Sunday, March 24, 2013

My 60th Birthday!

On Sunday the new convert, Deb Moppart was at church for all three meetings, and it was the neatest thing to see her be fellowshipped in the ward.  One sister was picking her up for a dinner/fireside with the single adults and others were talking to her.  In our Gospel Essentials class she made a few comments and it was so neat to see her participate.  She also made meaningful comments in R. Society.  She is going to be a stalwart member!  We were so happy!


It was just perfect to celebrate my 60th birthday at Lake Las Vegas.  We were refreshed and ready to go to the office on Monday to consecrate our labors there to the Lord.  Glen had housing to secure and I felt reasonably caught up so I could concentrate on other things besides files and notebooks for the upcoming transfers, like departure papers and departure memory folders for the eight missionaries going home.  That is a huge job, because I also have to prepare files of the departing missionaries for our records in the office (two sets) and one for the president's home, as well as for the missionary himself/herself.  All of these files contain different records, which is intensive to keep them all straight!  I also have to get departing interviews scheduled and make an excel document with the departing flights, their times, the airlines, and which terminal the flight is on so the president can keep them straight when he takes them all to the airport.  It's tricky and you can imagine that it has to be extremely accurate!  I just can't mess up the departure times or heaven forbid if a missionary misses his/her flight home! 

Also on Monday, we received two packages for elders in our mission sent from Michelle and her family.  I had told Michelle about these missionaries who never received packages and had little to no family support and she wanted to make a difference for them.  So sweet!  





On Monday evening we went to the empty nester FHE at our church.  It was so fun!  Not all the people who were there are in this picture because they left before I remembered to take this picture.  The sister seated next to me, Gayla, told me about how she was with Steven Spielberg when he was documenting Holocaust survivors and she herself interviewed 200 or so of them.  What an unbelievable experience.

On Wednesday it was my birthday, and what a birthday it was!  Glen made me a yummy breakfast of hash browns with corned beef, eggs, and toast. At the office I got packages from Brandon and Lindsey and from David and Juliann.  At home I got packages from Jared and Michelle and Adam and Lisa.  Adam and Lisa had sent us a DVD with video of all the kids and many of my friends!  It was so awesome to see the grandkids--they were SO darling-- and I had to try hard to not get homesick. 




 Everything that was sent meant so much to me!


  

 When we got to the office Glen had flowers and a cake for me.  He gave pieces of it to everyone who came into the office.  





Elder Parker (zone leader) and Elder Dowouna-Hammond (assistant) brought me these treats and sang a stirring rendition of "Happy Birthday".  So sweet! 




Elder Rumbach (from Germany) and Elder Ringer came in and had birthday cake.





Cindy Dyer (on right) came over from Family Services and brought me the beautiful blown glass piece that I'm holding.  It's just beautiful!





The sisters from the Employment Center came over with gifts too--Sis. Young, Sis. Clark, Sis. Macdonald, Sister Splain.  I love these sisters!





Glen took me to lunch at Bambini's--can you believe we actually LEFT the mission office and went to lunch?  Sweet Elder Dana said, "You two just leave--I can answer the phone!"




Elder John, Elder Golden, Elder Torgersen (zone leader) and Elder Peacock (zone leader) also had birthday cake.  They were so sweet!




Sister Conder makes a bulletin board each month for those who have birthdays.  It's behind her cubicle, so not very many missionaries get to see it, and it's always so cute!  Here is her March bulletin board where each birthday person is a leprechaun!  




On Wednesday evening, we were invited to go to the "Etiquette Night" for the YM YW.  We started out in the Relief Society room for etiquette instruction and the youth sang "Happy Birthday" to me!  Then we went into the cultural hall where each table had a couple on it to just be with the youth in case there were questions or lulls in the conversation.  It was SO SO fun to be there!  The youth of this ward are so amazing!  Seated at the table are Riley Johnson, Taylor Wilhelmson, Forrest Allen, Halie Smith, Maddie Bengston, and Kyle Wilhelmson.  We learned a lot about them and had a great time with them.  It was the BEST way we could have spent our evening since we had already gone out to dinner on Friday at the fabulous French restaurant at Lake Las Vegas.


On Wednesday, Thursday, and half the day Friday, Sister Conder wasn't there because she was sick.  That meant that Glen and I did her work, and some of it I honestly don't know how to do it!  Glen and I were alone at the office for the better part of those days, holding the fort down.




We have organized a team here to do the Las Vegas Ragnar in November with our friends--so fun!  So Nathan Jones, seated behind me, wanted to do a "light run" on Saturday morning to gear up for our training. He planned and organized it.  So here we are at breakfast after our 3 1/2 mile run--Nathan and Bethany Jones, Dianne Christensen, and Joani Robison.  It was a blast!  Nathan wants to do it more often.





We were really ready again for p-day!  We decided to go to Springs Preserve, which is a huge area dedicated to preserving information and history about  Las Vegas. It was pretty awesome and we spent several hours here.  This picture is of an unbelievable display of a flash flood and how it can impact the area.  We've had about three flash flood warnings since we've been here, and we know of at least one person killed in a flashflood in the city of Las Vegas since we've been here.





We also had the opportunity to choose a geode and then Glen cracked it open.  Pretty cool!  The treasure inside is the gospel of Jesus Christ.




We rented bikes and rode around the 3 mile loop of the preserve. 





Another treat came when we got to meet up with Shawna Core and her friend and co-worker, Alisa, at the Yardhouse restaurant for dinner.  Oh, what yummy food!   It was so fun to see her again and we had a great time together.  It's the greatest to see good good friends.

I must talk about church again today, since I wasn't able to finish this entry before church.  Right when we got to church I noticed how Deb Mopart (the new convert) was wearing more modest clothing and her face had a kind of glow.  And she was was sustained to the Relief Society board today!  In Gospel Essentials class she again made very meaningful comments.  And another treat:  Nadia Davies, whom we met about six months ago (a non-member) also came to church today!  She also is an amazing lady and I was ecstatic to see her!  In Gospel Essentials she also made a few comments, and I sat by her in Relief Society where the lesson was on the Atonement and she seemed touched.  I love missionary work!  It would be the neatest thing ever if she were converted and baptized before we leave here!




Sunday, March 17, 2013

We Help Each Other



 Since we've been here it has always been that even as much as I have to do, Glen always has more to do and I have helped him do his work as much as I can.  Things changed this week: I was absolutely swamped with not only getting notebooks and files and transfer board cards made for the new missionaries, but also with travel arrangements for about 18 missionaries.  Glen had to wait this past week to work as much on new housing because he has to see how many member homes will be committed to.  So he helped me with my work several times this past week, which really eased my burden!  It reduced my stress so much and I really appreciated it.  I wished I would have taken a picture of him helping me put the travel documents together--one set for President Black, one set for the missionary, one set for the parents, and one set for me, as well as helping with the mail and my notebooks.  He understood better the nature of how important accuracy is in my work!

A funny thing happened that didn't start out being funny.  Church Travel Services emailed me and asked me to submit the travel for everyone going home by July 1 because of all the travel arrangements that they have to make for the new mission presidents.  I decided to submit all the travel until July 9 when we go home.  When missionaries drive home (or their parents pick them up and they drive home) I still must submit their travel to the Church, and there were about 8 missionaries (including all of the seniors) that fell into this category.  Imagine my shock and dismay when the Church sent me the itinerary from Delta Airlines of Glen and my flights on July 9!  My first thought was, "Did I send in our information incorrectly?"  My second thought was, "I know I triple checked it, and I did tell them that we were driving home!"

I called her (the same person is over our mission and I have talked to her on the phone many times) and said, "Did I just see a flight for Elder McMillan and me?  I don't want to have a nervous breakdown!"  The flights are non-cancellable and I didn't want the Church to be responsible for paying for this flight that we would NOT be taking!  Polly said, "Oh my goodness, I had an assistant helping me and she put this flight in.  No, you are not responsible for this flight."  She felt so bad, and I was more than relieved that my nervous breakdown had been averted.  Submitting information for  flights is for sure the scariest part of my job--what if I ordered a flight that sent the missionary to Alberta instead of Alaska?  It's so so scary.

Anyway, as usual, we had a busy busy week and we are always so grateful for the opportunities we have to rest and recreate.  Here are some things we did this week:






On Sunday afternoon we had dinner with the Chapmans and their other guests, including Elder Findlay and Elder West.  We sure love these dinners!






After dinner we went to the magnificent Smith Center where Zion's Youth Chorus and Symphony were  performing.  We had invited the Chapmans to go with us and it was the most amazing concert--simply beautiful.  It is done by the youth of Las Vegas, both the chorus and the symphony and there were also two guest artists who sang and narrated, very much like many of the Tabernacle Choir concerts.  It was done so professionally and beautifully and the standing ovation for the youth lasted for several minutes.  Many of our missionaries were there ushering and it was so fun to see them.  I was so sad I didn't get a picture with them!







Monday night I decided to make some St. Patrick's Day treats for the zone leaders who came in on Tuesday, so this was what I made--cookies with mint chocolate chip ice cream in between.  This picture shows the ice cream oozing out, but they were still good!  It was fun to be able to give them a treat, because as I told them, we are MCMILLANS so we celebrate St. Patrick's Day!





Elder Conder even made this St. Patrick's Day card with us in it--so cute!

On Tuesday night I went to our Relief Society birthday party and had such an amazing dinner.  It was so fun to be with the sisters in our ward.  Deb, the new convert, was there, and I was so excited!  She is really going to be a strong member of the church.  There were two other women there who were not members--pretty cool.






On Wednesday night we went to the temple and had dinner again before the session.  We love that they give us our dinner for the missionary rate--$3.00!  

On Thursday night we had girls night out at Sis. Macdonald's and our new sister missionary's apartment, Sis. Clark.  We had a yummy dinner and so much fun together!  I love this after a long exhausting day. 






On Friday we went to Lake Las Vegas, which is east of Henderson.  We went because we saw a groupon for such a good deal and to celebrate my birthday.  It was a beautiful Italian resort, and wow, was it awesome!  We ate Friday night at a French restaurant and had the best quiche we have ever had in our lives!





The front of the Ravella where we stayed.  We couldn't believe that we lucked out so well for the weather!  It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend!






The gardens outside of our room. 


It was warm enough that we rented a kayak and went out on Lake Las Vegas!  It was SO much fun!    Lake Las Vegas is a reservoir and even though it is out in the desert it was in a beautiful spot.  What a glorious day we had!  





There were only two boats like this parked at the marina--and check out the name of this one!
We were so grateful for the opportunity to go and have a little recreation and get refreshed.  And so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission here.  What an unbelievable time to be serving a mission!



Sunday, March 10, 2013

So Much Happening in Las Vegas!

On Monday I knew that I had so so much work to do to get ready for our 27 MORE new missionaries coming at the next transfer.  New file folders, transfer board cards, letters, orientation books, etc.  There were also a total of 13 missionaries being released on transfer day, including five senior missionaries, which is a lot of work also:  departure papers, letters to stake presidents, certificates of release, ordering flights, etc.  About 16 weeks before the missionary's release, I send a letter to his/her parents, telling them his/her release date and sending them a form to fill out and return as soon as possible with the contact information for the parents and stake president, and the airport information of where the missionary will be flying to.  Some of the parents will send back the information very quickly, and sometimes even include a note for me.  Sometimes 2-3 weeks will go by with no word from them, so I call them and ask them if they actually DID receive the letter. They respond, "Ohhhhhhhh. . . I'm sorry.  I forgot all about it."  REALLY!!?  Church travel won't allow me to order individual flights--all those going home on transfer day need to have their flights ordered as a group, so I can't request them until I receive all the travel papers.  It's a lot of work, and I have to check it several times very carefully, because think of how awful it would be if I requested a flight to the wrong place!  Horrifying!

Anyway, in the midst of all the work, think of how awesome it was to get these darling hearts in the mail from Jade:






So so cute!  Thank you Jade!  We loved it!






The next day we got a package from Lindsey with a letter and homemade almond roca in it!  We thought we'd died and gone to heaven!  We ate every bit of it that very DAY!

The next day I had quite an experience.  A lady called me to tell me that she felt the missionaries assigned to her ward were not doing their jobs.  She went on an on about her investigator friend who she felt wasn't progressing because of the missionaries.  She was pretty emotional and was raising her voice and she talked to me for about 20 minutes.  I just listened and told her I would pass the information on and she said, "When will I expect to get a call back from you telling me why this is happening?"  I told her she would hear from someone by the next day (it was now 5:00 p.m. and I would be leaving the office).  I knew one of the missionaries assigned to her ward who I felt was a really good missionary.  The other one was brand new, having only been here for 1 1/2 weeks.  I decided to call the zone leaders and explain to them what had happened, and they responded very maturely to what I passed on to them.  The next day the missionary assigned to the ward called me and very calmly and kindly told me that he was so sorry that I had received a phone call like that.  He said that he had been sick and that he would immediately meet with her and try to resolve her concerns.  He was genuinely concerned and if he had resentment toward her, he made no indication of it.  I was so impressed, and I told him so.  I thought he handled a difficult situation with amazing dignity and humility and I told him how much I respected him for it.  It was a great experience for me.






Jay Chapman invited Glen to go with him to the West Coast Conference basketball championship games at the Cashman Center.  Can you believe that?  I was so jealous!  He watched the Loyola Marymount and San Diego game and had a great time.  The next night, San Diego beat BYU in a close game and we were so sad!  Glen could have gone to that game too, but . . . 





we went to dinner with our wonderful Bishop Larkin and his wife Melanie.  They took us to this awesome restaurant and we had so much fun with them.  He is a great bishop and everyone in the ward just loves him and his wife.  We do too!






On Saturday we went to the first convert baptism in our ward since we have been there.  Debbie Mopart (pictured in the center) was baptized in a wonderful service.  When I asked her what it was that attracted her to the Church, she told me that it was a wonderful Mormon boss who treated her so well.  When I asked her what it was that converted her she said, "I love that there is a prophet on the earth. It's the missing piece to the circle.   I always wondered why God didn't have a prophet today when he did in Biblical times."  She is really strong and will be a great asset to the ward.  Pictured are Glen and I, Elders West and Findlay (in our ward) Debbie, and Elders Jarmon and Conklin who had taught her before and spoke at the baptism.  





On Saturday night Glen went with Jay to the Cashman Center again to the WCC basketball championships and saw San Diego and St. Mary's play and then also saw Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount.  What exciting games!  BYU was supposed to be playing but they lost!  So because Glen went to the games, I went with the missionaries in the employment center to see the BYU folkdancers.  We went to dinner first and had so much fun talking and sharing.  I just love them! Seated are Sis. Clark, Sis. Macdonald, me, Sis. Splain, Sis. Young, and Sis. and Elder Howerton, who are service missionaries. 






They were also performing in the Cashman Center (a different part) and it was simply incredible!  I had never seen a full program of their's and I was just blown away.  What was fun was that the dancer pictured above is the granddaughter of our senior missionary who just went home--Sis. Anderton.  We loved being able to meet her and talk to her!  What a fun girl's night out we had. 

I had an amazing experience though--on our way to the Cashman Center I looked in my purse for my ticket to get in and it wasn't there.  I showed Glen my ticket as I put it into my purse before I left.  I don't know if it fell out at the restaurant or what, but it was nowhere to be found.   Sis. Young kept saying, "It's got to be in there somewhere!"  It wasn't, so I said, "Let's just get in line and see what happens."  We got in a long line, and when we got to the door, the person taking tickets was none other than Bro. Johnson, the 1st counselor in our bishopric!  I had no problem getting in.  What tender mercies come so frequently here--we are so blessed!













Sunday, March 3, 2013

Historic Transfer and the Grand Canyon



We were all quite excited to see in the Church News the new mission president for our mission!  Here is his bio that appeared in the Church News:  "Michael Brown Ahlander, 62, and Rebecca Maxwell Ahlander, three children, Orchard 6th Ward, Orem Utah Orchard Stake: Nevada Las Vegas West Mission. Brother Ahlander is a stake Young Men president and former stake president, bishop, high councilor, branch president at the Provo MTC and missionary in the Norway Oslo Mission. Owner, Ahlander Hardware Company and Agent, Smith Insurance Services. Born in Provo, Utah, to Joseph Frederick and Anna Elaine Brown Ahlander.
Sister Ahlander is a compassionate service coordinator and former stake Young Women president, stake Primary president, counselor in a stake Relief Society presidency, ward Relief Society president, counselor in a ward Young Women presidency and Gospel Doctrine teacher. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Neal Ash and Colleen Fern Hinckley Maxwell."

Pretty exciting, huh?  Can you believe that Sis. Ahlander is the daughter of Elder Neal A. Maxwell?  And Brandon told us that Pres. Ahlander was his MTC branch president.  We'll be excited to meet them in just four short months!  We can't imagine what they're going through to prepare for this, but Pres. Black has talked to them about the mission and sent them a lot of information, including the calendar that I so laboriously had to put together for the new year!






Here is Glen at our SIXTH transfer--only a five week transfer because of the shortened training at the MTC.  It was probably my hardest transfer just because I had so much to get ready but with one less week to do it in.  Glen was able to get all the housing and furniture done with the help of the Lord and the members' involvement, which was unprecedented.  Note my table with the mail and all the packages to give to the missionaries.  I really do love transfer days though, in spite of all the work.  We did the orientation again, which went well, and then Glen helped me to serve the lunch to the missionaries.      




The missionaries visit with each other as they  wait to hear who will be training which missionary.  This was also a historic transfer for two more reasons:  We got the first batch of missionaries from the MTC with only spending 12 days at the MTC, and we also got our first 19 year old sister missionaries--who were AWESOME!!  We love welcoming the new missionaries into the mission!  Each group brings a unique spirit with them and we were especially impressed with the 8 new sisters we got in this group of 26 missionaries.  These consistent huge groups of new missionaries are also unprecedented and requires us to really reach into our energy reserves to do the necessary work to prepare for all of them!  We also received several 18 year old elders.  
  



A new zone was also created with this transfer:  the Elkhorn Springs Zone, bringing the total to 11 zones in the mission.  When we got here there were only six zones!!!  The growth of the mission is just staggering. Elder Parker and Elder Carlson are the new zone leaders, and Tuesday, the day after transfers, (all the zone leaders come into the office on Tuesdays) they came in and brought me a big bag of M&M's with peanuts!  They wouldn't tell me how they knew that I loved M&M's with peanuts!  They are awesome elders and we were excited that they are new zone leaders, as well as the other new zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers that we have.

Tuesdays are also the day that I'm notified from SLC of the new missionaries who are coming to the mission, and I was notified of nine new missionaries coming.  That means I send them a letter and other papers welcoming them to the mission and prepare the immense paperwork involved for each of them.  I was also working on the congratulations letters for the new missionary leadership of the mission and the letters to the parents of the 26 new missionaries--plus the departing paperwork for three of our visa waiters.  It was a particularly huge amount of paperwork for one week, and I worked nonstop all week with great intensity. I sent about 150 letters this week!

To be able to leave the mission boundaries, we have to first ask Pres. Black and he in turn has to ask Elder Dwight W. Pincock, who is over our mission.  We asked Pres. Black if we could go to the Grand Canyon, and not only did we get permission, but he suggested that we leave on Friday morning and not come in to the office.  Can you believe that?  We were so excited because we had had such a hard week.  I felt a little guilty because there is still so much work to do, but Elder Dana kept saying, "Just go and have a good time and get your work done next week!"





As we left Las Vegas we drove by beautiful Lake Mead--this picture was taken from our car!




It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon and I had made a reservation to stay at the Grand Canyon Resort, which was in the middle of pretty desolate country.  At first we wondered what we had gotten ourselves in to, put it turned out to be awesome!  Here is the little cabin that we stayed in at a Groupon rate. 




The inside of the cabin, but this picture doesn't do it justice.  It really was pretty spacious.





We went a hike and then went on a horseback ride and then went to dinner on the ranch.  We ate dinner with a couple from Scotland and another one from England and it was so fun talking to them!  Then we went to a cowboy campfire and roasted some'mores and "Cowboy Dave" sang songs with the guitar and talked.  It was SO much fun and the stars that night were so brilliant.  We could even see Jupiter!  We just loved it and were glad for the heat of the campfire--it was cold! 




The next morning we drove the 20 minutes to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is owned by the Hualapai Indian Reservation.  The gamyu means "hello" in their language.



The reservation requires that we park our vehicle and board buses which transport us to three different locations in their portion of the Grand Canyon.  Our first stop was Eagle Point, which was just magnificent.  Can you see the stone eagle in the rocks just to the left of Glen's head?




Here's a closer picture of it.  The creations of the Lord are so stunning!





We were able to meet and talk to several members of the Hualapai nation and it was pretty interesting to talk to them.  They were dressed in native costumes, even though they don't wear them on a daily basis.  We learned a lot. 




Next to Eagle Point is the famous Grand Canyon Skywalk, which jets 70 feet over the canyon and has a glass bottom so you can look through it into the canyon.  It is suspended 4,000 feet above the canyon and was pretty spectacular.  Glen is standing there on the skywalk with his black jacket on waving his hand!  We watched the video of how this was made.





Our next stop was Guano Point and we ate lunch at this spectacular place.  We were glad to be able to eat out in the sun to get warmed up!  Touring helicopters flew into the canyon every few minutes--it was unbelievable.  We met people here from all over the world--China, Korea, Russia, France, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Phillipines, and so many other places.





Our last stop was at Hualapai Ranch where we took a wagon ride, did a tomahawk toss, (I even hit the target with the tomahawk!) a rope toss (Glen roped the fake cow, but I couldn't) and other activities.  It was so much fun!  What a great end to a great tour.  We drove back to Las Vegas with renewed energy and were so grateful that we were able to go and see one of the Seven Wonders of the world.