Three Baptisms and Changes!

Buenas tardes a todos!

Its absolutely crazy that school is already starting again! The summer flew by! I hope everyone enjoys it while it lasts!

This past week in huauchi was incredible!! All of our work from the past four and a half months all came together! On Friday, we had a baptism of a young man named Jaen (no, not jaden haha) who is the son of a recent convert. He had problems with drugs in the past but every since his mom and brothers got baptized, he's been getting a lot better. He is now working with the bishop in his car shop and has been able to quit drugs! He told us he wanted to get baptized in the river in huauchinango which we got permission for and everything! We were so excited, but at the last second, he changed his mind and said that we should do it in the font in the chapel... haha its all good, the important thing is that he got baptized. He's super active in all the young men activities and everything so we're happy for him.

On saturday, the hermana Claudia got baptized! She has been in teaching for about a year and a half.. but since she was living with her boyfriend she wasnt able to get baptized. They recently got separated for personal reasons but hermana Claudia is super happy! She knows that she's in the right path and she was super excited for the baptism! It was a super spiritual program for the baptism. She came up to us with tears in her eyes afterwards and glowing with happiness! Those are the moments that make everything worth it.

During Jaen's baptism on friday, an investigator named Marlenne (who is best friends with jaen's mom) came. At the baptism, Marlenne told us "I want to get baptized this sunday" WHAT? Hahaha she had a date for the 24th but she has been progressing really fast, and she's been going to church and all the activites! She was honestly the last person I thought was going to progress but because of her past life but I was totally proved wrong. She said that she's even surprising herself. She said that she doesnt know why she's doing all of this, but that she feel something different. A peace, joy, and hope, in the gospel. Im so glad she was able to recognize those feelings and make this decision! With the other missionaries before us, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the church but she said that when she met me, I told her something that got her thinking, and ever since then she's been super interested. Obviously they werent my words! So she was baptized on sunday right before the changes!

The other crazy thing of the week was the death of our bishop's wife... so sad!!! She was always soooo kind to me! They detected cancer in her about two months ago but it was already too late. the whole ward, including the missionares, were devistated! She was a very strong woman in the gospel who has the coolest story and was only about 60 years old! Her and the bishop got divorced when the bishop was a part of the adventist church but then the bishop met the missionaries, read the Book of Mormon, got baptized and remarried and sealed with his wife! There were a lot of people at the funeral. The bishop asked me to play piano for it. It was a very spiritual program that probably planted a seed in the 100+ Catholics who came. Hermana Marta will be missed.

And now for the changes... drumroll.... I am leaving Huauchinango to be the zone leader in a place called Tizayuca!!! I will be comps with Elder Castro whos the other ZL. Im super excited!! It is honestly a very very ugly place especially compared to huauchi hahaha but I dont care! Im sure we will find great people! Its time to get to work! It was super hard to say goodbye to all the families in Huauchi and Elder Moreno who was a great comp but Im really excited for a new start here in Tizayuca! This might be my second to last area so I really need to take advantage and work hard!

This week I read the story of David and Bathsheeba. One thing that caught my eye was a verse that talked about all of the blessings that David had received but that he still forgot about them and then broke the law of chastity. We too need to remember and realize all of the blessings we've received and start to thank God by following all of his commandments!

Les amo a todos ustedes!

Elder Millard

Angel's Baptism!!

Que honda?!!

Looks like its getting a little hotter in Utah now that August hit. That pool in the backyard is looking more and more appealing haha. Its crazy that hardly anyone swims here! 90% of the people dont know how. I think thats why theyre always so nervous for baptism haha!

It was an amazing week here in Huauchi!! Im gonna have to look at my agenda to remember the main things that happened haha.. On Thursday, we went to a little community named Acatlán nearby to meet a little kid who's family are members! He is nine years old and wants to be baptized but his mom is very inactive. So we're going to kill two birds with one stone and teach both of them! The little kids grandpa, who is a very active member, wanted to do the first lesson so he had everything prepared when we got there. We ended up watching the disney movie Coco which was absolutely perfect! After the movie, the gpa showed the lil kid Pablo slips of paper to do baptisms for the dead for his ancestors. He related it to how the dead people in Coco couldnt come back to the world unless we remember them- so we also need to remember our ancestors and do temple work for them so that they can make it into spirit paradise! The gpa started crying while explaining it and little pablito was so into it! The spirit was super strong, Let's all remember our ancestors and do temple work for them!

The other highlight of the week was Angels baptism!!! This guy is a baller. He works in Pemex here in Huauchi at a station that is in charge of monitoring the pressure of the gas pipes that go all around the nation! He is literally the person who catches the Huachicoleros which are the people who rob gas which is a huge problem in Mexico. He was baptized on Sunday and it such a special moment! It was right after church which was perfect because there were like 25 members that were able to come and support. Angel is about 50 years old, and divorced, but he met a woman in our ward and theyve been together for four years now! Theyve been living separately too which was a miracle for us to hear, most people live in "union libre" where the girlfriends and boyfriends just live together forever without getting married. They have plans to get married and get sealed in the temple!!! Ahhh Im so happy for them. All of Olga (the girlfriend)'s kids are members. One of her sons is a returned missionary and x-bishop. He came from puebla city to baptize angel! He will be a very strong member. He has a lot of support and a strong testimony.

Here comes week 7 in this transfer! Ive already been here four four and half months so it is very likely that I leave for changes this coming week. We'll see what happens!

I am absolutely obsessed with the five books of Moses in the Old testament! I love so many different scriptures from them but this is the first one that came to mind. its from Numbers 27

And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee ^aJoshua the son of ^bNun, a man in whom is the ^cspirit, and ^dlay thine hand upon him;

19 And ^aset him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.

20 And thou shalt ^aput some of thine ^bhonour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

As soon as Moses was about to die, the Lord commanded him to ordain another leader. He was literally ordained by the laying on of hands and was presented in front and sustained by the congregation just like now adays! Reading these books have really taught me about the similarities of the things we do now adays in the church, and what they did back then! Especially when talking about the temple and garments. I love you all! Keep studying the scriptures! They are incredible,

Hasta la proxima!,

Elder Millard

Pic 2: Carnitas are soooo good

Pic 3: This perfectly depicts all the old native women selling their fruit in the markets in Huauchi!

Tamales!

Como estan todos!?

I hope everyone had a good Pioneer Day! It was a fun week here in Huauchi! Here are the highlights:

On Tuesday, we were surprised by interviews with Pres! They were supposed to be on Thursday and they just had a little miscomunication and showed up on Tuesday. We got a call saying that President had arrived at the chapel in Huauchi and we were like WHAT!?? Haha so we busted out and took the little micro bus that takes us close to the church. The interview was really good! Im blessed to have a really good president who really cares for his missionaries!

We have a couple that we are teaching, names Luis and Reyna. We met them from contacting and ever since we contacted them, they have been super kind to us!! Theyve already been to church twice now and they get along well with the members. They live in a colony where pure people from Pemex live. Pemex is basically the monopoly gas company here. So they know some members that also work at pemex! The lessons are always very spiritual with them. They have great questions and they told us that they feel like they are finding the truth! We have high hopes for them.

The rest of the investigators are doing great. Justino's baby girl was finally born so now we can finish up the marriage and baptism plans once Mireya recovers. 

On saturday, we went to Beristain to eat with our investigator Angel and his future wifes fam! Beristain is a community where the Germans inhabited. Thats why its not a mexican name haha. Its such a beautiful, open, farmland area! There are actually a lot of villages that we founded by foreigners. In our area there is a place called Canaditas because the Canadians established it. Theres also a place in the mountains called Honey which was established by, yours truly, the gringos. We have a cool area! All these people came because the petrolium and oil industry blew up here and so everyone came down here to work for Pemex.

Also on saturday, we contacted a lady from a pueblo nearby who was wearing the classic outfit of all the native people around here. Her first language is Nahuatl which is the dopest language ever and she was just out selling her nuts and fruit like thousands of other old ladies around here. We got to know her and started asking her questions but we quickly realized that she didnt really want to listen to us haha. After every simple question like "does everybody speak nahuatl in your pueblo?" she would respond about how the virgin of guadalupe has blessed her in her life and the miracles that she has done. Thank you spaniards for creating all of this... its sad to see people's beliefs a little bit twisted but there are definitely people who are prepared for the message! 

I was absolutely amazed reading in Exodus this week about how many similarities there are between the ordinances that they did back then, and the ordinances we do now in the temples. So incredible, I also love about how frequent the Lord tells his people to remember how he delivered them out of captivity from the Egyptians. We too need to always remember how the Lord has redeemed us from captivity. We can remember him by serving others and studying his word every day!

Les amo a todos ustedes!

Elder Millard

Pic: making some famous tamales with a part member fam for pday!! Mexicans do it best. The food here is incredible!

Another Temple Trip!

 

 

Buenas tardes a todos!

It was a good week in Huauchi! Time has been flying! I usually have to look at my agenda on mondays while writing so I can remember everything that happened! 

On wednesday we did exchanges with the Elders in Xicotepec! I stayed here with elder peters from davis. He was on the davis cross country team which is one of the best in the entire nation so we definitely went running on thursday morning together haha. He's a cool guy! He finishes his mission in three weeks and then he'll be running for UVU! Most of the appointments fell on Wednesday (that seems to always happen during exchanges) but we were still able to meet some good new people and have a good day!

 

On Saturday we were able to go to the temple!! The stake presidency provides us a combi (big van) with 19 seats to take investigators to the temple and visitors center every month! For us its kind of hard because its basically like organizing a cruise because of all the planning. There are always a lot of people who cancel at the last second, or dont show up on saturday morning so its definitely a challenge to fill all 19 seats. Unfortunately most of the missionaries in the zone werent able to find even one person to go to the temple so my comp and I had to make of the difference. We brougth five people, the huauchi hermanas brought 4 and the hermanas from lucerna brought 2! So at least we were able to bring 11 investigadors and some recent convert! Its was a super successful trip! We watched the restoration movie on the way there and then bible videos and mormon messages on the way back! I really recommend the new "one on one" video that came out just barely. Our investigadors loved the temple, one of them from Lucerna decided to get baptized because of the trip! The temple works miracles even when the people cant enter.

Justino and his younger bro came with us which was a risk because his baby can be born in any second! We need it to happen soon so that they can get married and baptized in the next 3 weeks! We have the faith that he'll be able to though. He's come to church almost every sunday since I met him 4 months ago. what a guy.

Angel also is progressing really well and came to the temple with us. He's on date for august 3rd! I could be leaving here in three weeks so we're trying to work as hard as possible, the Lord has been blessing us for our efforts. We've been getting home at about 10 every night!

I started the old testament last week and now Im in the middle of Exodus. I am amazed by these incredible stories in these books. Genesis covers thousands of years of history with the most amazing events in the world. I love how Exodus portrays the lords mercy and how he will always bring us out of captivity. We are part of the house of Irael which means we can receive the same blessings as Israel, Isaac, and Abraham if we hold on and rely on the Lord! I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Millard

Pic 1 & 2: The temple with Jus and his younger bro Jaime!

Pic 3: Angel wants to take a selfie with us at the end of every lesson in the chapel haha

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 Years Old!!

Que dicen familia y amigos!?

WOW these have been the fastest 20 years of my life!! They may be the only 20 years of my life but they were very fast haha. My zone was very good to me for my birthday. On wednesday, we were all together for a zone class and the hermanas gathered money from all the companionships to buy a cake without me knowing! They came walking in with the cake and everyone started singing " Las Mañanitas" which people sing for birthdays in Mexico. It was a fun little surprise!

This week was full of traveling!! First off, we went to Pachuca on tuesday for a leadership council. It went really well! I love how the new President does things, he is going to lead the mission very well. We had to wake up at 4:30 again to get to Pachuca by 9:30 but it was all worth it haha. It was a good meeting and we were able to come to good agreements about the mission! 

Then on wednesday is when we went to the Tulancingo chapel which is the stake center to have the little zone class. The stake presidency came to talk to us about a stake mission plan theyre doing and the trip to the temple thats happening this coming weekend. After the class is when the hermanas started their secret birthday plans haha.

Then on Thursday night we had to go to Pachuca again for me to renew me visa on friday morning! Now you get what I mean by a lot of traveling? A total of about 15 hours this week haha. But at least now im legal for year two! On the way back from Pachuca, I picked up my package from the fam! I sure do have the best family! What a fun package full of favorite candy, family pics, little presents and a lot of love! Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes, I appreciate all of the love!

God also decided to give me a birthday present. After we got back from Pachuca on Friday, we had a late lunch with a member. Her boyfriend was there with us. I had met him before but it was a long time ago. Long story short, he had listened to the lessons a while ago with Elder Sanchez but then his mom died and he had to leave Huauchi. But he has been reading the Book of Mormon and everything ever since! he loves the gospel and he accepted a baptismal date and to go to the temple this weekend! I hope he progresses as much as he says he wants to because sometimes because are just plain words and no actions. But i have the faith that he will!

Justino and Mireya should be having their baby soon here which means theyll be able to get married soon and then Jus will get baptized! I hope it all happens before the next transfer in 4 weeks just in case I leave.

I was reading in Genesis and Moses this week and I love reading about all of the covenants that God makes with Adam, Enoc, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and more! God never brakes his promises and the cool thing is, since we are adopted into the Abrahamic covenant, these promises are for us as well! Every time we look at the stars, it can be a reminder that if we follow the commandments, God will make our seed as numerous as the stars.

Que Dios les bendiga!

Elder Millard

  Pday Breakfast with Christian! This is a restaurant over the lake in Necaxa

Fourth of July!

Bueno bueno bueno familia y amigos!

It looks like it was an amazing week in the states! The fourth of July is hard to beat, especially in Orem and Provo Utah haha. I hope everyone enjoyed it! There is a gringo in my ward who served his mission here. He came back and married someone here and he's been here ever since! He invited us over to eat and party a little bit for the Fourth since we were in Pachuca the whole day and didnt have time to eat. We ate chili dogs and set off a few fireworks. It was a small party haha but it was just perfect to still be able to celebrate a little bit. Living here really makes me realize how incredible the opportunities that we have are. God Bless America!

This week was a little bit slower compared to last week. Satan is working very hard on our investigators but they are progressing little by litte. This coming week, we are going to look for a lot of new investigators so that more people can be baptized before the transfer ends in 4 weeks!

This Thursday we went to Pachuca for the zone conference with the new president and his family!! We finally got to hear from him and his wife in person and I already love them so much! They have really strong testimonies and they will be really great for the mission. Im excited to get to know him a little bit better in the interviews in a few weeks. The conference went really good. During the zone class, we talked about how the apostles "straightway followed" Christ and left everything behind when Christ called them. We too have been called by Christ and also need to leave everything immediately to follow him. It was cool to relate it to the mission and motivate the zone to get to work! 

Everything has been really good with my companion. Every person we meet thinks that he is from Utah haha but we always have to explain that he's from Chile. We've been working good together, and I just hope we can find some awesome people to finish off possibly my last transfer here in Huauchinango! 

Que tengan una buena semana!!

Elder Millard

Pic: the baby shower we went to last week. the four people closest to us are four investigators that we've had since the second day I arrived! The woman who is pregnant is already member and her husband to the right is on track to get baptized soon, they just have to get married! The couple to the left of them are also awesome but they also have to get married haha. And little Diego in the orange is the cutest little guy in Huauchinango haha. 

Most of these guys speak Nawatl which is a very common native language around here. There are a lot of nearby pueblos that speak nawatl. Its so cool that they know it! During the games in the baby shower, the lady to the left of Diego was counting down in Nawatl and it just sounded so cool haha.

New President

Como estan familia y amigos!!

Its crazy that the best month of the year has already arrived! Im excited to hear all of yalls adventures for the fourth of July!! It has been SO RAINY here in Huauchi. Every single afternoon without fail it rains. I like it a lot better than the heat and humidity that we had here in May though. We need to keep up all the green and plants here somehow!

President Maldonado is officially here! It was fun to see the pic of my parents at the homecoming of President and Hermana Kimball. They did a great job and now its time for a new beginning! We will have a zone conference this coming week so thats when Ill get to meet the new pres! Im excited to get to know him. 

The work this week in huauchi shot up like crazy! We have found so many great people and many of our current investigators are progressing a lot better! Justino is someone we found my first week here in Huauchi with Elder Zufelt and he has only missed like 2 sundays since! Everything is perfect except for how he is living with his wife (who is member) while not being married. I dont think there exists a couple that arent members but that are married here in Huauchi haha. So thats why Justino hasnt been able to get baptized. We've talked a lot with him about the marriage, especially since theyre going to have a baby girl in a couple weeks! As the fam proclamation states, every child deserves to have parents legitimately married and commited. And the good news is that they decided to get married! They want to do it before the baby comes which means itll be in this next couple week! Justino will be able to get baptized the day after they get married! Im excited to see what happens this transfer here in huauchi, theres a lot of potential!

On sunday night, we went to the baby shower of Justinos litte girl! It was so fun to meet all their family, many of which are listening to us, and play games and eat food with them! 

The members are starting to give us more and more references which means that we have a lot of work to do this week, im excited!!

D&C 123:16 says

You know, brethren, that a very large ship is ^abenefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.  

I came across this scripture in personal study and I really liked it! Its one Ive never heard of before but is shares a cool concept. I like to compare it to what is happening in the world right now. You could very well say that a spiritual storm is happening right now and that the church of Jesus Christ is the small helm but a strong helm to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ (the very large ship) safe amidst the storm.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Millard

Pic: When the hermanas from huauchi 2 arrived, we had to help with their luggage because they are both new and didnt know where their house was. We got there to help with their four pieces of luggage, we started walking to the house and then a huge rainstorm started haha. We walked for about 15 mins in the rain while the hermanas were using our umbrellas and this was the result.