Q: What's new in the Las Vegas West Mission?
A: We're working hard, teaching a lot of members and doing a lot of service. Right before the Zone Leaders were moved to our current home (a La Quinta Hotel on the Strip) we had two people we were teaching. They were making good progress. The church members here are great. We have been teaching a lot.
Elder Sanabria and I with a great church member family
Q: Why do they have you in a hotel on The Strip now, instead of another neighborhood?
A: It's just the Zone Leaders that are here on The Strip. All the other missionaries are assigned to various wards and branches, and the place we lived previously was needed by other missionaries. We now have 30 missionaries in our zone ... 12 Sisters and 18 Elders. It's a big zone. Elder Sanabria and I live on the Strip, but drive (a Jeep now--it gets 15 miles per gallon) to work in various other areas, and with other missionaries in the zone.
Our hotel kitchenette...pretty normal
We're literally in a La Quinta...lots of missionaries coming into the mission right now
My "closet" is my lone carry-on suitcase
Q: Tell us about some of your latest service projects. What did you do, why, when, where?
A: As a zone, we have lots and lots of opportunities for service. Of course there are a lot of little projects like helping people move, but lately we have had some big ones, including digging out a guy's backyard to prep for cement to be layed there.
Digging for a cement foundation to be layed
It was a ton of work, and it took many in the zone to get it done. Hard work, with lots of rocks and pavers to dig out and haul to a dumpster on the street. The homeowner was very grateful.
We literally filled a huge container with that service project
Q: It seems like you are in a church gym right now with your zone. Is that the case?
A: Yes, we try to get together on P-day to get some exercise. Lots of us, in a gym. Many wear masks. We normally play Spike Ball, or other games. Last week I jammed my pinky finger really bad. President Reese did not like that we were playing basketball on P-day -- evidently we are not supposed to have full blown games b/c too many get injured and then can't work.
I taped my finger to my ring finger
Q: What is your normal day like, in this Covid environment? Do you drive around looking for ways to be busy, or something else?
A: We are super, super busy. I'll send you a picture of my weekly agenda at some point. We have a full calendar everyday and are rushing around to various teaching appointments (mostly with members, but some less active members, and some non-members), and a lot of service.
I never realized how people really do need help with things. Sometimes it is because they do not have $$ to do something, other times they do not have time, and other times they do not know what to do. Our zone helps a lot of people, and fast. For example, we were asked to help with a move, and many in the zone did not have their own service lined up, so about 30 of us showed up to this move and it was done in no time!
Q: Have there been any "hard" service projects you've done?
A: We were asked to help a family remove what appeared to be an old, massive chicken coop or aviary of some kind. It occupied the whole backyard and took a lot of us to safely take it down and get it out of there. It literally filled up a dump container. Big project.
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