Venir a Cristo!

Que tal amiguitos!!?

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Millard

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

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

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

Light the World!!

Que tal a todos!??

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love you all!

Elder Millard

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

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

Molango visit!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love you all!

Elder Millard

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

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

Zone Conferences

Buenos dias a todos!! Espero estén bien!

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

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

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

Love you all! Read the scriptures every day!

Elder Millard

Pic 3: Eduardos baptism!

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

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

Elder Soares!!

Buenas tardes amigos y familia!!

November is flying! we're already half way done! If I remember right, the beautiful fall features are kind of ugly now and everyones just waiting for the snow to make the mountains and everything look prettier haha. 

This week was super memorable!! It was super memorable but at the same time my mind is so filled which just makes everything a blur.

On Monday and Tuesday, we were completely focused on getting everything ready for the conference with Elder Soares that was on Wednesday! We accompanied president on the tour throughout the chapel to make sure everything was in place. The people in charge asked president to pick one Elder and one Sister to be translators just in case. President put me as the Elder which was super nervewracking.... good news is Elder Pingree and Elder Soares speak great Spanish so I wasnt needed. Hermana Vergelli got to translate for the Hermana Pingree though!

On Tuesday night, we went to president's house to help prepare all the sack lunches for all the missionaries, and talk about final details. Then we had dinner with President and Hermana Maldonado, their daughter who just got back from the mission, and 10 year old Jania! It has been so amazing to have more contact with them. I admire President so much. He has the funniest sense of humor, he's super spiritual, serious when he needs to be, motivating, loving, and humble! Its such a blessing to work with him. Its so different to have more of a casual relationship with him now, eating several meals together, going with him everywhere. I love it!!

Wednesday morning was like Armaggedeon trying to get everyone organized (especially with a very fragile voice since I was still pretty sick) but everything turned out great! We took the picture with Elder Soares and the little group he came with and then we all went to the sacrament hall to shake his hand! I got there a little early to play the prelude for when he shook everyones hands. He talked to me, shook my hand, asked where I was from, asked if I had family in Paraguay haha because he met some Millards there. It was so awesome to have such close contact with him! I got to play the hymns for the meeting and I also got to play the piano and sing I stand all amazed with a quartet of missionaries! It went super good! I snuck in the first verse in English, then the following verses were in Spanish and Tongan! It was a great, simple, and last minute arrangement that I came up with. The general authorities expressed that they really enjoyed it!! 

Elder Soares shared some awesome thoughts but the one that got to me most was when he focused on the scripture "¶ ^aThen said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him ^bdeny himself, and take up his ^ccross, and ^dfollow ^eme.

25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will ^alose his life for my sake shall ^bfind it.

26 For what is a man ^aprofited, if he shall ^bgain the whole ^cworld, and ^dlose his own ^esoul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

he focused on a lot of different thoughts about forgetting ourselves on the mission. Staying focused on whats most important and taking upon "his cross". He spoke about strengthening our faith, and taking advantage of every moment. Definitely a visit Ill never forget! 

Love you all!

Elder Millard

p.s. theres no place in this computer to insert the sd card so ill send some pics later 

New Adventure

Buenas Tardes familia y amigos!!

Its taking a little bit to get used to the new rhythm of the mission. Im loving everything so far though! A lot more contact with President and all the missionaries! Right now, everything is 100% focused on the visit from Elder Soares next week! So we've been working mostly on that. After the visit, we'll be able to move on the planning this whole transfer out with the conferences, leadership councils, etc. This weeks we've deep cleaned to the max the house. It was an absolute disaster when we got there, probably because there have been so many elders in that house and nobody wants to start cleaning the piles of everything. All the Elders that go home, stay in the assistants house the night before. Those Elders usually leave behind a lot of clothes that they dont need anymore. So naturally the house was a pig sty! Little by little, we're getting it organized, the secretaries also just moved to a different house so itll be easier to keep it clean with just us two.

Its hard to say a lot more, because this week we've kind of just been getting used to the system and doing little tasks that President gave us. Next week, Ill have a lot more news! Im super excited for the future!

This week I basically fell to my death bed. As I am writing this, I am blowing my nose every 5 minutes and my throat is very very sore. Thats been the only downer of the week. Ive gotten a little sick throughout the mission but this one is probably the worst so far. And its terrible because I was also put in charge of a musical number for Elder Soares this coming wednesday so Ill hope ill get better by then so I can actually sing!!

This week, we barely had any time to study which was disappointing. Hopefully that wont be a regular occasion. Make sure to take the 10 minutes (at least) every day to search the scriptures! 

Les amo muchísimo!

Pic 1: Elder Conover and I in our new second home.

Pic 2: Mayte, Eduardo, their parents, and little irvine! I love them so much

Pic 3: Brenda, Gisselle, and Heriberto! That was a hard goodbye.

Pic 1: One of my favorite families in Tizayuca! Most are converts of my dad Elder Howell, the others will hopefully be baptized soon!

Pic 2: Eduardo and Mayte´s baptism with some ward support that came with us clear to zumpango!

Pic 3: One of the many ofrendas for dia de los muertos!

Pic 4: Goodbye to the best house/are in the mish!!

New Assignment

Buenas noches familia y amigos!

This week was absolutely insane!! I could write forever about everything but to spare everyone the time, heres the short version of all the highlights!

So this week was a great week for missionary work in tizayuca! it was fun to see everyone celebrating day of the dead here. Pachuca actually has the biggest altar in the world where they put the "ofrendas" for their dead ancestors. I couldnt see it because I was in Tizayuca but its a cool fun fact! 

This sunday we were able to baptize two people! We had to go to the chapel in zumpango since ours is in renovation. The two baptisms are two youth whos mom is a member and whos dad is also going to be baptized! The little girl Mayte is the one who talked to us on the street and asked us where the church was. We got to know them right after and since then we've been teaching them! Mayte and Eduardo progressed super well and their dad Eduardo is also super interested. We found a great family to get to know them and befriend them. Their kids have almost the same age and they get along great! Long story short, the dad was also going to be baptized on sunday but he couldnt get back from work on time because of the traffic from dia de muertos (day of the dead) so only the two kids got baptized but the hermano is close behind. Mayte bore her testimony on sunday and it was so tender! She testified how she knew the church is true and after finishing, she went running to her mom to hug her and they both cried. All the members sitting next to them cried too haha. Im super happy that they will be able to grow in the church as a complete family of 5!!

On sunday night, we received changes in the mission for the next transfer. I thought I was going to stay in Tizayuca but President actually called me to be an Assistant! My whole mission is about to change. For those who dont know much about the position, Ill basically be side by side with president and the other Assistant in all the aspects of the mission. Leading conferences, helping missionaries, and a lot more that I will be learning about. I will have a lot less time actually teaching and meeting the people in the mission field. My companion is also brand new to the job so we will be opening the area together and learning everything little by little! Up to this point, I am very very confused with everything there is to do, mostly because the two assistants that were here, were only able to teach us basic things super quick which didnt really help too much haha. But president assured that everything will be great and that we are going to be able to make a great change in the mission! He has some great plans and goals that he needs us to be the example of in order to help the rest of the 150 (more or less) missionaries in the mission! Im super excited to have more contact with President, I respect him so much and I know that I got called because I have things I need to learn, and things I will offer to try and help improve the mission!

Since we got the call so late last night, I had to say goodbye to everyone at last second! We went flying across all the area saying goodbye to the converts, investigadors, and members that have helped us a lot. It is SOOOO hard to say goodbye! The hardest is when the converts express they appreciation for you and everything you've done and then start to cry! It breaks my heart saying goodbye. Ill spare the details of the departure but Im definitely going to miss everyone in tizayuca!

I will also miss very much my amazing companion Elder Cordeiro! A very hard working, humble, kind, talented, and incredible missionary! Today is actually his birthday! Also fun fact- this man can cry on command. Its so amazing, he has made me cry with laughter because of the use of that talent is certain situations haha. He was definitely one of my very best companions! We got along super well and we had so much fun working as hard as we could! We had some good success, and I know all of the converts and the work is in good hands.

This morning is when all of the real chaos started. I am now in charge of solving dozens of issues that I dont even really understand haha but patience is the key. I only have 12 hours on the job so far haha. We accompanied president to welcome all the new missionaries and take them to the famous clock of Pachuca Centro and take pictures! We also took them out to contact their first people! I loved getting to know them and motivating them to have a good start in the mission field! I love the energy that the new missionaries bring. Then we all went to the offices and chapel to give a presentation (that I also had to do on the spot haha) and show all the new missionaries to their trainers which is super fun to see! All of that process lasted a few hours. I have also translated for President for many different needs. He received some calls from Salt Lake that he needed me to translate and I also helped with the new American missionaries in their first interview! The future is unknown but thats what makes it exciting! Ill have more information for next week but for now I want to get some sleep since Im only running on three hours haha. I feel like im missing things that I need to share but throughout the week I'll organize my thoughts better. Right now Im just grateful for the new opportunity that I have to serve the Lord! I will do my best to magnify the calling.

Just so you all know, my new Preparation day will be Saturday if you want to send emails! 

I wasnt able to take my camara with me but next week ill send pics! Love you all!

Elder Millard