WEEK 16: Rotisserie Chicken

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! It's preparation say again. And I have so much to talk about!!

First of all, Sister Salazar is the coolest person EVER!! I am so lucky to be with her in our area! She's killing it, and we're working really well together. She is so much fun, and I adore her. It feels like we've been companions forever already, and it hasn't even been a week yet! We just jumped right into stride with each other, and it's been absolutely fire so far. She came out the transfer before I did, so we go home at the same time next December! So basically we're both fairly new to the mission, but this is a really great way for us to grow quickly and work together. #companionshipunity

We're trying to set up member lessons like crazy because neither of us know anyone. We also have a district competition to see how many invitations we can extend and follow up on. It only counts if you follow up! The goal is 35 invitations/follow ups each companionship. Currently we have extended 23 invitations and 10 have been followed up on. We have until Wednesday to meet our goal!

We had another FIRE lesson at the temple with Tonia this week!! She is the most amazing woman. She is so prepared to recieve this restored gospel, and she's so sensitive to the Spirit. We sat down on one of the benches in the temple grounds and had our lesson, and it was beautiful. The sun was warm but not hot, there was a light breeze, we were next to the fountain, and monarch butterflies were fluttering from one flower to the next all around us. I literally felt like I was in heaven! It was so peaceful, and the Holy Ghost was very present. 

On Saturday we we had a ¡FIESTA! with our stake! All of the missionaries in the stake were assigned to help serve the food. It was scrumptious, and it was an absolute blast. It was so fun to be with all the missionaries, too! With the transfer, a new district was created for the Bonanza branch within the stake, so the Hermanas and the Eldres came and were there with us. It was a lot of fun to have both districts combined and be able to get to know the Bonanza missionaries. It was such a fun night, the food was great, a mariachi band from one of the local high schools came and performed, and a group of the youth did a cultural dance. There were booths representing multiple Latin American countries, and the estimated amount of people that came was over 500! It was the absolute best. It was so good to be able to see all of our members and a lot of our friends that came, too. 

We've been super busy this week, we hit the ground absolutely sprinting this transfer. I've already noticed some higher levels of stress rising in myself this week, but I think that's just normal with having to lead out in an area I'm still getting familiar in. It's also been tricky to balance inviting and preparing for the Fiesta, church, and the Why I Believe devotional that we held at the Temple View chapel Sunday night. We want all of our friends to make it to these events, but we also don't want to overwhelm them. I had no idea missionaries had to do so much choreographing and orchestrating behind the scenes. Sometimes it gets really stressful and overwhelming, but it always pays off when our members take care of our friends! 

We had a short and impromptu lesson with Roy this week. Sister Salazar was completely inspired and took the lesson a completely different route than we had planned, but it was absolutely perfect. She flawlessly tied in repentance, the sacrament, and attending church all into the same thing. The way she did that seemed to get through to Roy, and he accepted our invitation to attend church!! So, Roy came back to church on Sunday and liked it! MIRACLE. We were so happy and excited. He's great!

It's been a fantastic week. Absutely bonkers crazy, so much has happened and I haven't even written about 1/3 of it. Poor Sister Salazar got thrown into the fire here, things have been hectic and we've had so many weird experiences. To name a few such weird experiences: we were followed by a guy wearing a blanket as a cape until he walked into a telephone pole (?), saw an abandoned rotisserie chicken in the road, and last but definitely not least, we got chased by a rabid chihuahua on our bikes. Those are just the main things. Sometimes I just have to pause for a second and laugh at the fact that I'm a missionary and appreciate all these weird moments that I wouldn't otherwise encounter. I love this area. I love being a missionary! I can't imagine serving my mission in any other place. Even within this mission, I could be happy to stay here for a good portion of my service. 

I hope this was a fun email to read. I write it in portions during the week, so sometimes if it feels disconnected or scattered please forgive me! I hope they're fun to read and make you laugh. Find a way this week to show someone that you love them. Sending love to you, wherever you are!

- Sister Malmstrom

2110 Los Feliz St. #1004, Las Vegas, NV 89156

Pictures!

- First day as comps!!

- Rotisserie chicken. That's all the context I have to offer. I'm not sure why it was in the street, either.

- We biked ~17.2 miles on Friday! Went to the furthest north part of our area (borders the Nellis AFB) and to the furthest south corner. And to the temple TWICE.

- This companionship loves a 0.5x selfie:)

- Comp picture at the temple!

- Bonanza + Sunrise district picture after the fiesta:)

- Sometimes your skirts get caught in the brakes of your bike and you have to tie them into pirate pantaloons.