Wendy, Jamie, and Jeanette

This week Glen and I finished our reading of the Book of Mormon again, this time underlining every reference to Deity ("The Father, the Son or any of His titles, and the Holy Ghost), and every time He was said something directly (Thus saith the Lord". . . )  I have read the Book of Mormon before just underlining the references to Jesus Christ, but never all of Deity.  It was a wonderful reading, as we read aloud to each other, and we learned a lot.  Every time I read the Book of Mormon I am more in awe of its teachings and its majesty and its truthfulness.  A couple of weeks ago I shared with Elder Findlay and Elder West the composition of the greatest chiasmus in the Book of Mormon, Alma 36, where the center of the chiasmus is in vs. 17 and 18 with "Jesus Christ, a son of God (vs. 17)  and Jesus, son of God (vs. 18)".  This chiamus is so beautiful and truly represents how the Book of Mormon testifies that Christ should be the center of our lives.  We were talking about it on Tuesday, when the zone leaders come in, and I was amazed at how many of them had never heard of chiasmus.  They all loved it and were marking their copies of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon really is the greatest evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, because there is no way he could have written even just Alma 36 on his own.  It's so beautiful!

Transfers are now just two weeks away, and I have been preparing all of their folders and notebooks, as well as preparing the departure folders and travel for the ten missionaries who are leaving.  This will be Glen's busiest time as he now finalizes the homes and apartments that the missionaries will be living in.  It looks like this will be the last transfer in the mission that several new places will have to be opened, as our July transfer looks relatively small at this point (only twelve missionaries so far) since we are getting a new mission president.  Hurray!

Here is our week in a nutshell:

On Monday night it was our Senior FHE at the Blacks.  We had a yummy dinner and then played games and then chatted.  It was such a wonderful evening!

We still eat lunch with the Trumans on most Thursdays and as we were eating lunch one day, we decided to go to the show "Mystere" which was being shown at Treasure Island.  So on Tuesday, we left straight from the office and had dinner and went to the show with the Trumans.  The show was simply amazing, showing both talent and humor, and it was completely clean!  We loved it.

On Wednesday night, we went with Elder Vieira and Elder Mavromatis (from Brazil) to teach Wendy and Jamie.  The week before, Jamie had accepted to be baptized on May 25, and Wendy, the elders, and we were all so excited!  It was a beautiful lesson filled with hope and happiness.  But on this Wednesday, the elders found some challenges to Jamie making the May 25 date, and we left their house with heavy hearts.  We'll see what happens, with prayer, fasting, and faith.  On Friday night we went back to Wendy and Jaime's, not to teach again, but to support Lisa, Wendy's niece and Brenda's oldest daughter, in her graduation from pharmacy tech school.  Nearly all of Jeanette's family was there and it was good to be with them all.  They really wanted to celebrate this graduation!

Jeanette and me.  Jeanette and her family came from Laughlin to attend the graduation.  To keep her family straight, we took these pictures:

Jeanette's oldest is Wendy.  Here are Wendy, Jamie, and Wendy's kids, from left, (the one on the very left is not Wendy's), Mystic, Carly, Christian, and Shylo with her son,Johnny.  

Her next oldest is Max, who couldn't be here.  He and his wife Shadow were married in the Las Vegas temple about 1 1/2 years ago.  The only temple marriage in Jeanette's family.

The next one is Krysta, her granddaughter Emma, and Jeanette.

The next one is Tami (in the center) and her daughter on the left, Chandra,and her boyfriend Oscar, and son Oscar, and her daughter on the right,Andrea, and Tami's son David.

 The youngest is Brenda, who is on the right with her daughter Harley.  Her other three daughters are, from the right, Ashley, Sabrina, Lisa Dawn, (the graduate) and her daughter Deanna.  Brenda pulled me aside and told me how much she appreciates how David and Juliann has reached out to her.  It was tender.  I'm so sad that this picture turned out so blurry!

We will be meeting again tomorrow night with Wendy and Jamie and  Elder Vieira and Elder Mavromatis.  Please pray for us!

Today in the Buffalo ward our dear Bishop Larkin was released after being the bishop or in a bishopric for 25 years.  We have just loved him and his wife Melanie. When  President Parker released him in sacrament meeting, he gave the highest tribute to him, expressing what a great man he is, and also what a great woman Sis. Larkin is.  He said that Sis. Larkin made a double sacrifice because she not only was alone during all those years, but she continued to serve with all of her heart in her callings, which were many.  It was an incredible meeting as the members of the released bishopric and Melanie bore their testimonies, and the new bishopric and the new bishop's wife bore their testimonies.  The new bishop is West Allen, and Dave Robison (our good friend) and Gary Chambers are the new counselors.  We will really miss Bishop Larkin and his counselors, Eric Johnson and Bert Lott.

Missionary Funnies

Michelle likes to make posts about the funny things her kids say.  Following her example, I thought I'd share some of the funny things that our missionaries have said.  We love these missionaries to death, but sometimes they say some. . well, different things!  These are all the shortened versions of actual things that have happened:

One missionary called Glen one day to report that he didn't have enough money on his MSF card to buy water.  Glen said,   "What do you mean, you don't have enough money to buy water?  What kind of water do you buy?"  "The small bottled water bottle, of course", he replied.  "Are you in your car?" Glen asked.   No, he was at home.  "Well, why don't you just get a drink out of the tap?" Glen asked. The elder had no answer.  (No, the water isn't awful here like it is in Phoenix or Florida. I always drink it out of the tap.)

Another missionary told me this:  "My companion is complaining that I snore too loud.  What should I do?"  Ummm, stop breathing at night?

And another missionary told me this at his companion's doorstep approach:  "We're representatives of Jesus Christ and we have a message that we'd like to share."  Several other exchanges followed.  The person at the door told them that he was Catholic, at which the companion retorted, "What?  So you don't believe in Jesus Christ?  I don't understand that."

A missionary came in to the office and said, "An investigator who is in the hospital would like a blessing."  After I asked several more questions, the last one being, "How long ago did he request the blessing?"  The missionary responded, "Eight days ago."  Really?  This was just a few days after the request for a blessing that I got, and I promptly called the elders assigned to that hospital, and the elders promptly went to that hospital and found that the patient had expired only a few minutes before.  So eight days. Oh my.

One missionary called Glen to report that the window in his apartment had been broken. Glen said, "Do you know how it broke?"  "Yes--a rock was thrown into it."  Glen said, "Do you have the rock?"  No.  "That's kind of unsettling,"  Glen said,  "Do you know who did it?"  "Well, uh, yeah,"  said the missionary.  "Who was it?"  Glen asked.  "It was Elder ______".  When Glen asked the elder who apparently did it, he said that he was "just throwing pebbles and it must have hit a weak spot in the window."  Uh huh.

A companionship of missionaries who are assigned to a far away place in the mission were traveling in the evening and hit a deer, damaging their car but leaving them without any injury.  While filling out the required accident report for the Church, they read the question about the witnesses who saw the accident.  Without hesitation they wrote, "Nine other deer."

At a nervous elder's first baptism, he left his black socks on and went in to the font to baptize the person. He was quite embarrassed that President Black was at the baptism!

Gotta love these missionaries.  They are the Army of Helaman!

Here's a few of the happenings this week:

On Sunday we were invited by Elder Peacock and Elder Crapo to attend the Samoan Ward where they are assigned and where they were asked to speak.  Oh, what a neat experience it was!  Polynesian wards are just a treat. The whole service was done in Samoan and then sometimes they would use English.  The songs are sung from the Samoan hymnbook.  Elder Peacock gave an amazing talk and Elder Crapo bore his testimony.  Here we are at the Samoan chapel and with us are two Samoan elders from the Las Vegas Mission.  It's a pretty unique area, the only one of its kind in our mission, that they share this ward with two Las Vegas missionaries and two Las Vegas West missionaries.

It was Elder Hammond's birthday this week, so we celebrated it with birthday cake.  He is the assistant from Ghana and is an incredible missionary.  Everyone just loves him!  Elder Alford, the other assistant, is sitting by Glen and Sister and Elder Dana are pictured.  It has been so very pleasant in the office with Sister Dana there.  She is doing such an awesome job and we are so glad to have her.

Elder Peacock came in to the office on Wednesday and asked me if I were celebrating the holiday.  I asked which holiday I should be celebrating, and he said, "Hey, it's "Administrative Professionals Day, and we just want to wish you a Happy Administrative Professionals Day!"  He gave me this card with the following note he wrote on the inside:

Can you believe how sweet that was?  We just have the nicest missionaries here!  After they left, I looked on our calendar that we keep near the copy machine, and sure enough, there was the holiday printed on the calendar!  It made my day--actually my week--no actually, my month.

It was especially rewarding because this was a kind of hard week to see one sister missionary be hospitalized for four days and another sister missionary who went home early.  We felt so bad for both of them.  

On Saturday Glen pulled out his golf clubs and went golfing with Carl Truman--how fun is that?  Glen loved it.  While they were gone I ran five miles and I loved that too!

 

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the temple for Ward Temple Night with the Johnsons, our beloved Relief Society President who was released, and her dear husband who is in our bishopric.  We ate dinner at the temple with them and it was fun to visit.  Lots of our ward members were there and it was wonderful to attend the temple with them.  We really love our ward!

Because We Have Been Given Much

The days go by not so fast but the week flies by!  This week a man came into the office and introduced himself as Warren Stephens, and said that because he had been so blessed by the Lord he wanted to bless other peoples' lives.  He said he wanted to give us a  homemade wooden bucket and we could choose the wood variety and he would engrave our names on the bottom of it.  He was so humble, kind, and giving, that we talked for nearly an hour as he told me about his seven missions that he and his wife served, including three 18 month missions to Nauvoo.  That's where he learned to make the wooden buckets.  He told me a lot about his life and the experiences he has had, and I just marveled.  He said that because he is so blessed, he just can't sit around and do nothing--he has to continue to serve.  His buckets take over four hours to make and he sells them for $90, but he gives them to full time senior couple missionaries.  It was just a joy to talk to him!  Glen came out of the office and we chose the bucket that I'm holding.  He also makes the rope handle himself! 

After talking to him, I felt so blessed!  What an example to just keep on serving and giving.  I hope that we can do just that--keep on giving because we have been given so much.  There are so many good people in the world who give so much--what a privilege to meet them!

This is the bottom of the bucket that he engraved and brought it back to us the very next day!

  I also had a very interesting phone call from an elderly woman who lives in the California part of our mission.  She is not a member but wanted help from our missionaries to drive them to Henderson so she could get her shopping done and go to her dr. appointments.  I talked with her for a long time about how sorry I was that the missionaries are not allowed to drive anyone in their car or to go out of our mission.  (Henderson isn't in our mission.)  She told me that she would never join the Church because she already has a faith.  I asked her what it was and she said she just has faith that there is a God.  I asked her if she read from the Bible and she said no.  It was a very long conversation, and I am only sharing a small portion of it.  I explained to her that the Bible contains living water and the bread of life and that we can benefit from it daily just as she needs water and bread daily.  There was a long pause and she thanked me for sharing "such a beautiful message" with her. I hope I can talk to her again. 

Sunday dinner at the Chapmans with Elder Manning (who was just transferred in), Elder West, Zena, the Burts, and Sis. Judd.  Valerie Chapman, who is not a member, keeps giving us these amazing dinners that we enjoy so much.  Elder Manning challenged her to read the Book of Mormon but she said she wasn't ready yet.

We have amazing food every time we eat there.

On Monday night we went to FHE with the Buffalo Ward seniors.  These are SO much fun!  Jay and Dorothy Burt who are the leaders are the funniest couple we have EVER met and we just laugh and laugh the whole time we're together.  

On Wednesday we got these darling pictures and letters from Jade, Brigham and Lily!  They made our day!    Children's artwork is so amazing to me.  Thanks you guys for giving us so much!  We sure love you!

On Thursday my dad and Bobbie were in Las Vegas so we went out to dinner with them.  They told us about selling their Lehi property to the Boyer Company and now they want to buy some property in Mesquite.  We had an enjoyable time with them.

Glen was able to experience a DI miracle of his own.  Sister Ridley and Sister Christensen were in the office and they told Glen how they really needed a closet organizer because they are getting a new sister next week and they will need more room in their closet with the threesome.  He went over to DI and asked if they ever got any of them and they said they had never seen one--until today--it had just come in!!  Can you believe that?  The sisters were thrilled!

Our ward was having a big pinewood derby in conjunction with an auction to raise money for scout camp and girls camp.  They invited everyone to enter the pinewood derby, so Glen decided to make a "mission car" and he had all the missionaries who came into the office during the week sign it.  They thought it was awesome!  Here are Elders Crapo, Carlson, Larson, Kredt, Werner, Woodard, Findlay, and Peacock admiring it.

At the pinewood derby!  His car lost the first round--he was paired up with the guy who has won the derby for the last five years!  But in the consolation round, here is his car on the left and it won this heat!  The priests in the ward were in charge of it, and there are some great priests!

He won the second heat also, but then lost on the third round.  It was such a blast!

Check out some of the cars that were entered.  There were so many and they were all so different!  It was such a fun ward activity.  We bid on all kinds of items that were given away and we won the bids for the coconut rolls, (yum) a pass for four for miniature golf, and a brand new glider rocker!  I was ecstatic!  They raised $6,600 dollars for the camps that night! Now we just have to get the glider rocker home. . . 

On Saturday morning we had another fun run with our Ragnar group and we ran 3 1/2 miles.  Afterward we went to breakfast at this awesome place and had the best omelets ever!  

After our run and breakfast we drove to Mesquite again to inspect the new apartment that was opened the transfer before. It had been filled to the brim with antiques when we saw it last, and we couldn't imagine that it was going to look nice.  But lo and behold, it looked so much better and we were so surprised!!  It was fun to see the transformation.  Elder Buchkovich and Elder Lloyd live there.

Then we drove to Beaver Dam Arizona where a new area was also opened up and the elders are living in this home.  It was so much nicer than we thought it was going to be, even though they live at the end of a mile long dirt road.  Elder Giullian and the brand new Elder Nielson said it took a week or so to get adjusted to the new area, but they like it and are happy.  They're great elders.

Elder Giullian, Elder Ringer, Elder Nielson, and the also brand new Elder Wilson at the church in Mesquite, about a 15 minute drive from Beaver Dam.  We took Elder Giullian and Elder Nielson out to lunch in Mesquite and it was pretty fun.  We truly have been given so much and it is so rewarding to give to the missionaries.  We also stopped in to see Vickie and Dell in Mesquite and it's always so fun to see them.  We had a great week and we had a great p-day.  I got some flights arranged for departing missionaries;  some passport issues figured out; many departure papers and many certificates and letters sent to stake presidents sent out; and letters for departing missionary families, so I was excited about the progress made for the week.

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!

General Conference Week and Brandon and Lindsey's Visit

We were excited for this week to come.  It would start out with April Fool's and end with Brandon and Lindsey's visit and with General Conference which we were very excited about.  The week before General Conference is always something we look forward to with great anticipation and we were grateful to be able to spend it with Brandon and Lindsey.

It was also the week before transfers, which is always so busy for me because I start the letters congratulating the new missionary leadership and finish getting everything ready for transfers.  I have done about 75 letters so far, so I've got a good start!  Tomorrow is transfers and we are getting a total of 27 new missionaries.  Can you believe these huge transfers that we always have?  Glen had to open 8 new areas for this transfer, which is becoming so commonplace although it is such a huge deal!  But watching this miracle of missionary work unfold really is incredible.  Can you believe that we're a part of it?  We would have never guessed it was going to happen like this. 

My family knows that I quite enjoy April Fool's Day.  Since Glen and I were married I have played an April Fool's joke on him and I still do every year for the kids and  I just think it's so fun.  I wanted to go pretty mild on the kids this year, so all we did was send them a package of candy that had the candy put in different wrappers--kit kat in the hershey's wrappers and stuff like that.  Kind of boring.  I did the same thing in the candy box that sits on my desk, and it was a blast seeing the missionaries unwrap the candy and seeing what was inside.  They loved it.  A few missionaries came into the office on Monday and I very seriously told them that they weren't to be in the office that day.  They put their heads down and said they were sorry and were about to leave when I said, "April Fool's!  Of course you can be here!"  It took a few seconds to register and then they laughed and laughed.

Sister Conder put an old DI chair in the president's office and put a sign that said "President McMillan" on his desk.  She thought it was so funny, but Glen and I were mortified!  That night two sets of missionaries called Glen and told them that they had eviction notices put on their apartment doors.  We had a great laugh over that!  

On Tuesday night we went over to our friends' house to watch the semi-finals of the NIT where BYU was playing Baylor.  We had so much fun with them!  They told us that Adam had called them to get President Black's phone number and they were quite flattered that he had figured out their phone number.  Adam called Pres. Black to see if he would play an April Fool's joke on us, but apparently it was a no go.  

On Friday afternoon, Brandon and Lindsey arrived at the mission office!  It was so great to see them!  Brandon worked on my computer again (thank you Brandon!) while Glen and I and Lindsey talked to Pres. and Sis. Black.  They were upset about a missionary apartment that they had just visited because it was so disorderly and they were disappointed that the missionary's attitudes were also so poor about it.  We felt so bad!  

We left the office early to go to the Beatles Show at Planet Hollywood.  It was a group who imitated the Beatles, and they were so talented and looked so much like John, Paul, George and Ringo that it was amazing!  The concert was like a trip down memory lane for us and they performed SO many of the Beatles' hits.The set was just the same as the Beatles' set and wow, did we have excellent seats--thank you Groupon!

Can you believe how much these guys look like the Beatles?  Ed Sullivan's look a like was amazing too, and he did such a great job of imitating him.  

After the show we went out to see the beautiful Bellagio fountains, which are all lit up in the background.  

On Saturday we jogged on the trail near our condo and then watched the sessions of conference.  I loved Pres. Monson announcing that there were now 65,000 missionaries with 20,000 more called and another 6,000 in the interview process.  Can you even believe this miracle?   Can you believe we are here on a mission being right in the middle of this happening?  I loved the talks on missionary work, but I also loved the talks by Elder Cardon and Elder Ballard on Saturday.  Glen and Brandon went to the priesthood session while Lindsey and I went shopping.

On Sunday we watched the sessions, and I loved the talks by Elder Clayton, Elder Anderson, and Elder Holland.How I love general conference!  It's such a letdown when it is over, and then to add to it, we had to say good-bye to Brandon and Lindsey, which was so sad.  We loved having them visit.

On Sunday evening, Jaime, Wendy, Carly, Deana (Wendy's niece) and Christian came to dinner.  Wendy and the kids want to get active in the church again and Jaime is taking the missionary discussions!  We're so excited for them.  We had a great discussion with them while they were here.  Please pray for them!

Oh, so sad that conference weekend is over!  Tomorrow we will be in the thick of missionary work again and we're praying that transfers will go well!