TEO and baptism for Magdalena and Modesto!!

Feliz lunes familia y amigos!

Happy late thanksgiving! I almost didnt even notice that it was Thanksgiving haha. It was pretty awesome though. The only American that I{ve ever met that lives here in Mexico, lives in our ward, and it was her turn to give us lunch! It was perfect because she wanted to have her own little Thanksgiving too. She made stuffing, and mashed potatoes, she was just missing the turkey! Thats ok though because we had what was most important. The stuffing. My family knows that I can only be happy when I have my stuffing haha. 

Ok I got some big news.... THEYRE DIVIDING OJO DE AGUA INTO TWO AREAS!! This is huge. We have been killing ourselves trying to work in all the parts of our area. The work will be so much more effective with two companionships because we havent been able to focs very much on the outer parts of our area. A while ago, Pres asked us to start looking for a house for the new companionship. So on Tuesday, we went house searching in Satna Ines which is the center of what will be the new Ojo de Agua area. After a few options falling through, we found a two story house with a great rent price! We took the pics, got the info, and sent it to the offices. We got the go ahead, and we signed the contracts this past Saturday! I felt like a proud newly wed signing my first house. The only thing I was missing was my wife. Details. Haha we still dont know who is going to occupy the house. Its possible for Elder Ponce and I to move there and new sisters to live in the house we{re living in right now, becauase Santa Ines is a little more dangerous. It{s possible for more Elders to move in, or for either Elder Ponce or I to move to Santa Ines and the other one to stay here in ojo de agua since we both already know the area. Basically we have no idea what{s going to happen. But thats the exciting part haha. I have a feeling that I{ll be leaving Ojo de Agua since I{ve already had two cycles here and President said that there will be a lot of changes this next cycle. I just cant wait until this coming sunday when I{ll get the call and found out where and who I{ll live with for the next six weeks! There{s also a lot of changes that are gonna happen in the Tecamac stake where we are. There{s stake conference this coming sunday and they are going to divide the stakes and wards. I cant wait to see what happens.

On Thursday night, my dad Elder Howell called me! It was a nice little surprise haha. He was on exchanges with one of the assistants so he used his phone. We talked for a half hour about his depressing Dear John experience, and how our areas and comps are but long story short, we miss each other and want to be comps again haha. I loved my time working with him in Mixquihuala and I{ll never forget our experiences there.

On Saturday, we had a baptism for Magdalena and Modesto!! The two viejitos )old people haha=. So first, with Magdalena. She was actually a contact from when Elder Molina was still with me. It was our second week together I believe. She has had a lot of doubts and problems with her family. It{s been a process but she finally found the faith to move forward with the ordinance! After the ordinance she said she felt some sort of peace and hapiness that she couldnt explain. We all knew what she was talking about of course, but I love seeing her progress and how she{s growing her testimony. Up next, Modesto. Good ole Modesto. This man is 80 years old and he blows me away. He had a rough childhood. He never met his mom and he only met his dad once. He had to start working at age 8 to survive. Later on, he was able to get married and have a family. Now he lives in Nextlualpan with his son. He has brain issues because he had surgery 30 years ago. He cant remember things very well but he{s actually been doing really well remembering the things we{ve taught him. He started coming to church when his neighbor invited him, we found him, and then it was all pretty fast from that point on. He honestly has a super strong testimony and was truly prepared for the gospel. We{re grateful that we were able to find him and help him come unto Christ. The actual ordinance was a little difficult haha. He{s not able to bend his knees so he had to go under water face first. I had to literally push his whole body under and then lift him up hahahaha. It was definitely interesting but it didnt take away from the Spirit that we always try to have in baptisimal services.

Today we got to go to TEOTIHUACAN!! Guys what an incredible experiences. This place is full of amazing history, including history from the Book of Mormon!! Teo is full of pyramids, ruins of palaces, and temples. There are actually symbols of the priesthood and other parts of the gospel. The biggest pyramid is called the pyramid of the sun, the second biggest is of the moon, and then there are a bunch of smaller pyramids to the other side that signifies the stars. Does that ring a bell to anyone?? The three kingdoms of glory!! Check 1 Corinthians chapter 15 if you dont know what Im talkin about. There are so many signs to prove that the ancient civilizations in the book of mormon lived here. Theres also another section where there is a big pyramid in the middle and then 12 little pyramids that surround it. Apparently each pyramid had one person teaching to the people. Those people very well couldve been the 12 apostles here in America! There's also a section where if you stand in a certain spot, you can talk with your normal voice but people super far away could still hear pretty well. We tried it out and it was incredible. Elder Bednar actually came here recently and stood in that spot and the only thing he said in that spot was "Benjamin" because that very well couldve been where he addressed all of his people starting in Mosiah 2!! I was blown away, it was so cool to see how many different nationalities were there too! I met people from London, Costa Rica, Chile, Poland, Austrailia and more! It was amazing, and it was honestly another testimony to me of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

Have an amazing week!

Elder Millard

Trip to Pachuca Hospital

THE KIND OF EMAIL A MOM DOESN'T WANT TO GET...

Que tal familia y amigos!

Today I hit five months in the mission!!! Pretty crazy, time is flying by. I'm going to steal Ryan Mortensen's idea and start putting the percentage of my mission in the subject of the emails. For visa issues, the americans in this mission go home four weeks early which means we serve for 100 weeks exactly. That makes every week one percent more, so its perfect! Today I am 22% of the way done with my mission.

Haha what a week! I'm just gonna jump right into it. My life legit flashed before my eyes on Tuesday. We were riding our bikes home from a lesson on Tuesday night. For some reason or another, we were going pretty fast. We were biking on the street named Hacienda because it always has less traffic, the only downside is that it has a lot of speed bumps. Usually the speed bumps are no problem but this was a different story. Without me knowing, my bikes handlebars were super loose in front, so when I rode over the speed bump, my tire spun to the left and I went FLYING off my bike. I was literally superman for a few seconds. No joke I flew like 7 ft and then skid for a few more. It was ugly. Definitely the most pain I{ve felt in a while. All of my weight landed on my left wrist, so that was the biggest injury. My elbow and other places got some pretty bad scrapes but honestly it could've been a lot worse. I couldnt move my wrist, and we were worried about it so President had us go the hospital in Pachuca the next morning for an x ray. Hermana Ely Guerrero was nice enought to take us. Long story short, there's no fracture! Just a bad sprain, so I've been in a brace ever since then, and I'll wear it until this Friday. I'm just counting my blessings because it's been healing really fast, and I should be good in no time. Just a little scare. Or more like a big scare haha.

On Friday, I did exchanges with Elder Gonzalez! Elder Gonzalez is ffrom Santiago Chile, and he is honestly so awesome haha. He was actually in the stake that David Archuleta served in on his misison haha. But the exchanges went well! It{s always good to learn different ways of teaching and develop other good habits and strategies. And just as any other good day in this area, we ended the day with churros from "Churreria del angel" nothing better haha. 

Overall this week was really good, we found a lot of cool new people and now we have 9 with a baptisimal date again! I cant decide if I would prefer to stay in ojo de agua or have changes this next cycle haha. The only problem right now is my comp.

Guys I have had a rough time with Elder Ponce. I'll spare you the details but basically he gets mad at me for trying to work hard and be obedient. Sometimes he likes to give me the silent treatment, or decide to not contact anyone for a whole day in rebellion haha. The list continues but it's definitely been trying my patience. I'm loving him, praying for him, and serving him as best as I can and our hard work is the best medicine but it's definitely been a challenge haha. Maybe it's just because I got along so well with Elder Molina and my dad Elder Howell haha. But things are progressing and I have faith things will all work out.

Alma 14:26 says "And Alma cried, saying; How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound."

We are given trials and afflictions so that we will turn unto Christ. If life were free of trials, we wouldn't feel the need to turn unto Christ. Whatever trials we are faced with, if we ask for help with faith, our cords can also be broken. With my bike accident this past week, I realized that I should rely on Christ more. It was a nice little wake up call because I have kind of been relying on my own abilities and strenghts. This reminded me that we can't do anything without Christ. He is everything. I testify that if we turn to him, he will work miracles with us, We can strive to be instruments in his hands.

Con amor,

Elder Millard 

Pic 1: This is the infamous speedbump and where I'm standing is where I landed haha

Pic 2: These babies are from a famous taco shop by where we live. Nothing much better than tacos al pastor.

Pic 3: Ethan Hidalgo is my hero. We have been meeting him and his fam every week because they are recent converts, but Ethan just turned eight and got baptized! This kid can dance and sing like no other haha what a guy

extras:

Rogelio Baptism!

Mis queridos amigos y familia!

Happy late Veterans day! What a wonderful holiday to remember the peoople who fought for the great country we live in, or that you guys live in haha. But for reals don't take what you have for granted. A lot of the people here would die to have the opportunities that we may think are normal. Also happy late birthday to my beautiful sister Sheri and Jackson{s bday which is today! Love you guys, I hope you had the best day.

This week was pretty good! We had a lot of new investigators who kind of fell through but thats ok because they were replaced by other new people with a lot of potential!

On Tuesday, I went to the Huicholes area to do exchanges with the Elders there and it went really well! Towards the end of the day, Elder Alarcon and I and our neighbor moved a couch to this ladies house nearby. She had just had everything in her house stolen from her, by her husband. She is like 70 years old and was sleeping on the floor because even her bed was stolen. So we delivered the couch and then taught a lesson with her family that came and joined us! It was a really cool experience and they have a lot of potential! The only thing is that they are hard core Catholics. But so are 99% of the other people here so I still have the faith they can accept the truth haha.

On Thursday we had our zone conference! It was actually my first one because my first cycle, we went to the temple, and my second cycle, we had a conference with half the mission to announce the iron man 212 initiative. So this was my first actual zone conference and it went really well! I got to play piano for the hymns and I also got to sing More Holiness Give Me! President announced that he is also going to give an opportunity for missionaries to be individual Iron Mans. This meaning that if the mission doesnt achieve the 212 baptisms, we can achieve our own Iron Man challenge by getting 3 baptisms throughout Oct, Nov, and Dec. Ever since October in Ojo de Agua, we have had 8 baptisms so we already achieved it! President actually said in front of the two zones in the conference "No se descanse Elder Millard, hay mas" which is basically "Dont rest Elder Millard, theres more" haha. Towards the end of the conference, President announced that most likely in December, he is going to present the new Mission President to us. President Kimball still has til about June but looks like he's already gonna present the future president to us, I cant wait! 

This Sunday was packed full with special events! We started the day with a conference for all the members in Mexico. Elder Rasband and others gave talks, and it went really well! After, we had the baptism for the hermano Rogelio! He it a viejito whos about 65 years old. He started coming to church on his own, but because he went to a different ward{s services, we never met him until recently. Then we taught him all the lessons and he entered the water! He{s just a nice simple old man who wanted to find God in his life. He was super prepared for this message. Then after his baptism service, we all transferred into the sacrament hall for the mission call opening for the hermana Yunuen!

Yunuen is one of our go to members. She helped befriend the Moreno family and Adriana, and she{s come to a few lessons with us! The Stake President asked her to say the opening prayer for the conference we had in the stake center, and as soon as she finished the prayer, he placed her mission call on the podium in front of her. She had no idea that it had arrived, and then she bore her testimony in front of everyone. Super sly move by the Stake President haha. Then she had all her friends and family in the chapel that night to open her call, and she asked me to sing as part of the program! We decided I'd sing "Ill Go Where You Want Me to Go" and it went really well! I forgot how much I loved that song. And it was cool because thats what I sung before I opened my call, and now I'm here in Mexico singing it for someone else's mission call, but this time in Spanish! She has been called to serve in the Dominican Republic! What a fun night.

I love all of Alma 5 and the introspection that it provokes. Alma 5:19 says "I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?" I love these questions because they act as goals for us. If we can answer yes to these questions, then we have accomplished our goal. We need to do everything we can to be as God with a pure heart and clean hands, having taken upon us the name of his Son. I love the Book of Mormon and all that it teaches and reminds us.

Have a buenissima semana!

Elder Millard

Dia de los Muertos!

Que tienen familia y amigos??

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! On the 31st, it barely occured to me that it was Halloween because here its all just Dia de los Muertos! In this area they actually trick or treat too but its on Nov 1st and all the kids sing "Queremos calaveritas" instead of "trick or treat". It means we want the skeletons haha. 

November 1st and 2nd were the Dias de los Muertos! Everywhere I went I saw orange flower petals in front of the houses. The flower pedals lead to the ofrenda, or little shrine for the people{s dead loved ones. It was actually super cool! We also passed the graveyard on the way to an appointment on Nov 2 and saw EVERYONE eating food by the graves of their dead. Most of the people, instead of dressing up in a costume of some sort, just decorate their faces with skulls and stuff. They basically just try to look the most dead as possible haha. But it was really cool to see all the ofrendas and be a part of the culture. The only down side is that a lot of appointments fell through and it was hard to get contacts because everyone was gone with their famliies for the holiday.

 

It was quite the rainy week here in Ojo. I swear there are two storm drains in all of Ojo de Agua because every time it rains, it floods everywhere. On Tuesday, there were literally ocean waves of water on the streets haha. I was also blessed to receive about three free showers from cars the didnt want to slow down by where we were biking. They crashed into huge puddles and then next thing I knew, there was a wave of water over my head haha. I{m just really looking forward to Mid November when the rain season is supposed to be over haha.

On thursay, I went to Pachuca with Elder Trewartha (the Elder whos dad helped create Fortnite haha) who is the other District Leader in this zone. We got a ride from my hero Hna Eli Guerrero and arrived about an hour earlier than when the meeting was supposed to start at president{s house. So we decided to walk to the big soccer stadium in Pachuca and contact on the way. The soccer stadium was soooo cool. There was a GIANT soccer ball and a huge colored mural on the ground. We were both so mad because I forgot my camera and his camera died so we couldnt even document this amazing place! But if you look up, Mexico Pachuca giant soccer ball and colored ground, Im sure itll so show up haha. I remember finding this place on google the night I got my mission call.

The meeting at president{s house went really well! It was for all the district leaders in the mission. I learned a lot about the specific responsibilities and things that we should focus on. And of course we got the bonus of some great food from Hermana Kimball. I feel right at home in the United States every time I go to Pres{ house haha.

Things are picking back up here in Ojo de Agua. We've found a lot of really cool new investigators and the future is looking bright for November for baptisms. As a mission, we have an initiative called Iron Man 212. Its to get 212 baptisms as a mission from October to December. President is really counting on this zone and area to be a big part of Iron Man.

I love the teaching of Alma in Mosiah 18:9 "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn, yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life." This past conference, the apostles and general authorities talked a lot about taking the name is Christ upon us. I think this scripture is a perfect description of how we can do that. Think of what Christ would do. Comfort people, serve people, and be a witness of Christ at all times. A couple verses later, the people exclaimed with joy to Alma and said "This is the desire of our hearts." I love that phrase. We should always keep straight the desires of our hearts. I testify to you guys that this is the desire of my heart. To be a witness of our savior Jesus Christ. What is the desire of your heart_

Con amor,

Elder Millard