WEEK 4: Comin' In Hot

Ladies and gentlemen, WELCOME TO FABULOUS LAS VEGAS!!!

I made it! Tuesday was the travel day, we had to check out of the MTC at 4:30am. So we woke up at 3:30. It was a very long day. But it was so worth it to come down the escalators to baggage claim in the Vegas Airport and see President and Sister Rodarte right there to welcome us! It was so special and they are so kind.

They drove us up to the Las Vegas temple, which is stunning! President Rodarte shared one of the classic stories from the Book of Mormon, which is Lehi's dream. Lehi was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem who had a dream from God that showed God's love for the world. God's love was symbolically displayed through as a tree, called the Tree of Life. Across the river from the Tree in the vision, there is a great and spacious building filled with the things that distract us and bring us away from God. President Rodarte took us to the temple grounds and shared that story with us, explaining how the Las Vegas temple is one of the only places in the world where Lehi's dream is so close to reality. You look at the temple, a beautiful physical representation of God's love and a place where we can worship and grow closer to Him, and in the same landscape you look past it and see the entire Las Vegas valley. The contrast between the city known across the entire world as "Sin City" behind a beautiful temple on the hillside was a really incredible thing to see. Also, this valley is truly so huge. I didn't realize it until we were up on that hill and I saw just how far it spans. PSA: you go on the Strip as a missionary, you go home.

We went to the mission home to meet our trainers! I am in a trio, with Sister Mudrow and Sister Wood! My first area is HENDERSON!! Our area is the biggest in the entire mission. We cover a stake with 7 wards (congregations), and it's  huge. My companions are Sister Training Leaders, meaning they are in a leadership position and are in charge of looking after all the other sisters in our area. So we're pretty busy and I'm just trying to keep up.

Pretty much everyday has looked the same, our mornings are usually calmer with study, planning, and virtually contacting people, and then our afternoons and evenings are busy with lessons and in-person contacts. It's been very busy and there's even more to learn than there was at the MTC, but my trainers are wonderful, and they're really good about communicating with me to make sure I'm not wandering around completely lost. 

I learned as soon as I was settled in that President Rodarte changed the social media rules for the mission recently, which means that we are no longer a Facebook mission. So I can't use Facebook anymore. I am also not supposed to talk to friends over Messenger, so please only email me if you're not immediate family, or else you will for sure get ghosted because I cannot use those social medias while I'm here. Big rip but it's okay. 

It's not as suffocatingly hot as I was expecting, but it is very toasty. When the wind blows it feels like we're just walking straight into a hair dryer. We really are just living in an oven. It's always over 100⁰, the other day was 110⁰ and we were street contacting. Wouldn't recommend doing that during the hottest part of the day. My phone was burning and it was just so warm. But the desert makes my heart so happy, and I love seeing the sunsets and the palm trees! And it's always nice when the evening cools down to 95⁰ and it feels lovely with the sun down and the wind blowing. I do love it here already. 

Emil (Aye-miel) is our next door neighbor and he is crazy. He's been meeting with the missionaries for a year and he's obsessed. He loves talking to us and always sends good morning texts. He's so funny and dramatic.

We're also teaching Gary and Karen, an older couple and they're absolutely precious. Karen is a member but Gary is taking the lessons with us and we feel like he is so ready! He came to church on his own this week, which was huge! We love Gary and Karen.

Also we found a new woman to teach this week, her name is Gina. We pulled over in a neighborhood to report on some of our appointments that had all fallen through that night, and I looked up and saw her on the sidewalk. She seemed open to us, and we were able to pray with her for her daughter who was in the hospital. We're going back on Tuesday! She was an absolute miracle find and I'm really excited to get to know her. 

It's been a hectic week, and I'm quite tired. But there have already been so many miracles and I love being here. The days are long and busy, but so much fun.

I love all of you! Until next week,

Sister Malmstrom

Pictures!

- Landed in Vegas with Elder Jensen, Elder Niu, and Sister Long!

- Las Vegas temple

- At Gary and Karen's house for dinner and a lesson, they have 4 dogs and 5 tortoises.

- Selfies in between lessons

- Desert sunsets FILL MY SOUL

- Pday trip to Hoover Dam with the district