How are all of you doing! You a reading an email from an uncle to two brand new nephews and one brand new niece! Congrats Tiff and Kryss! Im excited to meet those thygerlets and lovelets.
This is my final email from the Central de Capacitacion Misional en Mexico!! Wow time flies. Twas a great past week! We started having mission field orientation where they taught us more about our purpose and working with members and stuff, we also have all of our plans for our departure! I will be leaving at four AM this coming monday to PACHUCA!!! I don't think you guys understand my excitement. Literally everyone is jealous of missionaries going to pachuca. The people are so open to hear the message and they will take good care of us! The weather is basically paradise and there is so much potential to teach there!! Words cannot describe how bad I just want to be there right now! I've also heard only incredible things about my mission pres and I can tell we are going to be really good friends.
So this week, the hot topic of the CCM was obedience. There were some things that happened with some of the district leaders getting in trouble and pres Bennett wasnt so thrilled. He had all the zone and district leaders skip breakfast to come to a meeting about obedience. He said that we have all made covenants in the temple concerning being exactly obedient. His main point was that if we are covenant keepers, then he won't have to worry about us keeping the CCM and mission standards. It was a great wake up call for all of us. Some district leaders were sent home. We are all now striving to be exactly obedient and making sure our district do the same. It really is so important to be obedient our entire lives. Christ was perfectly obedient. Obedience is the way we can qualify to receive blessings! I love how in Mosiah 2 it talks about how we owe everything to our God, even the air we breathe, and all he asks of us is to keep his commandments. Be obedient folks!
In one of the mission field orientations, we had a fake baptisimal interview with a video of a guy on skype. We start the fake little interview, and the person is Brother Hess!! Hahahah I was dying!! I couldnt hear his voice because there was a spanish voice over his but holy moly that was hilarious. I've seen so many people I know in the church videos haha. Jackson McBride's mom is in a different video than the one I already saw her in, Megan Charlesworth is in another. I love to be from Utah County and just know so many people involved in the church haha.
Being zone leader has been great! One of our district was one of the ones that got in trouble because of the district leaders, so we actually have another district leader for that district now haha. But it`s been fun to get to know so many more people and have great zone meetings every saturday night! My favorite parts of those saturday night meetings are always the testimonies. I decided that the district that would be leaving the upcoming monday should bear their testimonies in that meeting and its been so powerful! It'll be me and my district bearing our testimonies this saturday!!
I was able to help out with the example of a lesson for the new batch of missionaries again! This time I was roleplaying as one of the missionaries! And this time I didnt know any of the missionaries in the room so that made it easier to roleplay haha. So the first time we taught, it was supposed to be a bad example on purpose so the new missionaries can find ways to critique us. When we had time for their comments, they did not hold back hahaha I don't know if they understand that we were bad on purpose but their were elders raising their voices at us and I was actually really close to laughing haha. But its always fun to roleplay for them, and that was the last I'll be able to do it!
So every night I help out my comps a little bit in their efforts to learn English! So a few nights ago Elder Bolaños told me that with all of the letters ive been getting (shoutout to Sheri, Maddi, and my mom) he wants to try and translate some! So I picked one of the funniest letters that Sheri sent me and he went off translating!! It was the funniest thing trying to explain Sheri's humor in spanish! Definitely impossible, but it was great practice for Elder Bolaños! I sincerely look up to his efforts of trying to learn English! Elder Rivas on the other hand, has no desire to learn even though its a rule to. Hahaha what a guy. President Eves asks Elder Rivas how his English is every time he sees him and Elder Rivas just laughs hahaha. We switch off who says the prayers in English every night, and in order to get Elder Rivas to pray in English, me and the other elders steal his blanket until he'll say it hahahha. He's perfectly capable of doing it, I translated one of his prayers in spanish, but he just wont do it! Its so funny haha. Honestly though Elder Rivas is great. I've had some hard times with him but I've learned a lot and we have a good relationship now. It's crazy I only have four days left with him!
My district never ceases to amaze me!! I love them so much! There is an Elder Bencomo who is serving in Pachuca until he gets his visa for SLC baby!! So he knows pretty good english and he's been helping me out with some of the complex forms of spanish! One night I walked in to our classroom and they all started betting on what leader I'll be when I'm older. They came to the conclusion that either I'll be the prophet or an apostle or the CCM president hahahaha. Legit though, I would love to come back and serve a mission here with my future wife. This place is so special and I'm so glad I wasnt sent to provo hahaha.
Spanish is such a blessing in my life. It is also such a trial in my life. But things are getting a lot better and I'm hopeful for the future! I love a quote that Sheri sent me that says "To know another language, is to posess another soul" which is so true! I have to find different ways to express myself because there are many times not direct translations. I love it! Also in my green book that I love with my whole heart and that I learn most of my spanish said "One who does not know another language, knows nothing about his own" deep huh. Honestly though haha I have learned so much from this beautiful language and I'm so excited to be fluent one day.
Everything is good here in the CCM! This place will always hold a special place in my heart, the spirit is so strong here. During personal study the other night, I was studying at the tables outside with Elder Rivas and then I looked up and so the most amazing sunset. I put my book down, stood up, and just gazed at the sunset for a little while. I felt so much peace and love in that moment that all of my hard work will pay off and that I have a lot of support from heavenly father and my family in all my endeavors. I also felt strongly that Jesus Christ really did create all things. There's no way that sunset created itself. There is a supreme creator, and his name is Jesus Christ. Alma 30:44 has been a life saver in my life and in lesson with investigators. "All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a supreme creator" Wow I love that scripture. We are so blessed to have this world.
We got to go to the temple again today! This time we got to see one of the newer films, and once again I listened in Spanish! I was able to feel the spirit so much stronger this time and I was really moved by the film. It spends a lot of time on the creation and it made me realize how amazing this universe is, and the things that God has prepared for us. And the best part is that he has prepared a way for us to become like him! Romans 8:17-18 says "The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" ummmm ok no big deal..... WHAT!? We have have the opportunity to be joint-heirs with Christ which means the we can have everything that he has. We are so blessed guys. Do your absolute best to be strictly obedient, and do not your will, but the will of him who sent us. Then we will be blessed for our efforts.
I love you all so much, and I am so lucky to have this opportunity to serve a mission. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I'm just glad I still have more than 22 months ahead of me and the field is so close!! I cant wait any longer!!
Elder Millard
P.S. I tried to get picks with a lot of the people I know since it's my last pday but I failed and only found two haha. I went to the temple today and missed the rest of them. So you can just imagine the other pics with Joe Felix, John Francis, Lexi Reeves, and Luke Smith haha.
No comments:
Post a Comment