I made it safe and sound to Vegas! I feel like I haven't written in forever - we weren't able to email last P-Day because we were traveling to Nevada all day. I basically have 2 weeks of news to cover, so I'm sorry if this email is a bit scattered!
First things first. I have been assigned to serve out of valley in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Fun fact: it is the hottest inhabited place in the U.S. I arrived at just the perfect time of year, ha! My trainer is Sister Emily Cook from Phoenix, AZ. One of the first things she said to me was, "So usually missionaries who serve so close to home have health issues or something of the sort, buuut I'm totally normal! I'm just as shocked as you that I was called to serve just a couple hours from home. My only request for my mission was to get out of the desert, but I guess the Lord knows best." Crazy, right? I couldn't imagine being so close to home. She even has family in Vegas - I don't know how she does it. She has been out for about 5 months. As I've gotten to know her, I really feel like one of the main reasons she was called to Vegas is so that she could be my companion...I have already learned so much from her and I love her dearly. I was thinking about it and I realized that if I had left on my mission after a semester of school like I had originally planned, I probably would've been in her wave of missionaries at the MTC and we would've come out together. We have a special companionship and I am SO grateful. A little more about her: Her personality is a mix between Holly (as in, my cousin) and Gracie Johnson. Her laugh is literally a replica of Gracie's and it makes me so happy! We laugh all the time (mostly because she starts laughing and I just laugh at her laugh - an incurable round of giggles). She got her cosmetology license before leaving on her mission; she cuts hair, does facials and makeup, shapes eyebrows, paints nails... the whole deal. I'm going to be a beauty queen missionary at the end of our 12 week training ;) Our birthdays are 3 days apart (she's Sept 27 and I'm Oct 1), and we're both 19. She is so, so good at talking to people and striking up conversation. She also has such a good relationship with the ward members of the area we're serving in, and it has helped so much. Our ward mission leader, Brother Hauck, is so awesome, and so is our bishop, Bishop Hansen. Even within just the first week here I have realized that those 2 leaders are PIVOTAL for successful missionary work. We need their love and support or we can't do our jobs to our fullest potential.
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| All the new sisters and their trainers! Sister Cook is to the left of me. (Sister Browning is on the far right with her trainer, Sister Luke) |
