glen said, "Hey, it's our p-day, we were invited and I want to go, unless you want to spend the day in our little casita. So we went.  It was such a blast!  We were there all day and got to know a lot of wonderful people and strong, strong youth.  See why we're getting attached?

As I mentioned earlier, we were asked to speak in the ward sacrament meeting today, along with the young elders assigned to this ward, who are just awesome.  The Spirit was really strong in the meeting, and so many of the members came up to us afterward and thanked us and told us that it was an incredible meeting.  We were quite touched.  Then the Sunday School lesson was on Alma 32-34, with a lot of missionary overtones, and the last block was combined Relief Society and Priesthood, with another couple missionary who had served in Africa telling of their experiences.  So what a great missionary block!  We're anxious now to track the number of referrals the missionaries get after such an emphasis on missionary work.  There is also a sister who is being baptized this Saturday, so we're so excited to go to her baptism.