The Nevada Devotional with President Nelson

This week was a little slow when it came for events for us to support. We were busy throughout the week. I spent most of the week working on two different phone apps for our supervisors to access information on our Interpreters. This will make it easier for them to get the information they need when they need it. My IT contact helped me tweak it to do exactly what I want them to do. Since I can't share any personal data, I had to use a picture from the Internet to show what it looks like. The second screen shows what happens when they click the arrow to the right. I blacked out the personal info.

The second app has a similar front screen but it is designed for the multi-language coordinators so they can keep track of things like availability and skill levels.

For our Mission Monday Evening Devotional we heard from Sister Eubank. She used to be the first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. She was released in August 2022. At that point she was called as the director of Latter-day Saint Charities. She shared a lot of information about all the good that Latter-day Saint Charities does. We hear a lot about what they do from our dear friends, Larry and Debbie Draper who are serving as Directors of Humanitarian Efforts in Montenegro for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. Each week we receive a wonderful newsletter telling us the wonderful work they have done the previous week. It is amazing.

Tuesday we started with our Zone Devotional. After a day of work, we got to support our Monthly MTC Devotional. Elder Bednar and his wife were the speakers. I love hearing from Elder Bednar. He not only has a great message every time, but he also has a wonderful way of presenting his messages. He usually gets chuckles out of the audience. Sometimes it is a great way to get his point across. As usual, it was a wonderful devotional. We also love visiting with the Interpreters during our meal. We have been here long enough now, that visiting with these wonderful Interpreters is like visiting with wonderful old friends. We have made many lifelong friends during our mission.

Wednesday was fun. I got to attend a virtual "anniversary luncheon" for HawkSoft. On December 29th, I will have worked for HawkSoft for 14 years. I am so grateful that I still get to do some work for them even while on my mission.

Wednesday afternoon we had our regular Team meeting. We got to see some great pictures and videos from Curtis' vacation to Tahiti. He went to pick up his son from his mission and stayed for two weeks. He had some incredible pictures of swimming with  whales. It was really cool. 

Thursday was a short day as we left early to go to the Temple. I love going every week. It is always so good to be rejuvenated by our attendance. It was also fun to see other missionaries we know as we were leaving. Elder Wilcox got to see our previous Mission President who was serving as an ordinance worker at the veil next to the one he went through. That was a fun treat for him.

Friday I got to work with Jeff, my IT guy. He helped me put the finishing touches on my two phone apps so I got to end the week very satisfied with what I accomplished. It was nice to go home a little early. I think we left at 4:30.

Saturday we both stayed home ALL day. We spent the morning doing some scripture study with a new commitment to do a better job of DAILY scripture study again. It is easy to let it slip when things get busy, but we need to make it a priority.

Church was good on Sunday. Elder Hiltbrand spoke. He and his wife are leaving this week. We will miss them. I'm so grateful we got to know them. The second hour was Relief Society. The mission presidency wives spoke to us; however, I had to leave early since we had an event. 

We got to support the Nevada Devotional with President Nelson. Elder Wilcox ordered food from Panda Express and everyone loved it.  He also ordered a sheet cake. I think he was doing it because he knows he probably won't get a birthday cake on Friday. lol Aaron brought his daughter to the event. We have seen Emily several times. She is a great girl. 

The devotional was broadcast to 4 different Stakes in Nevada that actually covered people from California and Arizona. They showed a nice video of the growth of the Church in Nevada. President M. Russell Ballard spoke as well as Sister Wendy Nelson and President Russell M. Nelson. Sister Nelson commented how special it was that we got to hear from two presidents named Russell. She then shared a true experience about speaking at a women's conference. When she walked into the building there was a poster that said the speaker would be Sister Wendy Nelson, wife of President M. Russell Ballard. Everyone laughed. She said people get confused sometimes. She then talked about the Weightier Matters in the midst of all the other things we have to do. If we do everything else first we will not have time to do the weightier matters. However, if we do the weightier matters FIRST we will always have time to do all the other things on our to do lists. That hit me hard. That is the EXACT problem I have been having. I have been so busy with every thing else that I do on a regular basis and I never have "time" to do my scripture study. I am going to working on doing the "weightier matters" first! 

Have a GREAT week. Start counting your Blessings and name them one by one. Then share you list with your family on Thanksgiving Day!

All Our Love,

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

Steve and Leslee

Elder and Sister Wilcox