Nuevo Compa!

Buenas tardes familia y amigos!!

Fall is offically here!! Ya'll better enjoy the beautiful Utah fall. I say Fall is my favorite season but then once winter comes, I say winters my favorite season.. and so forth haha. Thats the beauty of Utah though, there are actually four distinct seasons! Here thats definitely not the case haha.

Things a going great here in Tizayuca! We have so many great people in teaching. Of course most of them have very strong challenges like smoking or marriage but we honestly have high hopes for this new transfer!

Recently we got two of our investigators engaged! It was such a fun experience! He had everything ready and planned, and the three kids helped us out too. He put the ring inside of an avocado, her favorite fruit, and she loved it!! She said yes haha. One step closer to the baptism.

We had transfers this weekend and....... I have a new companion!! Im honestly super happy about it too! His name is Elder Cordeiro (lamb in portuegese) he's from Brazil!! He is honestly an amazing Elder. Ive never been in the same zone as him but Ive heard great things about him and with the 8 hours we have together so far, Im super excited! He's super humble, ready to work, and the most loving person! I know Im going to be able to work really well with him. He just got called as a zone leader so I will be teaching him the responsibilities. SO stoked! Elder Castro is headed to open up the area Mixquiahuala (my birthplace in the mish) with Elder Faussett who was my comp in the ccm.

I gave a talk this week in sacrament meeting which I think went well! I focused on what we need to do as members to help in missionary work. All of it starts with our own personal conversion. I love a quote from President Hunter that goes, paraphrasing, like this "the greatest indicator of one's personal conversion is their desire to share the gospel with others" I LOVE THAT: If we dont have a desire to share this knowledge with everyone, we really need to work on strengthening our testimonies. Everyone knows someone who isnt member, so share the message with them! Love you all!!

Elder Millard

pic 1: Elder Cordeiro and I in front of the beautiful black river of tizayuca.

pic 2: Elder Harris' death (he finished his mission)

pic 3: Meneces family engaged! the sign says (to say yes: smile, to say no: do a backflip) hahahaha

VIVA MEXICO!

Feliz 16 de septiembre a todos!! My whole life, I thought Mexico's independence was the 15th but apparently its the 16th, just that most people celebrate it on the 15th in the night.

This week was super good! On Thursday our zone had interviews with President Maldonado. It went great! He gave really good advice and thoughts. I think everyone left the interviews feeling a lot better than when entering.

On Friday we had the Noche Mexicana at the stake center for all the stake of Tizayuca! It was a super fun activity, every relief society of every ward prepared a traditional dance from different parts of Mexico. It definitely reminded me of Spanish Immersion at Cherry Hill Elementary haha. I love this culture so much!! We had some great tacos, tostadas, pozole, tamales, and other foods after the dances. Everyone was dressed up and the investigators really liked the activity!

It was a relatively harder week for our investigators. They had a lot of challenges and most werent able to come to church. We're still in process of getting them married but right now we're looking for more people who can progress faster. Changes are already next week so we'll see what happens! 

I've been reading Isaiah and Im just amazed about how much it talks about the restoration. There's a reason Christ said "great are the words of Isaiah". The prophesies are on point and his words are so beautifully organized. Its really interesting to see the differences between Isaiah and the passages of 2nd Nephi who have the words of Isaiah. There is a chapter of 2nd Nephi that has a phrase that includes the record in the Greek and Hebrew old testament which shows how the brass plates were more complete than the translations that have been done of the bible in these days. I hope we can all read and comprehend Isaiah's words to help us understand what has happened and what will happen in these last days!

Elder Millard

Pics 1,2: VIVA MEXICO!!!

3: The only cool part of tizayuca hahaha

Please Get Married

Que tal como estan??

It was a super fun week here in Tizayuca! Here are some highlights..

On Tuesday, we had exchanges. I was with Elder Dow who just barely got to the mission. We had a super successful day in our area! We had 5 really good lessons and some great contacts! The best part was when we visited Catalina who is a contact we found in Los Olmos which is a super poor colony above our house. Turns out that who family is like the owner of the whole colony, but she was super receptive to us!! Shes probably like 80 years old and she is just the nicest person. Honestly one of my favorite parts about Mexico are the old ladies that are just the funniest and nicest people on the planet. She received the restoration lesson very well, so I told Elder Dow to invite her to baptism. She said that she would love to! So we have it planned for the end of September. She came to church this sunday, nice and prepared and 30 minutes early. She found some good friends and had a great experience! It makes all the work worth it right there. We call her abuelita "grandma" and she calls us her nietos "grandkids". 

On Thursday, we had a zone conference with half of the mission because Elder Pino from the seventy came! It was a super good conference. On Friday, we had the leadership council also with Elder Pino. We were able to talk about a lot of different things to help the mission go forward and it looks like we're on the right path! 

The most frustrating thing in our area right now are all of the people who need to get married!!!! I never imagines this being such a big problem in my mission. Its been a challenge in all my mision but this area is the worst. We have 8+ people who want to get baptized, but they are living in "union libre" and need to get married. Sometimes they have to get divorced to previuos marriages to be able to get married to the current parter. It is a very long process and it definitely breaks my heart every time we find great new people and then they tell us they arent married. In the zone, we have 25+ people who are in the same situation. Its unbelievable. There is a member whos a lawyer and he helps us a little bit but its just such a long process and it doesnt help that most of these people have no savings, they just live check by check.

Yesterday, we were planning on getting two of our investigators engaged. Ricardo already has already bought the ring and everything was planned. But saturday night, their kid broke his arm which made them stay in the hospital for the weekend. Thats three sundays that weve tried to have the appointment but something has happened every week. Hopefully this week we'll be able to do it.

Everything is good though, we know that people will start progressing and there will be a bright future! 

I was reading in Psalms this week and I found a phrase that is also repeated a few times in Proverbs. It says "Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom" which is so true!!! You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you dont understand God and the commandments, you really arent wise. The feat of God really is just respect, and understanding the importance of this life and the role of God and Jesus Christ.

Les amo a todos ustedes!

Elder Millard

Pic 1: District Activity at Zumpango Lake!

Pic 2: Selfie in the combi on the way back from the activity!

My Boy Branden

Que honda familia y amgios!?? Como estan todos??



It was a pretty good week here in Tizayuca!! We have been blessed to find some good new people!
Honestly my highlight of the week was when we were contacting and meeting new people. My comp and I walked past a woman and her 8 year old son. we told them "buenas tardes" which of course we say to everyone, and they responded super kindly! Usually people respond kind of like zombies so when they dont, we always contact them. They ended up being so nice! Sarah (the mom) was given a book of mormon a month ago by her brother... its not a coincidence that we found her! She's super interested but I think her son branden was even more intersted. He asked us what the book was about and he was so intrigued! I ended up giving it to him and he could not believe it! He hugged the book and then shot up and hugged me and my comp super hard!! My heart was so full of joy for this little boy hahaha he will be a great missionary one day if he already has a love for God at his age. We have an appointment with them tomorrow so hopefully it goes well!


The rest of the week was a little slow. Its been raining super hard here so thats made the work a little bit more difficult but that alright! We have some good investigators that are progressing well! There is a family that my old companion elder cassat found and baptized in tecamac about a year ago. The family consists of the two parents, and three kids. Elder Cassat and his comp we so excited for the baptism of the five of them but a week before the baptism they asked if they were legally married and they said no....... their hearts were broken obviously... its so sad that nobody gets married here!!! So long story short, that same family moved to tizayuca and elder cassats quest for me is to get the parents married so that they can get baptized like their kids were! They hadnt been progressing super well with the previous elders but recently we've seen a lot of progress! Saturday night, the dad woke up and carefully took of one of the rings of his wife and made a mark of it in soap so now he has the ring size!! We're planning together to propose to her next sunday so that they can get married! I feel like cupid  haha


Everything else is good here! Everyone keep on reading the scriptures and saying your prayers!


Les amo!


Elder Millard


Pic 1: if you look closely on the sign on the sidewalk, it says "farmacia de jesus" or jesus' pharmacy. Ive seen it so much that I had to take a pic. Maybe people think theres a higher chance of being healed if they go there hahaha

Killing Car Snakes!

Como estan todos!?

Everything is going great here in Tizayuca! its always hard at first to adjust to a new area but its part of the adventure! Im liking the area already.

 

One of the funniest things of this week happened monday night. One of the members told us that there was a snake that entered into the hood of his car and that he needed to kill it... haha i had never heard anything like that before. So we made a plan, brought out some tools, and after about 15 minutes we finally found and killed this super long snake! When we finally found it, everyone started screaming and freaking out haha but we finally got the job done.

Im getting to know the investigators little by little and they are great! Theres not too many, so right now we are trying to find some new people. The people here are a lot more acceptive than my past two areas! this area is very similar to my second area which was in ojo de agua (state of mexico). We actually have part of the state of mexico in our area and everything is very similar! We've been finding some good people and ive been enjoying my time with my companion!

In 1 Kings 8:27-30 it says. 

Behold, the heaven and ^aheaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:

That thine eyes may be open toward this ^ahouse night and day, even toward the ^bplace of which thou hast said, 

And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive. 

This chapter talks about when solomon dedicated the temple. I like the first verse that says that the temple cant "contain thee". I have been told probably over a thousand times that temples arent necessary because God is in all places. Of course we can always feel his presence but the temples truly are important for special ordinances. Thats why the lords servants dedicate the temples with prayers like these so that his presence can truly be felt within.

Elder Millard

Pic 1: The beautiful sewer rivers of tizayuca

Pic 2: Victory! Killing the snake

Pic 3: A slight difference

 Missionary Tan !

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!