Tuesday, August 7

Dear Family,

I am doing great, I am at the library right now!  I've got some letters in the mail, that are outdated, but I'll cover Monday on out for everyone!  So Monday morning we woke up 330, did some cleaning, and got on the the bus at 445.  We had a fun bus ride and flight, but it was very tiring.  We got to Las Vegas at like 10 I think Vegas time.  The airport is kind of cool, it has mirror/silver ceilings, and slot machines all over.  We put all of our stuff in a trailer and went to the mission home.  Basically we just met President Black and his wife, and then went to the stake center(church), where we watched tutorials and stuff for hours, and had pizza in the middle.  There was basically a 3 hour video on how to drive a car, and that speed makes things more dangerous.  At about 5, they told us our companion's name, and our area.  There's about 12 areas, and I'm in the "Las Vegas" one which is the downtown one.  I met my companion, Elder Mendez at 545, and we went straight to a dinner appointment with a new family, that just got sealed recently.  They just have one daughter that is 13.  They were very nice, and we had some Hispanic style lasgna, salad, and bread.  They had some really good drink that was like rice water with sugar and cinnamon that was good.  It was a tiny apartment but really felt like a home.  After that we went to visit an "investigator" (someone learning about the church) that asked a ton of questions about baptisms for the dead and polygamy, and not until 15 minutes did they and my companion tell the truth that they we RMs (members of the church, Return Missionaries).  I did good with the questions luckily, and I thought it was weird Elder Mendez wasn't saying much.  They were the C family, they both served in England, and got married very shortly after they both returned.  The place we are staying at is the W family, they live on a cul de sac where almost all the other houses are their kids.  It's a big place, I like it.  We just have the basement, which is nice.  I have a water bed, it was a little annoying but I was tired enough by 1030.  So Elder Mendez is from Kansas.  He has been out 12.5 months.  He really likes basketball, it's the first thing he asked me about, so that's good.  Apparently they play at 530 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. This morning after our studies we went to Walmart and met the Zone Leader.  I got some groceries and that's it.  We meet in a (church) building similar to ours, it's really big and old.  Apparently there was riot real close the other day.  The streets are covered with people in wheel chairs and all.  It's really a weird place, it's so deserty and there's just stone walls EVERYWHERE.  The pictures you'll be getting are just about all in the MTC, except a few of the basement, and one of their playground.  We are probably never going to ride bikes, apparently one companionship in the WHOLE mission doesn't have a car.  I kind of wanted to bike though.  The guy in charge of administering the vehicles is in our ward, so that's pretty lucky.  So the cul de sac we live on houses a big percentage of the ward (congregation), and they have potlucks often with lots of investigators I hear.  The W family (grandparents where I stay) are currently on vacation though so I haven't met them.  It's weird how everyone knows who we are out here.  I am really excited to get into the swing of all of this and start teaching.  We have 3 investigators, or kind of 2 and then 2 halfs.  I am really excited to get to know them, and find more.  The people here all seem really nice.  Tonight we are seeing a referral and I'm meeting the second counselor in the Bishopric, that wasn't home last night.  I hope you are all doing well, I know you will all be blessed and I pray for you every day.  I am really excited to be able to lose myself in the service of the people here, and in the service of the Lord.  I have learned so much these past weeks and I never thought I could love the Book of Mormon and the Gospel so much.  So far, personal study has definitely been my favorite part of the day.  I love writing about the things I am learning about the Gospel, both through studies and the events that go on throughout the day.

Love, Nathanael