Monday is officially my new pday because I'm out in the field baby! More on that in a sec, first lets talk about my final days in the CCM!
Truly I'm going to miss that place so much. I met so many people who mean so much to me and I learned so much! Not much to say about the last days in the CCM but we had some bomb lessons and the teachers had farewell parties for us and stuff haha. Hermano Ordoñez said that my companion and I were the best missionaries in the lessons! My last pday, I took a picture and said goodbye to president Bennett. What a guy, he is who I want to be when I grow up. Also he said that he rarely emails the mission presidents about the incoming missionaries but he said that he would call president Kimball about me. Woohooo! Haha I loved developing a relationship with President Bennett, and I'll miss him.
Now to the field!!! I left this morning at five AM and we arrived in Pachuca a couple hours later! So when we arrived in Pachuca and got our bags, we were waiting for Pres and Sister Kimball and then in the distance we see two gringos sprinting towards us and sure enough it was them!! Haha what a great first impressions! They sprinted to give us hugs and welcome us! They are so full of energy and I already love them so much! We then all went to the historical clock made by the English to take pics. I got to drive with President Kimball and we got in a good conversation! He runs so much with his wife and they always go to the national Parks in the area, apparently its gorgeous. They're from Provo so it'll be fun to keep in touch after the mish too. But I love them so much! They are very adventurous and very chill. We have our entire area open to us on pdays and the options are endless! We're going to get to see the pyramids often too!
So President Kimball has a very strong belief that the city of Teotihuacan was the area that Christ came to visit in the Americas! Because it was the biggest city in all of the area at the time, and there's a lot of signs of the Book of Mormon! There are statues in Tula which is close to Teotihuacan and the statues are literally in temple clothes! They are thought to be from the Jaredites! HOw cool right!!? This could very well be the very area that Christ came. President Kimball calls this the 3rd Nephi mission! So my first interview with Pres Kimball..... wow. I was so amazed! He started off by talking about when he was called as pres and the advice that the apostles gave him. He said that his goal is to make us truly converted, and all of our descendants as well. So his motto has been to live and make decisions exactly as the savior would! That's how im going to strive to make all my decisions in the mission as well. But guys.. as soon as he talked about following the saviors example, he talked about how one of the last things the savior did, even though he couldve done thousands of other things, was wash the feet of his apostles, and how important that was. So as soon as he summarized that story, he then asked me if I would allow him to polish my shoes. He then proceeded to get on his knees and shine both of my shoes in complete silence. Wow guys. This may not seem like a big deal but it meant so much to me. I felt so uncomfortable and unworthy to have my president polishing my shoes and I'm sure that's how the apostles felt. The silence gave me time to reflect on the importance of service and meekness. I really appreciated that he did that. What a man, I've already learned so much from him. So at the end of the interview, he talked to me about my new companion! So my new companion's name is Elder Howell!!! And yes he is a gringo! But don't be fooled though guys, he is a wizard with spanish because he's been out here over a year! Pres testified of his hard work ethic and his strong feeling to put us together. Usually gringos are put with Latinos but he things we can do a lot of good together! He expects a lot from us! And he told us to not get in the trap of just speaking English, which is very important. Elder Howell is also the zone leader, so I'll get to see how the leadership works here too!
Elder Howell is from Idaho and he is such a stud! He played football and basketball and he's very good with the people here! I'm so excited to learn from him, and it'll be nice to be able to ask him how to say things 24/7 haha. And the area that I was assigned to..... drumroll......... MIXQUIAHUALA!!! Give that word a shot haha, it took me a hot sec to learn.
Guys this place is insane. It's just a tiny little outskirt and unfortunately it's pretty dangerous. There is a lot of robbery and all of the houses are completely barred. Our house even has broken glass on the top of the wall to keep people out haha. We scored on our house though, its so nice! When we first arrived, we couldnt get the key to work for like 30 minutes, so then I helped Elder Howell over the wall, which was no easy feat haha, and we finally got it open haha. The house is super hot but we cant open the windows because there are dangerous bees right outside our house! Haha this place is low key creepy. And I'm genuinely scared about the food, I've heard some crazy stories. These people are so humble and poor and offer the craziest food. Our mission leader here is the one who picked us up and took us to our house, he's super nice! It was super fun to just ride in the back of his truck to our house and see where I'll be living the next lil while! There are legit no rules here so there are lots of motorcycles stacked with like four people haha. There are lot of farms in this place and so there are just sheep and dogs that chill out everywhere, including in the streets too haha.
Elder Howell and I are white washing this area so neither of us know anything! We don't know the members, places to go, or anything! Quite the challenge and adventure that I'm super excited for! I feel so clueless but I'm sure I'll get the hang of things soon. It's hard bc I just want to talk like my companion right now but I know it'll take time. He told me I know a lot more than he did when he was knew so I think I'm off to a good start. There is just so much slang here, it's like a different language!
I feel so blessed to be here. There is nothing like this. So much unknown but so much potential! I can't wait to get to work as soon as I send this email.
The hand of God is all around us. Please record experiences of when you have seen it so that you can look back and see how merciful God has been to us. One of the things that I liked from one of my teachers last messages was a video he showed us from Elder Holland. Elder Holland said that a mission is not going to be easy, because salvation is not easy! Why did we ever think it was? It is very difficult to follow Christ, and that is why only few find the true path and follow it. Salvation isn't easy but the rewards are more than worth it. We have the opportunity to live with our families with dominion never ending in eternal life! Do whatever it takes to obtain this. And don't forget to enjoy life and have fun along the way as well, it truly is a gift.
With love,
Elder Millard
p.s. this internet cafe is the worst and deleted half of this email when I finished it the first time so sorry for the rambling haha. Also it wont let me send pics so you are just gonna have to imagine how truly beautiful this area is. Next week we are going to try and find a better internet cafe. But check out mexicopachucamission.blogspot.com to check out the pics Hermana Kimball takes! Until next week!
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