26 March 2019: I'm in Paradise!

Hola todos!

Service with some kids we are teaching

Another week has come and gone in the mission of Elder Lovell! It was a pretty grueling week actually, because there are a lot of new responsibilities I have as a zone leader. I am now attending every district council in the zone, a total of four district councils in two days, which eats up essentially two days of our week. But its a lot of fun. I am already starting to love this zone. It is throwing off my sense of direction though, ha ha. 

What used to be the southernmost part of my last area, is now the northernmost part of my area, which throws of my sense of which direction I am going. 

My new companion, Elder Hernandez, is my sixth companion. He is from Miami, Florida, which is super fun because we can make east coast jokes all day, like how some people in the east say "Nevahda" instead of "Nevada". 

I now have a car in my area, which is nice, because it is a large area, and we have a lot to do as zone leaders that takes us all over the zone. I literally am in Paradise, the Paradise/East zone. My zone has the entire Strip in it, which is weird, just because I have always seen it from afar, in the east, but now I see it up close and personal. Its an adventure out in this part of town. My last area was on the east part of town, by the temple, and it was much cleaner. This part is the party part of Vegas. One night we were visiting someone who lives right near the Fremont Experience. If any of you dont know too much about Vegas, the Fremont Experience is where all the nightlife is, other than the Strip. Basically it is where all the neon is. It was cool to see it from a distance, but I was reminded by the Spirit that underneath those showy, flamboyant lights, was a slew of prostitution, casinos, and straight garbage. 

On Saturday we had to walk because a new rule for the mission is that we cant use our cars on Saturday anymore. We had to walk everywhere, and we had a baptismal interview several miles away. We did get picked up eventually, but it was a long walk. We had dinner with Brother and Sister Daniel that day. The cool thing about them is that they went to the YSA ward that I served in at the beginning of my mission. It was cool to catch up with them.  

I really love my mission a lot. We had a nice experience on Sunday. We were trying to contact a referral, and we met him, and he said that he really needed us, and the message we share. He went to church that day and loved it. He really needed it then, and it was such a priviledge to give it to him.

Waiting for the elders to open the chapel for their baptismal interview

Spiritual thought of the week: the little things in life affect everything. Alma 37:6 says that "by small and simple means are great things brought to pass". As we think of the simple ways that we grow our testimonies, they grow very quickly. I invite you to think of the little things you can do to grow your testimony of Jesus Christ. Maybe you can read a little more in the scriptures everyday, or pray a little more often. Its up to you. The point is, the littlest things help. Have fun!

Elder Lovell

The Stratosphere, which is a part of the Strip, is part of our area

Elder Hernandez lounging on a futon on the side of the road.