The Last Chapter

Bueno Bueno Bueno familia y amigos!!

March is upon us! I love the springtime! Even though spring isnt even noticeable here, I enjoy the pictures Im sent! We've had a few colder days recently, but most days its pretty hot. This week flewww by! Here are the highlights.

We started the week with another zone activity at Presidents house. This time, Pachuca Sur came! We played a lot of volleyball, and ultimate frisbee and football. Good times! I definitely enjoyed it more than the yoga from last time... Im the least flexible person on the planet haha. 

The rest of the week was completely focused on the transfers. We were able to do divisions with the Elders in our area a little more which went really well! But all the rest of our time was with the cambios. Almost every day, we sat down with President for hours talking and thinking about every companionship. It was very interesting to talk about my own changes as well. I'll write about them in a second.

First off, I just wanted to write about these past three cycles. These four and a half months have been incredible. Working with President and Hermana Maldonado is something I will never forget. They are so incredible, and they really put in their all to help the mission! President has done a lot to change the perspective of the mission for many missionaries. The disobedience has gone a lot down despite some special cases that were really hard to witness. The missionaries are working more for their love for the savior than for other previous motivations. There is a lot of potential for our mission! Results are already going a lot higher and March and future months are looking good for Mision Mexico Pachuca. In my time working as assistant, I have seen missionaries at their lowest, Ive seen them at their best, Ive been exposed to many things that happen in the mission, Ive gotten to know all of the missionaries. Ive never been so sick up worrying about renting new houses and buying all of the furniture and house items haha, Ive learned how to work with dozens of things on my mind at a time, Ive learned a lot more patience, Ive learned a lot of things I personally want to change, Ive been close to nocturnal for many days haha, Ive seen Gods servants lead his church and its been unforgettable. Im so grateful to have been a part of it. Even though there is still a lot of room to improve as a mission, I know I put in my all and I know we are on a good path. And now..... I'm back to the MISSION FIELD!

so. drumroll...... for the last 3 months of the mission I will be opening a new area called REAL DEL MONTE and I will be TRAINING! I am honestly sooooo excited. Let me explain what happened.

I had it in my mind, as I expressed last email, that I was going to go to a place called Tepatepec and train there. But early in the week, the bishop from the "Loreto" ward came to the offices with the Elders in Loreto to have a meeting with President. President invited us into the meeting with them. So the Loreto ward covers a section of hilly Pachuca right by the Clock monument. Even though most of the work is there in Pachuca, the ward limits technically go hundreds of miles north as well. It covers all of the pueblos in the mountains all the way up to the state of Veracruz. One of those pueblos in the mountains is called Real del Monte or Mineral del Monte. this place is like a 20 minute ride from Pachuca in transport and it is a HUGE tourist area. Every weekend, hundreds if not thousands go. Some if not most Mexican citizens that live further away from Pachuca, in fact, have never even heard about Pachuca but almost all have heard about Real del Monte. 

Real del Monte is a huge mining village. Like most the rest of Pachuca, the English people lived and mined there. They have parts of Real del Monte that people cant build a house unless it has english architecture, to preserve the feel and look of the city. The English cemetary has all of the grave stones pointing towards England which is pretty cool. It is one of Mexico's "pueblo Magico"s which just means its one of its strongest tourist cities. One of my last areas, huauchingango, was also a pueblo magico. Also, rumor has it that the first soccer game in all Latin America was played in Real del Monte by the English! and... its the exact home of the famous Paste! Basically, it is a very touristy place with plenty of people. Ive been a couple times passing by and it looks beautiful! Especially in comparison with Pachuca's dryness haha. Its 9000 ft elevation. 

There was a branch in Real del Monte about six years ago but members stopped going, and ever since then all the few active members went all the way down to Pachuca to attend the ward in Loreto. Ever since then there havent been missionaries working there! Six years without missionaries! This is why the bishop had the meeting with president. He wants to start working with the less active and part member families there. he has a lot of plans to help them. I'll be able to help him with all of that and hopefully I'll be able to find a lot of new people as well! Itll be a challenge, because all of them are going to have to travel significantly to get to church. and from what Ive heard, like 99% of the people earn most if not all of their income, selling to tourists on saturdays and sundays. Its gonna be an experiment to see if the people will be receptive and will be willing to sacrifice a little. I have faith that the spirit will guide us to people who are prepared!

The bishop convinced president to send two missionaries to work there. While the bishop was talking, I felt impressed to offer myself to go there. Since president let me pick my last area, I asked him what he thought about me going there and he really liked the idea! Since president doesnt think missionaries will have much work of there on the weekends, we will be living in Pachuca and taking a combi four days a week every morning to work in Real! and then returning back to pachuca every night. Good thing the combi ride is pretty! A lot of this is an experiment, but Im so excited to get to work and find new people! 

Since I will not be going to Tepa, I will not be a zone leader anymore. President wanted me to be the district leader there, but I convinced him to make a different Elder district leader, who I think will thrive with the new responsibility, and Ill be able to teach him his duties and help him figure it out! The decision was thanks to a thought my mom sent me throughout the week. I received the message right before we talked about the situation. God works in mysterious ways!

Im excited because for the first time in almost two years, Ill be able to focus on my area and my kid (the missionary im training) 100%

The new missionary that I will be training is named Elder Pardo! He is from Mexico City and he's a convert of one year!! From what hermana Maldonado read in his information from the papers, he seems really responsible, and hard working! I really hope so! Im excited to get to know him on Monday. 

After teaching only a few times in the past few months, Im so excited to go back to the people!! I know the Lord will guide my companion and I to get the work we need to get done in Real del Monte!!

Les amo!

Elder Millard

Pic 1: what the mission board looks like ft. my new zone.

Pic 2: The pachuca part of the loreto ward

Pic 3-4: a taste of Real del Monte!

Pic 5: The older sister of the boys in the pic I sent last week. She made us her facebook profile picture! haha also my old comp in that pic, Elder Cordeiro is the new Assistant! Im so proud of him, I new he would be the next assistant for a while now, it was hard not to tell him!
Pics 6+: extras

Back in Puebla!

Como les va a todos!?

What happened to february???? If someone could explain where it went that would be much appreciated. Times flying!

This week was super fun! On Monday we had a zone activity with president with the Pachuca Centro zone which has 27 people in it right now. Far bigger than all the other zones. It went really well, and it was super fun to spend time with everyone! 

After the activity and after cleaning everything up, President, my comp, and I started talking about the upcoming transfers. We had the dreaded conversation of how I am going to finish my mission. He explained that he really wouldve just liked to keep us together, but how the Area presidency doesnt recommend anyone to finish their mission in the offices. He said he sends us back to the field for US. If he were selfish, he would just keep us working with him. But he sends us back so that we can end with the missionary spirit. Im honestly super excited to go back but it kind of hit me during that conversation how fast things are coming to an end. He flat out told me that he trusts me to pick my last transfer. The area and the companion. Obviously thats a lot of pressure!

The area recommends, and President does everything possible to not have any zone leaders train new missionaries, so that they can focus on their responsibilities. Thats why I havent trained a new missionary since I was called a zone leader almost a year and a half ago. So while talking with president, we decided that itd be better if I trained instead of ending as a zone leader. But with recent events, President is planning on dropping a couple of the zone Leaders. He commented to me that its a possibility that I could end my mission training as a zone leader to help with the mission needs! So it works out perfectly! There are only two zones I havent been too, and so it looks like Ill be going to a place called Tepatepec which is a little pueblo like an hour from Pachuca. Ive heard good things about and I think itd be the perfect place to finish with my kid! Ive been there a few times and its just a little cute pueblo with great food and a lot of people! A missionary's two favorite things haha. This coming week, we will be finalizing all the transfers, so nothing is 100% sure yet but either way Im just excited to finish the last two cycles back in the field.

This week we finished all the interviews with the mission. We traveled back to Huauchinango Puebla to do the 12 missionaries in that area that still needed interviews. It was super foggy there but SO BEAUTIFUL as always! Puebla is probably the prettiest state of mexico honestly. In the food, nature, and people aspect! The culture is so cool! Im glad I was able to go there for part of the mission. A few days later, we went up to my birthplace Mixquiahuala to do the Tezontepec interviews! 

Traveling for all of these interviews, means that my companion and I have a lot of free time to study while president interviews. This week Ive read about 400 pages of Saints! I would highly recommend it to everyone! I've learned a lot, and have almost been brought to tears reading the sacrifices and examples of the saints, many of which are my ancestors. 

"Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power, and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." I am just amazed of the faith of these people, and all that they went through. Learning about their struggles to establish Zion and the church makes me so much more grateful for the church now a days! We are so blessed. Let us all remember and thank the sacrifices of the ones who went before us to allow us the blessings we enjoy today!

Les amo muchísimo!

Elder Millard

Pic 1: One of my convert families in Tizayuca!! Familia Garcia Reyes!! I love them haha. This is why Im on the mission

Pics 2-3: Back in Puebla!! Huauchi ❤

Pic 4: Mixqui!

Pic 5: Package from the best family ever!

Pic 6: Hermana Maldonado sent this to us. She's from the North and really likes to make fun of the "Chilangos" everyone from Mexico City and its close surroundings (Pachuca) haha I love her.

Pic 7: A lot of time in Presidents car these past four months haha.

Divisions

Buenas tardes a todos!!

I hope everyone's week went well!! This week flew by! Here are some of the highlights..

This week we had interviews for three different zones. When we went down to the tulancingo stake center for interviews, we could only interview the ones that live close by because the highways from Huauchinango and Xicotepec to tulancingo were completely blocked from protestors! Actually, it was a nationwide thing. We had some missionaries who were going home, go to the airport on bus but they couldnt get there either because of the highway! Every big highway in the country was blocked. The protestors were literally just from a recycling company that didnt like a new law that was in process. I hope they got it figured out because that really ruined our plans!! 

On thursday, we were able to do divisions with two different companionships! With the first companionship, we contacted for like 3 hours and we were able to find some really good people! The only down side was that since we were so high up in the moutains, we ended up getting fried haha I definitely shouldve put on some sun screen! With the second companionship, we had some really cool lessons! We were contacting and people let us into their house right away. We did a "como comenzar a enseñar" which is just the first visit, to see what they need. It was a really great lesson! At the end, the mom offered the prayer. The prayer was so heart-felt and it was obvious that she had been praying for more guidance in their lives and when she thanked God for sending us, she got really emotional. This is what the mission is about! I really hope they progress, even though I might never see them again.

The Plazas ward (my last area) had another baptism that they had to come down to pachuca for so that was fun to go to another baptism! They've had a baptism almost every week these past couple months! Go Elder Cordeiro and crew! 

This week I started to read Saints and I am just blown away. I love reading about many miracles and sacrifices that I had never even known about! The restoration is just incredible and we are so lucky to be a part of it! I encourage you all to read the book. The second volume is already out as well! Its good preparation for the April conference. I love you all!

¡Que les vaya bien!

Elder Millard

Villas Stake Center Sunset

Our new favorite Juice/Torte joint Sis Maldanado showed us

My Whatsapp contact for Hermana Maldonado hahaha

First Zone Conference

Que tal familia y amigos!?

The Utah mountains are looking FINE right now! I know pictures cant do justice but I still remember how those beauties look with fresh snow. Thats definitely not how it is here! Its already super hot here! Occasional rain storms but we're just starting to get into the hot season! 

This week was pretty chill! The beginning of the week was dedicated to the process of several missionaries going home early. There were 5 missionaries who went home early just this week which means most of them stayed with us for the majority of the time. Its been kind of pain to figure out all of the arrangements so that they dont just sit around doing nothing while they wait. There were a couple who even missed their flights in Mexico so the secretaries had to find them other flights.But now everything is back to normal at least for right now.

On Wednesday, we had a leadership conference! I was able to lead this one and it went really well! We were able to talk about some really important things especially about what we can do to help the missionaries remember and enjoy their purpose of being here, and strengthening their testimonies. All the mission did a survey in their email that was sent to president and there were some pretty sad stats. Basically some of that stats said that most of our missionaires said that they dont have testimonies. So how are they supposed to share what they dont believe??? Thats what our biggest worry is right now. So the leadership is going to work with more training, sharing testimonies, sharing doctrine and what we learn in our studies. It was fun to lead this council because it could very well have been my last one. If I end my mission training, which is what Im thinking right now, I wont be in any more Consejo de Liderazgo! Thats so crazy to think about but we'll see what happens. 

My companion has been pretty sick this week with a problem that he's had for a while with his stomach so we finally went to a specialist and it turns out he has amoebas. Theres a five day treatment that should fix all of that but during these past four days its been pretty painful for him so he's been staying at the house a while to rest. I hope he gets better soon!

This Friday was our first zone conference of three. The zones pachuca centro and tulancingo came. the conference went really well! There were some very genuine trainings and testimonies shared. I was able to share a message as well. I bore my testimony about why I came on the mission and why the mission is so important (which is what president asked my companion and I to talk about) and I ended up getting really emotional toward the end of the testimony sharing all of the blessing the gospel has given me. I explained that there is no way this couldnt be true if it makes me and others so happy. Its so important our time on the mission and there are so many people in the world who "cant find the truth because they know not where to find it". It was the first time in a while that I've felt the spirit that strong. I love this gospel. Hermana Maldonado after the testimony told me "If I could hug you, I would" haha I love her.

I know this gospel is true! It brings so much light into our lives! Go share it with everyone possible!

Elder Millard

Triste Guero

Buenas tardes familia y amigos!

How has everyone been? Definitely spaced that it was MLK day, I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend! It was a pretty busy week 6 here in Pachuca!

This week consisted of finishing the rest of the mission's interviews and house checks, taking a missionary who went home early to the airport, and working with president on the TRANSFERS!

So starting with the interviews. On sunday, we went to Tulancingo really early because president had a meeting with all of the stake presidents in the mission, the area Seventy, and part of the Mexico City Temple presidency. They took a break in the middle of their meeting to go the a sacrament meeting. There were almost more presidents than members there hahaha. My companion and I did some house checks in Tulancingo while president finished his meeting. We came back to the chapel, and they invited us to have lunch with them! I did not feel worthy to enter and eat with all of them haha. At first we just listened and ate in silence but then they included us in the conversation and it was super fun! I probably wont have another lunch like that again anytime soon. After that, we headed the HUAUCHI and xico for their inverviews! It was soooo fun to see the area again! It was raining pretty hard and there was fog but I could still see everything. We went back to the LZ house in huauchi where I was and it was nice to grab a few things that I accidently left in the house haha.

The rest of the interviews were done here in Pachuca in the offices. While President was doing that, my comp and I went with Hermana Maldonado for the house checks. Let me tell you, Hermana Maldonado is the funniest person on the planet. She is so savage and sarcastic and just the classic Mexican mom. we are basically are kids which means she has the right to reprove us and get mad at us haha. She always calls us "triste guero" which is technically means "sad white boy" but its used as "stupid white boy" just not as strong of a word as stupid haha. She does it all lovingly I promise, thats just how she is and we love her, its so funny haha.

On thursday, we had to go to Mexico City to drop off another Elder at the aiport but this time it was super complicated. I was the one who took him through immigration and it turns out that his green card was delivered to the church like 4 days prior and they hadnt let us know. So long story short, they wouldnt let him pass without it so the people who work for the visa department in mexico for the church told us to run over to the other terminal which is like 15 minutes away to fill a form that said he lost the green card so that they'd let us pass. President dropped us off while he found parking and we sprinted to the place. It was a miracle we got there because we had no idea where we were going, we always go to a different terminal. There were some other small complications and they had to make a special exception to accept his luggage so late but he made the flight!! I think if we got him there 5 minutes later, he wouldve lost it. Crazy stuff!  Our visa people need to be more on top of the game, President was a little frustrated.

In the airport, I had the best gringa Ive ever tried in my life. A gringa is like a quesadilla kinda but with carne al pastor, pineapple and other stuff but holy crap it was amazing. Then we went to President favorite tacos again in the centro and then we went to costco again! This time I bouth rice krispy treats and baby carrots haha they hardly give us carrots here so I was craving them. When we had bought everything, Hermana Maldonado went back in to buy mango smoothies and other stuff for everyone. She made a bet that my comp and President had already put everything in the car but I said that they were still waiting outside for us. I won the bet, and she owed me a carls jr shake. My comp owed her one though from a previous bet though so I kind of just leveled the game out.

Yesterday we almost finalized the cambios. There are 20 new missionaries coming on monday so its been a lot of work especially with all the new houses and stuff we had to buy all week. But everything is in place now we're just waiting for presidents confirmation to let the mission know their changes. Its super cool to be a part of the transfers. He asks us stuff, we suggest him stuff, but he obviously makes the final decision. I'm about to enter into my last transfer as assistant! Next transfer we are going to focus a LOT more on doing exchanges and more training with specific companionships. Im excited!

Last night, finishing the changes and like 10:30 pm, you could just see the fatigue in Presidents eyes. He's probably been getting like 5 hours of sleep average and with dozens and dozens of interviews and challenges. I look up the man. He's working so hard, he cares so much about the missionaries. It gives me more of a glimpse of how the modern day apostles and prophet work for us. Its such a blessing to have the restored gospel with such great men to lead it.

Elder Millard

More Costco Purchases...I was craving carrots!

Pics 1,2: Costco purchases

Pic 4: Back in CDMX

Pic 5: Get up Elder Deursch

Pic 6: interviews in Loreto pachuca

Pic 7: maybe doesnt look like a quality stand but the tacos sure are quality

More Interviews

Como les va familia y amigos!?

This week was pretty chill! On Tuesday we had the consejo de liderazgo (the leadership conference) and it was good because we were able to make a lot of conclusions and decisions! We've been analyzing what we need to change to improve the missionary work in 2020! 

The rest of the week we finished more zone's interviews! We went to the whole Tizayuca zone (which was my last area) and we finished the Tezontepec zone. Tomorrow the goal is to do the entire tulancingo zone which is huge. That means I'm going back to Huauchi!! Itll be fun to see the area again! We've had a lot of long drives with president and its been so fun to get to know him better! This week when we had a long drive on the way back from tezo, he told me everything about when and how he met his wife!

We've been working on transfers little by little instead of waiting until the last weekend. On Thursday, we whipped out almost every transfer that we're gonna do! All the trainers, zone leaders, district leaders, and companionships are 99% decided! Itll make it a lot easier to meditate on certain companionships when the transfers come closer. We're already going into week 6! Crazy stuff.

John 15:13 says "Greater ^alove hath no man than this, that a man lay down his ^blife for his ^cfriends." ohI Laying down our life can mean a lot of different things in this scripture even though the primary meaning is when Christ sacrificed his life. We can all follow his example and "lay down our life" by serving, putting others needs before ours, being selfless, lifting up the poor in heart, etc. I hope we can all find different ways to show this great love, which is charity, every day!

Elder Millard

Pic 1,2: After a long day of interviews at Tezo! We got home at 1 that night.

Pic 3: Center of Zumpango!

MEXICO CITY and COSTCO!!

Que tal familia y amigos!!

I hope everyone is doing well back in school/work! Vacations never existed here in the mission so Im feeling the same haha.

The subject of this email will tell you almost all you need to know about this week- we went to Mexico City and also Costco!!! Let me explain haha..

So one of our sister missionaries went home a little earlier than the transfers because she has to start school. Her name is hermana Fagatoa and she's from Tuvalu which is an island close to Fiji. Its like three football fields long.. so crazy! She has been a great friend ever since she got here in the mission like 2 months after me. She knows English like perfectly but I just love her accent and phrases she always says. Apparently all of the islanders over there ad "as" as an adjective instead of "very" or "really" haha for example she would always say "broooooo its cold as out here" hahahha which definitely sounds like a swear word but thats just what they always say! Her insult is always "bro your dry as" but with her accent it just sounds so funny haha. Anyways, she was always super energetic and fun but her mission ended! It was hard to find a good plane ticket to get to her island. Long story short, her ticket was worth more than my entire mission haha and her flight left at 6 in the morning in Mexico City. She has to go to Buenos aires and then new zealand and then fiji and then her island. Since President Maldonado takes really good care of the church's money, he was really scared that if hermana Fagatoa went by herself to the airport, then she would miss the flight which would make the church lose A LOT of money! So he ended up taking her in his car and he wanted us to come too. So at 3:30 in the morning, he came to pick us up at our house and we headed to Mexico City! It usually takes like an hour and 40 minutes to get there from Pachuca but with Presidents driving we got there in 50 minutes hahaha. We got her bags checked in, and sent her off through security! It was so weird to see. It just hit me that she finished her mission and wont come back! Being in the airport again just gave me a lot of nerves. It was also weird to see a lot of white people again hahaha

The next day, there ended up being another Elder that had to go home early from his mission. He had about 4 weeks in the field and didnt speak very well in Spanish and for that reason, President and my comp and I took him to the airport as well! This time we got to leave a little later at like 11 am and I took him through migration and we got his bags checked him and then sent him on the Delta flight to SLC which is the exact same flight ill be taking. Its always at the same time and everything! This trip to Mexico City was even more fun because right after dropping off Elder Walsh, President took us to his favorite tacos right in the middle of Mexico City!! I LOVED the little tour we took around everything! What an incredible place, one of the top 10 biggest cities in the world! so much culture and so much to see. And let me tell you that those were the best tacos I have ever had. You can definitely tell the difference between the Mexicans in CDMX and the ones outside. They call the ones in the city "Chilangos" and Ive worked with a lot of them, theyre so funny! There are a lot in the state of mexico which I was in in my second area. Such a fun trip! Then to finish it all off, we went to Costco to pick up stuff for the dinner that President had with the stake presidents of the mission. Some of you might think that its not a big deal to go to Costco but Pachuca doesnt have one yet and I havent been in over a year and a half!! I felt back at home. The samples, the pie, the muffins, the honey bunches of oats, the ice cream, everything!! We definitely took advantage and bought a lot while we were there. While we were there, there was a Seventy who knows President really well because they both lived in Saltillo. It was fun to get to know him as well!

So basically it was a great week full of traveling and more house checks but it was so much fun!! Little by little we have been looking at the transfers for next transfers. President started talking to me about what I want to do for my last two transfers! After this transfer, I will have one more as Assistant, and then I will have two more in the field to finish things off! I told him I would love to die training. He loved the idea and said we'll talk more about it later. SO WEIRD to already have to think about my last tranfers. The mission flies!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Millard

Pics: MEXICO, AIRPORT AND COSTCO!