Words from Sister Hailey Overson in Nevada

"HEY ERRYBODY!! Soo.. I stepped off the plane to Reno, Nevada. And the first thing is saw was rows upon rows of slot machines. At the airport. And I was just like "Whelp. Here I am." My little group of elders and sisters was greeted by the amazing President Hermansen and his adorable wife and the AP's... And guess what?! My old friend Elder Twitchell was one of them! Crazy! So the first day was spent at orientation. That night, I found out who my new companion was and what area I was going to! Sister Nau (my comp) is Polynesian and is soooo awesome! She and I are getting along so well! Then I was told that both of us would be driving out to Ely the next morning.

Ely, Nevada is awesome. It reminds me of St. Johns so much!! Except with 5 big casinos.. It's about 3 hrs from the closest city. No Walmart or anything like that, but I'm used to it:) Population of about 4000 (how they support 5 casinos, I don't know). Most of the town works at the copper mine or at the state prison, both of which are very close. So fun! My companion and I are whitewashing the area, which means we're both brand new to it. It's been pretty hard because people live all over the place. No rhyme or reason to it. We get lost a lot. But what a great way to talk to people! "Hi, we're lost physically, but we can help you become unlost spiritually" ;)

The work is progressing so much! The people here are so open to hearing about God. They live in pretty harsh conditions. I honestly didn't know that people in the US lived like some of these people do. So sad. But they are so kind. We are teaching so much and have one woman with a set baptism date. We have quite a few others who want to be baptized, but are trying to kick some Word of Wisdom issues. I love them all so much! The members here are so willing to help with the3 missionary work and I think that's why they do so well. We have members come with us to most of our lessons. Please help the missionaries in your ward! Offer to go with them to lessons! They will love it, you will love it, and so will the investigator. I love you all soo much!"