"It's All About Being Cool and Helping Folks"

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME! We had so much fun, and saw (and heard) lots of funny things. This is officially Sister Smith's last week in the mission, and we get transfer doctrine on Saturday - this transfer has FLOWN by.

Monday was a blast - literally, we went to play laser tag with our district. Sister Smith and I are the only Sisters, but it was still tons of fun. And Sister Smith was the best one, she beat all the Elders (they would never admit that though)! It's a really cool place that some members own, so they let us play there all p-day! It was awesome. After that we went see Meet the Mormons again with the Loveall's! It was great. We learned that we are the only mission that got permission to see it in theaters! Obviously because the Vegas mission is the most important! So that was pretty cool. We got permission before Elder Holland said that there would be no missionaries in theaters, so they let us still go! 

Tuesday was District Meeting. Sister Smith and I had to give a training on Getting our Investigators to Church. Lucky us, one of the AP's was there on exchanges with our ZLs. It was even more awkward since he had just given a training in the past Zone Conference about getting people to church... hahaha. But it turned out great! The rest of the day was just so weird. One lady took us out to lunch... and when we pulled up we not only realized that she was taking us to eat at a buffet in a casino, but that it was out of the mission. We ended up telling President about it and he just laughed and said "it happens". We went over to meet with Amanda and CJ. It started off great, and we were teaching all about the commandments and their importance. Then all of a sudden, his sister came downstairs and was having seizures and abdominal pain, so they called 911 and the ambulance came and took her. So, it was pretty chaotic, and we were all trying to help her and talk to her. Then they took her in the ambulance and left. And then CJ and Amanda turn to us and are like, "so... the commandments." And we just kept teaching them about the commandments, hahahaha. It was NUTS. We had a quick dinner and then taught Orion and Kaycee. That night we were contacting some people, and we met this guy on the street that told us that he and his wife own a nudist colony... it was the strangest thing ever! The great thing about being a missionary is you can ask them all sorts of questions without being a weirdo, so he told us all about his life, and about how they are wicken's. He told us that his house was super themed, and he let us come in to see (had to check to make sure his wife had clothes on, first, hahaha). Their house was like a jungle, there were trees and fairies and all sorts of mystical stuff. It was hilarious! 

Wednesday was good, too! We met a few people and had a few really good lessons! We met with a new guy named Thomas and taught him the Restoration! He loved it, and he loved the idea of the Book of Mormon. During the lesson he was talking about how he wished he could have the first/original copy of the Bible, so it wasn't all distorted - so obviously he loved the idea of it! We got a call from the family that was supposed to feed us, but they were sick with bronchitis, so we had dinner at the Relief Society President's house! She is so sweet and we love her and her family. After dinner we had a lesson with a new investigator named Chris. We were outside talking with him and his member friend, and the member was telling him about the church and how it's all about "being cool and helping folks" hahaha, it was so funny - and yet, true. We talked to him about Heavenly Father and how he loves us and about repentance. It was such a great lesson! The spirit was so strong. We also met with Adrian that night (9 years old) and he and his family are moving up to Spanish Fork - so Sister Smith and I are going to go see them when we are in Utah! Yay! 

Thursday was another interesting day. We had to take the car to pick up the Elder's that owned the car, and then take all of us to the collision center to pick up our car. On the way out to the car in the morning to bring our stuff from the car inside, this super creepy guy came up and started saying really inappropriate things and asking us for our phone number and where we live. We obviously didn't give it to him. After we sort of told him to leave, he stood off a ways and watched us for a while - it was super creepy. Finally after like 10 minutes, he left, and we ran inside to get our stuff to go pick up the Elders. We got our car, and then we went to teach Amanda and CJ about tithing. We came back to finish weekly planning, and we were talking about the creepy guy, and we were kind of joking about him and said, "what if he stalked us, and came and knocked on our door?" AND THEN HE DID. It was crazy! I saw him walk up the sidewalk, and I gasped, and instantly Sister Smith turned around and slammed the blinds shut. He rang the bell and we bolted back to our room, locked the door, and then went in the closet. He kept ringing and wouldn't go away! We called the ZLs and they told us to call 911. So we called 911. The ZLs showed up about 20 minutes later and told us that he left, and then the police came and told us that if we see him again, we need to call them immediately and they will come and arrest him - hahaha, crazy! They said they've had problems with him before. It was so scary, but hilarious! Welcome to North. Later we went to vacuum Sister Plett's house, and had dinner with the Leavitt's and met with Sister Rock again. Great day, hahaha. 

Friday was interviews! It was so fun. Sister Snow talked to us for a while about relieving stress, and then we got to watch Meet the Mormons as a district, haha! It was the 3rd time me and Sister Smith had seen it- and we LOVE it! Before we all left, President told us that they recently went to a regional meeting where Elder Quinton L Cook talked with all the mission presidents in the southwest region. He told us that Elder Cook told them that in all of North America, the southwest region has the highest success in missionary work! President was looking at the charts after that, and of all 21 missions in the SW region, the Nevada Las Vegas Mission has the highest numbers, and has the most success! So, in case you were wondering, I am literally serving in the most successful mission in all of North America! Woo! We also met with Orion and Amanda and CJ. CJ told us of a completely yellow church outfit that he has, complete with top hat - which he brought out for us, of course. We met with Sherry that night and read more of the BOM with her. Kaycee called us during the day to ask us a question, and she got into talking and told us that we are "gospel superheros" hahaha! She is the cutest. Chris texted us that night and unfortunately he got into some anti-mormon stuff about blacks and the priesthood. We are still working on it, but he is pretty unwilling to meet with us now. It's sad. 

Saturday we got to go to a stake activity with Kaycee! The stake hosted this huge Disney production, where performers from broadway came and did tons of Disney songs - it was so much fun! And they were so talented! We had dinner at the Corbally's house - we had chili and it reminded me of home because it seems like Mom almost always makes chili when the missionaries come over. We also found a hilarious CD in our car that was made by missionaries in the Alaska misson! It is so funny. 

Sunday was great, church in both wards. I stayed for sacrament meeting in our second ward, and they had me come up and bear my testimony. I used the "I'm from Holland... Michigan" joke, and, as always, it was a crowd favorite. Hahahah. People love that one, I don't even know why. We had dinner at the Benner's and had steaks as big as my face, and potatoes that were even bigger! Then we raced off to go to the Why I Believe Fireside! It was Sister Smith's last one, and I realized that I only have one more. Yikes. It was a great fireside though, and Orion got to come. We had a great time, and I got to see Sister Robinson! 

I love my mission. I love Vegas and everything here! I love teaching people about the Gospel! I have never been this happy! 

Pray for me this week, please! I'll need all the help I can get as I begin my last transfer of my mission. Eek.

Have a good week! I love you!

 

Love, Sister Coltrin

 

 

 

 

CJ in his top hat

 

 

"Me and the top hat and Mello - the dog with the underbite"

 

 

 

At the Why I Believe Fireside with an investigator