Fun times with missionaries and with Danny and Heidi!

Oh, such busy days that we are still working 10-12 hours a day!  It has been so so much better this week, though, since Elder and Sister Conder have been taking over the ordering of supplies.  It just seems that we have been working more as a unified team.  They have taken their new assignment very seriously and have done a fabulous job--and have also been in awe as to how fast supplies fly out of the mission office and they just have to keep ordering!  It's never ending--but that's what the supplies are there for--to help teach the gospel!  And the gospel is being taught here and it's amazing to see how many people are accepting it and being baptized.

I think I already mentioned that on Tuesday afternoons, the zone leaders come in and it's always so fun to see them.  We have some incredible zone leaders--the kind that you would want to teach your friends--and I have loved getting to know them.  From the left is Elder Edwards (a really amazing elder), Elder Oakey, Elder Larsen, Elder Ringer, and Elder Cook.  Sis. Black was also here this day.

Also, Elder Garcia (from Mexico), Elder Benioni (from Hawaii) Elder Duwona-Hammond (from Africa) and Elder Findlay (from Canada).  Wonderful elders and SO much fun!

On this same day, I was invited by Sister Dillistone and Sister Rasmussen to go teach a man with them in the evening.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT--I actually got to go teach with the sister missionaries!!  It was so awesome and a great experience.  They did such a fabulous job and I hope I get to go more with them!

On Friday, Elder Humphrey, the assistant who is now Eston Humphrey because he was just released, came 

back to visit.  It was so fun to see him as a regular person.  Here we are with the Conders, Elder Dana, Eston, and us.  And remember how he played those tricks on Elder Dana and all the rest of us?  I thought and thought about how I could repay the favor, and it came to me the night before he visited---

I told him that we were so excited to see him again that I made him a welcome back cake.  He was delighted, and we went into the back room for him to "cut" it.  He commented that it was such a beautiful cake, and when he went to cut it, the knife wouldn't go through.  There was a two second awkward silence until we all started laughing, and Eston caught on--it was really just a BOX that was frosted!!  He said, "Sister McMillan, I didn't want to make you feel bad that the cake was so hard and I couldn't cut it!"  We laughed our heads off, and the rest of the office missionaries were there along with four other elders who joined us in the fun.  Then I brought out the real cake that I had made, and he loved it.  Everyone agreed that it was a great joke, and oh, how satisfying it was to turn the tables and play a joke on him!

On Friday afternoon, Heidi, Scott, Tyler, Kira, Blake, and Walt came to the mission office!  They left California at 3:00 a.m. and drove straight to Las Vegas, with Walt (Heidi's dad) driving the whole way.  We gave them a tour of the mission office and then met Elder Larson (a zone leader) and Elder Fairbanks (an assistant) at our apartment to teach a lesson to the kids.  They did SUCH an excellent job, and we had a wonderful time with them.  I just love to see the missionaries in action and see what they do.  Walt flew back to California, and Danny flew in the next day.

We had such a great time with them and it was so fun to see them.  This is the pool at our condo and we swam in between the Saturday sessions of general conference.  The Saturday morning session's announcement by Pres. Monson that 18 year old men and 19 year old women could serve missions was absolutely electrifying to us!  What an incredible and inspirational thing to happen!  What an impact it would make on missions around the world!  It seemed that one of the themes of general conference was definitely missionary work, and it felt like WE were being talked to directly.  It's amazing how our

 perspective can change with the circumstances we are in.  I especially loved Elder Holland's talk on this subject.  Also, I loved Elder Echo Hawk's talk, because I had such an interest in him--he is the member of the First Quorum of the Seventy who is coming to our mission in November to teach  the missionaries!  I'm so excited!  General Conference was so so edifying.

We also went to the mini Gran Prix in Las Vegas where the kids drove cars and went on rides.  We had a great, great time with them.

We also went to Redrock Canyon, just west of where we live, and walked around--oh how refreshing and renewing to be out in the beautiful world we live in.  And we felt renewed to be with Danny and Heidi and the kids.  We spent a lot of time just talking.  It was a wonderful visit for us.