11 Sept 2018: "No We Aren't the Police, We're the Missionaries!"

Las Vegas Skyline

Hola todos!

As the title suggests, this week has been filled with people thinking we were the fuzz, the popo, cops, whatever nickname you can think of for the police. Something about the ties and name tags made people think we were the police. I guess they had something to hide...hmmm.

Highlights of the week:

-I had my first door slammed in my face. We knocked on the door, and an old man opens it, and before we can say anything he says "Hello, not interested, go away!" And forcefully closes the door. We just say "ok, have a good day!" through the door. Too bad for him, he doesn't get the chance to talk to the "police," ha ha. 

Elder Tortilla

-We had exchanges this week. Exchanges are when you switch companions for 24 hrs in another area within your district. I went to the Monte Bello Spanish ward area for the day with Elder Ozuna. He is from the Dominican Republic, and since it was an only Spanish area, I used my Spanish a lot. I definitely saw the gift of tongues while doing exchanges.

One guy we met, I understood his Spanish almost perfectly, but for the hour that we talked to him, I did not understand what his point was AT ALL! He kept arguing and agreeing with us simultaneously. I won't tell you what he said, because, quite frankly, I still don't know what he was trying to get at.

-I had cooked cactus this week, with chorizo in the form of a hot salad. That was actually really good! When I get back I need to make some for all of you...oh wait, cacti basically don't exist in PA, sorry.

-We met a new person named Jovonie, and he is great! He is a cello teacher, and he already pays tithing in the Temple View YSA Ward! He says he wants to wait a year to be baptized, but we believe he is ready now.

- Highlight of the week: Matt is getting baptized on the 29th!!!! He came back from BYU for a visit with friends down there, and actually went to church with them, and loved it! Then he told us that he knew the Book of Mormon is true, that he received an answer to his prayer. It was awesome! He is 18, so we are hoping he might have a desire to serve a mission as well, in a year or so! We are taking him on a tour of the temple in a couple days, and we are so excited for that!

-We met a YSA guy named Cameron who was going to be baptized a couple months ago, but then he developed some very serious health problems, and so he postponed it until he got better. He goes for a surgery this week that can hopefully help him.

We are still working with Ivery, and he is progressing pretty well, except he is still getting into trouble every now and again, which is sad. Hope we can help him with that too.

To close, I just want to say how much I have begun to love the Hispanic people of my area, especially in the Washington Avenue Ward. They are so loving, and fun, and just have such strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Church. I learn from them every single day. I also feel blessed that they are so kind to gringos trying to learn their language. I know that Las Vegas is where I am meant to serve, and I have already started to see why. Missions are governed by the Lord, along with His Church.

Love you all! 

Keep the emails coming!

Elder Lovell

Sink Art

Pics:

Elder Tortilla, sorry if it gives you nightmares, sometimes Missionaries have to improvise their fun moments, ha ha.

Sink art, or learning that we need to add cleaning the sink to our P-day (preparation day) chores.

(Top photo): the best shot I could get of the Vegas Skyline with my phone camera