Christmas Devos!!

Feliz Navidad a todos!! Espero que lo estén disfrutando!

This week was SO FUN! It passed by unbelievably fast. The first part of the week was the transfers!!! On Saturday night, we went to presidents house to help him with the changes. We were able to put a lot of good input in! After about 2 hours, most of the missionaries were in the perfect place. It was so cool to see everything fit perfectly. President, for the most part, has everyones past areas and companions in mind which is crazy considering we have 144 missionaries. I loved being there during the process, it gave me glimpse of what I would imagine assigning missionaries to missions would be like. Then we gave all the transfers to the zone leaders sunday afternoon! The next crazy thing was monday morning, welcoming the new missionaries!

I think this has come to be one of my favorite things as an assistant- to see all of the new missionaries coming in. They have so much zeal and desire to serve and talk to everybody! Of course not all of them are the same, but most of them are just so excited to finally be in the field. We welcomed them all at the bus station in Pachuca. Then we went in a combi together to the famous clock tower! Around the clock, we took them out to contact their first people in the entire mission which was so fun to be a part of. Then we took all of the pictures and we all headed to presidents house in Club de Golf! All of the trainers were also there at his house. We had a really good lunch together with them and the new missionaries (but they didnt know which one was their trainer yet). Then we all went to the stake center in Villas and did the presentations for the trainers and new-comers that went really well! President did the interviews for the new missionaries. After each interview, the new guys got a picture of their trainer and they had to go to the church to go find them. Its soooo fun to see the reaction of everyone when they find out who theyll be with. I got to translate again for the interviews of all the Elders from the states. It was so cool to be a part of them. President is so good with them and the spirit was super strong. Then we sent them all off to their new areas! It was a good group of 14 that came in.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, most everything was dedicated to the missionaries going home. There were seven that went home, including two hermanas from my generation! Hermana Smith and Wallace, they will be much missed! I still remember when we arrived to Pachuca together. On Tuesday, we had a barbecue and party with the ones going home, followed by the last testimony meeting. It was so amazing to hear all their final testimonies, so powerful! Being there for that made me so grateful that I still have a good amount of time left in the mission. It kind of hit all of us there at the same time when president was talking that they were all actually going home. I got nervous for them!! Im glad Im not to that point yet, theres still a lot of work to do! The Elders stayed with us Tuesday night and then they all left in taxis on Wednesday morning to go take the bus to CDM to the airport!

Thursday and Friday were the Christmas devotionals!!! Sooooo fun! We had a good devotional to start out with, with talks, videos, musical numbers, and a message from us and President and Hermana Maldonado! Followed by unlimited tacos for like 2 hours..... that was the best part hahaha. It was also a fortune to contract the guys but it was worth it. Then after the tacos, we had every zone perform skits which ended up being super funny! Then after the skits, we went outside for the Piñatas!! Classic. It was fun to celebrate with everyone and make this Christmas special! 

It was also super cool to see the final product of the video that Elder Santos from cali made of all the Venir a Cristo activities. I was able to put a little bit of input on the video (mainly just picking the music). And it turned out super good! I invite all of you to go to the (Misión Mexico - Pachuca, 2019-2022) facebook page to look for the vid. Its a good summary of all the activites we had! Im grateful I got to go to all of them.   video link: https://www.facebook.com/363199341003895/videos/800216687071090/  

Now everything will be a little more calm now that the Christmas activities are over. We're gonna focus on buying and delivering what every house in the mission needs, that will be quite the effort. I think in January or maybe february we might actually have time to work in our area. Thats the goal! But Im LOVING working with president. Its very hard work (more mental than physical), but I have learned so much and Im so grateful I got the call. I like the change but Ill also be excited to go back to the field when the time comes.

In my Christmas devo talk, I talked about the messages of the angels to the different people in the Nativity story. To Zacharias, Jospeh, Mary, the Shepherds, and maybe more, the first thing that the angels said to them was "Fear not". Those are literally the first words in every message from the angels to all of them. I dont think thats for nothing. That is also the first message to us! We should never fear or doubt. We need to remember that anything is possible in Christ who strengthens us. Especially in this season, the small things make the difference. Keep on finding the ways to put Christ in the center and make people's day!

Love you all!

Elder Millard

Pic 1: I took advantage when we went to the clock and took pics for momma haha

Pic 2: Filling up piñatas in the offices!

Pic 3: The Christmas devo agenda

Venir a Cristo!

Que tal amiguitos!!?

December is already half way over.... WHAT thats not ok haha. Its been flying! I hope everyone is enjoying the season and loving and giving a little bit more!

This week was very similar to the last. Almost every day, we went to a different zone in the mission to their activities for the light the world initiative! Every activity went super well! I got to participate in a lot of them too on the piano. Most of the activities were in the centers of the towns singing hymns and showing videos and giving out donated clothes, refreshments. But there were also a few activities in hospitals and orphanages that were super fun! The last activity we went to was in Mixquiahuala which is anyone remembers thats where I was born!!! That was my very first area and it was SOOOO FUN to go back to and see a lot of the members there. I would not be mad if I ended my mission there since I only had one transfer there. After the activity in the park of Mixqui, we went to go visit Elder Lozano who is an area Seventy!! When I was in Mixqui Elder Lozano was still Stake President and we ate with him like once a week. He always gave us free milk every week and also Santa Clara ice cream which is basically like Coldstone. I love that man so much... He was the only who had a crazy experience of being in jail for a couple years on false charges. He ended up helping a lot of inmates in his time there. He is a very kind and hard working man. And now he is an area seventy! So it was super fun to go back to their house and talk with him and his wife, and president Maldonado and his wife! I love this new assignment haha.

Yesterday was completely dedicated to buying everything for the four new houses we're going to open this next transfer. There are changes this monday already!! It flew by. Since there are 14 coming in and only 7 missionaries leaving, we have to open new areas which means finding new houses! So weve been having missionaries look around for houses for rent and we had to go buy everything that was going to go in them! So we went to city club, walmart, home depot, and other places with President, my comp, and a helper named hermano Moron (You dont pronounce it like the "moron" you might be thinking of hahah). It was quite the job to buy and transport more than 15 mattresses, chairs, tables, dressers, beds, etc.... We spent more than 30,000 pesos on everything and it was barely a dent on what the rest of the mission is missing in their houses! 

Today in the afternoon we are going to go over to presidents house and help him with the transfers! Im curious to see how it goes. Ive heard that its a pretty spiritual experience to be there when he makes all the decisions. Im excited to see another group of new missionaries on monday! 

Sadly I didnt have much time to study this week. Weve been getting home around 11:30 every night and we have to get to the offices super early but I hope everyone has been following the service prompts from light the world and finding other ways to make this season special. I love you all!

Elder Millard

pic 1,2: My first (and honestly only helpful) mission leader! Lalo is the bomb.

Pic 3: The field that the pachuca soccer team donated to the orphanage that we did an activity at!

Pic 4: The bike says (born savage) in spanish hahaha-

Light the World!!

Que tal a todos!??

First week of december already over! Its flying! I hope everyone is enjoying the season and sharing the gospel with everyone!

This week was SOOOOO Fun!!! My comp and I were able to join president and go to three different service projects that different zones in the mission put on! The first one was in a hospital for kids. We were a part of their tree lighting ceremony. We sang, danced, and gave out donated clothes, toys, and wrapped book of mormons!! It was a huge turnout and a lot of people got a good first impression on the church!

The second activity was in the center of Actopan which is basically a mini Pachuca. We got permission from the City Presidency to use the center park with the kiosk and everything to show light the world videos, sing, and give you free hot chocolate, book of mormons, and donated clothing!! It was also a great turnout because 40 missionaries contacted for like 2 hours beforehand inviting everyone to join us for the program! While we were singing some Christmas hymns during the program, there was a huge procession with cars, a parade, drums, and a huge Virgin Guadalupe that took a stroll around the entire park and it was SO LOUD!! It was so annoying haha, I really hope they didnt do it on purpose. Its really interesting how the 12 of December is almost bigger than Christmas here because everyone focuses more on the virgin Guadalupe and they say her birthday is the 12 of December.

The third activity was in Tizayuca, my previous area! We went to an orphanage to sing for them, show videos, play soccer, give presents and clothes, and help them have a good Christmas!! It was also a very successful activity because it was more of a personal interaction than the first two activities that was more in public. Im so grateful I was able to go to all of the activities and be a part of the service that all of our missionaries have organized, I feel the giving spirit super strong and I cant wait for the three activities for next week! 

Another big part of the week was having to move houses!! Because of what happened to some sister missionaries, they had to move areas and we took their place! We had to move out of a house the the Assistants have been in for 7 YEARS! That means that every elder that has gone through this mission since 2013 has been in that house for at least one day. Can you imagine all the gross stuff and clothes they all left behind? And unluckily we were the ones who had to clean it allllllll up. It was more than 10 hours combined of deep cleaning haha. But now we are enjoying a better, cheaper house thats still pretty close to the offices! 

I hope you can all enjoy this season to the fullest by studying about the person Christmas should be centered on! Study about him, try to be more like him, and do what he would do if he were here!

I love you all!

Elder Millard

Pics 1-4, 6: Light the World Activities!

Pic 5: Super old catholic church in Actopan. from the 1500's.

Molango visit!!

BUENO BUENO BUENO familia y amigos!! Como les ha ido??

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Such a fun time of year to be with the fam! I scored here too, President invited us to a Thanksgiving feast! The stuffing wasn't there but everything else was great haha!

It's hard to remember everything that happened this week! There has been a lot of work in the office with different things coming up in the mission. Mainly just getting ready everything for December! I organized an order of 2000 cards for the light the world initiative! These coming 2 weeks we are gonna go with president to all the christmas activities in the zones of the mission! Most of them are singing and giving stuff to hospitals, or putting on videos and giving out hot chocolate in the center of every pueblo! Speaking of videos (If you haven't seen the Christ Child, Watch it right now!! I absolutely loved it).

There have been situations in Pachuca and its surrounding cities recently with attacks to young people. We had some sister missionaries who were hurt recently and so there has been a lot to do because of that. Rule changes, visits from psychologists, and more. That's keeping us busy as well but we just hope everyone can stay safe!

My comp Elder Conover and I went to the storage unit of the mission to grab a few things but then we saw all the Christmas stuff so of course we brought all of that too. We stuffed a taxi with everything and went to the offices! We put everything away and then decorated everything for Christmas really quick! I felt like Buddy the Elf decorating the store. When President and everyone got here the next day, they all loved it! I think my moms decorating talent rubbed off a little on me haha.

Every day I love working with President more and more. I've already learned so much, and I can literally call him my friend! I can be myself around him and it's always a good time. He has been taking us out to several tacos places and even though I didn't think it was possible, I have fallen even more in love with the tacos. Right now we are organizing a lot of changes in companionships and areas. The changes are coming up in two weeks and there are 14 new missionaries coming. Only 7 missionaries are going home which means we have to open several new areas which means, splitting areas, getting all the new stuff for the houses that we have to find and rent... etc... it's super fun though!

Yesterday, My comp and I, President and his family, and the Pachuca Mexico zone (one of the three zones in Pachuca) went to the furthest area in the mission in the mountains (same distance as huauchinango my last area, but more north) to a place called Molango! We all went on a quest to visit less actives there. Its a branch in Molango and it has been struggling a little bit. 150 members more or less but only like 15 go to church! So the army of 22 missionaries went to help with that! We all split into groups and the members showed us to different places! It was sooooo fun to get to know the beautiful area and the amazing people! The people in the little pueblos are just different. So kind, so humble, and so friendly! There were some amazing stories of missionaries who visited people who they had already met in other areas, and other super cool miracles that happened. I hope it helped them, I want to see the attendance go up there!

Today was the first day I could study in this whole week. So I took advantage and studied for a couple hours. Something that impressed me was when Christ taught about how everyone needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have his spirit. He taught how he is the only way to salvation. Many of the disciples and followers in this moment started to leave the gospel and stop following Jesus. They "walked no longer with him". they said that it was a "hard saying" and they got offended by it. Very few were still devout followers. Jesus' Apostles for example, when Christ asked them if they were going to leave too, said "to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life". Jesus the Christ by James E Talmage has some really cool comments on this story but it just stood out to me the fact that nowadays, most people are like the former disciples who claim the faith and religion but then say that the words and gospel are too hard and that it's not true and then they no longer "walk with Him". I hope we can always be the ones who understand that we can't go to anyone else. Christ has the words of eternal life, even though sometimes they are hard. I Invite you all to read John 6 that talks about this story, there is a lot of symbolism that helped me a lot.

I love you all!

Elder Millard

Pic 1: The army of missionaries arriving at the war!

Pic 2&3: Molango!!
Extras: Molango and Christmas decorating!

Zone Conferences

Buenos dias a todos!! Espero estén bien!

December is creeping on us! Its crazy how fast november has gone! Its been going by faster with my new assignment because there are always things to do and we never actually sit down to plan the days. Im absolutely in love with the new "Christ Child" video for the light the world initiative. I encourage you all to watch it and share it! Its already on Gospel Library and I think it goes on youtube tomorrow. Its so fun to use the church initiatives in missionary work. This December is gonna be super eventful!

This week was very exhausting but it went super well! First off, on Saturday night, Elder Cordeiro let me know that Eduardo was gonna get baptized on Sunday! Eduardo is the dad of the family that we baptized the kids my last week in Tizayuca. Since Tizayuca's chapel is in renovation, they had to come to Pachuca to do the baptism which is right next to me! So on Sunday right after our sacrament meeting, we went to the chapel in Villas de Pachuca for the baptism! I loved to see everyone again. All of Eduardos family and also the bishop and some great members from tizayuca made the trip to pachuca to support! It was such a great baptismal service. When eduardo was changing his clothes after being baptized he just started crying. He said that the baptism reminded him of an accident he has about a year ago where in a car accident, he crashed into a river and literally drown. (I know this sounds weird but let me get to the cool part haha). He was without signs of life when he got to the hospital but one of the doctors felt that his body was still warm so they did the AED heart shock things and he regained a pulse!! He was basically dead but then came back to life. He felt that the baptism was also a "dying" and "coming back to life experience" now that hes starting a new life! Im soooo happy for him and his family are going to grow in the gospel together. 

The rest of the week was literally pure zone conferences! We organized all of them with presidente and then from tuesday to friday there was a conference every day. Every conference was with two different zones. They all went really well! We're making some changes in the mission and everyones super happy about them! President is just a rockstar. I learn more from him every day. He and his wife are such a blessing for this mission. We've been getting home super late every night but its completely worth it because President has been taking us to some unbeatable taco places. The tacos will be very well missed when the missions over. Everythings been super good though! I hope this coming week we'll actually be able to work in our area more and actually study and do everything a missionary does, but there are a lot of exciting things to come! 

Love you all! Read the scriptures every day!

Elder Millard

Pic 3: Eduardos baptism!

Pic 1: Leaving notes to converts and awesome members of tizayuca!

Pic 2: This style is called "tenango" and its very exclusive to hidalgo. So pretty!