Fernando and Erika Baptism!

Que honda mis carnales!?

Its so fun to hear about all the new mission calls everyone is getting, and that a bunch of my friends are finally leaving on their missions! Its so cool to have friends all throughout the world preaching the same message.

This week my son Elder Molina had to go to Mexico City for his visa interview. He left on Wednesday and got back on Friday so I had to stay with the Hacienda Elders for three days. Pres told me to focus on my area while I was with them, so we had to compromise and try and make all of our appointments. We were all over the place on thursday trying to fit in everything. The Elders from Hacienda couldnt believe how much we bike hahaha. Its been raining about every single day for a couple of weeks now and Ive about had enough haha. I love the rain but when you have to bike across Mexico to different appointments, it makes it a little hard. Our white shirts have had a rough time lately haha. Mi hijo returned on Friday in the afternoon and it was so nice to have him back. Then the next day we had the baptism for Fernando and Erica!

The baptisimal service went super good! We had so many people come that we couldnt fit everyone in the room! We had the bishopric, relief society pres, and Elders quorum pres come and welcome them as part of the program. Fernando and Erica are already getting to know so many people and their kid is loving primary. They are so outspoken about how much the gospel has changed their lives. They always tell me and Elder Molina how we have changed their lives, no matter how many times we tell them that its not us who{s changing their lives. Fernando, Erika, and Ivana had their confirmations yesterday and they all went so well!

Matthew 13:45-46 says "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls; Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." Guys we are fortunate enough to have found this great pearl. It's up to us to give everything we have to obtain it. Fernando and Erika have told us from the beginning that they will do anything to become members. THEY EVEN OFFERED THEIR HOUSE FOR US. They legit want to give up the top part of their house for us and future missionaries. They said they would make a new stairwell so that the house could be completely independent from theirs. I dont know if itll meet all of the requirements for a mission house but the point is that Fernando and Erica are the merchant men that Jesus is talking about. I{m so grateful that a member brought us to their house a few weeks ago. They have changed my perspective for the mission. There are people that are so ready. Fernando and Erika were meant to accept this gospel and they have waited for so long. Remember that Erika literally had her death certificate when she was lifeless in the hospital, but God decided it wasnt her time yet. What an amazing couple they are. They've already made us promise that we{ll stay in contact with them for the rest of our lives haha.

My kid is officially leaving me this coming week.... sad day. We don't know the exact day but he'll definitely be gone by Monday. I've had a blast with Elder Molina and he truly is a great missionary. He is straight up so chill, and just rolls with the punches. He has forgotten himself which is the most important thing you can learn here especially in your training. I{m going to miss that kid, he{s going to smash it in Cali though. Stay tuned next week for the transfer news!! I dont know if I'll get another kid or if someone will be transfered here, I just really don{t want to leave this place! I dont think I will, but I also didnt think Id leave Mixquiahuala so I guess we never really know haha. We have so much going on for us here, and theres so much potential but I know that whatever happens will be whats right!

Espero que tengan una buenisima semana!

Elder Millard

Ivana Baptism!

Que Pachuca por Tuluca!!

Haha that is probably the most "Chilango" phrase you can find. How are my fam and friends doing?! Wasn't conference incredible_ I love the excitement of all the modern revelation. It truly is amazing to see God work through modern day prophets. Also I may or may not be a little bit salty that for the saturday afternoon session there was a missionary choir with half of Mountain View and half of my best friends in it! Im so jealous haha. But what a cool thing that they had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful conference.

This saturday, before conference started, we had a baptism for the hermana Ivana! Ivana is quite the character. She is nine years old and is the hardest person I{ve ever had to teach. I've taught some pretty down to earth muchachos about 8 or 9 years old but Ivana has given us a hard time. She doesnt use words unless she tells her mom to get something for her, she is incapable of making eye contact, she lays down during lessons, she spends the lesson licking and scratching her arm, and the last lesson she was picking her nose with scissors too. Yeah... haha it has been a little difficult. We all have our different weaknesses and habits I guess haha. The good news is that she really likes primary and she has her little testimony that the church is true. We reviewed all the fundamentals each day this week to help her prepare for the baptism, which means we spent about an hour on combis every day in order to travel to Paseos del Valle which is where they live.

I cant remember if I already explained what combis are but they are basically the main form of transport in this area of Mexico. Theyre basically huge vans with like 10 seats in a circle and they all have certain routes that are shown by the little papers in the windshields. Even though they are awkward and theyre about as smooth as the rollercoaster ride at lagoon, they are great for contacting and theyre actually pretty reliable too because there are so many! You can just stand by a main street at any time and in about 2 mins max there will be a combi pass by with the route you need. The only problem is, our area is so big which means we have used a lot of combis, which means we are broke haha. Its at least 10 pesos each person on the combis which adds up really quick with our budget. We{ve definitely had to use a little bit of personal money in this area, but we get by and do our best, and we use our bikes as much as we can.

Ivana's baptism was definitely something special. We couldn{t get the boiler to work because the guy who knows how to fix it hasnt been showing up, so the water was pretty cold haha. Ivana didnt want to decide which of us should baptize her. So my kid and I decided itd be cool for him to baptize his first person. So Elder Molina did the ordinance, but of course Ivana{s foot popped out of the water, so he had to do it again. The problem is Ivana was freaking out. She wanted to get out of the font so fast because it was a little cold. She finally calmed down and walked back to Elder Molina. He did the ordinance again and HER FOOT POPPED OUT AGAIN. This time it was bad, Ivana had had enough. Long story short, she was able to do it a third time which then counted. But wow. It was a little rough. I felt bad for my comp, he did nothing wrong. Maybe Ivana hasnt ever gone submerged in water before_ I dont know. Karen last week was completely find with the same exact conditions.

Even though ordinance was a little bit rough. The spirit was still amongst us during this powerful ordinance. Ivana's mom was emotional because she could feel the truth of the church. I was amazed how she was able to focus on the sanctity of the ordinance instead of how uncomfortable it was for her daughter to be baptized three times. The members that were there were really supportive and it all turned out to be ok. Ivana{s parents are set to be baptized around December or January. The only reason they have to wait is for a previous divorcement to be finalized. They are super active in the church though, and the baptism of their daughter will be yet another reason to stay faithful and active. We will be visiting the Ramirez family very often.

One other highlight of the week was when we decided we were going to bike to Nextualpan to find a reference that has a lot of potential. What we didnt realize was that Nextlualpan extended unbelievably far, almost to Zumpango which is out in the boonies. So when we got to Nextlualpan, we asked where the specific colonia was and they just said it was forever in [that[ direction. Long story short, we were biking for over an hour to find this place, it wasnt the safest conditions, and our allergies were getting wrecked. Id already had a super hard time with allergies throughout the week but we biked through fields and fields with dirt, pollen and everything else that makes my allergies bad. My nose was a faucet and I could barely see because my eyes were so watery haha. But despite the difficulty of the trip, we were able to find some cool new places, and we were able to find the reference and put him on a baptisimal date! We also learned our lesson that from now on, we are going to only take combis when going to Nextlualpan haha. You can imagine how hard this was for my comp especially with what I told you guys last week about his bike skills. He described the trip as [endless, horrible, painful.... but worth it[ I love how even though he got completely wrecked and he couldnt feel his legs, he was able to look at the good the came from it haha. I reassured him that he had done something harder than 99% of the other missionaries in the mission that day. We took a little 5 min brake in Tonanitla, one of my favorite little towns by Ojo de Agua, and then we got right back to work.

Things are going just grand here in Ojo. I love how we get to meet a different hermana every day with lunch, They are all soooo nice and have the most amazing stories! They are all our [Mama galletas[ which means our cookie moms. Haha its a term here which means the ladies that will just do anything for you. I love all of them with my whole heart. Fernando and Erica are set to be baptized this saturday! They could very well be the best converts I ever have on my mission. WOW. Every lesson is incredible with them. In between lessons, they read full books within the book of mormon, all the little pamphlets we give them, and they write down all of their questions that they have for us! They say they are willing to do anything to become members of the church. They have told their friends when they offer them beer that they have find a book that has changed their lives and then they respectfully say no. We are running out of material and homework to give them! Haha its a good problem to have, thats for sure. They have testimonies and faith that just blow me away, and I have no doubt they are going to be amazing contributions to the kingdom of God. Now we{re looking with the temple in sight for them! It was so funny because during our past lesson, they were asking us about how the actual ordinance of the baptism works. We taught them exactly how the immersion works and everything, and Erica said she was nervous about drowning and that we wouldnt be able to pull her back out of the water hahahahaha. Fernando and Erica are a little bit bigger people so I guess we{ll start working out with more intensity this week before the baptism to prepare. Hahaha no it will be nice and easy especially with the font high with water. We're so excited for Fernando and Erica.

I was writing like a mad man during conference. Such great insight from all of the speakers! And what an amazing change the two hour church block is! More time for gospel study for all the families around the world is going to be so impactful. This change reassured the fact to me that the church organization is not the ends means by itself. The church is not the gospel. Elder Uchdorf said that the church offers a place to practice living the way Jesus lived, and teaching the things Jesus taught. And I might add that the church is also the path in which we can participate in all the covenants as a part of the covenant path. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is so much bigger than just the three hour church block! We are all striving to become new creatures where old things are passed away. And we can help other people in their process to become the divine beings God intended them and us to be. We can together "Belive, love and do" as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What great messages from conference! Its necesssary to follow to prophets council and review all of this great material often until the next conference.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to assist in the work of the gathering of Israel that was mentioned several times in conference. These are the last days, and we need to truly apply the gospel into our lives, and serve God and the people around us for (How knoweth a man his master who he does not serve?). Serve him, love him, and try your best to be like him. I love you all so much and hope you have the best week!

Cuidense mucho eh?

Elder Millard 

Still has the touch...

Karen Baptism!!!

Mom's note:  LOVE THIS LETTER SO MUCH!  

La mejor familia y amigos!

Hace mucho tiempo que no les he visto eh!? I miss all of you so much but thankfully Monday is the only day I have even the slightest amount of time to think about that haha. I hope everything is going great back at home!

What an incredible week in ojo! We now have 11 with a baptisimal date! One of the assistants told me that he told President our numbers from last week and Pres just looked at him with his jaw dropped hahaha. We have been so blessed here, it's crazy this is already our fourth week!

This past saturday we had a baptism for Karen!!! Wow it was such a special day. We had been planning on the next week but it turns out her father decided to give her permission to baptize this past saturday! She has had lessons for over a year with the missionaries, and she has such a strong testimony! Neither of her parents are members but her grandma is. The baptisimal program was so amazing. Karen asked me to baptize her so I had the amazing opportunity to perform the ordinance for her. Now the baptism with Claudia and Maria was great back in Mixquiahuala but this baptism meant a lot more to me. As soon as Karen exitted the water, I could feel that she had walked through the door into the straight and narrow path. It was so real!! I can't even describe the feeling, but of course the power of the spirit was what we were all feeling. Karen and her mom hugged each other crying for minutes after the ordinance. It was so special because Karen had just been waiting for her parents all this time, and now their parents feel the truth of these things too. Karens mom came up to me after the program and told me how much she loved it and how my song touched her heart. I have confidence that she and her husband can get baptized especially since we will be reviewing all the lessons with Karen again. What a special day. Im so glad I was able to play a part as an instrument in the Lords hands in this great covenant that Karen made.

The family Reyes back in Mixquiahuala got baptized this week too! Ana actually asked for me to baptize her but Mixqui is about 10 hours and 1000 pesos roundtrip so that unfortunately wasnt able to work out. So Elder Howell{s kid had the opportunity to perform the ordinance instead, which was great, its all the same work. Im so happy for the family Reyes.

Fernando and Erica are progressing super well! They accepted a date for the 13th of October! They're keeping their commitments really well and they have already read First Nephi TWICE so they can understand it better. They are truly so prepared to accept the gospel. I'm amazed by their faith and their desire to change and follow Jesus Christ. I've never had any investigators like them. They were with some friends the other day when their friends starting drinking and they offered them a beer too but Erica said "No thank you, we found a book that has changed our lives, and we{re not going to drink anymore". WHAT, I'm amazed by them every day. They have gone through so much too. Some serious economic situations and also medical circumstances. About 15 years ago, Erica was involved in a serious car accident. She was pregnant at the time, and the baby didnt survive. But GET THIS, Erica was actually pronounced dead and put in the morg. They had a death certificate for her and everything. Erica told us that she was able to see herself in fetal position in her hospital bed and her husband crying in a different room that she had never been in. She said she also saw a very bright light and heard a voice. But then suddenly she just woke up again! When her husband came in to see her again, the first thing she did was ask him if he was in that room that she had seen. She described the room and the husband was completely shocked and didnt understand how she knew where he was. What an incredible story. She told us about this while we were teaching her the plan of salvation. It really added to the knowledge we have that our spirits return to the spirit world after we die. But Erica's time wasnt quite up yet, she has a purpose here on the Earth and so God gave her another chance. They were so engaged in the lesson and I honestly loved how hard there questions were to answer. They were so into it and they were so grateful at the end of the lesson for the knowledge they have of the plan of salvation.

Im gonna be completely honest and tell you guys that this story definitely reminded me of Harry Potter hahaha when he died but then decided to come back to life to finish his mission. I definitely didnt share this with them lol but its honestly such a similar situation haha.

One of the hermana's didnt have time to give us lunch this week so she gave us 100 pesos to go get our own lunch. So of course we went to Little Caesars on Boulevard Ojo de Agua! Sitting next to us were three white people which are no joke only the second, third, and fourth white people I've seen in my entire mission, except for the other missionaries haha. Naturally I had to ask what they were doing here in Mexico! It turns out they are Baptist pastors and leaders! One of the lady's husband is in charge of the baptist church is all of the state of Mexico and Hidalgo. They were honestly soooo nice and I couldnt get over their southern accents. For some reason I felt like I should schedule an appointment with the one who lives here in Ojo de Agua. Guys, she said yes, and so we{re set to meet with a head Baptist leader in Mexico next week. Hahaha I have no idea what I'm going to say to them but Im excited to get to know them and their views and then share our perspective! You never know what can happen. There were other Baptist pastors around Ojo de Agua that day for a little conference and all of them were full of southern hopsitality and accents. It made me feel so close to my sister Sheri haha. These people are something special.

Guys my kid might need to learn how to ride a bike again. Hahahaha listen to this. You already know he hit a car but theres more. He has ran into a lamppost, he's ran into a wall, and he has ran into ME! hahhaha he totally side swiped me the other day and we both went tumbling down into the middle of the street. It was right next to my house where theres barely any cars, and we didnt get hurt or anything but it was sooo funny. Maybe during Pday, Ill go buy him some training wheels so we can practice. Hahahaha lets just say its been trying my patience when we have a lot of different appointments all day but he goes about as fast as my nephew rides on my segway hahahahaha. Im so used to hauling with Elder Howell and this is just a little step back. Its not a big deal its just funny. Im just trying to teach him by loving him. He'll get that hard work mentality in no time.

Yesterday we had 13 come to church! It was an entire army! And it was so amazing because most were able to stay for all three hours, and during the second hour we had a little extra time towards the end of the meeting and Fernando started baring his testimony of the gospel to all of the other investigators! He has such a powerful testimony and he was able to strengthen the other investigators with their personal trials. Once again, Fernando and Erica are unbelievable and I'm so glad Hermana Isabel introduced us to them. Also on sunday, Karen was confirmed with the Holy Ghost! She already feels so comfortable in the church because she already has all her little friends in Young Women. Now we just need to work with her parents haha.

One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 16:25 where it says "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." There seems to be so many Oxy Morons in the gospel and its honestly so intriguing. The more humble you are, the more powerful you are. The more poor you are in your heart, the more rich God can make your testimony. And that if you lose your life for Gods sake, you will actually find it. This has given me comfort during my mission. That if I just forget myself and go to work, I will come to know myself and my potential as a son of God. I know this scripture can guide all of you guys as well. Do your very best to lose yourself in the service of others. Follow all the commandments, read the scriptures, go to church, and do all the little things! A couple chapters later in Matthew 23:12 it says "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted." So let us all be humble and follow Jesus Christ so we can receive the blessings of exaltation. I love you all so much!

Estamos en contacto, les amo!

Elder Millard

¡Tan Rapido el Tiempo!

Que Honda cuates!?

My mind is playing tricks on me holy crap. I literally just wrote home yesterday. Time is on a whole different dimension here in the mission field. I'm already almost half way done with my kid. I hope everything is going great back at home! The fires sound pretty sketchy but hey at least they make for good sunsets.

This week was pretty insane, but we were also blessed with quite a bit of success! On Tuesday, my kid and I went down to Pachuca for the meeting with all trainers and trainees. I was there just 6 weeks ago! Towards the end of the meeting, Pres was telling us about how there is no schedule for leadership. He then mentioned that there are two trainers in the room that have 6 weeks in the field. He got emotional as he talked about how he calls them when theyre ready, and that they are callings from the Lord. It meant at lot to hear those words and feel the revelation behind the decision that he made to have me train.

Im not gonna lie, Wednesday was rough. I'll spare y'all the details but the two main things were that we had an eternally long zone meeting due to some disobedience of missionaries in our mission (and now our music rules are a lot more strict), and my kid dropped and lost our phone in a combi. This phone had hundreds of important contacts. And to this day we havent been able to communicate with anyone including investigators. We're blessed with amazing neighbors that have helped us with a few important calls but we just need a working phone back! I didnt realize how important the phone is as a part of work. Especially with an area as big as ours. We picked up a new phone after a zone conference that we had on Friday but we{re still waiting for signal to come. It's really trying my patience haha but I know everything will be ok.

This week I contacted this girl named Adriana in a combi and after about 10 minutes of talking, she let us get off the combi with her to go teach a lesson to her family! The lesson went really well and they already accepted a baptismal date! It{s the best feeling getting great new investigators. I'm so grateful we were able to find them.

During the combined zone conference (four zones) on Friday, Pres said "We have seen a companionship opening an area, and in the first week having 6 with a date, 5 in sacrament meeting, and 16 new investigators" as I look at my kid and give him a fist bump. Hahaha it{s not the numbers that matter but Its nice to have your hard work recognized by President.

Saturday night, we helped some of our investigators move some appliances from their house. We moved a bed, a couch, huge dressers, and a closet (dont worry dad, I lifted with my legs, not my back haha) but it started getting dark while we were working and we didnt notice a huge storm coming. Long story short, my kid and I had to bike home for about 30 minutes with POURING RAIN and no light. It was a nightmare. Everything got completely drenched and our clothes got wrecked with mud stains. But wow this experience was a miracle. We made it home safely, nothing was damaged too bad, and for some reason we were just so happy when we arrrived at home. I was hating my life while we were biking but as soon as we got home, we just celebrated and made the best of the situation. Of course it stopped raining the instant that we got home, but we just laughed it off. We ordered pizza and blasted some EFY music to turn the terrible situation into such a fun memory. I'm grateful for my kid and his constant good attitude.

Yesterday we found some golden new investigators! A lady at church told us that her friend wanted to meet us at 6 o clock so she took us there and this family is a gem. They have been through a lot of rough times but they told us that they want to learn and do everything we ask them to do. They said that as soon as we walked in, they felt peace, happiness, and hope that they have never felt before. We were all able to feel the spirit really strong in our lesson, and I'm so excited to see their progress throughout our next lessons. You better believe we{re gonna put them on a date this Wednesday haha.

Right now, the investigators that the old Elders had are giving us a hard time. All of the situatiosn are kids that need and want to get baptized but the parents have problems or want to wait longer or wont give permission. We{re working really hard and I think they'll all be able to get baptized soon but its been frustrating when they keep on asking to postpone because of the smallest details. This just gives us even more motivation, though, to find new investigators that are ready for the message and ready to act on their feelings. We have been blessed for our efforst and things are rolling amazingly here in Ojo de Agua!

Matthew 18:20 says "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." what a cool scripture! We can apply this to missionary companionships, church, temples, and in our families! It is so important to stand in holy places and be with good people! God will be in the midst of us when we do our part to spend time with good people, and in good places. We should always strive to have the holy spirit with us because we can't withstand the trials of this day without the help of God. 

I love you all, and I pray for you all every day! 

Cuidense!

Elder Millard

Ojo de Agua!!

Que tal familia y amigos!

Espero que todo ha sido bien chido en Orem! Im jealous of the beautiful fall weather over there, its still blistering hot here haha. We're getting there though, little by little.

What an amazing first week here in Ojo de Agua! We had a lot of success and a lot of fun. We met with all of the investigators from the previous Elders, and there are about four that could be baptized really soon! We also found some really cool people that have a lot of potential! Im excited to see how they progress. There is a lot of work to be done here in Ojo but wow things are already going so good.

It looks like Elder Molina is only going to be with me for one cycle because his visa is coming along pretty fast. Hes gonna have to go to Mexico City for a little interview soon and then we{ll know soon after that when he{s leaving exactly. But I{ll most likely have five more weeks with him. Guys im not even kidding, my companion is literally Moses from prince of Egypt hahahaha he has the exact same face. He is honestly so funny but wow we has a unique personality. Ill enjoy my time with him though, he does good in lessons he just needs to take more initiative and be more confident. Thats why he's in his training though, so he can learn good habits and use them his whole mish!

Ojo de Agua is honestly so amazing. There's a Walmart, Coppel, Little Ceasars, Dominos, home depot, and a place called Chedraui super close so basically we have everything we need. We have been studying our maps like the bible because our area is basically half of Mexico I swear. I'm honestly gonna have to start using my own money because of how many "combis" we have to take haha. But it's been a miracle because we haven't even got lost yet haha! And I guess we'll never have to worry about running out of houses to contact lol. It's kind of hard though because a lot of the different areas have a lot of "privadas" which our gated off communities which most of the time are very closed off to the missionaries, and sometimes they don't let us contact haha. So we just have to find the good spots with the people that will listen to us.

Feliz 15 de Septiembre!! Dia de independencia! We had a "Noche Mexicana" as a stake in Tecamac and it was honestly so fun haha. There were soooo many people there, and the music and dancing was just classic Mexican culture. We even got new investigators that just came to the party with their friend! Pres and Hna Kimball came to the party DECKED out in Mexican atire haha and everyone absolutely loved it. The party was on the 14th and on the actually 15th we had to be home at 7pm because it's too dangerous for Americans to be on the streets after that haha. I'm not gonna lie though, I thought people would be a little more patriotic. I barely saw any flags or decorations or anything but I think its because everything happens at night time when were already in the house haha. Theres a "grita" where everyone gathers in the center of every city in Mexico at 12 am and they all shout "VIVA MEXICO" repeatedly for a long time, I wish I could go, maybe after the mish when I'm allowed to see the number 12am on the clock.

We are being kept nice and busy here in Ojo. We're teaching english, teaching lessons, meeting members, and finding the people who are ready for the gospel! This ward is honestly so legit. They have an amazing program for the youth and every thursday night for mutual it is literally a full out party with food, activities and music and so many people! The chapel is literally just party central and it makes it easy to want to invite investigators to because we know they'll have fun! I'm not gonna lie, the youth get along so much better here than back at home because they meet all of their friends at church and it makes them all want to spend time with each other! The ward leaders are amazing and have already made us feel so welcome. There are about 150 people who assist every church every week so this is definitely one of the stronger wards in the mission but it could also be because our ward boundaries are so huge haha. Unfortunately there are a lot of inactives, but we're doing our best to try and find and reactivate them.

Yesterday was a pretty crazy sunday Im not gonna lie. First off, Elder Molina and I were biking to church in the morning. We turned the corner onto Boulevard Ojo de Agua which is the main street, after a few seconds I looked back and Elder Molina was gone! I waited a little to see if he just got stuck in the traffic or something but he never came so I turned around to go see what happened. Long story short, MY KID GOT HIT BY A CAR. Don't worry, it wasn't too serious but the guy didn't even get out to help my comp, he just kept on driving. I need to track him down, nobody messes with my kid. The front of his bike got wrecked but he only got like two minor bruises. I didnt see any of it happen but Im just glad it wasnt worse. There have been some pretty bike stories here in Mexico. I think thats one of the reasons why we are one of the only two missions in Mexico that has bikes. But its not really dangerous as long as we're careful and drive defensively haha. Second off, we get to church and after we welcomed our investigators, I went to go play some quick prelude for sacrament meeting. Then an hermana came up to me and told me that the hermana who was going to play piano for the primary program didnt show up. So I ended up playing all the songs for the primary program and it was soooo fun! It was honestly an amazing program and even though I had to sight read some of the songs for the first time, it went really well and it was so fun! Theres nothing better than hearing the tesimonies of 5 year old Mexicans who cant even roll their R's or anything yet haha. Third off, we get home yesterday night, walk through the gate and the alarm goes off! This crazy loud alarm that went on for like 10 minutes before we got a hold of our house owner that showed us how to turn it off haha. If it wouldve kept on going for longer, the police wouldve showed up and it wouldve been a lot more complicated of a situation haha. What a sunday haha.

Today we had a zone activity in the center of Tecamac, and it was super fun! We played soccer against another zone and holy crap it was a blast. Soccer is really starting to grow on me. It was super fin because at the end, all of gringos played all the latinos and we won!! It was honestly a miracle haha. It was fun to hang out with the other missionaries. I even found out that the father of one of the Elders in my zone created Fortnight!! Haha super crazy.

One of the common beliefs here in Mexico, especially with the Catholics, is that all we have to do is believe and then we are saved. It doesnt matter what we do during this life, as long as we believe and pray to God, we will be saved. What a sad way to think, honestly. We have a purpose here on Earth. We have things we have to do, a gospel to follow, and our Heavenly Father's will to submit to. Matthew 7:21 says "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." Verse 14 talks about the path of the gospel and it says "few there be that find it". We are all so blessed that we have found this path. Now we just need to focus on sticking with it, and doing the will of the Father. The Lord promises eternal blessings to those that will put him first. I love you all! Have a great week!

VIVA MEXICO,

Elder Millard

WHATTT (transfers)

How are my friends and family doing?? Transfer news came, and Im just gonna get straight to the point. Yall are not going to believe this. I AM ENDING MY TRAINING 6 WEEKS EARLY AND I AM GOING TO TRAIN A BRAND NEW MISSIONARY. Haha yeah I don{t know how exactly that happened haha. That has never happened in the history of the mission. There are 25 new missionaries which are coming this cycle which is the most the mission has ever had, so me and Elder Bolanos (my columbian roomate from the ccm) are going to be trainers for two of the nuevos haha. But guys thats not all. Ready_ IM OPENING AN AREA TOO....ummmmm this is about to be the hardest thing Ive ever done in my life. And the area is called "Ojo de Agua" in the zone "Tecamac" in the state of Mexico! Its close to Mexico City and lets just say its a little bit of a crazier area. My specific area is more rich and safe so Im super excited. As soon as I got the news, I could just feel the people that Im going to meet, and the experiences that Im going to have with my "hijo". Hijo means "son" by the way haha because Im his trainer. I am unbelievably excited but also super nervous, Im about to be praying real hard.

Pres called me Friday night at 10:30 and said "Im about to ask you a question I have never asked before. Are you ready to cut your training in half and train a brand new missionary?" haha I knew it was a possibility because he had mentioned the crazy cycle that was coming but I didnt think itd actually happen. He said that he hates to split me and Elder Howell up because we were just starting to get rolling in Mixquiahuala but he said he really needs and trusts both of us. Pres has been kind of stressed out with this coming cycle because there are 10 new areas being opened which means ten new houses and everything inside the houses too. He has been a busy man. But I am so grateful for this opportunity I have in front of me to help him out and train a brand new missionary. I cant imagine what it will be like in his first interview with Pres. "So uhhh your trainer has a whopppin six weeks in the field" hahahah

Saying goodbye to Mixquiahuala was so hard. I will miss our converts Claudia and Maria, the family Reyes that will be baptized next week, and all of the dope members, especially the family I talked about last week. Lalo, abuelita Cholita, Miguel, Carenia, and everyone else are definitely people I will be coming back to visit. Its hard to leave this place right when I was starting to know the place and the people really good. Elder Howell and his hijo are going to baptize about seven people in the next three weeks because of the work me and Elder Howell did. Everyone thought Elder Howell was gonna go up to be an assistant but he was called as a trainer again. So he will stay here with his new hijo thats coming from Brazil haha. It{ll be hard to miss the results that were awaiting us but I know there is a plan for me to go to Ojo de Agua. Something bigger and better is waiting for me there.

My dad Elder Howell is going to be missed. I learned a lot from him and weve already planned to go to Jazz games tomorrow. We have a super close relationship and I find it unlikely that Ill have that kind of relationship with any of my other companions. Hes my brother. Ill have all of my different companions for a reason but truly Elder Howell was special and we had such a blast in Mixquiahual. Ill never forget my birthplace and all the experiences I had there.

My hijos name is Elder Molina and he is from Ciudad Juarez in Chihuaha! He is super cool and Im excited to work with him. He has really really good enlgish and he can speak french too! He kind of has a different personality but that just means that as a companionship we can relate to a greater spectrum of people! His mission call is actually to California Carlsbad so hes only gonna be here until his visa is figured out. So who knows how long Ill be training him. Im excited to see if he can take the initiative and contact. We were waiting in the chapel for about 10 hours yesterday as president was doing the interviews for a all of the new missionaries. So me and my hijo got to our house at about 10:30 pm.

We both know basically nothing about this place but Ive already seen how great the support is from the members here, so Im not too worried about it. I did this in Mixquiahuala too its just that now im the trainer and not the trainee! Im super excited to get to work here. It looks like we dont have much to start out with but once again thats what happened in Mixquiahuala so we just need to get out and start working!

One of our dope members gave us a little tour of our area today and I'm pretty sure there is not a bigger area than this one in the history of all of the missions in the world. HOLY CRAP. hahahaha there are a bunch of little "fraccionamientos" and each of them are basically a city. It takes 45 minutes to drive in a car from one end of the area to the other. We are going to die on bikes. Theres also little van things called "combis" that are super common for transport that we're gonna have to start using more. I'm just gonna focus on the areas a little closer to the actual colonia "ojo de agua" for now so I dont get us lost for a few days hahaha.

I love you all so much, and I'm so grateful for all of your support. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty nervous about this area, there's a lot of pressure laying on me. But I'm definitely more excited than nervous. The hard experiences are the best ones right? 

Cuidense familia y amigos!

Elder Millard

TULA!!

Helloooooo my amazing family and friends!!

This week I had to say goodbye to my tadpole and parasite friends. It was quite the hard goodbye but it was time for them to go. On Friday we cleaned out our "tanke" which is the tank on top of the house that holds all our water. Turns out that there wasn't even anything covering it and the water was nice and dark green with dirt and the parasites and tadpole buddies that I was talking about. It was actually pretty dangerous that we were bathing and doing dishes with that water, so I'm glad we were able to see the little tadpoles or else we never would{ve known haha. We spent four hours getting that thing nice and squeaky clean with the help of our amazing mission leader and bishop. Now our problem is that everything smells like Chlorine haha. 

The doctor for the Mixquiahuala missionaries is a champion. She is part of the family Contreras Candeleria. This family is literally my favorite part of being here in Mixqui. Pres Kimball has all of his trust in this woman, and she definitely has all my trust too. But she had me and Elder Howell go get blood tests done to make sure we're ok. Turns out we both have salmonella poisoning. It wasn't from the water but it's because all the vegetables in this zone have salmonella and most people don't wash them well enough. Weirdly enough, Elder Howell is the one that got sick even though he's been here longer. He's been having a lot of digestive issues but guys for some reason I haven't really had any problems! Sure I have had my moments with diarreah but that's nothing new here in Mexico haha. I do have salmonella but I have prescripted medicine that will get the job done before I start having symptoms.

Guys. The family Contreras Candelaria. I am in love. Seriously we are so grateful to have their love and support as missionaries. There are three families that live in the same little complex with different little houses. All of them come from abuelita Cholita. Guys Cholita is a true homie. She's the woman in the background of the pic of me and Elder Howell eating chicken feet haha. I have officially adopted her as one of my grandmas and now I'm an honorary grandon. Her grandson is our misison leader, Lalo, who is just the best person on the planet. Cholita's daughter is the doctor I was talking about. And one of Cholita's grand daughter's name is Alondra. Alondra has Leukemia, but has such a strong spirit. She is such a light in the family and in the ward. We all really look up to her because despite all of the intense chemo and radiation she's going through, she is always perfectly happy. But guys this family is just so humble. They have a tiny little store that's connected to their house and they all take their little shifts as a family. You can tell they don't have very much money (except for the daughter that's a doctor haha) but they are all always perfectly happy. They also have a parrot named lorito that is almost thirty years old. The parrot always says "hola" and "que paso" or "como estas?" and it's just the funniest thing haha. Apparently he sings too but he gets nervous in front of us haha. He had a friend that died a while ago and it's hilarious because now he legit hates the daughter that's a doctor because he thinks that she killed his friend. He always runs away from her hahaha. That little bird brain never ceases to amaze me. This family is definitely one I want to come back to visit when I come home from the mish.

This week wasn't quite as successful as the others. It's hard to have every week as good as the past couple weeks. Lily is a 9 year old girl who was going to get baptized today but her dad didn't let her go to church last week and he is starting to doubt letting her get baptized. And a lot of our investigators with potential have kind of died off and become more flaky. With those let downs, and the fact the Elder Howell got sick pretty bad this past week, made it hard to have as much success and progress as we've been having. We're still doing really well in general. We're  on track on baptize two-five people this coming week, and we still have some good progressing investigators but we definitely have a lot of work to do if we're going to continue the success. We'll never be satisfied haha

The family that is going to be baptized this week is named the Reyes family. The mom and one of the daughters are basically set for this saturday but the other two daughters still aren't sure. This is the family that literally contacted us and asked for more lessons. Miracle. One of my favorite parts of the mission so far is when the investigators learn something new and their eyes just light up. The Reyes family has learned a lot and they have had so much more joy because of it. Yesterday in fast and testimony meeting, the mom and daughter bore their testimonies about how they have felt since the message of the gospel came into their lives. We're grateful they found us and we're hopeful to clear up the doubts of the two other daughter and eventually get to the father too! 

Next email I will know if Elder Howell and I are staying together. I really hope we do because we're on a roll here and we have a lot to do still but president told us that this cycle there are 25 new missionaries coming. That's more than any other cycle in the history of of the mission Mexico Pachuca. Because of this, president isn{t afraid to make some crazy decisions and changes to accomodate for all the trainers that will be needed. Training is supposed to be 12 weeks and I'm only at 6 but we'll see what happens for this next cycle. Hopefully I'll stay here in Mixqui! I love this place. But I know I'll love wherever I am sent.

Today for pday, Elder Howell and I, and the Progreso elders went with Lalo and his younger brother miguel to the ruins in Tula!! You have to get at least two baptisms in a cycle in order for president to let you go because its actually outside of our mission haha. We all just piled into the back of the truck and road tripped to Tula! Guys this place is so cool!! This is the place that has been speculated to be occupied by the Jaredites. All of the pyramids and buildings were used for sacred ceremonies and rituals. And the statues seem to be wearing ancient temple clothing. Tula was so dope. It was one of the biggest cities and civilazations in ancient Mexico, and it was so so beautiful. Next up I need to go to Teotihuacan, which could very well be where Christ visited the Americas. I love literally living in the Book of Mormon. 

This week I want to share a thought about how soon we, as humans, forget about the spiritual moments in our lives, and how we forget about when we{ve seen the hand of God. Alma 9:8-9 says "how have ye forgotten the tradition of your fathers? yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God. Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?". Guys this is why it is so important to read the scriptures, pray, and live the gospel every day. We forget so soon about how great God has been to us. I want to ask you questions just as Alma did. Do you not remember that you have the opportunity to live because God gave it to you? Do you not remember that God has supplied you with strength during your hard times? Do you not remember that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, and that through him, we can repent and live forever? Family and friends, please think often in the times that you've seen the hand of God. Maybe keep a journal of how you've seen blessings from God in your life. Find a way to learn from this example in the scriptures and remember your savior and your God in every moment. They are everything. And all they ask us to do is keep the commandments and live the gospel. If we can do that, we will be blessed forever. This life is the time to prove to our creator that we love him, and we will obey him.

Les amo a todos de ustedes! Siempre recuerden y sigan su redentor y padre celestial!

Elder Millard