Semana 35 Foothills Ward: Midlife crisis...??

Ok everyone buckle up, it has been a crazy week with lots of surprises. However, I think I am having a midlife crisis, I want to live life to the fullest, and enjoy every moment, but I am also tired.... anyone else with me?? Point of the matter, I have been doing this whole missionary thing for a while and I'm still nowhere close to perfect, what's up with that?! Also, Spanish..... thought I was doing pretty well until I went back to my old area on Sunday (more on that later). I make this rant because it has a happy ending, even though I'm tired, and life is not new and exciting anymore, we are still seeing miracles every day. We still serve the Lord and I only have 9 months left to do that. I love being able to walk into people's homes and hear their stories and be able to promise blessings with the power of the priesthood I have been enabled to use through my calling. I love walking the hot streets of Vegas until I am soaking wet, and exhausted from the heat, with the pay off of serving families and dropping of cookies. I love my mission, but sometimes, life gets hard, it gets mundane, and that's why we have the fifth step in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, enduring (happily) to the end. I'm adding happily today because that's what I feel makes the difference between a good life and a fantastic one. I would love to hear your stories of how you made it out of your "midlife crisis" with Jesus Christ, because I know we all have them. I love each and every one of you and can't wait to hear your stories! 

Monday: THE DAY OF DAYS! THE BASEBALL GAME OF THE CENTURY! I have never in my life seen more 20 year olds more excited about a mediocre minor league baseball game. We had SO much fun! That team has never received so many cheers in their whole career, it was like a high school football game all over. The PR was amazing for the church and we actually got a few referrals from the game, and so many people asking us why we were there and who we were with. I found it pretty awesome that when people asked me who I was working for I got to say The Church of Jesus Christ, as a representative of Christ himself. We has so much fun and I'm so glad we got the time to be together and gather as a whole mission for the first time since Covid. 

Tuesday: Today was a pretty normal day, we had district council, some studies and some contacting in all the forms, then we went to a dinner, and mutual! Woo! We did a Chopped challenge with the girls and it was so, so much fun. We even remembered to take pictures! 

Wednesday: Today we decided we wanted to spice it up, so during our lunch we made cookies to deliver to the inactive families in our ward. We made enough to take to 6 families and we loaded up our cooler bag with cookies! It was so good to visit with people and can I just say, cookies=miracles. We were able to set up lessons with probably 3 of the 6 families just because we dropped cookies by. To end the night we did Spanish studies at the park and ended up running to the car before the attack of the crickets! 

Thursday: Today was the day, I went back to seminary, for the first time since high school!! Kinda weird and honestly, I loved seeing so many kids there! After seminary we had Spanish tutoring with Sister Adam's and we loved it. She is such a good teacher. We did weekly planning and ended the night with the ward picnic in the park. There were several people who came that weren't members and it was so nice to get to know some members of the community. Funny story, we got home and our house smelled really gross so we cleaned the carpets, but our vacuum is so old that it had hair from probably the 1980's stuck in it! Don't worry, we took some amazing pictures. See below for the aftermath. 

Friday: Today we had HighFit!! It absolutely kicked our butts and we had so much fun with the ladies in the ward. We got to meet some more friends who weren't members. The rest of the day was pretty slow so we made our own fun doing studies, and playing Spanish games. The Spanish is going well and Sister Lusk and I have only spoke Spanish to each other all week. It's been tough, but we are excited to see the blessings that will come from it. 

Saturday: Today we had a super fun lesson with the Cassolari family and got to do sidewalk chalk BoM stories which was such a blast! Vito is slowly but surely coming around and we learned a little bit more about his story which helped us out a lot. We went to Tivoli village farmers market to street contact and it went really well! We love building good relationships in the community. We ended the day with an amazing devotional by Elder Christofferson's that really changed my perspective on note taking and gospel study. I am excited to implement his advice. 

Sunday: Today was such a fun day!! We started out with church, the ward council. We said potential goodbyes because next week is transfers and everyone was super sad to hear that! Yes, mission accomplished. After church we went to the Hamilton's house and played with their 7 golden doodle puppies. We taught an amazing lesson and really brought the spirit. Everyone cried and I was so proud of Sister Lusk and I for following some pretty direct spiritual promptings that ended up making this lesson super powerful. At 4:30 today I get a text from SISTER EDWARDS saying that Enrique moved his baptism to tonight at 6:30, so we worked some magic and drove down to Blue Diamond to attend the baptism. I was so happy to go back to my old ward and feel at home. The Spanish was a little rusty, but I loved seeing Enrique and his light he received after getting the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

All in all it's been a great week. I truly am so happy to be here and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store. Love you all!! Here's some great pictures from the week. Enjoy the many random kinda fun pictures!!

Enrique's baptism <3

Hiking at Red Rock National Park

Take me out to the ballgame!

Chalk lessons

Carpooling on p-day

Cooling off with some ice cream

Talk about a hair ball!

A night out at the ball game

Contacting at the farmers market

Hiking at Red Rock

District fun at Red Rock National Park

More lesson fun

Farmer's market adventures

Charlie's angels or Christ's angels???

Root, root, root for the home team.  If they don't win it's a shame!

SMELLY CARPET vs. HERMANA SELLERS

At the ball game with Hermanas Lusk and Sellers

Dirty feet = Hard work

Smoothie bowl, a Sister Sellers favorite

An organized workspace

Chopped with the Young Women

CACTUS!

Out for lunch

Semana 34 Foothills Ward: Halfway There!!!

Guys!! I have been out for 9 months! I am so glad I have made it this far and I can't wait to see where I go the rest of my mission. I have learned so much, struggled through learning Spanish, and have truly learned to love life, something that has always been a struggle for me. There have been bumps and craters along the way, but I wouldn't change a thing. For today's email I'm going to change it up and tell you 9 things that happened this week to celebrate my nine months! Anddddd I'm writing this email way late.... so I don't have time for a day by day. 

1) Interviews with President! I had the longest interview I've ever had with him and I was able to chat with him and it was awesome! He challenged me and my companion to speak only Spanish to each other for the rest of the transfer! 

2) My 9 months! We went out to Cheesecake Factory thanks to my awesome momma and we celebrated like queens. It is a weird mid life crisis but I'm glad I've made it this far.

3) Exchanges with my STL Sister Hunter! We got to go to Rancho which is very very low income and it was a big change from up here in Summerlin. I've loved getting to know her and working out with her was the best. 

4) Zone conference! We had the best zone conference all themed around Bees and honey and I loved every second. It was the perfect spiritual uplift I needed for the midway transfer slump. 

5) Baking with the Larsen family! We made super fun baking cakes and these fun pastry cones from a tasty video.

6) Adam's family tutoring session. We love learning from Sister Adam's and getting out accents roasted. We also did a Yums box and it was Thailand my least favorite place!!! But, it reminded me of home. 

7) Found a new obsession with Pasta Roni due to all of our members flaking out on dinners this week, due to the first week of school. 

8) We ran from the cricket infestation at the park scared that crickets were going to hop up our dresses!! We love to street contact and do studies once it cools off a little, but, the trade is crickets!! We also did chalk art! So fun. 

9) Cookie deliveries to 5 families were a huge success and we got some appointments out of it! We were so excited to meet some new people in the ward and really understand it. 

I love my mission!! I love you guys!! Have the best week ever. More pictures to come next week from out hike today!

Halfway celebration at Cheesecake Factory!

Sisters Rowan and Sellers

The district at zone conference

CHEESECAKE! Yum!

The Roomies!  Sisters Bagley, Rowan, Sellers and Lusk

Sidewalk chalk art at the park

Beautiful Sister Sellers!

Hermanas Sellers and Lusk

Halfway picture... 9 down, 9 to go!

BONUS: Paige's 9 month Facebook Post

9 meses! 9 months! 9 pictures! 9 things I've learned while on my mission! 

1) God loves every single one of his children, no matter where they are at in their journey.

2) The spirit is the true teacher, director, and comforter in this life.

3) No matter where you are on your spiritual journey there is a place for you here. 

4) Every person struggles. Every person has trials. Every person needs someone to minister to them. 

5) When we sacrifice our wants for someone else's needs we will be blessed unceasingly. 

6) P.A.C.E a positive attitude changes everything, and changed my entire life.

7) Smile, it will always make someone's day. We can choose to laugh or cry, and well, crying gives me a headache. 

😎 Spanish!!!!!! I have learned to speak a new language while here in Vegas through the gift of tongues and many patient, members and companions

9) I know that the Book Of Mormon has every answer you are looking for in it. I know it is the most correct of any book on this earth, and I know, without a shadow of a doubt that it was written for our day. 

9 months full of change, growth, challenges, laughs, rejections, testimonies, stories, relationships, and love. I wouldn't trade it for the world! Viva Las Vegas!

Semana 33 Foothills Ward: Temple week!!

Good morning everyone!! This week was pretty usual except that week got to go to the temple!! Probably one of the best days of my whole mission. The Las Vegas Temple is gorgeous, it was perfect timing in my mission as well. I am about halfway and was hitting that halfway slump where I'm feeling stuck in language skills, and feeling stuck in progress here in our area. I know our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs. I got the most reassuring answer that I am worthy and I am doing my best and that is all the Lord expects of me. Ok onto the play by play. 

Monday: We had an amazing dinner with the Larsen family who we love so much! They sent us home with a bag of clothes and some pulled pork! What's not to love? They were also just so open with us and I felt the spirit working in them so strongly. The lesson we felt prompted to share was exactly what they needed to hear and that is just so happy when we know we are teaching with the spirit. 

Tuesday: Today we had meetings in the morning, then had an action packed night! We got to teach yoga to the young woman and that was so awesome! They loved it and I got to use some training skills I learned before my mission. We also had dinner with Brother Hodson the service missionary president here in Vegas and that was awesome. He is such a nice and humble guy. Everything was so packed in today, but we were able to enjoy our studies and squeeze in our Spanish to complete our goal for the transfer. 

Wednesday: Temple Day!!!!! We got up at 5 in the morning to make the 45 minute drive to the temple. We got to go and do an endowment session which was amazing. I felt the spirit so strongly and I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. We didn't get home until around noon so a lot of our day was filled with studies and the temple. It was such a spirit filled day of growth and I wouldn't trade it for the world. We finished our day with a visit to Hermana Seagraves in Spanish and the Cassolari family in English. Two of our favorite people! We shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and sadly Vito isn't quite ready to commit to anything yet. 

Thursday: Today we got a late start due to our roommates alarm not going off, so we made it to the park a little later than usual because we were waiting for them. But, it ended up being a huge miracle because we met April! She is really cool and we were able to tell her a little bit about the plan of salvation and give her a Book of Mormon. It was such a cool experience after kind of a hectic morning. Obedience brings blessings guys. We definitely could have skipped exercise time so that we had time to get ready for the day, but we went and we were blessed for that. We also had Spanish class with Hermana Adam's and she rocks. She is using a curriculum that she made for her kids and it is awesome. We love it. She also asked us to speak at her son Delas's baptism on Saturday!! So fun! We finished the day with weekly planning and dinner at the Brian's house. 

Friday: Today we went to HiFit with the ladies in the ward and it was a butt kicker. I think I almost died like 4 times. HiFit is no joke. After that we came home, showered and ate lunch and then went to Linda Shook's house go help her unpack and organize. She is 80 and just got remarried to this guy who isn't a member. So, we have been trying to get in good with them. He has a 1970 Duster and we were able to go out and see it! Sadly he didn't let us get in. Maybe next time😉 We helped organize her spices and then had a great gospel discussion over ice cream. Sadly our dinner canceled, but they bought us Chinese, so that was a win. We finished the night with a Spanish social media meeting. 

Saturday: Delas' baptism!! A lot of his inactive family came and that was seriously awesome. We got to speak and I gave the talk on baptism. We loved being able to support Delas. After the baptism we went to lunch with the family and Sister Lusk realized that she had met Delas' great grandma at the hair salon a few weeks ago!? Small world. We had a lesson with the Lai family all about the Holy Ghost and temples. It was a tough one, they had lots of hard questions, but I think we taught with the spirit. We ended the night at the Hunt family's house. She made the best banana bread I have ever had. It was so good I asked for the recipe. They were a really nice family and we enjoyed getting to know them better. 

Sunday: We had a pretty usual Sunday. Sadly no one came to church with us but, Brother Yaste came Again! And stayed for second hour, so that was happy. We also got to sit in on a temple prep class for Beca Coco and that was amazing. She is so excited and ready. Lastly we got to go to dinner at the Bishop's house and we had homemade Cafe Rio which was pretty good. All in all a great day.

Ok so...... I may or may not have not taken any pictures at the baptism........ oof. But here are a few from the week.

Sister Sellers and Lusk at the Las Vegas Temple

The Las Vegas Temple

Beautiful drive

Teaching yoga to the Young Women

Semana 32 Foothills Ward: Busy bees...?

 Buenos días mi familia y amigos! This week has been kind of slow again, so, if anyone has ideas send me an email on ideas you did on your mission to keep yourself busy when you're not teaching anyone.... :( however, we have gotten to do all of our studies really consistently and that has been so amazing. We have grown a ton I think personally. 

Monday: Today we has stake dinner with the stake president, then we headed off the the Larsen's house for dessert. We had one of the best lessons I've ever had on my mission about faith and the importance of it in our lives. The Larsen's dad is having a hard time with faith and it was so spiritual to hear everyone share their experiences with faith to help build him up. 

Tuesday: Today we had district council, then studies then we headed out to dinner with Linda Ence and her new husband. They are 79 and 80 and they just got married in March.... ;) both their spouses died and they reconnected! They went to junior and senior prom together and are now married 60 years later! Crazy town! We ended the day at mutual and got to meet the girls. 

Wednesday: Today was the slowest day ever....  Literally. We had 0 appointments which was so sad. So, we worked really hard to find things to do. We drove up to Red Rock national park to knock on a door a member told us was interested. She was not......  we may or may not have been yelled at and there were scary dogs, let's just say it was a scary day. After that we shook it off, knocked doors, we heart attacked people, we did all our studies. So, slow but productive still. 

Thursday: Today we had lunch with the Adam's family. Sister Adam's is from Mexico and they just moved here about 18 months ago! Aka she is a Spanish genius and taught all her kids to be bilingual, and! She offered to tutor us in Spanish! So, now we have a weekly appointment with her to learn Spanish and to work on our accents and I am sooooo excited about it. We also had dinner with the Ramos family and got our ward mission plan all ironed out over dinner. We also did weekly planning which is always an event.  All in all a good day! 

Friday: Hoy we had a super fun meeting with the Hisamoto family. They are an older couple and we had such a blast. We did some studies, tried some Facebook finding, and then we decided to head out to try street contacting today, but the smog from the fires is so bad here no one is really outside. We ended the day with a late dinner at the Godfreys house. Sister Godfrey is from Japan and made traditional Japanese food. We had a shrimp tofu dish on rice with sushi, stuffed mushrooms, and a weird Japanese pumpkin. Let's just say that Japanese food..... is not my favorite. But, she worked so hard on dinner and it was so nice of her so we made it work. 

Saturday: Today we helped throw a surprise party for a recent convert, enjoyed doing all our studies out at the park because it "cooled off". Then we went to Sister Hamilton's house and played with her 7 golden doodle puppies while we chatted and got to know her. She is struggling to stay on the path and it was nice to chat with her. Annnddd our members brought us chickfila! 

Sunday: Today we had our usual church, another dinner with the Ramos family and we finished the night off making homemade icecream with the roomies!! So fun!

So sorry everyone I was on a roll with pictures but it didn't take very many this week....

Making homemade ice cream with the roomies

Park pictures for social media posts (Where'd her legs go?!?) 

Semana 31 Foothills Ward: Living on a prayerrrrr!

 Hi everyone!! I'm not even gonna lie, this week was kinda dry! We are working getting our area up and running and it is a lot of work! That also means not very exciting, so buckle up for a quick email today! 

Tuesday: We got haircuts!! Woo! I'm so glad I chopped off all my hair. After pday was over we just went to dinner, had some studies and planned our Facebook and Instagram posts for the week. 

Wednesday: Today we did a lot of helping out the Elders get situated in the YSA and making sure they knew what was going on! We also went to this cute single mom's house named Coco! She is working on getting endowed (going to a ceremony in our temple) and is doing the temple preparation lessons. She has two year old twins and a nine year old boy. We had a blast getting to know her and are excited to see her progress. 

Thursday: Today we watched 32 missionaries come into the mission over zoom! They are all mostly resigned which is sad because they aren't staying..... but, we enjoyed an extra long Reeses Pieces and the opportunity to check on all our friends via zoom. We made brownies for some part member families, delivered those, and then ended the day with a dinner with the Cassity family. She made us orange chicken and it was sooo yummy! We did a fun object lesson with their kids and challenged them to invite invite friend to dinner with us next time. 

Friday: Today we did combined studies with our roommates at Tivoli Village and had an awesome chat about all our trainees struggles and how we can focus on the positive. It was a really good opportunity for all of us. After that we had had an amazing dinner with Sister Yaste! She is literally the coolest person. She's had such a hard life and really made insane changes to become a member of the church. We had a great gospel conversation with her and her husband who isn't baptized!! 

Saturday: Today was a day..... we started off with studies and then got to go to the Cassolari's house for lunch! They fed us these yummy sandwiches and some interesting donuts and we were on our way. We got to challenge them to get temple recommends which was really the best thing ever and hopefully Sister Cassolari wants to go to the temple soon. We didn't end up having a dinner and got stuck at the library for 3 hours while it flash flooded in Vegas.... sad day. But, a member bought us food and we enjoyed that. As we were making hearts for our heart attack game plan we started not feeling very good... let's just say both of our bathrooms were very full.... we definitely got food poisoning and we did not feel good at all, so we obviously ended the night there and tried to sleep, with occasional bathroom runs. 

Sunday: After a long night we were exhausted, but we went to church and ward council, came home and took a nap for our entire lunch hour. We went and heart attacked 6 houses and had a blast watching everyone see their hearts as we were driving away. We ended the night with a late dinner at the Neilson's house and had soup in 110* weather.... good thing I love soup! We did some Facebook and made my very first Instagram reel!! You'll have to go check it out! 

Not sure how many pictures we took that I didn't already post but, here's some fun ones!

Hermanas <3

Sisters in front of the cool street art

Love One Another

Keeping cool!

Heart attacks

Companeras

New haircut