Adventures in the Boonies

 Hola cada uno,

Another week down and now I am halfway through this transfer. Super wild. I really like being here though. Honestly it feels like I spend more time out in the Logandale wards than I do in the Spanish ward Alta Loma. I love going out there it is so fun. Alta Loma is fun too but just different, I guess.

In Alta Loma we aren't really teaching anyone progressing too much. It's in the northern part of central Vegas and it's got some really well-off places. Not saying there aren't anyone to teach but it's just more difficult. We have been having a lot of Spanish lessons though which is super cool. Our teaching pool is pretty large but none of them are progressing that fast. I predict I'll probably be in this ward for a long time. 

I went on exchanges with an elder this week who is going to Spain in a week. I'm super excited for him and the exchange was super awesome. We had a lot of fun. We found some people and taught a couple lessons for nonmembers in Spanish. We taught this one guy named Jose and he kept interrupting our restoration lesson to bash us about tithing. It was super frustrating. We were trying to be as friendly and as chipper as possible but this dude was definitely pushing my buttons. Eventually he was actually pretty interested in the Book of Mormon so that was neat. We originally didn't want to come back to teach him again but he asked us to give him a spot to read for next week. So I guess we're coming back haha. 

Then on the weekend we made our trek out to Logandale. We started out having brunch with Jared, the guy we are teaching. That day was also his baptism so he wanted to make us waffles. We walked up to his house and met his dad for a little bit, he was super nice and he was working on a car. After brunch Jared casually mentioned that his dad was the president of Shelby Cobra. Like as in Mustangs and stuff like that so we went outside and talked with him some more. He showed us all his awesome cars and my favorite was the Series 1.That was sweet then Jared and his dad took us on a ride in some of their off-roaders. Super cool. Yeah so I got to meet and drive with Gary Patterson on Saturday. 

Off-roading with Jared and his Dad

Then at the baptism a decent amount of people showed up, even Jared's dad who isn't a member. The talks were super good and the spirit was strong. We had to start a little late because there was a complicated situation with the baptismal clothes which was super annoying and could've been prevented. Overall it was a great baptism. Jared and his fiancé are the most chill people I have ever met and Jared roasts me a lot for how lame I am. My investigator is literally making fun of me for being or trying to be obedient and all that haha.... I can be pretty lame sometimes but I don't care haha.

Jared at his baptism with us and the sister missionaries who found him

Jared's family

A member let us stay overnight at their house to sleep which was super awesome. That way we could stay the weekend. That was probably the best sleep I've had in a while. Then on Sunday we had three more sacrament meetings which were all good. Then some of our lessons canceled but we set 5 people on date to be baptized this next week. Two different lessons and two different part member families. The work out here is incredible. All 5 of them are getting baptized this weekend. Then we made the trek home after a long day. I am starting to really like long drives. It's so fun to just relax and just drive. 

Ramen lunch

This car is meant for a lemon race (the idea is the car is supposed to be as awful as possible and you race it for 24 hrs)

It was a really good and fun week. This transfer has just flown by and it's going to keep getting faster. Kinda of like my mission I guess. Pretty soon I'll hit my 18 months and going home is now a real thing that is happening soon. To close off this letter, I wanted to share a powerful experience I had with Elder Medina. We had a lesson with one of our friends in Logandale. They were unsure about baptism so we decided to have all of us pray on our knees if it was right. The mother decided to offer the prayer and she just started crying during the prayer. The spirit was so strong as she closed the prayer, then they all knew what to do. We put them on date to be baptized this weekend. I love the work here and my mission. So many incredible miracles that have been happening. Love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Neil Pack