Family!!!!
Guess what I did today! I cut my hair for the first time in almost 7 months! I hope the lady did a decent job. I certainly feels a lot better. We are also going to have another adventure today with pictures to come next week since it might be our last week in Lujan. Anyone who can guess what it will be gets a prize! (Eric Schwaar is excluded from the guessing game).
Also, before I start in on all the spiritual stuff, guess what happened Tuesday in Ramos!!!! It rained like crazy in the morning and for part of the afternoon, we still had to go out and work though so out the door we walked. As we got to the area we needed to visit the streets were like a river, literally. You would't believe it if you saw it. No lie, we were walking with water up to our knees. The roads were blocked off for cars and colectivos (buses) but there we were, two hermanas, wading through the streets. I'm pretty sure it was the closest I will get to swimming in my mission. It was insane but also wonderful!
Anyway, I think that's all for the fun stuff...here's the missionary part:
This week I am so full of gratitude for the blessings and miracles we have had in our area with our investigators. Each night I have gone to bed thinking that I can't be more blessed. I have really felt the hand of the Lord this week to know that He is pleased with our efforts and is helping us to succeed. I had kind of lost that feeling for a while and was searching for how to improve to feel His acceptance of our efforts. I ended this week still knowing that we have a lot to improve upon but also knowing that the hand of the Lord has been in our work.
As I mentioned last week, we weren't able to work in our area on Monday and Tuesday. It is a goal in the mission to finish our weekly indicators by Friday and therefore is always our goal as well. This week we were blessed with so many miracles and were able to do so in just 3 days! It was amazing!
We have two investigators right now that we are working extremely hard to qualify for baptism this month.
Justina is 76 years old and has some type of dementia or Alzheimer's. She reads the Book of Mormon every night but can't remember what she read the next day and we have to remind her about her baptismal date every visit. On some days she is as sweet as can be and so grateful for our help and teachings. On other days she doesn't want to talk to us and continues to insist that she is Catolico Pastolical Romano.
I have really been searching the direction of the Lord to know His will for her. On Wednesday we had her pre-interview and it went wonderfully. She answered each question so well! I was ecstatic and felt that this was the answer from the Lord that she is ready for baptism despite the difficulties with her mind. That evening we called President Carter to obtain permission to baptize her with only 2 attendances in Sacrament Meeting due to extenuating circumstances the week before. He didn't answer and the next day we also couldn't get a hold of the assistants. The zone leaders told us to go ahead with her interview anyway, however, when the district leader and us showed up at her house she didn't want to talk to us and her grandson told us she wasn't home. This train of events was another answer to my prayers that the Lord does want Justina to be baptized but that she needs to wait a little longer. I have been so grateful for these little answers to prayers that have helped us to know what is best for our investigators.
Our other investigator is Rolando. He is about 60 years old and his wife is schizophrenic. He is amazing and has come to church twice on his own. He is very pensive and takes time to meditate before and after prayers and when we asks questions. He is extremely humble and willing to change. His greatest trial right now is that he doesn't feel prepared to be baptized. He heard about our goal for every family to read the BOM in 6 months and he wants to read the Book of Mormon before being baptized. He even bought glasses just so he can see to read. We are continuing to work with him to help him feel prepared. We know he is one of the most worthy converts we have seen but we need to help him gain a testimony of baptism and his need for it now.
We were extremely disappointed on Sunday when we weren't able to find either of these investigators Sunday morning for church. We are continuing to work to improve our efforts during the week so that we can have investigators in church on Sundays.
We were rewarded, however, when Pascual (our convert from November) brought four of his grandchildren to church with him on Sunday. Pablo and Tatiana were baptized with Pascual in November and we haven't been able to get either of them to church since their baptism. Bruno is Pascual's other grandson who has a baptismal date in three weeks and is progressing wonderfully! It was so great to see them all walk into the church together as a family.
I am continuing to learn and grow to develop more faith and humility. Hermana Castellanos talked about unity in our companionship inventory and how we can both be more humble and work together to have more unity and success in our area. On Wednesday evening she was a little upset with me and I wasn't sure why. She didn't want to talk about it that night and so we waited until Thursday during comp inventory. It was a good learning experience for me to discover some of my weaknesses and I am trying to improve to be a better companion. We have been so blessed that our first issue as a companionship was in our last week and it was really quite small and was resolved quickly. We are hoping and praying every night that we will stay together this transfer but we'll see what happens. I am nervous for transfers this week but am ready and willing to accept whatever the Lord has in store for me because I know it is what I need.
Also, other random note. After meals we don't usually have dessert but when we do it is plain Jell-O or fruit cocktail or another weird gelatin like thing called flan. I miss our brownies lol. :(
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! Thank you for the pictures and letters and prayers. You are the best. I pray for you every day! Sorry if I don't answer your questions each week. Please know I love reading your letters even if I don't respond very well.
Also, the family we found a few weeks ago isn't exactly progressing but I still have hope one day. Finally, Carl from Solvang got baptized!!!! AH!!!!
That's all folks!
Love, your favorite Lujanite, Hermana Millet
Monday, January 13, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Happy New Year's
Family,
This week I am writing extra early because we have to be in Ramos Mejia at 3:00 this afternoon, which means our p-day is basically non-existent. We are going there because Hermana Carter asked Hermana Castellanos to speak at EFY on Tuesday. I'll be on exchanges with some Hermanas in Ramos.
This week we had a few adventures as well as some miracles.
On Friday we traveled to Open Door (a town that is technically a part of our area about 20 minutes away in car) with President Peralta (who is absolutely amazing btw) and our investigators Juana and Miguel to get papers for them so they can get married and then baptized (Juana asap and Miguel...eventually). We had to go to a hospital with crazy people and addicts and President didn't want us getting out of the car because they would bother us so we sat in the car with the doors locked while these crazy men walked by looking in the windows and asking for money. It was kind of hilarious and the scene was perfect for a scary movie with all these old buildings and beautiful trees and a bunch of crazy people walking around like zombies. The best part was that they got their papers and President is going to help pay to get the others they need so hopefully this week they can finally have a date for their wedding! Hooray!
I have been enjoying reading messages from the President and reflecting on what I need to improve personally and what Hermana Castellanos and I can do to improve as a companionship. I really think we can see miracles in this area together next transfer as we apply what we are learning from his counsel and grow in unity and faith.
In doing some self reflecting I have found areas in which I need to improve, especially in humility. In some ways it is difficult to realize that I still have so much to improve upon but my greatest desire is to become what the Lord expects me to be and I know I can only accomplish this with increased humility.
Hermana Castellanos and I identified two types of humility this week: humility before the Lord (trusting in Him, accepting his will and doing the work His way) and humility with others (comparing ourselves to other missionaries, judging or criticizing others etc.) This month I really want to focus on my humility before the Lord and having the faith to work in his way and work the miracles that he wants for this area. I also realized, however, that I have slowly developed pride within our companionship. Hermana Castellanos is an amazing missionary and we are like sisters but at times I feel inadequate with a companion whom the members and investigators love so much, who can communicate and understand so easily, who has responsibility within the mission as an HLE etc. It was hard to face the fact that I had developed this pride but I am working hard to rid myself of these feelings of Satan and praying for the help of the Lord to truly love her for all of these wonderful qualities that help our companionship and which make her the Hermana that I love and realize my own purpose and value right now in the mission.
This week we witnessed one great miracle with our investigator, Bruno. He is the grandson on Pascual, who was baptized in November. As we taught Pascual, Bruno was occasionally present and over the past few weeks we have focused more on teaching Bruno. He is only 9 years old but he has such a sweet respectful demeanor and really has a desire to follow Jesus Christ and learn of his gospel. He read the introduction and the testimonies of the 8 and 3 witnesses after we gave him the Book of Mormon and is reading every night on his own. We have been trying to talk to his mother for weeks but she is unavailable for some reason or another in each of our lessons.
In my fast yesterday I prayed that we might be able to talk to her and receive her permission to continue teaching and preparing Bruno for baptism. We began our fast Saturday after lunch and that evening, only 4 or 5 hours after beginning the fast, we happened to pass by their home and she was outside. We were able to talk to her and her reaction was perfect! She didn't give us permission right away but wanted to know what the baptism was like, what we believe etc. She was exactly the way I would like a mother to be, concerned about her son and his welfare. She did give her permission and we are now working to prepare him for his baptism!
Our other investigators are also progressing along well. We are continuing to search for new families to teach as well and take care of the fechas that we have and really address each of their needs so they are truly converted. This week we still only reached 60% of our goals but I am learning each week and we are trying to adapt our methods to have more progressing investigators and investigators in sacrament meeting. I know as I develop the faith and work obediently and diligently we can have 100%.
We had some cooler weather this week after a huge rainstorm in the night. It was soooo lovely! We weren't dying of sweat all day and at night I even used a blanket. It was absolutely blissful.
On Wednesday we had exchanges with the Hermanas in Lujan 1. I went to their area and Herman Guillen was here in our area. It was a good day but the people here in Argentina party until 4-6 in the morning on New Year's Eve and sleep literally all day on the 1st so there was basically no one in the streets. Hermana Castellanos and Hermana Guillen were almost robbed here in our area! A man jumped off a motorcycle (there were 3 people on the bike because everyone here uses motos and pile tons of people on them) and asked them for all their things. They were backed up into a door and no one was in the streets. They told him they were missionaries and didn't have anything and eventually he left without taking anything or hurting them. MIRACLE! I'm now a little more cautious in our area. I've never felt scared here but I need to be more aware. Exchanges were good and it was fun to learn a new area and meet new investigators.
...Life other than that is pretty much normal. Hermana Castellanos and I are praying to stay together for transfers next week and we are continuing to work to achieve our goal of 2 baptisms this month.
I love you all sooo much! Thank you for your letters and love and support and prayers! You're the bestest family and friends an hermana could ask for! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Hermana Millet
This week I am writing extra early because we have to be in Ramos Mejia at 3:00 this afternoon, which means our p-day is basically non-existent. We are going there because Hermana Carter asked Hermana Castellanos to speak at EFY on Tuesday. I'll be on exchanges with some Hermanas in Ramos.
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| Hermana Millet and Hermana Castellanos on New Year's Eve |
On Friday we traveled to Open Door (a town that is technically a part of our area about 20 minutes away in car) with President Peralta (who is absolutely amazing btw) and our investigators Juana and Miguel to get papers for them so they can get married and then baptized (Juana asap and Miguel...eventually). We had to go to a hospital with crazy people and addicts and President didn't want us getting out of the car because they would bother us so we sat in the car with the doors locked while these crazy men walked by looking in the windows and asking for money. It was kind of hilarious and the scene was perfect for a scary movie with all these old buildings and beautiful trees and a bunch of crazy people walking around like zombies. The best part was that they got their papers and President is going to help pay to get the others they need so hopefully this week they can finally have a date for their wedding! Hooray!
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| Feliz Cumplianos Hermana Castellano |
In doing some self reflecting I have found areas in which I need to improve, especially in humility. In some ways it is difficult to realize that I still have so much to improve upon but my greatest desire is to become what the Lord expects me to be and I know I can only accomplish this with increased humility.
Hermana Castellanos and I identified two types of humility this week: humility before the Lord (trusting in Him, accepting his will and doing the work His way) and humility with others (comparing ourselves to other missionaries, judging or criticizing others etc.) This month I really want to focus on my humility before the Lord and having the faith to work in his way and work the miracles that he wants for this area. I also realized, however, that I have slowly developed pride within our companionship. Hermana Castellanos is an amazing missionary and we are like sisters but at times I feel inadequate with a companion whom the members and investigators love so much, who can communicate and understand so easily, who has responsibility within the mission as an HLE etc. It was hard to face the fact that I had developed this pride but I am working hard to rid myself of these feelings of Satan and praying for the help of the Lord to truly love her for all of these wonderful qualities that help our companionship and which make her the Hermana that I love and realize my own purpose and value right now in the mission.
This week we witnessed one great miracle with our investigator, Bruno. He is the grandson on Pascual, who was baptized in November. As we taught Pascual, Bruno was occasionally present and over the past few weeks we have focused more on teaching Bruno. He is only 9 years old but he has such a sweet respectful demeanor and really has a desire to follow Jesus Christ and learn of his gospel. He read the introduction and the testimonies of the 8 and 3 witnesses after we gave him the Book of Mormon and is reading every night on his own. We have been trying to talk to his mother for weeks but she is unavailable for some reason or another in each of our lessons.
In my fast yesterday I prayed that we might be able to talk to her and receive her permission to continue teaching and preparing Bruno for baptism. We began our fast Saturday after lunch and that evening, only 4 or 5 hours after beginning the fast, we happened to pass by their home and she was outside. We were able to talk to her and her reaction was perfect! She didn't give us permission right away but wanted to know what the baptism was like, what we believe etc. She was exactly the way I would like a mother to be, concerned about her son and his welfare. She did give her permission and we are now working to prepare him for his baptism!
Our other investigators are also progressing along well. We are continuing to search for new families to teach as well and take care of the fechas that we have and really address each of their needs so they are truly converted. This week we still only reached 60% of our goals but I am learning each week and we are trying to adapt our methods to have more progressing investigators and investigators in sacrament meeting. I know as I develop the faith and work obediently and diligently we can have 100%.
We had some cooler weather this week after a huge rainstorm in the night. It was soooo lovely! We weren't dying of sweat all day and at night I even used a blanket. It was absolutely blissful.
On Wednesday we had exchanges with the Hermanas in Lujan 1. I went to their area and Herman Guillen was here in our area. It was a good day but the people here in Argentina party until 4-6 in the morning on New Year's Eve and sleep literally all day on the 1st so there was basically no one in the streets. Hermana Castellanos and Hermana Guillen were almost robbed here in our area! A man jumped off a motorcycle (there were 3 people on the bike because everyone here uses motos and pile tons of people on them) and asked them for all their things. They were backed up into a door and no one was in the streets. They told him they were missionaries and didn't have anything and eventually he left without taking anything or hurting them. MIRACLE! I'm now a little more cautious in our area. I've never felt scared here but I need to be more aware. Exchanges were good and it was fun to learn a new area and meet new investigators.
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| Hermana Leon is in our district and is great. Things went pretty well with her during exchanges. She has an awesome testimony and really helped me see the importance of bringing the spirit to all our lessons. |
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| New Year's Eve Dinner. |
I love you all sooo much! Thank you for your letters and love and support and prayers! You're the bestest family and friends an hermana could ask for! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Hermana Millet
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
It was so incredibly wonderful to see and talk to you all on Christmas! I was so incredibly happy all day! It was the highlight of my Christmas! I am so glad you all look wonderful and happy and healthy. Sorry I wasn't able to ask more questions about all of you. Please send me ALL the details of your lives in emails! I LOVE hearing from you!
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| Christmas dinner at the Merlo's. |
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| Christmas packages all arrived there. Yay! |
Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kathy, THANK YOU! I LOVED your package! It was so fun that the presents were all wrapped. My companion and I took turns unwrapping them all. I am sooo grateful for the peanut butter and graham crackers, M&Ms, hand sanitizer etc. Everything was perfect. I can't thank you enough. I am also so grateful for the video you made for Skype! It was so great to see your faces! I love you all so much and pray for your health and happiness every day. Happy New Year! I love you!
Aunt Nancy and Sharon, you always know the best treats to send! Thank you so much! My companion and I are in love with crystal light and have been using it every day as well as the snacks. We take those with us for our dinner time snack around 5 or 6 (we don't really eat dinner here unless we eat something right before bed around 10:00) and they are perfect. The lotion is wonderful! Thank you so much! It was also great to watch your video as well! I wish I could have talked to you all over Skype but next year for sure! I continue to pray for your health and success! LOVE YOU!
And of course family... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I am loving my pedometer. I now know our church is 2 miles away and I am continuing to track our average walking. Sometimes I accidently reset it so I don't have accurate numbers yet but stay tuned. I am SOO grateful for my puppy 2.0. This one is named Shayda haha. I loved the clothes as well and am so excited to wear the others when it is cooler. I'm going to make brownies for Hermana Castellano's birthday this Thursday.
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| Hermana Gardiner and Hermana Alley, companions at the MTC, with Hermana Millet in front of the Buenos Aires Temple. |
Guess what. The other day a woman stopped us and asked if we could help this little puppy that was under a tree. It looked like it was only a week or two old. She lived near by but was waiting for the train so we took him to her house so her daughter could take care of him. He was super cute and black and white so we named him Elder because he was already dressed in his suit. Mom, you would've appreciated his cuteness lol. And don't worry, I used lots of hand sanitizer afterward.
Our indicators were struggling a little this week as members weren't as available to work with us during the holidays and some of our investigators were out of town. I have been continuing to work on focusing more on my investigators and less on the numbers of the key indicators and in the past two weeks I have felt much more peace. We are still working to have success with the indicators and use them to plan well but I have not been stressed or worrying about them as I was in the first few weeks of this transfer. President gave us a message about the easy way and the right way and how we need to have faith in the Lord enough to focus on people and really find those that are prepared. This is my ultimate goal to increase in my faith and humility and really do everything in the Lord's way. I know that is how we will find success and see miracles in our area.
One of these miracles occurred for us this week on Saturday. We had contacted a family in the street a few days earlier and both Hermana Castellanos and I had a desire to visit them. On Saturday we had our first lesson with them and it was absolutely beautiful. We were able to have the whole family sit down and listen to us and by the end of the lesson they all agreed to be baptized (the mom, dad, and two of their three children who are old enough to be baptized). As the mom, Maria, said the closing prayer she began to cry as she thanked Heavenly Father that we had come. Her 13 year old daughter also started to cry as the spirit was so strong. It was AMAZING! I have been praying for a family that we can teach and this family is so prepared. I am so excited to work with them and help them progress. I know they will have challenges and struggles but as we continue to have trust in the Lord he will help us know how to help this family.
Another wonderful blessing this week was our ward activity last night. Our ward planned a living nativity and a bunch of the primary kids and adults all participated. It was absolutely beautiful. Hermana Castellanos and I sang the hymns that accompanied the story. All of the kids were dressed up soo cute (I'm sending pictures of a few). Our ward really is amazing! I love all of the members soo much.
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| The cutest little nativity cow ever! |
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| Cast for the live nativity. |
We are continuing to work hard and try to find more families that are ready for baptism. Hermana Castellanos and I are excited to celebrate the New Year and her birthday together this week and have tons of success!
I love you all so much! Thank you for all your love and support!
Love,
Hermana Millet
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Family,
I still can't believe Christmas is almost here. It has been blazing hot these past few days and SO humid. Christmas is going to be pretty weird this year but I am so excited to talk to you all! I will not be emailing on Monday but I will have 40 minutes to talk to you Christmas day.
This week has been full of challenges and miracles. Hermana Castellanos and I are struggling a little to have progressing families and investigators in sacrament meeting and reach all of our goals. We are working with all of our efforts, however, to be worthy of the help of Heavenly Father. I am constantly trying to have more faith, live more obediently and work more diligently to see miracles in our area. I know that the success that we have had is directly from Him. Every new investigator and lesson is a blessing.
This week Hermana Castellanos shared a scripture with me from Alma during companionship study that I really needed. Alma 26:28-31 talks about how they are traveling all over, preaching in houses, in the streets to teach of Christ. They were rejected and cast out at times but Alma states that it is all worth it if they can save some soul. He says that the first of their labor is not small.
We too are preaching the gospel of Christ in homes, in the streets, anywhere we can find people and at times we are rejected and have afflictions (don't worry, nothing like Alma and his brethren) but it is all worth it if we can save some soul. This month we were able to baptized Diego. He is a choice spirit of Heavenly Father and I am so grateful we had the opportunity to help him make his first covenant with his Heavenly Father. At times I feel that the fruit of our labor is small right now. We have a goal of 4 baptisms this month that I felt was inspired and right now our possibilities are dwindling, but I know with faith God's will can be done. Even if Diego is the only person we baptize the fruit of our labor is not small. He is a soul that can be saved, and can help build the kingdom of God.
In my efforts to find a chosen family of our Heavenly Father I am really trying to improve my faith and worthiness and become the missionary Heavenly Father wants me to be. Today during personal study I read a scripture in 2 Nephi 33:3 which I love. Nephi is praying and crying for his people (investigators) and he says that he knows the Lord will hear his cries of faith.
I too have been praying for my investigators and worrying throughout the night like Nephi. I realized today, however, that I need to be even more focused on my investigators. I am sometimes more worried about the indicators and what my district leader will say when he hears my numbers than I am about the people. I really want to focus on loving my investigators more, loving them enough that my indicators are achieved because I am focusing on them, not on the numbers.
On Friday we had zone conference in Ramos Mejia. When we have to be there early in the morning we sleep in the apartment of the Hermanas in Lujan 1 because we have to wake up at 4:00 to be at the collectivo by 5:00 or 5:30. We sleep on the floor, which is pretty hard but this time I slept better than the last time. We really are blessed to have the energy though as missionaries. Many times we have to wake up early to be in Ramos and we never get a chance to catch up on sleep as missionaries but we continually have strength and energy.
During zone conference I was reminded again to focus on my investigators. One of my teachers in the MTC was always telling us to 1. Love the investigator and 2. Rely on the Lord. In California these things seemed easy, but I realized here I have maybe forgotten a little bit to really focus on loving my investigators and relying on the Lord. Yes the numbers are important, and yes the culture of the people here is different but I can still love them with all my heart and rely on the Lord to do his work.
I also loved the focus on families during zone conference. More than anything I want to bring the blessing of the gospel to a family. The idea of teaching eternal families in the first lesson has always made sense to me and I had always assumed I would do so as a missionary but for some reason I haven't been teaching this principal initially. This week as we have begun putting this into practice I have already begun to see results as contacts turn into lessons and potential baptismal dates.
We received a great miracle this week when we found a woman named Sylvana. She was waiting for two of her children to get out of school with her baby and we taught her the gospel. She was so excited about repentance and baptism and she couldn't stop smiling. We almost couldn't find her house when we searched for it a few days later but we were able to find her again and teach her about eternal families. She is living with her boyfriend but wants to get married. She and her three children came to church on Sunday (unfortunately her boyfriend was working) and we have plans to teach her and her boyfriend again tomorrow. I am so excited to work with this family and hopefully see them progress.
We also found another amazingly prepared woman named Justina Sunday afternoon. She has talked to missionaries in the past and told us she has read almost all of the Book of Mormon. She accepted a baptismal date and told us she will come to church on Sunday. After she said the closing prayer she began to cry and told us she has been feeling alone but that she felt love in our lesson. It was such a miracle!
While finding miracle new investigators we also had some challenges with our progressing investigators this week.
On Monday night we visited Cinthia for the first time since her scheduled baptism on the 24th of November. I introduced her to Hermana Castellanos and we rebuilt some trust with her that evening. On Wednesday we had an amazing experience with her. We talked about the plan of salvation, her mom in the spirit world, and her agency to choose here. She told us a part of her wants to get baptized and another part doesn't. She decided to pray right then and there. The first time she prayed she wasn't sure how she felt but as we talked about listening to the spirit she decided to pray again. After the prayer she waited for a few seconds and then told us she felt peace, that she knew the church was true and that she needed to be baptized. As we walked away I couldn't believe what happened!
Unfortunately in the following days her doubt began to creep back again and she let Satan influence her. In our lesson on Saturday she was as closed off as ever and told us she didn't want to be baptized.
It is so sad to see someone who has received an answer reject the truth. She doesn't want to accept that the church is true. Hopefully someday she will be able to accept what she knows is true but once again we can't do anything for her at this moment. I am grateful for the experience we did have with her, however, and the spirit that we all felt bear witness that this is the true church.
The heat has been a killer and this week. We had a fast for our investigators working toward baptism in the zone. Hermana Castellanos and I tried to drink lots of water in the morning before the fast (here we fast from lunch to lunch) but by the evening we weren't feeling super great. We decided to cheat just a little and drink some water before bed and when we woke up so we would have energy for the next day because with the heat and the humidity we weren't sure if it was healthy to go without water for so long. Hopefully Heavenly Father understands and we can still see the blessings of the fast.
As far as daily life you have been asking about the food is pretty good. I LOVE empanadas and the pizza is pretty good as well. Milanesa is another food that is pretty good (it's a really thin slice of chicken or steak that has a special breading). Hermana Castellanos and I made tacos one day last week with this yummy sauce that she has. Usually in the apartment I just eat cereal and fruit and some crackers that are cheap kind of like saltines. We also have Oreo night occasionally. :) This week we splurged and bought a container of ice cream which I have been enjoying.
I am sleeping great, mostly because we're always so exhausted. This week I have slept without any sheet for the first time in my life with the fan full blast on us because it's been so hot (and will only get hotter HOORAY!).
I'm not sure what else you've all had questions about. Maybe we can talk about them on Christmas.
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! Thank you for your love and support continually! I CAN`T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU WEDNESDAY!
Love,
Hermana Millet
I still can't believe Christmas is almost here. It has been blazing hot these past few days and SO humid. Christmas is going to be pretty weird this year but I am so excited to talk to you all! I will not be emailing on Monday but I will have 40 minutes to talk to you Christmas day.
This week has been full of challenges and miracles. Hermana Castellanos and I are struggling a little to have progressing families and investigators in sacrament meeting and reach all of our goals. We are working with all of our efforts, however, to be worthy of the help of Heavenly Father. I am constantly trying to have more faith, live more obediently and work more diligently to see miracles in our area. I know that the success that we have had is directly from Him. Every new investigator and lesson is a blessing.
This week Hermana Castellanos shared a scripture with me from Alma during companionship study that I really needed. Alma 26:28-31 talks about how they are traveling all over, preaching in houses, in the streets to teach of Christ. They were rejected and cast out at times but Alma states that it is all worth it if they can save some soul. He says that the first of their labor is not small.
We too are preaching the gospel of Christ in homes, in the streets, anywhere we can find people and at times we are rejected and have afflictions (don't worry, nothing like Alma and his brethren) but it is all worth it if we can save some soul. This month we were able to baptized Diego. He is a choice spirit of Heavenly Father and I am so grateful we had the opportunity to help him make his first covenant with his Heavenly Father. At times I feel that the fruit of our labor is small right now. We have a goal of 4 baptisms this month that I felt was inspired and right now our possibilities are dwindling, but I know with faith God's will can be done. Even if Diego is the only person we baptize the fruit of our labor is not small. He is a soul that can be saved, and can help build the kingdom of God.
In my efforts to find a chosen family of our Heavenly Father I am really trying to improve my faith and worthiness and become the missionary Heavenly Father wants me to be. Today during personal study I read a scripture in 2 Nephi 33:3 which I love. Nephi is praying and crying for his people (investigators) and he says that he knows the Lord will hear his cries of faith.
I too have been praying for my investigators and worrying throughout the night like Nephi. I realized today, however, that I need to be even more focused on my investigators. I am sometimes more worried about the indicators and what my district leader will say when he hears my numbers than I am about the people. I really want to focus on loving my investigators more, loving them enough that my indicators are achieved because I am focusing on them, not on the numbers.
On Friday we had zone conference in Ramos Mejia. When we have to be there early in the morning we sleep in the apartment of the Hermanas in Lujan 1 because we have to wake up at 4:00 to be at the collectivo by 5:00 or 5:30. We sleep on the floor, which is pretty hard but this time I slept better than the last time. We really are blessed to have the energy though as missionaries. Many times we have to wake up early to be in Ramos and we never get a chance to catch up on sleep as missionaries but we continually have strength and energy.
During zone conference I was reminded again to focus on my investigators. One of my teachers in the MTC was always telling us to 1. Love the investigator and 2. Rely on the Lord. In California these things seemed easy, but I realized here I have maybe forgotten a little bit to really focus on loving my investigators and relying on the Lord. Yes the numbers are important, and yes the culture of the people here is different but I can still love them with all my heart and rely on the Lord to do his work.
I also loved the focus on families during zone conference. More than anything I want to bring the blessing of the gospel to a family. The idea of teaching eternal families in the first lesson has always made sense to me and I had always assumed I would do so as a missionary but for some reason I haven't been teaching this principal initially. This week as we have begun putting this into practice I have already begun to see results as contacts turn into lessons and potential baptismal dates.
We received a great miracle this week when we found a woman named Sylvana. She was waiting for two of her children to get out of school with her baby and we taught her the gospel. She was so excited about repentance and baptism and she couldn't stop smiling. We almost couldn't find her house when we searched for it a few days later but we were able to find her again and teach her about eternal families. She is living with her boyfriend but wants to get married. She and her three children came to church on Sunday (unfortunately her boyfriend was working) and we have plans to teach her and her boyfriend again tomorrow. I am so excited to work with this family and hopefully see them progress.
We also found another amazingly prepared woman named Justina Sunday afternoon. She has talked to missionaries in the past and told us she has read almost all of the Book of Mormon. She accepted a baptismal date and told us she will come to church on Sunday. After she said the closing prayer she began to cry and told us she has been feeling alone but that she felt love in our lesson. It was such a miracle!
While finding miracle new investigators we also had some challenges with our progressing investigators this week.
On Monday night we visited Cinthia for the first time since her scheduled baptism on the 24th of November. I introduced her to Hermana Castellanos and we rebuilt some trust with her that evening. On Wednesday we had an amazing experience with her. We talked about the plan of salvation, her mom in the spirit world, and her agency to choose here. She told us a part of her wants to get baptized and another part doesn't. She decided to pray right then and there. The first time she prayed she wasn't sure how she felt but as we talked about listening to the spirit she decided to pray again. After the prayer she waited for a few seconds and then told us she felt peace, that she knew the church was true and that she needed to be baptized. As we walked away I couldn't believe what happened!
Unfortunately in the following days her doubt began to creep back again and she let Satan influence her. In our lesson on Saturday she was as closed off as ever and told us she didn't want to be baptized.
It is so sad to see someone who has received an answer reject the truth. She doesn't want to accept that the church is true. Hopefully someday she will be able to accept what she knows is true but once again we can't do anything for her at this moment. I am grateful for the experience we did have with her, however, and the spirit that we all felt bear witness that this is the true church.
The heat has been a killer and this week. We had a fast for our investigators working toward baptism in the zone. Hermana Castellanos and I tried to drink lots of water in the morning before the fast (here we fast from lunch to lunch) but by the evening we weren't feeling super great. We decided to cheat just a little and drink some water before bed and when we woke up so we would have energy for the next day because with the heat and the humidity we weren't sure if it was healthy to go without water for so long. Hopefully Heavenly Father understands and we can still see the blessings of the fast.
As far as daily life you have been asking about the food is pretty good. I LOVE empanadas and the pizza is pretty good as well. Milanesa is another food that is pretty good (it's a really thin slice of chicken or steak that has a special breading). Hermana Castellanos and I made tacos one day last week with this yummy sauce that she has. Usually in the apartment I just eat cereal and fruit and some crackers that are cheap kind of like saltines. We also have Oreo night occasionally. :) This week we splurged and bought a container of ice cream which I have been enjoying.
I am sleeping great, mostly because we're always so exhausted. This week I have slept without any sheet for the first time in my life with the fan full blast on us because it's been so hot (and will only get hotter HOORAY!).
I'm not sure what else you've all had questions about. Maybe we can talk about them on Christmas.
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOO MUCH! Thank you for your love and support continually! I CAN`T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU WEDNESDAY!
Love,
Hermana Millet
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Happiness!
Family! I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!
This week has been so full of miracles.
First of all, my new companion is Hermana Castellanos. She is from Honduras and is 20 years old. She has been in the mission for 3 months. She is absolutely wonderful. We have had such a wonderful week together full of miracles. The hermanas in our zone were so excited when we saw the changes for this transfer. Hermana Castellanos was companions with Hermana Patrone in Mercedes (in our zone) and Hermana Bangeter (my American friend) was in Lujan 1. We kind of just did a switcharoo and Hermana Bangeter is now with Hermana Patrone in Mercedes and Hermana Castellanos and I are together. I didn't know Hermana Castellanos very well but the first thing Hermana Bangeter told me was that she is "so loving". She was right! I have felt nothing but love from Hermana Castellanos from the first day. She immediately told me that she wants to be friends and wants us to feel open to talk about anything. I am so grateful for her desire to have a great relationship as companions, friends, and hermanas. We have already begun building unity through kindness, openness, Oreo night, goals, success etc. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with her this transfer. I have felt this week, with her help, that I am becoming the missionary that I want to be. The part of me that felt successful back in the states was missing last transfer and at times I felt like I was going through the motions of missionary work but wasn't myself. Hermana Castellanos is helping me to rediscover the balance between accomplishing our indicators and caring for our investigators and doing what the Savior would do in every moment. It has been so great to have her help to work together in unity in our teaching, in planning, and in the responsibility of accomplishing everything. I have felt that we are a team in all aspects which is the way I want to be with all of my companions. I am so grateful for her love and friendship and support and I know we will continue to see miracles this transfer together.
Also, random side note. She and I spent a little time Wednesday cleaning the pench. Hallelujah! There was a bunch of stuff that I didn't know who it belonged to and so we threw away so much stuff. The pench is sooo much better now! Yay for having a clean companion!
My only concern with our companionship is obedience. I want to be completely obedient and this week I have seen little things, with us both being so new to the mission, that we could be disobedient without meaning to. I want to work really hard to make sure we follow every rule with exactness so that we can receive the help from Heavenly Father that we are going to need this week.
Our major miracle this week was with Diego. He had a baptismal date for the 24th of November but the morning of the baptism he told us he no longer wanted to be baptized (most likely because of the influence of his brothers and sisters).
We gave him a little space in the following week but on Tuesday of this week we stopped by and talked to him about testimony. I bore my testimony to him that even when we feel like we are being attacked by Satan and question some of our beliefs we can still rely on the knowledge we do have. I read a scripture in D&C about how we can rely on the knowledge we have already received and that we don't have to doubt. We told him that we know he has a testimony of the church and that all he needs to do is pray and ask Heavenly Father if baptism is right for him and that he can be baptized whenever he is ready.
That night Hermana Suarez called him to tell him she was leaving and he said he wanted to be baptized. He and his Dad had plans to leave for Paraguay on Saturday so we planned the baptism for Saturday before they left. It was such a miracle that he was ready and that we were able to have the spirit with us to know what to say to help him. We talked with him every day this week to help him prepare and he stayed strong.
His baptismal service was wonderful. Neither Hermana Castellanos nor I had really planned a baptism here in the Buenos Aries West mission but we worked hard to get everything ready. We have an amazing Branch President who was so wonderful to take care of everything as well as the Elders in our branch. We couldn't have done it without them. It was a little different than a baptismal service in the states but so beautiful. Sometimes the simplicity of things here in Argentina makes them even more special.
His father, Charlie, was able to baptize Diego and they ended up staying in Lujan for him to be confirmed in Sacrament meeting on Sunday by President Peralta. I am so excited for Diego and the opportunity he has to enjoy the blessings of the gospel. He is so special and I know he will find so much happiness!
Our other great miracle this week was a new family we found. I have been praying to find a family to teach and this week we were blessed to find an amazing family! We had contacted the mom on Sunday in her front yard and on Tuesday we went back to teach her. She wasn't home but her three children were. We taught them outside in the yard and it was amazing! Her children are beautiful. The oldest daughter, Camila, is 15 years old, but so mature. The two youngest are twins, Alma and Marcos, and will turn 8 years old on December 26th. We talked to them about faith and a little about the restoration and our purpose as missionaries to help people repent and prepare for baptism. As Camila said the closing prayer she asked for forgiveness for her sins and began to cry. She hugged us so tight as we left and thanked us so much for coming. It was absolutely wonderful.
We returned a few days later and again taught the children the restoration. As we walked to the door Alma and Marcos ran up to us to give us hugs. They had read the pamphlets we had left them and promised to begin reading the Book of Mormon and come to church. They are so sweet. Unfortunately, we still haven`t been able to contact Pamela, the mom, but we plan on working hard this week to find her and teach them all as a family.
Sunday was a little discouraging for us this week because we had many investigators who had promised to come to sacrament meeting and we were confident they would be there. As we called and tried to pick some of them up in the morning, however, no one answered. We ended up with no one in sacrament meeting, which was discouraging. I had felt more confident in our investigators this week than any other. This week I really want to focus on and learn how to make sure our investigators can come to church. Because they weren't there this week, meeting our goal of 4 baptisms this month is going to be really difficult. I have faith that Heavenly Father will help us to accomplish our goals, however, as we are obedient and diligent.
I am so excited for this transfer, for our wonderful investigators, for my developing relationship with Hermana Castellanos, for the progress I am already seeing with Spanish and will continue to develop as Hermana Castellanos and I work to teach one another the language (we're doing one day Spanish and one day English), and for the opportunity to continue to develop as a missionary.
A random note: you should like or join the page Distrito Lujan Argentina. It is the page for my stake (district) here.
That's about all for the week I think. It's been super great and I am grateful to finally be feeling more like myself with a wonderful companion. Thank you for all your prayers and love and support. I can't wait to talk to you all on Christmas!
Love,
Jen
This week has been so full of miracles.
First of all, my new companion is Hermana Castellanos. She is from Honduras and is 20 years old. She has been in the mission for 3 months. She is absolutely wonderful. We have had such a wonderful week together full of miracles. The hermanas in our zone were so excited when we saw the changes for this transfer. Hermana Castellanos was companions with Hermana Patrone in Mercedes (in our zone) and Hermana Bangeter (my American friend) was in Lujan 1. We kind of just did a switcharoo and Hermana Bangeter is now with Hermana Patrone in Mercedes and Hermana Castellanos and I are together. I didn't know Hermana Castellanos very well but the first thing Hermana Bangeter told me was that she is "so loving". She was right! I have felt nothing but love from Hermana Castellanos from the first day. She immediately told me that she wants to be friends and wants us to feel open to talk about anything. I am so grateful for her desire to have a great relationship as companions, friends, and hermanas. We have already begun building unity through kindness, openness, Oreo night, goals, success etc. I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with her this transfer. I have felt this week, with her help, that I am becoming the missionary that I want to be. The part of me that felt successful back in the states was missing last transfer and at times I felt like I was going through the motions of missionary work but wasn't myself. Hermana Castellanos is helping me to rediscover the balance between accomplishing our indicators and caring for our investigators and doing what the Savior would do in every moment. It has been so great to have her help to work together in unity in our teaching, in planning, and in the responsibility of accomplishing everything. I have felt that we are a team in all aspects which is the way I want to be with all of my companions. I am so grateful for her love and friendship and support and I know we will continue to see miracles this transfer together.
Also, random side note. She and I spent a little time Wednesday cleaning the pench. Hallelujah! There was a bunch of stuff that I didn't know who it belonged to and so we threw away so much stuff. The pench is sooo much better now! Yay for having a clean companion!
My only concern with our companionship is obedience. I want to be completely obedient and this week I have seen little things, with us both being so new to the mission, that we could be disobedient without meaning to. I want to work really hard to make sure we follow every rule with exactness so that we can receive the help from Heavenly Father that we are going to need this week.
Our major miracle this week was with Diego. He had a baptismal date for the 24th of November but the morning of the baptism he told us he no longer wanted to be baptized (most likely because of the influence of his brothers and sisters).
We gave him a little space in the following week but on Tuesday of this week we stopped by and talked to him about testimony. I bore my testimony to him that even when we feel like we are being attacked by Satan and question some of our beliefs we can still rely on the knowledge we do have. I read a scripture in D&C about how we can rely on the knowledge we have already received and that we don't have to doubt. We told him that we know he has a testimony of the church and that all he needs to do is pray and ask Heavenly Father if baptism is right for him and that he can be baptized whenever he is ready.
That night Hermana Suarez called him to tell him she was leaving and he said he wanted to be baptized. He and his Dad had plans to leave for Paraguay on Saturday so we planned the baptism for Saturday before they left. It was such a miracle that he was ready and that we were able to have the spirit with us to know what to say to help him. We talked with him every day this week to help him prepare and he stayed strong.
His baptismal service was wonderful. Neither Hermana Castellanos nor I had really planned a baptism here in the Buenos Aries West mission but we worked hard to get everything ready. We have an amazing Branch President who was so wonderful to take care of everything as well as the Elders in our branch. We couldn't have done it without them. It was a little different than a baptismal service in the states but so beautiful. Sometimes the simplicity of things here in Argentina makes them even more special.
His father, Charlie, was able to baptize Diego and they ended up staying in Lujan for him to be confirmed in Sacrament meeting on Sunday by President Peralta. I am so excited for Diego and the opportunity he has to enjoy the blessings of the gospel. He is so special and I know he will find so much happiness!
Our other great miracle this week was a new family we found. I have been praying to find a family to teach and this week we were blessed to find an amazing family! We had contacted the mom on Sunday in her front yard and on Tuesday we went back to teach her. She wasn't home but her three children were. We taught them outside in the yard and it was amazing! Her children are beautiful. The oldest daughter, Camila, is 15 years old, but so mature. The two youngest are twins, Alma and Marcos, and will turn 8 years old on December 26th. We talked to them about faith and a little about the restoration and our purpose as missionaries to help people repent and prepare for baptism. As Camila said the closing prayer she asked for forgiveness for her sins and began to cry. She hugged us so tight as we left and thanked us so much for coming. It was absolutely wonderful.
We returned a few days later and again taught the children the restoration. As we walked to the door Alma and Marcos ran up to us to give us hugs. They had read the pamphlets we had left them and promised to begin reading the Book of Mormon and come to church. They are so sweet. Unfortunately, we still haven`t been able to contact Pamela, the mom, but we plan on working hard this week to find her and teach them all as a family.
Sunday was a little discouraging for us this week because we had many investigators who had promised to come to sacrament meeting and we were confident they would be there. As we called and tried to pick some of them up in the morning, however, no one answered. We ended up with no one in sacrament meeting, which was discouraging. I had felt more confident in our investigators this week than any other. This week I really want to focus on and learn how to make sure our investigators can come to church. Because they weren't there this week, meeting our goal of 4 baptisms this month is going to be really difficult. I have faith that Heavenly Father will help us to accomplish our goals, however, as we are obedient and diligent.
I am so excited for this transfer, for our wonderful investigators, for my developing relationship with Hermana Castellanos, for the progress I am already seeing with Spanish and will continue to develop as Hermana Castellanos and I work to teach one another the language (we're doing one day Spanish and one day English), and for the opportunity to continue to develop as a missionary.
A random note: you should like or join the page Distrito Lujan Argentina. It is the page for my stake (district) here.
That's about all for the week I think. It's been super great and I am grateful to finally be feeling more like myself with a wonderful companion. Thank you for all your prayers and love and support. I can't wait to talk to you all on Christmas!
Love,
Jen
Monday, December 2, 2013
It's CHRISTMAS TIME!
Hola Familia!
It`s officially December and the Christmas season and I am dying of heat...it`s kind of a weird thought. Are you all SOO excited for Christmas!? I AM! This week we have transfers. We will get the call tomorrow night and leave Wednesday morning. Hermana Suarez has been here for 8 months so we are expecting her to leave and me to stay. I`m kind of nervous to be left in the area. I think I will have a new senior companion but I will have to know the area and how things work. I basically know our area but I still don`t know if I can for sure get to our church building or remember how to pay the rent and utilities and all of that kind of stuff in Central. We`ll see how it goes. I am also expecting that I might have a companion who speaks no English. That will be a real growing experience for me. :)
Some news: I went to send letters again today and the regular post office is closed. I found another one but it cost 65 pesos to send one letter! I have like 10,000 to send so I probably won`t get any of them sent today. :( I`m so sorry! I`m hoping I can find a way to send letters that won`t be so expensive.
This week has been wonderful! On P day I was able to get a bunch of your dear elder letters and a letter from Aunt Kathy about her trip. It was great to read them all. Thank you! We also went to a restaurant with our district where they brought out platters of meat and we could eat as much as we wanted. It was good but I wish I could have just had a salad haha. I felt stuffed afterward. It was really fun to do something with our district though and relax a little. Today we are watching a movie at the church with our zone to celebrate our baptisms.
There were a lot of interesting experiences and opportunities this week with exchanges. On Tuesday I began exchanges with Hermana Roberts. She was wonderful! I really appreciated her enthusiasm and joy she shared with me and with all of the people that we worked with. This joy was a great example to me. I want to make sure the light of Christ is always shining through me as clearly as I could see it with Hermana Roberts. Hermana Roberts was also a great example to me of service and kindness. Just in the two days that we were together she found so many ways to serve me, by making breakfast for me, doing the dishing, helping to update the area book, helping with my Spanish etc. Everything she did was focused on helping others. It was also great to experience another teaching style. I always appreciate opportunities to work with other missionaries and see how they contact, teach etc. Each missionary has characteristics and habits that I can learn from and improve upon myself. Hermana Roberts is a wonderful missionary and I was so grateful to learn from her. I hope I can learn to be as kind and Christlike as she is and be an influence for good in not only the lives of my investigators but also to other missionaries the way she is to me.
Being in charge of our area for two days this week was a little stressful. I knew Hermana Suarez expected 100% and with both of us being gone on Friday I had to do the majority of the work during the week during exchanges.
We were both inspired to make a goal of 4 baptisms in the month of December. This is a high number, and Hermana Suarez was especially worried about the stress this would put on our shoulders for the month, especially considering we only have 1 sure baptism at this point. I know, however, that Heavenly Father inspired us both to choose this number and that means He has four chosen people for us to find and prepare this month. I have had a great experience in choosing the goal for our area and understanding the purpose of numbers. Knowing that this number has come from Heavenly Father gives me assurance that it really represents four people that we have the responsibility to find and help develop testimonies. Heavenly Father is preparing these four people and I can`t wait to discover exactly who they are do my best to take care of them and help them find the joy of the gospel this month.
On Tuesday we worked hard, found a new investigator and taught a few lessons. It was a great day, despite getting caught in a downpour we had a great time doing the work of the Lord. By the time we got home that night we were literally drenched! Luckily I have two pairs of boots and so I was able to wear the other pair the next day. It was kind of fun. :) One of our members, Paula is a returned missionary (about 25 years old) and she went out with us all day. She was with us in the rainstorm and had to walk all the way back (about 30 minutes) after we had to be in our apartment. She is an angel! She was so helpful and I am SOO grateful for her! She is always helping us.
On Wednesday I was tested a little more as most of our appointments fell through and our contacts weren`t at home. We spent most of the day making contacts and talking with people who would not let us in for a lesson in that moment. I learned a lot and improved in my ability to make contacts, but I was really worried about our lessons. I really had to persevere and continue having hope.
That evening we were able to have a great Noche de Hogar with one of our progressing investigators and some members from the ward. It was a good experience for me to plan the Noche de Hogar with all the members and organize everything in castellano. It ended up being a great experience for our investigator, Antonio, to meet some people in the ward and discuss the Sabbath Day. Antonio was an old investigator who hasn´t been able to come to church because he worked on Sundays. He recently quit his job and is looking for a new one and so it was important to us to help him understand the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. He also needs to continue developing his testimony so it was great for him to be able to hear from recently baptized members about their experiences joining the church. He and his 3 year old son Matias (Matias` mom and Antonio are separated) came to church on Sunday which was great! Matias was a little restless but we were able to talk them into staying for all three hours. Antonio really is a great father and wants to set a good example for his son. Much of his desire to keep the commandments and follow Christ stems from his desire to be a good example for his son, which I really respect. He is accepting everything so well and really wants to develop his testimony and be prepared before his baptism. I have really loved working with Antonio and I am so excited to continue to see him progress.
Oh also, random disgusting note (skip this part if you have a weak stomach) Hermana Roberts and I saw a dead dog literally split in half on the side of the road the other day. It was soo sad.
On Thursday Hermana Suarez returned and we worked hard to finish our indicators for the week. On Thursday we were able to find two new investigators who have great potential to progress. Jorge has talked to the sister missionaries before and has plans to come to church this next week. Clarissa was a referral we received from a member. She is a woman in her 50`s who took some convincing to let us in her home but once we began talking with her she was as sweet as could be. She really has such a special spirit. She wasn´t super receptive to our first lesson, but I hope that as we plan well for the second we can help her feel the spirit and want to learn more about the church. She has such a light about her and I know the gospel would just give her more happiness and joy. We were late after that lesson with Clarissa so we ran all the way back to our apartment. I have a cold right now so it was super fun to run while hacking up a lung lol.
On Friday I had the opportunity to work in Mercedes with Hermana Patrone while Hermana Suarez and Hermana Castellano went to Ramos for the leadership training. I really enjoyed Mercedes, the beautiful town, working with Hermana Patrone, riding a bicycle and again learning from being in a different area with a different companion.
We also made empanadas for lunch! It was super fun. They weren´t as good as the ones Bernardo brings us every night but they were still good.
Hermana Patrone and I get along really well, even though we have to work hard to understand each other sometimes. She is a wonderful missionary and I am so impressed with her confidence after only being in the field one transfer.
On Saturday I had one of the best experiences of my time in Argentina so far. We were able to teach a woman we had contacted the week before named Grasiela, who has family that are members of the church. She was extremely warm and inviting and we got along well. As Hermana Suarez was in the restroom I talked with her about her family and the pictures in her home. I learned that her husband has passed about about 3 years ago as well as a son. As we began teaching the lesson I had the strong impression that I should bring up the deaths of her family members and how she can live with them again forever. Although I struggled to find the exact words I wanted to use in Castellano she was patient with me. I felt the spirit so strongly and had the opportunity to testify to her that we were sent here to help her find the peace she was searching for and to help her have an eternal family. We both began to cry as we both felt the spirit testify of the truth. Satan is still fighting within her to create doubt but I know she felt that spirit and that I am here to help her. I haven`t had an experience quite like that since being here in Argentina and I was such a tender mercy from the Lord to once again feel his spirit working through me.
Day by day I can feel my Spanish improving. I really want to put in the effort and become fluent as quickly as possible because I know that will help me to develop greater love for the people, have the ability to teach with more power and be a more effective missionary. This month I am fasting for the gift of tongues and the humility, patience and diligence to learn. I was a little scared to make this my monthly focus because I know it will be really difficult but I am going to try to trust more in the Lord and give more to be what he wants me to be.
I am so grateful for His help this month in finding hope in all situations. I am finding myself becoming more accustomed to the changes here and giving myself more to the people here. I still have a lot to work on but I am continuing to grow.
This week with transfers coming I am thinking that Hermana Suarez might leave the area. I am so grateful for her example and all that I have learned from her. Our relationship was different than that of my other companions but we found a way to work together and have success. I have learned from her obedience, charity and selflessness, using the scriptures and teaching from them, how to make contacts, teach in any situation and gain trust as well as so much more. I hope to take what I learned from her and use it to become a better missionary myself. I am a little nervous for transfers but I am willing to go and do whatever the Lord wants me to do.
I love you all so much! You are the bestest family in the world. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Please tell everyone hello for me and I`m sorry I`m a terrible letter writer now. I will try to email them all eventually but right now handwritten letters aren`t really an option. I love them all anyway. Please let me know how David and Katie and all the family are doing!
LOVE YOU!
Hermana Millet
It`s officially December and the Christmas season and I am dying of heat...it`s kind of a weird thought. Are you all SOO excited for Christmas!? I AM! This week we have transfers. We will get the call tomorrow night and leave Wednesday morning. Hermana Suarez has been here for 8 months so we are expecting her to leave and me to stay. I`m kind of nervous to be left in the area. I think I will have a new senior companion but I will have to know the area and how things work. I basically know our area but I still don`t know if I can for sure get to our church building or remember how to pay the rent and utilities and all of that kind of stuff in Central. We`ll see how it goes. I am also expecting that I might have a companion who speaks no English. That will be a real growing experience for me. :)
Some news: I went to send letters again today and the regular post office is closed. I found another one but it cost 65 pesos to send one letter! I have like 10,000 to send so I probably won`t get any of them sent today. :( I`m so sorry! I`m hoping I can find a way to send letters that won`t be so expensive.
This week has been wonderful! On P day I was able to get a bunch of your dear elder letters and a letter from Aunt Kathy about her trip. It was great to read them all. Thank you! We also went to a restaurant with our district where they brought out platters of meat and we could eat as much as we wanted. It was good but I wish I could have just had a salad haha. I felt stuffed afterward. It was really fun to do something with our district though and relax a little. Today we are watching a movie at the church with our zone to celebrate our baptisms.
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| Hermana Roberts and Me |
Being in charge of our area for two days this week was a little stressful. I knew Hermana Suarez expected 100% and with both of us being gone on Friday I had to do the majority of the work during the week during exchanges.
We were both inspired to make a goal of 4 baptisms in the month of December. This is a high number, and Hermana Suarez was especially worried about the stress this would put on our shoulders for the month, especially considering we only have 1 sure baptism at this point. I know, however, that Heavenly Father inspired us both to choose this number and that means He has four chosen people for us to find and prepare this month. I have had a great experience in choosing the goal for our area and understanding the purpose of numbers. Knowing that this number has come from Heavenly Father gives me assurance that it really represents four people that we have the responsibility to find and help develop testimonies. Heavenly Father is preparing these four people and I can`t wait to discover exactly who they are do my best to take care of them and help them find the joy of the gospel this month.
On Tuesday we worked hard, found a new investigator and taught a few lessons. It was a great day, despite getting caught in a downpour we had a great time doing the work of the Lord. By the time we got home that night we were literally drenched! Luckily I have two pairs of boots and so I was able to wear the other pair the next day. It was kind of fun. :) One of our members, Paula is a returned missionary (about 25 years old) and she went out with us all day. She was with us in the rainstorm and had to walk all the way back (about 30 minutes) after we had to be in our apartment. She is an angel! She was so helpful and I am SOO grateful for her! She is always helping us.
On Wednesday I was tested a little more as most of our appointments fell through and our contacts weren`t at home. We spent most of the day making contacts and talking with people who would not let us in for a lesson in that moment. I learned a lot and improved in my ability to make contacts, but I was really worried about our lessons. I really had to persevere and continue having hope.
That evening we were able to have a great Noche de Hogar with one of our progressing investigators and some members from the ward. It was a good experience for me to plan the Noche de Hogar with all the members and organize everything in castellano. It ended up being a great experience for our investigator, Antonio, to meet some people in the ward and discuss the Sabbath Day. Antonio was an old investigator who hasn´t been able to come to church because he worked on Sundays. He recently quit his job and is looking for a new one and so it was important to us to help him understand the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. He also needs to continue developing his testimony so it was great for him to be able to hear from recently baptized members about their experiences joining the church. He and his 3 year old son Matias (Matias` mom and Antonio are separated) came to church on Sunday which was great! Matias was a little restless but we were able to talk them into staying for all three hours. Antonio really is a great father and wants to set a good example for his son. Much of his desire to keep the commandments and follow Christ stems from his desire to be a good example for his son, which I really respect. He is accepting everything so well and really wants to develop his testimony and be prepared before his baptism. I have really loved working with Antonio and I am so excited to continue to see him progress.
Oh also, random disgusting note (skip this part if you have a weak stomach) Hermana Roberts and I saw a dead dog literally split in half on the side of the road the other day. It was soo sad.
On Thursday Hermana Suarez returned and we worked hard to finish our indicators for the week. On Thursday we were able to find two new investigators who have great potential to progress. Jorge has talked to the sister missionaries before and has plans to come to church this next week. Clarissa was a referral we received from a member. She is a woman in her 50`s who took some convincing to let us in her home but once we began talking with her she was as sweet as could be. She really has such a special spirit. She wasn´t super receptive to our first lesson, but I hope that as we plan well for the second we can help her feel the spirit and want to learn more about the church. She has such a light about her and I know the gospel would just give her more happiness and joy. We were late after that lesson with Clarissa so we ran all the way back to our apartment. I have a cold right now so it was super fun to run while hacking up a lung lol.
On Friday I had the opportunity to work in Mercedes with Hermana Patrone while Hermana Suarez and Hermana Castellano went to Ramos for the leadership training. I really enjoyed Mercedes, the beautiful town, working with Hermana Patrone, riding a bicycle and again learning from being in a different area with a different companion.
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| I rode a bike! |
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| I helped make these empanadas. |
On Saturday I had one of the best experiences of my time in Argentina so far. We were able to teach a woman we had contacted the week before named Grasiela, who has family that are members of the church. She was extremely warm and inviting and we got along well. As Hermana Suarez was in the restroom I talked with her about her family and the pictures in her home. I learned that her husband has passed about about 3 years ago as well as a son. As we began teaching the lesson I had the strong impression that I should bring up the deaths of her family members and how she can live with them again forever. Although I struggled to find the exact words I wanted to use in Castellano she was patient with me. I felt the spirit so strongly and had the opportunity to testify to her that we were sent here to help her find the peace she was searching for and to help her have an eternal family. We both began to cry as we both felt the spirit testify of the truth. Satan is still fighting within her to create doubt but I know she felt that spirit and that I am here to help her. I haven`t had an experience quite like that since being here in Argentina and I was such a tender mercy from the Lord to once again feel his spirit working through me.
Day by day I can feel my Spanish improving. I really want to put in the effort and become fluent as quickly as possible because I know that will help me to develop greater love for the people, have the ability to teach with more power and be a more effective missionary. This month I am fasting for the gift of tongues and the humility, patience and diligence to learn. I was a little scared to make this my monthly focus because I know it will be really difficult but I am going to try to trust more in the Lord and give more to be what he wants me to be.
I am so grateful for His help this month in finding hope in all situations. I am finding myself becoming more accustomed to the changes here and giving myself more to the people here. I still have a lot to work on but I am continuing to grow.
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| One of my favorite trees in Argentina. |
I love you all so much! You are the bestest family in the world. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Please tell everyone hello for me and I`m sorry I`m a terrible letter writer now. I will try to email them all eventually but right now handwritten letters aren`t really an option. I love them all anyway. Please let me know how David and Katie and all the family are doing!
LOVE YOU!
Hermana Millet
Sunday, December 1, 2013
This is Jen's letter from last Monday, November 25th.
Dear Familia:
Yesterday was probably the craziest day of my mission life. It was our district (stake) conference and our zone wanted to baptize all of our investigators together afterward. I´m not even sure how to explain it all...
Things with Diego went really well all week. He has been great from the beginning and continued to progress and look forward to his baptism. His sister Cinthia, on the other hand, has been doubting and we were having a difficult time contacting her. We continued to pray and fast for her and search for her each day to be able to talk with her. We were finally able to meet with her Thursday evening and talk to her about her baptism. She wasn´t near as enthusiastic about it as we would have liked but we assured her that it was a good decision. We could tell that she knew it was true in her eyes but she continued to doubt. Her mom was evangelical and she feels that following her mom´s beliefs is an important connection to her.
We were able to talk to her one more time on Saturday. She was angry and didn´t want to talk, but she eventually broke down and talked to us about eternal families, her anger with her father and her anger with God for taking her mom away. We tried the best we could to answer her questions with the spirit but her heart was closed. She really just didn´t want to listen. We knew she wouldn´t be baptized. We did all we could for her but until she decides to open up her mind and her heart to the spirit there isn´t much more we can do for her.
Unfortunately, we found out Sunday morning that Cinthia talked to Diego about all of her concerns and Diego didn´t show up for the conference. Part way through the conference, we left with his father and the President of the Rama to visit Diego and try to talk to him. He refused to open up and talk to us. He knows the church is true and has a testimony but somehow Cinthia convinced him he couldn´t go against his mother´s religion. Again, we did all we could to help him have the strength to do what he knows is right but his heart too was closed. Therefore, two of our baptismal candidates for yesterday fell through.
I still have faith that Diego will be baptized and I want to keep working with him. Cinthia might take more time. I´m not sure if we can help her right now at this time her in her life but I continue to pray for her. She is such a sweet girl who just misses her mom and doesn´t want to let her go.
Pablo and Tatiana were both doing well this week as well. But, as always, Satan found a way to try to stop their baptism as well. Saturday morning Tatiana broke her arm. We figured out a solution with plastic wrap, plastic bags and tape but when we went to pick their family up on Sunday her mom, Clara, told us Tatiana wasn´t going! We had to talk and negotiate but eventually we convinced her to let Tatiana go.
Things were a pretty stressful throughout the conference trying to take care of our other investigators, keep track of our baptismal candidates and the whole ordeal with Diego. Church here in Argentina is a little different. There isn´t the same expectation of reverence so kids are running all over the place and the halls are filled with people coming in and out and talking and hanging out. All of the missionaries were outside the ´chapel´ talking and trying to work everything out for the baptisms. Hermana Suarez was running all over the place talking really fast in Spanish and on the phone so I had absolutely no idea what was going on. After a hard week personally I was close to my breaking point.
Another surprise popped up when Hermana Suarez jokingly suggested to our zone leader that, Pascual, one of our investigators could get baptized. Pascual, who just so happens to be the Grandfather of Tatiana and Pablo, is amazing! He is about 80 years old and is so willing to learn, believe and read. He attended the evening session of the District Conference with us the night before and was there that day. We have only been teaching him for just over a week and he hasn´t had all of the lessons but he was well on track for baptism in December. Elder Streadbeck jumped on the idea of baptizing him that day, however. We pulled Pascual out of the conference, Elder Streadbeck interviewed him and 20 minutes later we were preparing Pascual to be baptized as well.
I wasn´t sure how I felt about the whole situation, asking an investigator to be baptized who hasn´t had all the lessons and wasn´t prepared for that day. I trusted in my leaders' decision, however, and I know that it was a blessing that Pascual was able to make the covenant of baptism that day with his grandchildren.
We ended up not seeing any of the baptisms and only one of the confirmations and unfortunately I wasn´t able to get pictures with everyone because we were so busy trying to figure everything out. It was a stressful service, and to be perfectly honest, it was difficult for me to feel the spirit, but I know the most important part is that Pablo, Tatiana, and Pascual were able to be baptized.
This week I´ve really felt myself losing myself more in the work and focusing on my investigators. Especially with our baptismal dates for this weekend we really focused on helping them prepare. It has been a great feeling to really care about them and become more and more concerned about their progression and growing testimonies.
Personally, I am continuing to work on having humility, and patience. I am trying to learn all I can from Hermana Suarez and become a better teacher, companion, and missionary. I still have really difficult moments and really difficult days but the Lord is blessing me to overcome these difficult times and persevere. Today I read a passage in Preach My Gospel that I really liked that said that Heavenly Father knows what I need more than I do. As always, I need to trust more in him and his plan for me. As I continue to try to repent and be worthy of his help I know he will give me the experiences I need.
I am so grateful for your continued prayers for me. I
don´t know what I would do without you all! I won´t be celebrating Thanksgiving here but I will say a special prayer thanking Heavenly Father for all of you. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to learn and grow.
Love, Jen
Dear Familia:
Yesterday was probably the craziest day of my mission life. It was our district (stake) conference and our zone wanted to baptize all of our investigators together afterward. I´m not even sure how to explain it all...
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| Zone Baptism. 28 people baptized! |
We were able to talk to her one more time on Saturday. She was angry and didn´t want to talk, but she eventually broke down and talked to us about eternal families, her anger with her father and her anger with God for taking her mom away. We tried the best we could to answer her questions with the spirit but her heart was closed. She really just didn´t want to listen. We knew she wouldn´t be baptized. We did all we could for her but until she decides to open up her mind and her heart to the spirit there isn´t much more we can do for her.
Unfortunately, we found out Sunday morning that Cinthia talked to Diego about all of her concerns and Diego didn´t show up for the conference. Part way through the conference, we left with his father and the President of the Rama to visit Diego and try to talk to him. He refused to open up and talk to us. He knows the church is true and has a testimony but somehow Cinthia convinced him he couldn´t go against his mother´s religion. Again, we did all we could to help him have the strength to do what he knows is right but his heart too was closed. Therefore, two of our baptismal candidates for yesterday fell through.
I still have faith that Diego will be baptized and I want to keep working with him. Cinthia might take more time. I´m not sure if we can help her right now at this time her in her life but I continue to pray for her. She is such a sweet girl who just misses her mom and doesn´t want to let her go.
Pablo and Tatiana were both doing well this week as well. But, as always, Satan found a way to try to stop their baptism as well. Saturday morning Tatiana broke her arm. We figured out a solution with plastic wrap, plastic bags and tape but when we went to pick their family up on Sunday her mom, Clara, told us Tatiana wasn´t going! We had to talk and negotiate but eventually we convinced her to let Tatiana go.
Things were a pretty stressful throughout the conference trying to take care of our other investigators, keep track of our baptismal candidates and the whole ordeal with Diego. Church here in Argentina is a little different. There isn´t the same expectation of reverence so kids are running all over the place and the halls are filled with people coming in and out and talking and hanging out. All of the missionaries were outside the ´chapel´ talking and trying to work everything out for the baptisms. Hermana Suarez was running all over the place talking really fast in Spanish and on the phone so I had absolutely no idea what was going on. After a hard week personally I was close to my breaking point.
Another surprise popped up when Hermana Suarez jokingly suggested to our zone leader that, Pascual, one of our investigators could get baptized. Pascual, who just so happens to be the Grandfather of Tatiana and Pablo, is amazing! He is about 80 years old and is so willing to learn, believe and read. He attended the evening session of the District Conference with us the night before and was there that day. We have only been teaching him for just over a week and he hasn´t had all of the lessons but he was well on track for baptism in December. Elder Streadbeck jumped on the idea of baptizing him that day, however. We pulled Pascual out of the conference, Elder Streadbeck interviewed him and 20 minutes later we were preparing Pascual to be baptized as well.
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| Jen with Pascual and Tatiana. They were unable to find Pablo to join them in the picture. |
We ended up not seeing any of the baptisms and only one of the confirmations and unfortunately I wasn´t able to get pictures with everyone because we were so busy trying to figure everything out. It was a stressful service, and to be perfectly honest, it was difficult for me to feel the spirit, but I know the most important part is that Pablo, Tatiana, and Pascual were able to be baptized.
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| Jennifer in front of the Lujan Cathedral. |
Personally, I am continuing to work on having humility, and patience. I am trying to learn all I can from Hermana Suarez and become a better teacher, companion, and missionary. I still have really difficult moments and really difficult days but the Lord is blessing me to overcome these difficult times and persevere. Today I read a passage in Preach My Gospel that I really liked that said that Heavenly Father knows what I need more than I do. As always, I need to trust more in him and his plan for me. As I continue to try to repent and be worthy of his help I know he will give me the experiences I need.
I am so grateful for your continued prayers for me. I
don´t know what I would do without you all! I won´t be celebrating Thanksgiving here but I will say a special prayer thanking Heavenly Father for all of you. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to learn and grow.
Love, Jen
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