Our Seventh Transfer!

We reached a historic and notable milestone with our seventh transfer--we have now officially DOUBLED the number of missionaries since Glen and I arrived here nine months ago.  When we got here, there were 102 missionaries and now there are 207 missionaries!!!!  Can you even believe it?  No wonder we have been so crazy busy!  It truly is thrilling to see this work go forward and we are in the thick of it!

 The week before transfers and the week after transfers are always a whirlwind for me to get everything ready and to do the 140 or so letters (plus everything else)  that need to be done during this time.  I'm becoming more efficient at it, but it is still very tedious and requires exact accuracy--parents would not be happy to get a letter that someone other than THEIR missionary had arrived to the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission!  But still, transfers are always exciting, and I just love them.  I love to see where the missionaries are being transferred to, especially since we KNOW the missionaries now, and I love to see who the new mission leadership is.  It's an exciting time!

Since it is the Conders last week, Sister Conder is orienting Sis. Dana to her position in the office as the baptism and referral secretary.  Sis. Dana is Elder Dana's (he is the vehicle coordinator) wife, so they will be working as a team.  They are service missionaries which means that they live here in Las Vegas and don't serve full time.  Sis. Dana is a delight, and I'm sure we'll enjoy working with her.

We had 24 new missionaries come, so Glen had to go to the airport to help pick up the missionaries.  The Las Vegas airport is HUGE!!!  Here are some of the new missionaries picking up their luggage--they are pretty excited and nervous to be here after only 12 days at the MTC!

They first stop at the president's home for breakfast and then head over the the Alexander building, the church which is the closest to the mission office for their day long orientation.  Glen and I again did our orientation presentation and planned and served the luncheon for them. 

At 5:00, we go back to the Alexander building for the official transfer.  We always sing "Called to Serve" at transfers, and it's always so awesome to see so many of the missionaries together.  They love being with each other.

When a new trainer  is announced there is applause and shouts and then when the new missionary is announced who is assigned to the trainer and he comes out from behind the curtain, the trainer many times will greet the new missionary with big hugs, followed by great laughter.  I love this part!  

Elder Barlow greets his new missionary.

The missionaries always stop at my table to see if they got any mail.  Here are Elder Carlson, Elder Wong, Elder Chapman and Elder Cease.

After the transfer, we had to say goodbye to our seven departing missionaries--so sad!  I just loved them.  Sister Garcia, Sister Shaw, Elder Packard, Elder Quintana (who came on his mission as a one-year convert and had absolutely NO parental support of any kind--not a single letter from them on his entire mission), Sis. Argueta (from Guatemala), Elder Barton and Elder Austin.  We wish them the best!

On the Tuesday following transfers, all the zone leaders, including the newly called ones, come in to the office.  It's always so great to talk to them, and they usually stop at my desk and fill me in as to what's going on in their zones.  Here are Elder Peacock, Elder Kredt, Elder Wener, Elder Carlson, and Elder Parker.  

On Tuesday night there was a farewell dinner held at the president's home for the Conders and for Sis. Young, who were all leaving.    It was such a neat evening as we all told the Conders and Sis. Young what we loved about them and then heard their departing testimonies.  In Sis. Conder's testimony, she said that the first half of their mission was very difficult, but that it all changed when Glen and I came, and she gave such a sweet tribute to us--it really surprised us.  She talked of how much more cheerful and loving the office environment was and how much she had learned from us.  It was so sweet!

 On Thursday, Larry Baily and his new wife, Jeri, stopped in at the office to see Glen.  Larry had worked at Highland Dairy for years with Glen when he was a teenager and they had always been good friends.  It was a fun visit for Glen.

Friday was the Conders last day and it really was a sad day.  We got them this bouquet of cookies that had two bee cookies, two flower cookies, and a center one that said, "Thanks a Buzzillion".  The assistants, Elder Hammond and Elder Alford, were also there to wish them well.  We will really miss them!

On Friday after our work at the office, we went over to the Conders to help them load up their trailer.  They live on the 3rd floor of their apartment building, so we knew they would need help carrying boxes and furniture down the stairs.  They left on Saturday afternoon  for Utah, and they called us and told us that they had forgotten to close the trailer door when they left  and  their camera, (a very expensive one) an ipad, and Elder Conder's scriptures had fallen out of their trailer and onto the street of their apartment building, and someone found them and picked them up.  They don't know who did yet, so they're hoping that they will return them!  How sad!  We felt so bad for them.

After such a busy week we were happy to leave the city and go to Valley of Fire, a state park about an hour and 15 minutes away from Las Vegas.  There we found a landscape somewhat similar to Lake Powell country and it was pretty awesome to see it.  We did a couple of 1 1/2  mile hikes and saw some spectacular work of Mother Nature.  We hiked through a small slot canyon that was pretty cool.

The various colors in the rock were amazing.  Some rocks were yellow and pink, but the pictures I took of them didn't turn out very well, but they were beautiful.  A camera just can't reproduce what the eye can see.

There were lots of arches and we climbed up to some of them.  There were also a lot of Native American hieroglyphics that were the most clear we have ever seen.

We spent most of the day there and then went to nearby Overton where there is a "Lost City" Museum,  These original  Native American pueblos were a  part of the museum, and they reminded us of some of the ruins at Lake Powell, but these were more extensive.  It was a fun day!