Semana 14 Painted Mountain/Blanco Vista: Conference and Easter!

 Well well well it's that time of the week again! One more down, a lot more to go! Everyone always asks me how long I have been on my mission and it just reminds me of how many more weeks I have to go! So, advice of the day, stop asking missionaries how long they have been serving! Come up with a fun and original question. They will thank you forever! Also, Easter and conference on the mission were actually super fun. Our members really looked out for us! More details to come. 

Monday:  Man, Monday feels like an eternity ago! We helped Dan finish packing up his truck and had a really cool lesson with him and his kids using the book you are special! It was really cool to see someone who didn't believe in God realize that maybe God does exist! We really got to see him through Christ's eyes and it was amazing to serve and teach! 

Tuesday: Today we decided to contact every single person on the list for Blanco Vista. It was super disappointing because barely anyone answered us.... we had worked so hard all day and were feeling kind of bummed out, so, we decided to pray. We thought we should drive to see some inactive members in our English ward. When we got there, the members wanted nothing to do with us, but, their neighbor, a Spanish speaker was interested and we are now teaching him! Crazy how the Lord works. But wait, there's more! Right as we got in the car after meeting Sonny the other Sisters called us and told us that they had a Spanish referral for us! Milagros! I can testify that the Lord really does magnify your efforts. After grinding all day contacting every person, he lead two new people to teach to us through different means than we had expected. We also went to Centro Hispano tonight! We are greeters now, so we do a lot more logistical stuff, which is fun, but, I miss teaching English :( 

Wednesday: Today we had a ton of people cancel on us so we ended up doing all of our studies and lots of contacts. We knocked on a lot of members doors, but, no one answered. We did do dinner and enjoyed a chat with the Cisternas family. Pretty typical mission day. 

Thursday: Today was a very weird day. We started by helping Deseret industries at the Bishops store house unload massive palates of food and mix them all up to make specific orders. All the boxes weight at least 30lbs. It was really cool though! We knocked that out in two hours and then decided to spend our lunch break doing Tae kwando...? with a returning member. She isn't in our ward but the Elders couldn't go alone, so we were enlisted. It was honestly a blast! We learned lots and got a killer work out in. I couldn't walk for the rest of the week between our run, palate unloading and Tae kwando. After that we had a awesome dinner with the Stewart family and did game night! I really missed playing games so I loved every second! That's basically all we did! 

Friday: Today we filmed a video for Facebook and it took soooooo long. Everyone kept stopping singing singing they messed up so we ended up filming this video for like two hours. It was fun but also stressful because I get nervous in front of a camera! We also had a social media meeting and dinner with Sister Harley! She took us out to Mexican and it was a blast. We also had an awesome lesson with Tim our cute sidewalk friend! We are super excited that he is so eager to attend church and can't wait to send him to the YSA ward so he can make some new friends. 

Saturday: This morning we watched conference and enjoyed the fact that Blazey came! He asked lots and lots of questions which was good! You can tell he will be the guy that sets his own baptism date when he is ready. We've enjoyed teaching him and can't wait to see what happens. After conference we went and visited Sonny and did a fun short lesson on his porch. We talked about Easter and the importance of the Atonement. I have gained a sincere testimony that the atonement is REAL. It us there for everything. Our pain, sorrows, sins, transgressions, sadness es, and the overall unfairness of life. Conference really made me look at my faith. I have faith. I just need need use it! I challenge you all to use your faith sometime this week! Let me know how it goes! 

Sunday: Easter and conference should not be on the same weekend! It was such a spiritual and food filled day! We spend the morning with the Phillips family and Blazey and loved the diversity being shown in the first session of conference. I loved hearing the prophet speak. It really felt like he was speaking just for me. Exactly what I needed to hear. After the Phillips we went and had a lesson with Elias a guy we found calling random people who have talked to missionaries previously. He is super nice and we are going back again next week! We went straight from there to the Richard's home to watch the second session of conference. I loved it but, was a little tired! Good thing we had Easter candy to keep us awake! After conference the Richard's fed us an awesome dinner with a really yummy lemon cream pie. They are so kind and even sent us home with basically an entire ham! After that we headed to the Stewart's for our second dinner and ate basically the same things there! We played games and did a peeps fight in the microwave! It was such a spiritual and fun day. I couldn't have ever imagined. 

Pictures are small but mighty this week! Sorry! Not a ton happened to take pictures of other than Easter! Love you all!

Happy Easter from Hermana Sellers!

Easter with the Stewarts

Thank you for the Easter baskets!

Fun and games

Peeps fight in the microwave

Who's gonna win?

Easter dinner with the Richards

Beautiful table setting for Easter dinner

Our friend Tim from the park

More from Mom:  Paige had bloodwork done on Tuesday and is waiting for her ultrasound that is scheduled for next Tuesday.  After that she willl follow up with her doctor for the results.  She's still in a lot of pain, but is puching through it most days.  She says that mornings are easier than nights. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon!

The members spoiled her rotten for Easter! She recieved several baskets and gift cards and she really felt loved.  They had Easter brunch and 2 dinners that day. I totally appreciate the members that love on my daughter while I can't.  It is such a blessing!

She failed to mention that she got to call home on Easter for a little bit.  We talked to her early in the morning for a bit and then again later that night after dinner. Jake was here for dinner with us and talked to her for a bit.  They both had the most amazing grins on their faces and it was fun to watch Jake stumble over his words a little at the sight of her again.  I wish I'd thought to take a screen shot, but we were all just living in the moment.

Paige siad that they walk about a mile each way every morning and afternoon to a nearby park to exercise and study.   They have been soaking up the beautiful weather before it gets unbearable this summer.  I think the fresh air is really helping keep her spirits up.

She is really enjoying the diversity in Las Vegas and all the different cultures she has been able to experience so far.  She has enjoyed the native food members make for her.  She says that sometimes they will try to make American food for the missionaries. While she appreciates the sentiment, she much prefers they cook what they are used to cooking. Though, she has come to realize she doesn't care for Brazilian food.

She also didn't mention that she really misses teaching English classes.  She is now in an administative role at Centro Hispano and happened to check in on her class one evening.  Her students asked her why she wasn't teaching anymore because she is so much better than the new teachers. She laughed when telling the story and said,  "That's Latinos for you.  They say it how it is!"  All joking aside, she's really found a lot of joy and purpose in teaching English to those men who are learning English to better their way of life.